PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-12058701-B2
Application Number: US-202117593726-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Scheduling of control signaling on a primary cell by a secondary cell

Abstract:
A base station of a network configures a first search space having a first search space identification (SearchSpaceId) in a special cell (SpCell) and a second search space having a second search space identification (SearchSpaceId) in a secondary cell (SCell) for monitoring control signaling that schedules operations on the SpCell. The base station transmits a radio resource control (RRC) configuration to a user equipment (UE) including the first SSID and the second SSID, wherein the RRC configuration configures the UE to monitor the first search space having the first SSID for scheduling of a first type of control signaling and the second search space having the second SSID for scheduling of a second type of control signaling.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A processor of a base station configured to perform operations comprising:
 configuring a first search space having a first search space identification (SearchSpaceId) in a special cell (SpCell) and a second search space having a second search space identification (SearchSpaceId) in a secondary cell (SCell) for monitoring control signaling that schedules operations on the SpCell, wherein the first SearchSpaceID and the second SearchSpaceID are the same; and 
 transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) configuration to a user equipment (UE), wherein the RRC configuration configures the UE to monitor the first search space having the first SearchSpaceID for scheduling of a first type of control signaling and the second search space having the second SearchSpaceID for scheduling of a second type of control signaling, wherein the first type of control signaling includes downlink control information (DCI) Format 0_0 transmissions, DCI Format 1_0 transmissions, and an nrofCandidates information element (IE) from a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmission, and the second type of control signaling includes all other DCI transmissions and PDCCH IEs not included in the first type of control signaling. 
 
     
     
       2. The processor of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 configuring a beam failure recovery (BFR) search space in the SpCell. 
 
     
     
       3. The processor of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 configuring a beam failure recovery (BFR) search space in the SCell. 
 
     
     
       4. The processor of  claim 1 , wherein the second type of control signaling includes both downlink DCI signals and uplink DCI signals. 
     
     
       5. The processor of  claim 1 , wherein the second type of signaling includes one of downlink DCI signals or uplink DCI signals. 
     
     
       6. The processor of  claim 1 , wherein the UE is configured to monitor up to four different DCI sizes for both the first search space on the SpCell and the second search space on the SCell. 
     
     
       7. The processor of  claim 1 , wherein the UE is configured to monitor up to four different DCI sizes for each of the first search space on the SpCell and the second search space on the SCell. 
     
     
       8. The processor of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 sending an indication to the UE identifying which search space to monitor when the SCell is deactivated or dormant. 
 
     
     
       9. A base station, comprising:
 a transceiver configured to communicate with a user equipment (UE); and 
 a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations comprising: 
 configuring a first search space having a first search space identification (SearchSpaceId) in a special cell (SpCell) and a second search space having a second search space identification (SearchSpaceId) in a secondary cell (SCell) for monitoring control signaling that schedules operations on the SpCell, wherein the first SearchSpaceID and the second SearchSpaceID are the same; and 
 transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) configuration to the UE, wherein the RRC configuration configures the UE to monitor the first search space having the first SearchSpaceID for scheduling of a first type of control signaling and the second search space having the second SearchSpaceID for scheduling of a second type of control signaling, wherein the first type of control signaling includes downlink control information (DCI) Format 0_0 transmissions, DCI Format 1_0 transmissions, and an nrojCandidates information element (IE) from a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmission, and the second type of control signaling includes all other DCI transmissions and PDCCH IEs not included in the first type of control signaling. 
 
     
     
       10. The base station of  claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise one of:
 configuring a beam failure recovery (BFR) search space in the SpCell; or 
 configuring a beam failure recovery (BFR) search space in the SCell. 
 
     
     
       11. The base station of  claim 9 , wherein the second type of control signaling includes one of (i) both downlink DCI signals and uplink DCI signals, (ii) downlink DCI signals or (iii) uplink DCI signals. 
     
     
       12. The base station of  claim 9 , wherein the UE is configured to monitor up to four different DCI sizes for both the first search space on the SpCell and the second search space on the SCell. 
     
     
       13. A method, comprising:
 configuring a first search space having a first search space identification (SearchSpaceId) in a special cell (SpCell) and a second search space having a second search space identification (SearchSpaceId) in a secondary cell (SCell) for monitoring control signaling that schedules operations on the SpCell, wherein the first SearchSpaceID and the second SearchSpaceID are the same; and 
 transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) configuration to a user equipment (UE), wherein the RRC configuration configures the UE to monitor the first search space having the first SearchSpaceID for scheduling of a first type of control signaling and the second search space having the second SearchSpaceID for scheduling of a second type of control signaling, wherein the first type of control signaling includes downlink control information (DCI) Format 0_0 transmissions, DCI Format 1_0 transmissions, and an nrofCandidates information element (IE) from a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmission, and the second type of control signaling includes all other DCI transmissions and PDCCH IEs not included in the first type of control signaling. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 configuring a beam failure recovery (BFR) search space in the SpCell. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 configuring a beam failure recovery (BFR) search space in the SCell. 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the second type of control signaling includes both downlink DCI signals and uplink DCI signals. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the second type of signaling includes one of downlink DCI signals or uplink DCI signals. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the UE is configured to monitor up to four different DCI sizes for both the first search space on the SpCell and the second search space on the SCell. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the UE is configured to monitor up to four different DCI sizes for each of the first search space on the SpCell and the second search space on the SCell. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 sending an indication to the UE identifying which search space to monitor when the SCell is deactivated or dormant.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     When establishing the network connection such as, for example, a connection to a 5G new radio (NR) network, a next generation NodeB (gNB) transmits downlink channel information (DCI) to the UE via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The PDCCH is transmitted to the UE via one or more control resource sets (CORESETS). Because 5G new radio (NR) spectrum is difficult to obtain and expensive, operators have utilized dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) so that 5G NR and long term evolution (LTE) transmissions can coexist in the same spectrum. However, transmissions of the CORESETS for 5G communications may interfere with cell reference signals (CRS) transmissions on the LTE network. 
     SUMMARY 
     Some exemplary embodiments are related to a processor of a base station configured to perform operations. The operations include configuring a first search space having a first search space identification (SearchSpaceId) in a special cell (SpCell) and a second search space having a second search space identification (SearchSpaceId) in a secondary cell (SCell) for monitoring control signaling that schedules operations on the SpCell and transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) configuration to a user equipment (UE) including the first SSID and the second SSID, wherein the RRC configuration configures the UE to monitor the first search space having the first SSID for scheduling of a first type of control signaling and the second search space having the second SSID for scheduling of a second type of control signaling. 
     Other exemplary embodiments are related to a base station having a transceiver configured to communicate with a user equipment (UE) and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations. The operations include configuring a first search space having a first search space identification (SearchSpaceId) in a special cell (SpCell) and a second search space having a second search space identification (SearchSpaceId) in a secondary cell (SCell) for monitoring control signaling that schedules operations on the SpCell and transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) configuration to the UE including the first SSID and the second SSID, wherein the RRC configuration configures the UE to monitor the first search space having the first SSID for scheduling of a first type of control signaling and the second search space having the second SSID for scheduling of a second type of control signaling. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    shows an exemplary network arrangement according to various exemplary embodiments. 
         FIG.  2    shows an exemplary user equipment (UE) according to various exemplary embodiments. 
         FIG.  3    shows an exemplary base station according to various exemplary embodiments. 
         FIG.  4    shows a method of configuring a search space (SS) of a secondary cell (SCell) for scheduling transmissions on a special cell (SpCell) according to various exemplary embodiments. 
         FIG.  5    shows a method of configuring a UE to handle deactivation of an SCell configured to schedule transmissions on a SpCell according to various exemplary embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference to the following description and the related appended drawings, wherein like elements are provided with the same reference numerals. The exemplary embodiments relate to the configuration of search spaces when a secondary cell (SCell) is configured to schedule UE operations on a special cell (SpCell) in addition to the SpCell also being configured to schedule its own operations. In the following description, SpCell may refer to a primary cell (PCell) or a primary SCell (PSCell). 
     The exemplary embodiments are described with regard to a UE. However, reference to a UE is merely provided for illustrative purposes. The exemplary embodiments may be utilized with any electronic component that may establish a connection to a network and is configured with the hardware, software, and/or firmware to exchange information and data with the network. Therefore, the UE as described herein is used to represent any appropriate electronic component. 
     In addition, the exemplary embodiments are described with regard to a 5G New Radio (NR) network. However, reference to a 5G NR network is merely provided for illustrative purposes. The exemplary embodiments may be utilized with any network that implements the functionalities described herein. 
     To provide more flexibility to a 5G NR network using dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) to schedule control data to be transmitted, it has been suggested that in addition to configuring a SpCell (e.g., a 5G cell) to schedule its own transmissions, a SCell (e.g., a 5G cell) also be configured schedule operations on the SpCell. One issue that arises, however, is how the search space(s) (SS) should be configured to facilitate the scheduling of these transmissions on the SpCell by two cells (the SpCell and the SCell). 
     According to some exemplary embodiments, the network configures one or more search spaces in at least one of the SpCell and the SCell for scheduling the control data transmissions on the SpCell. The network indicates to the UE which search space(s) should be monitored for this scheduling. 
     Another issue that arises is how a UE should handle the deactivation or dormancy of an SCell when the scheduling of control data transmissions on the SpCell is performed by both the SpCell and the SCell. 
     According to other exemplary embodiments, the network configures the one or more search spaces for each of the SpCell and the SCell. The network then explicitly or implicitly indicates to the UE which search space the UE should monitor when the SCell is deactivated or dormant. 
       FIG.  1    shows an exemplary network arrangement  100  according to various exemplary embodiments. The exemplary network arrangement  100  includes a UE  110 . It should be noted that any number of UE may be used in the network arrangement  100 . Those skilled in the art will understand that the UE  110  may be any type of electronic component that is configured to communicate via a network, e.g., mobile phones, tablet computers, desktop computers, smartphones, phablets, embedded devices, wearables, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, etc. It should also be understood that an actual network arrangement may include any number of UEs being used by any number of users. Thus, the example of a single UE  110  is merely provided for illustrative purposes. 
     The UE  110  may be configured to communicate with one or more networks. In the example of the network configuration  100 , the networks with which the UE  110  may wirelessly communicate are a 5G New Radio (NR) radio access network (5G NR-RAN)  120 , an LTE radio access network (LTE-RAN)  122  and a wireless local access network (WLAN)  124 . However, it should be understood that the UE  110  may also communicate with other types of networks and the UE  110  may also communicate with networks over a wired connection. Therefore, the UE  110  may include a 5G NR chipset to communicate with the 5G NR-RAN  120 , an LTE chipset to communicate with the LTE-RAN  122  and an ISM chipset to communicate with the WLAN 124. 
     The 5G NR-RAN  120  and the LTE-RAN  122  may be portions of cellular networks that may be deployed by cellular providers (e.g., Verizon, AT&amp;T, T-Mobile, etc.). These networks  120 ,  122  may include, for example, cells or base stations (Node Bs, eNodeBs, HeNBs, eNBS, gNBs, gNodeBs, macrocells, microcells, small cells, femtocells, etc.) that are configured to send and receive traffic from UE that are equipped with the appropriate cellular chip set. The WLAN 124 may include any type of wireless local area network (WiFi, Hot Spot, IEEE 802.11x networks, etc.). 
     The UE  110  may connect to the 5G NR-RAN  120  via the gNB  120 A and/or the gNB  120 B. The gNBs  120 A and  120 B may be configured with the necessary hardware (e.g., antenna array), software and/or firmware to perform massive multiple in multiple out (MIMO) functionality. Massive MIMO may refer to a base station that is configured to generate a plurality of beams for a plurality of UE. During operation, the UE  110  may be within range of a plurality of gNBs. Reference to two gNBs  120 A,  120 B is merely for illustrative purposes. The exemplary embodiments may apply to any appropriate number of gNBs. Further, the UE  110  may communicate with the eNB  122 A of the LTE-RAN  122  to transmit and receive control information used for downlink and/or uplink synchronization with respect to the 5G NR-RAN  120  connection. 
     Those skilled in the art will understand that any association procedure may be performed for the UE  110  to connect to the 5G NR-RAN  120 . For example, as discussed above, the 5G NR-RAN  120  may be associated with a particular cellular provider where the UE  110  and/or the user thereof has a contract and credential information (e.g., stored on a SIM card). Upon detecting the presence of the 5G NR-RAN  120 , the UE  110  may transmit the corresponding credential information to associate with the 5G NR-RAN  120 . More specifically, the UE  110  may associate with a specific base station (e.g., the gNB  120 A of the 5G NR-RAN  120 ). 
     In addition to the networks  120 ,  122  and  124  the network arrangement  100  also includes a cellular core network  130 , the Internet  140 , an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)  150 , and a network services backbone  160 . The cellular core network  130  may be considered to be the interconnected set of components that manages the operation and traffic of the cellular network. The cellular core network  130  also manages the traffic that flows between the cellular network and the Internet  140 . The IMS  150  may be generally described as an architecture for delivering multimedia services to the UE  110  using the IP protocol. The IMS  150  may communicate with the cellular core network  130  and the Internet  140  to provide the multimedia services to the UE  110 . The network services backbone  160  is in communication either directly or indirectly with the Internet  140  and the cellular core network  130 . The network services backbone  160  may be generally described as a set of components (e.g., servers, network storage arrangements, etc.) that implement a suite of services that may be used to extend the functionalities of the UE  110  in communication with the various networks. 
       FIG.  2    shows an exemplary UE  110  according to various exemplary embodiments. The UE  110  will be described with regard to the network arrangement  100  of  FIG.  1   . The UE  110  may represent any electronic device and may include a processor  205 , a memory arrangement  210 , a display device  215 , an input/output (I/O) device  220 , a transceiver  225  and other components  230 . The other components  230  may include, for example, an audio input device, an audio output device, a battery that provides a limited power supply, a data acquisition device, ports to electrically connect the UE  110  to other electronic devices, one or more antenna panels, etc. For example, the UE  110  may be coupled to an industrial device via one or more ports. 
     The processor  205  may be configured to execute a plurality of engines of the UE  110 . For example, the engines may include a search space management engine  235 . The search space management engine  235  may perform various operations related to determining which search space(s) should be monitored for control data scheduling for the SpCell, as will be described in greater detail below. 
     The above referenced engine being an application (e.g., a program) executed by the processor  205  is only exemplary. The functionality associated with the engine may also be represented as a separate incorporated component of the UE  110  or may be a modular component coupled to the UE  110 , e.g., an integrated circuit with or without firmware. For example, the integrated circuit may include input circuitry to receive signals and processing circuitry to process the signals and other information. The engines may also be embodied as one application or separate applications. In addition, in some UE, the functionality described for the processor  205  is split among two or more processors such as a baseband processor and an applications processor. The exemplary embodiments may be implemented in any of these or other configurations of a UE. 
     The memory arrangement  210  may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by the UE  110 . The display device  215  may be a hardware component configured to show data to a user while the I/O device  220  may be a hardware component that enables the user to enter inputs. The display device  215  and the I/O device  220  may be separate components or integrated together such as a touchscreen. The transceiver  225  may be a hardware component configured to establish a connection with the 5G NR-RAN  120 , the LTE-RAN  122 , the WLAN 124, etc. Accordingly, the transceiver  225  may operate on a variety of different frequencies or channels (e.g., set of consecutive frequencies). 
       FIG.  3    shows an exemplary network base station, in this case gNB  120 A, according to various exemplary embodiments. The gNB  120 A may represent any access node of the 5G NR network through which the UE  110  may establish a connection. The gNB  120 A illustrated in  FIG.  3    may also represent the gNB  120 B. 
     The gNB  120 A may include a processor  305 , a memory arrangement  310 , an input/output (I/O) device  320 , a transceiver  325 , and other components  330 . The other components  330  may include, for example, a power supply, a data acquisition device, ports to electrically connect the gNB  120 A to other electronic devices, etc. 
     The processor  305  may be configured to execute a plurality of engines of the gNB  120 A. For example, the engines may include a search space management engine  335  for performing operations including configuring one or more search spaces when both the SpCell and the SCell are configured to schedule control data transmissions on the SpCell and to configure the UE  110  to handle the deactivation or dormancy of the SCell. Examples of this process will be described in greater detail below. 
     The above noted engine being an application (e.g., a program) executed by the processor  305  is only exemplary. The functionality associated with the engines may also be represented as a separate incorporated component of the gNB  120 A or may be a modular component coupled to the gNB  120 A, e.g., an integrated circuit with or without firmware. For example, the integrated circuit may include input circuitry to receive signals and processing circuitry to process the signals and other information. In addition, in some gNBs, the functionality described for the processor  305  is split among a plurality of processors (e.g., a baseband processor, an applications processor, etc.). The exemplary aspects may be implemented in any of these or other configurations of a gNB. 
     The memory  310  may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by the UEs  110 ,  112 . The I/O device  320  may be a hardware component or ports that enable a user to interact with the gNB  120 A. The transceiver  325  may be a hardware component configured to exchange data with the UE  110  and any other UE in the system  100 . The transceiver  325  may operate on a variety of different frequencies or channels (e.g., set of consecutive frequencies). Therefore, the transceiver  325  may include one or more components (e.g., radios) to enable the data exchange with the various networks and UEs. 
       FIG.  4    shows a method  400  of configuring a search space of a SCell (e.g., a 5G cell) for scheduling transmissions on a SpCell (e.g., a 5G cell) according to various exemplary embodiments. At  405 , the gNB  120 A (or  120 B) configures an SpCell (e.g., gNB  120 A) and an SCell (e.g., eNB  122 A) to schedule control data transmissions (e.g., DCI, PDCCH, etc.) for the SpCell. In some embodiments, the SCell cannot be configured in frequency range 2 (FR2). In some embodiments, whether or not the SCell can be configured in FR2 depends on the capabilities of the UE. In some embodiments, the SCell cannot be configured in the non-terrestrial network (NTN) spectrum. In some embodiments, the SCell cannot be configured in the NR unlicensed (NR-U) spectrum. In some embodiments, whether or not the SCell can be configured in the NR-U spectrum depends on the capabilities of the UE. 
     At  410 , the gNB  120 A configures a first search space in the SpCell and a second search space in the SCell. In some embodiments, the first and second search spaces have the same search space ID (SearchSpaceId). In such an embodiment, the two search spaces are automatically linked because when the gNB  120 A configures the UE  110  with the SearchSpaceId to monitor, then that SearchSpaceId corresponds to the first and second search spaces. In some embodiments, when the first and second SearchSpaceIds are the same, the nrofCandidates information element (IE) is in the first search space of the SpCell and all other control signal configurations (e.g., non-fallback DCI, remaining PDCCH configurations) are in the second search space of the SCell. In some embodiments, when the first and second SearchSpaceIds are the same, the nrofCandidates IE and some other control signal configuration (e.g., monitoringSlotPeriodicityAndOffset, monitoringSymbolsWithinSlot, duration) is in the first search space of the SpCell and all other control signal configurations (e.g., non-fallback DCI, remaining PDCCH configurations) are in the second search space of the SCell. 
     In some embodiments, the first and second search spaces and their corresponding SearchSpaceIds are different. In such an embodiment, the first search space of the SpCell includes fallback DCI scheduling (e.g., Format 0_0 and 1_0) and the second search space includes the scheduling of all other control signaling (e.g., non-fallback DCI, all PDCCH configurations). In such an embodiment, because the SearchSpaceIds of the two search spaces are different, the gNB  120 A explicitly indicates the second SSID to the UE  110  so that the UE  110  knows which search space to monitor for the non-fallback DCI and all PDCCH configurations. In some embodiments, the second search space is counted as one of the standard-defined maximum of ten search spaces per cell. In some embodiments, the second search space is alternatively not counted as one of the standard defined maximum of ten search spaces per cell. 
     At  415 , the gNB  120 A configures a beam failure recovery (BFR) search space. In some embodiments, the BFR search space (recoverySearchSpaceId) is only configured in the SpCell. In some embodiments, the BFR search space (recoverySearchSpaceId) is only configured in the SCell. In some embodiments, the gNB  120 A may choose which cell to configure the BFR search space (recoverySearchSpaceId). 
     At  420 , the gNB  120 A configures whether downlink (DL) and/or uplink (UL) DCI transmissions are scheduled by the second search space of the SCell. In some embodiments, both the first search space of the SpCell and the second search space of the SCell schedule DL and UL DCI for UE operations on the SpCell. In some embodiments, the gNB  120 A alternatively restricts which DCI (DL or UL) the UE  110  is configured to monitor on the SCell. 
     At  425 , the gNB  120 A transmits an RRC configuration to the UE  110  that includes a first SearchSpaceId corresponding to the first search space and a second SearchSpaceId corresponding to the second search space so that the UE  110  knows which search space(s) to monitor for control signals that schedules operations on the SpCell. In some embodiments, the RRC configuration further includes the BFR search space ID. 
     As currently defined by the Third Generation Partnership (3GPP) standards, the total number of different DCI sizes monitored by the UE  110  is four. The total number of different DCI sizes for DCI transmissions scrambled by cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) monitored by the UE  110  is three. In some embodiments, the UE  110  is limited to these maximums on both the first and second search spaces. In some embodiments, the UE  110  is alternatively limited to these maximums on each of the first and second search spaces. In such an embodiment, the UE  110  may report to the gNB  120 A whether it supports the additional DCI size monitoring limitation associated with applying the size limit on a per cell basis. 
       FIG.  5    shows a method  500  of configuring a UE  110  to handle deactivation of an SCell configured to schedule transmissions on a SpCell according to various exemplary embodiments. The following description is made with the assumption that the SpCell is a 5G cell and the SCell is a 5G cell. 
     At  505 , the gNB  120 A (or  120 B) configures an SpCell (e.g., gNB  120 A) and an SCell (e.g., eNB  122 A) to schedule control data transmissions (e.g., DCI) for the SpCell. At  510 , the gNB  120 A configures a first search space having a first SearchSpaceId in the SpCell and a second search space having a second SearchSpaceId in the SCell. At  515 , the gNB  120 A transmits an RRC configuration to the UE  110  including the SearchSpaceIds of the first and second search spaces. At  520 , the gNB  120 A provides an indication to the UE  110  regarding which search space to monitor (which search space is activated) when the SCell is deactivated or dormant. 
     In some embodiments, the indication provided by the gNB  120 A at  520  is an implicit indication. In such an embodiment, when the UE  110  receives an indication that the SCell has been deactivated or is dormant, the UE  110  implicitly knows that the second search space is deactivated and the first search space is activated. Similarly, when the UE  110  receives an indication that the SCell has been activated, the UE  110  implicitly knows that the second search space is activated and the first search space is deactivated. 
     In some embodiments, the indication provided by the gNB  120 A at  520  may be an explicit indication. In such an embodiment, the gNB  120 A may transmit a DCI or a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) to indicate to the UE  110  which search space the UE  110  should monitor. In some embodiments, the gNB  120 A may configure a timer to address a scenario in which the DCI/MAC CE is not received or improperly decoded by the UE  110 . The timer begins when the DCI/MAC CE is received. Upon expiration of the timer, the UE  110  begins to monitor a default search space. For example, if the DCI/MAC CE indicates that the UE  110  should monitor the second search space, the UE  110  monitors the second search space until the expiration of the timer, at which point the UE  110  monitors the first search space, which is configured to be the default search space. If the gNB  120 A intends for the UE  110  to continue to monitor the second search space, then the gNB  120 A sends another DCI/MAC CE indicating that the UE  110  should monitor the second search space. Upon receipt of the second DCI/MAC CE, the timer is reset. In some embodiments, the timer is set to 100 ms. It should be noted that the default search space may be configured to be either of the first or second search spaces. 
     In some embodiments, the configured SCell at  505  may be a plurality of SCells. In such an embodiment, only one of the plurality of SCells is activated at any given time for monitoring the control signaling that schedules operations on the SpCell. In some embodiments, the activated SCell may be indicated explicitly by the gNB  120 A to the UE  110  when an SCell is deactivated or dormant via, for example, a DCI or MAC CE. In some embodiments, the activated SCell may be determined based on a priority based on a plurality of predetermined factors such as, for example, the periodicity of the search space in each SCell that is configured to schedule the control data signaling on the SpCell, the SearchSpaceId of each search space in each SCell that is configured to schedule the control data signaling on the SpCell, and the cell index (ServCelllndex) of each SCell. For example, a search space with a lesser periodicity would have a higher priority than a search space with a greater periodicity. 
     Those skilled in the art will understand that the above-described exemplary embodiments may be implemented in any suitable software or hardware configuration or combination thereof. An exemplary hardware platform for implementing the exemplary embodiments may include, for example, an Intel x86 based platform with compatible operating system, a Windows OS, a Mac platform and MAC OS, a mobile device having an operating system such as iOS, Android, etc. The exemplary embodiments of the above-described method may be embodied as a program containing lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium that, when compiled, may be executed on a processor or microprocessor. 
     Although this application described various embodiments each having different features in various combinations, those skilled in the art will understand that any of the features of one embodiment may be combined with the features of the other embodiments in any manner not specifically disclaimed or which is not functionally or logically inconsistent with the operation of the device or the stated functions of the disclosed embodiments. 
     It is well understood that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled so as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the present disclosure, without departing from the spirit or the scope of the disclosure. Thus, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalent.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20210804
Publication Date: 20240806
Grant Date: 20240806
Priority Date: 20210804
Inventors: SUN, HAITONG
YE, CHUNXUAN
ZHANG, DAWEI
HE, HONG
NIU, HUANING
FAKOORIAN, SEYED ALI AKBAR
ZENG, WEI
ZHANG, YUSHU
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04W72/1263", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0053", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0048", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0053", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0094", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W72/232", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/001", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W72/1263", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0053", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W72/232", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 85155015