Patent Description:
Meanwhile, there have been various studies on paging, system information acquisition, uplink carrier selection in <NUM> communication system recently.

<NPL>, provides an updated description of default and non-default association in respect of paging.

, addresses aspects for Rel. <NUM> physical downlink control channel.

<NPL>, CR for TS38. <NUM> on option2 for <NUM>-<NUM> UEs, proposes to clarity that UE should apply initial DL BWP configured in SIB1 dependent on whether this UE supports this bandwidth after receiving the first RRC reconfiguration message.

In <NPL>, impact of BWP on system information (SI) reception on UE in RRC_Connected is discussed.

There are needs of developing paging, system information acquisition, uplink carrier selection in <NUM> communication system.

Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosure is to provide a communication method and system for converging a fifth generation (<NUM>) communication system for supporting higher data rates beyond a fourth generation (<NUM>).

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, a method of receiving a paging by a terminal is provided, as defined by the appended claims. The method comprises: receiving, from a base station, a system information block (SIB) including at least one parameter for a paging; receiving, from the base station, a message configuring a downlink bandwidth part (BWP), the message including information indicating a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring occasion for a paging occasion (PO) of a paging frame (PF) on the downlink BWP; and receiving, from the base station, a paging message on the downlink BWP based on the at least one parameter and the information.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a method of transmitting a paging by a base station is provided, as defined by the appended claims. The method comprises: transmitting, to a terminal, a system information block (SIB) including at least one parameter for a paging; transmitting, to the terminal, a message configuring a downlink bandwidth part (BWP), the message including information indicating a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring occasion for a paging occasion (PO) of a paging frame (PF) on the downlink BWP; and transmitting, to the terminal, a paging message on the downlink BWP based on the at least one parameter and the information.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a terminal of receiving a paging is provided, as defined by the appended claims. The terminal comprises: a transceiver configured to transmit and receive a signal; and a controller configured to: receive, from a base station, a system information block (SIB) including at least one parameter for a paging, receive, from the base station, a message configuring a downlink bandwidth part (BWP), the message including information indicating a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring occasion for a paging occasion (PO) of a paging frame (PF) on the downlink BWP, and receive, from the base station, a paging message on the downlink BWP based on the at least one parameter and the information.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a base station of transmitting a paging is provided. as defined by the appended claims. The base station comprises: a transceiver configured to transmit and receive a signal; and a controller configured to: transmit, to a terminal, a system information block (SIB) including at least one parameter for a paging, transmit, to the terminal, a message configuring a downlink bandwidth part (BWP), the message including information indicating a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring occasion for a paging occasion (PO) of a paging frame (PF) on the downlink BWP, and transmit, to the terminal, a paging message on the downlink BWP based on the at least one parameter and the information.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, paging, system information acquisition, uplink carrier selection in <NUM> communication system can be efficiently enhanced.

Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the various embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

It is known to those skilled in the art that blocks of a flowchart (or sequence diagram) and a combination of flowcharts may be represented and executed by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded on a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or programmable data processing equipment. When the loaded program instructions are executed by the processor, they create a means for carrying out functions described in the flowchart. Because the computer program instructions may be stored in a computer readable memory that is usable in a specialized computer or a programmable data processing equipment, it is also possible to create articles of manufacture that carry out functions described in the flowchart. Because the computer program instructions may be loaded on a computer or a programmable data processing equipment, when executed as processes, they may carry out operations of functions described in the flowchart.

A block of a flowchart may correspond to a module, a segment, or a code containing one or more executable instructions implementing one or more logical functions, or may correspond to a part thereof. In some cases, functions described by blocks may be executed in an order different from the listed order. For example, two blocks listed in sequence may be executed at the same time or executed in reverse order.

In this description, the words "unit", "module" or the like may refer to a software component or hardware component, such as, for example, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) capable of carrying out a function or an operation. However, a "unit", or the like, is not limited to hardware or software. A unit, or the like, may be configured so as to reside in an addressable storage medium or to drive one or more processors. Units, or the like, may refer to software components, object-oriented software components, class components, task components, processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, program code segments, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays or variables. A function provided by a component and unit may be a combination of smaller components and units, and may be combined with others to compose larger components and units. Components and units may be configured to drive a device or one or more processors in a secure multimedia card.

Prior to the detailed description, terms or definitions necessary to understand the disclosure are described. However, these terms should be construed in a non-limiting way.

The "base station (BS)" is an entity communicating with a user equipment (UE) and may be referred to as BS, base transceiver station (BTS), node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), access point (AP), <NUM> NB (5GNB), or gNB.

The "UE" is an entity communicating with a BS and may be referred to as UE, device, mobile station (MS), mobile equipment (ME), or terminal.

In the recent years several broadband wireless technologies have been developed to meet the growing number of broadband subscribers and to provide more and better applications and services. The second generation wireless communication system has been developed to provide voice services while ensuring the mobility of users. Third generation wireless communication system supports not only the voice service but also data service. In recent years, the fourth wireless communication system has been developed to provide high-speed data service. However, currently, the fourth generation wireless communication system suffers from lack of resources to meet the growing demand for high speed data services. So fifth generation wireless communication system is being developed to meet the growing demand for high speed data services, support ultra-reliability and low latency applications.

The fifth generation wireless communication system will be implemented not only in lower frequency bands but also in higher frequency (mmWave) bands, e.g., <NUM> to <NUM> bands, so as to accomplish higher data rates. To mitigate propagation loss of the radio waves and increase the transmission distance, the beamforming, massive MIMO, Full Dimensional MIMO, array antenna, an analog beam forming, large scale antenna techniques are being considered in the design of fifth generation wireless communication system. In addition, the fifth generation wireless communication system is expected to address different use cases having quite different requirements in terms of data rate, latency, reliability, mobility etc. However, it is expected that the design of the air-interface of the fifth generation wireless communication system would be flexible enough to serve the UEs having quite different capabilities depending on the use case and market segment the UE cater service to the end customer. Few example use cases the fifth generation wireless communication system wireless system is expected to address is enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), massive Machine Type Communication (m-MTC), ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLL) etc. The eMBB requirements like tens of Gbps data rate, low latency, high mobility so on and so forth address the market segment representing the conventional wireless broadband subscribers needing internet connectivity everywhere, all the time and on the go. The m-MTC requirements like very high connection density, infrequent data transmission, very long battery life, low mobility address so on and so forth address the market segment representing the Internet of Things (IoT)/Internet of Everything (IoE) envisioning connectivity of billions of devices. The URLL requirements like very low latency, very high reliability and variable mobility so on and so forth address the market segment representing the Industrial automation application, vehicle-to-vehicle/vehicle-to-infrastructure communication foreseen as one of the enabler for autonomous cars.

In the wireless communication system, a base station in a cell broadcasts system information. System information includes common parameters needed for a UE to communicate in cell. In the fifth generation wireless communication system (also referred as next generation radio, new radio or NR), System Information (SI) is divided into the master information block (MIB) and a number of system information blocks (SIBs) where:.

In the 5th generation wireless communication system the paging is transmitted to page UE which are attached to the wireless communication network but are in idle/inactive mode. In the idle/inactive mode UE wake ups at regular intervals (i.e. every paging discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle) for short periods to receive paging and other broadcast information. The network may configure several paging occasions (POs) in a DRX cycle. In a PO, a paging message is transmitted using physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). A physical downlink common control channel (PDCCH) is addressed to paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI) if there is a paging message in the PDSCH. The P-RNTI is common for all UEs. So UE identity (i.e. serving temporary mobile subscriber identity (S-TMSI)) is included in the paging message to indicate paging for a specific UE. The paging message may include multiple UE identities to page multiple UEs. The paging message is broadcasted (i.e. PDCCH is masked with P-RNTI) over a data channel (i.e. PDSCH).

The UE monitors one PO every DRX cycle. Each PO is a set of 'S' PDCCH monitoring occasions, where 'S' is the number of transmitted synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) in cell. UE determines its PO based on UE identity (ID). The UE first determines the paging frame (PF) and then determines the PO with respect to the determined PF. One PF is a radio frame (<NUM>).

The PF for a UE is the radio frame with system frame number 'SFN' which satisfies the equation (SFN + PF_offset) mod T= (T div N)*(UE_ID mod N); where PF_offset, T and N is signaled by gNB in system information. UE monitors (i_s+<NUM>)th PO, where i_s = floor(UE_ID/N) mod Ns; where N and Ns is signaled by gNB in system information.

Paging search space signaled by the base station indicates the PDCCH monitoring occasions for paging. Paging search space configuration comprises of parameters Monitoring-periodicity-PDCCH-slot, Monitoring-offset-PDCCH-slot, Monitoring-symbols-PDCCH-within-slot and duration. A UE determines PDCCH monitoring occasion (s) within a slot using the parameters PDCCH monitoring periodicity (Monitoring-periodicity-PDCCH-slot), the PDCCH monitoring offset (Monitoring-offset-PDCCH-slot), and the PDCCH monitoring pattern (Monitoring-symbols-PDCCH-within-slot). PDCCH monitoring occasions are there in slots 'x' to x+duration where the slot with number 'x' in a radio frame with number 'y' satisfies the equation below: <MAT>.

The starting symbol of a PDCCH monitoring occasion in each slot having PDCCH monitoring occasion is given by Monitoring-symbols-PDCCH-within-slot. The length (in symbols) of a PDCCH monitoring occasion is given in the corset associated with the search space. search space configuration includes the identifier of coreset configuration associated with it. A list of coreset configurations are signaled by GNB for each configured BWP wherein each coreset configuration is uniquely identified by an identifier.

The PDCCH monitoring occasions for paging which are not overlapping with UL symbols are sequentially numbered from zero starting from the 1st PDCCH monitoring occasion for paging in the PF. The PDCCH monitoring occasions are determined based on paging search space configuration signaled by gNB in system information. The gNB may signal parameter firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO for each PO corresponding to a PF. When firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO is signaled, the (i_s + <NUM>)th PO is a set of 'S' consecutive PDCCH monitoring occasions for paging starting from the PDCCH monitoring occasion indicated by firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO (i.e. the (i_s + <NUM>)th value of the firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO parameter). Otherwise, the (i_s + <NUM>)th PO is a set of 'S' consecutive PDCCH monitoring occasions for paging starting from the (i_s * S)th PDCCH monitoring occasion for paging. 'S' is the number of actual transmitted SSBs determined according to parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst in SIB1.

In fifth generation wireless communication system, the receive and transmit bandwidth of a UE need not be as large as the bandwidth of the cell and can be adjusted: the width can be ordered to change (e.g. to shrink during period of low activity to save power); the location can move in the frequency domain (e.g. to increase scheduling flexibility); and the subcarrier spacing can be ordered to change (e.g. to allow different services). A subset of the total cell bandwidth of a cell is referred to as a Bandwidth Part (BWP).

An initial DL BWP is indicated by parameters in MIB. An initial DL BWP is defined by a location and number of contiguous PRBs, starting from a PRB with the lowest index and ending at a PRB with the highest index among PRBs of a CORESET for Type0-PDCCH CSS set. PRBs of CORESET for Type0-PDCCH CSS set is indicated by parameter pdcch-ConfigSIB <NUM> in MIB. The SCS of initial DL BWP is also indicated in MIB. The cyclic prefix for PDCCH reception in the CORESET for Type0-PDCCH CSS set is normal cyclic prefix. Initial DL BWP can also be indicated by parameter initialDownlinkBWP in SIB1. System information and paging is transmitted by the base station in an initial downlink (DL) BWP. A UE in an RRC IDLE/INACTIVE state receives the system information and paging in initial DL BWP. Initial UL BWP is indicated by parameter initialUplinkBWP in SIB1. If the UE is configured with a supplementary UL carrier, the UE can be provided an initial UL BWP on the supplementary UL carrier.

In a radio resource control (RRC) connected state, the UE is configured with one or more DL and uplink (UL) BWPs, for each configured Serving Cell (i.e. primary cell (PCell) or secondary cell (SCell)) via RRC signaling. There can be up to <NUM> configured DL and UL BWPs. For each configured DL or UL BWPs, the UE is provided with SCS, cyclic prefix, information about the PRBs, BWP Id, a set of common and dedicated parameters. Any DL BWP other than initial DL BWP is also referred as non-initial DL BWP. Any UL BWP other than initial UL BWP is also referred as non-initial UL BWP. For an activated Serving Cell, there is always one active UL and DL BWP at any point in time. The BWP switching for a Serving Cell is used to activate an inactive BWP and deactivate an active BWP at a time. The BWP switching is controlled by the PDCCH indicating a downlink assignment or an uplink grant, by the bwp-InactivityTimer, by RRC signaling, or by the medium access control (MAC) entity itself upon initiation of Random Access procedure. Upon addition of special cell (SpCell) or activation of an SCell, the DL BWP and UL BWP indicated by firstActiveDownlinkBWP-Id and firstActiveUplinkBWP-Id respectively is active without receiving PDCCH indicating a downlink assignment or an uplink grant. The active BWP for a Serving Cell is indicated by either RRC or PDCCH. For unpaired spectrum, a DL BWP is paired with a UL BWP, and BWP switching is common for both UL and DL. Upon expiry of BWP inactivity timer, UE switch to the active DL BWP to the default DL BWP or initial DL BWP (if default DL BWP is not configured). Note that in RRC connected state, an active DL BWP can be initial DL BWP. An active UL BWP can be initial UL BWP.

In the RRC Connected state, the active DL BWP of UE can be different than the initial DL BWP. As a result, UE should be able to receive the paging in its active DL BWP. Paging needs to be transmitted by gNB not only in initial DL BWP but also in other DL BWP(s) which is non-initial DL BWP. In the current design the parameters (T, PF_OFFSET, N, Ns and firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO) to determine the PF/PO for paging reception are broadcasted only in initial DL BWP. This design is not efficient for supporting paging in multiple BWPs. The starting PDCCH occasion number of PO indicated by 'firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO' broadcasted in SIB1 is not always valid for other DL BWPs as the number of PDCCH monitoring occasions for paging and subcarrier spacing (SCS) can be different for different DL BWPs. Let's say N = T, Initial DL BWP SCS = <NUM>, another DL BWP SCS = <NUM>. SIB <NUM> indicates that starting PDCCH occasion number is <NUM>. The range of values for PDCCH occasion number for SCS of <NUM> is <NUM> to <NUM>. <NUM> is not a valid value.

Each SI message is transmitted within periodically occurring time domain windows (referred to as SI-windows with same length for all SI messages). Each SI message is associated with a SI-window and the SI-windows of different SI messages do not overlap. That is, within one SI-window only the corresponding SI message is transmitted. When acquiring an SI message, the UE determines the start of the SI-window for the concerned SI message as follows:.

The UE in RRC Idle/inactive receives SI in initial DL BWP. However in the RRC connected state, the UE receives SI in its active DL BWP. The active DL BWP may not always be initial DL BWP. From network point of view SI can be transmitted in not only initial DL BWP but also other DL BWPs. In the current design how to determine the slot length and hence number of slots in a radio frame for SI message acquisition is undefined.

Multiple UL carriers (referred a normal uplink carrier (NUL) and supplementary uplink carrier (SUL)) can be supported in a cell. When the random access procedure is initiated by the UE, it selects one UL carrier and perform physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission(s) on this UL carrier. According to current design, if the reference signal received power (RSRP) of the downlink pathloss reference is less than a configured threshold, SUL is selected. Otherwise NUL is selected. However, it is not defined how to measure RSRP to select uplink carrier.

Hereinafter, various embodiments according to the disclosure are explained in detail to overcome above mentioned issues.

<FIG> illustrates determining paging frame (PF) and paging occasion (PO) according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, it is proposed that paging channel configuration comprising of parameters Default Paging Cycle Duration, N, Ns, PF_Offset and firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO are categorized into first Type of paging parameters and second Type of paging parameters. The first Type of paging parameters comprises of: Default Paging Cycle Duration, N, Ns and PF_Offset. N is the number of paging frames in paging cycle. Ns is the number of paging occasions per paging frame. The second Type of paging parameters comprises of firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO. firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO indicates starting PDCCH monitoring occasion number for each PO of PF.

According to the embodiment, the first type of paging parameters are transmitted by gNB in system information (e.g. in SIB <NUM>). The second type of paging parameters are transmitted by gNB in system information (e.g. in SIB <NUM>). The second type of paging parameters are transmitted in BWP configuration of each DL BWP in which paging is transmitted (i.e. in each DL BWP in which paging search space is configured), where BWP configuration is included in dedicated signaling using RRC message (e.g. RRCReconfiguration message). The advantage is that gNB can configure starting PDCCH monitoring occasion number of each PO depending on SCS and number of PDCCH monitoring occasions of a BWP.

In an alternate embodiment, the first Type of paging parameters comprise Default Paging Cycle Duration, N and Ns. The second Type of paging parameters comprise firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO and PF_Offset.

In an alternate embodiment, the first Type of paging parameters comprise Default Paging Cycle Duration and N. The second Type of paging parameters comprise firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO, Ns and PF_Offset.

In an alternate embodiment, the first Type of paging parameters comprise Default Paging Cycle Duration. The second Type of paging parameters comprise firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO, N, Ns and PF_Offset.

First, the UE receives paging search space configuration and paging parameters from gNB (<NUM>). The UE uses the paging search space configuration, first Type of paging parameters and second Type of paging parameters to determine its PF and PO. The second type of paging parameters received from system information is used by UE in initial DL BWP and zero, one or more dedicated BWPs. The second type of paging parameters received from RRC message (e.g. RRCReconfiguration message) and explicitly associated with a specific BWP is used by UE for determining PF/PO in associated BWP.

If the DL BWP in which UE monitors PDCCH addressed to P-RNTI is the initial DL BWP (<NUM>), UE uses the following parameters for PF/PO determination (<NUM>):.

If the DL BWP in which UE monitors PDCCH addressed to P-RNTI is not the initial DL BWP (<NUM>), UE uses the following parameters for PF/PO determination (<NUM>):.

A UE in the RRC IDLE/INACTIVE state monitors paging (i.e. PDCCH addressed to P-RNTI) in initial DL BWP. The purpose of paging monitoring in RRC IDLE/INACTIVE is to receive paging message, SI update indication and emergency notifications. A UE in the RRC CONNECTED state monitors paging in active DL BWP if paging search space is configured in active DL BWP. The UE in the RRC CONNECTED state does not monitor paging in active DL BWP if paging search space is not configured in active DL BWP. The active DL BWP can be initial DL BWP or non-initial DL BWP. Note that the UE in the RRC CONNETCED state does no monitor paging in DL BWP which is not active. The purpose of paging monitoring in RRC IDLE/INACTIVE is to receive SI update indication and emergency notifications.

Based on the determined parameters (as explained above) the UE determines the PF and PO as follows:
The paging frame is the radio frame with SFN which satisfies equation <NUM> below: <MAT>.

Index (i_s), indicating the start of a set of PDCCH monitoring occasions for the paging DCI, is determined by equation <NUM> below: <MAT>.

If paging-SearchSpace is set to zero, Ns is configured either <NUM> or <NUM>. For Ns = <NUM>, there is only one PO which starts from the first PDCCH monitoring occasion for paging in the PF. For Ns = <NUM>, PO is either in the first half frame (i_s = <NUM>) or the second half frame (i_s = <NUM>) of the PF. If paging-SearchSpace is set to zero, PDCCH monitoring occasions for paging are same as the PDCCH monitoring occasions for SIB <NUM>.

If paging-SearchSpace is not set to zero, the UE monitors the (i_s + <NUM>)th PO where the first PO starts in the PF. PDCCH monitoring occasions for paging are determined according to search space configuration indicated by paging-SearchSpace. The PDCCH monitoring occasions for paging which are not overlapping with UL symbols are sequentially numbered from zero starting from the 1st PDCCH monitoring occasion for paging in the PF. When firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO is available, the (i_s + <NUM>)th PO is a set of 'S' consecutive PDCCH monitoring occasions for paging starting from the PDCCH monitoring occasion indicated by firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO (i.e. the (i_s + <NUM>)th value of the firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO parameter). Otherwise, the (i_s + <NUM>)th PO is a set of 'S' consecutive PDCCH monitoring occasions for paging starting from the (i_s * S)th PDCCH monitoring occasion for paging where 'S' is the number of actual transmitted SSBs determined according to ssb-PositionsInBurst in SystemInformationBlock1. The Kth PDCCH monitoring occasion for paging in the PO corresponds to the Kth transmitted SSB.

Meanwhile, the following parameters are used for the calculation of PF and i_s above:.

<FIG> illustrates determining PF and PO according to another embodiment of the disclosure.

In another embodiment of the disclosure, it is proposed that paging channel configuration comprising of parameters Default Paging Cycle Duration, N, Ns, PF_Offset and firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO are categorized into first Type of paging parameters and second Type of paging parameters. The first Type of paging parameters comprises of: Default Paging Cycle Duration, N, Ns and PF_Offset. N is the number of paging frames in paging cycle. Ns is the number of paging occasions per paging frame. The second Type of paging parameters comprises of firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO. firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO indicates starting PDCCH monitoring occasion number for each PO of PF.

The UE receives paging search space configuration and paging parameters from gNB (<NUM>). Here, the first type of paging parameters are transmitted by gNB in system information (e.g. in SIB <NUM>). The second type of paging parameters are transmitted in system information (e.g. in SIB <NUM>). The second type of paging parameters are transmitted in BWP configuration of each non initial DL BWP in which paging is transmitted (i.e. in each non initial DL BWP in which paging search space is configured), where BWP configuration is included in dedicated signaling using RRC message (e.g. RRCReconfiguration message).

The UE uses the paging search space configuration, first Type of paging parameters and second Type of paging parameters to determine its PF and PO. The second type of paging parameters received from system information (i.e. SIB1) is used by UE in initial DL BWP. The second type of paging parameters received from RRC message (e.g. RRCReconfiguration message) and explicitly associated with a specific BWP (i.e. non initial BWP) is used by UE for determining PF/PO in associated BWP i.e., non-initial BWP.

If the DL BWP in which UE monitors PDCCH addressed to P-RNTI is not the initial DL BWP i.e., non-initial BWP (<NUM>), UE uses the following parameters for PF/PO determination (<NUM>):.

Based on the determined parameters (as explained above) UE determines the PF and PO as follows:
The paging frame is the radio frame with SFN which satisfies equation <NUM> below: <MAT>.

Index (i_s), indicating the start of a set of PDCCH monitoring occasions for the paging DCI, is determined by following equation <NUM>: <MAT>.

If paging-SearchSpace is not set to zero, the UE monitors the (i_s + <NUM>)th PO where the first PO starts in the PF. PDCCH monitoring occasions for paging are determined according to search space configuration indicated by paging-SearchSpace. The PDCCH monitoring occasions for paging which are not overlapping with UL symbols are sequentially numbered from zero starting from the 1st PDCCH monitoring occasion for paging in the PF.

When firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO is available, the (i_s + <NUM>)th PO is a set of 'S' consecutive PDCCH monitoring occasions for paging starting from the PDCCH monitoring occasion indicated by firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO (i.e. the (i_s + <NUM>)th value of the firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO parameter). Otherwise, the (i_s + <NUM>)th PO is a set of 'S' consecutive PDCCH monitoring occasions for paging starting from the (i_s * S)th PDCCH monitoring occasion for paging where 'S' is the number of actual transmitted SSBs determined according to ssb-PositionsInBurst in SystemInformationBlock1. The Kth PDCCH monitoring occasion for paging in the PO corresponds to the Kth transmitted SSB.

The following parameters are used for the calculation of PF and i_s above:.

The UE uses the following parameters for PF/PO determination in active DL BWP (<NUM>) if the active DL BWP is the initial DL BWP:.

In another embodiment of the disclosure, it is proposed that paging channel configuration comprising of parameters Default Paging Cycle Duration, N, Ns, PF_Offset and firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO is transmitted in system information (e.g. in SIB <NUM>). The paging channel configuration comprising of parameters Default Paging Cycle Duration, N, Ns, PF_Offset and firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO is also transmitted in BWP configuration of each DL BWP in which paging is transmitted (i.e. in each DL BWP in which paging search space is configured), where BWP configuration is included in dedicated signaling using RRC message (e.g. RRCReconfiguration message).

The UE receives paging search space configuration and paging channel configuration from gNB (<NUM>). UE uses the paging search space configuration and paging channel configuration to determine its PF and PO. The paging channel configuration received from system information is used by UE in initial DL BWP and zero, one or more dedicated BWPs. The paging channel configuration received from RRC message (e.g. RRCReconfiguration message) and explicitly associated with a specific BWP is used by UE for determining PF/PO in associated BWP.

In another embodiment of the disclosure, it is proposed that paging channel configuration comprising of parameters Default Paging Cycle Duration, N, Ns, PF_Offset and firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO is transmitted in system information (e.g. in SIB <NUM>) and The paging channel configuration comprising of parameters Default Paging Cycle Duration, N, Ns, PF_Offset and firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO is also transmitted in BWP configuration of each DL BWP in which paging is transmitted (i.e. in each DL BWP in which paging search space is configured), where BWP configuration is included in dedicated signaling using RRC message (e.g. RRCReconfiguration message).

The UE receives paging search space configuration and paging channel configuration from gNB (<NUM>). UE uses the paging search space configuration and paging channel configuration to determine its PF and PO. The paging channel configuration received from system information is used by UE in initial DL BWP. The paging channel configuration received from RRC message (e.g. RRCReconfiguration message) and explicitly associated with a specific BWP is used by UE for determining PF/PO in associated BWP.

In the 5th generation wireless communication system, SIBs other than SIB1 are carried in SystemInformation (SI) messages, which are transmitted on the DL-SCH. SIBs having the same periodicity can be mapped to the same SI message. Each SI message is transmitted within periodically occurring time domain windows (referred to as SI-windows with same length for all SI messages).

SI window length (common for all SI messages) and SI periodicity of each SI message is received by UE in SIB <NUM>. UE in RRC Idle/inactive receives SI message(s) in initial DL BWP. However in RRC connected state, UE receives SI message(s) in its active DL BWP if common search space is configured in active DL BWP. The active DL BWP may not always be initial DL BWP.

<FIG> illustrates determining system information (SI) window according to another embodiment of the disclosure.

The UE then acquires the concerned SI message in one or more SI window(s) of SI message.

<FIG> illustrates determining SI window according to another embodiment of the disclosure.

Multiple UL carriers (referred a normal uplink carrier (NUL) and supplementary uplink carrier (SUL)) can be supported in a serving cell. When the random access procedure is initiated by UE, it selects one UL carrier and performs PRACH transmission(s) on this UL carrier. If the carrier to use for the Random Access procedure is not explicitly signaled by gNB and if the Serving Cell for the Random Access procedure is configured with supplementary Uplink, the UE select between normal Uplink carrier and supplementary carrier as follows:.

In above description SS-RSRP of SSB refers to SS-RSRP of SSB of serving cell. UE measures SS-RSRP over the SSBs transmitted by serving cell.

The parameters nrofSS-BlocksToAverage, absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation and absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation can be configured by gNB in system information and/or measurement configuration for one or more frequencies. In RRC idle/inactive state, UE can use the parameters nrofSS-BlocksToAverage, absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation and absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation configured in system information corresponding to serving cell. In the RRC Connected state the UE can use the parameters nrofSS-BlocksToAverage, absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation and absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation configured in measurement configuration corresponding to serving cell. If measurement configuration does not include these parameters for serving cell, the UE can use the parameters nrofSS-BlocksToAverage, absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation and absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation configured in system information corresponding to serving cell. The parameter rsrp-ThresholdSSB-SUL is configured in rach configuration (signaled in SI, dedicated RRC signaling).

Multiple UL carriers including a NUL and a SUL can be supported in a serving cell. When the random access procedure is initiated by UE, it selects one UL carrier and performs PRACH transmission(s) on this UL carrier. If the carrier to use for the Random Access procedure is not explicitly signaled by gNB and if the Serving Cell for the Random Access procedure is configured with supplementary Uplink, the UE selects between normal Uplink carrier and supplementary carrier as follows:.

In the above description SS-RSRP of SSB refers to SS-RSRP of SSB of serving cell. UE measures SS-RSRP over the SSBs transmitted by serving cell.

Multiple UL carriers including a NUL and a SUL can be supported in a serving cell. When the random access procedure is initiated by UE, it selects one UL carrier and performs PRACH transmission(s) on this UL carrier. If the carrier to use for the Random Access procedure is not explicitly signaled by gNB and if the Serving Cell for the Random Access procedure is configured with supplementaryUplink, the UE select between normal Uplink carrier and supplementary carrier as follows:.

Multiple UL carriers including a NUL and a SUL can be supported in a serving cell. When the random access procedure is initiated by UE, it selects one UL carrier and performs PRACH transmission(s) on this UL carrier. If the carrier to use for the Random Access procedure is not explicitly signaled by gNB and if the Serving Cell for the Random Access procedure is configured with supplementaryUplink, the UE select between normal Uplink carrier and supplementary carrier as follows:
If the UL carrier selection is performed once at the beginning of random access procedure, then UE select the UL carrier as described in method <NUM>. If the UL carrier selection is performed before every RA preamble transmission during the random access procedure, then UE select the UL carrier as described in method <NUM>/<NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates a block diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, a terminal includes a transceiver <NUM>, a controller <NUM> and a memory <NUM>. The transceiver <NUM>, the controller <NUM> and the memory <NUM> are configured to perform the operations of the UE illustrated in the figures, e.g. <FIG>, or described above. Although the transceiver <NUM>, the controller <NUM> and the memory <NUM> are shown as separate entities, they may be realized as a single entity like a single chip. Or, the transceiver <NUM>, the controller <NUM> and the memory <NUM> may be electrically connected to or coupled with each other.

The transceiver <NUM> may transmit and receive signals to and from other network entities, e.g., a BS.

The controller <NUM> may control the UE to perform functions according to one of the embodiments described above. The controller <NUM> may refer to a circuitry, an ASIC, or at least one processor.

In an embodiment, the operations of the terminal may be implemented using the memory <NUM> storing corresponding program codes. Specifically, the terminal may be equipped with the memory <NUM> to store program codes implementing desired operations. To perform the desired operations, the controller <NUM> may read and execute the program codes stored in the memory <NUM> by using a processor or a central processing unit (CPU).

<FIG> illustrates a block diagram of a BS according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, a BS includes a transceiver <NUM>, a controller <NUM> and a memory <NUM>. The transceiver <NUM>, the controller <NUM> and the memory <NUM> are configured to perform the operations of the network (e.g., gNB) illustrated in the figures, e.g. <FIG>, or described above. Although the transceiver <NUM>, the controller <NUM> and the memory <NUM> are shown as separate entities, they may be realized as a single entity like a single chip. The transceiver <NUM>, the controller <NUM> and the memory <NUM> may be electrically connected to or coupled with each other.

The transceiver <NUM> may transmit and receive signals to and from other network entities, e.g., a terminal.

The controller <NUM> may control the BS to perform functions according to one of the embodiments described above. The controller <NUM> may refer to a circuitry, an ASIC, or at least one processor.

In an embodiment, the operations of the BS may be implemented using the memory <NUM> storing corresponding program codes. Specifically, the BS may be equipped with the memory <NUM> to store program codes implementing desired operations. To perform the desired operations, the controller <NUM> may read and execute the program codes stored in the memory <NUM> by using a processor or a CPU.

While the disclosure has been shown and described with reference to various embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

As described above, embodiments disclosed in the specification and drawings are merely used to present specific examples to easily explain the contents of the disclosure and to help understanding, but are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the disclosure should be analyzed to include all changes or modifications derived based on the technical concept of the disclosure in addition to the embodiments disclosed herein.

Claim 1:
A method performed by a terminal comprised in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
receiving (<NUM>), from a base station, a system information block, SIB, including at least one parameter for a paging;
receiving, from the base station, a radio resource control, RRC, message; and
receiving, from the base station, a paging message on a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, addressed to a paging radio network temporary identifier, P-RNTI, by monitoring a paging occasion, PO, of a paging frame, PF, based on the at least one parameter,
wherein the monitoring of the PO starts from a starting PDCCH monitoring occasion indicated by information indicating a first PDCCH monitoring occasion of the PO,
wherein the information indicating the first PDCCH monitoring occasion of the PO is included in the SIB (<NUM>) for the paging in an initial downlink bandwidth part, BWP, and
wherein the information indicating the first PDCCH monitoring occasion of the PO is included in the RRC message (<NUM>) for the paging in a non-initial downlink BWP.