Patent Description:
Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) fifth generation (<NUM>) New Radio (NR) systems use physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs) for downlink control information (DCI), e.g. downlink scheduling assignments and uplink scheduling grants. The PDCCHs are in general transmitted at the beginning of a slot and relate to data in the same or a later slot (for mini-slots PDCCH can also be transmitted within a regular slot). Different formats (sizes) of the PDCCHs are possible to handle different DCI payload sizes and different aggregation levels (i.e., different code rate for a given payload size).

A user equipment (UE) is configured (implicitly and/or explicitly) to blindly monitor (or search) for a number of PDCCH candidates of different aggregation levels and DCI payload sizes. Upon detecting a valid DCI message (i.e., the decoding of a candidate is successful, and the DCI contains an identity (ID) the UE is to monitor) the UE follows the DCI (e.g., receives the corresponding downlink data or transmits in the uplink). The blind decoding process comes at a cost in complexity in the UE but is required to provide flexible scheduling and handling of different DCI payload sizes.

NR includes specifications on how to configure control resource regions where the UE can monitor for PDCCH transmissions and how a UE can be configured with multiple control resource regions. Some of these control regions may be used for sending common control messages that are intended for multiple UEs and some may be intended for UE-specific control messages. A control region may serve both common and UE-specific control messages. One difference in NR from long term evolution (LTE) is that the carrier bandwidths may be larger. Thus, there are benefits if the control region does not span the entire bandwidth of the carrier. Therefore, control regions may be limited in time and in frequency.

Control regions are generally dimensioned to ensure that multiple UEs can be signaled within the region. To do this, statistical multiplexing may be used where the number of UEs that are assigned to a control region to search for control messages is much greater than the resource available in the control region. Therefore, the search spaces for different UEs are randomized so that statistical multiplexing can be used to minimize the blocking probability when any particular UE needs to be scheduled. Therefore, control regions may be dimensioned to be able to signal PDCCHs for multiple UEs simultaneously and the number of UEs that are assigned to monitor the control region is expected to be greater than the number of UEs that can simultaneously be signaled.

Furthermore, a UE may be configured with one or more control regions, which the UE monitors for the potential reception of one or more PDCCHs. The control regions for one UE or different UEs can, in principle, partly or fully overlap.

Existing solutions do not adequately handle situations where a UE is configured with multiple control regions. They also do not optimize signaling complexity for various desired options to reuse control resources.

Document <CIT> may be construed to disclose a method, apparatus and system for indicating downlink resources of a coordinated multi-point network in an LTE system. The method includes: determining a control station/cell and a service station/cell of a User Equipment (UE); and indicating through signaling that a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) of the UE occupies radio resources of the service station/cell in a control region, whereby a start position of the PDSCH allocated for the UE by the service station/cell is the first symbol of a subframe, and when a resource mapping in the control region is performed, the PDSCH does not occupy Resource Elements (REs) occupied by a Cell Reference Signal (CRS), a Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), a Physical Hybrid-ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH) of a station/cell where the PDSCH is located, and a Physical Downlink Control Channel PDCCH of the UE.

Document <CIT> may be construed to disclose a method for operating a communications controller including allocating a number of resource blocks to an enhanced physical downlink shared channel (ePDSCH), and identifying a starting point for the resource blocks of the ePDSCH, the starting point located within a control region of a subframe. The method also includes signaling to a user equipment (UE) the starting point of the resource blocks and the number of resource blocks allocated to the ePDSCH.

Document <CIT> may be construed to disclose methods and apparatus for a User Equipment (UE) to receive over a first set of resources a Physical Downlink Control CHannel (PDCCH) of a first type including Control Channel Elements (CCEs) of a first type, to receive over a second set of resources a PDCCH of a second type including CCEs of a second type, and to determine a resource for transmitting an acknowledgement signal in response to detecting the PDCCH of the first type or in response to detecting the PDCCH of the second type.

The present invention is set out in the independent claims whereas preferred embodiments and further implementations are outlined in the dependent claims, description and figures.

For a more complete understanding of the embodiments and their features and advantages, reference is now made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:.

Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) fifth generation (<NUM>) New Radio (NR) includes specifications on how to configure control resource regions where a user equipment (UE) can monitor for physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmissions and how a UE can be configured with multiple control resource regions. Some of these control regions may be used for sending common control messages that are intended for multiple UEs and some may be intended for UE-specific control messages. A control region may serve both common and UE-specific control messages. One difference in NR from long term evolution (LTE) is that the carrier bandwidths may be larger. Thus, there are benefits seen in the control region not spanning the entire bandwidth of the carrier. Therefore, control regions may be limited in time and in frequency.

Control regions are generally dimensioned to ensure that multiple UEs can be signaled within the region. The search spaces for different UEs are randomized so that statistical multiplexing can be used to minimize the blocking probability when any particular UE needs to be scheduled. In low load conditions, however, there may often be only one or two UEs that are sent PDCCHs in a control region. These UEs may have data transmitted in the remaining parts of the slot outside of the control region. In this situation, unused resources within the control region are wasted. Therefore, reuse of the unused resources in the control region for data transmission to the scheduled UEs is desirable.

A CORESET is a control resource set that is configured to the UE. A CORESET is a set of REs that spans a set of physical resource blocks (PRBs) in frequency and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in time. A UE may be configured one or more CORESETs which the UE should monitor for the potential reception of one or more PDCCHs. CORESETs for one UE or different UEs can in principle be (partly) overlapping. For simplicity, in the figures below it is assumed that the CORESETs are not partly overlapping.

Existing solutions do not adequately deal with situations where a UE is configured with multiple control regions. They also do not optimize signaling complexity for various desired options to reuse control resources.

Particular embodiments obviate the problems described above and include signaling to the UE on three aspects that informs the UE how control region resource should be reused. These are the starting position of the data transmission, the physical resource blocks in frequency that are used for data transmission and options on how to reuse unused resources in the one or more control regions configured to the UE including the option of not reusing any unused resources in the control regions.

Particular embodiments optimize the overhead of such signaling by using a field with as few bits as possible and encoding the values for the field with specific options for reuse of control resources as defined by the above three aspects. Particular embodiments enable data transmissions that must be sent urgently with very low latency to occur purely in one or more of the control regions defined for the UE.

Particular embodiments provide a flexible way of maximizing data throughput by reusing unused resources in configured control regions. Particular embodiments provide a robust method for enabling low latency transmissions to be multiplexed with data transmissions.

The following description sets forth numerous specific details. It is understood, however, that embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known circuits, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure the understanding of this description. Those of ordinary skill in the art, with the included descriptions, will be able to implement appropriate functionality without undue experimentation.

Particular embodiments are described with reference to <FIG> of the drawings, like numerals being used for like and corresponding parts of the various drawings, LTE is used throughout this disclosure as an example cellular system, but the ideas presented herein may apply to other wireless communication systems as well.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating an example wireless network, according to a particular embodiment. Wireless network <NUM> includes one or more wireless devices <NUM> (such as mobile phones, smart phones, laptop computers, tablet computers, MTC devices, or any other devices that can provide wireless communication) and a plurality of network nodes <NUM> (such as base stations or eNodeBs). Wireless device <NUM> may also be referred to as a UE. Network node <NUM> serves coverage area <NUM> (also referred to as cell <NUM>).

In general, wireless devices <NUM> that are within coverage of network node <NUM> (e.g., within cell <NUM> served by network node <NUM>) communicate with network node <NUM> by transmitting and receiving wireless signals <NUM>. For example, wireless devices <NUM> and network node <NUM> may communicate wireless signals <NUM> containing voice traffic, data traffic, and/or control signals. A network node <NUM> communicating voice traffic, data traffic, and/or control signals to wireless device <NUM> may be referred to as a serving network node <NUM> for the wireless device <NUM>, Communication between wireless device <NUM> and network node <NUM> may be referred to as cellular communication. Wireless signals <NUM> may include both downlink transmissions (from network node <NUM> to wireless devices <NUM>) and uplink transmissions (from wireless devices <NUM> to network node <NUM>).

Each network node <NUM> may have a single transmitter <NUM> or multiple transmitters <NUM> for transmitting signals <NUM> to wireless devices <NUM>, In some embodiments, network node <NUM> may comprise a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) system. Similarly, each wireless device <NUM> may have a single receiver or multiple receivers for receiving signals <NUM> from network nodes <NUM> or other wireless devices <NUM>.

Wireless signals <NUM> may include particular time and frequency resources allocated as control resources. The resources may be referred to as a control region. One example of time and frequency resources allocated as control resources is a CORESET. Other embodiments may include other types of control regions.

In some embodiments, network node <NUM> may determine one or more control resource regions (e.g., control resource set (CORESET)) for a carrier. Each control resource region comprises a set of time and frequency resources (described by physical resource blocks, OFDM symbols, frequency range, etc.). Network node <NUM> may determine a control channel region (e.g., PDCCH) in a control resource region. The control channel region may comprise a subset of the time frequency resources of the first control resource region. Network node <NUM> may determine a data transmission region in a control resource region. Network node <NUM> may signal the determined data transmission region to wireless device <NUM>.

Network node <NUM> may signal to wireless device <NUM> on three aspects that inform wireless device <NUM> how a control region resource may be reused. These are the starting position of the data transmission, the physical resource blocks in frequency that are used for data transmission, and options on how to reuse unused resources in the one or more control regions configured to wireless device <NUM>, including the option of not reusing any unused resources in the control regions.

In particular embodiments, the data transmission region comprises a subset of the resources in the at least one control resource region. The data transmission region may exclude resources for the control channel region.

In particular embodiments, network node <NUM> may signal the determined data transmission region to wireless device <NUM> using a bitmap. The bitmap may indicate time and frequency resources used for the data transmission region, or time and frequency resources excluded from the data transmission region. Other embodiments may use an identifier of at least one control resource region to include or exclude with respect to the data transmission region.

According to some embodiments, wireless device <NUM> receives a control channel (e.g., PDCCH) that includes control information that indicates a set of time and frequency resources allocated for the wireless device to receive a data transmission. Wireless device <NUM> may determine that the set of time and frequency resources allocated for data transmission overlaps with a control resource region (e.g., CORESET). Wireless device <NUM> may transmit or receive a data transmission in the set of time and frequency resources allocated for data transmission.

Particular methods for using and reusing control resources are described in more detail with respect to <FIG>.

In wireless network <NUM>, each network node <NUM> may use any suitable radio access technology, such as long term evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, UMTS, HSPA, GSM, cdma2000, NR, WiMax, WiFi, and/or other suitable radio access technology. Wireless network <NUM> may include any suitable combination of one or more, radio access technologies, For purposes of example, various embodiments may be described within the context of certain radio access technologies. However, the scope of the disclosure is not limited to the examples and other embodiments could use different radio access technologies.

As described above, embodiments of a wireless network may include one or more wireless devices and one or more different types of radio network nodes capable of communicating with the wireless devices. The network may also include any additional elements suitable to support communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device (such as a landline telephone). A wireless device may include any suitable combination of hardware and/or software. For example, in particular embodiments, a wireless device, such as wireless device <NUM>, may include the components described with respect to <FIG> below. Similarly, a network node may include any suitable combination of hardware and/or software. For example, in particular embodiments, a network node, such as network node <NUM>, may include the components described with respect to <FIG> below.

Various embodiments include signaling information. Portions of some signaling may be known, such as that a PDCCH message may indicate the resources in frequency, i.e., the physical resource blocks (PRBs) that are allocated for data transmission to the UE, and that a PDCCH message may indicate a starting symbol for data transmissions. The embodiments described herein, however, also include methods to reuse unused resources in the control resource regions (e.g., CORESETs) configured to the UE for the purpose of data reception and transmission. Although examples herein as described in terms of a CORESET, the examples and embodiments apply to any control resource region, or any other defined resource region.

A first group of embodiments include interpretation of starting symbol for data transmissions. In some embodiments, the starting symbol for data transmissions is applicable only to PRBs that are fully outside any control resource regions (e.g., CORESETs) configured to the UE. That is, unless otherwise indicated by methods outlined in the embodiments below, the UE assumes that the data transmission (PDSCH) is mapped to the REs in time and frequency indicated by the allocated PRBs and the starting symbol, but excluding any REs that are part of control resource regions (e.g., CORESETs) configured to the UE.

A second group of embodiments include control region reuse to avoid resources on which a UE receives a control channel (e.g., PDCCH). The resources in the control resource region that are reused for data transmission do not include the resources on which a PDCCH has been received. In other words, this group of embodiments is similar to the first group of embodiments in the sense that the UE follows the resource allocation given by the starting symbol and RBs in the frequency domain, but instead of excluding all REs in the entire control resource region (e.g., CORESET) from the allocation, only the REs upon which the UE detected a control channel (e.g., PDCCH) are excluded.

A third group of embodiments include control region reuse within a time and frequency region indicated by scheduled PRBs and start symbol for data. The resources in the control region are only reused within the time and frequency region indicated by the scheduled PRBs and start symbol for data. This is illustrated in <FIG> where a UE receives a PDCCH in a CORESET, but the UE is scheduled to transmit PRBs only spanning a part of the CORESET bandwidth.

<FIG> illustrates an example of the reuse of resources in the CORESET only within the time and frequency region indicated by the scheduled PRBs and start symbol for data, according to a particular embodiment. The illustrated example includes a transmission time interval comprising a plurality of OFDM symbols <NUM>. The transmission time interval includes control resource regions <NUM> (e.g., 10a and 10b), a control channel <NUM>, and data transmission region <NUM>.

The UE receiving control channel <NUM> (e.g., PDCCH <NUM>) for scheduled data transmission region 14a is configured with two control resource regions 10a (e.g., CORESETs 10a). Control resource region 10a comprises two groups of PRBs in the first two OFDM symbols. Control resource region 10B comprises one group of PRBs in the first two OFDM symbols. A network node, such as network node <NUM> described above, may use control resource regions <NUM> for sending control channels to a UE, such as wireless device <NUM> described above. For example, network node <NUM> may send control channel <NUM> to wireless device <NUM> to schedule a downlink transmission (e.g., PDCCH with DCI).

The scheduling information for the downlink transmission indicates to the UE which time and frequency resources will be used for the downlink transmission. The time and frequency resources are represented by data transmission region <NUM>. In the illustrated example, data transmission region <NUM> starts at the first OFDM symbol and continues in each OFDM symbol of the transmission time interval. The frequency range of the resources allocated for data transmission is the same inside control resource region 10a as outside control resource region 10a. The portion of data transmission region <NUM> inside control resource region 10a does not overlap with control channel region <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates another example of the reuse of resources in the CORESET only within the time and frequency region indicated by the scheduled PRBs and start symbol for data, according to a particular embodiment. The illustrated example includes a transmission time interval comprising a plurality of OFDM symbols <NUM>, control resource regions <NUM>, control channels <NUM> and <NUM>, and data transmission regions <NUM> and <NUM>.

A first UE receiving control channel <NUM> (e.g., PDCCH <NUM>) for scheduled data transmission region <NUM> is configured with two control resource regions 10a (e.g., CORESETs 10a) in the first two OFDM symbols. A second UE receiving control channel <NUM> (e.g., PDCCH <NUM>) for scheduled data transmission region <NUM> is also configured with two control resource regions 10a (e.g., CORESETs 10a) in the first two OFDM symbols. For example, network node <NUM> may send control channel <NUM> (e.g., PDCCH <NUM>) that includes downlink control information to a first wireless device <NUM> to schedule a downlink transmission in the time and frequency resources represented by data transmission region <NUM>. Network node <NUM> may send control channel <NUM> (e.g., PDCCH <NUM>) that includes downlink control information to a second wireless device <NUM> to schedule a downlink transmission in the time and frequency resources represented by data transmission region <NUM>.

In the illustrated example, data transmission region <NUM> starts at the first OFDM symbol and continues in each OFDM symbol of the transmission time interval. Data transmission region <NUM> also starts at the first OFDM symbol and continues in each OFDM symbol of the transmission time interval, but uses different frequency resources than data transmission region <NUM>.

In the illustrated example, the frequency range of the resources allocated for data transmission is different inside control resource region 10a than outside control resource region 10a. The frequency range of the resources allocated for data transmission is the same inside control resource region 10b as outside control resource region 10b. The portion of data transmission region <NUM> inside control resource region 10a excludes control channel region <NUM>. The portion of data transmission region <NUM> inside control resource region 10a excludes control channel region <NUM>.

A fourth group of embodiments includes control region reuse independent of a frequency region indicated by scheduled PRBs. The resources in the control region are reused independent of the frequency region indicated by the scheduled PRBs. This is illustrated in <FIG>, where a UE receives a PDCCH in a CORESET, but the UE is scheduled to receive data in PRBs only spanning a part of the CORESET bandwidth. According to this embodiment, the resources in the CORESET are fully reused including in the PRBs that fall outside of the frequency region of the scheduled PRBs for data reception.

<FIG> illustrates an example of the reuse of resources in the CORESET only within the scheduled PRBs, according to a particular embodiment. The illustrated example includes a transmission time interval comprising a plurality of OFDM symbols <NUM>, control resource regions <NUM>, control channel <NUM>, and data transmission region <NUM>, similar to those described with respect to <FIG>.

A UE receiving control channel <NUM> (e.g., PDCCH <NUM>) for scheduled data transmission region <NUM> is configured with two control resource regions 10a (e.g., CORESETs 10a) in the first two OFDM symbols. In the illustrated example, the frequency range of the resources allocated for data transmission is different inside control resource region 10a than outside control resource region 10a. For example, the frequency domain bandwidth of control resource region 10a is larger than the bandwidth used for the portion of data transmission region <NUM> that is outside of control resource region 10a. Within control resource 10a, data transmission region <NUM> uses the entire bandwidth of control resource region 10a (excluding resources used for control channel region <NUM>).

<FIG> illustrates an example of the reuse of resources in the CORESET only within the CORESET, according to a particular embodiment. The illustrated example includes a transmission time interval comprising a plurality of OFDM symbols <NUM>, control resource regions <NUM>, control channels <NUM> and <NUM>, and data transmission regions <NUM> and <NUM>, similar to those described with respect to <FIG>.

A UE receiving control channel <NUM> (e.g., PDCCH <NUM>) for scheduled data transmission region <NUM> is configured with two control resource regions 10a (e.g., CORESETs 10a) in the first two OFDM symbols. In the illustrated example, the frequency range of the resources allocated for data transmission is different inside control resource region 10a than outside control resource region 10a.

For example, the frequency domain bandwidth of control resource region 10a is smaller than the bandwidth used for the portion of data transmission region <NUM> that is outside of control resource region 10a. Similarly, the frequency domain bandwidth of control resource region 10a is smaller than the bandwidth used for the portion of data transmission region <NUM> that is outside of control resource region 10a. Within control resource 10a, data transmission regions <NUM> and <NUM> use the entire bandwidth of control resource region 10a (excluding resources used for control channel regions <NUM> and <NUM>).

A fifth group of embodiments include puncturing data resources reused in a control region by one UE to transmit PDCCH for another UE. Two UEs may receive PDCCH messages within CORESETs that may be partially or fully overlapping. Each UE assumes that the resources used for PDCCH transmission for the other UE is part of its own data transmission. The gNB adjusts for the loss in performance due to such puncturing by adjusting the coding rate of the PDSCH transmissions to each UE. This is illustrated in <FIG>, where the resources used for the PDCCH for one of the UEs (e.g., control channel <NUM>) are assumed to be data REs by the other UE (whose PDCCH and data transmissions are illustrated by control channel <NUM> and data transmission region <NUM>, respectively).

<FIG> illustrates an example of the puncturing of resources reused for data by one UE in the CORESET to transmit PDCCH for another UE, according to a particular embodiment. The illustrated example includes a transmission time interval comprising a plurality of OFDM symbols <NUM>, control resource regions <NUM>, control channels <NUM> and <NUM>, and data transmission regions <NUM> and <NUM>, similar to those described above.

Two UEs receiving control channels <NUM> and <NUM> (e.g., PDCCHs <NUM> and <NUM>) for scheduled data (e.g., data transmission regions <NUM> and <NUM>) are configured with two control resource regions 10a (e.g., CORESETs 10a) in the first two OFDM symbols each that are fully overlapped.

Data transmission region <NUM> starts at the third OFDM symbol and continues to the end of the transmission time interval. Data transmission region <NUM> does not include time and frequency resources within control resource regions <NUM>. Data transmission region <NUM> starts at the frst OFDM symbol and continues to the end of the transmission time interval. Data transmission region <NUM> includes time and frequency resources within control resource regions 10a and 10b. Within control resource region 10a, data transmission region <NUM> excludes control resource region <NUM>, but does not exclude control resource region <NUM>.

A sixth group of embodiments include reuse of control region resources for data without any scheduled data outside of the control region. The entire data transmission is contained within one or more of the CORESETs configured to the UE. For example, a UE may receive a PDCCH without any REs allocated for data in the region outside the CORESETs but with a field indicating reuse of control region resources for data. The UE may then receive data only in resources within the CORESET where the PDCCH was received and also possibly in the other configured CORESETs depending on what is indicated in the field in the control message transmitted by the gNB. This is illustrated in <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates an example of the reuse of resources in the CORESET for data transmission without any resource allocation for data transmission outside of the CORESET, according to a particular embodiment. The illustrated example includes a transmission time interval comprising a plurality of OFDM symbols <NUM>, control resource regions <NUM>, control channels <NUM> and <NUM>, and data transmission regions <NUM> and <NUM>, similar to those described above.

A UE with PDCCH and a scheduled data transmission is illustrated as control channel <NUM> and data transmission region <NUM>, respectively. Two UEs receiving control channels <NUM> and <NUM> (e.g., PDCCHs <NUM> and <NUM>) for scheduled data (e.g., data transmission regions <NUM> and <NUM>) are configured with two control resource regions 10a (e.g., CORESETs 10a) in the first two OFDM symbols each that are fully overlapped.

Data transmission region <NUM> starts at the first OFDM symbol and continues to the end of the transmission time interval. Data transmission region <NUM> includes time and frequency resources within control resource regions 10a and 10b (excluding control channel region <NUM>). Data transmission region <NUM> only includes time and frequency resources within control resource regions 10a (excluding time and frequency resources of control resource region <NUM>.

In a feature of this embodiment, the gNB may configure multiple CORESETs to the UE for the express purpose of such data transmissions in some of the CORESETs which may be useful to serve traffic that needs to meet very low latency requirements and that may need to be sent in a particular slot even when there are other UEs that may be scheduled in that slot either via PDCCHs received in the same slot or from previous slots.

In another feature of this embodiment, modulation and coding scheme (MCS) to transport block size (TBS) mappings may be defined specifically for data transmissions that occur only in CORESETs as shown in the above figure. Hybrid ARQ can be used for these transmissions with the HARQ IDs to be used for such data transmissions being sent in the DCI message.

In a further feature of the embodiment, additional self-contained DMRS is included in the CORESET for the data transmission within the CORESET only. One nonlimiting embodiment is to insert DMRS patterns and locations consistent with those for the PDCCH.

A seventh group of embodiments include reuse of control region resources for data without any scheduled data outside of the control region in the same symbol as PDCCH. The entire data transmission may be contained within one or more of the CORESETs configured to the UE. For example, a UE may receive a PDCCH without any REs allocated for data in the region outside the CORESETs but with a field indicating reuse of control region resources for data in the same symbol as the one which PDCCH was found. An example is illustrated in <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates an example of the reuse of resources in the CORESET for data transmission without any resource allocation for data transmission outside of the CORESET in the symbol for which PDCCH was received in, according to a particular embodiment. The illustrated example includes a transmission time interval comprising a plurality of OFDM symbols <NUM>, control resource regions <NUM>, control channels <NUM> and <NUM>, and data transmission regions <NUM> and <NUM>, similar to those described above.

A first UE with PDCCH and a scheduled data transmission is illustrated as control channel <NUM> and data transmission region <NUM>, respectively. A second UE with PDCCH and a scheduled data transmission is illustrated as control channel <NUM> and data transmission region <NUM>, respectively.

Two UEs receiving PDCCHs (e.g., control channels <NUM> and <NUM>) for scheduled data (e.g., data transmission regions <NUM> and <NUM>) are configured with two control resource regions 10a (e.g., CORESETs 10a) in the first two OFDM symbols each that are fully overlapped.

Data transmission region <NUM> consists of the first OFDM symbol and includes the bandwidth of control resource region 10a (excluding the time and frequency resources of control resource region <NUM>). Data transmission region <NUM> consists of the second OFDM symbol and includes the bandwidth of control resource region 10a (excluding the time and frequency resources of control resource region <NUM>).

An eighth group of embodiments include joint encoding of starting time and control region reuse options. The frequency region may be split into a number of (possibly non-equally sized) regions. For each region, signaling informs the UE whether REs in that frequency region during the OFDM symbols spanned by a CORESET should be excluded from a resource allocation or not. It has some similarity with the first group of embodiments, but instead of excluding a CORESET, regions indicated by the gNB are excluded. One benefit is that the gNB can signal to the UE to exclude also resources the gNB knows overlaps with other users" CORESETs.

For example, the frequency region can be split into four quarters, each ¼ of the total bandwidth. A bitmap can be used to indicate whether a particular quarter is to be excluded from a resource allocation or not.

A ninth group of embodiments include joint encoding of starting time and control region reuse options. A single field may be used to indicate the OFDM symbol at which data starts and how the control regions configured to the UE should be reused for data transmission. An example of the encoding for the values of such a single field is described below where three bits are used. In the following, CORESET refers to the control region where the PDCCH message is received.

A tenth group of embodiments include explicit use of bit maps to indicate reuse of resources in the OFDM symbols spanning the control region. Specific groups of resources in the OFDM symbols spanning the control region where the configured CORESETs reside may be assigned separate bits to indicate whether these resources are part of the data allocation or not. The regions that may be assigned bits include the following:.

An eleventh group of embodiments include use of control resource set for uplink transmission. The entire data transmission may be contained within one or more CORESETs configured to the UE for uplink transmission. In another example, the entire data transmission is contained outside one or more or all CORESETs configured to the UE for uplink transmission. For example, as illustrated in <FIG>, in a previous slot the DCI message can schedule downlink transmission in the next slot starting from a symbol different from the first symbol in that slot. Also, an uplink grant in the previous slot can indicate uplink transmission in the next slot prior to the downlink transmission.

<FIG> illustrates an example of the reuse of resources in the CORESET for uplink data without any resource allocation of data transmissions outside of the CORESET, according to a particular embodiment. The illustrated example includes a transmission time interval comprising a plurality of OFDM symbols, control resource regions <NUM>, control channels <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>, and data transmission regions <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>.

A network node, such as network node <NUM>, may use control resource regions <NUM> for sending control channels to a UE, such as wireless device <NUM>. For example, network node <NUM> may send control channel <NUM> to wireless device <NUM> to schedule an uplink transmission (e.g., PDCCH with DCI).

As one example, a UE receiving control channel <NUM> in control resource region 10b reuses resources in the next control resource region 10b (e.g., CORESET 10b) (indicated by arrow <NUM>) for uplink data (e.g., data transmission region <NUM>) without any resources allocated for data transmissions outside of control resource region 10b (e.g., CORESET 10b). The UEs in slot n+<NUM> receive the scheduling information in the previous slot n. For example, control channel regions <NUM> and <NUM> include scheduling for slot n and slot n+<NUM> (as illustrated by the arrows in <FIG>).

The above embodiments may be combined as well. For example, group of embodiments <NUM> and <NUM> may be used as methods to enable the techniques in the earlier embodiments.

The embodiments above may include multiple PDDCHs transmission for a UE as well as other transmissions such as broadcast channels and synchronization signal monitored by a UE in a control resource sets. All resources known to the UE that are used for something other than user data transmissions are considered as used resources in a control resource set.

<FIG> is a flow diagram illustrating an example method in a network node, according to some embodiments, In particular embodiments, one or more steps of <FIG> may be performed by network node <NUM> of wireless network <NUM> described with respect to <FIG>.

The method begins at step <NUM>, where the network node determines one or more control resource regions for a carrier. For example, network node <NUM> may determine one or more CORESETs (or any other suitable control resource) (e.g., control resource regions <NUM> illustrated with respect to <FIG>) on which it may transmit control information to one or more wireless devices <NUM>, Network node <NUM> may determine control resource region <NUM> dynamically (e.g., such as receiving signaling or other communications from another component of network <NUM>), or network node <NUM> may be provisioned or pre-configured with information about one or more control resource regions.

At step <NUM>, the network node determines a control channel region in a first control resource region of the one or more control resource regions. For example, network node <NUM> may determine a PDCCH (e.g., control channels <NUM>, <NUM> or <NUM> illustrated with respect to <FIG>) in the control resource region for transmitting control information to wireless device <NUM>.

The control channel may comprise a subset of the time and frequency resources that comprise the control resource region. The remaining time and frequency resources may be used for another control channel, used for data transmission, or unused.

Network node <NUM> may determine the control channel region dynamically (e.g., such as receiving signaling or other communications from another component of network <NUM>), or network node <NUM> may be provisioned or pre-configured with information about one or more control channel regions.

At step <NUM>, the network node determines a data transmission region in at least one control resource region of the one or more control resource regions. For example, network node <NUM> may determine that control resource region <NUM> includes unused resources (i.e., resources not used for a control channel or for data transmission). Network node <NUM> may determine that some or all of these resources may be used for data transmission. In some embodiments, network node <NUM> may determine that some used resources (e.g., a control channel for a lower priority user or service may be punctured for higher priority data transmission).

In particular embodiments, the data transmission region comprises a subset of the resources in the at least one control resource region. An example is illustrated in <FIG> where data transmission region <NUM> includes a subset of resources in control resource region 10a. The data transmission region may exclude resources for the control channel region. For example, with respect to <FIG>, data transmission region <NUM> excludes control channel region <NUM>. As another example, with respect to <FIG>, data transmission region <NUM> includes all the resources of control region 10a except for the resources used by control channel region <NUM>.

In particular embodiments, the data transmission region comprises resources within the at least one control resource region and resources outside of any of the one or more control resource regions. For exarnple, <FIG> all illustrates data transmission regions <NUM> and/or <NUM> that includes resources both within and outside of control resource region <NUM>.

A frequency range of resources within the at least one control resource region may be the same as a frequency range of the resources outside of any of the one or more control resource regions (e.g., data transmission region <NUM> of <FIG>), or the frequency range may be different than the frequency range of the resources outside of any of the one or more control resource regions (e.g., data transmission region <NUM> of <FIG>).

In particular embodiments, the data transmission region excludes resources outside of the at least one control resource region (e.g., data transmission region <NUM> of <FIG> is included entirely within control resource region 10a). The data transmission region may comprise all resources in the at least one control resource region (e.g., data transmission region <NUM> of <FIG> includes all the resources of control resource region 10b). The network node may determine the data transmission region according to any of the embodiments or examples described herein (e.g., with respect to <FIG>).

At step <NUM>, the network node signals the determined data transmission region to a wireless device. For example, network node <NUM> may signal the determined data transmission region to wireless device <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the signaling may include a starting symbol and a number of symbols for data transmission. The signaling may include a frequency range. The signaling may include resource regions excluded from the data transmission region.

In some embodiments, the wireless device may determine the excluded regions implicitly based on predetermined rules or known control regions. In some embodiments, the network node may explicitly signal excluded resource regions.

In particular embodiments, signaling the determined data transmission region to the wireless device comprises signaling a bitmap. The bitmap may indicate one or more groups of time and frequency resources used for the data transmission region, and/or one or more groups of time and frequency resources excluded from the data transmission region,.

In particular embodiments, signaling the determined data transmission region to the wireless device comprises signaling an identifier of at least one control resource region. The identifier of the at least one control resource region indicates a control resource region used for the data transmission region, and/or a control resource region excluded from the data transmission region. The network node may signal the data transmission region according to any of the embodiments or examples described herein (e.g., with respect to <FIG>).

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to method <NUM>. Additionally, one or more steps in method <NUM> of <FIG> may be performed in parallel or in any suitable order. The steps of method <NUM> may be repeated over time as necessary.

<FIG> is a flow diagram illustrating an example method in a wireless device, according to some embodiments. In particular embodiments, one or more steps of <FIG> may be performed by wireless device <NUM> of wireless network <NUM> described with respect to <FIG>.

The method begins at step <NUM>, where the wireless device receives a control channel that includes control information that indicates a set of time and frequency resources allocated for the wireless device to receive a data transmission. For example, wireless device <NUM> may receive a control channel (e.g., PDCCH) from network node <NUM>).

At step <NUM>, the wireless device determines that the set of time and frequency resources allocated for data transmission overlaps with a control resource region. For example, wireless device <NUM> may determine that a data transmission region includes resources of one or more control resource regions <NUM>,.

In particular embodiments, the data transmission region comprises resources within the at least one control resource region and resources outside of any of the one or more control resource regions. For example, <FIG> all illustrates data transmission regions <NUM> and/or <NUM> that includes resources both within and outside of control resource region <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the wireless device may determine that particular regions of the data transmission are excluded implicitly based on predetermined rules or known control regions. In some embodiments, network node <NUM> may explicitly signal excluded resource regions to wireless device <NUM>.

For example, in particular embodiments, network node <NUM> may signal the determined data transmission region to wireless device <NUM> with a bitmap. The bitmap may indicate one or more groups of time and frequency resources used for the data transmission region, and/or one or more groups of time and frequency resources excluded from the data transmission region.

In another example, network node <NUM> may signal the determined data transmission region to wireless device <NUM> with an identifier of at least one control resource region. The identifier of the at least one control resource region indicates a control resource region used for the data transmission region, and/or a control resource region excluded from the data transmission region. The network node may signal the data transmission region according to any of the embodiments or examples described herein (e.g., with respect to <FIG>).

At step <NUM>, the wireless device receives/transmits the data transmission in the set of time and frequency resources allocated for data transmission. For example, wireless device <NUM> may receive a data transmission from network node <NUM> in the set of time and frequency resources allocated for data transmission. Wireless device <NUM> may know to ignore particular regions excluded from the data transmission region.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment of a wireless device. The wireless device is an example of the wireless devices <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>. In particular embodiments, the wireless device is capable of transmitting/receiving user data within a control resource region (e.g., CORESET).

Particular examples of a wireless device include a mobile phone, a smart phone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a portable computer (e.g., laptop, tablet), a sensor, a modem, a machine type (MTC) device / machine to machine (M2M) device, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, a device-to-device capable device, a vehicle-to-vehicle device, or any other device that can provide wireless communication. The wireless device includes transceiver <NUM>, processing circuitry <NUM>, memory <NUM>, and power source <NUM>. In some embodiments, transceiver <NUM> facilitates transmitting wireless signals to and receiving wireless signals from wireless network node <NUM> (e.g., via an antenna), processing circuitry <NUM> executes instructions to provide some or all of the functionality described herein as provided by the wireless device, and memory <NUM> stores the instructions executed by processing circuitry <NUM>. Power source <NUM> supplies electrical power to one or more of the components of wireless device <NUM>, such as transceiver <NUM>, processing circuitry <NUM>, and/or memory <NUM>.

Processing circuitry <NUM> includes any suitable combination of hardware and software implemented in one or more integrated circuits or modules to execute instructions and manipulate data to perform some or all of the described functions of the wireless device. In some embodiments, processing circuitry <NUM> may include, for example, one or more computers, one more programmable logic devices, one or more central processing units (CPUs), one or more microprocessors, one or more applications, and/or other logic, and/or any suitable combination of the preceding. Processing circuitry <NUM> may include analog and/or digital circuitry configured to perform some or all of the described functions of wireless device <NUM>. For example, processing circuitry <NUM> may include resistors, capacitors, inductors, transistors, diodes, and/or any other suitable circuit components. Processing circuitry <NUM> may perform any of the steps of the method claims below.

Memory <NUM> is generally operable to store computer executable code and data. Examples of memory <NUM> include computer memory (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., a hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory computer-readable and/or computer-executable memory devices that store information.

Power source <NUM> is generally operable to supply electrical power to the components of wireless device <NUM>. Power source <NUM> may include any suitable type of battery, such as lithium-ion, lithium-air, lithium polymer, nickel cadmium, nickel metal hydride, or any other suitable type of battery for supplying power to a wireless device. In particular embodiments, processing circuitry <NUM> in communication with transceiver <NUM> receives user data within a control resource region (e.g., CORESET).

Other embodiments of the wireless device may include additional components (beyond those shown in <FIG>) responsible for providing certain aspects of the wireless device's functionality, including any of the functionality described above and/or any additional functionality (including any functionality necessary to support the solution described above).

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating example components of a wireless device <NUM>. The components may include receiving module <NUM> and determining module <NUM>.

Receiving module <NUM> may perform the receiving functions of wireless device <NUM>. For example, receiving module <NUM> may receive a control channel that includes control information that indicates of a set of time and frequency resources allocated for wireless device <NUM> to receive a data transmission. Receiving module <NUM> may receive the control channel and control information according to any of the examples and embodiments described above (e.g., step <NUM> of <FIG>). Receiving module <NUM> may receive a data transmission in the set of time and frequency resources (e.g., step <NUM> of <FIG>). In certain embodiments, receiving module <NUM> may include or be included in processing circuitry <NUM>. In particular embodiments, receiving module <NUM> may communicate with determining module <NUM>.

Determining module <NUM> may perform the determining functions of wireless device <NUM>. For example, determining module <NUM> may determine that the set of time and frequency resources allocated for data transmission overlaps with a control resource region, according to any of the examples and embodiments described above (e.g., step <NUM> of <FIG>). In certain embodiments, determining module <NUM> may include or be included in processing circuitry <NUM>. In particular embodiments, determining module <NUM> may communicate with receiving module <NUM>.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment of a network node. The network node is an example of the network node <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>. In particular embodiments, the network node is capable of transmitting user data within a control resource region (e.g., CORESET).

Network node <NUM> can be an eNodeB, a nodeB, a base station, a wireless access point (e.g., a Wi-Fi access point), a low power node, a base transceiver station (BTS), a transmission point or node, a remote RF unit (RRU), a remote radio head (RRH), or other radio access node. The network node includes at least one transceiver <NUM>, processing circuitry <NUM>, at least one memory <NUM>, and at least one network interface <NUM>. Transceiver <NUM> facilitates transmitting wireless signals to and receiving wireless signals from a wireless device, such as wireless devices <NUM> (e.g., via an antenna); processing circuitry <NUM> executes instructions to provide some or all of the functionality described above as being provided by a network node <NUM>; memory <NUM> stores the instructions executed by processing circuitry <NUM>; and network interface <NUM> communicates signals to backend network components, such as a gateway, switch, router, Internet, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), controller, and/or other network nodes <NUM>, Processing circuitry <NUM> and memory <NUM> can be of the same types as described with respect to processing circuitry <NUM> and memory <NUM> of <FIG> above. Processing circuitry <NUM> may perform any of the steps of the method claims below.

In some embodiments, network interface <NUM> is communicatively coupled to processing circuitry <NUM> and refers to any suitable device operable to receive input for network node <NUM>, send output from network node <NUM>, perform suitable processing of the input or output or both, communicate to other devices, or any combination of the preceding. Network interface <NUM> includes appropriate hardware (e.g., port, modern, network interface card, etc.) and software, including protocol conversion and data processing capabilities, to communicate through a network. In particular embodiments, processing circuitry <NUM> in communication with transceiver <NUM> communicates user data within a control resource region (e. g, CORESET).

Other embodiments of network node <NUM> include additional components (beyond those shown in <FIG>) responsible for providing certain aspects of the network node's functionality, including any of the functionality described above and/or any additional functionality (including any functionality necessary to support the solution described above). The various different types of network nodes may include components having the same physical hardware but configured (e.g., via programming) to support different radio access technologies, or may represent partly or entirely different physical components.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating example components of a network node <NUM>. The components may include determining module <NUM> and signaling module <NUM>.

Determining module <NUM> may perform the determining functions of network node <NUM>. For example, determining module <NUM> may determine one or more control resource regions for a carrier, determine a control channel region in a first control resource region of the one or more control resource regions, and determine a data transmission region in at least one control resource region of the one or more control resource regions. Determining module <NUM> may perform the determining functions according to any of the examples and embodiments described above (e.g., step <NUM>-<NUM> of <FIG>). In certain embodiments, determining module <NUM> may include or be included in processing circuitry <NUM>. In particular embodiments, determining module <NUM> may communicate with signaling module <NUM>.

Signaling module <NUM> may perform the signaling functions of network node <NUM>. For example, signaling module <NUM> may signal the determined data transmission region to a wireless device, according to any of the embodiments and examples described herein (e.g., step <NUM> of <FIG>). In certain embodiments, signaling module <NUM> may include or be included in processing circuitry <NUM>. In particular embodiments, signaling module <NUM> may communicate with determining module <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A method in a wireless device (<NUM>), the method comprising:
receiving (<NUM>) a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, from a network node (<NUM>), the PDCCH including downlink control information, DCI, that indicates a set of time and frequency resources allocated for the wireless device to receive a data transmission, wherein the set comprises (i) a first subset (<NUM>) of the indicated set of time and frequency resources allocated for the data transmission that overlaps with time and frequency resources in one or more control resource sets, CORESETs, (10a) and (ii) a second subset (<NUM>) of time and frequency resources from the one or more CORESETs excluded for the data transmission; and
receiving (<NUM>) the data transmission in the first subset of time and frequency resources allocated for data transmission.