Patent Description:
Over the past few decades, mobile communications have evolved from voice services to high-speed broadband data services. With further development of new types of businesses and applications, e.g. the mobile Internet and Internet of Things (IoT), the demands on data on mobile networks will continue to increase exponentially. Based on diversified business and application requirements in future mobile communications, wireless communication systems should meet a variety of requirements, such as throughput, latency, reliability, link density, cost, energy consumption, complexity, and coverage.

An LTE (Long-Term Evolution) system can support performing FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) operation on a pair of spectrums (e.g. performing downlink on one carrier and uplink on another carrier). It also supports TDD (Time Division Duplex) operation on an unpaired carrier. In a conventional TDD operation mode, only a limited number of configurations of uplink and downlink sub-frame allocations (corresponding to configuration <NUM> to configuration <NUM>) are utilized. Adjacent areas use a same configuration, that is, with the same direction of transmission. The technology of eIMTA (enhanced interference mitigation and traffic adaptation) can configure semi-statically (at <NUM> or more) the uplink and downlink of the LTE system, and make adjacent areas use different configurations of TDD uplink and downlink sub-frame allocations. But these configurations are still limited to the several configurations described above.

Future wireless communication systems, such as the <NUM> / New Radio (NR) system, will support dynamic TDD operations, flexible Duplexing (or Duplexing flexibility) operations, and full Duplexing operations, in order to meet the fast adaptive requirements of the business and to further improve the efficiency of spectrum utilization. Taking dynamic TDD as an example, a dynamic TDD operation refers to dynamically or semi-dynamically changing the transmission direction as uplink or downlink, on the unpaired spectrum (or on the uplink or downlink carriers in the paired spectrum). Compared to eIMTA, dynamic TDD operations can support direction changes in a sub-frame level, a time slot level, or in an even more dynamic level. While an eIMTA system utilizes physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to indicate TDD sub-frame configurations, a <NUM>/NR system will use group-common PDCCH to notify a group of terminals and/or users about some control information, e.g. slot format related information (SFI). For example, a base station (BS) in a <NUM>/NR system can indicate SFI via a group-common PDCCH to notify a group of terminals about channel structure information of a transmission link between the BS and each terminal within one or more time slots. The channel structure may include a pattern of transmission attributes, e.g. downlink (DL), uplink (UL), and/or OTHER of the transmission link.

There is no satisfactory solution in existing literatures or existing technologies for any of the following issues: (a) how the terminal can understand an SFI indication under different waveform parameter sets; (b) how the terminal can handle an OTHER filed in the channel structure, especially when a transmission direction indicated by the SFI conflicts with the transmission direction indicated by a user equipment (UE) specific downlink control information (DCI) and/or with the transmisison direction under a semi-static configuration.

Further background relevant for the present invention may be found in the following references.

The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein are directed to solving the issues relating to one or more of the problems presented in the prior art, as well as providing additional features that will become readily apparent by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In accordance with various embodiments, exemplary systems, methods, devices and computer program products are disclosed herein. It is understood, however, that these embodiments are presented by way of example and not limitation, and it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art who read the present disclosure that various modifications to the disclosed embodiments can be made while remaining within the scope of the appended claims.

Various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described below with reference to the accompanying figures to enable a person of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the present disclosure. As would be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, after reading the present disclosure, various changes or modifications to the examples described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein are merely exemplary approaches.

A BS in a <NUM>/NR system will use group-common PDCCH to notify a group of user equipment (UE) terminals about some control information, e.g. slot format related information (SFI), to indicate channel structure information of a transmission link between the BS and each UE within an effective time duration. The channel structure may include a pattern of transmission attributes, e.g. DL, UL, and/or OTHER, of the transmission link. There is no satisfactory solution in existing literatures or existing technologies for any of the following issues: first, how a UE can understand an SFI indication under different waveform parameter sets; and second, how a UE can handle an OTHER filed in the channel structure, especially when a transmission direction indicated by the SFI conflicts with the transmission direction indicated by a UE specific DCI and/or with the transmission direction under a semi-static configuration.

Regarding the first issue, since it has not yet been finalized to support which bandwidth part (BWP) configuration in <NUM>/NR, the present teaching will describe both a case for activating a single BWP and a case for activating multiple BWPs. A waveform parameter set, e.g. a Numerology, is closely related to BWP. For example, a Numerology configured by the system for a DL BWP can be applied to PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), and corresponding DMRS (Demodulation Reference Signal) within the DL BWP; and a Numerology configured by the system for a UL BWP can be applied to PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel), PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel) and corresponding DMRS within the UL BWP. According to the current process of NR, a Numerology may correspond to a SCS (Sub-carrier space), an OFDM symbol length, the number of OFDM symbols contained in a slot, a CP (Cyclic Prefix) length, etc..

To solve the first issue, the present teaching provides methods and systems for a UE to determine channel structure, e.g. transmission attributes, of a transmission link between the UE and the BS, based on an SFI indication received from the BS, under different waveform parameter sets, e.g. under different Numerologies corresponding to different BWPs to be activated. According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the SFI pattern may cover a predetermined number of slots or OFDM symbols, or a predetermined length of time; and the UE may determine the channel structure with or without an alignment of transmission attributes under different Numerologies.

Regarding the second issue, a <NUM>/NR system currently uses an OTHER field to mean "unknown. " That is, the terminal will understand an OTHER field to be "the direction of transmission undetermined", without making any assumption, and not resolving the OTHER field to be "empty. " To solve the second issue, the present teaching provides methods and systems for a UE to update transmission attributes in the OTHER fields to receive and/or transmit downlink and/or uplink signals in the OTHER fields, when a transmission direction indicated by the SFI is updated by the transmission direction indicated by a UE specific DCI and/or by the transmission direction under a semi-static configuration, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

The methods disclosed in the present teaching can be implemented in a cellular communication network, which includes one or more cells. Each cell may include at least one base station (BS) operating at its allocated bandwidth to provide adequate radio coverage to its intended users, e.g. UE devices. In various embodiments, a BS in the present disclosure can include, or be implemented as, a next Generation Node B (gNB), a Transmission/Reception Point (TRP), an Access Point (AP), etc. In the present teaching, the terms "terminal" and "UE" will be used interchangeably.

A BS and a UE device can communicate with each other via a communication link, e.g., via a downlink radio frame from the BS to the UE or via an uplink radio frame from the UE to the BS. Each radio frame may be further divided into sub-frames which may include data symbols. A BS and a UE may be described herein as non-limiting examples of "communication nodes," or "nodes" generally, which can practice the methods disclosed herein and may be capable of wireless and/or wired communications, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure.

<FIG> illustrates a block diagram of a base station (BS) <NUM>, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The BS <NUM> is an example of a device that can be configured to implement the various methods described herein. As shown in <FIG>, the BS <NUM> includes a housing <NUM> containing a system clock <NUM>, a processor <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a transceiver <NUM> comprising a transmitter <NUM> and receiver <NUM>, a power module <NUM>, a BWP configuration generator <NUM>, a channel structure indication generator <NUM>, a codebook configuration generator <NUM>, and a parallel transmission attribute indicator <NUM>.

In this embodiment, the system clock <NUM> provides timing signals to the processor <NUM> for controlling the timing of all operations of the BS <NUM><NUM>. The processor <NUM> controls the general operation of the BS <NUM> and can include one or more processing circuits or modules such as a central processing unit (CPU) and/or any combination of general-purpose microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate array (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), controllers, state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware components, dedicated hardware finite state machines, or any other suitable circuits, devices and/or structures that can perform calculations or other manipulations of data.

The transceiver <NUM>, which includes the transmitter <NUM><NUM> and receiver <NUM>, allows the BS <NUM> to transmit and receive data to and from a remote device (e.g., a UE or another BS). An antenna <NUM> is typically attached to the housing <NUM> and electrically coupled to the transceiver <NUM>. In various embodiments, the BS <NUM> includes (not shown) multiple transmitters, multiple receivers, multiple transceivers, and/or multiple antennas. The transmitter <NUM> can be configured to wirelessly transmit packets having different packet types or functions, such packets being generated by the processor <NUM>. Similarly, the receiver <NUM> is configured to receive packets having different packet types or functions, and the processor <NUM> is configured to process packets of a plurality of different packet types. For example, the processor <NUM> can be configured to determine the type of packet and to process the packet and/or fields of the packet accordingly.

The channel structure indication generator <NUM> may generate a wireless signal that indicates channel structure information about a transmission link between the BS <NUM> and a UE. For example, the wireless signal may be a group-common PDCCH signal that carries SFI to be broadcasted to a group of UE devices. The channel structure indication generator <NUM> may send, via the transmitter <NUM>, the wireless signal to the group of UE, devices for each UE to determine channel structures of the transmission link between the BS <NUM> and the UE on a BWP within a predetermined time duration, based on a waveform parameter set, e.g. a Numerology, corresponding to the BWP.

According to various embodiments of the present teaching, the predetermined time duration represents an effective time range of the SFI indication, and is determined by standardization requirements, semi-static configuration, or a dynamic indication generated by the channel structure indication generator <NUM>. According to different embodiments, the effective time range of the SFI indication may be either an absolute time period irrelevant to any waveform parameter set, or a relative time period associated with a predetermined waveform parameter set. In the latter case, a length of the relative time period depends on values of a waveform parameter set, e.g. a Numerology, where this Numerology may be equal to at least one of: (a) a source Numerology under which an SFI pattern is indicated to the UE; (b) a target Numerology under which the UE will determine transmission attributes of the transmission link; and (c) a transmission Numerology under which the wireless signal is transmitted to the UE on a BWP.

The BWP configuration generator <NUM> may configure and activate one or more BWPs for a UE. For example, for a UE to determine channel structures on N (N is an integer greater than <NUM>) BWPs, it is possible to configure the UE to detect and receive SFI on one or more of the N BWPs. The N BWPs may have same or different Numerologies. The BWP configuration generator <NUM> can configure Numerology for each BWP independently and inform the configuration of BWP to the channel structure indication generator <NUM> for generating SFI indication.

The codebook configuration generator <NUM> may generate and configure a set of structural codebooks. The set of structural codebooks includes a set of channel structure patterns, e.g. SFI patterns, covering a predetermined number of slots or OFDM symbols, or a predetermined length of time, according to different embodiments of the present teaching. A UE may be informed of the set of structural codebooks based on standardization or semi-static configuration by the codebook configuration generator <NUM>. Having knowledge of the set of structural codebooks, the UE can obtain a specific SFI pattern by looking up the structural codebooks according to an SFI indication generated and transmitted by the channel structure indication generator <NUM>, and determine channel structures of the transmission link between the BS <NUM> and the UE on a BWP based on the specific SFI pattern, while taking into account the Numerology corresponding to the BWP.

The parallel transmission attribute indicator <NUM> may generate indications of transmission attributes of the transmission link, in a parallel manner to the SFI indication. For example, the parallel transmission attribute indicator <NUM> may indicate transmission attributes based on a UE specific DCI and/or a semi-static configuration signal. While an SFI in a group-common PDCCH is broadcasted to a group of UE devices, the UE specific DCI is sent, via the transmitter <NUM>, to a specific UE. When there is a conflict between the transmission directions indicated by the SFI and die parallel indicator generated by the parallel transmission attribute indicator <NUM>, the UE may update the transmission attributes based on the latest transmission attribute indication.

In one embodiment, the processor <NUM> may determine which scheme is to be used for determining the channel structures. For example, the processor <NUM> can determine whether an SFI pattern covers a predetermined number of slots or OFDM symbols, or a predetermined length of time; and can also determine whether the UE should determine the channel structure with or without an alignment of transmission attributes under different Numerologies. The processor <NUM> can determine the scheme according to standardization or a dynamic configuration.

The power module <NUM> can include a power source such as one or more batteries, and a power regulator, to provide regulated power to each of the above-described modules in <FIG>. In some embodiments, if the BS <NUM> is coupled to a dedicated external power source (e.g., a wall electrical outlet), the power module <NUM> can include a transformer and a power regulator.

The various modules discussed above are coupled together by a bus system <NUM>. The bus system <NUM> can include a data bus and, for example, a power bus, a control signal bus, and/or a status signal bus in addition to the data bus. It is understood that the modules of the BS <NUM> can be operatively coupled to one another using any suitable techniques and mediums.

Although a number of separate modules or components are illustrated in <FIG>, persons of ordinary skill in the art will understand that one or more of the modules can be combined or commonly implemented. For example, the processor <NUM> can implement not only the functionality described above with respect to the processor <NUM>, but also implement the functionality described above with respect to the BWP configuration generator <NUM>. Conversely, each of the modules illustrated in <FIG> can be implemented using a plurality of separate components or elements.

<FIG> illustrates a flow chart for a method <NUM> performed by a BS, e.g. the BS <NUM> in <FIG>, for indicating channel structure information, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. At <NUM>, BS configures an effective time duration for a UE to determine channel structures of a transmission link between the BS and the UE on a set of BWPs. At <NUM>, BS configures a waveform parameter set for each BWP in the set of BWPs. At <NUM>, BS generates a wireless signal that indicates channel structure information based on a set of structural codebooks that has been informed to the UE based on standardization or semi-static configuration. The BS then transmits the wireless signal to the UE at <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates a block diagram of a user equipment (UE) <NUM>, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The UE <NUM> is an example of a device that can be configured to implement the various methods described herein. As shown in <FIG>, the UE <NUM> includes a housing <NUM> containing a system clock <NUM>, a processor <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a transceiver <NUM> comprising a transmitter <NUM> and a receiver <NUM>, a power module <NUM>, an SFI pattern determiner <NUM>, a Numerology comparison unit <NUM>, a Numerology determiner <NUM>, a transmission attribute determiner <NUM>, and a transmission attribute updater <NUM>.

In this embodiment, the system clock <NUM>, the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the transceiver <NUM> and the power module <NUM> work similarly to the system clock <NUM>, the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the transceiver <NUM> and the power module <NUM> in the BS <NUM>. An antenna <NUM> is typically attached to the housing <NUM> and electrically coupled to the transceiver <NUM>.

The SFI pattern determiner <NUM> may receive, via the receiver <NUM>, a wireless signal from a BS, e.g. the BS <NUM>, and obtain channel structure information indicated by the wireless signal. As discussed above, the wireless signal may be a group-common PDCCH signal that carries SFI being broadcasted to a group of UE devices associated with the BS. Based on the SFI indication obtained from the wireless signal, the SFI pattern determiner <NUM> can obtain a specific SFI pattern by looking up the structural codebooks that are determined based on standardization or semi-static configuration. The SFI pattern determiner <NUM> may send the indicated SFI pattern to the Numerology comparison unit <NUM> for Numerology comparison and to the transmission attribute determiner <NUM> for transmission attribute determination.

While the wireless signal is received and detected by the UE <NUM> on a first set of BWPs, the UE <NUM> may determine channel structure on a second set of BWPs including the first set of BWPs. The second set of BWPs may have same or different Numerologies. Each BWP in the first and second sets of BWPs may be determined based on at least one of: a standardization requirement, a semi-static configuration, a dynamic configuration, and other channel signals. The Numerology determiner <NUM> may determine the Numerology, referred to as target Numerology, for each BWP, referred to as target BWP, of the second set of BWPs based on at least one of: the wireless signal, a transmission Numerology of the target BWP, a standardization requirement, a semi-static configuration, a dynamic configuration, and other channel signals. The Numerology determiner <NUM> can send each target Numerology to the Numerology comparison unit <NUM> for Numerology comparison and to the transmission attribute determiner <NUM> for transmission attribute determination.

The Numerology comparison unit <NUM> may receive both the indicated SFI pattern from the SFI pattern determiner <NUM> and the target Numerologies from the Numerology determiner <NUM>. In some embodiments, the indicated SFI pattern is irrelevant to any Numerology, but only relevant to a predetermined number of OFDM symbols, i.e. a slot length under the indicated SFI pattern. In this case, the Numerology comparison unit <NUM> can compare the slot length under the indicated SFI pattern with the slot length under each target Numerology. In other embodiments, the indicated SFI pattern is relevant to a specific Numerology, referred to as source Numerology. The source Numerology may be determined based on at least one of: a standardization requirement, a semi-static configuration, a dynamic configuration, and other channel signals. In this case, the Numerology comparison unit <NUM> can compare the source Numerology with each target Numerology. In either case, based on the comparison results, the Numerology comparison unit <NUM> may determine a channel structure translation scheme for the transmission attribute determiner <NUM> to determine transmission attributes of a transmission link between the BS <NUM> and the UE <NUM> on each target BWP. According to different embodiments, the translation scheme may include operations of concatenation and/or split that is only applied to OFDM symbols under the target Numerology within a predetermined time duration that represents an effective time range of the SFI indication.

The transmission attribute determiner <NUM> may determine transmission attributes of the transmission link between the BS <NUM> and the UE <NUM> on each target BWP in the predetermined time duration with respect to the target Numerology determined by the Numerology determiner <NUM>, based on the indicated SFI pattern determined by the SFI pattern determiner <NUM> and according to the translation scheme determined by the Numerology comparison unit <NUM>.

The transmission attribute updater <NUM> may receive, via the receiver <NUM>, some updated transmission attribute indication from the BS <NUM>, e.g. based on a UE specific DCI and/or a semi-static configuration signal. When there is a conflict between the transmission directions indicated by the SFI and the parallel indicator received by the transmission attribute updater <NUM>, the transmission attribute updater <NUM> may update the transmission attributes based on the latest transmission attribute indication.

<FIG> illustrates a flow chart for a method <NUM> performed by a UE, e.g. the UE <NUM> in <FIG>, for determining and updating channel structure information, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. At <NUM>, UE receives a wireless signal from BS. At <NUM>, UE obtains from the wireless signal channel structure information indicating channel structures of a transmission link between the BS and the UE. At <NUM>, UE determines a waveform parameter set and an effective time duration configured by the BS. At <NUM>, UE determines transmission attributes of the transmission link in the effective time duration with respect to the waveform parameter set. Optionally at <NUM>, UE updates one or more transmission attributes of the transmission link upon receiving a parallel transmission attribute indication from the BS.

In Embodiment <NUM>, the indicated SFI pattern corresponds to a predetermined number of OFDM symbols for a UE to determine channel structure under different target Numerologies. Based on standardization or semi-static configuration of BS, a UE can understand a set of codebooks of SFI patterns, including SFI pattern <NUM>, SFI pattern <NUM>. SFI pattern N, where different SFI patterns represent different channel structure, e.g. slot structures. For example, SFI pattern <NUM> represents {<NUM>'D' <NUM>'O' <NUM>'U'}, SFI pattern <NUM> represents {<NUM>'D' <NUM>'O' <NUM>'U'}, SFI pattern <NUM> represents {<NUM>'D' <NUM>'O' <NUM>'U' <NUM>'O'}, SFI pattern <NUM> represents {<NUM>'D' <NUM>'O' <NUM>'U'}, and so on, where "D" denotes an OFDM symbol or symbol group having a transmission attribute of "downlink", "U" denotes an OFDM symbol or symbol group having a transmission attribute of "uplink", and "O" denotes an OFDM symbol or symbol group having a transmission attribute of "other. " All of the SFI patterns in the codebook set may indicate slot structures of a same number of OFDM symbols, or may indicate slot structures of different numbers of OFDM symbols. Whether the number is same or not, for a certain SFI pattern, it indicates a slot structure with a slot length of N0 OFDM symbols, where N0 is a positive integer, such as N0 = <NUM> or N0 = <NUM>.

The UE, receives an SFI indication from a CORESET (Control Resource Set) of a BWP, which indicates a certain SFI pattern in the codebook set, where the Numerology of the BWP is configured as Numerology <NUM>. The slot under Numerology <NUM> contains N1 OFDM symbols. It can be understood that, while a transmission Numerology (Numerology of a transmitted BWP) is equal to a target Numerology in this embodiment, the transmission Numerology may be different from a target Numerology in some other embodiments.

By comparing N0 and N1, the UE can determine different translation schemes to for channel structure determination.

If N1 is equal to N0, the UE can do a one-to-one mapping for each OFDM symbol according to the indicated SFI pattern. As shown in <FIG>, the UE can determine what the transmission attribute of N1 OFDM symbols is in each slot, within the effective slots indicated by SFI <NUM> and within the frequency domain of the BWP. <FIG> shows different examples <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> of OFDM symbol length (or sub-carrier spacing) under Numerology <NUM>, where N0 = N1 = <NUM>. Regardless of the size of the OFDM symbol length (or sub-carrier spacing) under Numerology <NUM>, the UE can simply map the transmission attribute of each OFDM symbol indicated in the SFI pattern <NUM> to a corresponding OFDM symbol under Numerology <NUM>.

If N1 is less than N0, a slot indicated by SFI pattern may be split into multiple slots under Numerology <NUM>. Normally, N0 is an integer multiple of N1, that is, N0 = N1 * k, k is a positive integer. As shown in <FIG>, when N0 = <NUM> and N1 = <NUM>, one N0 is split into two N1, then a slot structure of two concatenated slots under Numerology <NUM> corresponds to the slot structure indicated by the SFI pattern <NUM>. <FIG> shows different examples <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> of OFDM symbol length (or subcarrier spacing) under Numerology <NUM>. Regardless of the size of the OFDM symbol length (or subcarrier spacing) under Numerology <NUM>, the terminal can simply map the transmission attribute of each of the N0 OFDM symbols in one slot under the SFI pattern to a corresponding OFDM symbol in k slots each including N1 OFDM symbols under Numerology <NUM>, where the OFDM symbols in the k slots under Numerology <NUM> are assigned with transmission attributes one by one, according to the indication of the SFI pattern.

If N1 is greater than N0, UE can concatenate the slot structure indicated by SFI pattern to get the slot structure under Numerology <NUM>. Normally, N1 is an integer multiple of N0, that is, N1 = N0 * k, k is a positive integer. As shown in <FIG>, two slot structures containing N0 OFDM symbols indicated by SFI pattern <NUM> are concatenated, and the OFDM symbol transmission attributes of the concatenated slot structure are mapped to a slot containing N1 OFDM symbols under a Numerology <NUM>. <FIG> shows different examples <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> of OFDM symbol length (or subcarrier spacing) under Numerology <NUM>. The size of the OFDM symbol length (or subcarrier spacing) under Numerology <NUM> does not affect the operation of transmission attribute assignment symbol-by-symbol after concatenation.

It can be understood that even when N1 is not an integer multiple of N0 and when N0 is not an integer multiple of N1 the dividing or concatenation operation may only be applied to the N1 symbols within the effective time duration.

It can be understood that while a channel structure in a codebook set corresponds to a slot in this embodiment, a channel structure in a codebook set may correspond to any of the following: one or more radio frames, one or more sub-frames, one or more slots, and one or more groups of slots, in various embodiments of the present teaching. It can also be understood that while each channel structure in this embodiment covers one or more OFDM symbols and shows a pattern of transmission attributes in a series of OFDM symbols, a channel structure pattern in general can show a pattern of transmission attributes in one or more time units, where each time unit may include any of the following: one or more OFDM symbols, one or more groups of OFDM symbols, one or more mini-slots, and one or more slots.

Embodiment <NUM> does not emphasize or require the length of a single OFDM symbol under SFI pattern. The length of a single OFDM symbol may or may not be identified, based on standardization or semi-static configuration of the SFI pattern. If the length of a single OFDM symbol is not identified, it is only necessary to provide the number of OFDM symbols corresponding to the SFI pattern.

Embodiment <NUM> can be applied to cases where the BS configures and activates a single BWP or a plurality of BWPs for the UE and cases where the BS transmits a single SFI or a plurality of SFIs to the UE, which includes the following cases.

In a first case, the BS configures and activates only one BWP for the UE. The UE detects and receives the SFI on a CORESET of the active BWP, reads the SFI pattern indication from the SFI of the active BWP, and determine a slot structure on the active BWP based on the indication by a method described in the embodiment.

In a second case, the BS configures and activates a plurality of BWPs for the UE. The UE detects and receives the SFI from only one BWP in the plurality of BWPs; reads the SFI pattern indication from the SFI; and determines a slot structure respectively on each of the plurality of active BWPs based on the indication by a method described in the embodiment.

In a third case, the BS configures and activates a plurality of BWPs for the UE. The UE detects and receives SFI on at least some (all or part, but more than one) of the plurality of BWPs. The UE may receive multiple SFIs. The UE reads the SFI pattern indication from BWP x, and determines the slot structure on the active BWP x based on the indication by a method described in the embodiment. The UE reads the SFI pattern indication from BWP y, and determines the slot structure on the active BWP y based on the indication by a method described in the embodiment. That is, the UE independently determines the slot structure of each BWP according to the SFI indication of each BWP.

In Embodiment <NUM>, the indicated SFI pattern corresponds to a predetermined length of time, and the transmission attributes under different Numerologies are aligned in the time domain. Based on the standardization or semi-static configuration of BS, the UE can understand the codebook set under Numerology <NUM> (source Numerology), including SFI pattern <NUM>, SFI pattern <NUM>. SFI pattern N, where different SFI patterns represent different slot structures under Numerology <NUM>. The Numerology <NUM> has its own specific SCS, OFDM symbol length, the number of OFDM symbols contained in a slot, denoted as SCS0, OSLO, N0, respectively. Based on the OSLO and N0, one can determine the slot length T0 under Numerology <NUM>, where T0 = OSLO * N0, where the source Numerology is determined based on at least one of: a standardization requirement, a semi-static configuration, a dynamic configuration, and other channel signals.

The UE reads SFI from a CORESET of a BWP to obtain an SFI pattern, where the Numerology of the BWP is configured as Numerology <NUM> (target Numerology). Numerology <NUM> has its own specific SCS, OFDM symbol length, the number of OFDM symbols contained in a slot, denoted as SCS1, OSL1, N1 respectively. Based on the OSL1 and N1, one can determine the slot length T1 under Numerology <NUM>, where T1 = OSL1 * N1. It can be understood that, while a transmission Numerology (Numerology of a transmitted BWP) is equal to a target Numerology in this embodiment, the transmission Numerology may be different from a target Numerology in some other embodiments.

By comparing Numerology <NUM> and Numerology <NUM>, the UE can determine different translation schemes to for channel structure determination.

If Numerology <NUM> is the same as Numerology <NUM>, that is, SCS0 is equal to SCS1, OSL0 is equal to OSL1 , N0 is equal to N1, then after the UE reads the SFI pattern in SFI, the UE can directly map the SFI pattern indication about transmission attributes of each of the N0 symbols <NUM> under Numerology <NUM> to a corresponding one of the N1 symbols <NUM> under Numerology <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>.

If Numerology <NUM> is different from Numerology <NUM>, there are three different cases as shown below.

In a first case, SCS0 is equal to SCS1, OSL0 is equal to OSL1, but N0 is not equal to N1. When N0 is greater than N1, as shown in <FIG>, one slot indicated by SFI pattern <NUM> under Numerology <NUM> is split into multiple slots <NUM> under Numerology <NUM>. When N0 is less than N1, multiple slots indicated by SFI pattern <NUM> under Numerology <NUM> are concatenated to one slot <NUM> under Numerology <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>.

In a second case, SCS0 is not equal to SCS1, OSL0 is not equal to OSL1, N0 is equal to N1. As shown in <FIG>, when OSLO is greater than OSL1 (equivalent to when SCS0 is less than SCS1), usually T0 = k * T1, k is positive integer, the transmission attribute of each OFDM symbol under Numerology <NUM> indicated by SFI pattern <NUM> is mapped to multiple (k) OFDM symbols <NUM> under Numerology <NUM>; when OSL0 is less than OSL1 (equivalent to when SCS0 is greater than SCS1), typically T0 = T1 / k, k is a positive integer, the transmission attributes of multiple OFDM symbols <NUM> under Numerology <NUM> indicated by SFI pattern are mapped to different parts of a corresponding one OFDM symbol <NUM> under Numerology <NUM>. Based on this method, it is ensured that the "D", "O", "U" fields of the two slot structures under Numerology <NUM> and Numerology <NUM> are aligned with each other in time domain. That is, the slot structure within a slot length T0 under Numerology <NUM> indicated by the SFI pattern is the same as the slot structure within a same time length as T0 (possibly k * T1 or T1 / k) under Numerology <NUM>.

In a third case, SCS0 is not equal to SCS1, OSL0 is not equal to OSL1 , and N0 is not equal to N1. As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the method here is similar to that in the second case, with a purpose to ensure that the "D", "O", "U" fields of the two slot structures under Numerology <NUM> and Numerology <NUM> are aligned with each other in time domain. As shown in <FIG>, the transmission attribute of one OFDM symbol <NUM> under Numerology <NUM> indicated by SFI pattern may be mapped to two OFDM symbols <NUM>, <NUM> in two different slots under Numerology <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the transmission attributes of two OFDM symbols <NUM>, <NUM> in two different slots under Numerology <NUM> indicated by SFI pattern may be mapped to different parts <NUM>, <NUM> of a corresponding one OFDM symbol under Numerology <NUM>.

For the second case and the third case, when the slot length T1 under Numerology <NUM> is not equal to the slot length T0 under Numerology <NUM>, one can determine the range of concatenation or split based on either (a) the SFI effective time duration determined by standardization requirements or semi-static configuration or a dynamic indication; or (b) number of the SFI effective slots determined by semi-static configuration or a dynamic indication.

In a first situation, according to the standardization requirements or semi-static configuration or dynamic indication, the UE can determine that the effective time range of an SFI indication is M0 OFDM symbols. Then when the UE determines the slot structure under Numerology <NUM>, the UE can only determine the slot structure within the effective time range M0 * OSLO. The split or concatenation operation cannot be applied to the slots or OFDM symbols outside the effective time range (whether N0 is equal to N1*k or not, and whether N0 is equal to N1/k or not).

Alternatively, in the first situation, according to the standardization requirements or semi-static configuration or dynamic indication, the UE can determine that the effective time range of an SFI indication is M0 slots. Then when the UE determines the slot structure under Numerology <NUM>, the UE can only determine the slot structure within the effective time range M0 * T0. The split or concatenation operation cannot be applied to the slots or OFDM symbols outside the effective time range.

In a second situation, according to the standardization requirements or semi-static configuration or dynamic indication, the UE can determine that the effective time range of an SFI indication is M0 OFDM symbols. Then when the UE determines the slot structure under Numerology <NUM>, the UE can only determine the slot structure within the effective time range M0 * OSL1. The split or concatenation operation cannot be applied to the slots or OFDM symbols outside the effective time range.

Alternatively, in a second situation, according to the standardization requirements or semi-static configuration or dynamic indication, the UE can determine that the effective time range of an SFI indication is M0 slots. Then when the UE determines the slot structure under Numerology <NUM>, the UE can only determine the slot structure within the effective time range M0 * T1. The split or concatenation operation cannot be applied to the slots or OFDM symbols outside the effective time range.

It can be understood that while an effective time range of an SFI indication covers a single SFI pattern in this embodiment, an effective time range of an SFI indication may cover multiple SFI patterns in other embodiments. For example, an effective time range may cover <NUM> time slots, where the first two slots follow SFI pattern <NUM> and the rest three slots follow SFI pattern <NUM>. In another example, an effective time range may cover a slot that includes a first half portion following SFI pattern <NUM> and a second half portion following SFI pattern <NUM>.

In Embodiment <NUM>, the method in Embodiment <NUM> is applied to multiple BWPs.

When the BS configures and activates N (N is an integer greater than <NUM>) BWP for the UE, it is possible to configure the UE to detect and receive SFI on N BWPs or to detect or receive SFI on only one of the BWPs. Each BWP's Numerology can be configured independently. BS can configure the Numerology of BWP1 as Numerology <NUM>, configure the Numerology of BWP2 as Numerology <NUM>. and configure the Numerology of BWP N as Numerology N.

The BS may configure the UE to detect and receive SFI on only one of the BWPs. Assuming that the BS configures the UE to detect and receive SFI on BWP x (x is a positive integer in [<NUM>, N]), then the slot pattern indicated by SFI corresponds to Numerology X. For the N-<NUM> BWPs other than BWP x, whether or not the configured Numerology is the same as Numerology x, the UE determines the slot structure of all N BWPs based on the SFI under Numerology x. The specific method is the same as that of Embodiment <NUM>.

The BS may also configure the UE to detect and receive SFI on each BWP. For BWP x, if its Numerology is Numerology x, then the slot pattern read by the BS on the BWP corresponds to Numerology x. For BWP y, if its Numerology is Numerology y, then the slot pattern read by the BS on the BWP corresponds to Numerology y.

In Embodiment <NUM>, the indicated SFI pattern corresponds to a predetermined number of slots or OFDM symbols, and there is no need to ensure that the transmission attributes under different Numerologies are aligned in time domain. Based on the standardization or semi-static configuration of BS, the UE can understand the codebook set under Numerology <NUM>, including SFI pattern <NUM>, SFI pattern <NUM>. SFI pattern N, where different SFI patterns represent different slot structures under Numerology <NUM>. The Numerology <NUM> has its own specific SCS, OFDM symbol length, the number of OFDM symbols contained in a slot, denoted as SCS0, OSL0, N0, respectively. Based on the OSL0 and N0, one can determine the slot length T0 under Numerology <NUM>, where T0 = OSL0 * N0.

The UE reads SFI from a CORESET of a BWP to obtain an SFI pattern, where the Numerology of the BWP is configured as Numerology <NUM> (target Numerology). Numerology <NUM> has its own specific SCS, OFDM symbol length, the number of OFDM symbols contained in a slot, denoted as SCS1, OSL1, N1, respectively. Based on the OSL1 and N1, one can determine the slot length T1 under Numerology <NUM>, where T1 = OSL1 * N1. It can be understood that, while a transmission Numerology (Numerology of a transmitted BWP) is equal to a target Numerology in this embodiment, the transmission Numerology may be different from a target Numerology in some other embodiments.

If N0 under Numerology <NUM> is equal to N1 under Numerology <NUM>, then the UE can directly map the transmission attribute indicated by SFI pattern of each of the N0 symbols <NUM> to a corresponding one of the N1 symbols <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>, without considering whether the OSL1 (or SCS1) under Numerology <NUM> is equal to the OSLO (or SCS0) under Numerology <NUM>.

If N0 under Numerology <NUM> is not equal to N1 under Numerology <NUM>, then when N0 = k * N1, k is a positive integer, the UE can divide a slot <NUM> under Numerology <NUM> into k slots <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> under Numerology <NUM>, and then determine the transmission attribute of each OFDM symbol under Numerology <NUM> according to the SFI pattern indication under Numerology <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>. When N0=N1/k and k is a positive integer, the UE can concatenate k slots <NUM> under Numerology <NUM> into one slot <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> under Numerology <NUM>, and then determine the transmission attribute of each OFDM symbol under Numerology <NUM> according to the SFI pattern indication under Numerology <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>. Similarly, the system does not consider whether the OSL1 (or SCS1) under Numerology <NUM> is equal to the OSL0 (or SCS0) under Numerology Ω.

According to the standardization requirements or semi-static configuration or a dynamic indication, the UE can determine that the effective time range of an SFI indication is M0 OFDM symbols. Then when the UE determines the slot structure under Numerology <NUM>, the UE can only determine the slot structure within the effective time range M0 * OSL1. The split or concatenation operation cannot be applied to the slots or OFDM symbols outside the effective time range. Alternatively, according to the standardization requirements or semi-static configuration or a dynamic indication, the UE can determine that the effective time range of an SFI indication is M0 slots. Then when the UE determines the slot structure under Numerology <NUM>, the UE can only determine the slot structure within the effective time range M0 * T1. Again, the split or concatenation operation cannot be applied to the slots or OFDM symbols outside the effective time range.

In Embodiment <NUM>, the method in Embodiment <NUM> is applied to multiple BWPs, where Embodiment <NUM> can follow steps similar to those in Embodiment <NUM>.

In Embodiment <NUM>, a method is disclosed to solve an issue when the SFI indication conflicts with UE-specific DCI and/or a semi-static configuration signal. When certain conditions are met, the UE can receive a semi-statically configured periodic or aperiodic downlink signal, or send a semi-statically configured periodic or aperiodic uplink signal, on the OFDM symbol in an "O" field indicated by the SFI, as shown in <FIG>.

At the time t1 <NUM>, using one of the methods in Embodiments <NUM> to <NUM>, the UE can determine the slot structure on a BWP based on the received SFI indication. The slot structure contains the "O" field. For the OFDM symbols having a transmission attribute of "O"; the UE cannot receive/transmit any downlink/uplink signals or downlink/uplink channels on these OFDM symbols.

At the time t2 <NUM>, the UE receives a UE-specific DCI, which indicates that the OFDM symbols with the transmission attribute "O" are used for DL transmission. Then starting from t2, the UE, in addition to DL or UL transmission on the corresponding symbols indicated by the UE-specific DCI, can also receive a semi-statically configured periodic or aperiodic downlink signal, such as a CSI-RS (Channel State Information - Reference Signal), DMRS (DeModulation Reference Signal), etc., on an OFDM symbol <NUM> that may be used for DL transmission and has a transmission attribute "O".

At time t3 <NUM>, the UE receives the updated SFI indication and repeats the previous operations according to the updated SFI indication.

At time t4 <NUM>, the UE receives a UE-specific DCI, which indicates that the OFDM symbols with the transmission attribute "O" are used for UL transmission. Then starting from t4, the UE, in addition to DL or UL transmission on the corresponding symbols indicated by the UE-specific DCI, can also transmit semi-statically configured periodic or aperiodic uplink signals, such as SRS (Sounding Reference Signal), DMRS, etc., on OFDM symbols <NUM> with a transmission attribute of "O" used for UL transmission.

In Embodiment <NUM>, a method for determining a guard period (GP) between two transmissions of different directions is disclosed. The UE needs a transition time GP between the uplink transmission and downlink transmission or between the downlink transmission and the uplink transmission. In this embodiment, GP must be within a time range with a transmission attribute of "O" indicated by the SFI pattern. GP can occupy the entire "O" field or occupy just a part of the "O" field.

Claim 1:
A method performed by a terminal (<NUM>), the method comprising:
receiving a semi-static configuration from a base station (<NUM>);
obtaining, from the semi-static configuration, a pattern of transmission directions for a plurality of OFDM symbols of a transmission link between the terminal (<NUM>) and the base station (<NUM>), wherein each transmission direction comprises one of uplink, downlink or other;
determining a first numerology configured for the pattern of transmission directions of the plurality of OFDM symbols and a predetermined time duration indicated by the semi-static configuration; and
determining transmission directions, comprised in the obtained pattern of transmission directions of the plurality of OFDM symbols, of the transmission link between the terminal (<NUM>) and the base station (<NUM>) within the predetermined time duration, the transmission directions being determined with respect to the first numerology, wherein the predetermined time duration is determined based on an absolute time period irrelevant to any numerology.