Patent Description:
Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications systems, and more particularly, to signaling scheduling delays.

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, etc. These systems may employ multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Advanced (LTE-A) systems, code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.

In some examples, a wireless multiple-access communication system may include a number of base stations (BSs) that each can simultaneously support communication for multiple communication devices, otherwise known as user equipment (UEs). In LTE or LTE-A network, a set of one or more gNBs may define an e NodeB (eNB). In other examples (e.g., in a next generation, new radio (NR), or <NUM> network), a wireless multiple access communication system may include a number of distributed units (DUs) (e.g., edge units (EUs), edge nodes (ENs), radio heads (RHs), smart radio heads (SRHs), transmission reception points (TRPs), etc.) in communication with a number of central units (CUs) (e.g., central nodes (CNs), access node controllers (ANCs), etc.), where a set of one or more distributed units, in communication with a central unit, may define an access node (e.g., a NR BS, a NR NB, a network node, a <NUM> NB, a next generation NB (gNB), etc.). A gNB or DU may communicate with a set of UEs on downlink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a base station or to a UE) and uplink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a UE to a gNB or DU).

NR (e.g., <NUM> radio access) is an example of an emerging telecommunication standard. <CIT> describes methods for transmitting and uplink signal to a base station by terminal in a wireless communication system by transmitting and uplink signal corresponding to a downlink control signal detected in a common search space.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to methods and apparatus for signaling scheduling information. The invention as defined in the independent claims to which reference is directed with preferred features set out in the dependent claims.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer readable mediums for NR (new radio access technology or <NUM> technology). NR may support various wireless communication services, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) targeting wide bandwidth (e.g. <NUM> beyond), millimeter wave (mmW) targeting high carrier frequency (e.g. <NUM> or beyond), massive machine type communications (mMTC) targeting non-backward compatible MTC techniques, and/or mission critical targeting ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC).

In certain systems, (e.g., 3GPP Release-<NUM> long term evolution (LTE) networks), enhanced machine type communications (eMTC) are supported, targeting low cost devices, often at the cost of lower throughput. eMTC may involve half-duplex (HD) operation in which uplink transmissions and downlink transmissions can both be performed-but not simultaneously. Some eMTC devices (e.g., eMTC UEs) may look at (e.g., be configured with or monitor) no more than around <NUM> or six resource blocks (RBs) of bandwidth at any given time. eMTC UEs may be configured to receive no more than around <NUM> bits per subframe. For example, these eMTC UEs may support a max throughput of around <NUM> Kbits per second. This throughput may be sufficient for certain eMTC use cases, such as certain activity tracking, smart meter tracking, and/or updates, etc., which may consist of infrequent transmissions of small amounts of data; however, greater throughput for eMTC devices may be desirable for other cases, such as certain Internet-of-Things (IoT) use cases, wearables such as smart watches, etc..

<FIG> illustrates an example wireless network <NUM> in which aspects of the present disclosure may be performed. For example, the wireless network <NUM> may include a network entity (e.g., a gNB <NUM>) configured to perform operations <NUM> of <FIG> to signal minimum scheduling delays to a UE <NUM> (configured to perform operations <NUM> of <FIG>.

A UE <NUM> may be configured for enhanced machine type communications (eMTC). The UE <NUM> may be considered a low cost device, low cost UE, eMTC device, and/or eMTC UE. The UE <NUM> can be configured to support higher bandwidth and/or data rates (e.g., higher than <NUM>). The UE <NUM> may be configured with a plurality of narrowband regions (e.g., <NUM> resource blocks (RBs) or <NUM> RBs). The UE <NUM> may receive a resource allocation, from a gNB <NUM>, allocating frequency hopped resources within a system bandwidth for the UE <NUM> to monitor and/or transmit on. The resource allocation can indicate non-contiguous narrowband frequency resources for uplink transmission in at least one subframe. The resource allocation may indicate frequency resources are not contained within a bandwidth capability of the UE to monitor for downlink transmission. The UE <NUM> may determine, based on the resource allocation, different narrowband than the resources indicated in the resource allocation from the gNB <NUM> for uplink transmission or for monitoring. The resource allocation indication (e.g., such as that included in the downlink control information (DCI)) may include a set of allocated subframes, frequency hopping related parameters, and an explicit resource allocation on the first subframe of the allocated subframes. The frequency hopped resource allocation on subsequent subframes are obtained by applying the frequency hopping procedure based on the frequency hopping related parameters (which may also be partly included in the DCI and configured partly through radio resource control (RRC) signaling) starting from the resources allocated on the first subframe of the allocated subframes.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the wireless network <NUM> may include a number of gNBs <NUM> and other network entities. A gNB may be a station that communicates with UEs. Each gNB <NUM> may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term "cell" can refer to a coverage area of a Node B and/or a NB subsystem serving this coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In NR systems, the term "cell" and NB, next generation NB (gNB), <NUM> NB, access point (AP), BS, NR BS, or transmission reception point (TRP) may be interchangeable. In some examples, a cell may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographic area of the cell may move according to the location of a mobile gNB. In some examples, the gNBs may be interconnected to one another and/or to one or more other gNBs or network nodes (not shown) in the wireless network <NUM> through various types of backhaul interfaces such as a direct physical connection, a virtual network, or the like using any suitable transport network.

A RAT may also be referred to as a radio technology, an air interface, etc. A frequency may also be referred to as a carrier, a frequency channel, a tone, a subband, a subcarrier, etc. Each frequency may support a single RAT in a given geographic area in order to avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs.

A gNB may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, and/or other types of cell. A gNB for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro gNB. A gNB for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico gNB. A gNB for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto gNB or a home gNB. In the example shown in <FIG>, the gNBs 110a, 110b and 110c may be macro gNBs for the macro cells 102a, 102b and 102c, respectively. The gNB 110x may be a pico gNB for a pico cell 102x. The gNBs 110y and 110z may be femto gNB for the femto cells 102y and 102z, respectively. A gNB may support one or multiple (e.g., three) cells.

A relay station is a station that receives a transmission of data and/or other information from an upstream station (e.g., a gNB or a UE) and sends a transmission of the data and/or other information to a downstream station (e.g., a UE or a gNB). In the example shown in <FIG>, a relay station 110r may communicate with the gNB 110a and a UE 120r in order to facilitate communication between the gNB 110a and the UE 120r. A relay station may also be referred to as a relay gNB, a relay, etc..

The wireless network <NUM> may be a heterogeneous network that includes gNBs of different types, e.g., macro gNB, pico gNB, femto gNB, relays, etc. These different types of gNBs may have different transmit power levels, different coverage areas, and different impact on interference in the wireless network <NUM>. For example, a macro gNB may have a high transmit power level (e.g., <NUM> Watts) whereas pico gNB, femto gNB, and relays may have a lower transmit power level (e.g., <NUM> Watt).

For synchronous operation, the gNBs may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different gNBs may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the gNBs may have different frame timing, and transmissions from different gNBs may not be aligned in time.

A network controller <NUM> may couple to a set of gNBs and provide coordination and control for these gNBs. The network controller <NUM> may communicate with the gNBs <NUM> via a backhaul. The gNBs <NUM> may also communicate with one another, for example, directly or indirectly via wireless or wireline backhaul.

A UE may also be referred to as a mobile station, a terminal, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a station, a Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), a cellular phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, a medical device or medical equipment, a biometric sensor/device, a wearable device such as a smart watch, smart clothing, smart glasses, a smart wrist band, smart jewelry (e.g., a smart ring, a smart bracelet, etc.), an entertainment device (e.g., a music device, a video device, a satellite radio, etc.), a vehicular component or sensor, a smart meter/sensor, industrial manufacturing equipment, a global positioning system device, or any other suitable device that is configured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium. Some UEs may be considered evolved or machine-type communication (MTC) devices or evolved MTC (eMTC) devices. MTC and eMTC UEs include, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, location tags, etc., that may communicate with a gNB, another device (e.g., remote device), or some other entity. Some UEs may be considered Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices or narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) devices.

In <FIG>, a solid line with double arrows indicates desired transmissions between a UE and a serving gNB, which is a gNB designated to serve the UE on the downlink and/or uplink. A finely dashed line with double arrows indicates interfering transmissions between a UE and a gNB.

For example, the spacing of the subcarriers may be <NUM> and the minimum resource allocation (e.g., an RB) may be <NUM> subcarriers (or <NUM>). Consequently, the nominal 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.

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> duration. Each radio frame may consist of two half frames, each half frame consisting 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. UL and DL subframes for NR may be as described in more detail below with respect to <FIG>.

slots) depending on the tone-spacing (e.g., <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>.

In some examples, access to the air interface may be scheduled, wherein a scheduling entity (e.g., a gNB) allocates resources for communication among some or all devices and equipment within its service area or cell. gNBs are not the only entities that may function as a scheduling entity.

The ANC <NUM> may be a central unit (CU) of the distributed RAN <NUM>. The backhaul interface to the next generation core network (NG-CN) <NUM> may terminate at the ANC <NUM>. The backhaul interface to neighboring next generation access nodes (NG-ANs) <NUM> may terminate at the ANC <NUM>. The ANC <NUM> may include one or more TRPs <NUM> (which may also be referred to as BSs, NR BSs, gNBs, or some other term).

For example, for RAN sharing, radio as a service (RaaS), and service specific AND deployments, the TRP <NUM> may be connected to more than one ANC.

The logical architecture of the distributed RAN <NUM> may support fronthauling solutions across different deployment types. The logical architecture may share features and/or components with LTE. The NG-AN <NUM> may support dual connectivity with NR. The NG-AN <NUM> may share a common fronthaul for LTE and NR. The logical architecture may enable cooperation between and among TRPs <NUM>. An inter-TRP interface may be present.

The logical architecture of the distributed RAN <NUM> may support a dynamic configuration of split logical functions.

The C-CU <NUM> may be centrally deployed.

The C-RU <NUM> may host core network functions locally. The C-RU <NUM> may be closer to the network edge.

A DU <NUM> may host one or more TRPs (e.g., an edge node (EN), an edge unit (EU), a radio head (RH), a smart radio head (SRH), or the like).

<FIG> illustrates example components <NUM> of the gNB <NUM> and UE <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>, which may be used to implement aspects of the present disclosure for frequency hopping for large bandwidth allocations. For example, antennas <NUM>, Tx/Rx <NUM>, processors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or controller/processor <NUM> of the UE <NUM> may be configured to perform operations <NUM> of <FIG>, and/or antennas <NUM>, processors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or controller/processor <NUM> of the gNB <NUM> may be configured to perform operations <NUM> of <FIG>.

<FIG> shows a block diagram of a design of a gNB <NUM> and a UE <NUM>, which may be one of the gNBs and one of the UEs in <FIG>. For a restricted association scenario, the gNB <NUM> may be the macro gNB 110c in <FIG>, and the UE <NUM> may be the UE 120y. The gNB <NUM> may also be gNB of some other type. The gNB <NUM> may be equipped with antennas 434a through 434t, and the UE <NUM> may be equipped with antennas 452a through 452r.

At the gNB <NUM>, a transmit processor <NUM> may receive data from a data source <NUM> and control information from a controller/processor <NUM>. The control information may be for the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH), Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), etc. The data may be for the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), etc. The processor <NUM> may process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The processor <NUM> may also generate reference symbols, e.g., for the PSS, SSS, and cell-specific reference signal (CRS).

At the UE <NUM>, the antennas 452a through 452r may receive the downlink signals from the gNB <NUM> and may provide received signals to the demodulators (DEMODs) 454a through 454r, respectively.

The symbols from the transmit processor <NUM> may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor <NUM> if applicable, further processed by the demodulators 454a through 454r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to the gNB <NUM>. At the gNB <NUM>, the uplink signals from the UE <NUM> may be received by the antennas <NUM>, processed by the modulators <NUM>, detected by a MIMO detector <NUM> if applicable, and further processed by a receive processor <NUM> to obtain decoded data and control information sent by the UE <NUM>.

The controllers/processors <NUM> and <NUM> may direct the operation at the gNB <NUM> and the UE <NUM>, respectively. The processor <NUM> and/or other processors and modules at the gNB <NUM> may perform or direct, e.g., the execution of various processes for the techniques described herein. The processor <NUM> and/or other processors and modules at the UE <NUM> may also perform or direct, e.g., the execution of the functional blocks illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>, and/or other processes for the techniques described herein. The processor <NUM> and/or other processors and modules at the gNB <NUM> may also perform or direct, e.g., the execution of the functional blocks illustrated in <FIG>, and/or other processes for the techniques described herein. The memories <NUM>, <NUM> may store data and program codes for the gNB <NUM> and the UE <NUM>, respectively.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the SS block includes a PSS, a SSS, and a two symbol PBCH. The SS block may be transmitted up to sixty-four times, for example, with up to sixty-four different beam directions for mmW.

Real-world applications of such sidelink communications may include public safety, proximity services, UE-to-network relaying, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, Internet-of-Everything (IoE) communications, IoT communications, mission-critical mesh, and/or various other suitable applications. Generally, a sidelink signal may refer to a signal communicated from one subordinate entity (e.g., UE1) to another subordinate entity (e.g., UE2) without relaying that communication through the scheduling entity (e.g., UE or gNB), even though the scheduling entity may be utilized for scheduling and/or control purposes.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer program products for new radio (NR) (new radio access technology or <NUM> technology). NR may include Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) service targeting wide bandwidth (e.g. <NUM> beyond), millimeter wave (mmW) targeting high carrier frequency (e.g. <NUM>), massive MTC (mMTC) targeting non-backward compatible MTC techniques, and/or mission critical targeting ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC) service. The RAN may include a central unit (CU) and distributed units (DUs). A NR Node B (e.g., <NUM> Node B) may correspond to one or multiple transmission reception points (TRPs).

Bandwidth part (BWP) for NR provides a means of operating UEs with smaller bandwidth, as compared with a wider system bandwidth configuration. This use of BWPs help make NR an energy efficient solution despite the support of wideband operation.

Switching between cross-slot scheduling (e.g., DCI in one slot schedules an event in another slot) for power saving and same-slot scheduling (e.g., DCI in one slot schedules an event in the same slot) may be supported with BWP adaptation, but may be cumbersome. Moreover, cross-slot scheduling for power saving may not work if non-Type-D-quasi co location (QCL) aperiodic-channel state information (CSI) request is supported.

<FIG> illustrates example downlink communications for BWP. For example, slots <NUM> for BWPO may be narrow band (e.g., default BWP), slots <NUM> for BWP1 may be wide band and may employ same slot scheduling, and slots <NUM> for BWP2 may be wide band with cross-slot scheduling. Different BWPs may correspond to different power consumptions. Therefore, power may be saved by switching between BWPs, for example, from a BWP with a higher corresponding power consumption to a BWP with a lower power consumption.

<FIG> illustrates an example downlink communications with multiple BWPs having DCI. As illustrated, the DCI in BWPO of slot <NUM> may indicate a BWP ID of <NUM> (e.g., indicating BWP1) and select a first row (k0=<NUM>) of a table (table <NUM>) for k0 to schedule data in slot <NUM>.

The parameter k0 generally indicates a delay between DL grant and corresponding DL data (PDSCH) reception. As illustrated, the third row of table <NUM> may not be addressable. In slot <NUM>, a DCI may indicate BWP ID of <NUM> and select the third row (k0=<NUM>) to schedule downlink data in the same slot <NUM>. In slot <NUM>, the DCI may indicate a BWP ID of <NUM> (e.g., indicating BWP2) and select the second row of another table (table <NUM>), indicating a k0 of <NUM> to schedule data in slot <NUM>. Moreover, in slot <NUM>, the DCI may indicate BWP ID of <NUM>, and select the first row of another table (Table <NUM>), indicating k0=<NUM>, in order to schedule data in slot <NUM>. Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide enhancement to improve cross-slot scheduling configuration by implementing a minimum k0 threshold which may be dynamically updated or explicitly configured. For example, a UE may either invalidate DCI based on an indicated k0 or adjust the indicated k0, according to the minimum k0 threshold. Aspects described herein may also be beneficial to carrier aggregation (CA) power for cross-carrier scheduling. Similar techniques may also be applied for the parameter k2, used to indicate a delay between UL grant reception in DL and UL data (PUSCH) transmission.

<FIG> illustrates example operations <NUM> for wireless communication, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. The operations <NUM> may be performed, for example, by a base station, such as the base station <NUM>.

The operations <NUM> begin, at block <NUM>, by determining a minimum threshold for a scheduling parameter that indicates a scheduling delay between an end of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmission and a beginning of a transmission scheduled by the PDCCH. At <NUM>, the base station configures a user equipment (UE) with the minimum threshold.

In some cases, rather than a base station configuring the UE with the minimum threshold, the minimum threshold may be specified in a standard.

<FIG> illustrates example operations <NUM> for wireless communication, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. The operations <NUM> may be performed, for example, by a UE, such as the UE <NUM>. The operations <NUM> correspond to the operations <NUM>, but from the perspective of the UE <NUM>.

The operations <NUM> begin, at block <NUM>, by receiving a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) with downlink control information (DCI) signaling a scheduling parameter indicating a scheduling delay between an end of the PDCCH transmission and a beginning of a transmission scheduled by the PDCCH. At <NUM>, the UE determines a value of the scheduling parameter is below a minimum threshold. At <NUM>, the UE taking at least one action in response to the determination.

In certain aspects, the minimum k0 threshold may be semi-statically signaled per scheduled CC or per UE via a DCI, medium access control (MAC)-control element (CE), or radio-resource control (RRC) configuration. In certain aspects, the minimum k0 threshold may be explicitly RRC-configured per BWP. For example, entries in a PDSCH-symbolAllocation table with k0 less than a threshold, or a PUSCH-symbol allocation table with k2 less than a threshold, may be implicitly invalidated considered unusable. Error cases may occur if an invalidated entry is still indicated by scheduling, or if no entries in the table are valid.

In certain aspects, DCI may indicate a value for k0 that is smaller than the minimum threshold, which would be considered invalid by the UE. How the UE handles this condition may be left up to UE implementation. For example, as the UE is not expected to handle PDSCH scheduled with k0 smaller than the threshold, it may drop (e.g., ignore) this DCI.

In certain aspects, a threshold value may be added to an indication of k0 in the scheduling DCI. For example, k0' may be calculated by the UE based on a sum of k0 and a k0 threshold indicated in the DCI. In this case, all entries in the PDSCH-symbolAllocation table may still be usable and the UE may not need to drop the DCI.

In certain aspects, a minimum of an indicated k0 and the k0 threshold may be used. For example, instead of dropping the DCI, the UE may set k0 to the threshold k0 (which serves as a minimum or "floor").

In certain aspects, the minimum threshold may be defined in specification. For example, the minimum k0 threshold may be directly defined in the specification instead of by explicit configuration. In certain aspects, the minimum threshold may be tied to connected mode discontinuous reception (C-DRX). For example, during the ON duration of the C-DRX mode, a larger minimum k0 threshold may be used and a smaller (or none) minimum k0 threshold when DRX inactivity timer is counting.

In certain aspects, the minimum k0 threshold may apply not only to PDSCH scheduling, but may be generalized to apply to other DL scheduling, including but not limited to CSI-RS transmitted on the DL after an A-CSI request is triggered by the network. Currently, CSI-RS is transmitted in the same slot as the A-CSI request DCI for non-Type-D-QCL. While the examples provided herein have described a minimum threshold for k0 and PDSCH scheduling to facilitate understanding, aspects of the present disclosure may be similarly applied to the UL counterpart of k0, the minimum k2 and PUSCH scheduling.

As contemplated above, there are various limitations for Cross-Slot Scheduling in current systems. One limitation relates to fast adaptation between cross-slot scheduling and same-slot scheduling with BWP adaptation. Because the time domain resource allocation (TDRA) tables (i.e., PDSCH-symbolAllocation and PUSCH-symbolAllocation tables) are BWP-specific, some BWPs can be configured with all entries with k0><NUM>, whereas some (other) BWPs can be configured with entries containing k0=<NUM>. As a result, switching between BWP can achieve the result of adapting between minimum k0><NUM> and minimum k0=<NUM>.

One rather subtle issue is that, during a BWP switch, for the DCI that triggers the BWP switch, the TDRA table configured for the target BWP is typically used. Because a UE does not know a-priori when it would receive a BWP-switching DCI, it may be difficult to guarantee that a schedulable k0 is always greater than zero, even if a minimum k0 is configured to be greater than zero for the current BWP. The following provide various approaches to work-around this problem.

One approach is, for a BWP other than the current BWP (intended to support cross-slot scheduling), if k0=<NUM> entry should be configured in the corresponding TDRA table, assign the entry with a higher index such that it is not addressable by the bit-width of the frequency domain RA field of the current BWP. For example, assuming a frequency domain RA (FDRA) field has bit width of <NUM> bit for the current BWP, for the other BWP, the table could be configured to make sure the k0=<NUM> entry (if any) is assigned index <NUM> or larger.

BWP transition time defined in the standard specification may be made large enough such that the k0=<NUM> entries in other BWPs are considered non-schedulable from the current BWP. This may address a need for the indicated k0 for cross-BWP scheduling to accommodate the BWP transition time (which is defined to be slightly more than <NUM> msec by RAN4 for Type <NUM> switching or less for Type <NUM>).

Management of different minimum k0 values across BWP presents a challenge, for cross-BWP scheduling (which triggers BWP switch), because the target BWP TDRA table is typically used. As described above, minimum k0 is a function of all the entries in the TDRA table, but the UE does not know a-priori when and which BWP would be triggered to switch to (in case there are more than two BWPs configured). The minimum k0 that a UE has to be prepared to handle can be expressed as the following:<MAT> where:.

Without the loss of generality, BWPO in the equation above may be assumed to be the current BWP. The above discussion can be generalized to minimum value for k2 as well. Overall, minimum k0 and minimum k2 can be discussed more generally as a "minimum DL scheduling offset" and "minimum UL scheduling offset" to cover requirements for transmissions other than PDSCH and PUSCH (such as aperiodic CSI triggering, etc.).

For reasons discusses above, it may be important to ensure proper support for minimum scheduling offset configuration. One relatively straight-forward approach is to have an explicit configuration of the minimum DL scheduling offset. This minimum DL scheduling offset may accomplish the following:.

As noted above, more generally, such configuration may define the minimum timing offset for all other DL channel/signal that is scheduled by DCI. Similarly, a minimum UL scheduling offset can be explicitly configured, serving UL scheduling usage.

The constraints described herein may require special consideration for DCI monitored in common search space (CSS). For DCI scrambled with an ID (e.g., SI/P/RA/TC-RNTI), monitored in Type <NUM>/0A/<NUM>/<NUM> CSS, a default or common TDRA table may be used. Also, for DCI scrambled with CS/MCS-C/C-RNTI in CSS in CORESET <NUM>, the common TDRA table may be used. The default TDRA table may be fixed in a standard specification and may contain k0=<NUM> entries. The common TDRA table can be configured and provided, for example, in a common configuration for PDSCH (e.g., PDSCH-ConfigCommon). As a result, an exception may be made for PDSCH scheduled under the aforementioned conditions and the minimum DL scheduling offset may not be applicable, in order to ensure proper fallback operation. The duty cycle for monitoring DCI scrambled with SI/P/RA/TC-RNTI may be configured to be very small so that majority of the time, handling k0=<NUM> can be avoided. For DCI scrambled with C-RNTI detected in CSS (if not in CORESET <NUM>), a UE-specific TDRA table may be used if available, so that a minimum scheduling offset may still apply.

Minimum DL/UL scheduling offsets can be attributes of BWP configurations. The minimum DL/UL scheduling offsets in use can be a set of values associated with the BWP which is currently active.

As illustrated in <FIG>, in addition to such a TDRA table configuration per DL BWP, there can be one or multiple minimum DL scheduling offsets configured per DL BWP. In the example shown <FIG>, there are multiple minimum DL scheduling offsets for BWPO and a different DL scheduling offset for BWP1. In the example shown in <FIG>, both BWPO and BWP1 both have multiple minimum DL scheduling offsets (with the same values). The same use of multiple values can be used for minimum UL scheduling offsets and UL BWPs.

In the case multiple minimum scheduling offsets are supported for a particular BWP, as in the examples shown in <FIG>, additional signaling can be used to choose which offset is to be selected.

For example, minimum scheduling offsets corresponding to a large and small delay can be configured for BWP1. In some cases, semi-static signaling (e.g. via RRC signaling) may convey the multiple values, while AC CE or DCI signaling may select which of the minimum scheduling offsets to use. For periods of very little traffic, the larger minimum scheduling offset can be selected to maximize power saving benefits. In some cases, there can be an initial minimum scheduling offset (e.g., which is designated as one of the configured minimum scheduling offsets) for the BWP. When the BWP becomes active, the initial minimum scheduling offset is implicitly selected for use. Alternatively, the minimum scheduling offset implicitly selected for use when the BWP becomes active can also be the value that was most recently selected for use when the BWP was last active. A default value may still need to be designated for the very first time the BWP becomes active after the BWP is (re)configured. The parameter sets configured per BWP need not be limited to minimum scheduling offsets only, but could be extended to include other parameters.

When signaling (e.g. DCI) changes the minimum scheduling offset value that is currently in use to a new value, the application time of the new value may account for the time taken for the reception and processing of the signaling. For example, for DCI signaling, the current minimum scheduling offset defines the latest time that DCI processing has to finish. Therefore the application time of the new value may be such that it is not earlier than the current minimum scheduling offset from the slot the DCI indicating the change is received. Otherwise, a more stringent processing timeline may have to be imposed to DCI processing and may result in reduced power saving. In other words, for DCI indication to change the minimum scheduling offset (X), the start time of the new minimum value (X_new) may be applied in the slot which is max(X, Z) number of slots after the DCI indicating the change is received. In this case, Z is a positive integer number for the minimum number of slots for applying the change (e.g. Z=<NUM>).

<FIG> illustrates an example of operation with minimum DL scheduling offset for PDSCH. As illustrated, DCI with an indication of k0 which is smaller than the minimum DL scheduling offset may be considered invalid. TDRA table entries with k0 less than the minimum DL scheduling offset are essentially "dummy values. " Explicitly controlling the minimum scheduling offset may allow more flexibility in configuring the TDRA table. In some cases, the table may be configured with the same content for the table for different BWPs, while still having different minimum scheduling offset across BWPs.

<FIG> illustrates an example of operation with minimum DL/UL scheduling offset for A-CSI. The minimum DL scheduling offset may also serve as at least the lower bound for the triggering offset for aperiodic CSI-RS. The timing of CSI-RS may be a function of the configured CSI triggering offset (which is fixed to zero for non-QCL-Type-D in Rel-<NUM>), and the minimum DL scheduling offset. Two examples of such functions include:.

Alternatively, the CSI trigger offset may be made a DCI signaled parameter and may be required to follow the minimum DL scheduling offset rule. For combined A-CSI trigger and BWP switch trigger, the network can indicate a larger CSI trigger offset to accommodate DL BWP switch latency.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the minimum scheduling offset may be applied with scheduling across multiple BWPs. The illustrated example assumes a BWP switching latency of <NUM> slot, a single TDRA configured value (<NUM>) of k0 for BWPO and two TDRA configured values (<NUM>,<NUM>) of k0 for BWP1. As illustrated, even when the BWP switching latency is satisfied, the minimum DL scheduling offset may need to be satisfied (or a PDSCH scheduled by a DCI may be dropped as illustrated in the figure).

The techniques described herein may also be applicable to Cross-Carrier Scheduling (e.g., a DCI received in one BWP scheduling a transmission in another BWP). According to certain systems, search space configuration for cross-carrier scheduling may be based on the currently active BWP on the scheduled carrier. There may be a linkage rule for the search space defined for the scheduled carrier to that for the scheduling carrier. Similar to self-scheduling, the minimum k0 may be determined based on the TDRA tables across all schedulable BWP on the scheduled carrier, along with any additional conditions such as BWP transition latency.

For cross-carrier scheduling, there may be an even stronger motivation for introducing explicit minimum scheduling offsets. For example, if traffic on a secondary cell (Scell) is light, there could be long gaps of inactivity on the SCell. In such cases, a UE may save more power by operating in lower power mode (e.g. at reduced clock / voltage for the baseband). The UE may even choose to suspend processing related to the SCell while it is not being scheduled, for example, with reduced CSI measurement and reporting, and/or SRS transmission.

However, for such power saving to be feasible, it may be a prerequisite to guarantee a scheduling delay from the scheduling carrier (e.g., the primary cell or PCell) to the scheduled carrier (e.g. SCell), such that there can be enough time for hardware to transition to higher power mode to process the scheduled operations on the SCell. Similar to self-scheduling, this can be achieved by careful configuration of minimum k0 across the BWP of the scheduled carrier. However, there is still a potential issue with making the A-CSI triggering offset consistent with the minimum k0. Explicit minimum scheduling offsets applied to cross-carrier scheduling may help solve the issue, while simplifying the configuration and operation.

<FIG> illustrates how the minimum scheduling offset may be applied to Cross-Carrier Scheduling operation. The illustrated example assumes a BWP switching latency of <NUM> slot, a single TDRA configured value (<NUM>) of k0 for BWPO and two TDRA configured values (<NUM>,<NUM>) of k0 for BWP1. As illustrated, the minimum scheduling offset of the active BWP on the scheduled carrier guarantees certain scheduling delay. In the illustrated example, BWPO of CC1 can be the "power saving BWP" as it is configured with a large minimum DL scheduling offset. It can be used most of the time when traffic is sparse. When there is more traffic, BWP1 of CC1 can become the active BWP and a smaller minimum DL scheduling offset can be used for lower latency.

In some cases, minimum scheduling offsets may be used as UE feedback (e.g., implicitly indicating UE capability). For cross-carrier scheduling with different numerologies, due to potential for extra buffering requirement and satisfying the causality condition for scheduling, a non-zero minimum DL scheduling offset may need to be configured, but the amount of the offset may be dependent on UE capability (e.g. the buffering capacity it is designed to support).

In such cases, it may make sense for a UE to report a desired minimum scheduling offset effectively as an indication of UE capability. Extending this further, there may be a power saving benefit for having sufficiently large minimum scheduling offset for cross-carrier scheduling (regardless of same/different numerologies). The amount of scheduling delay needed to achieve power saving may be UE-implementation dependent. The UE capability framework described herein can be generalized to any cross-carrier scheduling configuration.

In some cases, a UE-based assistance framework may be used (to report a desired minimum scheduling offset) instead of UE capability framework. In such cases, a UE may report preferred values of minimum scheduling offsets. The network may then decide, based on the UE-reported preferred values, how to configure the final minimum scheduling offsets.

The minimum UL scheduling offsets described herein could be applied to a variety of different uplink transmissions. A sounding reference signal (SRS) is one example of such a transmission. In some cases, a minimum UL scheduling offset could be applied to an aperiodic SRS (A-SRS) transmitted on the uplink after an (A-SRS) request is triggered (e.g., via DCI conveyed in a PDCCH). In such cases, an A-SRS configuration may be signaled via RRC signaling and triggered via DCI.

The time granularity of the scheduling parameter in the DCI and/or the minimum threshold may vary. For example, the granularity in either symbol resolution or slot resolution may be used. In some cases, symbol level resolution may be derived from a scheduling parameter (e.g., indicated from a TDRA table). In some cases, the granularity may be quantized to a slot resolution.

In some cases, the granularity may be based on the numerology of the transmission scheduled by the PDCCH, in case it is different from the numerology of the PDCCH. In other cases, the granularity could be based on the PDCCH. In some other cases, the granularity could be based on the numerology of the currently active BWP, or a reference numerology. As used herein, the term numerology generally refers to waveform parameters, such as cyclic prefix length and subcarrier spacing (SCS). In general, the duration of an OFDM symbol is inversely proportional to subcarrier spacing.

Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean "one and only one" unless specifically so stated, but rather "one or more. §<NUM>, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase "means for" or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase "step for.

Generally, where there are operations illustrated in figures, those operations may have corresponding counterpart means-plus-function components.

In the case of a UE <NUM> (see <FIG>), a user interface (e.g., keypad, display, mouse, joystick, etc.) may also be connected to the bus.

Claim 1:
A method for wireless communications by a user equipment, UE, comprising:
receiving (<NUM>) a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, transmission with downlink control information, DCI, signaling a scheduling parameter indicating a scheduling delay between an end of the PDCCH transmission and a beginning of a transmission scheduled by the PDCCH;
determining (<NUM>) whether a value of the scheduling parameter is below a minimum threshold;
treating a channel state information, CSI, trigger associated with the DCI as invalid if the value of the scheduling parameter is below the minimum threshold; and
receiving the transmission scheduled by the PDCCH if the value of the scheduling parameter is not below the minimum threshold, wherein the scheduled transmission comprises at least one channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, transmitted on the downlink after an aperiodic CSI, A-CSI, request is triggered.