Patent Description:
Today's communication networks are also more secure, resilient to multipath fading, allow for lower network traffic latencies, provide better communication efficiencies (e.g., in terms of bits per second per unit of bandwidth used, etc.). These and other recent improvements have facilitated the emergence of the Internet of Things (IOT), large scale Machine to Machine (M2M) communication systems, autonomous vehicles, and other technologies that rely on consistent and secure communications, as for example described in <CIT>. Said prior art document discloses the allocation of common and UE-specific CORESETs in DL common BWPs.

Various aspects include methods for radio resource allocation to support multicast services from a fifth generation (<NUM>) - new radio (NR) (<NUM>-NR) network.

Various aspects may provide a method for radio resource allocation to support multicast services from a <NUM>-NR base station. In some aspects, the method may be performed by a processor of the base station. In various aspects, the method may include determining a multicast bandwidth part (BWP) within a carrier bandwidth, sending an indication of the multicast BWP to one or more user equipment (UE) computing devices in communication with the base station, and scheduling transmission of multicast data in the multicast BWP.

In some aspects, the multicast BWP may be a UE-common BWP configured to be used by at least a portion of the one or more UE computing devices in communication with the base station. In some aspects, the indication of the UE-common BWP may indicate resource allocation related parameters such that a receiving UE considers a lowest resource block (RB) index of the UE-common BWP as an initial physical resource block (PRB) of the UE-common BWP. In some aspects, the method may further include, for each of the one or more UE computing devices, determining whether the UE-common BWP has a same subcarrier spacing (SCS) and cyclic prefix (CP) length as a UE-specific BWP and the UE-common BWP is fully contained within the UE specific BWP, and sending an indication of a search space set for multicast to the respective UE computing device in response to determining that the UE-common BWP has a SCS and CP length as the UE-specific BWP and the UE-common BWP is fully contained within the UE specific BWP. In some aspects the search space set for multicast may be a search space set for multicast or unicast.

In some aspects, the method may further include, for each of the one or more UE computing devices, determining a time switching pattern for the respective UE computing device in response to determining that the UE-common BWP has a different SCS or CP length as the UE-specific BWP or the UE-common BWP is not fully contained within the UE specific BWP, and sending an indication of the time switching pattern for the respective UE computing device to the respective UE computing device. In some aspects, sending the indication of the time switching pattern may include sending the indication of the time switching pattern in a radio resource control (RRC) message. In some aspects, sending the indication of the time switching pattern may include sending the indication of the time switching pattern in a down link control information (DCI). In some aspects, a DCI in the UE-specific BWP indicating BWP switching to the UE-common BWP indicates BWP switching and schedules multicast data in the UE-common BWP, and a DCI in the UE-common BWP indicating BWP switching to the UE-common BWP indicates BWP switching and does not schedule data in the UE-specific BWP.

In some aspects, the multicast BWP may be a virtual BWP. In some aspects, the virtual BWP may be fully contained within a UE-specific BWP with a same subcarrier spacing (SCS) and cyclic prefix (CP) length for each of the one or more UE computing devices. In some aspects, each respective virtual BWP may be identified by a starting resource block and a length of resource blocks within the UE-specific BWP for that respective UE computing device. In some aspects, each respective virtual BWP may be identified by one or more control resource set (CORESET) bandwidth configurations based on a configuration of that respective UE computing device. In some aspects, the respective UE computing device may have a single CORESET for multicast and a lowest resource block index and a highest resource block index of the CORESET corresponds to the virtual BWP. In some aspects, the respective UE computing device may have multiple CORESETs for multicast and a lowest resource block index among the multiple CORESETs and a highest resource block index among the multiple CORESETs correspond to the virtual BWP. In some aspects, the virtual BWP may have a lowest resource block index within the UE-specific BWP without any specified bandwidth for the virtual BWP. In some aspects, the one or more UE computing devices may be configured to interpret down link control information (DCI) scheduling multicast data such that a lowest resource block index of the DCI frequency domain resource allocation field is the initial physical resource block of the virtual BWP.

Some aspects include methods that may be performed by a processor of a UE computing device, which may include receiving an indication of a multicast BWP within a carrier bandwidth from a <NUM>-NR base station; and receiving multicast data from the <NUM>-NR base station in the multicast BWP. In some aspects, the multicast BWP may be a UE-common BWP configured to be used by at least a portion of the one or more UE computing devices in communication with the <NUM>-NR base station. In some aspects, the indication of the UE-common BWP may indicate resource allocation related parameters such that a lowest RB index of the UE-common BWP is an initial PRB of the UE-common BWP.

Some aspects may further include receiving an indication of a search space set for multicast. In some aspects, the search space set for multicast may be a search space set for multicast or unicast.

Some aspects may further include receiving an indication of a time switching pattern from the base station. In some aspects, receiving the indication of the time switching pattern may include receiving the indication of the time switching pattern in a RRC message. In some aspects, receiving the indication of the time switching pattern may include receiving the indication of the time switching pattern in a DCI.

In some aspects, the multicast BWP may be a virtual BWP. In some aspects, the virtual BWP may be identified by one or more CORESET bandwidth configurations. In some aspects, a single CORESET for multicast may be configured on the UE computing device and a lowest resource block index and a highest resource block index of the CORESET corresponds to the virtual BWP. In some aspects, multiple CORESETs for multicast may be configured on the UE computing device and a lowest resource block index among the multiple CORESETs and a highest resource block index among the multiple CORESETs correspond to the virtual BWP.

Further aspects may include a wireless device having a processor configured to perform one or more operations of the methods summarized above. Further aspects may include a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable instructions configured to cause a processor of a wireless device to perform operations of the methods summarized above. Further aspects include a wireless device having means for performing functions of the methods summarized above. Further aspects include a system on chip for use in a wireless device that includes a processor configured to perform one or more operations of the methods summarized above. Further aspects include a system in a package that includes two systems on chip for use in a wireless device that includes a processor configured to perform one or more operations of the methods summarized above.

Further aspects may include a network computing device having a processor configured to perform operations of any of the methods summarized above. Further aspects may include a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable instructions configured to cause a processor of a network computing device to perform operations of any of the methods summarized above. Further aspects include a network computing device having means for performing functions of any of the methods summarized above.

Various embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. References made to particular examples and implementations are for illustrative purposes, and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims.

Various embodiments provide base station-implemented and user equipment (UE) computing device implemented methods for radio resource allocation to support multicast services from a <NUM>-NR network to support multicast services from a <NUM>-NR base station. Various embodiments may include determining a multicast bandwidth part (BWP) within a carrier bandwidth, sending an indication of the multicast BWP to one or more UE computing devices in communication with the base station, and scheduling transmission of multicast data in the multicast BWP. By scheduling transmission of multicast data in the multicast BWP, various embodiments may enable multicast service delivery to wireless devices in a <NUM>-NR network.

The terms "wireless device" and "user equipment (UE) computing device" are used interchangeably herein to refer to any one or all of wireless router devices, wireless appliances, cellular telephones, smartphones, portable computing devices, personal or mobile multi-media players, laptop computers, tablet computers, smartbooks, ultrabooks, palmtop computers, wireless electronic mail receivers, multimedia Internet-enabled cellular telephones, medical devices and equipment, biometric sensors/devices, wearable devices including smart watches, smart clothing, smart glasses, smart wrist bands, smart jewelry (e.g., smart rings, smart bracelets, etc.), entertainment devices (e.g., wireless gaming controllers, music and video players, satellite radios, etc.), wireless-network enabled Internet of Things (IoT) devices including smart meters/sensors, industrial manufacturing equipment, large and small machinery and appliances for home or enterprise use, wireless communication elements within autonomous and semiautonomous vehicles, wireless devices affixed to or incorporated into various mobile platforms, global positioning system devices, and similar electronic devices that include a memory, wireless communication components and a programmable processor.

The term "system in a package" (SIP) may be used herein to refer to a single module or package that contains multiple resources, computational units, cores and/or processors on two or more IC chips, substrates, or SOCs. For example, a SIP may include a single substrate on which multiple IC chips or semiconductor dies are stacked in a vertical configuration. Similarly, the SIP may include one or more multichip modules (MCMs) on which multiple ICs or semiconductor dies are packaged into a unifying substrate. A SIP may also include multiple independent SOCs coupled together via high speed communication circuitry and packaged in close proximity, such as on a single motherboard or in a single wireless device. The proximity of the SOCs facilitates high speed communications and the sharing of memory and resources.

The term "multicore processor" may be used herein to refer to a single integrated circuit (IC) chip or chip package that contains two or more independent processing cores (e.g., CPU core, Internet protocol (IP) core, graphics processor unit (GPU) core, etc.) configured to read and execute program instructions. A SOC may include multiple multicore processors, and each processor in an SOC may be referred to as a core. The term "multiprocessor" may be used herein to refer to a system or device that includes two or more processing units configured to read and execute program instructions.

In <NUM> - NR, various parameters are associated with a bandwidth part (BWP) configuration. Such parameters may include subcarrier spacing (SCS), cyclic prefix (CP) length, resource block (RB) indexing, resource allocation (RA) type, and resource block group (RBG) size. In <NUM> - NR, downlink control information (DCI) field sizes may be dependent on the active BWP configuration. As such, when a user equipment (UE) is configured with multiple BWPs, the DCI field size follows the current active BWP for the UE. For DCI-based BWP-switching, each DCI field is interpreted based on the newly active BWP. For a DCI field, if the number of bits necessary for the newly active BWP (e.g., k1 bits) is smaller than that for the previous active BWP (e.g., k2 bits), the (k2 - k1) most significant bit (MSB) bits for the DCI field are set to zero. If the number of bits necessary for the newly active BWP (e.g., k1 bits) is bigger than that for the previous active BWP (e.g., k2 bits), the UE considers (k1 - k2) MSB bits for the DCI field to be set to zero.

In <NUM> - NR, multicast transmissions should be able to be received by multiple UEs. To enable multicast transmissions to be received by multiple UEs, the SCS, CP length, RB indexing, RA type, and RBG size for multicast transmissions cannot be UE specific and tied directly to each UE's specific BWP.

Various embodiments include methods for radio resource allocation to support multicast services from a fifth generation (<NUM>) - new radio (NR) network. Various embodiments provide a multicast BWP to support provisioning multicast services from a <NUM> - NR base station to one or more UE computing devices in communication with the base station.

In some embodiments, the multicast BWP may be a UE-common BWP configured to be used by at least a portion of the UE computing devices in communication with the base station. In some embodiments, the multicast BWP may be a UE-common BWP configured to be used by specific UE computing devices in communication with the base station that are configured to monitor the UE-common BWP, such as by higher-layer configuration signaling from the base station or other network computing device. Such specific UE computing devices configured to monitor the UE-common BWP may be all UE computing devices in communication with the base station or less than all UE computing devices in communication with the base station, such as a subset of one or more UE computing devices in communication with the base station. In some embodiments, the multicast BWP may be a UE-common BWP configured to be used by all UE computing devices in communication with the base station. In various embodiments, resource allocation related parameters may be provided in the UE-common BWP configuration. A UE receiving the UE-common BWP may activate the UE-common BWP to receive the multicast services broadcast by the base station. In some embodiments, the indication of the UE-common BWP may indicate resource allocation related parameters such that a receiving UE considers a lowest resource block (RB) index of the UE-common BWP as an initial physical resource block (PRB) (e.g., PRB#<NUM>) of the UE-common BWP.

In some embodiments, the UE-common BWP may have the same SCS and CP length of an active UE-specific BWP and the UE-common BWP may be fully contained within the UE-specific BWP. In such cases, the UE may monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) search space sets for unicast (C-RNTI) and for multicast (G-RNTI) for the same serving cell and the network (e.g., the base station) can schedule either unicast or multicast (or both) simultaneously at the same time. In some embodiments, search space (SS) sets for unicast and multicast may be configured in the UE-specific BWP and UE-common BWP configurations separately and respectively. In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to monitor the PDCCH for unicast and the PDCCH for multicast in the SS sets in both the UE-specific BWP and UE-common BWP configurations for the same serving cell at the same time. Monitoring both the PDCCH for unicast and the PDCCH for multicast in the SS sets may reduce a likelihood of PDCCH blocking.

In some embodiments, the UE-common BWP may have a different SCS or CP length than an active UE-specific BWP, or the UE-common BWP may not be fully contained within the UE-specific BWP. In such cases, should the UE not be capable of activating more than one BWP at a time, the UE-specific BWP and the UE-common BWP may be time-switched. In some embodiments, the indication of the time switching pattern may be sent in radio resource control (RRC) message. In some embodiments, the indication of the time switching pattern may be sent in downlink control information (DCI). For DCI-indicated BWP switching, a BWP indicator field in the DCI may be used to indicate which BWP, the UE-specific BWP or the UE-common BWP, to use. For example, when a DCI in UE-specific BWP indicates BWP-switching to a UE-common BWP, the DCI may indicate BWP switching and the DCI may schedule multicast data in the UE-common BWP. For example, when a DCI in UE-common BWP indicates BWP-switching to a UE-specific BWP, the DCI indicates BWP switching to a particular UE-specific BWP, but does not schedule data in the UE-specific BWP. <NUM> BWP switching, a UE assumes that a BWP switching indication by a DCI schedules a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) in the newly activated BWP. For BWP switching from the UE-common BWP to a UE-specific BWP, the UE may not assume that a DCI indicating BWP switching does not schedule a PDSCH or a PUSCH in the newly activated BWP. This can avoid the case where many UEs need to be scheduled at one time due to the BWP switching.

In some embodiments, the multicast BWP may be a virtual BWP. In some embodiments, the virtual BWP may not be a defined actual BWP, but rather the virtual BWP may be a subset of parameters of a BWP. The virtual BWP may be configured by the base station to be fully contained in a UE-specific BWP with the same SCS and CP length. In various embodiments, the network (e.g., the base station) may configure the virtual BWP such that the UEs receiving the same multicast service may have active BWPs that fully contain the virtual BWP. In some embodiments, the virtual BWP may be identified to a UE by a configuration element, such as a starting RB and RB length element. In some embodiments, the bandwidth of the virtual BWP may be identified to a UE by a control resource set (CORESET) bandwidth configuration. As an example, the UE may be configured with a particular CORESET for multicast. The virtual BWP bandwidth may be determined by the lowest and the highest RB indexes of the CORESET for multicast. In some embodiments, should the UE be configured with multiple special CORESETs for multicast, the virtual BWP bandwidth may be determined to be at the union of the multiple CORESETs (e.g., the lowest RB index among the CORESETs to the highest RB index among the CORESETs). In some embodiments, the virtual BWP may be transparent to the UE. For example, a UE may be configured with an offset value or virtual PRB#<NUM>, but may not be configured with a specific bandwidth for the virtual BWP. For multicast data resource allocation, the UE may determine the configured RB index associated with the offset value or the virtual PRB#<NUM> as the lowest RB index, and may be configured so as to expect the scheduled multicast data to not exceed the active BWP bandwidth (e.g., the UE expects that the network (e.g., the base station) will not transmit multicast data outside the UE-specific BWP). In such an example, DCI field sizes may be the same for unicast and multicast. In such an example virtual BWP configuration, when a UE detects a downlink (DL) DCI, depending on whether the DL DCI schedules unicast data or multicast data, the UE interprets the DCI frequency-domain resource allocation field such that PRB#<NUM> or virtual PRB#<NUM> is the lowest RB index of the resource allocation. Whether the DL DCI schedules unicast data or multicast data may be identified by radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) scrambling of the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the DCI (e.g., G-RNTI or C-RNTI/MCS-C-RNTI/CS-RNTI), the DL DCI payload size, and/or the DL DCI format.

<FIG> is a system block diagram illustrating an example communication system <NUM> suitable for implementing any of the various embodiments. The communications system <NUM> may be a <NUM> New Radio (NR) network, or any other suitable network such as an LTE network, <NUM> network, etc. While <FIG> illustrates a <NUM> network, later generation networks may include the same or similar elements. Therefore, the reference to a <NUM> network and <NUM> network elements in the following descriptions is for illustrative purposes and is not intended to be limiting.

The communications system <NUM> may include a heterogeneous network architecture that includes a core network <NUM> and a variety of mobile UE computing devices (illustrated as wireless devices 120a-120e in <FIG>). The communications system <NUM> may also include a number of base stations (illustrated as the BS 110a, the BS 110b, the BS 110c, and the BS 110d) and other network entities. A base station is an entity that communicates with wireless devices, and also may be referred to as a Node B, an LTE Evolved nodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an access point (AP), a Radio head, a transmit receive point (TRP), a New Radio base station (NR BS), a <NUM> NodeB (NB), a Next Generation NodeB (gNodeB or gNB), or the like. Each base station may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term "cell" can refer to a coverage area of a base station, a base station Subsystem serving this coverage area, or a combination thereof, depending on the context in which the term is used. The core network <NUM> may be any type of core network, such as an LTE core network (e.g., an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network), <NUM> core network, etc..

A base station 110a-110d may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, another type of cell, or a combination thereof. A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (for example, several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by mobile devices with service subscription. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by mobile devices with service subscription. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (for example, a home) and may allow restricted access by mobile devices having association with the femto cell (for example, mobile devices in a closed subscriber group (CSG)). A base station for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A base station for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. A base station for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto BS or a home BS. In the example illustrated in <FIG>, a base station 110a may be a macro BS for a macro cell 102a, a base station 110b may be a pico BS for a pico cell 102b, and a base station 110c may be a femto BS for a femto cell 102c. A base station 110a-110d may support one or multiple (for example, three) cells.

In some examples, a cell may not be stationary, and the geographic area of the cell may move according to the location of a mobile base station. In some examples, the base stations 110a-110d may be interconnected to one another as well as to one or more other base stations or network nodes (not illustrated) in the communications system <NUM> through various types of backhaul interfaces, such as a direct physical connection, a virtual network, or a combination thereof using any suitable transport network.

The base station 110a-110d may communicate with the core network <NUM> over a wired or wireless communication link <NUM>. The wireless device 120a-120e may communicate with the base station 110a-110d over a wireless communication link <NUM>.

The communications system <NUM> also may include relay stations (e.g., relay BS 110d). A relay station is an entity that can receive a transmission of data from an upstream station (for example, a base station or a mobile device) and transmit the data to a downstream station (for example, a wireless device or a base station). A relay station also may be a mobile device that can relay transmissions for other wireless devices. In the example illustrated in <FIG>, a relay station 110d may communicate with macro the base station 110a and the wireless device 120d in order to facilitate communication between the base station 110a and the wireless device 120d. A relay station also may be referred to as a relay base station, a relay base station, a relay, etc..

The wireless devices 120a, 120b, 120c may be dispersed throughout communications system <NUM>, and each wireless device may be stationary or mobile. A wireless device also may be referred to as an access terminal, a terminal, a mobile station, a subscriber unit, a station, user equipment (UE), etc..

A macro base station 110a may communicate with the communication network <NUM> over a wired or wireless communication link <NUM>. The wireless device 120a, 120b, 120c may communicate with a base station 110a-110d over a wireless communication link <NUM>.

The wireless communication links <NUM>, <NUM> may include a plurality of carrier signals, frequencies, or frequency bands, each of which may include a plurality of logical channels. The wireless communication links <NUM> and <NUM> may utilize one or more Radio access technologies (RATs). Examples of RATs that may be used in a wireless communication link include 3GPP LTE, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> (e.g., NR), GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), and other mobile telephony communication technologies cellular RATs. Further examples of RATs that may be used in one or more of the various wireless communication links <NUM>, <NUM> within the communication system <NUM> include medium range protocols such as Wi-Fi, LTE-U, LTE-Direct, LAA, MuLTEfire, and relatively short range RATs such as ZigBee, Bluetooth, and Bluetooth Low Energy (LE).

For example, the spacing of the subcarriers may be <NUM> and the minimum Resource allocation (called a "resource block") may be <NUM> subcarriers (or <NUM>). Consequently, the nominal Fast File Transfer (FFT) size may be equal to <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> or <NUM> for system bandwidth of <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> or <NUM> megahertz (MHz), respectively. For example, a subband may cover <NUM> (i.e., <NUM> Resource blocks), and there may be <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> or <NUM> subbands for system bandwidth of <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> or <NUM>, respectively.

While descriptions of some embodiments may use terminology and examples associated with LTE technologies, some embodiments may be applicable to other wireless communications systems, such as a new Radio (NR) or <NUM> network. NR may utilize OFDM with a cyclic prefix (CP) on the uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) and include support for half-duplex operation using time division duplex (TDD). A single component carrier bandwidth of <NUM> may be supported. NR Resource blocks may span <NUM> sub-carriers with a sub-carrier bandwidth of <NUM> over a <NUM> millisecond (ms) duration. Each Radio frame may consist of <NUM> subframes with a length of <NUM>. Consequently, each subframe may have a length of <NUM>. Each subframe may indicate a link direction (i.e., DL or UL) for data transmission and the link direction for each subframe may be dynamically switched. Each subframe may include DL/UL data as well as DL/UL control data. Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) transmissions with precoding may also be supported. MIMO configurations in the DL may support up to eight transmit antennas with multi-layer DL transmissions up to eight streams and up to two streams per wireless device. Multi-layer transmissions with up to <NUM> streams per wireless device may be supported. Aggregation of multiple cells may be supported with up to eight serving cells. Alternatively, NR may support a different air interface, other than an OFDM-based air interface.

Some mobile devices may be considered machine-type communication (MTC) or Evolved or enhanced machine-type communication (eMTC) mobile devices. MTC and eMTC mobile devices include, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, location tags, etc., that may communicate with a base station, another device (for example, remote device), or some other entity. A wireless node may provide, for example, connectivity for or to a network (for example, a wide area network such as Internet or a cellular network) via a wired or wireless communication link. Some mobile devices may be considered Internet-of Things (IoT) devices or may be implemented as NB-IoT (narrowband internet of things) devices. A wireless device 120a-e may be included inside a housing that houses components of the wireless device, such as processor components, memory components, similar components, or a combination thereof.

In general, any number of communication systems and any number of wireless networks may be deployed in a given geographic area. Each communications system and wireless network may support a particular Radio access technology (RAT) and may operate on one or more frequencies. A RAT also may be referred to as a Radio technology, an air interface, etc. A frequency also may be referred to as a carrier, a frequency channel, etc. Each frequency may support a single RAT in a given geographic area in order to avoid interference between communications systems of different RATs. In some cases, <NUM>/LTE and/or <NUM>/NR RAT networks may be deployed. For example, a <NUM> non-standalone (NSA) network may utilize both <NUM>/LTE RAT in the <NUM>/LTE RAN side of the <NUM> NSA network and <NUM>/NR RAT in the <NUM>/NR RAN side of the <NUM> NSA network. The <NUM>/LTE RAN and the <NUM>/NR RAN may both connect to one another and a <NUM>/LTE core network (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) network) in a <NUM> NSA network. Other example network configurations may include a <NUM> standalone (SA) network in which a <NUM>/NR RAN connects to a <NUM> core network.

In some embodiments, two or more wireless devices 120a-e (for example, illustrated as the wireless device 120a and the wireless device 120e) may communicate directly using one or more sidelink channels <NUM> (for example, without using a base station 110a-110d as an intermediary to communicate with one another). For example, wireless device 120a-e may communicate using peer-to-peer (P2P) communications, device-to-device (D2D) communications, a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) protocol (which may include a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) protocol, a vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) protocol, or similar protocol), a mesh network, or similar networks, or combinations thereof. In this case, the wireless device 120a-e may perform scheduling operations, resource selection operations, as well as other operations described elsewhere herein as being performed by the base station 110a.

<FIG> is a component block diagram illustrating an example computing and wireless modem system <NUM> suitable for implementing any of the various embodiments. Various embodiments may be implemented on a number of single processor and multiprocessor computer systems, including a system-on-chip (SOC) or system in a package (SIP).

With reference to <FIG> and <FIG>, the illustrated example wireless device <NUM> (which may be a SIP in some embodiments) includes a two SOCs <NUM>, <NUM> coupled to a clock <NUM>, a voltage regulator <NUM>, at least one SIM <NUM> and/or a SIM interface and a wireless transceiver <NUM> configured to send and receive wireless communications via an antenna (not shown) to/from network wireless devices, such as a base station 110a. In some embodiments, the first SOC <NUM> operate as central processing unit (CPU) of the wireless device that carries out the instructions of software application programs by performing the arithmetic, logical, control and input/output (I/O) operations specified by the instructions. In some embodiments, the second SOC <NUM> may operate as a specialized processing unit. For example, the second SOC <NUM> may operate as a specialized <NUM> processing unit responsible for managing high volume, high speed (e.g., <NUM> Gbps, etc.), and/or very high frequency short wave length (e.g., <NUM> mmWave spectrum, etc.) communications.

The first SOC <NUM> may include a digital signal processor (DSP) <NUM>, a modem processor <NUM>, a graphics processor <NUM>, an application processor (AP) <NUM>, one or more coprocessors <NUM> (e.g., vector co-processor) connected to one or more of the processors, memory <NUM>, custom circuitry <NUM>, system components and resources <NUM>, an interconnection/bus module <NUM>, one or more temperature sensors <NUM>, a thermal management unit <NUM>, and a thermal power envelope (TPE) component <NUM>. The second SOC <NUM> may include a <NUM> modem processor <NUM>, a power management unit <NUM>, an interconnection/bus module <NUM>, the plurality of mmWave transceivers <NUM>, memory <NUM>, and various additional processors <NUM>, such as an applications processor, packet processor, etc..

The first and second SOC <NUM>, <NUM> may include various system components, resources and custom circuitry for managing sensor data, analog-to-digital conversions, wireless data transmissions, and for performing other specialized operations, such as decoding data packets and processing encoded audio and video signals for rendering in a web browser. For example, the system components and resources <NUM> of the first SOC <NUM> may include power amplifiers, voltage regulators, oscillators, phase-locked loops, peripheral bridges, data controllers, memory controllers, system controllers, access ports, timers, and other similar components used to support the processors and software clients running on a wireless device. The system components and resources <NUM> and/or custom circuitry <NUM> may also include circuitry to interface with peripheral devices, such as cameras, electronic displays, wireless communication devices, external memory chips, etc..

The first and second SOC <NUM>, <NUM> may communicate via interconnection/bus module <NUM>. The various processors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, may be interconnected to one or more memory elements <NUM>, system components and resources <NUM>, and custom circuitry <NUM>, and a thermal management unit <NUM> via an interconnection/bus module <NUM>. Similarly, the processor <NUM> may be interconnected to the power management unit <NUM>, the mmWave transceivers <NUM>, memory <NUM>, and various additional processors <NUM> via the interconnection/bus module <NUM>. The interconnection/bus module <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> may include an array of reconfigurable logic gates and/or implement a bus architecture (e.g., CoreConnect, AMBA, etc.). Communications may be provided by advanced interconnects, such as high-performance networks-on chip (NoCs).

The first and/or second SOCs <NUM>, <NUM> may further include an input/output module (not illustrated) for communicating with resources external to the SOC, such as a clock <NUM>, a voltage regulator <NUM>, one or more wireless transceivers <NUM>, and at least one SIM <NUM> and/or SIM interface (i.e., an interface for receiving one or more SIM cards). Resources external to the SOC (e.g., clock <NUM>, voltage regulator <NUM>) may be shared by two or more of the internal SOC processors/cores. The at least one SIM <NUM> (or one or more SIM cards coupled to one or more SIM interfaces) may store information supporting multiple subscriptions, including a first 5GNR subscription and a second 5GNR subscription, etc..

In addition to the example SIP <NUM> discussed above, various embodiments may be implemented in a wide variety of computing systems, which may include a single processor, multiple processors, multicore processors, or any combination thereof.

<FIG> illustrates an example of a software architecture <NUM> including a radio protocol stack for the user and control planes in wireless communications between a base station <NUM> (e.g., the base station 110a) and a wireless device (UE computing device) <NUM> (e.g., the wireless device 120a-120e, <NUM>). With reference to <FIG>, the wireless device <NUM> may implement the software architecture <NUM> to communicate with the base station <NUM> of a communication system (e.g., <NUM>). In various embodiments, layers in software architecture <NUM> may form logical connections with corresponding layers in software of the base station <NUM>. The software architecture <NUM> may be distributed among one or more processors (e.g., the processors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>). While illustrated with respect to one radio protocol stack, in a multi-SIM (subscriber identity module) wireless device, the software architecture <NUM> may include multiple protocol stacks, each of which may be associated with a different SIM (e.g., two protocol stacks associated with two SIMs, respectively, in a dual-SIM wireless communication device). While described below with reference to LTE communication layers, the software architecture <NUM> may support any of variety of standards and protocols for wireless communications, and/or may include additional protocol stacks that support any of variety of standards and protocols wireless communications.

The software architecture <NUM> may include a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) <NUM> and an Access Stratum (AS) <NUM>. The NAS <NUM> may include functions and protocols to support packet filtering, security management, mobility control, session management, and traffic and signaling between a SIM(s) of the wireless device (e.g., SIM(s) <NUM>) and its core network <NUM>. The AS <NUM> may include functions and protocols that support communication between a SIM(s) (e.g., SIM(s) <NUM>) and entities of supported access networks (e.g., a base station). In particular, the AS <NUM> may include at least three layers (Layer <NUM>, Layer <NUM>, and Layer <NUM>), each of which may contain various sub-layers.

In the user and control planes, Layer <NUM> (L1) of the AS <NUM> may be a physical layer (PHY) <NUM>, which may oversee functions that enable transmission and/or reception over the air interface. Examples of such physical layer <NUM> functions may include cyclic redundancy check (CRC) attachment, coding blocks, scrambling and descrambling, modulation and demodulation, signal measurements, MIMO, etc. The physical layer may include various logical channels, including the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

In the user and control planes, Layer <NUM> (L2) of the AS <NUM> may be responsible for the link between the wireless device <NUM> and the base station <NUM> over the physical layer <NUM>. In the various embodiments, Layer <NUM> may include a media access control (MAC) sublayer <NUM>, a radio link control (RLC) sublayer <NUM>, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) <NUM> sublayer, each of which form logical connections terminating at the base station <NUM>.

In the control plane, Layer <NUM> (L3) of the AS <NUM> may include a radio resource control (RRC) sublayer <NUM>. While not shown, the software architecture <NUM> may include additional Layer <NUM> sublayers, as well as various upper layers above Layer <NUM>. In various embodiments, the RRC sublayer <NUM> may provide functions INCLUDING broadcasting system information, paging, and establishing and releasing an RRC signaling connection between the wireless device <NUM> and the base station <NUM>.

In various embodiments, the PDCP sublayer <NUM> may provide uplink functions including multiplexing between different radio bearers and logical channels, sequence number addition, handover data handling, integrity protection, ciphering, and header compression. In the downlink, the PDCP sublayer <NUM> may provide functions that include in-sequence delivery of data packets, duplicate data packet detection, integrity validation, deciphering, and header decompression.

In the uplink, MAC sublayer <NUM> may provide functions including multiplexing between logical and transport channels, random access procedure, logical channel priority, and hybrid-ARQ (HARQ) operations. In the downlink, the MAC layer functions may include channel mapping within a cell, de-multiplexing, discontinuous reception (DRX), and HARQ operations.

While the software architecture <NUM> may provide functions to transmit data through physical media, the software architecture <NUM> may further include at least one host layer <NUM> to provide data transfer services to various applications in the wireless device <NUM>. In some embodiments, application-specific functions provided by the at least one host layer <NUM> may provide an interface between the software architecture and the general purpose processor <NUM>.

In other embodiments, the software architecture <NUM> may include one or more higher logical layer (e.g., transport, session, presentation, application, etc.) that provide host layer functions. For example, in some embodiments, the software architecture <NUM> may include a network layer (e.g., IP layer) in which a logical connection terminates at a packet data network (PDN) gateway (PGW). In some embodiments, the software architecture <NUM> may include an application layer in which a logical connection terminates at another device (e.g., end user device, server, etc.). In some embodiments, the software architecture <NUM> may further include in the AS <NUM> a hardware interface <NUM> between the physical layer <NUM> and the communication hardware (e.g., one or more radio frequency (RF) transceivers).

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating allocations in a carrier bandwidth <NUM>. With reference to <FIG>, the carrier bandwidth <NUM> may be defined relative to an initial carrier resource block (CRB), such as CRB#<NUM> at Point A. The carrier bandwidth <NUM> may be the frequency band over which a <NUM> - NR base station (e.g., the base station 110a, <NUM>) provides services to UEs in communication with the base station. BWPs for UE computing devices (e.g., the wireless device 120a-120e, <NUM>, <NUM>) may be defined within the carrier bandwidth <NUM> such that the UEs may receive services in the carrier bandwidth <NUM>. In some embodiments, UEs may have one or more BWP. In some embodiments, a UE may activate only one BWP at a time. In some embodiments, a UE may activate more than one BWP at a time. <FIG> illustrates four example BWPs, UE1's BWP#<NUM><NUM>, UE1's BWP#<NUM><NUM>, UE2's BWP#<NUM><NUM>, and UE2's BWP#<NUM><NUM>. Each BWP <NUM>-<NUM> may have its own respective PRB indexing starting from zero (e.g., PRB#<NUM>). As illustrated in <FIG>, multicast services <NUM> may be transmitted by the base station in a portion of the carrier bandwidth <NUM>. Based on the overlap between the BWPs, UE1 and UE2 may receive the multicast services <NUM> if UE1 activates BWP#<NUM><NUM> and UE2 activates BWP#<NUM><NUM>. However, if UE1 activates BWP#<NUM><NUM> and UE2 activates BWP#<NUM><NUM>, UE1 and UE2 will not receive the multicast services <NUM>. Additionally, UE1's BWP#<NUM><NUM> and UE2's BWP#<NUM><NUM> have non-aligned PRB indexing and the configured SCS, CP length, RA Type, etc. for the BWPs may be different. The multiple different UE-specific BWPs of UEs in communication with a base station and the failure of UE-specific BWPs to necessarily overlap the multicast transmissions complicates radio resource allocation to support multicast services from a <NUM> - NR base station to UEs in communication with the base station.

<FIG> is a component block diagram illustrating a system <NUM> configured for radio resource allocation to support multicast services <NUM> - NR in accordance with various embodiments. In some embodiments, system <NUM> may include one or more computing platforms <NUM> and/or one or more remote platforms <NUM>. With reference to <FIG>, computing platform(s) <NUM> may include a base station (e.g., the base station <NUM>, <NUM>) and/or a wireless device (e.g., the wireless device 120a-120e, <NUM>, <NUM>). Remote platform(s) <NUM> may include a base station (e.g., the base station <NUM>, <NUM>) and/or a wireless device (e.g., the wireless device 120a-120e, <NUM>, <NUM>).

Computing platform(s) <NUM> may be configured by machine-readable instructions <NUM>. Machine-readable instructions <NUM> may include one or more instruction modules. The instruction modules may include computer program modules. The instruction modules may include one or more of multicast BWP determination module <NUM>, multicast BWP sending module <NUM>, multicast scheduling module <NUM>, and/or other instruction modules.

Multicast BWP determination module <NUM> may be configured to determine a multicast BWP within a carrier bandwidth. The base station may be a serving cell. In some embodiments, the multicast BWP may be a UE-common BWP configured to be used by at least a portion of the UE computing devices in communication with the base station. In some embodiments, the multicast BWP may be a UE-common BWP configured to be used by specific UE computing devices in communication with the base station that are configured to monitor the UE-common BWP, such as by higher-layer configuration signaling from the base station or other network computing device. Such specific UE computing devices configured to monitor the UE-common BWP may be all UE computing devices in communication with the base station or less than all UE computing devices in communication with the base station, such as a subset of one or more UE computing devices in communication with the base station. In some embodiments, the multicast BWP may be a UE-common BWP configured to be used by all UE computing devices in communication with the base station. In various embodiments, resource allocation related parameters may be provided in the UE-common BWP configuration. In some embodiments, the multicast BWP determination module <NUM> may be configured to, for each of the one or more UE computing devices in communication with the base station, to determine whether the UE-common BWP has a same SCS and CP length as a UE-specific BWP and the UE-common BWP is fully contained within the UE specific BWP. In some embodiments, the multicast BWP determination module <NUM> may be configured to, for each of the one or more UE computing devices in communication with the base station, determine a time switching pattern for the respective UE computing device in response to determining that the UE-common BWP has a different SCS or CP length as the UE-specific BWP or the UE-common BWP is not fully contained within the UE specific BWP. In some embodiments, the multicast BWP may be a virtual BWP. In some embodiments, the virtual BWP may not be a defined actual BWP, but rather the virtual BWP may be a subset of parameters of a BWP. The virtual BWP may be configured by the base station to be fully contained in a UE-specific BWP with the same SCS and CP length. In various embodiments, the network (e.g., the base station) may configure the virtual BWP such that the UEs receiving the same multicast service may have active BWPs that fully contain the virtual BWP.

Multicast BWP sending module <NUM> may be configured to send an indication of the multicast BWP to one or more UE computing devices in communication with the base station. A UE receiving the UE-common BWP may activate the UE-common BWP to receive the multicast services broadcast by the base station. In some embodiments, the indication of the UE-common BWP may indicate resource allocation related parameters such that a receiving UE considers a lowest resource block (RB) index of the UE-common BWP as an initial physical resource block (PRB) (e.g., PRB#<NUM>) of the UE-common BWP. In some embodiments, the multicast BWP sending module <NUM> may be configured to, for each of the one or more UE computing devices in communication with the base station, an indication of a search space set for multicast to the respective UE computing device in response to determining that the UE-common BWP has a SCS and CP length as the UE-specific BWP and the UE-common BWP is fully contained within the UE specific BWP. In some embodiments, the multicast BWP sending module <NUM> may be configured to, for each of the one or more UE computing devices in communication with the base station, send an indication of the time switching pattern for the respective UE computing device to the respective UE computing device.

Multicast scheduling module <NUM> may be configured to schedule transmission of multicast data in the multicast BWP.

<FIG> shows a process flow diagram of an example method <NUM> for radio resource allocation to support multicast services from a fifth generation (<NUM>) - new radio (NR) base station according to various embodiments. With reference to <FIG>, the method <NUM> may be implemented by a processor of a base station (e.g., the base station <NUM>, <NUM>).

In block <NUM>, the processor may perform operations including determining a multicast bandwidth part (BWP) within a carrier bandwidth.

In some embodiments, the multicast BWP may be a UE-common BWP configured to be used by at least a portion of the UE computing devices in communication with the base station. In some embodiments, the multicast BWP may be a UE-common BWP configured to be used by specific UE computing devices in communication with the base station that are configured to monitor the UE-common BWP, such as by higher-layer configuration signaling from the base station or other network computing device. Such specific UE computing devices configured to monitor the UE-common BWP may be all UE computing devices in communication with the base station or less than all UE computing devices in communication with the base station, such as a subset of one or more UE computing devices in communication with the base station. In some embodiments, the multicast BWP may be a UE-common BWP configured to be used by all UE computing devices in communication with the base station. In some embodiments, the indication of the UE-common BWP may indicate resource allocation related parameters such that a receiving UE considers a lowest RB index of the UE-common BWP as an initial PRB of the UE-common BWP.

In some embodiments, the multicast BWP may be a virtual BWP. In some embodiments, the virtual BWP may not be a defined actual BWP, but rather the virtual BWP may be a subset of parameters of a BWP. The virtual BWP may be configured by the base station to be fully contained in a UE-specific BWP with the same SCS and CP length. In various embodiments, the network (e.g., the base station) may configure the virtual BWP such that the UEs receiving the same multicast service may have active BWPs that fully contain the virtual BWP. In some embodiments, the virtual BWP may be fully contained within a UE-specific BWP with a same SCS and CP length for each of the one or more UE computing devices. In some embodiments, each respective virtual BWP may be identified by a starting resource block and a length of resource blocks within the UE-specific BWP for that respective UE computing device. In some embodiments, each respective virtual BWP may be identified by one or more CORESET bandwidth configurations based on a configuration of that respective UE computing device. In some embodiments, the respective UE computing device may have a single CORESET for multicast and a lowest resource block index and a highest resource block index of the CORESET corresponds to the virtual BWP. In some embodiments, the respective UE computing device may have multiple CORESETs for multicast and a lowest resource block index among the multiple CORESETs and a highest resource block index among the multiple CORESETs correspond to the virtual BWP. In some embodiments, the virtual BWP may have a lowest resource block index within the UE-specific BWP without any specified bandwidth for the virtual BWP. In some embodiments, the one or more UE computing devices may be configured to interpret down link control information (DCI) scheduling multicast data such that a lowest resource block index of the DCI frequency domain resource allocation field is the initial physical resource block of the virtual BWP.

In block <NUM>, the processor performs operations including sending an indication of the multicast BWP to one or more UE computing devices in communication with the base station. In some embodiments, the indication of the UE-common BWP may indicate resource allocation related parameters such that a receiving UE considers a lowest RB index of the UE-common BWP as an initial PRB (e.g., PRB#<NUM>) of the UE-common BWP. In some embodiments, the virtual BWP may be identified to a UE by a configuration element, such as a starting RB and RB length element. In some embodiments, the virtual BWP may be identified to a UE by a control resource set (CORESET) bandwidth configuration. In some embodiments, the virtual BWP may be transparent to the UE. For example, a UE may be configured with an offset value or virtual PRB#<NUM>, but may not be configured with a specific bandwidth for the virtual BWP.

In block <NUM>, the processor performs operations including scheduling transmission of multicast data in the multicast BWP. In some embodiments, a UE receiving the UE-common BWP may activate the UE-common BWP to receive the multicast services broadcast by the base station. In various embodiments, the network (e.g., the base station) may configure the virtual BWP such that the UEs receiving the same multicast service may have active BWPs that fully contain the virtual BWP.

<FIG> shows a process flow diagram of an example method <NUM> for radio resource allocation that may be performed in a UE computing device for receiving multicast services from a <NUM>-NR base station according to various embodiments. With reference to <FIG>, the method <NUM> may be implemented by a processor of a UE computing device (e.g., the wireless device 120a-120e, <NUM>, <NUM>). In various embodiments, the operations of the method <NUM> may be performed by a processor of a UE computing device in communication with a <NUM>-NR base station, such as a <NUM>-NR base station configured to perform operations of the method <NUM> (<FIG>).

In block <NUM>, the processor of the UE computing device performs operations including receiving an indication of a multicast BWP within a carrier bandwidth from a base station, such as a <NUM>-NR base station. In some embodiments, the multicast BWP may be a UE-common BWP configured to be used by at least a portion of the UE computing devices in communication with the base station. In some embodiments, the multicast BWP may be a UE-common BWP configured to be used by specific UE computing devices in communication with the base station that are configured to monitor the UE-common BWP, such as by higher-layer configuration signaling from the base station or other network computing device. Such specific UE computing devices configured to monitor the UE-common BWP may be all UE computing devices in communication with the base station or less than all UE computing devices in communication with the base station, such as a subset of one or more UE computing devices in communication with the base station. In some embodiments, the multicast BWP may be a UE-common BWP configured to be used by all UE computing devices in communication with the base station. In some embodiments, the indication of the UE-common BWP may indicate resource allocation related parameters such that a lowest RB index of the UE-common BWP is an initial PRB of the UE-common BWP.

In some embodiments, the multicast BWP may be a virtual BWP. In some embodiments, the virtual BWP may not be a defined actual BWP, but rather the virtual BWP may be a subset of parameters of a BWP. The virtual BWP may be configured by the base station to be fully contained in a UE-specific BWP with the same SCS and CP length. In various embodiments, the network (e.g., the base station) may configure the virtual BWP such that at least a portion of the UEs receiving the same multicast service (e.g., all UEs receiving the same multicast service, a subset of less than all the UEs receiving the same multicast service, etc.) may have active BWPs that fully contain the virtual BWP. In some embodiments, the virtual BWP may be fully contained within a UE-specific BWP with a same SCS and CP length for the UE computing devices. In some embodiments, the virtual BWP may be identified by a starting resource block and a length of resource blocks within the UE-specific BWP for the UE computing device. In some embodiments, the virtual BWP may be identified by one or more CORESET bandwidth configurations. In some embodiments, the UE computing device may have a single CORESET for multicast and a lowest resource block index and a highest resource block index of the CORESET may correspond to the virtual BWP. In some embodiments, the UE computing device may have multiple CORESETs for multicast and a lowest resource block index among the multiple CORESETs and a highest resource block index among the multiple CORESETs may correspond to the virtual BWP. In some embodiments, the virtual BWP may have a lowest resource block index within the UE-specific BWP without any specified bandwidth for the virtual BWP. In some embodiments, the UE computing devices may be configured to interpret DCI scheduling multicast data such that a lowest resource block index of the DCI frequency domain resource allocation field is the initial physical resource block of the virtual BWP.

In some embodiments, the indication of the UE-common BWP may indicate resource allocation related parameters such that a lowest RB index of the UE-common BWP is an initial PRB (e.g., PRB#<NUM>) of the UE-common BWP. In some embodiments, the virtual BWP may be identified by a configuration element, such as a starting RB and RB length element. In some embodiments, the virtual BWP may be identified by a CORESET bandwidth configuration. In some embodiments, the virtual BWP may be transparent to the UE computing device. For example, a UE computing device may be configured with an offset value or virtual PRB#<NUM>, but may not be configured with a specific bandwidth for the virtual BWP.

In block <NUM>, the processor performs operations including receiving multicast data in the multicast BWP. In some embodiments, the UE computing device may activate the UE-common BWP to receive the multicast services broadcast by the base station. In some embodiments, the UE computing device may activate the virtual BWP to receive the multicast services broadcast by the base station.

<FIG> is a process flow diagram illustrating a method <NUM> for radio resource allocation to support multicast services from a <NUM>-NR base station in accordance with various embodiments. With reference to <FIG>, the method <NUM> may be implemented by a processor of a base station (e.g., the base station <NUM>, <NUM>). In various embodiments, the method <NUM> may be performed in conjunction with the operations of method <NUM> (<FIG>). For example, the operations of method <NUM> may be performed in response to sending an indication of the multicast BWP in block <NUM> (<FIG>). In various embodiments, the operations of method <NUM> may be performed for each of the one or more UE computing devices in communication with the base station.

In determination block <NUM>, the processor performs operations including determining whether the UE-common BWP has a same SCS and CP length as a UE-specific BWP and the UE-common BWP is fully contained within the UE specific BWP. In some embodiments, the UE-common BWP may have the same SCS and CP length of an active UE-specific BWP and the UE-common BWP may be fully contained within the UE-specific BWP. In some embodiments, the UE-common BWP may have a different SCS or CP length than an active UE-specific BWP, or the UE-common BWP may not be fully contained within the UE-specific BWP.

In response to determining that the UE-common BWP has a SCS and CP length as the UE-specific BWP and the UE-common BWP is fully contained within the UE specific BWP (i.e., determination block <NUM> = "Yes"), the processor performs operations including sending an indication of a search space set for multicast in block <NUM>. The search space set for multicast may be sent to the respective UE. In some embodiments, search space (SS) sets for unicast and multicast may be configured in the UE-specific BWP and UE-common BWP configurations separately. In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to monitor the PDCCH for unicast and the PDCCH for multicast in the SS sets in both the UE-specific BWP and UE-common BWP configurations at the same time. Monitoring both the PDCCH for unicast and the PDCCH for multicast in the SS sets may reduce a likelihood of PDCCH blocking.

In response to determining that the UE-common BWP has a different SCS or CP length as the UE-specific BWP or the UE-common BWP is not fully contained within the UE specific BWP (i.e., determination block <NUM> = "No"), the processor performs operations including determining a time switching pattern in block <NUM>. The time switching pattern may be unique to the respective UE computing device. Should the UE not be capable of activating more than one BWP at a time, the UE-specific BWP and the UE-common BWP may be time-switched. For DCI-indicated BWP switching, a BWP indicator field in the DCI may be used to indicate which BWP, the UE-specific BWP or the UE-common BWP, to use. For example, when a DCI in UE-specific BWP indicates BWP-switching to a UE-common BWP, the DCI may indicate BWP switching and the DCI may schedule multicast data in the UE-common BWP. For example, when a DCI in UE-common BWP indicates BWP-switching to a UE-specific BWP, the DCI indicates BWP switching to a particular BWP, but does not schedule data in the UE-specific BWP, where the particular BWP is RRC configured.

In block <NUM>, the processor performs operations including sending an indication of the time switching pattern. The indication of the time switching pattern may be sent to the respective UE computing device. In some embodiments, the indication of the time switching pattern may be sent in radio resource control (RRC) message. In some embodiments, the indication of the time switching pattern may be sent in down link control information (DCI).

<FIG> is a process flow diagram illustrating a method <NUM> for radio resource allocation that may be performed in a UE computing device for receiving multicast services from a <NUM>-NR base station in accordance with various embodiments. With reference to <FIG>, the method <NUM> may be implemented by a processor of a UE computing device (e.g., the wireless device 120a-120e, <NUM>, <NUM>). In various embodiments, the method <NUM> may be performed in conjunction with the operations of the method <NUM> (<FIG>). For example, the operations of the method <NUM> may be performed in response to receiving an indication of the multicast BWP in block <NUM> (<FIG>). In various embodiments, the operations of the method <NUM> may be performed by a UE computing device in communication with a <NUM>-NR base station, such as a <NUM>-NR base station configured to perform operations of the methods <NUM> (<FIG>) and/or <NUM> (<FIG>).

In determination block <NUM>, the processor may perform operations including determining whether the UE-common BWP has a same SCS and CP length as a UE-specific BWP and the UE-common BWP is fully contained within the UE specific BWP. In some embodiments, the UE-common BWP may have the same SCS and CP length of an active UE-specific BWP and the UE-common BWP may be fully contained within the UE-specific BWP. In some embodiments, the UE-common BWP may have a different SCS or CP length than an active UE-specific BWP, or the UE-common BWP may not be fully contained within the UE-specific BWP. The determination as to the whether the UE-common BWP has a same SCS and CP length as a UE-specific BWP and the UE-common BWP is fully contained within the UE specific BWP may be based on the indication of the multicast BWP within the carrier bandwidth received from the <NUM>-NR base station.

In response to determining that the UE-common BWP has a SCS and CP length as the UE-specific BWP and the UE-common BWP is fully contained within the UE specific BWP (i.e., determination block <NUM> = "Yes"), the processor may perform operations including receiving an indication of a search space set for multicast in block <NUM>. When the UE-common BWP has a SCS and CP length as the UE-specific BWP and the UE-common BWP is fully contained within the UE specific BWP, the UE computing device may be configured to expect an indication of a search space set for multicast to be transmitted by the base station. The search space set for multicast may be sent to the UE computing device from the base station. In some embodiments, search space (SS) sets for unicast and multicast may be configured in the UE-specific BWP and UE-common BWP configurations separately. In some embodiments, the UE computing device may be configured to monitor the PDCCH for unicast and the PDCCH for multicast in the SS sets in both the UE-specific BWP and UE-common BWP configurations at the same time. Monitoring both the PDCCH for unicast and the PDCCH for multicast in the SS sets may reduce a likelihood of PDCCH blocking.

In response to determining that the UE-common BWP has a different SCS or CP length as the UE-specific BWP or the UE-common BWP is not fully contained within the UE specific BWP (i.e., determination block <NUM> = "No"), the processor may perform operations including receiving an indication of a time switching pattern from the base station. When the UE-common BWP has a different SCS or CP length as the UE-specific BWP or the UE-common BWP is not fully contained within the UE specific BWP, the UE computing device may be configured to expect an indication of a time switching pattern to be transmitted by the base station. The time switching pattern may be unique to the UE computing device. Should the UE not be capable of activating more than one BWP at a time, the UE-specific BWP and the UE-common BWP may be time-switched. For DCI-indicated BWP switching, a BWP indicator field in the DCI may be used to indicate which BWP, the UE-specific BWP or the UE-common BWP, to use. For example, when a DCI in UE-specific BWP indicates BWP-switching to a UE-common BWP, the DCI may indicate BWP switching and the DCI may schedule multicast data in the UE-common BWP. For example, when a DCI in UE-common BWP indicates BWP-switching to a UE-specific BWP, the DCI indicates BWP switching to a particular BWP, but does not schedule data in the UE-specific BWP, where the particular BWP is RRC configured. In some embodiments, the indication of the time switching pattern may be received in radio RRC message. In some embodiments, the indication of the time switching pattern may be received in DCI.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating a multicast BWP that is a UE-common BWP <NUM> allocation in a carrier bandwidth <NUM> in accordance with various embodiments. With reference to <FIG>, the UE-common BWP <NUM> is overlapped by the UE1's specific BWP#<NUM><NUM> and UE2's specific BWP#<NUM><NUM>. The UE-common BWP <NUM> may have the same SCS and CP length of an active UE-specific BWP for the UEs (e.g., BWP and the UE-common BWP may be fully contained within the UE-specific BWPs <NUM>, <NUM>). In such cases, the UE may monitor the PDCCH search space sets for unicast (C-RNTI) and for multicast (G-RNTI) at the same time and the network (e.g., the base station) can schedule either unicast or multicast (or both) simultaneously at the same time to provide the multicast services <NUM>.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating a multicast BWP that is a UE-common BWP <NUM> allocation in the carrier bandwidth <NUM> in accordance with various embodiments. With reference to <FIG>, the UE-common BWP <NUM> may have the same SCS and CP length of the active UE-specific BWP <NUM> of UE1 and the UE-common BWP <NUM> may be fully contained within the UE-specific BWP <NUM>. <FIG> illustrates the SS sets <NUM> and <NUM> in UE1's specific BWP#<NUM><NUM> and the UE-common BWP <NUM>. In some embodiments, SS set <NUM> for unicast and SS set <NUM> for multicast may be configured in the UE-specific BWP <NUM> and UE-common BWP <NUM> configurations separately. As such SS set <NUM> may be dedicated to unicast and SS set <NUM> may be dedicated to multicast. In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to monitor the PDCCH for unicast and the PDCCH for multicast in the SS sets <NUM> and <NUM> in both the UE-specific BWP <NUM> and UE-common BWP <NUM> configurations at the same time. As such each SS set <NUM>, <NUM> may be used for monitoring both the PDCCH for unicast and the PDCCH for multicast.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating a multicast BWP that is a UE-common BWP <NUM> allocation in the carrier bandwidth <NUM> in accordance with various embodiments. With reference to <FIG>, the UE-common BWP <NUM> may have a different SCS and CP length of the active UE-specific BWP <NUM> of UE1 and the UE-common BWP <NUM> may not be fully contained within the UE-specific BWP <NUM>. In such an example as illustrated in <FIG>, should the UE1 not be capable of activating more than one BWP at a time, the UE-specific BWP <NUM> and the UE-common BWP <NUM> may be time-switched. <FIG> is a diagram illustrating a time switching pattern in accordance with various embodiments. With reference to <FIG>, the time switching pattern may indicate UE-common BWP active periods <NUM> and UE-specific BWP active periods <NUM>. In some embodiments, the indication of the time switching pattern may be sent in RRC message. In some embodiments, the indication of the time switching pattern may be sent in DCI.

<FIG> are diagrams illustrating DCIs for BWP switching in accordance with various embodiments. With reference to <FIG>, for DCI-indicated BWP switching, a BWP indicator field in the DCI <NUM> may be used to indicate which BWP, the UE-specific BWP <NUM> or the UE-common BWP <NUM>, to use. For example, when a DCI <NUM> in UE-specific BWP <NUM> indicates BWP-switching to a UE-common BWP <NUM>, the DCI <NUM> may indicate BWP switching and the DCI <NUM> may schedule multicast data in the UE-common BWP <NUM>. For example, when a DCI <NUM> in UE-common BWP <NUM> indicates BWP-switching to a UE-specific BWP <NUM>, the DCI <NUM> indicates BWP switching to a particular BWP (e.g., UE specific BWP <NUM>), but does not schedule data in the UE-specific BWP <NUM>, where the particular BWP is RRC configured.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating a multicast BWP that is a virtual BWP allocation <NUM> in a carrier bandwidth <NUM> in accordance with various embodiments. With reference to <FIG>, the virtual BWP allocation <NUM> may not be a defined actual BWP, but rather the virtual BWP <NUM> may be a subset of parameters of a BWP. The virtual BWP <NUM> may be configured by the base station to be fully contained in UE1's specific BWP#<NUM><NUM> and UE2's specific BWP#<NUM><NUM> with the same SCS and CP length. In various embodiments, the network (e.g., the base station) may configure the virtual BWP <NUM> such that the UEs receiving the same multicast service <NUM> may have active BWPs <NUM>, <NUM> that fully contain the virtual BWP <NUM>. In some embodiments, the virtual BWP <NUM> may be identified to a UE by a configuration element, such as a starting RB and RB length element.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating a multicast BWP that is a virtual BWP allocation <NUM> in a carrier bandwidth <NUM> in accordance with various embodiments. With reference to <FIG>, the virtual BWP <NUM> may be identified to a UE by a CORESET <NUM> bandwidth configuration. As an example, the UE may be configured with a special CORESET <NUM> for multicast. The virtual BWP <NUM> bandwidth may be determined by the lowest and the highest RB indexes of the CORESET <NUM> for multicast. In some embodiments, should the UE be configured with multiple special CORESETs for multicast, the virtual BWP <NUM> bandwidth may be determined to be at the union of the multiple CORESETs (e.g., the lowest RB index among the CORESETs to the highest RB index among the CORESETs).

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating a multicast BWP that is a virtual BWP allocation <NUM> in a carrier bandwidth <NUM> in accordance with various embodiments. With reference to <FIG>, the virtual BWP <NUM> may be transparent to the UE. For example, a UE may be configured with an offset value or virtual PRB#<NUM>, but may not be configured with a specific bandwidth for the virtual BWP <NUM>. For multicast data resource allocation, the UE may determine the configured RB index associated with the offset value or the virtual PRB#<NUM> as the lowest RB index, and may be configured so as to expect the scheduled multicast data to not exceed the active BWP bandwidth (e.g., the UE expects that the network (e.g., the base station) will not transmit multicast data outside the UE-specific BWP <NUM>). As such, the virtual BWP <NUM> may include a multicast schedulable portion <NUM> and a multicast non-schedulable portion <NUM>. In such an example, DCI field sizes may be the same for unicast and multicast. In such an example virtual BWP <NUM> configuration, when a UE detects a DL DCI, depending on whether the DL DCI schedules unicast data or multicast data, the UE interprets the DCI frequency-domain resource allocation field such that PRB#<NUM> or virtual PRB#<NUM> is the lowest RB index of the resource allocation. Whether the DL DCI schedules unicast data or multicast data may be identified by RNTI scrambling of the CRC of the DCI (e.g., G-RNTI or C-RNTI/MCS-C-RNTI/CS-RNTI), the DL DCI payload size, and/or the DL DCI format.

Various embodiments may be implemented on a variety of wireless network devices, an example of which is illustrated in <FIG> in the form of a wireless network computing device <NUM> functioning as a network element of a communication network, such as a base station (e.g., the base station <NUM>, <NUM>). Such network computing devices may include at least the components illustrated in <FIG>. With reference to <FIG>, the network computing device <NUM> may typically include a processor <NUM> coupled to volatile memory <NUM> and a large capacity nonvolatile memory, such as a disk drive <NUM>. The network computing device <NUM> may also include a peripheral memory access device such as a floppy disc drive, compact disc (CD) or digital video disc (DVD) drive <NUM> coupled to the processor <NUM>. The network computing device <NUM> may also include network access ports <NUM> (or interfaces) coupled to the processor <NUM> for establishing data connections with a network, such as the Internet and/or a local area network coupled to other system computers and servers. The network computing device <NUM> may include one or more antennas <NUM> for sending and receiving electromagnetic radiation that may be connected to a wireless communication link. The network computing device <NUM> may include additional access ports, such as USB, Firewire, Thunderbolt, and the like for coupling to peripherals, external memory, or other devices.

Various embodiments may be implemented on a variety of wireless devices (e.g., the wireless device 120a-120e, <NUM>, <NUM>), an example of which is illustrated in <FIG> in the form of a smartphone <NUM>. With reference to <FIG>, the smartphone <NUM> may include a first SOC <NUM> (e.g., a SOC-CPU) coupled to a second SOC <NUM> (e.g., a <NUM> capable SOC). The first and second SOCs <NUM>, <NUM> may be coupled to internal memory <NUM>, <NUM>, a display <NUM>, and to a speaker <NUM>. Additionally, the smartphone <NUM> may include an antenna <NUM> for sending and receiving electromagnetic radiation that may be connected to a wireless transceiver <NUM> coupled to one or more processors in the first and/or second SOCs <NUM>, <NUM>. Smartphones <NUM> typically also include menu selection buttons or rocker switches <NUM> for receiving user inputs. The first and second SOCs <NUM>, <NUM> may also be coupled to at least one SIM <NUM> and/or a SIM interface that may store information supporting a first <NUM>-NR subscription and a second <NUM>-NR subscription, which support service on a <NUM> non-standalone (NSA) network.

A typical smartphone <NUM> also includes a sound encoding/decoding (CODEC) circuit <NUM>, which digitizes sound received from a microphone into data packets suitable for wireless transmission and decodes received sound data packets to generate analog signals that are provided to the speaker to generate sound. Also, one or more of the processors in the first and second SOCs <NUM>, <NUM>, wireless transceiver <NUM> and CODEC <NUM> may include a digital signal processor (DSP) circuit (not shown separately).

The processors of the wireless network computing device <NUM> and the smart phone <NUM> may be any programmable microprocessor, microcomputer or multiple processor chip or chips that can be configured by software instructions (applications) to perform a variety of functions, including the functions of the various embodiments described below. In some mobile devices, multiple processors may be provided, such as one processor within an SOC <NUM> dedicated to wireless communication functions and one processor within an SOC <NUM> dedicated to running other applications. Typically, software applications may be stored in the memory <NUM>, <NUM> before they are accessed and loaded into the processor. The processors may include internal memory sufficient to store the application software instructions.

As used in this application, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are intended to include a computer-related entity, such as, but not limited to, hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution, which are configured to perform particular operations or functions. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a wireless device and the wireless device may be referred to as a component. One or more components may reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component may be localized on one processor or core and/or distributed between two or more processors or cores. In addition, these components may execute from various non-transitory computer readable media having various instructions and/or data structures stored thereon. Components may communicate by way of local and/or remote processes, function or procedure calls, electronic signals, data packets, memory read/writes, and other known network, computer, processor, and/or process related communication methodologies.

A number of different cellular and mobile communication services and standards are available or contemplated in the future, all of which may implement and benefit from the various embodiments. Such services and standards include, e.g., third generation partnership project (3GPP), long term evolution (LTE) systems, third generation wireless mobile communication technology (<NUM>), fourth generation wireless mobile communication technology (<NUM>), fifth generation wireless mobile communication technology (<NUM>), global system for mobile communications (GSM), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), 3GSM, general packet radio service (GPRS), code division multiple access (CDMA) systems (e.g., cdmaOne, CDMA1020TM), enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), advanced mobile phone system (AMPS), digital AMPS (IS-<NUM>/TDMA), evolution-data optimized (EV-DO), digital enhanced cordless telecommunications (DECT), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), wireless local area network (WLAN), Wi-Fi Protected Access I & II (WPA, WPA2), and integrated digital enhanced network (iDEN). Each of these technologies involves, for example, the transmission and reception of voice, data, signaling, and/or content messages. It should be understood that any references to terminology and/or technical details related to an individual telecommunication standard or technology are for illustrative purposes only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims to a particular communication system or technology unless specifically recited in the claim language.

Various embodiments illustrated and described are provided merely as examples to illustrate various features of the claims. However, features shown and described with respect to any given embodiment are not necessarily limited to the associated embodiment and may be used or combined with other embodiments that are shown and described. Further, the claims are not intended to be limited by any one example embodiment. For example, one or more of the operations of the methods <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> may be substituted for or combined with one or more operations of the methods <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>.

The hardware used to implement various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of receiver smart objects, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. Alternatively, some operations or methods may be performed by circuitry that is specific to a given function.

In one or more embodiments, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or non-transitory processor-readable storage medium. The operations of a method or algorithm disclosed herein may be embodied in a processor-executable software module or processor-executable instructions, which may reside on a non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage medium. Non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may be any storage media that may be accessed by a computer or a processor. By way of example but not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, FLASH memory, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage smart objects, or any other medium that may be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a computer. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of non-transitory computer-readable and processor-readable media. Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium and/or computer-readable storage medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.

Claim 1:
A base station (<NUM>) adapted
for use in a fifth generation new radio, <NUM>-NR, network,
comprising:
means adapted to determine a multicast bandwidth part, BWP, within a carrier bandwidth;
means adapted to send an indication of the multicast BWP to one or more user equipment, UE, computing devices (<NUM>) in communication with the base station (<NUM>), wherein the multicast BWP is a UE-common BWP configured to be used by at least a portion of the one or more UE computing devices (<NUM>) in communication with the base station (<NUM>);
means adapted to schedule transmission of multicast data in the multicast BWP;
means adapted to determine whether the UE-common BWP has a same subcarrier spacing, SCS, and cyclic prefix, CP, length as a UE-specific BWP and the UE-common BWP is fully contained within the UE-specific BWP; and
means adapted to send an indication of a search space set for multicast to the respective UE computing device (<NUM>) in response to determining that the UE-common BWP has a same
SCS and CP length as the UE-specific BWP and the UE-common BWP is fully contained within the UE-specific BWP.