Mechanism for system information block transmission

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to system information block transmission A method includes receiving, from a second apparatus, a downlink signal in a physical broadcast channel; determining a transmission status of a system information block based the downlink signal, wherein the transmission status indicates one of: the system information block is broadcasted or a transmission of the system information block is based on a request from the first apparatus; and receiving, from the second apparatus, the system information block based on the transmission status.

Description

Mechanism for system information block transmissionCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority from, and the benefit of, EP Application No. 25160476.5, filed February 27, 2025, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. FIELD

[0002] Various example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to methods, devices, apparatuses and computer readable storage medium for system information block (SIB) transmission.BACKGROUND

[0003] With development of communication technologies, the communication system may provide bitrates on the order of 10-20 Gbit / s or higher, and may support at least enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) as well as massive machine-type communication (mMTC). The communication system is expected to deliver extreme broadband and ultra-robust, low-latency connectivity and massive networking to support the Internet of Things (IoT).SUMMARY

[0004] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus to: receive, from a second apparatus, a downlink signal in a physical broadcast channel; determine a transmission status of a system information block based the downlink signal, wherein the transmission status indicates one of: the system information block is broadcasted or a transmission of the system information block is based on a request from the first apparatus; and receive, from the second apparatus, the system information block based on the transmission status.

[0005] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus to: determine a transmission status of a system information block, wherein the transmission status indicates one of: the system information block is broadcasted or a transmission of the system information block is based on a request from the first apparatus; and transmit, to a first apparatus, a downlink signal indicating the transmission status in a physical broadcast channel.

[0006] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: receiving, from a second apparatus, a downlink signal in a physical broadcast channel;determining a transmission status of a system information block based the downlink signal, wherein the transmission status indicates one of: the system information block is broadcasted or a transmission of the system information block is based on a request from the first apparatus; and receiving, from the second apparatus, the system information block based on the transmission status.

[0007] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: determining a transmission status of a system information block, wherein the transmission status indicates one of: the system information block is broadcasted or a transmission of the system information block is based on a request from the first apparatus; and transmitting, to a first apparatus, a downlink signal indicating the transmission status in a physical broadcast channel.

[0008] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, a downlink signal in a physical broadcast channel; means for determining a transmission status of a system information block based the downlink signal, wherein the transmission status indicates one of: the system information block is broadcasted or a transmission of the system information block is based on a request from the first apparatus; and means for receiving, from the second apparatus, the system information block based on the transmission status.

[0009] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises means for determining a transmission status of a system information block, wherein the transmission status indicates one of: the system information block is broadcasted or a transmission of the system information block is based on a request from the first apparatus; and means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, a downlink signal indicating the transmission status in a physical broadcast channel.

[0010] In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the third or fourth aspect.

[0011] It is to be understood that the Summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

[0013] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

[0014] FIG. 2A to FIG. 2C illustrate example structures of synchronization signal block (SSB), respectively;

[0015] FIG. 3 illustrates an example signaling flow of SIB transmission according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0016] FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart of a method for detection of physical broadcast channel (PBCH) demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence repetition instance according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0017] FIG. 5 illustrates an example signaling flow of a procedure for DMRS detection based method according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0018] FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0019] FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0020] FIG. 8 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0021] FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0022] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. Embodiments described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

[0024] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0025] References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affectsuch feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

[0026] It shall be understood that although the terms “first,” “second,”..., etc. in front of noun(s) and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another and they do not limit the order of the noun(s). For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0027] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[0028] As used herein, unless stated explicitly, performing a step “in response to A” does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after “A” occurs and one or more intervening steps may be included.

[0029] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “has”, “having”, “includes” and / or “including”, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0030] As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry) and(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable):(i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) with software / firmware and(ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and(c) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

[0031] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0032] As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G), the second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G), 5.5G, the sixth generation (6G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

[0033] As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), for example, a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (I AB) node, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite, an aircraft network device, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. In some example embodiments, radio access network (RAN) split architecture comprises a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) at an IAB donor node. An IAB node comprises a Mobile Terminal (IAB-MT) part that behaves like a UE toward the parent node, and a DU part of an IAB node behaves like a base station toward the next-hop IAB node.

[0034] The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), a Subscriber Station (SS), a Portable SubscriberStation, a Mobile Station (MS), or an Access Terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Termination (MT) part of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms “terminal device”, “communication device”, “terminal”, “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

[0035] As used herein, the term “resource,” “transmission resource,” “resource block,” “physical resource block” (PRB), “uplink resource,” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing a communication, for example, a communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a resource in time domain, a resource in frequency domain, a resource in space domain, a resource in code domain, or any other combination of the time, frequency, space and / or code domain resource enabling a communication, and the like. In the following, unless explicitly stated, a resource in both frequency domain and time domain will be used as an example of a transmission resource for describing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that example embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0036] As used herein, the term “system information block (SIB)” may refer to a data structure that contains network configuration and operational parameters broadcasted by the network to all user equipment (UEs) within a cell. The term “physical broadcast channel (PBCH)” used herein may refer to a downlink channel used to broadcast system information from the network to all user equipment (UEs) within a cell.

[0037] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. In the communication environment 100, a plurality of communication devices, including a terminal device 110 and a network device 120, can communicate with each other. In the example of FIG. 1, the terminal device 110 may be a UE and the network device 120 may be a base station serving the UE. The serving area of the network device 120 may be called a cell 102.

[0038] It is to be understood that the number of devices and their connections shown in FIG. 1 are only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitation. The communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of devices configured to implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. Although not shown, it would be appreciated that one or more additional devices may be located in the cell 102, and one or more additional cells may be deployed in the communication environment 100. It is noted that although illustrated as a network device, the network device 120 may be another device than a network device. Although illustrated as a terminal device, the terminal device 110 may be another device than a terminal device.

[0039] In the following, for the purpose of illustration, some example embodiments are described with the terminal device 110 operating as a UE and the network device 120 operating as a base station. However, in some example embodiments, operations described in connection with a terminal device may be implemented at a network device or other device, and operations described in connection with a network device may be implemented at a terminal device or other device.

[0040] In some example embodiments, a transmission direction from the network device 120 to the terminal device 110 is referred to as a downlink (DL), while a transmission direction from the terminal device 110 to the network device 120 is referred to as an uplink (UL). In DL, the network device 120 is a transmitting (TX) device (or a transmitter) and the terminal device 110 is a receiving (RX) device (or a receiver). In UL, the terminal device 110 is a TX device (or a transmitter) and the network device 120 is a RX device (or a receiver).

[0041] Communications in the communication environment 100 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol(s), comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and / or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

[0042] A future communication protocol may provide future compatible support for lower power wireless area (LPWA) devices. For example, it may support synchronization signal block (SSB) design such that LPWA devices may be able to process and receive the SSB for certain maximum bandwidth and coverage requirements. The coverage requirements may be more stringent than, for example, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) user equipment (UE).

[0043] FIG. 2A to FIG. 2C illustrate example structures of synchronization signal block (SSB). As shown in FIG. 2A to FIG. 2C, the SSB structure may be defined as a four symbol structure with a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH). FIG. 2A to FIG. 20 illustrate various configurations and arrangements of the PSS, SSS and PBCH, which may also include different numbers of subcarriers. In some examples, the bandwidth (for example, the number of subcarrier N) of the SSB may depend on the frequency range. In a lower frequency range, the SSB bandwidth may be narrower than that in higher frequency range. As an example, below 3GHz or below 1GHz, the occupied SSB bandwidth (BW) may be 200 subcarriers (3MHz, 200 subcarriers with 15kHz subcarrier spacing). In some examples, the SSB in below 6GHz or other frequency range may occupy 240 subcarriers (6 MHz with 15kHz subcarrier spacing). It is noted that the SSB structures shown in FIG. 2A to FIG. 2C are only examples not limitations. In some other examples, the synchronization signal PSS / SSS and the PBCH may have same bandwidth (such as, same number of subcarriers).

[0044] In some examples, the Lmaxmay refer to the maximum number of SSB time locations (i.e., potential time locations where SSBs may be transmitted) in a half frame. The Lmaxmay depend on the used frequency range, for example, below 3 / 6GHz or above 6GHz and so on. Candidate SS / PBCH blocks in a half frame are indexed in an ascending order in time from 0 to Lmax. UE determines the 2 least significant (LSB) bits, for Lmax, or the 3 LSB bits, for Lmax, of a SS / PBCH block index per half frame from a one-to-one mapping with an index of the DMRS sequence transmitted in the PBCH. For Lmax, the UE determines the 3 MSB bits of the SS / PBCH block index per half frame from PBCH payload bits & A+S> & A+&> A+7'

[0045] In some examples, the UE may assume a reference signal sequence r(m) for an SS / PBCH block is defined by: r(m) = ^=(1 - 2 • c(2m)) + j^=(l - 2 • c(2m + 1)), where c(n)represents a scrambling sequence. The scrambling sequence generator may be initialized at the start of each SS / PBCH block occasion with cinit= 211(iSSB+ 1)(⌊NcellID / 4⌋ + 1) + 26(iSSB+ 1) +( Nceiivmod 4)ID7, where - for L = 4, i = i + 4n where is the number of the half- max ’ SSB SSB hf hf frame in which the PBCH is transmitted in a frame with = 0 for the first half-frame in the frame hf and n, = 1 for the second half-frame in the frame, and iOODis the two least significant bits of the hf SSB candidate SS / PBCH block index; - for L > 4, iOOD= iOODwhere iOODis the three leastsignificant bits of the candidate SS / PBCH block index.

[0046] Further, network energy efficiency (NES) is one of the key themes in communication studying. Enabling increased cell sleep opportunities through adaptation of control plane (C-plane) is one of the techniques that is being considered. One of these techniques is on-demand SIB1. The system information block 1 (SIB1) provides to the UE the essential information that enables a UE to accessthe network from idle / inactive and for performing initial cell selection and reselection. SIB1 is transmitted periodically in all the SSB beam directions as an ‘always-on’ signal, regardless of whether any UE requires the SIB1 acquisition. This prevents network applying more effective sleep states in the cell (as SIB1 needs to be send periodically). Further, on-demand SIB1 enables the SIB1 to be transmitted on-demand, based on the UE indication and only in the requested SSB beam direction. This allows the network to reduce the transmission and apply sleep states more frequently. The UE is configured with the wake-up indication (through another cell typically). When UE needs SIB1 information (e.g. in case of a cell reselection), the UE send an uplink signal to request the network to transmit SIB1.

[0047] The on-demand SIB1 procedure introduces an increase in SIB1 acquisition latency, and thereby also to related procedures, thus it would be preferable if it could be avoided. UE autonomously trying to detect the presence of SIB1 (as per legacy NR operation) could be one approach, but if the periodicity of SIB1 transmission is increased / relaxed, this may result increase in UE power consumption due to necessity to monitor for a long time. Also, sending an uplink signal to request the SIB1 may affect the random access (RACH) capacity and cause intercell interference.

[0048] In accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a solution for SIB transmission. In particular, a network device indicates whether the SIB is currently broadcasted or on-demand to a terminal device. The terminal device then read the SIB or transmits a request for the SIB. In this way, it can save power consumption. Moreover, it can avoid intercell interference.

[0049] Example embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is noted the example embodiments described with reference to the accompanying drawings can be implemented in any suitable manner. For example, one or more example embodiments from one drawing can be implemented independently. Alternatively, one or more example embodiments from one drawing can be implemented together with, one or more example embodiments from one or more other drawings.

[0050] FIG. 3 illustrates an example signaling flow 300 of SIB transmission according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the signaling flow 300 will be described with reference to FIG. 1, for example, by using the terminal device 110 and the network device 120.

[0051] The network device 120 transmits (3010) a downlink signal in a PBCH to the terminal device 110. In other words, the terminal device 110 receives (3010) the downlink signal in the PBCH from the network device 120. For example, the network device 120 may broadcast (3010) ) the downlink signal in the PBCH to one or more terminal devices including the terminal device 110.

[0052] The terminal device 110 determines (3020) a transmission status of a SIB based the downlink signal. In some example embodiments, the SIB is the system information block at least provisioning information for the terminal device 110 to access a cell of the network device 120. For example, the SIB may be SIB1 which contains more detailed information about the network and how UEs can access it. The detailed information may include cell access information, timing adjustment information, scheduling information for other SIBs, cell barred information, and cell selection parameters.

[0053] The transmission status indicates one of: the system information block is broadcasted or a transmission of the system information block is based on a request from the terminal device 110. For example, if the transmission status indicates that the system information block is broadcasted, it means that the SIB is currently broadcasted in the cell (such as, in the transmission 3010). Alternatively, if the transmission status indicates that the transmission of the system information block is based on the request, it means that the transmission of the SIB is on-demand. In some example embodiments, the transmission status may be specific to a beam or SSB.

[0054] In some example embodiments, the downlink signal is a demodulation reference signal. In this case, a sequence of the demodulation reference signal indicates the transmission status of the SIB. For example, a DMRS sequence of the PBCH (i.e., PBCH DMRS) indicates the transmission status of the SIB1 in the cell. In some other example embodiments, the transmission status may be indicated per frequency layer or per frequency range or per carrier.

[0055] In some other example embodiments, the sequence of DMRS also indicates the number of transmission occasions for the SIB. For example, the DMRS sequence of PBCH informs the number transmission occasions of SIB1 in the ongoing broadcast transmission of SIB1. In some examples, the transmission occasions that are counted (forward) are determined based on the SIB1 broadcast configuration.

[0056] Alternatively, or in addition, the sequence of DMRS indicates time remaining in broadcasting the SIB. For example, the DMRS sequence of PBCH informs time remaining in the ongoing broadcast transmission of SIB1. In some examples, the time of the forth coming / remaining SIB1 broadcast may be indicated as a function of configured time and value indicated by PBCH DMRS sequence.

[0057] The network device 120 may generate the sequence of the demodulation reference signal based on the transmission status of the SIB. In some example embodiments, if the transmission status indicates that the transmission of the SIB is based on the request from the terminal device 110, the sequence of the demodulation reference signal is generated based on a first set of parameters. For example, the PBCH DMRS sequence may be generated with a first set of initialization parameters when the SIB1 is not transmitted in broadcast manner (in the beam associated to the particular SSB). In some example embodiments, the first set of parameters may include one or more of: the transmission status, a first beam factor indicating whether the SIB is transmitted in a current beam orall beams, or a first transmission counter indicating the number of broadcasting of the SIB or a time duration for broadcasting the SIB. In some other example embodiments, if the transmission status indicates that the SIB is broadcasted, the sequence of the demodulation reference signal is generated based on a second set of parameters. For example, when the SIB1 is being (currently) transmitted (in the beam associated to the particular SSB), a second set of initialization parameters are applied to generate the sequence of the demodulation reference signal. In some example embodiments, the second set of parameters may include one or more: the transmission status, a second beam factor indicating whether the SIB is transmitted in a current beam or all beams, or a second transmission counter indicating the number of broadcasting of the SIB or a time duration for broadcasting the SIB. In some example embodiments, different initialization parameters may be applied to carry information if the SIB is transmitted in more than one beam (such as, all beams).

[0058] In one example embodiment, the network device 120 may generate the sequence of the DMRS based on cinit= f(i̅SSB, NcellID, iSIB1), where cinitrepresents the sequence of the DMRS, frepresents a function, i represents an SSB index, ceil represents a physical cell identity (ID),OOD IDiOID, represents a transmission status of SIB which may be 0 or 1. Alternatively, the network device SIB1120 may generate the sequence of the DMRS based on cinit= 211(rssB+ l)([7Vceii / 4j + 1) + 26(tSSB+1)+(^ID®11mod 4) + 22(IS|B1), where cinitrepresents the sequence of the DMRS,Drepresents an SSB index, ceil represents a physical cell identity (ID), i represents a OOD ID olB1 transmission status of SIB which may be 0 or 1. For example, if iOID, is equal to 0, it means that SIB1 o I B1is not transmitted in any beam and if iOIDdis equal to 1, it means that SIB1 is transmitted at least in blo1current beam (associated with the SSB index rooD). It is noted that the value of iOIDdis only an example not limitation.

[0059] In another example embodiment, the sequence of the DMRS may be generated further based on a beam factor that indicates whether the SIB is transmitted in a current beam or all beams. For example, the sequence of the DMRS may be generated based on cinit= 211(rooD+OOD1)(VlLWi InD" / 4 JI + 1)z+ 26(r OOD + 1) + fevID" mod 4) + 23(I lD l ) + 22B, where cinitrepresents the sequence of the DMRS, i represents an SSB index, ceil represents a physical cell identity OOD ID(ID), i represents a transmission status of SIB which may be 0 or 1, B represents the beam olB1factor. In this case, L, =0 implies that SIB1 is not transmitted in any beam and iOID=1 implies that olB1 OIB1SIB1 is transmitted at least in current beam (associated with the SSB index iOOD). Further, B=0 means SSBthat SIB1 is transmitted only in current beam (associated with the SSB index r and B=1 means SSBthat SIB1 is transmitted in all beams (associated to SSBs). It is noted that the values of iOIDdand B OID1 are only an example not limitations.

[0060] In a further example embodiment, the sequence of the DMRS may be generated further based on a transmission counter indicating the number of broadcasting of the SIB or a time duration for broadcasting the SIB. For example, the sequence of the DMRS may be generated based on cinit= 211(i + l)([wi / 4j + 1) + 26(r + 1) + (Wi mod 4) + 22(i ) + 23 / ?, where cinitrepresents the sequence of the DMRS, rooDrepresents an SSB index, ceil represents a physical OOD IDcell identity (ID), i represents a transmission status of SIB which may be 0 or 1, and R represents olo1the transmission counter. In this case, i =0 implies that SIB1 is not transmitted in any beam, and SIB1iOID=1 implies that SIB1 is transmitted at least in current beam (associated with the SSB index rooD).OODR=[0, 1,2,3..7] indicates the number or remaining SIB1 broadcast transmission currently. In this case, the terminal device 110 may use this information whether it shall do another on-demand request for SIB1, or whether terminal device 110 can use the current broadcast of SIB1. In some example embodiments, the transmission counter indicates the number of times at least that the SIB1 will be broadcasted. If the number of remaining broadcasts occasions is more equal or more than the values in the field, the network device 120 may indicate the maximum value. In other example embodiments, the transmission counter indicates a value that indicates together with configured time duration that for how long the SIB1 broadcast is going to continue.

[0061] An example of a method for detection of PBCH DMRS sequence repetition instance is shown in FIG. 4. At block 410, the terminal device 110 may generate a first number of candidate sequences of the demodulation reference signal. For example, upon detection of Physical cell ID based on PSS and SSS, the terminal device 110 generates issBxdifferent PBCH DMRS sequence hypotheses.

[0062] At block 420, the terminal device 110 may determine a plurality of correlation values by correlating the candidate sequence with each candidate sequence of the demodulation reference signal. For example, the terminal device 110 determine, for all issBxPBCH DMRS sequences hypothesis, issBxdifferent auto-correlation functions by correlating issBxDMRS sequences with received SSB samples.

[0063] At block 430, terminal device 110 may then determine a maximum correlation value from the plurality of correlation values. For example, the terminal device 110 selects the auto-correlation value which the maximum value out of issBxdifferent auto-correlation results. In this case, the selected maximum auto-correlation value corresponds the pair of detected SSB block index, issB and SIB1 transmission status, iOID,, values. At block 440, the terminal device 110 may determine the transmission status corresponding to the maximum correlation value.

[0064] In some example embodiments, a scrambling code of the PBCH indicates the transmission status of the SIB. For example, one of the PBCH scrambling codes may be initialized at least with information regarding whether SIB1 is broadcasted or not. In some other example embodiments, the downlink signal may include PBCH payload information bits. In this case, one or more PBCH payloadinformation bits indicate the transmission status of the SIB. In some further example embodiments, the downlink signal may include master information block information (MIB) bits. In this case, one or more MIB information bits indicate the transmission status of the SIB.

[0065] Referring back to FIG. 3, the terminal device 110 receives the SIB based on the transmission status. For example, based on the transmission status, the terminal device 110 may determine whether to do a SIB1 on demand transmission request in UL based on NW configuration or whether to benefit from the ongoing SIB1 broadcast. In this way, it can save power consumption.

[0066] In some example embodiments, if the transmission status indicates that the SIB is broadcasted, the terminal device 110 may receive the SIB in the PBCH. For example, the terminal device 110 may read / acquire the SIB1 from the received SSB. In this way, it can reduce SIB acquisition latency. Further, it can avoid affecting the RACH capacity and cause intercell interference.

[0067] In some other example embodiments, if the transmission status indicates that the transmission of the SIB is based on the request from the terminal device, the terminal device 110 may apply an on-demand procedure to request the transmission of SIB. For example, the terminal device 110 transmit (3030) the request for the system information block to the network device 120. After receiving (3030) the request, the network device 120 may transmit (3040) the SIB to the terminal device 110. In other words, the terminal device 110 may receive (3040) the SIB from the network device 120.

[0068] According to example embodiments described with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, it enables the network to indicate to the UE(s) whether the SIB1 is currently being broadcasted in the cell. Based on this information UE can determine whether to do a SIB1 on demand transmission request in UL based on NW configuration or whether to benefit from the ongoing SIB1 broadcast. In this way, it can support dynamic procedure to determine whether SIB1 on-demand acquisition is needed.

[0069] FIG. 5 illustrates an example signaling flow of a procedure for DMRS detection based method according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the signaling flow 500 will be described with reference to FIG. 1, for example, by using the terminal device 110 and the network device 120.

[0070] The network device 120 may determine (5010) whether SI B1 it to be broadcasted or delivered on-demand. The PBCH is associated with at least one SSB. The network device 120 may provide information in the PBCH for at least one SSB (for example, out of set of N SSBs) based on the determination (5010).

[0071] The network device 120 may transmit (5020) at least one SSB to the terminal device 110. For example, the network 120 may transmit the set of N SSBs to the terminal device 110.

[0072] The terminal device 110 may detect (5030) the transmission of the at least one SSB. The terminal device 110 may also detect (5040) PBCH demodulation reference signal sequence in a PBCHand determine whether the SIB1 delivery is broadcasted or on-demand. If the SIB1 delivery is broadcasted, the terminal device 110 may read (5050) the SIB1. Alternatively, if the SIB1 delivery is on-demand, the terminal device 110 may trigger (5050) on-demand request for the SIB1. For example, the terminal device 110 may transmit the on-demand request for the SIB1 to the network device 120.

[0073] FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of an example method 600 implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the first apparatus may be or may be implemented at the terminal device 110 in FIG. 1.

[0074] At block 610, the first apparatus receives, from a second apparatus, a downlink signal in a physical broadcast channel.

[0075] At block 620, the first apparatus determines a transmission status of a system information block based the downlink signal. The transmission status indicates one of: the system information block is broadcasted or a transmission of the system information block is based on a request from the first apparatus.

[0076] At block 630, the first apparatus receives, from the second apparatus, the system information block based on the transmission status.

[0077] In some example embodiments, the downlink signal is a demodulation reference signal, and a sequence of the demodulation reference signal indicates the transmission status of the system information block.

[0078] In some example embodiments, the sequence of the demodulation reference signal further indicates at least one of: the number of transmission occasions for the system information block, or time remaining in broadcasting the system information block.

[0079] In some example embodiments, in response to the transmission status indicating that the transmission of the system information block is based on the request from the first apparatus, the sequence of the demodulation reference signal is generated based on a first set of parameters.

[0080] In some example embodiments, the first set of parameters comprises at least one of: the transmission status, a first beam factor indicating whether the system information block is transmitted in a current beam or all beams, or a first transmission counter indicating the number of broadcasting of the system information block or a time duration for broadcasting the system information block.

[0081] In some example embodiments, in response to the transmission status indicating that the system information block is broadcasted, the sequence of the demodulation reference signal is generated based on a second set of parameters.

[0082] In some example embodiments, the second set of parameters comprises at least one of: the transmission status, a second beam factor indicating whether the system information block is transmitted in a current beam or all beams, or a second transmission counter indicating the numberof broadcasting of the system information block or a time duration for broadcasting the system information block.

[0083] In some example embodiments, the method 600 further comprises: generating a first number of candidate sequences of the demodulation reference signal; determining a plurality of correlation values by correlating the candidate sequence with each candidate sequence of the demodulation reference signal; determining a maximum correlation value from the plurality of correlation values; and determining the transmission status corresponding to the maximum correlation value.

[0084] In some example embodiments, a scrambling code of the physical broadcast channel indicates the transmission status of the system information block.

[0085] In some example embodiments, the downlink signal comprises PBCH payload information bits, wherein one or more PBCH payload information bits indicate the transmission status of the system information block.

[0086] In some example embodiments, the downlink signal comprises master information block information bits, wherein one or more master information block information bits indicate the transmission status of the system information block.

[0087] In some example embodiments, the system information block is the system information block at least provisioning information for the first apparatus to access a cell of the second apparatus.

[0088] In some example embodiments, the method 600 further comprises: based on a determination that the transmission status indicates that the system information block is broadcasted, receiving the system information block in the physical broadcast channel.

[0089] In some example embodiments, the method 600 further comprises: based on a determination that the transmission status indicates that the transmission of the system information block is based on the request from the first apparatus, transmitting the request for the system information block to the second apparatus; and receiving the system information from the second apparatus.

[0090] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal device, and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

[0091] FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of an example method 700 implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the second apparatus may be or may be implemented at the network device 120 in FIG. 1.

[0092] At block 710, the second apparatus determines a transmission status of a system information block. The transmission status indicates one of: the system information block is broadcasted or a transmission of the system information block is based on a request from the first apparatus.

[0093] At block 720, the second apparatus transmits, to a first apparatus, a downlink signal indicating the transmission status in a physical broadcast channel.

[0094] In some example embodiments, the downlink signal is a demodulation reference signal, and a sequence of the demodulation reference signal indicates the transmission status of the system information block.

[0095] In some example embodiments, the sequence of the demodulation reference signal further indicates at least one of: the number of transmission occasions for the system information block, or time remaining in broadcasting the system information block.

[0096] In some example embodiments, the method 700 further comprises: based on a determination that the transmission status indicates that the transmission of the system information block is based on the request from the first apparatus, generating the sequence of the demodulation reference signal based on a first set of parameters.

[0097] In some example embodiments, the first set of parameters comprises at least one of: the transmission status, a first beam factor indicating whether the system information block is transmitted in a current beam or all beams, or a first transmission counter indicating the number of broadcasting of the system information block or a time duration for broadcasting the system information block.

[0098] In some example embodiments, the method 700 further comprises: based on a determination that the transmission status indicates that the system information block is broadcasted, generating the sequence of the demodulation reference signal based on a second set of parameters.

[0099] In some example embodiments, the second set of parameters comprises at least one of: the transmission status, a second beam factor indicating whether the system information block is transmitted in a current beam or all beams, or a second transmission counter indicating the number of broadcasting of the system information block or a time duration for broadcasting the system information block.

[0100] In some example embodiments, a scrambling code of the physical broadcast channel indicates the transmission status of the system information block.

[0101] In some example embodiments, the downlink signal comprises PBCH payload information bits, wherein one or more PBCH payload information bits indicate the transmission status of the system information block.

[0102] In some example embodiments, the downlink signal comprises master information block information bits, wherein one or more master information block information bits indicate the transmission status of the system information block.

[0103] In some example embodiments, the system information block is the system information block at least provisioning information for the first apparatus to access a cell of the second apparatus.

[0104] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is caused to: based on a determination that the transmission status indicates that the system information block is broadcasted, transmitting the system information block in the physical broadcast channel.

[0105] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is caused to: based on a determination that the transmission status indicates that the transmission of the system information block is based on the request from the first apparatus, receiving the request for the system information block from the first apparatus; and transmitting the system information to the first apparatus.

[0106] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal device, and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

[0107] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method 600 (for example, the terminal device 110 in FIG. 1 ) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 600. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in the terminal device 110 in FIG. 1.

[0108] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, a downlink signal in a physical broadcast channel; means for determining a transmission status of a system information block based the downlink signal, wherein the transmission status indicates one of: the system information block is broadcasted or a transmission of the system information block is based on a request from the first apparatus; and means for receiving, from the second apparatus, the system information block based on the transmission status.

[0109] In some example embodiments, the downlink signal is a demodulation reference signal, and a sequence of the demodulation reference signal indicates the transmission status of the system information block.

[0110] In some example embodiments, the sequence of the demodulation reference signal further indicates at least one of: the number of transmission occasions for the system information block, or time remaining in broadcasting the system information block.

[0111] In some example embodiments, in response to the transmission status indicating that the transmission of the system information block is based on the request from the first apparatus, the sequence of the demodulation reference signal is generated based on a first set of parameters.

[0112] In some example embodiments, the first set of parameters comprises at least one of: the transmission status, a first beam factor indicating whether the system information block is transmitted in a current beam or all beams, or a first transmission counter indicating the number of broadcasting of the system information block or a time duration for broadcasting the system information block.

[0113] In some example embodiments, in response to the transmission status indicating that the system information block is broadcasted, the sequence of the demodulation reference signal is generated based on a second set of parameters.

[0114] In some example embodiments, the second set of parameters comprises at least one of: the transmission status, a second beam factor indicating whether the system information block istransmitted in a current beam or all beams, or a second transmission counter indicating the number of broadcasting of the system information block or a time duration for broadcasting the system information block.

[0115] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for generating a first number of candidate sequences of the demodulation reference signal; means for determining a plurality of correlation values by correlating the candidate sequence with each candidate sequence of the demodulation reference signal; means for determining a maximum correlation value from the plurality of correlation values; and means for determining the transmission status corresponding to the maximum correlation value.

[0116] In some example embodiments, a scrambling code of the physical broadcast channel indicates the transmission status of the system information block.

[0117] In some example embodiments, the downlink signal comprises PBCH payload information bits, wherein one or more PBCH payload information bits indicate the transmission status of the system information block.

[0118] In some example embodiments, the downlink signal comprises master information block information bits, wherein one or more master information block information bits indicate the transmission status of the system information block.

[0119] In some example embodiments, the system information block is the system information block at least provisioning information for the first apparatus to access a cell of the second apparatus.

[0120] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for based on a determination that the transmission status indicates that the system information block is broadcasted, receiving the system information block in the physical broadcast channel.

[0121] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for based on a determination that the transmission status indicates that the transmission of the system information block is based on the request from the first apparatus, transmitting the request for the system information block to the second apparatus; and means for receiving the system information from the second apparatus.

[0122] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal device, and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

[0123] In some example embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing any of the method 700 (for example, the network device 120 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 700. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The second apparatus may be implemented as or included in the network device 120 in FIG. 1.

[0124] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for determining a transmission status of a system information block, wherein the transmission status indicates one of: the system information block is broadcasted or a transmission of the system information block is based on a request from the first apparatus; and means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, a downlink signal indicating the transmission status in a physical broadcast channel.

[0125] In some example embodiments, the downlink signal is a demodulation reference signal, and a sequence of the demodulation reference signal indicates the transmission status of the system information block.

[0126] In some example embodiments, the sequence of the demodulation reference signal further indicates at least one of: the number of transmission occasions for the system information block, or time remaining in broadcasting the system information block.

[0127] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for based on a determination that the transmission status indicates that the transmission of the system information block is based on the request from the first apparatus, generating the sequence of the demodulation reference signal based on a first set of parameters.

[0128] In some example embodiments, the first set of parameters comprises at least one of: the transmission status, a first beam factor indicating whether the system information block is transmitted in a current beam or all beams, or a first transmission counter indicating the number of broadcasting of the system information block or a time duration for broadcasting the system information block.

[0129] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for based on a determination that the transmission status indicates that the system information block is broadcasted, generating the sequence of the demodulation reference signal based on a second set of parameters.

[0130] In some example embodiments, the second set of parameters comprises at least one of: the transmission status, a second beam factor indicating whether the system information block is transmitted in a current beam or all beams, or a second transmission counter indicating the number of broadcasting of the system information block or a time duration for broadcasting the system information block.

[0131] In some example embodiments, a scrambling code of the physical broadcast channel indicates the transmission status of the system information block.

[0132] In some example embodiments, the downlink signal comprises PBCH payload information bits, wherein one or more PBCH payload information bits indicate the transmission status of the system information block.

[0133] In some example embodiments, the downlink signal comprises master information block information bits, wherein one or more master information block information bits indicate the transmission status of the system information block.

[0134] In some example embodiments, the system information block is the system information block at least provisioning information for the first apparatus to access a cell of the second apparatus.

[0135] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus is caused to: means for based on a determination that the transmission status indicates that the system information block is broadcasted, transmitting the system information block in the physical broadcast channel.

[0136] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus is caused to: means for based on a determination that the transmission status indicates that the transmission of the system information block is based on the request from the first apparatus, receiving the request for the system information block from the first apparatus; and means for transmitting the system information to the first apparatus.

[0137] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal device, and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

[0138] FIG. 8 is a simplified block diagram of a device 800 that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 800 may be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the terminal device 110 or the network device 120 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 800 includes one or more processors 810, one or more memories 820 coupled to the processor 810, and one or more communication modules 840 coupled to the processor 810.

[0139] The communication module 840 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 840 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, the communication module 840 may include at least one antenna.

[0140] The processor 810 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 800 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

[0141] The memory 820 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 824, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disk (DVD), an optical disk, a laser disk, and other magneticstorage and / or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random-access memory (RAM) 822 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

[0142] A computer program 830 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 810. The instructions of the program 830 may include instructions for performing operations / acts of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 830 may be stored in the memory, e.g., the ROM 824. The processor 810 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 830 into the RAM 822.

[0143] The example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 830 so that the device 800 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG. 7. The example embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0144] In some example embodiments, the program 830 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 800 (such as in the memory 820) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 800. The device 800 may load the program 830 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 822 for execution. In some example embodiments, the computer readable medium may include any types of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0145] FIG. 9 shows an example of the computer readable medium 900 which may be in form of CD, DVD or other optical storage disk. The computer readable medium 900 has the program 830 stored thereon.

[0146] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, and other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. Although various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0147] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer readable medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such asthose included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target physical or virtual processor, to carry out any of the methods as described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0148] Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

[0149] In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

[0150] The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0151] Further, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, although several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless explicitly stated, certain features that are described in thecontext of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless explicitly stated, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in a plurality of embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

[0152] Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A first apparatus comprising:at least one processor; andat least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus to:receive, from a second apparatus, a downlink signal in a physical broadcast channel; determine a transmission status of a system information block based the downlink signal, wherein the transmission status indicates one of: the system information block is broadcasted or a transmission of the system information block is based on a request from the first apparatus; andreceive, from the second apparatus, the system information block based on the transmission status.

2. The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein the downlink signal is a demodulation reference signal, and a sequence of the demodulation reference signal indicates the transmission status of the system information block.

3. The first apparatus of claim 2, wherein the sequence of the demodulation reference signal further indicates at least one of:the number of transmission occasions for the system information block, ortime remaining in broadcasting the system information block.

4. The first apparatus of claim 2 or 3, wherein in response to the transmission status indicating that the transmission of the system information block is based on the request from the first apparatus, the sequence of the demodulation reference signal is generated based on a first set of parameters.

5. The first apparatus of claim 4, wherein the first set of parameters comprises at least one of: the transmission status, a first beam factor indicating whether the system information block is transmitted in a current beam or all beams, or a first transmission counter indicating the number of broadcasting of the system information block or a time duration for broadcasting the system information block.

6. The first apparatus of claim 2 or 3, wherein in response to the transmission status indicating that the system information block is broadcasted, the sequence of the demodulation reference signal is generated based on a second set of parameters.

7. The first apparatus of claim 6, wherein the second set of parameters comprises at least one of: the transmission status, a second beam factor indicating whether the system information block is transmitted in a current beam or all beams, or a second transmission counter indicating the number of broadcasting of the system information block or a time duration for broadcasting the system information block.

8. The first apparatus of any of claims 2-7, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:generate a first number of candidate sequences of the demodulation reference signal; determine a plurality of correlation values by correlating the candidate sequence with each candidate sequence of the demodulation reference signal;determine a maximum correlation value from the plurality of correlation values; anddetermine the transmission status corresponding to the maximum correlation value.

9. The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein a scrambling code of the physical broadcast channel indicates the transmission status of the system information block.

10. The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein the downlink signal comprises PBCH payload information bits, wherein one or more PBCH payload information bits indicate the transmission status of the system information block.

11. The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein the downlink signal comprises master information block information bits, wherein one or more master information block information bits indicate the transmission status of the system information block.

12. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-11, wherein the system information block is the system information block at least provisioning information for the first apparatus to access a cell of the second apparatus.

13. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-11, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:based on a determination that the transmission status indicates that the system information block is broadcasted, receive the system information block in the physical broadcast channel.

14. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-11, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:based on a determination that the transmission status indicates that the transmission of the system information block is based on the request from the first apparatus, transmit the request for the system information block to the second apparatus; andreceive the system information from the second apparatus.

15. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 -14, wherein the first apparatus comprises a terminal device, and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

16. A second apparatus comprising:at least one processor; andat least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus to:determine a transmission status of a system information block, wherein the transmission status indicates one of: the system information block is broadcasted or a transmission of the system information block is based on a request from the first apparatus; andtransmit, to a first apparatus, a downlink signal indicating the transmission status in a physical broadcast channel.

17. The second apparatus of claim 16, wherein the downlink signal is a demodulation reference signal, and a sequence of the demodulation reference signal indicates the transmission status of the system information block.

18. The second apparatus of claim 17, wherein the sequence of the demodulation reference signal further indicates at least one of:the number of transmission occasions for the system information block, ortime remaining in broadcasting the system information block.

19. The second apparatus of claim 17 or 18, wherein the second apparatus is caused to: based on a determination that the transmission status indicates that the transmission of the system information block is based on the request from the first apparatus, generate the sequence of the demodulation reference signal based on a first set of parameters.

20. The second apparatus of claim 19, wherein the first set of parameters comprises at least one of: the transmission status, a first beam factor indicating whether the system information block is transmitted in a current beam or all beams, or a first transmission counter indicating the number of broadcasting of the system information block or a time duration for broadcasting the system information block21. The second apparatus of claim 17 or 18, wherein the second apparatus is caused to:based on a determination that the transmission status indicates that the system information block is broadcasted, generate the sequence of the demodulation reference signal based on a second set of parameters.

22. The second apparatus of claim 21, wherein the second set of parameters comprises at least one of: the transmission status, a second beam factor indicating whether the system information block is transmitted in a current beam or all beams, or a second transmission counter indicating the number of broadcasting of the system information block or a time duration for broadcasting the system information block.

23. The second apparatus of claim 16, wherein a scrambling code of the physical broadcast channel indicates the transmission status of the system information block.

24. The second apparatus of claim 16, wherein the downlink signal comprises PBCH payload information bits, wherein one or more PBCH payload information bits indicate the transmission status of the system information block.

25. The second apparatus of claim 16, wherein the downlink signal comprises master information block information bits, wherein one or more master information block information bits indicate the transmission status of the system information block.

26. The second apparatus of any of claims 16-25, wherein the system information block is the system information block at least provisioning information for the first apparatus to access a cell of the second apparatus.

27. The second apparatus of any of claims 16-26, wherein the second apparatus is caused to: based on a determination that the transmission status indicates that the system information block is broadcasted, transmit the system information block in the physical broadcast channel.

28. The second apparatus of any of claims 16-26, wherein the second apparatus is caused to: based on a determination that the transmission status indicates that the transmission of the system information block is based on the request from the first apparatus, receive the request for the system information block from the first apparatus; andtransmit the system information to the first apparatus.

29. The second apparatus of any of claims 16-28, wherein the first apparatus comprises a terminal device, and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

30. A method comprising:receiving, at a first apparatus and from a second apparatus, a downlink signal in a physical broadcast channel;determining a transmission status of a system information block based the downlink signal, wherein the transmission status indicates one of: the system information block is broadcasted or a transmission of the system information block is based on a request from the first apparatus; andreceiving, from the second apparatus, the system information block based on the transmission status.

31. A method comprising:determining, at a second apparatus, a transmission status of a system information block, wherein the transmission status indicates one of: the system information block is broadcasted or a transmission of the system information block is based on a request from the first apparatus; andtransmitting, to a first apparatus, a downlink signal indicating the transmission status in a physical broadcast channel.

32. A first apparatus comprising:means for receiving, from a second apparatus, a downlink signal in a physical broadcast channel; means for determining a transmission status of a system information block based the downlink signal, wherein the transmission status indicates one of: the system information block is broadcasted or a transmission of the system information block is based on a request from the first apparatus; and means for receiving, from the second apparatus, the system information block based on the transmission status.

33. A second apparatus comprising:means for determining a transmission status of a system information block, wherein the transmission status indicates one of: the system information block is broadcasted or a transmission of the system information block is based on a request from the first apparatus; andmeans for transmitting, to a first apparatus, a downlink signal indicating the transmission status in a physical broadcast channel.

34. A computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus at least to perform the method of claim 30 or 31.

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