Patent ID: 12193020

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

(UE State)

In future radio communication systems (hereinafter also referred to as NR), it is assumed that a terminal (also referred to as a user terminal, User Equipment (UE), a device, and so on) has a plurality of states depending on traffic activity.

For example, the UE of NR may have three states such as an idle state, an inactive state, and a connected state in a radio resource control (RRC) layer. The states are also referred to as UE states, RRC states, and so on.

Here, the idle state is a state in which RRC connection between the UE and a base station is not established, and is also referred to as an RRC idle state (RRC_IDLE state), RRC idle (RRC_IDLE), and so on. The UE in the idle state is required to perform a reconfiguration of the RRC connection in order to transit to the connected state in which data transfer can be performed.

The inactive state is a state in which the RRC connection between the UE and the base station is established, but data transfer cannot be performed, and is also referred to as an RRC inactive state (RRC_INACTIVE state), RRC inactive (RRC_INACTIVE), and so on. The RRC connection is established for the UE in the inactive state, and thus the UE in the inactive state can transit to the connected state quicker than the UE in the idle state. Therefore, delay time until a start of data transfer is shorter than that of the UE in the idle state.

The connected state is a state in which the RRC connection between the UE and the base station is established and data transfer can be performed, and is also referred to as an RRC connected state (RRC_CONNECTED state), RRC connected (RRC_CONNECTED), and so on. The UE in the connected state monitors a downlink control channel (e.g., a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)) for determination of whether data is scheduled, and thus power consumption of the UE is larger as compared to that of the UE in the idle state or inactive state.

(Frequency Range)

For NR, supporting a plurality of frequency ranges (FRs) is also under study. For example, a first FR (FR 1) is from 410 MHz to 7.125 GHz. A second FR (FR 2) is from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. A third FR (FR 3) is from 7.125 GHz to 24.25 GHz. A fourth FR (FR 4) is from 52.6 GHz to 114.25 GHz. The UE may support at least one of the plurality of FRs.

(Multicast)

For NR, supporting unicast being a Point To Point (PTP) communication scheme and multicast being a Point To Multipoint (PTM) communication scheme is also under study.

In the multicast, identical contents are transmitted to one or more terminals (also referred to as user terminals, User Equipments (UEs), devices, and so on) located in a specific area (also referred to as, for example, a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) service area and so on). The specific area may be constituted by a single cell or a plurality of cells. The multicast in which the specific area is constituted by a single cell may be referred to as single cell (SC)-based PTM (SC-PTM) and so on. In a case of the SC-PTM, a plurality of cells may cooperatively constitute the multicast.

Multicast transmission and unicast transmission may be performed (may be time-multiplexed) in different time units (e.g., slots) in an identical cell. A time unit for performing multicast transmission in a radio frame may be determined in advance by specifications, or may be configured (notified) for the UE by higher layer signaling.

Note that in the present disclosure, it is only necessary that the higher layer signaling is, for example, at least one of Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, system information (e.g., at least one of Remaining Minimum System Information (RMSI), Other system information (OSI), and System Information Block (SIB)), broadcast information (e.g., Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) or Master Information Block (MIB)), Medium Access Control (MAC) signaling, and Radio Link Control (RLC) signaling.

Alternatively, each of multicast transmission and unicast transmission may be performed in a different cell. The UE that can perform carrier aggregation (CA) or dual connectivity (DC) may receive multicast transmission in a given cell, and may receive or transmit unicast transmission in another cell. Note that the UE that does not perform CA or DC may receive multicast transmission by being handed over to a cell in which multicast transmission is performed.

Note that the cell may be rephrased as a serving cell, a component carrier (CC), a carrier, and so on.

In multicast transmission, for example, a multicast traffic channel (MTCH), or an MTCH and a multicast control channel (MCCH) may be used as a logical channel.

On the MTCH, data to be multicast-transmitted (also referred to as multicast data or traffic and so on) may be transferred. On the MCCH, control information necessary for MTCH reception may be transferred. Note that in the SC-PTM, the MTCH and MCCH may be referred to as an SC-MTCH and SC-MCCH or the like, respectively.

The MTCH and MCCH being the logical channel may be mapped to a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH) being a transport channel in a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. The DL-SCH may be mapped to a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) being a physical channel in a physical (PHY) layer.

Note that in unicast transmission, for example, a dedicated traffic channel (DTCH), a dedicated control channel (DCCH), and the like may be used as the logical channel. The DTCH and DCCH may be mapped to the DL-SCH in the MAC layer, and the DL-SCH may be mapped to the PDSCH in the physical layer. As described above, multicast transmission and unicast transmission may be associated with an identical type transport channel and physical channel (in other words, the DL-SCH and PDSCH).

However, in existing LTE systems, multicast transmission is performed with use of a physical multicast channel (PMCH). In NR, employing a system structure different from the existing LTE systems, such as provision of one or more bandwidth parts (BWPs) in a cell, is assumed. Thus, in NR, how the UE controls reception of multicast transmission using the PDSCH is an issue.

Thus, the inventors of the present invention studied a method for appropriately controlling reception of multicast transmission using the PDSCH in NR, and came up with the present invention.

Embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described in detail hereinafter with reference to the drawings. Note that in the present disclosure, multicast transmission, multicast, a multicast service, multicast data, a service related to at least one of multicast and broadcast (multicast/broadcast) or multicast/broadcast, an MBMS, an MTCH, and the like may be interchangeably rephrased.

(First Aspect)

In a first aspect, support for multicast transmission in a single cell or a plurality of cells will be described.

<Single Cell>

A single cell supporting multicast transmission may be provided for each cell group, may be provided for a specific cell group (e.g., a master cell group (MCG)) or a secondary cell group (SCG), may be provided for each FR, or may be provided for a specific FR.

The single cell may be a primary cell (PCell), a primary secondary cell (PSCell), a special cell (SpCell), a secondary cell (SCell) (PUCCH SCell) in which a physical uplink control channel (e.g., a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)) is transmitted, a cell with the lowest index in each cell group or each FR, or a cell configured by RRC signaling or system information (e.g., SIB20) for multicast.

In a case of DC, the SpCell may be the PCell in the MCG or the PSCell in the SCG. In a case of anything other than DC, (in a case of CA or a single cell, for example), the SpCell may be the PCell.

A given type multicast transmission may be supported in the whole single cell, or may be supported in one or more bandwidth parts (BWPs) in the single cell. The BWP is a partial band in the cell.

The BWP in which multicast transmission is supported may be an initial BWP (also referred to as an initial downlink BWP, an initial downlink active BWP, and so on), or may be a BWP specified by at least one of higher layer signaling and L1 signaling (physical layer signaling).

For example, the BWP in which multicast transmission is provided for one or more UEs (or a group including the one or more UEs) in at least one of the idle state and the inactive state (idle/inactive state) may be any one of the following.

Initial BWP, and

BWP determined on the basis of at least one of system information (e.g., SIB20) for multicast, information (MCCH information) transferred on an MCCH, and DCI.

The BWP in which multicast transmission is provided for one or more UEs (or a group including the one or more UEs) in a connected state may be any one of the following.

Initial BWP,

the first BWP in a cell (BWP with the lowest index (index value)), and

BWP determined on the basis of system information (e.g., SIB20) for multicast, RRC signaling (also referred to as an RRC parameter, an RRC IE, an RRC message, and so on), or L1 signaling (e.g., at least one of information (MCCH information) transferred on an MCCH and DCI).

Note that in the present disclosure, it is only necessary that the information transferred on the MCCH is information for reception of multicast transmission (e.g., an MTCH). The information for reception of the multicast transmission (MTCH) may be information transferred on at least one of a PDCCH and PDSCH, or may be rephrased as information to be RLC-signaled and so on, and is not always limited to the information transferred on the MCCH.

FIG.1is a diagram to show an example of multicast transmission in the single cell according to the first aspect. InFIG.1, for example, it is assumed that the UE performs CA or DC using a plurality of cells (here, cells #0 to #2). Here, in cell #0 being a PCell, it is assumed that a given type (here, type a) multicast transmission is supported.

As shown inFIG.1, one or more BWPs are included in cell #0. In at least one BWP in cell #0, multicast transmission may be supported. For example, inFIG.1, an initial BWP (BWP #0) and BWPs #1 and #2 are included in cell #0, and a type a multicast service is supported in BWP #1.

Note thatFIG.1is merely an illustrative example, and the number, types, and the like of BWPs in which multicast transmission is supported in a single cell are not limited to those illustrated in the drawing. InFIG.1, cells #0 and #1 are provided in FR 1 and cell #2 is provided in FR 2, but these are merely examples, and are not limited to those illustrated in the drawing. For example, cells #0 to #2 may belong to an identical FR, or at least two of cells #0 to #2 may belong to FRs different from each other.

<A Plurality of Cells/BWPs>

A plurality of cells supporting multicast transmission may be a plurality of cells belonging to cell groups different from each other, or may be a plurality of cells belonging to an identical cell group or to be aggregated by CA.

In each of the plurality of cells, multicast transmission may be supported in one or more BWPs. It is only necessary that the one or more BWPs are determined in a manner similar to a single cell supporting the above-described multicast transmission.

In the plurality of cells, different type multicast services may be supported. In a given carrier (or a given BWP with the given carrier), only a single type multicast service may be supported. Alternatively, in a given carrier (or a given BWP with the given carrier), a plurality of types of multicast services may be supported.

The different type multicast services may be associated with different MTCHs. A multicast service type used in each cell (or each BWP) may be notified to the UE by at least one of higher layer signaling and L1 signaling.

Specifically, the UE may receive information (multicast type information) indicating the multicast service type for each cell (or each BWP). The multicast type information may be notified by RRC signaling (which may be an RRC parameter), may be included in system information (e.g., SIB20), or may be included in information transferred on an MCCH.

FIG.2is a diagram to show an example of multicast transmission in the plurality of cells according to the first aspect. InFIG.2, for example, it is assumed that the UE performs CA or DC using a plurality of cells (here, cells #0 to #3). Here, in cells #0 and #2 being PCells, it is assumed that a given type multicast service is supported.

For example, inFIG.2, a type a multicast service and type b multicast service are supported in cell #0, and a type c multicast service is supported in cell #2.

At least one of types supported in each cell supporting multicast transmission may be supported in one or more BWPs. Among BWPs in an identical cell, types to be supported may be identical to each other, or at least one type of the types may differ.

For example, whereas the type a multicast service and type b multicast service are supported in BWP #1 for cell #0 ofFIG.2, the type a multicast service is supported and the type b multicast service is not supported in BWP #2. In BWPs #0 to #2 for cell #2 ofFIG.2, an identical type c multicast service may be supported.

Note thatFIG.2is just an illustrative example, and the number of cells supporting multicast transmission and the number, types, and the like of BWPs in which multicast transmission is supported in each cell are not limited to those illustrated in the drawing. InFIG.2, although cells #0 and #1 are in FR 1, cells #2 and #3 are in FR 2, and a cell supporting multicast transmission for each FR is provided, which is just an illustrative example, and the present disclosure is not limited to those illustrated in the drawing. For example, a cell supporting multicast transmission for each cell group may be provided.

As described above, according to the first aspect, it is possible to support the multicast service in a BWP unit. Note that from the viewpoint of at least one of network management and utilization efficiency (usage) of resources, for example, a BWP-related configuration, such as a BWP size, may be aligned between UEs having different capabilities.

(Second Aspect)

In a second aspect, a UE that receives multicast transmission and behavior of the UE will be described.

The multicast transmission may be supported for one or more UEs in at least one UE state of a connected state, an idle state, and an inactive state. For example, the multicast transmission may be supported by at least one UE of the following.

Only one or more UEs in connected state,

only one or more UEs in idle state,

only one or more UEs in inactive state, and

one or more UEs in at least two UE states of connected state, idle state, and inactive state.

One or more UEs that receive the multicast transmission may support at least one group of the following groups determined on the basis of a UE state.(1) a group including only UE(s) in a specific UE state (e.g., the idle state, inactive state, or connected state),(2) either of a group including UE(s) in a first UE state (e.g., the idle/inactive state) or a group including UE(s) in a second UE state (e.g., the connected state), and(3) supporting both of a first group including UE(s) in a first UE state (e.g., the idle/inactive state) and a second group including UE(s) in a second UE state (e.g., the connected state).

In a case of (3), configuration information (multicast configuration information) related to the multicast transmission may be identical (may be common) or different from each other (may be dedicated) for the above-described first group (e.g., the UE in the idle/inactive state) and second group (e.g., the UE in the connected state).

<Common Multicast Configuration Information>

For example, common multicast configuration information may be notified to the UE in the idle/inactive state and UE in the connected state by system information for multicast (e.g., SIB20). The common multicast configuration information may be notified with use of L1 signaling (e.g., at least one of information and DCI transferred via an MCCH) in addition to the system information for multicast, or may be notified with use of only the system information for multicast with no use of the L1 signaling.

<Dedicated Multicast Configuration Information>

The multicast configuration information relative to the UE in the idle/inactive state may be notified by system information (e.g., SIB20) for multicast. The multicast configuration information may be notified with use of L1 signaling (e.g., at least one of information and DCI transferred via an MCCH) in addition to the system information for multicast, or may be notified with use of only the system information for multicast with no use of the L1 signaling.

On the other hand, the multicast configuration information for the UE in the connected state may be notified by system information for multicast (e.g., SIB20). The multicast configuration information may be notified with use of L1 signaling (e.g., at least one of information and DCI transferred via an MCCH) in addition to the system information for multicast, or may be notified with use of only the system information for multicast with no use of the L1 signaling.

Alternatively, the multicast configuration information for the UE in the connected state may be notified by RRC signaling. The multicast configuration information may be notified with use of L1 signaling (e.g., at least one of information and DCI transferred via an MCCH) in addition to the RRC signaling, or may be notified with use of only the RRC signaling with no use of the L1 signaling.

<Multicast Transmission Reception Behavior>

Next, reception behavior (scheduling) of multicast transmission for the groups (e.g., the above-described (1) to (3)) as described above will be described. For example, three scheduling methods below are assumed.

Scheduling of multicast transmission for the groups (e.g., the above-described (1) to (3)) as described above will be described. For example, three scheduling methods below are assumed.

In first scheduling, the UE may receive system information for multicast (e.g., step S11ofFIG.3), may receive an MCCH on the basis of configuration information (MCCH configuration information) related to the MCCH included in the system information (e.g., step S12ofFIG.3), and may receive an MTCH on the basis of information (e.g., multicast configuration information) transferred on the MCCH (e.g., step S13ofFIG.3). The UE may be at least one of a UE in the idle state, a UE in the inactive state, and a UE in the connected state.

In second scheduling, the UE may receive system information for multicast (e.g., step S21ofFIG.4), and may receive an MTCH on the basis of information (e.g., multicast configuration information) included in the system information (e.g., step S22ofFIG.4). The UE may be at least one of a UE in the idle state, a UE in the inactive state, and a UE in the connected state.

In third scheduling, the UE may receive an RRC message (e.g., an RRC reconfiguration message) (e.g., step S31ofFIG.5), and may receive an MTCH on the basis of information (e.g., multicast configuration information) included in the RRC message (e.g., step S32ofFIG.5). The UE may be a UE in the connected state.

In the first to third scheduling, the UE may receive the above-described MTCH (multicast data) via a PDSCH scheduled by DCI CRC-scrambled by a specific radio network temporary identifier (RNTI).

The specific RNTI may be an RNTI for each multicast service (each multicast service type). The specific RNTI may be referred to as, for example, a group (G or GC)-RNTI, a single cell (SC)-RNTI, a multicast (M or MC)-RNTI, a groupcast RNTI, and so on. A value of the G-RNTI may be the same between UEs belonging to an identical group (e.g., the above-described (1) to (3)).

One or more G-RNTIs may be introduced to a given UE. Each G-RNTI may be associated with one or more types of multicast transmission supported by the UE in a given cell or a plurality of cells.

For example, one or more G-RNTIs may be notified to the UE in the idle/inactive state with use of at least one of system information for multicast and L1 signaling (e.g., at least one of information and DCI transferred on an MCCH).

One or more G-RNTIs may be notified to the UE in the connected state with use of at least one of system information for multicast, L1 signaling (e.g., at least one of information and DCI transferred on an MCCH), and RRC signaling.

The maximum number X of G-RNTIs configurable for the given UE in a given cell or given BWP may be determined by specifications, or may be configured on the basis of a UE capability. For example, the maximum number X of G-RNTIs may be configured such that the maximum number X does not exceed the UE capability reported from the UE.

<<First Scheduling>>

FIG.3is a diagram to show an example of the first scheduling of multicast transmission according to the second aspect. The first scheduling shown inFIG.3may be applied to a group including at least the UE in the idle/inactive state. The group may include the UE in the connected state, or need not include the UE in the connected state.

As shown inFIG.3, at step S11, the UE may receive system information for multicast (e.g., SIB20). Specifically, at step S111, the UE may monitor a search space (SS) set including one or more search spaces to detect a PDCCH (DCI) CRC-scrambled by a specific RNTI (e.g., a System Information (SI)-RNTI).

At step S112, the UE may acquire the system information via a PDSCH scheduled by the DCI. The system information may include configuration information (MCCH configuration information) related to an MCCH.

The MCCH configuration information may include, for example, at least one of a period (repetition period) of MCCH transmission, time offset, and a period (update period (modification period)) of update of information transferred on the MCCH.

At step S12, the UE receives the MCCH on the basis of the MCCH configuration information in the system information. Specifically, at step S121, the UE may monitor an SS set to detect a PDCCH (DCI) CRC-scrambled by a specific identifier.

The specific identifier may be a specific RNTI (e.g., a Single Cell (SC)-RNTI), or may be a temporary mobile group identifier. The specific identifier may be included in the above-described MCCH configuration information.

At step S122, the UE may acquire the MCCH via the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI. The MCCH may be transmitted repetitively at the above-described repetition period. Identical information may be transmitted in the MCCH for each repetition period within the update period. When the information transferred on the MCCH is to be changed, this change of information transferred on the MCCH at the next update period may be notified at the last update period. The notification may be referred to as SC-MCCH change notification and so on.

The PDCCH may be used for the notification. The UE may control discontinuous reception (DRX) on the basis of the notification. Specifically, the UE may be activated while the notification is performed, and may transit to a DRX state as long as the information transferred on the MCCH is not changed.

At steps S13aand13b, the UE receives an MTCH on the basis of configuration information (also referred to as MTCH configuration information, multicast configuration information, and so on) related to information (e.g., an MTCH (multicast)) transferred on the MCCH. The information transferred on the MTCH configuration information may include, for example, information indicating at least one of the following.

G-RNTI,

payload size of DCI,

cell corresponding to multicast transmission,

BWP corresponding to multicast transmission,

multicast transmission type supported in each cell or BWP,

control resource set (CORESET) in which PDCCH to schedule PDSCH to transfer MTCH is mapped,

SS set used for monitoring of the PDCCH, and

configuration information (PDSCH configuration information) related to PDSCH to transfer MTCH.

At steps S131aand S131b, the UE may monitor the SS set to detect a PDCCH (DCI) CRC-scrambled by a specific RNTI (e.g., a G-RNTI). Note that the specific RNTI may be a different value for each multicast transmission type. For example,FIG.3shows G-RNTI_a corresponding to type a multicast transmission and G-RNTI_b corresponding to type b multicast transmission.

At steps S132aand S132b, the UE may acquire an MTCH corresponding to each of the types a and b via the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI.

Note that steps S13aand13b, steps S131aand131b, and steps S132aand132bare assumed to have different types of multicast transmission, but may include similar behavior.

<<Second Scheduling>>

FIG.4is a diagram to show an example of the second scheduling of multicast transmission according to the second aspect. The second scheduling shown inFIG.4may be applied to a group including at least the UE in the idle/inactive state. The group may include the UE in the connected state, or need not include the UE in the connected state.

Behavior at step S21ofFIG.4is similar to that at step S11ofFIG.3. On the other hand, system information (e.g., SIB20) for multicast acquired at step S212may include the above-described MTCH configuration information in place of the above-described MCCH configuration information. The information included in the MTCH configuration information is as described in the first scheduling.

At steps S22aand22b, the UE receives an MTCH on the basis of MTCH configuration information in the system information acquired at step S21. Note that details of steps S22aand S22bare similar to those of steps S13aand S13bofFIG.3.

<<Third Scheduling>>

FIG.5is a diagram to show an example of the third scheduling of multicast transmission according to the second aspect. The third scheduling shown inFIG.5may be applied to a group including the UE in the connected state. The group does not include the UE in the idle/inactive state.

At step S31ofFIG.5, the UE may receive the above-described MTCH configuration information via RRC signaling. Specifically, at step S311, the UE may monitor an SS set including one or more search spaces to detect a PDCCH (DCI) CRC-scrambled by a UE-specific RNTI (e.g., a Cell (C)-RNTI).

At step S312, the UE may acquire the MTCH configuration information via the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI. The MTCH configuration information may be included in, for example, an RRC reconfiguration message. The information included in the MTCH configuration information is as described in the first scheduling.

At steps S32aand32b, the UE receives an MTCH on the basis of MTCH configuration information in the system information acquired at step S31. Note that details of steps S32aand S32bare similar to those of steps S13aand S13bofFIG.3.

As described above, in NR, the MTCH (multicast data) is received on the basis of the MCCH, system information for multicast, or MTCH configuration information included in the RRC message via the PDSCH scheduled by the PDCCH (DCI) CRC-scrambled by the G-RNTI.

As described above, according to the second aspect, it is possible to appropriately perform scheduling of multicast transmission for the UE in each of the UE states (e.g., the idle state, inactive state, and connected state).

(Third Aspect)

In a third aspect, UE behavior related to reception of at least one of a PDCCH and PDSCH related to multicast transmission will be described. The UE behavior may be the same or different from each other as between at least two of a UE in the idle state, a UE in the inactive state, and a UE in the connected state.

The UE behavior may include, for example, at least one of an assumption of transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state (TCI state) for reception of an MTCH (or an MCCH and MTCH) and transmission control of uplink control information (UCI).

<TCI State>

The TCI state may be, for example, information related to quasi-co-location (QCL) between a target channel (in other words, a reference signal (RS) for the channel) and another signal (e.g., another reference signal (RS)). The TCI state may be referred to as a spatial reception parameter, spatial relation information (SRI), and so on. It can be said that the TCI state is information indicating a beam used for transmission of the target channel.

QCL is an indicator indicating statistical properties of at least one of the signal and channel (signal/channel). For example, when a given signal/channel and another signal/channel are in a relationship of QCL, it may be indicated that it is assumable that at least one of Doppler shift, a Doppler spread, an average delay, a delay spread, and a spatial parameter (e.g., a spatial reception parameter (spatial Rx parameter)) is the same (the relationship of QCL is satisfied in at least one of these) between such a plurality of different signals/channels.

Note that the spatial reception parameter may correspond to a receive beam of the UE (e.g., a receive analog beam), and the beam may be identified on the basis of spatial QCL. The QCL (or at least one element in the relationship of QCL) in the present disclosure may be interpreted as sQCL (spatial QCL).

The UE may determine at least one of a transmit beam (Tx beam) and a receive beam (Rx beam) of the signal/channel on the basis of the TCI state or the QCL relationship of the signal/channel.

A channel for which the TCI state or spatial relationship is configured (specified) may be, for example, at least one of a PDSCH, a PDCCH, an uplink shared channel (Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)), and an uplink control channel (Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)).

The RS to have the QCL relationship with the channel may be, for example, at least one of a synchronization signal block (SSB), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a reference signal for measurement (Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), a CSI-RS for tracking (also referred to as a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS)), a reference signal for QCL detection (also referred to as a QRS), and so on.

The SSB is a signal block including at least one of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a broadcast channel (Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH)). The SSB may be referred to as an SS/PBCH block.

The UE that receives multicast transmission may control, on the basis of information (TCI state) related to QCL between a PDSCH (or antenna port for a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) for the PDSCH) and a given RS, reception of the PDSCH associated with at least one of an MTCH and MCCH (MTCH/MCCH).

For example, which beam (also referred to as a TCI state or QCL relationship) the UE in the idle/inactive state uses to receive the above-described PDSCH may be of the UE implementation, may be determined on the basis of a detected SSB, or may be identical to that of system information for multicast (e.g., SIB20).

Which beam (also referred to as a TCI state or QCL relationship) the UE in the connected state uses to receive the above-described PDSCH may be determined with use of at least one of RRC signaling, MAC signaling, and DCI. Note that the TCI state (QCL relationship) of the UE in the connected state may be determined on the basis of information transferred by the system information for multicast.

Specifically, M (M≥1) pieces of TCI states for the PDSCH (M pieces of QCL information for the PDSCH) may be notified (configured) to the UE by RRC signaling. Note that the number M of TCI states configured for the UE may be limited by at least one of UE capability and a QCL type.

DCI used for scheduling of a PDSCH may include a field indicating a TCI state for the PDSCH (which may be referred to as, for example, a TCI field, a TCI state field, and so on).

When TCI states greater than a given number (given number) (e.g., 8 when the TCI field is 3 bits) are configured for the UE by higher layer signaling, the given number of the TCI states may be activated (or specified) with use of a MAC CE. A value of the TCI field in the DCI may indicate one of the TCI states activated by the MAC CE.

FIG.6is a diagram to show an example of beam control related to multicast transmission according to the third aspect. As shown inFIG.6, a base station (e.g., gNB) may perform multicast transmission by using beam cycling of a plurality of beams (here, beams #1 to #4). Note that the beam cycling may also be referred to as beam sweeping and so on, and beams transmitted from the base station may be switched on the basis of time.

As shown inFIG.6, each beam to perform multicast transmission may be associated with a given RS or a resource for the given RS (e.g., an SSB or CSI-RS resource). For example, inFIG.6, beams #1 to #4 may be associated with SSBs #1 to #4 or CSI-RS resources #1 to #4, respectively.

For example, as shown inFIG.6, when detecting SSBs #1 and #2 transmitted by beams #1 and #2, respectively, the UE in the idle/inactive state may control reception of the PDSCH with an assumption (presumption) that an DMRS for the PDSCH is in the QCL relationship with SSBs #1 and #2 transmitted by beams #1 and #2.

On the other hand, as shown inFIG.6, the UE in the connected state may receive, by using RRC signaling, four TCI states respectively indicating that the DMRS for the PDSCH is in the QCL relationship with SSBs #1 to #4 (or CSI-RS resources #1 to #4) respectively transmitted by beams #1 to #4.

The UE may control, on the basis of a TCI state indicated by a value of a given field (e.g., the TCI field) in DCI (DCI CRC-scrambled by the above-described G-RNTI) used for scheduling of the PDSCH, reception of the PDSCH with an assumption (presumption) that the DMRS for the PDSCH is in the QCL relationship with SSB #3 (or CSI-RS resource #3) transmitted by beam #3.

<UCI Transmission Control>

UCI may include at least one of transmission confirmation information (which may be referred to as, for example, Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest ACKnowledgement (HARQ-ACK), ACK/NACK, and so on) for the PDSCH, channel state information (CSI), and scheduling request (SR).

In NR, HARQ-ACK (HARQ-ACK for a PDSCH to transfer an MTCH or (MTCH and MCCH)) for multicast transmission may be supported, or may not be supported.

In NR, CSI feedback (CSI feedback for a PDSCH to transfer an MTCH or (MTCH and MCCH)) relative to multicast transmission may be supported, or may not be supported. Note that the CSI feedback (transmission) may be referred to as a CSI report and so on.

In NR, transmission of an RS (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) for channel condition estimation for multicast transmission may be supported in time division duplex (TDD), or may not be supported.

For example, the UE in the idle/inactive state need not perform transmission of at least one of the above-described HARQ-ACK, the CSI report, the above-described RS (e.g., an SRS) for channel condition estimation. On the other hand, the UE in the connected/inactive state may perform transmission of at least one of the above-described HARQ-ACK, the CSI report, the above-described the RS (e.g., an SRS) for channel condition estimation.

(Fourth Aspect)

In a fourth aspect, restrictions in multicast transmission will be described.

In multicast transmission, a restriction on at least one of the following may be configured for a PDSCH associated with an MTCH, or may not be configured.(4.1) the number of transport blocks (TBs),(4.2) the number of layers (also referred to as a rank),(4.3) the number of DMRS antenna ports (DMRS ports),(4.4) subcarrier spacing (SCS),(4.5) cyclic prefix (CP) length, and(4.6) at least one of modulation order and a transport block size (TBS).

For example, when the number of TBs (4.1) is restricted, only the specific number of TBs (e.g., a single TB) may be transmitted in the PDSCH associated with the MTCH.

When the number of layers (4.2) is restricted, only the specific number of layers (e.g., a single layer) may be transmitted in the PDSCH associated with the MTCH.

When the number of DMRS ports (4.3) is restricted, only the specific number of DMRS ports (e.g., a single DMRS port) may be transmitted in the PDSCH associated with the MTCH.

When the SCS (4.4) is restricted, only specific SCS (e.g., 120 kHz) may be supported in the PDSCH associated with the MTCH. On the other hand, when the restriction on the SCS is not configured, not only the specific SCS but also another SCS (e.g., 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 240 KHz, 480 kHz, 960 kHz, and the like) may be supported in the PDSCH.

In a case of the specific SCS (4.5) (e.g., 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 120 kHz, 240 kHz, 480 kHz, 960 kHz), a regular CP is applied to the PDSCH associated with the MTCH, but an expanded CP longer than the regular CP may not be applied. Note that when the expanded CP is applied to the PDSCH, specific SCS (e.g., 60 kHz) may be applied to the PDSCH.

Alternatively, also in a case that the specific SCS (e.g., 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 120 kHz, 240 kHz, 480 kHz, 960 kHz) is applied to the PDSCH associated with the MTCH, not only the regular CP but also the expanded CP may be applied.

The modulation order of the PDSCH associated with the MTCH (4.6) may not be expected to be greater than 2 or 4. Here, modulation order “2” corresponds to Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), and modulation order “4” corresponds to 16 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM). In other words, 64 QAM whose modulation order is “6” and 256 QAM whose modulation order is “8” may not be applied to the PDSCH.

At least one of a TBS and a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) index applied to the PDSCH associated with the MTCH may be specified on the basis of at least one of system information for multicast (e.g., SIB20), RRC signaling (e.g., an RRC reconfiguration message or RRC resume message), and physical layer signaling (e.g., information or DCI transferred on a PDSCH associated with an MCCH). Note that the TBS may be determined by the UE on the basis of an MCS index and the like.

According to the fourth aspect, it is possible to appropriately control transmission or reception of the PDSCH associated with the MTCH.

(Other Aspects)

In other aspects, enhancement in multicast transmission will be described.

The multicast transmission may be combined with at least one of the following.(5.1) a plurality of transmission and reception points (TRPs) (multi TRPs),(5.2) code block group (CBG)-based transmission,(5.3) semi-persistent scheduling (SPS), and(5.4) duplication in a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer.

In a case of the multi TRPs (5.1), a PDSCH associated with an MTCH may be transmitted from a plurality of TRPs.

The CBG (5.2) includes one or more code blocks (CBs). Each CB is constituted by segmenting 1 TB. CBG-based transmission of the PDSCH associated with the MTCH may be supported or configured. The CBG-based transmission may be configured on the basis of whether HARQ-ACK feedback is supported or configured in the multicast transmission.

For example, when the HARQ-ACK feedback is supported or configured in the multicast transmission, the CBG-based transmission of the PDSCH associated with the MTCH may be configured. On the other hand, when the HARQ-ACK feedback is not supported or configured in the multicast transmission, the CBG-based transmission of the PDSCH associated with the MTCH may not be configured.(5.3) SPS may be applied to the PDSCH associated with the MTCH. In this case, DCI (group DCI) to activate or release the SPS may be supported. The DCI may be CRC-scrambled by the above-described G-RNTI.(5.4) data (data transferred on the MTCH) related to the multicast transmission may be duplicated in the PDCP layer, and may be transmitted in a plurality of cells. Accordingly, the UE may select data transmitted in any one of the plurality of cells, or may combine data transmitted in at least two of the plurality of cells.

FIGS.7A and7Bare diagrams to show an example of PDCP duplication according to other aspects. For example, inFIGS.7A and7B, multicast data associated with a given bearer (e.g., a multicast bearer) may be duplicated into two.

The two pieces of the multicast data may be mapped to two MTCHs corresponding to different cells #1 and #2 in an RLC layer, respectively. The two MTCHs are mapped to two DL-SCHs corresponding to different cells #1 and #2 in a MAC layer, respectively. The two DL-SCHs may be mapped to two PDSCHs corresponding to different cells #1 and #2 in an L1 layer, respectively.

As shown inFIG.7A, both of a PDSCH corresponding to cell #1 and a PDSCH corresponding to cell #2 may be multicasted.

Alternatively, as shown inFIG.7B, the PDSCH corresponding to cell #1 may be multicasted, whereas the PDSCH corresponding to cell #2 may be unicasted.

(Radio Communication System)

Hereinafter, a structure of a radio communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. In this radio communication system, the radio communication method according to each embodiment of the present disclosure described above may be used alone or may be used in combination for communication.

FIG.8is a diagram to show an example of a schematic structure of the radio communication system according to one embodiment. The radio communication system1may be a system implementing a communication using Long Term Evolution (LTE), 5th generation mobile communication system New Radio (5G NR) and so on the specifications of which have been drafted by Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

The radio communication system1may support dual connectivity (multi-RAT dual connectivity (MR-DC)) between a plurality of Radio Access Technologies (RATs). The MR-DC may include dual connectivity (E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC)) between LTE (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA)) and NR, dual connectivity (NR-E-UTRA Dual Connectivity (NE-DC)) between NR and LTE, and so on.

In EN-DC, a base station (eNB) of LTE (E-UTRA) is a master node (MN), and a base station (gNB) of NR is a secondary node (SN). In NE-DC, a base station (gNB) of NR is an MN, and a base station (eNB) of LTE (E-UTRA) is an SN.

The radio communication system1may support dual connectivity between a plurality of base stations in the same RAT (for example, dual connectivity (NR-NR Dual Connectivity (NN-DC)) where both of an MN and an SN are base stations (gNB) of NR).

The radio communication system1may include a base station11that forms a macro cell C1of a relatively wide coverage, and base stations12(12ato12c) that form small cells C2, which are placed within the macro cell C1and which are narrower than the macro cell C1. The user terminal20may be located in at least one cell. The arrangement, the number, and the like of each cell and user terminal20are by no means limited to the aspect shown in the diagram. Hereinafter, the base stations11and12will be collectively referred to as “base stations10,” unless specified otherwise.

The user terminal20may be connected to at least one of the plurality of base stations10. The user terminal20may use at least one of carrier aggregation (CA) and dual connectivity (DC) using a plurality of component carriers (CCs).

Each CC may be included in at least one of a first frequency band (Frequency Range 1 (FR1)) and a second frequency band (Frequency Range 2 (FR2)). The macro cell C1may be included in FR1, and the small cells C2may be included in FR2. For example, FR1 may be a frequency band of 6 GHz or less (sub-6 GHz), and FR2 may be a frequency band which is higher than 24 GHz (above-24 GHz). Note that frequency bands, definitions and so on of FR1 and FR2 are by no means limited to these, and for example, FR1 may correspond to a frequency band which is higher than FR2.

The user terminal20may communicate using at least one of time division duplex (TDD) and frequency division duplex (FDD) in each CC.

The plurality of base stations10may be connected by a wired connection (for example, optical fiber in compliance with the Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI), the X2 interface and so on) or a wireless connection (for example, an NR communication). For example, if an NR communication is used as a backhaul between the base stations11and12, the base station11corresponding to a higher station may be referred to as an “Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB) donor,” and the base station12corresponding to a relay station (relay) may be referred to as an “IAB node.”

The base station10may be connected to a core network30through another base station10or directly. For example, the core network30may include at least one of Evolved Packet Core (EPC), 5G Core Network (5GCN), Next Generation Core (NGC), and so on.

The user terminal20may be a terminal supporting at least one of communication schemes such as LTE, LTE-A, 5G, and so on.

In the radio communication system1, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based wireless access scheme may be used. For example, in at least one of the downlink (DL) and the uplink (UL), Cyclic Prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform Spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), and so on may be used.

The wireless access scheme may be referred to as a “waveform.” Note that, in the radio communication system1, another wireless access scheme (for example, another single carrier transmission scheme, another multi-carrier transmission scheme) may be used for a wireless access scheme in the UL and the DL.

In the radio communication system1, a downlink shared channel (Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH)), which is used by each user terminal20on a shared basis, a broadcast channel (Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH)), a downlink control channel (Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)) and so on, may be used as downlink channels.

In the radio communication system1, an uplink shared channel (Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)), which is used by each user terminal20on a shared basis, an uplink control channel (Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)), a random access channel (Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH)) and so on may be used as uplink channels.

User data, higher layer control information, System Information Blocks (SIBs) and so on are communicated on the PDSCH. User data, higher layer control information and so on may be communicated on the PUSCH. The Master Information Blocks (MIBs) may be communicated on the PBCH.

Lower layer control information may be communicated on the PDCCH. For example, the lower layer control information may include downlink control information (DCI) including scheduling information of at least one of the PDSCH and the PUSCH.

Note that DCI for scheduling the PDSCH may be referred to as “DL assignment,” “DL DCI,” and so on, and DCI for scheduling the PUSCH may be referred to as “UL grant,” “UL DCI,” and so on. Note that the PDSCH may be interpreted as “DL data”, and the PUSCH may be interpreted as “UL data”.

For detection of the PDCCH, a control resource set (CORESET) and a search space may be used. The CORESET corresponds to a resource to search DCI. The search space corresponds to a search area and a search method of PDCCH candidates. One CORESET may be associated with one or more search spaces. The UE may monitor a CORESET associated with a given search space, based on search space configuration.

One search space may correspond to a PDCCH candidate corresponding to one or more aggregation levels. One or more search spaces may be referred to as a “search space set.” Note that a “search space,” a “search space set,” a “search space configuration,” a “search space set configuration,” a “CORESET,” a “CORESET configuration” and so on of the present disclosure may be interchangeably interpreted.

Uplink control information (UCI) including at least one of channel state information (CSI), transmission confirmation information (for example, which may be also referred to as Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest ACKnowledgement (HARQ-ACK), ACK/NACK, and so on), and scheduling request (SR) may be communicated by means of the PUCCH. By means of the PRACH, random access preambles for establishing connections with cells may be communicated.

Note that the downlink, the uplink, and so on in the present disclosure may be expressed without a term of “link.” In addition, various channels may be expressed without adding “Physical” to the head.

In the radio communication system1, a synchronization signal (SS), a downlink reference signal (DL-RS), and so on may be communicated. In the radio communication system1, a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a positioning reference signal (PRS), a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), and so on may be communicated as the DL-RS.

For example, the synchronization signal may be at least one of a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS). A signal block including an SS (PSS, SSS) and a PBCH (and a DMRS for a PBCH) may be referred to as an “SS/PBCH block,” an “SS Block (SSB),” and so on. Note that an SS, an SSB, and so on may be also referred to as a “reference signal.”

In the radio communication system1, a sounding reference signal (SRS), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and so on may be communicated as an uplink reference signal (UL-RS). Note that DMRS may be referred to as a “user terminal specific reference signal (UE-specific Reference Signal).”

(Base Station)

FIG.9is a diagram to show an example of a structure of the base station according to one embodiment. The base station10includes a control section110, a transmitting/receiving section120, transmitting/receiving antennas130and a communication path interface (transmission line interface)140. Note that the base station10may include one or more control sections110, one or more transmitting/receiving sections120, one or more transmitting/receiving antennas130, and one or more communication path interfaces140.

Note that, the present example primarily shows functional blocks that pertain to characteristic parts of the present embodiment, and it is assumed that the base station10may include other functional blocks that are necessary for radio communication as well. Part of the processes of each section described below may be omitted.

The control section110controls the whole of the base station10. The control section110can be constituted with a controller, a control circuit, or the like described based on general understanding of the technical field to which the present disclosure pertains.

The control section110may control generation of signals, scheduling (for example, resource allocation, mapping), and so on. The control section110may control transmission and reception, measurement and so on using the transmitting/receiving section120, the transmitting/receiving antennas130, and the communication path interface140. The control section110may generate data, control information, a sequence and so on to transmit as a signal, and forward the generated items to the transmitting/receiving section120. The control section110may perform call processing (setting up, releasing) for communication channels, manage the state of the base station10, and manage the radio resources.

The transmitting/receiving section120may include a baseband section121, a Radio Frequency (RF) section122, and a measurement section123. The baseband section121may include a transmission processing section1211and a reception processing section1212. The transmitting/receiving section120can be constituted with a transmitter/receiver, an RF circuit, a baseband circuit, a filter, a phase shifter, a measurement circuit, a transmitting/receiving circuit, or the like described based on general understanding of the technical field to which the present disclosure pertains.

The transmitting/receiving section120may be structured as a transmitting/receiving section in one entity, or may be constituted with a transmitting section and a receiving section. The transmitting section may be constituted with the transmission processing section1211, and the RF section122. The receiving section may be constituted with the reception processing section1212, the RF section122, and the measurement section123.

The transmitting/receiving antennas130can be constituted with antennas, for example, an array antenna, or the like described based on general understanding of the technical field to which the present disclosure pertains.

The transmitting/receiving section120may transmit the above-described downlink channel, synchronization signal, downlink reference signal, and so on. The transmitting/receiving section120may receive the above-described uplink channel, uplink reference signal, and so on.

The transmitting/receiving section120may form at least one of a transmit beam and a receive beam by using digital beam forming (for example, precoding), analog beam forming (for example, phase rotation), and so on.

The transmitting/receiving section120(transmission processing section1211) may perform the processing of the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, the processing of the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer (for example, RLC retransmission control), the processing of the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer (for example, HARQ retransmission control), and so on, for example, on data and control information and so on acquired from the control section110, and may generate bit string to transmit.

The transmitting/receiving section120(transmission processing section1211) may perform transmission processing such as channel coding (which may include error correction coding), modulation, mapping, filtering, discrete Fourier transform (DFT) processing (as necessary), inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) processing, precoding, digital-to-analog conversion, and so on, on the bit string to transmit, and output a baseband signal.

The transmitting/receiving section120(RF section122) may perform modulation to a radio frequency band, filtering, amplification, and so on, on the baseband signal, and transmit the signal of the radio frequency band through the transmitting/receiving antennas130.

On the other hand, the transmitting/receiving section120(RF section122) may perform amplification, filtering, demodulation to a baseband signal, and so on, on the signal of the radio frequency band received by the transmitting/receiving antennas130.

The transmitting/receiving section120(reception processing section1212) may apply reception processing such as analog-digital conversion, fast Fourier transform (FFT) processing, inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) processing (as necessary), filtering, de-mapping, demodulation, decoding (which may include error correction decoding), MAC layer processing, the processing of the RLC layer and the processing of the PDCP layer, and so on, on the acquired baseband signal, and acquire user data, and so on.

The transmitting/receiving section120(measurement section123) may perform the measurement related to the received signal. For example, the measurement section123may perform Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurement, Channel State Information (CSI) measurement, and so on, based on the received signal. The measurement section123may measure a received power (for example, Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP)), a received quality (for example, Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), a Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR), a Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR)), a signal strength (for example, Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI)), channel information (for example, CSI), and so on. The measurement results may be output to the control section110.

The communication path interface140may perform transmission/reception (backhaul signaling) of a signal with an apparatus included in the core network30or other base stations10, and so on, and acquire or transmit user data (user plane data), control plane data, and so on for the user terminal20.

Note that the transmitting section and the receiving section of the base station10in the present disclosure may be constituted with at least one of the transmitting/receiving section120, the transmitting/receiving antennas130, and the communication path interface140.

The transmitting/receiving section120may transmit downlink control information. The transmitting/receiving section120may transmit a downlink shared channel. Cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits may be scrambled for the downlink control information with use of a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) common to one or more terminals.

The transmitting/receiving section120may transmit the RNTI for each multicast service type.

When the user terminal20is in at least one of an idle state, an inactive state, and a connected state, the transmitting/receiving section120may transmit information (e.g., the above-described MTCH configuration information or multicast configuration information) for reception of the data by using a physical downlink shared channel associated with a multicast control channel (MCCH).

When the user terminal20is in at least one of the idle state, the inactive state, and the connected state, the transmitting/receiving section120may transmit information (e.g., the above-described MTCH configuration information or multicast configuration information) for reception of the data by using system information for multicast.

When the user terminal20is in the connected state, the transmitting/receiving section120may transmit information (e.g., the above-described MTCH configuration information or multicast configuration information) for reception of the data by using radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

(User Terminal)

FIG.10is a diagram to show an example of a structure of the user terminal according to one embodiment. The user terminal20includes a control section210, a transmitting/receiving section220, and transmitting/receiving antennas230. Note that the user terminal20may include one or more control sections210, one or more transmitting/receiving sections220, and one or more transmitting/receiving antennas230.

Note that, the present example primarily shows functional blocks that pertain to characteristic parts of the present embodiment, and it is assumed that the user terminal20may include other functional blocks that are necessary for radio communication as well. Part of the processes of each section described below may be omitted.

The control section210controls the whole of the user terminal20. The control section210can be constituted with a controller, a control circuit, or the like described based on general understanding of the technical field to which the present disclosure pertains.

The control section210may control generation of signals, mapping, and so on. The control section210may control transmission/reception, measurement and so on using the transmitting/receiving section220, and the transmitting/receiving antennas230. The control section210generates data, control information, a sequence and so on to transmit as a signal, and may forward the generated items to the transmitting/receiving section220.

The transmitting/receiving section220may include a baseband section221, an RF section222, and a measurement section223. The baseband section221may include a transmission processing section2211and a reception processing section2212. The transmitting/receiving section220can be constituted with a transmitter/receiver, an RF circuit, a baseband circuit, a filter, a phase shifter, a measurement circuit, a transmitting/receiving circuit, or the like described based on general understanding of the technical field to which the present disclosure pertains.

The transmitting/receiving section220may be structured as a transmitting/receiving section in one entity, or may be constituted with a transmitting section and a receiving section. The transmitting section may be constituted with the transmission processing section2211, and the RF section222. The receiving section may be constituted with the reception processing section2212, the RF section222, and the measurement section223.

The transmitting/receiving antennas230can be constituted with antennas, for example, an array antenna, or the like described based on general understanding of the technical field to which the present disclosure pertains.

The transmitting/receiving section220may receive the above-described downlink channel, synchronization signal, downlink reference signal, and so on. The transmitting/receiving section220may transmit the above-described uplink channel, uplink reference signal, and so on.

The transmitting/receiving section220may form at least one of a transmit beam and a receive beam by using digital beam forming (for example, precoding), analog beam forming (for example, phase rotation), and so on.

The transmitting/receiving section220(transmission processing section2211) may perform the processing of the PDCP layer, the processing of the RLC layer (for example, RLC retransmission control), the processing of the MAC layer (for example, HARQ retransmission control), and so on, for example, on data and control information and so on acquired from the control section210, and may generate bit string to transmit.

The transmitting/receiving section220(transmission processing section2211) may perform transmission processing such as channel coding (which may include error correction coding), modulation, mapping, filtering, DFT processing (as necessary), IFFT processing, precoding, digital-to-analog conversion, and so on, on the bit string to transmit, and output a baseband signal.

Note that, whether to apply DFT processing or not may be based on the configuration of the transform precoding. The transmitting/receiving section220(transmission processing section2211) may perform, for a given channel (for example, PUSCH), the DFT processing as the above-described transmission processing to transmit the channel by using a DFT-s-OFDM waveform if transform precoding is enabled, and otherwise, does not need to perform the DFT processing as the above-described transmission process.

The transmitting/receiving section220(RF section222) may perform modulation to a radio frequency band, filtering, amplification, and so on, on the baseband signal, and transmit the signal of the radio frequency band through the transmitting/receiving antennas230.

On the other hand, the transmitting/receiving section220(RF section222) may perform amplification, filtering, demodulation to a baseband signal, and so on, on the signal of the radio frequency band received by the transmitting/receiving antennas230.

The transmitting/receiving section220(reception processing section2212) may apply a receiving process such as analog-digital conversion, FFT processing, IDFT processing (as necessary), filtering, de-mapping, demodulation, decoding (which may include error correction decoding), MAC layer processing, the processing of the RLC layer and the processing of the PDCP layer, and so on, on the acquired baseband signal, and acquire user data, and so on.

The transmitting/receiving section220(measurement section223) may perform the measurement related to the received signal. For example, the measurement section223may perform RRM measurement, CSI measurement, and so on, based on the received signal. The measurement section223may measure a received power (for example, RSRP), a received quality (for example, RSRQ, SINR, SNR), a signal strength (for example, RSSI), channel information (for example, CSI), and so on. The measurement results may be output to the control section210.

Note that the transmitting section and the receiving section of the user terminal20in the present disclosure may be constituted with at least one of the transmitting/receiving section220, the transmitting/receiving antennas230, and the communication path interface240.

Note that the transmitting/receiving section220may receive, commonly to or independently of a plurality of traffic types, information (RBG size information) indicating a configuration used for a determination of a size of a resource block group (RBG) used for allocation of a frequency domain resource for a downlink shared channel or an uplink shared channel.

The transmitting/receiving section220may receive downlink control information. The transmitting/receiving section220may receive a downlink shared channel. Cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits may be scrambled for the downlink control information with use of a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) common to one or more terminals.

The transmitting/receiving section220may receive the RNTI for each multicast service type.

When the user terminal20is in at least one of the idle state, the inactive state, and the connected state, the transmitting/receiving section220may receive information (e.g., the above-described MTCH configuration information or multicast configuration information) for reception of the data by using a physical downlink shared channel associated with a multicast control channel (MCCH).

When the user terminal20is in at least one of the idle state, the inactive state, and the connected state, the transmitting/receiving section220may receive information (e.g., the above-described MTCH configuration information or multicast configuration information) for reception of the data by using system information for multicast.

When the user terminal20is in the connected state, the transmitting/receiving section220may receive information (e.g., the above-described MTCH configuration information or multicast configuration information) for reception of the data by using radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

The control section210may control reception of data associated with a multicast traffic channel (MTCH) using a physical downlink shared channel scheduled by the downlink control information in one or more bandwidth parts in a cell.

The control section210may control reception of the downlink control information.

(Hardware Structure)

Note that the block diagrams that have been used to describe the above embodiments show blocks in functional units. These functional blocks (components) may be implemented in arbitrary combinations of at least one of hardware and software. Also, the method for implementing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized by one piece of apparatus that is physically or logically coupled, or may be realized by directly or indirectly connecting two or more physically or logically separate pieces of apparatus (for example, via wire, wireless, or the like) and using these plurality of pieces of apparatus. The functional blocks may be implemented by combining softwares into the apparatus described above or the plurality of apparatuses described above.

Here, functions include judgment, determination, decision, calculation, computation, processing, derivation, investigation, search, confirmation, reception, transmission, output, access, resolution, selection, designation, establishment, comparison, assumption, expectation, considering, broadcasting, notifying, communicating, forwarding, configuring, reconfiguring, allocating (mapping), assigning, and the like, but function are by no means limited to these. For example, functional block (components) to implement a function of transmission may be referred to as a “transmitting section (transmitting unit),” a “transmitter,” and the like. The method for implementing each component is not particularly limited as described above.

For example, a base station, a user terminal, and so on according to one embodiment of the present disclosure may function as a computer that executes the processes of the radio communication method of the present disclosure.FIG.11is a diagram to show an example of a hardware structure of the base station and the user terminal according to one embodiment. Physically, the above-described base station10and user terminal20may each be formed as a computer apparatus that includes a processor1001, a memory1002, a storage1003, a communication apparatus1004, an input apparatus1005, an output apparatus1006, a bus1007, and so on.

Note that in the present disclosure, the words such as an apparatus, a circuit, a device, a section, a unit, and so on can be interchangeably interpreted. The hardware structure of the base station10and the user terminal20may be configured to include one or more of apparatuses shown in the drawings, or may be configured not to include part of apparatuses.

For example, although only one processor1001is shown, a plurality of processors may be provided. Furthermore, processes may be implemented with one processor or may be implemented at the same time, in sequence, or in different manners with two or more processors. Note that the processor1001may be implemented with one or more chips.

Each function of the base station10and the user terminals20is implemented, for example, by allowing given software (programs) to be read on hardware such as the processor1001and the memory1002, and by allowing the processor1001to perform calculations to control communication via the communication apparatus1004and control at least one of reading and writing of data in the memory1002and the storage1003.

The processor1001controls the whole computer by, for example, running an operating system. The processor1001may be configured with a central processing unit (CPU), which includes interfaces with peripheral apparatus, control apparatus, computing apparatus, a register, and so on. For example, at least part of the above-described control section110(210), the transmitting/receiving section120(220), and so on may be implemented by the processor1001.

Furthermore, the processor1001reads programs (program codes), software modules, data, and so on from at least one of the storage1003and the communication apparatus1004, into the memory1002, and executes various processes according to these. As for the programs, programs to allow computers to execute at least part of the operations of the above-described embodiments are used. For example, the control section110(210) may be implemented by control programs that are stored in the memory1002and that operate on the processor1001, and other functional blocks may be implemented likewise.

The memory1002is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be constituted with, for example, at least one of a Read Only Memory (ROM), an Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), an Electrically EPROM (EEPROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), and other appropriate storage media. The memory1002may be referred to as a “register,” a “cache,” a “main memory (primary storage apparatus)” and so on. The memory1002can store executable programs (program codes), software modules, and the like for implementing the radio communication method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

The storage1003is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be constituted with, for example, at least one of a flexible disk, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a magneto-optical disk (for example, a compact disc (Compact Disc ROM (CD-ROM) and so on), a digital versatile disc, a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disk), a removable disk, a hard disk drive, a smart card, a flash memory device (for example, a card, a stick, and a key drive), a magnetic stripe, a database, a server, and other appropriate storage media. The storage1003may be referred to as “secondary storage apparatus.”

The communication apparatus1004is hardware (transmitting/receiving device) for allowing inter-computer communication via at least one of wired and wireless networks, and may be referred to as, for example, a “network device,” a “network controller,” a “network card,” a “communication module,” and so on. The communication apparatus1004may be configured to include a high frequency switch, a duplexer, a filter, a frequency synthesizer, and so on in order to realize, for example, at least one of frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD). For example, the above-described transmitting/receiving section120(220), the transmitting/receiving antennas130(230), and so on may be implemented by the communication apparatus1004. In the transmitting/receiving section120(220), the transmitting section120a(220a) and the receiving section120b(220b) can be implemented while being separated physically or logically.

The input apparatus1005is an input device that receives input from the outside (for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a switch, a button, a sensor, and so on). The output apparatus1006is an output device that allows sending output to the outside (for example, a display, a speaker, a Light Emitting Diode (LED) lamp, and so on). Note that the input apparatus1005and the output apparatus1006may be provided in an integrated structure (for example, a touch panel).

Furthermore, these types of apparatus, including the processor1001, the memory1002, and others, are connected by a bus1007for communicating information. The bus1007may be formed with a single bus, or may be formed with buses that vary between pieces of apparatus.

Also, the base station10and the user terminals20may be structured to include hardware such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), and so on, and part or all of the functional blocks may be implemented by the hardware. For example, the processor1001may be implemented with at least one of these pieces of hardware.

(Variations)

Note that the terminology described in the present disclosure and the terminology that is needed to understand the present disclosure may be replaced by other terms that convey the same or similar meanings. For example, a “channel,” a “symbol,” and a “signal” (or signaling) may be interchangeably interpreted. Also, “signals” may be “messages.” A reference signal may be abbreviated as an “RS,” and may be referred to as a “pilot,” a “pilot signal,” and so on, depending on which standard applies. Furthermore, a “component carrier (CC)” may be referred to as a “cell,” a “frequency carrier,” a “carrier frequency” and so on.

A radio frame may be constituted of one or a plurality of periods (frames) in the time domain. Each of one or a plurality of periods (frames) constituting a radio frame may be referred to as a “subframe.” Furthermore, a subframe may be constituted of one or a plurality of slots in the time domain. A subframe may be a fixed time length (for example, 1 ms) independent of numerology.

Here, numerology may be a communication parameter applied to at least one of transmission and reception of a given signal or channel. For example, numerology may indicate at least one of a subcarrier spacing (SCS), a bandwidth, a symbol length, a cyclic prefix length, a transmission time interval (TTI), the number of symbols per TTI, a radio frame structure, a particular filter processing performed by a transceiver in the frequency domain, a particular windowing processing performed by a transceiver in the time domain, and so on.

A slot may be constituted of one or a plurality of symbols in the time domain (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) symbols, and so on). Furthermore, a slot may be a time unit based on numerology.

A slot may include a plurality of mini-slots. Each mini-slot may be constituted of one or a plurality of symbols in the time domain. A mini-slot may be referred to as a “sub-slot.” A mini-slot may be constituted of symbols less than the number of slots. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted in a time unit larger than a mini-slot may be referred to as “PDSCH (PUSCH) mapping type A.” A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted using a mini-slot may be referred to as “PDSCH (PUSCH) mapping type B.”

A radio frame, a subframe, a slot, a mini-slot, and a symbol all express time units in signal communication. A radio frame, a subframe, a slot, a mini-slot, and a symbol may each be called by other applicable terms. Note that time units such as a frame, a subframe, a slot, mini-slot, and a symbol in the present disclosure may be interchangeably interpreted.

For example, one subframe may be referred to as a “TTI,” a plurality of consecutive subframes may be referred to as a “TTI,” or one slot or one mini-slot may be referred to as a “TTI.” That is, at least one of a subframe and a TTI may be a subframe (1 ms) in existing LTE, may be a shorter period than 1 ms (for example, 1 to 13 symbols), or may be a longer period than 1 ms. Note that a unit expressing TTI may be referred to as a “slot,” a “mini-slot,” and so on instead of a “subframe.”

Here, a TTI refers to the minimum time unit of scheduling in radio communication, for example. For example, in LTE systems, a base station schedules the allocation of radio resources (such as a frequency bandwidth and transmit power that are available for each user terminal) for the user terminal in TTI units. Note that the definition of TTIs is not limited to this.

TTIs may be transmission time units for channel-encoded data packets (transport blocks), code blocks, or codewords, or may be the unit of processing in scheduling, link adaptation, and so on. Note that, when TTIs are given, the time interval (for example, the number of symbols) to which transport blocks, code blocks, codewords, or the like are actually mapped may be shorter than the TTIs.

Note that, in the case where one slot or one mini-slot is referred to as a TTI, one or more TTIs (that is, one or more slots or one or more mini-slots) may be the minimum time unit of scheduling. Furthermore, the number of slots (the number of mini-slots) constituting the minimum time unit of the scheduling may be controlled.

A TTI having a time length of 1 ms may be referred to as a “normal TTI” (TTI in 3GPP Rel. 8 to Rel. 12), a “long TTI,” a “normal subframe,” a “long subframe,” a “slot” and so on. A TTI that is shorter than a normal TTI may be referred to as a “shortened TTI,” a “short TTI,” a “partial or fractional TTI,” a “shortened subframe,” a “short subframe,” a “mini-slot,” a “sub-slot,” a “slot” and so on.

Note that a long TTI (for example, a normal TTI, a subframe, and so on) may be interpreted as a TTI having a time length exceeding 1 ms, and a short TTI (for example, a shortened TTI and so on) may be interpreted as a TTI having a TTI length shorter than the TTI length of a long TTI and equal to or longer than 1 ms.

A resource block (RB) is the unit of resource allocation in the time domain and the frequency domain, and may include one or a plurality of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. The number of subcarriers included in an RB may be the same regardless of numerology, and, for example, may be 12. The number of subcarriers included in an RB may be determined based on numerology.

Also, an RB may include one or a plurality of symbols in the time domain, and may be one slot, one mini-slot, one subframe, or one TTI in length. One TTI, one subframe, and so on each may be constituted of one or a plurality of resource blocks.

Note that one or a plurality of RBs may be referred to as a “physical resource block (Physical RB (PRB)),” a “sub-carrier group (SCG),” a “resource element group (REG),” a “PRB pair,” an “RB pair” and so on.

Furthermore, a resource block may be constituted of one or a plurality of resource elements (REs). For example, one RE may correspond to a radio resource field of one subcarrier and one symbol.

A bandwidth part (BWP) (which may be referred to as a “fractional bandwidth,” and so on) may represent a subset of contiguous common resource blocks (common RBs) for given numerology in a given carrier. Here, a common RB may be specified by an index of the RB based on the common reference point of the carrier. A PRB may be defined by a given BWP and may be numbered in the BWP.

The BWP may include a UL BWP (BWP for the UL) and a DL BWP (BWP for the DL). One or a plurality of BWPs may be configured in one carrier for a UE.

At least one of configured BWPs may be active, and a UE does not need to assume to transmit/receive a given signal/channel outside active BWPs. Note that a “cell,” a “carrier,” and so on in the present disclosure may be interpreted as a “BWP”.

Note that the above-described structures of radio frames, subframes, slots, mini-slots, symbols, and so on are merely examples. For example, structures such as the number of subframes included in a radio frame, the number of slots per subframe or radio frame, the number of mini-slots included in a slot, the numbers of symbols and RBs included in a slot or a mini-slot, the number of subcarriers included in an RB, the number of symbols in a TTI, the symbol length, the cyclic prefix (CP) length, and so on can be variously changed.

Also, the information, parameters, and so on described in the present disclosure may be represented in absolute values or in relative values with respect to given values, or may be represented in another corresponding information. For example, radio resources may be specified by given indices.

The names used for parameters and so on in the present disclosure are in no respect limiting. Furthermore, mathematical expressions that use these parameters, and so on may be different from those expressly disclosed in the present disclosure. For example, since various channels (PUCCH, PDCCH, and so on) and information elements can be identified by any suitable names, the various names allocated to these various channels and information elements are in no respect limiting.

The information, signals, and so on described in the present disclosure may be represented by using any of a variety of different technologies. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, and so on, all of which may be referenced throughout the herein-contained description, may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or photons, or any combination of these.

Also, information, signals, and so on can be output in at least one of from higher layers to lower layers and from lower layers to higher layers. Information, signals, and so on may be input and/or output via a plurality of network nodes.

The information, signals, and so on that are input and/or output may be stored in a specific location (for example, a memory) or may be managed by using a management table. The information, signals, and so on to be input and/or output can be overwritten, updated, or appended. The information, signals, and so on that are output may be deleted. The information, signals, and so on that are input may be transmitted to another apparatus.

Reporting of information is by no means limited to the aspects/embodiments described in the present disclosure, and other methods may be used as well. For example, reporting of information in the present disclosure may be implemented by using physical layer signaling (for example, downlink control information (DCI), uplink control information (UCI), higher layer signaling (for example, Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, broadcast information (master information block (MIB), system information blocks (SIBs), and so on), Medium Access Control (MAC) signaling and so on), and other signals or combinations of these.

Note that physical layer signaling may be referred to as “Layer 1/Layer 2 (L1/L2) control information (L1/L2 control signals),” “L1 control information (L1 control signal),” and so on. Also, RRC signaling may be referred to as an “RRC message,” and can be, for example, an RRC connection setup message, an RRC connection reconfiguration message, and so on. Also, MAC signaling may be reported using, for example, MAC control elements (MAC CEs).

Also, reporting of given information (for example, reporting of “X holds”) does not necessarily have to be reported explicitly, and can be reported implicitly (by, for example, not reporting this given information or reporting another piece of information).

Determinations may be made in values represented by one bit (0 or 1), may be made in Boolean values that represent true or false, or may be made by comparing numerical values (for example, comparison against a given value).

Software, whether referred to as “software,” “firmware,” “middleware,” “microcode,” or “hardware description language,” or called by other terms, should be interpreted broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program codes, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, execution threads, procedures, functions, and so on.

Also, software, commands, information, and so on may be transmitted and received via communication media. For example, when software is transmitted from a website, a server, or other remote sources by using at least one of wired technologies (coaxial cables, optical fiber cables, twisted-pair cables, digital subscriber lines (DSL), and so on) and wireless technologies (infrared radiation, microwaves, and so on), at least one of these wired technologies and wireless technologies are also included in the definition of communication media.

The terms “system” and “network” used in the present disclosure can be used interchangeably. The “network” may mean an apparatus (for example, a base station) included in the network.

In the present disclosure, the terms such as “precoding,” a “precoder,” a “weight (precoding weight),” “quasi-co-location (QCL),” a “Transmission Configuration Indication state (TCI state),” a “spatial relation,” a “spatial domain filter,” a “transmit power,” “phase rotation,” an “antenna port,” an “antenna port group,” a “layer,” “the number of layers,” a “rank,” a “resource,” a “resource set,” a “resource group,” a “beam,” a “beam width,” a “beam angular degree,” an “antenna,” an “antenna element,” a “panel,” and so on can be used interchangeably.

In the present disclosure, the terms such as a “base station (BS),” a “radio base station,” a “fixed station,” a “NodeB,” an “eNB (eNodeB),” a “gNB (gNodeB),” an “access point,” a “transmission point (TP),” a “reception point (RP),” a “transmission/reception point (TRP),” a “panel,” a “cell,” a “sector,” a “cell group,” a “carrier,” a “component carrier,” and so on can be used interchangeably. The base station may be referred to as the terms such as a “macro cell,” a small cell,” a “femto cell,” a “pico cell,” and so on.

A base station can accommodate one or a plurality of (for example, three) cells. When a base station accommodates a plurality of cells, the entire coverage area of the base station can be partitioned into multiple smaller areas, and each smaller area can provide communication services through base station subsystems (for example, indoor small base stations (Remote Radio Heads (RRHs))). The term “cell” or “sector” refers to part of or the entire coverage area of at least one of a base station and a base station subsystem that provides communication services within this coverage.

In the present disclosure, the terms “mobile station (MS),” “user terminal,” “user equipment (UE),” and “terminal” may be used interchangeably.

A mobile station may be referred to as a “subscriber station,” “mobile unit,” “subscriber unit,” “wireless unit,” “remote unit,” “mobile device,” “wireless device,” “wireless communication device,” “remote device,” “mobile subscriber station,” “access terminal,” “mobile terminal,” “wireless terminal,” “remote terminal,” “handset,” “user agent,” “mobile client,” “client,” or some other appropriate terms in some cases.

At least one of a base station and a mobile station may be referred to as a “transmitting apparatus,” a “receiving apparatus,” a “radio communication apparatus,” and so on. Note that at least one of a base station and a mobile station may be device mounted on a moving object or a moving object itself, and so on. The moving object may be a vehicle (for example, a car, an airplane, and the like), may be a moving object which moves unmanned (for example, a drone, an automatic operation car, and the like), or may be a robot (a manned type or unmanned type). Note that at least one of a base station and a mobile station also includes an apparatus which does not necessarily move during communication operation. For example, at least one of a base station and a mobile station may be an Internet of Things (IoT) device such as a sensor, and the like.

Furthermore, the base station in the present disclosure may be interpreted as a user terminal. For example, each aspect/embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to the structure that replaces a communication between a base station and a user terminal with a communication between a plurality of user terminals (for example, which may be referred to as “Device-to-Device (D2D),” “Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X),” and the like). In this case, user terminals20may have the functions of the base stations10described above. The words “uplink” and “downlink” may be interpreted as the words corresponding to the terminal-to-terminal communication (for example, “side”). For example, an uplink channel, a downlink channel and so on may be interpreted as a side channel.

Likewise, the user terminal in the present disclosure may be interpreted as base station. In this case, the base station10may have the functions of the user terminal20described above.

Actions which have been described in the present disclosure to be performed by a base station may, in some cases, be performed by upper nodes. In a network including one or a plurality of network nodes with base stations, it is clear that various operations that are performed to communicate with terminals can be performed by base stations, one or more network nodes (for example, Mobility Management Entities (MMEs), Serving-Gateways (S-GWs), and so on may be possible, but these are not limiting) other than base stations, or combinations of these.

The aspects/embodiments illustrated in the present disclosure may be used individually or in combinations, which may be switched depending on the mode of implementation. The order of processes, sequences, flowcharts, and so on that have been used to describe the aspects/embodiments in the present disclosure may be re-ordered as long as inconsistencies do not arise. For example, although various methods have been illustrated in the present disclosure with various components of steps in exemplary orders, the specific orders that are illustrated herein are by no means limiting.

The aspects/embodiments illustrated in the present disclosure may be applied to Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LTE-Beyond (LTE-B), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4th generation mobile communication system (4G), 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), Future Radio Access (FRA), New-Radio Access Technology (RAT), New Radio (NR), New radio access (NX), Future generation radio access (FX), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM (registered trademark)), CDMA 2000, Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.20, Ultra-WideBand (UWB), Bluetooth (registered trademark), systems that use other adequate radio communication methods and next-generation systems that are enhanced based on these. A plurality of systems may be combined (for example, a combination of LTE or LTE-A and 5G, and the like) and applied.

The phrase “based on” (or “on the basis of”) as used in the present disclosure does not mean “based only on” (or “only on the basis of”), unless otherwise specified. In other words, the phrase “based on” (or “on the basis of”) means both “based only on” and “based at least on” (“only on the basis of” and “at least on the basis of”).

Reference to elements with designations such as “first,” “second,” and so on as used in the present disclosure does not generally limit the quantity or order of these elements. These designations may be used in the present disclosure only for convenience, as a method for distinguishing between two or more elements. Thus, reference to the first and second elements does not imply that only two elements may be employed, or that the first element must precede the second element in some way.

The term “judging (determining)” as in the present disclosure herein may encompass a wide variety of actions. For example, “judging (determining)” may be interpreted to mean making “judgments (determinations)” about judging, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up, search and inquiry (for example, searching a table, a database, or some other data structures), ascertaining, and so on.

Furthermore, “judging (determining)” may be interpreted to mean making “judgments (determinations)” about receiving (for example, receiving information), transmitting (for example, transmitting information), input, output, accessing (for example, accessing data in a memory), and so on.

In addition, “judging (determining)” as used herein may be interpreted to mean making “judgments (determinations)” about resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, comparing, and so on. In other words, “judging (determining)” may be interpreted to mean making “judgments (determinations)” about some action.

In addition, “judging (determining)” may be interpreted as “assuming,” “expecting,” “considering,” and the like.

“The maximum transmit power” according to the present disclosure may mean a maximum value of the transmit power, may mean the nominal maximum transmit power (the nominal UE maximum transmit power), or may mean the rated maximum transmit power (the rated UE maximum transmit power).

The terms “connected” and “coupled,” or any variation of these terms as used in the present disclosure mean all direct or indirect connections or coupling between two or more elements, and may include the presence of one or more intermediate elements between two elements that are “connected” or “coupled” to each other. The coupling or connection between the elements may be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. For example, “connection” may be interpreted as “access.”

In the present disclosure, when two elements are connected, the two elements may be considered “connected” or “coupled” to each other by using one or more electrical wires, cables and printed electrical connections, and, as some non-limiting and non-inclusive examples, by using electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in radio frequency regions, microwave regions, (both visible and invisible) optical regions, or the like.

In the present disclosure, the phrase “A and B are different” may mean that “A and B are different from each other.” Note that the phrase may mean that “A and B is each different from C.” The terms “separate,” “be coupled,” and so on may be interpreted similarly to “different.”

When terms such as “include,” “including,” and variations of these are used in the present disclosure, these terms are intended to be inclusive, in a manner similar to the way the term “comprising” is used. Furthermore, the term “or” as used in the present disclosure is intended to be not an exclusive disjunction.

For example, in the present disclosure, when an article such as “a,” “an,” and “the” in the English language is added by translation, the present disclosure may include that a noun after these articles is in a plural form.

Now, although the invention according to the present disclosure has been described in detail above, it should be obvious to a person skilled in the art that the invention according to the present disclosure is by no means limited to the embodiments described in the present disclosure. The invention according to the present disclosure can be implemented with various corrections and in various modifications, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention defined by the recitations of claims. Consequently, the description of the present disclosure is provided only for the purpose of explaining examples, and should by no means be construed to limit the invention according to the present disclosure in any way.