PDCCH Blind Decoding Priority Selection in 5G NR
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current 5G new radio (NR) systems face challenges in efficiently configuring and monitoring Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) candidates due to terminal complexity and cost concerns, leading to limitations in the number of blind decoding attempts and control channel elements for channel estimation.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves a processing device that identifies the number of PDCCH candidates and control channel elements across search spaces, determines if these exceed maximum values, and selects a subset of PDCCH candidates based on a priority rule to skip monitoring of lower-priority candidates, thereby reducing the number of blind decoding attempts and control channel elements required.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a UE monitors all configured PDCCH candidates to achieve optimal scheduling flexibility, then scheduling flexibility is improved, but terminal complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes lower-priority PDCCH candidates from the monitoring set when the total number of candidates exceeds the maximum blind decoding limit. This allows the UE to focus monitoring resources on high-priority candidates while excluding less critical ones, thereby reducing terminal complexity while preserving essential scheduling flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different monitoring priorities to different PDCCH candidates based on their importance. High-priority candidates (e.g., those carrying critical control information) are monitored with full resources, while lower-priority candidates are selectively skipped or monitored with reduced resources, creating a differentiated quality of monitoring across the candidate set.
2Reliability
If a UE monitors all PDCCH candidates with maximum blind decoding attempts, then monitoring completeness is improved, but the number of blind decoding attempts exceeds maximum values
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements partial monitoring by selectively skipping lower-priority PDCCH candidates when the total number of candidates exceeds the maximum blind decoding capacity. Instead of attempting to monitor all candidates equally, the UE performs partial monitoring focused on high-priority candidates, ensuring that the most critical control information is received while staying within processing limits.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a skipping mechanism where the UE identifies and skips monitoring of lower-priority PDCCH candidates when resource constraints are encountered. This allows the UE to rapidly proceed with monitoring high-priority candidates without being blocked by the excessive total number of candidates, maintaining productivity while preserving essential monitoring functionality.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the number of PDCCH candidates per aggregation level is increased for each search space, then scheduling flexibility is improved, but the total number of blind decoding attempts increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic priority assignment and selective skipping of PDCCH candidates based on current system conditions and candidate importance. The monitoring behavior adapts dynamically by adjusting which candidates are monitored versus skipped, allowing the system to maintain high scheduling flexibility when resources permit while reducing blind decoding attempts when constraints are encountered.
Data Source
AI summary
A network device (e.g., a user equipment (UE), or a new radio NB (gNB)) can process or generate a configuration of physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring in different search spaces sets independently from one another in order to manage different services optimally. A processor of the network device can be configured to receive physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates of a PDCCH in a slot for channel estimation across search spaces of the slot. Different priorities can be determined among the PDCCH candidates in the slot based on a priority rule. Then a number of PDCCH candidates can be skipped/dropped from monitoring based on the different priorities of the PDCCH candidates to ensure that a threshold level of blind decoding operations across a plurality of slots of the PDCCH is being satisfied. The UE can monitor a portion of the PDCCH candidates while concurrently skipping another.