Patent ID: 12206603

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A method and apparatus of a device that determines a physical downlink shared channel scheduling resource for a user equipment device and a base station is described. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide thorough explanation of embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known components, structures, and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure the understanding of this description.

Reference in the specification to “some embodiments” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in some embodiments” in various places in the specification do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment.

In the following description and claims, the terms “coupled” and “connected,” along with their derivatives, may be used. It should be understood that these terms are not intended as synonyms for each other. “Coupled” is used to indicate that two or more elements, which may or may not be in direct physical or electrical contact with each other, co-operate or interact with each other. “Connected” is used to indicate the establishment of communication between two or more elements that are coupled with each other.

The processes depicted in the figures that follow, are performed by processing logic that comprises hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, etc.), software (such as is run on a general-purpose computer system or a dedicated machine), or a combination of both. Although the processes are described below in terms of some sequential operations, it should be appreciated that some of the operations described may be performed in different order. Moreover, some operations may be performed in parallel rather than sequentially.

The terms “server,” “client,” and “device” are intended to refer generally to data processing systems rather than specifically to a particular form factor for the server, client, and/or device.

A method and apparatus of a device that determines a physical downlink shared channel scheduling resource for a user equipment device and a base station is described. In some embodiments, the device is a user equipment device that has a wireless link with a base station. In some embodiments, the wireless link is a fifth generation (5G) link. The device further groups and selects component carriers (CCs) from the wireless link and determines a virtual CC from the group of selected CCs. The device additionally can perform a physical downlink resource mapping based on an aggregate resource matching patterns of groups of CCs.

FIG.1illustrates a simplified example wireless communication system, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the system ofFIG.1is merely one example of a possible system, and that features of this disclosure may be implemented in any of various systems, as desired.

As shown, the example wireless communication system includes a base station102A which communicates over a transmission medium with one or more user devices106A,106B, etc., through106N. Each of the user devices may be referred to herein as a “user equipment” (UE). Thus, the user devices106are referred to as UEs or UE devices.

The base station (BS)102A may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or cell site (a “cellular base station”) and may include hardware that enables wireless communication with the UEs106A through106N.

The communication area (or coverage area) of the base station may be referred to as a “cell.” The base station102A and the UEs106may be configured to communicate over the transmission medium using any of various radio access technologies (RATs), also referred to as wireless communication technologies, or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UNITS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), 5G new radio (5G NR), HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1×RTT, 1×EV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc. Note that if the base station102A is implemented in the context of LTE, it may alternately be referred to as an ‘eNodeB’ or ‘eNB’. Note that if the base station102A is implemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternately be referred to as ‘gNodeB’ or ‘gNB’.

As shown, the base station102A may also be equipped to communicate with a network100(e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunication network such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN), and/or the Internet, among various possibilities). Thus, the base station102A may facilitate communication between the user devices and/or between the user devices and the network100. In particular, the cellular base station102A may provide UEs106with various telecommunication capabilities, such as voice, SMS and/or data services.

Base station102A and other similar base stations (such as base stations102B . . .102N) operating according to the same or a different cellular communication standard may thus be provided as a network of cells, which may provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping service to UEs106A-N and similar devices over a geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

Thus, while base station102A may act as a “serving cell” for UEs106A-N as illustrated inFIG.1, each UE106may also be capable of receiving signals from (and possibly within communication range of) one or more other cells (which might be provided by base stations102B-N and/or any other base stations), which may be referred to as “neighboring cells”. Such cells may also be capable of facilitating communication between user devices and/or between user devices and the network100. Such cells may include “macro” cells, “micro” cells, “pico” cells, and/or cells which provide any of various other granularities of service area size. For example, base stations102A-B illustrated inFIG.1might be macro cells, while base station102N might be a micro cell. Other configurations are also possible.

In some embodiments, base station102A may be a next generation base station, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or “gNB”. In some embodiments, a gNB may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and/or to a NR core (NRC) network. In addition, a gNB cell may include one or more transition and reception points (TRPs). In addition, a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

Note that a UE106may be capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, the UE106may be configured to communicate using a wireless networking (e.g., Wi-Fi) and/or peer-to-peer wireless communication protocol (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi peer-to-peer, etc.) in addition to at least one cellular communication protocol (e.g., GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1×RTT, 1×EV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc.). The UE106may also or alternatively be configured to communicate using one or more global navigational satellite systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one or more mobile television broadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M/H or DVB-H), and/or any other wireless communication protocol, if desired. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

FIG.2illustrates user equipment106(e.g., one of the devices106A through106N) in communication with a base station102, according to some embodiments. The UE106may be a device with cellular communication capability such as a mobile phone, a hand-held device, a computer or a tablet, or virtually any type of wireless device.

The UE106may include a processor that is configured to execute program instructions stored in memory. The UE106may perform any of the method embodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively, or in addition, the UE106may include a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) that is configured to perform any of the method embodiments described herein, or any portion of any of the method embodiments described herein.

The UE106may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols or technologies. In some embodiments, the UE106may be configured to communicate using, for example, CDMA2000 (1×RTT/1×EV-DO/HRPD/eHRPD) or LTE using a single shared radio and/or GSM or LTE using the single shared radio. The shared radio may couple to a single antenna, or may couple to multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communications. In general, a radio may include any combination of a baseband processor, analog RF signal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation as well as other digital processing). Similarly, the radio may implement one or more receive and transmit chains using the aforementioned hardware. For example, the UE106may share one or more parts of a receive and/or transmit chain between multiple wireless communication technologies, such as those discussed above.

In some embodiments, the UE106may include separate transmit and/or receive chains (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol with which it is configured to communicate. As a further possibility, the UE106may include one or more radios which are shared between multiple wireless communication protocols, and one or more radios which are used exclusively by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, the UE106might include a shared radio for communicating using either of LTE or 5G NR (or LTE or 1×RTT or LTE or GSM), and separate radios for communicating using each of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Other configurations are also possible.

FIG.3—Block Diagram of a UE

FIG.3illustrates an example simplified block diagram of a communication device106, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the block diagram of the communication device ofFIG.3is only one example of a possible communication device. According to embodiments, communication device106may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device), a tablet and/or a combination of devices, among other devices. As shown, the communication device106may include a set of components300configured to perform core functions. For example, this set of components may be implemented as a system on chip (SOC), which may include portions for various purposes. Alternatively, this set of components300may be implemented as separate components or groups of components for the various purposes. The set of components300may be coupled (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to various other circuits of the communication device106.

For example, the communication device106may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash310), an input/output interface such as connector I/F320(e.g., for connecting to a computer system; dock; charging station; input devices, such as a microphone, camera, keyboard; output devices, such as speakers; etc.), the display360, which may be integrated with or external to the communication device106, and cellular communication circuitry330such as for 5G NR, LTE, GSM, etc., and short to medium range wireless communication circuitry329(e.g., Bluetooth™ and WLAN circuitry). In some embodiments, communication device106may include wired communication circuitry (not shown), such as a network interface card, e.g., for Ethernet.

The cellular communication circuitry330may couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas335and336as shown. The short to medium range wireless communication circuitry329may also couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas337and338as shown. Alternatively, the short to medium range wireless communication circuitry329may couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to the antennas335and336in addition to, or instead of, coupling (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to the antennas337and338. The short to medium range wireless communication circuitry329and/or cellular communication circuitry330may include multiple receive chains and/or multiple transmit chains for receiving and/or transmitting multiple spatial streams, such as in a multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) configuration.

In some embodiments, as further described below, cellular communication circuitry330may include dedicated receive chains (including and/or coupled to, e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly. dedicated processors and/or radios) for multiple radio access technologies (RATs) (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR). In addition, in some embodiments, cellular communication circuitry330may include a single transmit chain that may be switched between radios dedicated to specific RATs. For example, a first radio may be dedicated to a first RAT, e.g., LTE, and may be in communication with a dedicated receive chain and a transmit chain shared with an additional radio, e.g., a second radio that may be dedicated to a second RAT, e.g., 5G NR, and may be in communication with a dedicated receive chain and the shared transmit chain.

The communication device106may also include and/or be configured for use with one or more user interface elements. The user interface elements may include any of various elements, such as display360(which may be a touchscreen display), a keyboard (which may be a discrete keyboard or may be implemented as part of a touchscreen display), a mouse, a microphone and/or speakers, one or more cameras, one or more buttons, and/or any of various other elements capable of providing information to a user and/or receiving or interpreting user input.

The communication device106may further include one or more smart cards345that include SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) functionality, such as one or more UICC(s) (Universal Integrated Circuit Card(s)) cards345.

As shown, the SOC300may include processor(s)302, which may execute program instructions for the communication device106and display circuitry304, which may perform graphics processing and provide display signals to the display360. The processor(s)302may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU)340, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor(s)302and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory306, read only memory (ROM)350, NAND flash memory310) and/or to other circuits or devices, such as the display circuitry304, short range wireless communication circuitry229, cellular communication circuitry330, connector I/F320, and/or display360. The MMU340may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or set up. In some embodiments, the MMU340may be included as a portion of the processor(s)302.

As noted above, the communication device106may be configured to communicate using wireless and/or wired communication circuitry. The communication device106may also be configured to determine a physical downlink shared channel scheduling resource for a user equipment device and a base station. Further, the communication device106may be configured to group and select CCs from the wireless link and determine a virtual CC from the group of selected CCs. The wireless device may also be configured to perform a physical downlink resource mapping based on an aggregate resource matching patterns of groups of CCs.

As described herein, the communication device106may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features for determining a physical downlink shared channel scheduling resource for a communications device106and a base station. The processor302of the communication device106may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor302may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) the processor302of the communication device106, in conjunction with one or more of the other components300,304,306,310,320,329,330,340,345,350,360may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.

In addition, as described herein, processor302may include one or more processing elements. Thus, processor302may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processor302. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor(s)302.

Further, as described herein, cellular communication circuitry330and short range wireless communication circuitry329may each include one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in cellular communication circuitry330and, similarly, one or more processing elements may be included in short range wireless communication circuitry329. Thus, cellular communication circuitry330may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of cellular communication circuitry330. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of cellular communication circuitry230. Similarly, the short range wireless communication circuitry329may include one or more ICs that are configured to perform the functions of short range wireless communication circuitry32. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of short range wireless communication circuitry329.

FIG.4—Block Diagram of a Base Station

FIG.4illustrates an example block diagram of a base station102, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the base station ofFIG.4is merely one example of a possible base station. As shown, the base station102may include processor(s)404which may execute program instructions for the base station102. The processor(s)404may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU)440, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor(s)404and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory460and read only memory (ROM)450) or to other circuits or devices.

The base station102may include at least one network port470. The network port470may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide a plurality of devices, such as UE devices106, access to the telephone network as described above inFIGS.1and2.

The network port470(or an additional network port) may also or alternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility related services and/or other services to a plurality of devices, such as UE devices106. In some cases, the network port470may couple to a telephone network via the core network, and/or the core network may provide a telephone network (e.g., among other UE devices serviced by the cellular service provider).

In some embodiments, base station102may be a next generation base station, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or “gNB”. In such embodiments, base station102may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and/or to a NR core (NRC) network. In addition, base station102may be considered a 5G NR cell and may include one or more transition and reception points (TRPs). In addition, a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

The base station102may include at least one antenna434, and possibly multiple antennas. The at least one antenna434may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with UE devices106via radio430. The antenna434communicates with the radio430via communication chain432. Communication chain432may be a receive chain, a transmit chain or both. The radio430may be configured to communicate via various wireless communication standards, including, but not limited to, 5G NR, LTE, LTE-A, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, etc.

The base station102may be configured to communicate wirelessly using multiple wireless communication standards. In some instances, the base station102may include multiple radios, which may enable the base station102to communicate according to multiple wireless communication technologies. For example, as one possibility, the base station102may include an LTE radio for performing communication according to LTE as well as a 5G NR radio for performing communication according to 5G NR. In such a case, the base station102may be capable of operating as both an LTE base station and a 5G NR base station. As another possibility, the base station102may include a multi-mode radio which is capable of performing communications according to any of multiple wireless communication technologies (e.g., 5G NR and Wi-Fi, LTE and Wi-Fi, LTE and UMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc.).

As described further subsequently herein, the BS102may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting implementation of features described herein. The processor404of the base station102may be configured to implement or support implementation of part or all of the methods described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, the processor404may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or a combination thereof. Alternatively (or in addition) the processor404of the BS102, in conjunction with one or more of the other components430,432,434,440,450,460,470may be configured to implement or support implementation of part or all of the features described herein.

In addition, as described herein, processor(s)404may be comprised of one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in processor(s)404. Thus, processor(s)404may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processor(s)404. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor(s)404.

Further, as described herein, radio430may be comprised of one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in radio430. Thus, radio430may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of radio430. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of radio430.

FIG.5: Block Diagram of Cellular Communication Circuitry

FIG.5illustrates an example simplified block diagram of cellular communication circuitry, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the block diagram of the cellular communication circuitry ofFIG.5is only one example of a possible cellular communication circuit. According to embodiments, cellular communication circuitry330may be include in a communication device, such as communication device106described above. As noted above, communication device106may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device), a tablet and/or a combination of devices, among other devices.

The cellular communication circuitry330may couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas335a-band336as shown (inFIG.3). In some embodiments, cellular communication circuitry330may include dedicated receive chains (including and/or coupled to, e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly. dedicated processors and/or radios) for multiple RATs (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR). For example, as shown inFIG.5, cellular communication circuitry330may include a modem510and a modem520. Modem510may be configured for communications according to a first RAT, e.g., such as LTE or LTE-A, and modem520may be configured for communications according to a second RAT, e.g., such as 5G NR.

As shown, modem510may include one or more processors512and a memory516in communication with processors512. Modem510may be in communication with a radio frequency (RF) front end530. RF front end530may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, RF front end530may include receive circuitry (RX)532and transmit circuitry (TX)534. In some embodiments, receive circuitry532may be in communication with downlink (DL) front end550, which may include circuitry for receiving radio signals via antenna335a.

Similarly, modem520may include one or more processors522and a memory526in communication with processors522. Modem520may be in communication with an RF front end540. RF front end540may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, RF front end540may include receive circuitry542and transmit circuitry544. In some embodiments, receive circuitry542may be in communication with DL front end560, which may include circuitry for receiving radio signals via antenna335b.

In some embodiments, a switch570may couple transmit circuitry534to uplink (UL) front end572. In addition, switch570may couple transmit circuitry544to UL front end572. UL front end572may include circuitry for transmitting radio signals via antenna336. Thus, when cellular communication circuitry330receives instructions to transmit according to the first RAT (e.g., as supported via modem510), switch570may be switched to a first state that allows modem510to transmit signals according to the first RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain that includes transmit circuitry534and UL front end572). Similarly, when cellular communication circuitry330receives instructions to transmit according to the second RAT (e.g., as supported via modem520), switch570may be switched to a second state that allows modem520to transmit signals according to the second RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain that includes transmit circuitry544and UL front end572).

As described herein, the modem510may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features or for determining a physical downlink shared channel scheduling resource for a user equipment device and a base station, as well as the various other techniques described herein. The processors512may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor512may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) the processor512, in conjunction with one or more of the other components530,532,534,550,570,572,335and336may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.

In addition, as described herein, processors512may include one or more processing elements. Thus, processors512may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processors512. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processors512.

As described herein, the modem520may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features for determining a physical downlink shared channel scheduling resource for a user equipment device and a base station, as well as the various other techniques described herein. The processors522may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor522may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) the processor522, in conjunction with one or more of the other components540,542,544,550,570,572,335and336may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.

In addition, as described herein, processors522may include one or more processing elements. Thus, processors522may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processors522. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processors522.

FIG.6is a block diagram of some embodiments of a Rel-16 multi-time transmission interval (TTI) physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) scheduling. In Rel-16 New Radio unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) of fifth generation wireless for digital cellular networks (5G), TTI PUSCH transmissions are scheduled by a single DCI format on a single component carrier (CC). This was motivated to reduce the number of Listen-before-Talk (LBT) attempts to grab the shared channel and, thus, improve the resource utilization efficiency by avoiding potential LBT failures. For Rel-17 NR-U enhancement WI, one of objectives is to further enhance the multi-TTI scheduling by extending this scheduling from a single CC to multiple CC with the same motivation as in Rel-15, e.g. by reducing the number of LBTs across CCs for uplink (UL) grants transmission from the user equipment to the base station. In addition, another challenge is use multi-TTI scheduling across CCs for Rel-17 Radio Access Network (RAN) working group 2-led MR-DC/CA enhancement WI as well as RAN1-led DSS (Dynamic Spectrum Sharing) enhancement to reduce control signaling overhead generally for all carrier aggregation cases. For example and in some embodiments, the multi-TTI PUSCH scheduling600includes a DCI602that references time duration domain604A, which is followed by time duration domains604B-D.

How to efficiently control the number of DCI format information elements (IEs) and size in adaptation to the number of actually scheduled CCs/slots numbers while still avoiding an increasing amount of blind decoding (BD) at the UE side is one of design challenges to enable this feature in Rel-17, while taking into account Carrier Aggregation (CA) in licensed and unlicensed bands for NR-U and/or CA enhancements as well as DSS.

FIG.7is a flow diagram of some embodiments of a process700to allocate resources of multiple CCs. In some embodiments, in case of carrier aggregation (CA) on both licensed or unlicensed band, a UE may determine the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) scheduling and resource mapping across multiple CCs. At block702, process700groups and selects the CCs to determine an ‘effective’ bandwidth that is indicated by downlink (DL) scheduling DCI format. In some embodiments, process700groups the CCs by higher layers signaling, Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), DCI format, or a combination of them. In a further embodiment, process700selects the CC group by a variety of schemes as described inFIGS.8-10below. At block704, process700forms a virtual CC by aggregating the selected CCs in for resource allocation. In some embodiments, process700forms the virtual CC by aggregating the bandwidth of the N CCs signaled for resource allocation by a single frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field. The virtual CC formation is further described inFIG.11below. At block706, process700determines the PDSCH resources based on the aggregated RE-level or RB-level resource mapping patterns of selected CCs. Determining the PDSCH is further described inFIG.12below.

FIG.8is an illustration of some embodiments of a CC grouping operation800. In some embodiments, the configured CCs may be divided into different groups804A-B. While in some embodiments, two CC groups are illustrated inFIG.8, in alternate embodiment, there can be more or less numbers of CC groups. In some embodiments, each of the CC groups can include a scheduling CC, one or more CCs that are scheduled, and/or one or more CCs that are scheduled within two or more groups. For example and in some embodiments, in the CC group804A includes the CC802A that is the scheduling CC, CCs802B-C that are scheduled in single group804A, and the CC802D, which is the CC that is scheduled within the group804A and804B. In a further example, the CCs within a CC group804A (e.g. CC0˜CC2in group 1) are cross-carrier scheduled by a single CC (e.g. CC0inFIG.8). As mentioned above, in some embodiments, a single CC802D may be grouped into two different groups804A-B, which can be useful especially for unlicensed band to account for a LBT failure on one of scheduling CCs (e.g. CC802A) but LBT succeeds on another scheduling CC (e.g. CC802E) and scheduled CC (e.g. CC802D). By grouping CC802D into two CC groups804A and804B with essentially allowing scheduling DCI from two scheduling CC802A and802E, the PDSCH on CC802D can be scheduled as long as one of these two scheduling CCs802A and802E passes LBT. While in some embodiments, each of the CC groups are illustrated with four CCs, in alternate embodiment, each of the CC groups can be have more or less numbers of CCs.

In some embodiments, the number of scheduled CC within a CC group by a single DCI format, denoting by S, may be limited to up to N, e.g. S<=N. In some embodiments, N=2. In addition, self-scheduling maybe assumed to other CCs in the group, e.g., the DCI that schedules PDSCH transmission on a CC is transmitted on the same CC. In some other embodiments, if a UE is configured with more than N CCs (e.g. LTE CCs for DSS case or NR unlicensed CCs, such as more than 4 CCs inFIG.8), N CCs may be signaled for data scheduling in different ways with tradeoff between latency and DCI signaling overhead. In some embodiments, the N CCs may be selected by higher layer signals e.g. UE-dedicated radio-resource control (RRC) signaling. In this embodiment, this may be a good scheduling design for DSS operation on licensed band, which can achieve a desirable load balancing across CCs on a semi-static manner. However, this scheduling may not be feasible for NR-U operation simply because this scheduling may not be supported for fast CCs selection in adaption to dynamic LBT outcome.

FIG.9is an illustration of some embodiments of a group-based CC selection and a UE-based CC selection. In some embodiments, selecting N CCs for data scheduling can occur by selecting the CCs using a Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element, which is identified by a MAC protocol data unit (PDU) sub-header with a dedicated logic channel identifier (LCID). In some embodiments, two alternatives maybe considered on this direction: having a fixed size with one octet field; and (2) alternatively have more than one octet field size (e.g., up to four or more octets). In some embodiments, the MAC PDU900has a fixed size and consist of a single octet with following field as illustrated in FIG.9with a group ID902that indicating the Group ID of the addressed CC group. In addition, the CCs selection indication904is a field that indicates the selected CCs indices S (S<=N) with each bit being associated with a CC within the indicated Group. Furthermore, the Cifield inFIG.9(0≤i≤5) is set to “1” to indicate the SCell with the SCell index i is used for potential data scheduling where SCell is the secondary cell and SCell index is configured for each SCell by RRC signaling. It should be noted that i is numbered within each CC group and can be repeated across groups. In some embodiments, the Cifield is set to “0.”

In some other embodiments, MAC CE906may consist of up to four (or more/less) octets908to support CC switching for multiple CC groups at a cost of increased signaling overhead. In this embodiment, the UE may not expect more than N CCs to be selected for a given CC group.

FIG.10is an illustration of some embodiments of a DCI format1000to indicate dynamically selected CCs. In some embodiments, the CC Selection Field (CSF)1002may be transmitted in DCI format1000to signal the selected CCs indices for the scheduled DL and UL transmissions. In some embodiments, the CSF field1002consist of M bits1008and indicates the CCs that are selected for the data scheduling by a CC-level bitmap, wherein M denotes the CCs number within the respective group. The association between CIF value and CC index may be configured by RRC signaling. The number of bits used for the M bits depends on the method in which the bits are stored (1008).

In some other embodiments, the CSF field1002consists of k=log2(NM) bits to signal binomial coefficient (NM), wherein each bit indicates one index of N CCs selected from M CCs group. In a further embodiment, the N CCs maybe restricted to be continuous in frequency, e.g. to minimize RF bandwidth and hence save UE power as well as reducing signaling overhead. In this embodiment, the CSF field1002can indicate a starting CC index and consequently possibly reuse a Carrier Indicator Field (CIF) field defined in 5G NR DCI format. In some other embodiments, the CSF field1002indicates one row index that is associated with a set of CC indices that are configured by RRC signaling. In a further embodiment, the DCI format can include one or more other fields1004and/or a CRC field1006.

FIG.11is an illustration of some embodiments of CC aggregation1100for frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) determination. A virtual CC1104may be formed by aggregating the bandwidth of at most N CCs signaled in block704ofFIG.7above for resource allocation by a single frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field, as illustrated inFIG.11. For example and in some embodiments, CCs1102A and1102D out of CCs1102A-E are aggregated into the virtual CCt1104. The other CCs can be available for another virtual CC. The number of bits is determined by the aggregated virtual CCt1104and resource allocation type as follows:
[log2((BWt(BWt+1))/2)]bits, if only resource allocation 0 is configured max([log2((BWt(BWt+1))/2)],BWt/P)+1 bits if bothRA0 andRA1 is configuredP: RBGgroup Size)

In some embodiments, the P for virtual CCt1104maybe configured by RRC signaling or alternatively determined at least based PCCOand PCC3to maximize the resource utilization. In some embodiments, PCCt=min (PCC0, PCC3) and P represents the size of Resource Block Group (RBG).

FIG.12is an illustration of some embodiments of a FDRA size determination1202for DCI-based approach1200. In some embodiments, one potential issue of this proposed solution is that it results in a variable FDRA size since this size determination is dependent on the selected CCs within a group. For example and in some embodiments, consider that BW0=100PRBs (Physical Resource Block, PRB), BW1=50, and BW2=25. In this example, the effective visual BW of aggregated CCtwould be BWt=150 PRBs in case of CC0/CC1are selected, while BWt=125 PRBs in case of CC0/CC2are selected. This may lead to increased blind decoding attempts by the UE to hypothetically check for different DCI format size candidates. In some embodiments, certain solutions are designed to address this problem: (1) The number of bits for the FDRA field1202is determined assuming two CCs with largest aggregated bandwidth are selected; or (2) encoding the CSF field separately using an FEC scheme. In some embodiments, and referring to the BWt=150 example above, the PRBs will be assumed for FDRA field size determination. If the number of actual FDRA bits in a DCI format is less than the reserved FDRA field size, e.g. CC1/CC2are selected for a transmission occasion with effective BWt=75 PRBs, zeros1204shall be appended to the actual FDRA IE until the payload size equals reserved size.

FIG.13is an illustration of some embodiments of separately encoding the CSF field1300and other dependent IEs1308into a set of CCEs1306A-N. In some embodiments, to address the variable FDRA size, the CSF field1300can be separately encoded by an FEC scheme, which has both error-correction and error-detection capabilities. For example and in some embodiments, the CSF field1300can be encoded using a simplex code with repetition that is used in LTE for Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH). The other fields that are used for the encoding can depends on the value of CSF field and can be encoded using polar code1310as in legacy. Compared to the previous solution described above inFIG.12, this approach avoids zero padding operation. In order to leverage frequency diversity gain, the bit interleaved may be used to interleave the encoded CSF1300with other DCI bits and transmitted over all CCEs, as illustrated inFIG.13. In some embodiments, The CSF1300is encoded using channel coding 1 (1302) to generate the codeword 1 (1304). The variable length of other IEs is encoded using the polar code1310to generate the codeword 2 (1312). In some embodiments, with a bit interleaver1314, the CCEs1306A-N are generated.

FIG.14is an illustration of some embodiments of separately encoding the CSF field1400and other dependent IEs and separate re-mappings. In some other designs, as depicted inFIG.14, the encoded codeword 1 (1404) and codeword 2 (1414) can be mapped to separate RE sets (e.g.,1406A-B, respectively). In this embodiment, the CSF1400is encoded with the channel coding 1 (1402) to generate the codeword 1 (1404). The variable length of other IEs1408is encoded using the polar code to generate the codeword 2 (1414). In addition, a separate CRC field1416may be attached for CSF field1400. To minimize the signaling overhead, the CRC length for CSF field may be kept as short, e.g. 4-bit or 8-bits.

FIG.15is an illustration of some embodiments of RBG-based rate-matching pattern1504for resource allocation across aggregated virtual CC1500by a single FDRA field. In block706ofFIG.7, the UE can be configured with rateMatchingPattern by higher layers (e.g. RRC signaling, and/or another type of signaling or mechanism), which indicates which of the RBs/REs are available or not available for PDSCH transmission. In some embodiments, to reduce the signaling overhead, the pair of reserved resources may be indicated by an RBG granularity and a symbol level. In this embodiment, the size of RBG can be configured by RRC signaling or implicitly based on the minimum value of RBG associated with the signaled CCs (e.g. CC0and CC3inFIG.10). In addition, and in some other embodiments, the LTE CRS rate-matching patterns configured for the selected CCs are aggregated and UE shall assume the REs indicated by this aggregated patterns are not available for PDSCH transmission.

In some embodiments, the DCI format size can be determined based on the bandwidth of RRC configured or MAC-CE selected CC, instead of a function of dynamically scheduled CCs for data transmission. In some other embodiments, some IEs are separate for different CCs, but other information fields can be shared in a joint grant. In some embodiments, the frequency domain resource allocation can be separate for different CCs, where the resource allocation granularity in a joint grant may be increased. In some embodiments, a scaling factor may be configured by higher layers on a per CC basis. More specifically, separate scaling factors may be configured for different resource allocation schemes, e.g., K1 is configured for type 1 and K2 is configured for Type-2, or, even scaling factor to be configured for a single resource allocation type only. For example, for a 20 MHz system, a scaling factor K1=2 maybe configured and correspondingly, the RBG size is increased from 16 RBs to 32 RBs in case of configuration2to decease the signaling overhead.

In some embodiments, some IEs are separate for different CCs. In more details, the New Data Indictor (NDI) IE is separately signaled for each Transport Block (TB) of each CC. In addition, the number of TBs for each CC is separately configured on a per CC basis. In some embodiments, some other IEs are commonly shared across CCs within a group. For example and in some embodiments, a Redundancy Version (RV) IE can be either shared for the CCs to control signaling overhead or 1-bit per scheduled CC. Alternatively there can be two RVs for a group of CCs or one RV for initial transmission of CCs and another RV for retransmission CCs.

In some embodiments, some IEs are separate for different CCs, but other information fields may be shared in a joint grant. A shared MCS for a set of CCs or all of CCs within a group may be indicated by higher layers signaling, e.g. depending on the frequency location of CCs. In addition, for CCs with a shared MCS, two MCS maybe present in a single grant, one for initial transmission and the other is for retransmission so as to provide flexible link adaptation. In a further embodiment, a time-domain resource allocation (TDRA) includes where a shared TDRA field may be present in a joint grant. In some other embodiments, a TDRA per CC may be included. In case of a shared TDRA IE, the UE can conduct resource mapping in accordance with the rate-matching patterns signaled for all CCs.

In some other embodiments, the number of blind decoding and aggregation levels can be further limited for monitoring joint DCI format due to the increased size. For example and in some embodiments, a larger aggregation level, e.g., AL-4/8/16 can be configurable for a joint grant.

FIG.16is an illustration of some embodiments of a support multiple CRS (Cell-specific Reference Signal) rate-matching pattern for a single NR CC. In some embodiments, the Resource Elements (REs) corresponding to the indicated rate-matching pattern are not available for PDSCH transmission. In some embodiments, the UE can be configured with a LTE-CRS-RateMatch-PatternToAddModList given by ServingCellConfig or ServingCellConfigCommon. Each list can be configured with up to M CRS-RateMatchPatterns per NR serving cell1606. Each RateMatchPattern may consist of combination of following informations to facilitate determination of CRS location of a single LTE CCi1600/1602/1604as shown in FIG.16and correspondingly to allow UE figure out the REs that are not available for PDSCH transmission due to CRS transmissions:V-shift value, which indicates value to rate-matching around the CRS.nrofCRS-Ports, which indicates number of LTE CRS antenna ports for rate-matching.CarrierFreqDL, relative to the Point A of NR serving cell, which indicates the center of the LTE carrier.CarrierBandwidthDL, which indicates a BWisignaling the bandwidth of CC.

FIG.17is an illustration of some embodiments of resource allocation for a single-CC based operation. In addition, a virtual NR CC1706with bandwidth NNRsizeis formed by aggregating the bandwidth of L CCs for resource block assignment purpose, as illustrated in FIG.17. In some embodiments, CC1700and CC1704are aggregated into a virtual CC1706. A variety of solutions can be considered for resource allocation in frequency domain across CCs1700-1704: (1) A single Frequency Domain Resource Assignment (FDRA)1708is determined based on the virtual NR CC bandwidth1706and allocate resources1714across CCs1700-1704. In some embodiments, a UE does not expect that the allocated PDSCH resources are located over more than N CCs. In some embodiments, the value of N can be hard encoded in specification, e.g. N=2. In some other embodiments, separate FDRA fields1710-1712are included in DCI format with one-to-one association with the scheduled CC. In this embodiment, the resource allocation granularity may be increased for each CC. In some designs, a scaling factor may be configured by higher layers on a per CC basis.

Portions of what was described above may be implemented with logic circuitry such as a dedicated logic circuit or with a microcontroller or other form of processing core that executes program code instructions. Thus processes taught by the discussion above may be performed with program code such as machine-executable instructions that cause a machine that executes these instructions to perform certain functions. In this context, a “machine” may be a machine that converts intermediate form (or “abstract”) instructions into processor specific instructions (e.g., an abstract execution environment such as a “virtual machine” (e.g., a Java Virtual Machine), an interpreter, a Common Language Runtime, a high-level language virtual machine, etc.), and/or, electronic circuitry disposed on a semiconductor chip (e.g., “logic circuitry” implemented with transistors) designed to execute instructions such as a general-purpose processor and/or a special-purpose processor. Processes taught by the discussion above may also be performed by (in the alternative to a machine or in combination with a machine) electronic circuitry designed to perform the processes (or a portion thereof) without the execution of program code.

The present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing the operations described herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purpose, or it may comprise a general-purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus.

A machine readable medium includes any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a machine readable medium includes read only memory (“ROM”); random access memory (“RAM”); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory devices; etc.

An article of manufacture may be used to store program code. An article of manufacture that stores program code may be embodied as, but is not limited to, one or more memories (e.g., one or more flash memories, random access memories (static, dynamic or other)), optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVD ROMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards or other type of machine-readable media suitable for storing electronic instructions. Program code may also be downloaded from a remote computer (e.g., a server) to a requesting computer (e.g., a client) by way of data signals embodied in a propagation medium (e.g., via a communication link (e.g., a network connection)).

The preceding detailed descriptions are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the tools used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of operations leading to a desired result. The operations are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.

It should be kept in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the above discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as “selecting,” “determining,” “receiving,” “forming,” “grouping,” “aggregating,” “generating,” “removing,” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

The processes and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purpose systems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct a more specialized apparatus to perform the operations described. The required structure for a variety of these systems will be evident from the description below. In addition, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the invention as described herein.

It is well understood that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled so as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users.

The foregoing discussion merely describes some exemplary embodiments of the present invention. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from such discussion, the accompanying drawings and the claims that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.