WO2021184268A1

WO2021184268A1 - Downlink control channel repetition for reduced capability user devices

Info

Publication number: WO2021184268A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/080066
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chao Wei; Huilin Xu; Jing LEI; Wanshi Chen; Hwan Joon Kwon; Peter Pui Lok Ang; Peter Gaal
Original assignee: Qualcomm Incorporated
Priority date: 2020-03-18
Filing date: 2020-03-18
Publication date: 2021-09-23

Abstract

Aspects relate to wireless communications utilizing repetition of a downlink control channel within a slot. Methods and apparatus include defining a repetition configuration including a number of repetitions used for a downlink control channel. One or more control channel monitoring occasions may be identified within a slot for transmitting the downlink control channel, wherein the number of one or more control channel monitoring occasions is based on the number of repetitions used for the downlink control channel. The repetition configuration and downlink control channel are then transmitted over the identified one or more control channel monitoring occasions.

Description

DOWNLINK CONTROL CHANNEL REPETITION FOR REDUCED CAPABILITY USER DEVICES

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technology discussed herein relates generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to using repetition of a downlink control channel within defined or identified monitoring occasions in a single slot to enhance reception coverage for limited-capabilities devices.

INTRODUCTION

As wireless communication systems evolve, there is an ever expanding types of power-efficient devices having limited processing resources. One way to reduce power consumption in wireless user equipment (UE) is to minimize the number of antennas, e.g., one receive antenna, used by such devices. However, the reduced number of antennas in these devices has the potential to cause coverage loss in downlink channels (e.g., ～ 6dB coverage loss when number of receiving antennas is reduced from four antennas to one antenna) .

Consequently, a solution is needed that allows reduced-capabilities UE devices to more reliably receive on a downlink channel.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF SOME EXAMPLES

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects of the present disclosure, in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated features of the disclosure, and is intended neither to identify key or critical elements of all aspects of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of any or all aspects of the disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of the disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

A first aspect provides a method of wireless communication that may be operational at a user equipment (UE) . A repetition configuration including a number of repetitions used for a downlink control channel may be received at the user device (UE) from a scheduling cell. The downlink control channel may be received, at the user device (UE) from the scheduling cell, within one or more control channel monitoring occasions in a slot, wherein the number of one or more control channel monitoring occasions is based on the number of repetitions used for the downlink control channel. The one or more control channel monitoring occasions within the slot may be decoded to obtain content in the downlink control channel.

A second aspect provides a method of wireless communication that may be operational at a scheduling cell. A repetition configuration may be defined including a number of repetitions used for a downlink control channel. One or more control channel monitoring occasions may be identified or defined within a slot for transmitting the downlink control channel, wherein the number of one or more control channel monitoring occasions is based on the number of repetitions used for the downlink control channel. The repetition configuration and downlink control channel may be transmitted, from a first cell to one or more devices, over the identified one or more control channel monitoring occasions.

These and other aspects of the present disclosure will become more fully understood upon a review of the detailed description, which follows. Other aspects, features, and embodiments of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, upon reviewing the following description of specific, exemplary embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures. While features of the present invention may be discussed relative to certain embodiments and figures below, all embodiments of the present invention can include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, while one or more embodiments may be discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also be used in accordance with the various embodiments of the invention discussed herein. In similar fashion, while exemplary embodiments may be discussed below as device, system, or method embodiments it should be understood that such exemplary embodiments can be implemented in various devices, systems, and methods.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a wireless communication system.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual illustration of an example of a radio access network.

FIG. 3 illustrates an organization of wireless resources in an air interface utilizing orthogonal frequency divisional multiplexing (OFDM) .

FIG. 4 illustrates exemplary Control Resource Set (CORESET) and Search Space (SS) transmissions within slots.

FIG. 5 illustrates two alternative repletion approaches that may be used to mitigate potential coverage loss for power-efficient devices.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of slot structures for a downlink transmission.

FIG. 7 illustrates another example of slot structures for a downlink transmission.

FIG. 8 illustrates yet another example of slot structures for a downlink transmission.

FIG. 9 illustrates yet another example of slot structures for a downlink transmission in which time-interleaved transmissions of PDCCH repetition and PDSCH within a slot are used.

FIG. 10 illustrates yet another example of slot structures for a downlink transmission in which the PDCCH is repeated across monitoring occasions within a slot but using various CCE allocations.

FIG. 11 illustrates yet another example of aggregating a PDCCH with repetition across multiple monitoring occasions within a slot.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of PDCCH repetition with frequency hopping for diversity gain.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a scheduling entity apparatus employing a processing system.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of an exemplary method for configuring transmissions in a wireless system according to exemplary aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a scheduled entity apparatus employing a processing system.

FIG. 16 is another flow diagram of an exemplary method for receiving transmissions in a wireless system according to exemplary aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring such concepts.

While aspects and embodiments are described in this application by illustration to some examples, those skilled in the art will understand that additional implementations and use cases may come about in many different arrangements and scenarios. Innovations described herein may be implemented across many differing platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, packaging arrangements. For example, embodiments and/or uses may come about via integrated chip embodiments and other non-module-component based devices (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail/purchasing devices, medical devices, AI-enabled devices, etc. ) . While some examples may or may not be specifically directed to use cases or applications, a wide assortment of applicability of described innovations may occur. Implementations may range a spectrum from chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level implementations and further to aggregate, distributed, or OEM devices or systems incorporating one or more aspects of the described innovations. In some practical settings, devices incorporating described aspects and features may also necessarily include additional components and features for implementation and practice of claimed and described embodiments. For example, transmission and reception of wireless signals necessarily includes a number of components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antenna, RF-chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffer, processor (s) , interleaver, adders/summers, etc. ) . It is intended that innovations described herein may be practiced in a wide variety of devices, chip-level components, systems, distributed arrangements, end-user devices, etc. of varying sizes, shapes and constitution.

[Rectified under Rule 91, 02.04.2020]
For wireless communication systems that support user equipment (UE) devices with reduced number of receiving antennas, one solution to the potential coverage loss on downlink channels may be to use repetition at an intra-slot level. That is, a downlink control channel may be repeated one or more times within defined monitoring occasions in a slot to permit a receiving user device to
enhance or improve reception coverage.

The various concepts presented throughout this disclosure may be implemented across a broad variety of telecommunication systems, network architectures, and communication standards. Referring now to FIG. 1, as an illustrative example without limitation, various aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated with reference to a wireless communication system 100. The wireless communication system 100 includes three interacting domains: a core network 102, a radio access network (RAN) 104, and a user equipment (UE) 106. By virtue of the wireless communication system 100, the UE 106 may be enabled to carry out data communication with an external data network 110, such as (but not limited to) the Internet.

The RAN 104 may implement any suitable wireless communication technology or technologies to provide radio access to the UE 106. As one example, the RAN 104 may operate according to 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) specifications, often referred to as 5G. As another example, the RAN 104 may operate under a hybrid of 5G NR and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (eUTRAN) standards, often referred to as LTE. The 3GPP refers to this hybrid RAN as a next-generation RAN, or NG-RAN. Of course, many other examples may be utilized within the scope of the present disclosure.

As illustrated, the RAN 104 includes a plurality of base stations 108. Broadly, a base station is a network element in a radio access network responsible for radio transmission and reception in one or more cells to or from a UE. In different technologies, standards, or contexts, a base station may variously be referred to by those skilled in the art as a base transceiver station (BTS) , a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS) , an extended service set (ESS) , an access point (AP) , a Node B (NB) , an eNode B (eNB) , a gNode B (gNB) , or some other suitable terminology.

The radio access network 104 is further illustrated supporting wireless communication for multiple mobile apparatuses. A mobile apparatus may be referred to as user equipment (UE) in 3GPP standards, but may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a mobile station (MS) , a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal (AT) , a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a terminal, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology. A UE may be an apparatus that provides a user with access to network services.

Within the present document, a “mobile” apparatus need not necessarily have a capability to move, and may be stationary. The term mobile apparatus or mobile device broadly refers to a diverse array of devices and technologies. UEs may include a number of hardware structural components sized, shaped, and arranged to help in communication; such components can include antennas, antenna arrays, RF chains, amplifiers, one or more processors, etc. electrically coupled to each other. For example, some non-limiting examples of a mobile apparatus include a mobile, a cellular (cell) phone, a smart phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal computer (PC) , a notebook, a netbook, a smartbook, a tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , and a broad array of embedded systems, e.g., corresponding to an “Internet of things” (IoT) . A mobile apparatus may additionally be an automotive or other transportation vehicle, a remote sensor or actuator, a robot or robotics device, a satellite radio, a global positioning system (GPS) device, an object tracking device, a drone, a multi-copter, a quad-copter, a remote control device, a consumer and/or wearable device, such as eyewear, a wearable camera, a virtual reality device, a smart watch, a health or fitness tracker, a digital audio player (e.g., MP3 player) , a camera, a game console, etc. A mobile apparatus may additionally be a digital home or smart home device such as a home audio, video, and/or multimedia device, an appliance, a vending machine, intelligent lighting, a home security system, a smart meter, etc. A mobile apparatus may additionally be a smart energy device, a security device, a solar panel or solar array, a municipal infrastructure device controlling electric power (e.g., a smart grid) , lighting, water, etc.; an industrial automation and enterprise device; a logistics controller; agricultural equipment; military defense equipment, vehicles, aircraft, ships, and weaponry, etc. Still further, a mobile apparatus may provide for connected medicine or telemedicine support, e.g., health care at a distance. Telehealth devices may include telehealth monitoring devices and telehealth administration devices, whose communication may be given preferential treatment or prioritized access over other types of information, e.g., in terms of prioritized access for transport of critical service data, and/or relevant QoS for transport of critical service data.

Wireless communication between a RAN 104 and a UE 106 may be described as utilizing an air interface. Transmissions over the air interface from a base station (e.g., base station 108) to one or more UEs (e.g., UE 106) may be referred to as downlink (DL) transmission. In accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure, the term downlink may refer to a point-to-multipoint transmission originating at a scheduling entity (described further below; e.g., base station 108) . Another way to describe this scheme may be to use the term broadcast channel multiplexing. Transmissions from a UE (e.g., UE 106) to a base station (e.g., base station 108) may be referred to as uplink (UL) transmissions. In accordance with further aspects of the present disclosure, the term uplink may refer to a point-to-point transmission originating at a scheduled entity (described further below; e.g., UE 106) .

In some examples, access to the air interface may be scheduled, wherein a scheduling entity (e.g., a base station 108) allocates resources for communication among some or all devices and equipment within its service area or cell. Within the present disclosure, as discussed further below, the scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more scheduled entities. That is, for scheduled communication, UEs 106, which may be scheduled entities, may utilize resources allocated by the scheduling entity 108.

Base stations 108 are not the only entities that may function as scheduling entities. That is, in some examples, a UE may function as a scheduling entity, scheduling resources for one or more scheduled entities (e.g., one or more other UEs) .

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a scheduling entity 108 may broadcast downlink traffic 112 to one or more scheduled entities 106. Broadly, the scheduling entity 108 is a node or device responsible for scheduling traffic in a wireless communication network, including the downlink traffic 112 and, in some examples, uplink traffic 116 from one or more scheduled entities 106 to the scheduling entity 108. On the other hand, the scheduled entity 106 is a node or device that receives downlink control information 114, including but not limited to scheduling information (e.g., a grant) , synchronization or timing information, or other control information from another entity in the wireless communication network such as the scheduling entity 108.

In general, base stations 108 may include a backhaul interface for communication with a backhaul portion 120 of the wireless communication system. The backhaul 120 may provide a link between a base station 108 and the core network 102. Further, in some examples, a backhaul network may provide interconnection between the respective base stations 108. Various types of backhaul interfaces may be employed, such as a direct physical connection, a virtual network, or the like using any suitable transport network.

The core network 102 may be a part of the wireless communication system 100, and may be independent of the radio access technology used in the RAN 104. In some examples, the core network 102 may be configured according to 5G standards (e.g., 5GC) . In other examples, the core network 102 may be configured according to a 4G evolved packet core (EPC) , or any other suitable standard or configuration.

Referring now to FIG. 2, by way of example and without limitation, a schematic illustration of a RAN 200 is provided. In some examples, the RAN 200 may be the same as the RAN 104 described above and illustrated in FIG. 1. The geographic area covered by the RAN 200 may be divided into cellular regions (cells) that can be uniquely identified by a user equipment (UE) based on an identification broadcasted from one access point or base station. FIG. 2 illustrates

macrocells

202, 204, and 206, and a small cell 208, each of which may include one or more sectors (not shown) . A sector is a sub-area of a cell. All sectors within one cell are served by the same base station. A radio link within a sector can be identified by a single logical identification belonging to that sector. In a cell that is divided into sectors, the multiple sectors within a cell can be formed by groups of antennas with each antenna responsible for communication with UEs in a portion of the cell.

In FIG. 2, two base stations 210 and 212 are shown in

cells

202 and 204; and a third base station 214 is shown controlling a remote radio head (RRH) 216 in cell 206. That is, a base station can have an integrated antenna or can be connected to an antenna or RRH by feeder cables. In the illustrated example, the

cells

202, 204, and 126 may be referred to as macrocells, as the

base stations

210, 212, and 214 support cells having a large size. Further, a base station 218 is shown in the small cell 208 (e.g., a microcell, picocell, femtocell, home base station, home Node B, home eNode B, etc. ) which may overlap with one or more macrocells. In this example, the cell 208 may be referred to as a small cell, as the base station 218 supports a cell having a relatively small size. Cell sizing can be done according to system design as well as component constraints.

It is to be understood that the radio access network 200 may include any number of wireless base stations and cells. Further, a relay node may be deployed to extend the size or coverage area of a given cell. The

base stations

210, 212, 214, 218 provide wireless access points to a core network for any number of mobile apparatuses. In some examples, the

base stations

210, 212, 214, and/or 218 may be the same as the base station/scheduling entity 108 described above and illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 further includes a quadcopter or drone 220, which may be configured to function as a base station. That is, in some examples, a cell may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographic area of the cell may move according to the location of a mobile base station such as the quadcopter 220.

Within the RAN 200, the cells may include UEs that may be in communication with one or more sectors of each cell. Further, each

base station

210, 212, 214, 218, and 220 may be configured to provide an access point to a core network 102 (see FIG. 1) for all the UEs in the respective cells. For example, UEs 222 and 224 may be in communication with base station 210;

UEs

226 and 228 may be in communication with base station 212;

UEs

230 and 232 may be in communication with base station 214 by way of RRH 216; UE 234 may be in communication with base station 218; and UE 236 may be in communication with mobile base station 220. In some examples, the

UEs

222, 224, 226, 228, 230, 232, 234, 236, 238, 240, and/or 242 may be the same as the UE/scheduled entity 106 described above and illustrated in FIG. 1.

In some examples, a mobile network node (e.g., quadcopter 220) may be configured to function as a UE. For example, the quadcopter 220 may operate within cell 202 by communicating with base station 210.

In a further aspect of the RAN 200, sidelink signals may be used between UEs without necessarily relying on scheduling or control information from a base station. For example, two or more UEs (e.g., UEs 226 and 228) may communicate with each other using peer to peer (P2P) or sidelink signals 227 without relaying that communication through a base station (e.g., base station 212) . In a further example, UE 238 is illustrated communicating with

UEs

240 and 242. Here, the UE 238 may function as a scheduling entity or a primary sidelink device, and

UEs

240 and 242 may function as a scheduled entity or a non-primary (e.g., secondary) sidelink device. In still another example, a UE may function as a scheduling entity in a device-to-device (D2D) , peer-to-peer (P2P) , or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) network, and/or in a mesh network. In a mesh network example,

UEs

240 and 242 may optionally communicate directly with one another in addition to communicating with the scheduling entity 238. Thus, in a wireless communication system with scheduled access to time–frequency resources and having a cellular configuration, a P2P configuration, or a mesh configuration, a scheduling entity and one or more scheduled entities may communicate utilizing the scheduled resources.

In the radio access network 200, the ability for a UE to communicate while moving, independent of its location, is referred to as mobility. The various physical channels between the UE and the radio access network are generally set up, maintained, and released under the control of an access and mobility management function (AMF, not illustrated, part of the core network 102 in FIG. 1) , which may include a security context management function (SCMF) that manages the security context for both the control plane and the user plane functionality, and a security anchor function (SEAF) that performs authentication.

In various aspects of the disclosure, a radio access network 200 may utilize DL-based mobility or UL-based mobility to enable mobility and handovers (i.e., the transfer of a UE’s connection from one radio channel to another) . In a network configured for DL-based mobility, during a call with a scheduling entity, or at any other time, a UE may monitor various parameters of the signal from its serving cell as well as various parameters of neighboring cells. Depending on the quality of these parameters, the UE may maintain communication with one or more of the neighboring cells. During this time, if the UE moves from one cell to another, or if signal quality from a neighboring cell exceeds that from the serving cell for a given amount of time, the UE may undertake a handoff or handover from the serving cell to the neighboring (target) cell. For example, UE 224 (illustrated as a vehicle, although any suitable form of UE may be used) may move from the geographic area corresponding to its serving cell 202 to the geographic area corresponding to a neighbor cell 206. When the signal strength or quality from the neighbor cell 206 exceeds that of its serving cell 202 for a given amount of time, the UE 224 may transmit a reporting message to its serving base station 210 indicating this condition. In response, the UE 224 may receive a handover command, and the UE may undergo a handover to the cell 206.

In a network configured for UL-based mobility, UL reference signals from each UE may be utilized by the network to select a serving cell for each UE. In some examples, the

base stations

210, 212, and 214/216 may broadcast unified synchronization signals (e.g., unified Primary Synchronization Signals (PSSs) , unified Secondary Synchronization Signals (SSSs) and unified Physical Broadcast Channels (PBCH) ) . The

UEs

222, 224, 226, 228, 230, and 232 may receive the unified synchronization signals, derive the carrier frequency and slot timing from the synchronization signals, and in response to deriving timing, transmit an uplink pilot or reference signal. The uplink pilot signal transmitted by a UE (e.g., UE 224) may be concurrently received by two or more cells (e.g., base stations 210 and 214/216) within the radio access network 200. Each of the cells may measure a strength of the pilot signal, and the radio access network (e.g., one or more of the base stations 210 and 214/216 and/or a central node within the core network) may determine a serving cell for the UE 224. As the UE 224 moves through the radio access network 200, the network may continue to monitor the uplink pilot signal transmitted by the UE 224. When the signal strength or quality of the pilot signal measured by a neighboring cell exceeds that of the signal strength or quality measured by the serving cell, the network 200 may handover the UE 224 from the serving cell to the neighboring cell, with or without informing the UE 224.

Although the synchronization signal transmitted by the

base stations

210, 212, and 214/216 may be unified, the synchronization signal may not identify a particular cell, but rather may identify a zone of multiple cells operating on the same frequency and/or with the same timing. The use of zones in 5G networks or other next generation communication networks enables the uplink-based mobility framework and improves the efficiency of both the UE and the network, since the number of mobility messages that need to be exchanged between the UE and the network may be reduced.

In various implementations, the air interface in the radio access network 200 may utilize licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or shared spectrum. Licensed spectrum provides for exclusive use of a portion of the spectrum, generally by virtue of a mobile network operator purchasing a license from a government regulatory body. Unlicensed spectrum provides for shared use of a portion of the spectrum without need for a government-granted license. While compliance with some technical rules is generally still required to access unlicensed spectrum, generally, any operator or device may gain access. Shared spectrum may fall between licensed and unlicensed spectrum, wherein technical rules or limitations may be required to access the spectrum, but the spectrum may still be shared by multiple operators and/or multiple RATs. For example, the holder of a license for a portion of licensed spectrum may provide licensed shared access (LSA) to share that spectrum with other parties, e.g., with suitable licensee-determined conditions to gain access.

The air interface in the radio access network 200 may utilize one or more duplexing algorithms. Duplex refers to a point-to-point communication link where both endpoints can communicate with one another in both directions. Full duplex means both endpoints can simultaneously communicate with one another. Half duplex means only one endpoint can send information to the other at a time. In a wireless link, a full duplex channel generally relies on physical isolation of a transmitter and receiver, and suitable interference cancellation technologies. Full duplex emulation is frequently implemented for wireless links by utilizing frequency division duplex (FDD) or time division duplex (TDD) . In FDD, transmissions in different directions operate at different carrier frequencies. In TDD, transmissions in different directions on a given channel are separated from one another using time division multiplexing. That is, at some times the channel is dedicated for transmissions in one direction, while at other times the channel is dedicated for transmissions in the other direction, where the direction may change very rapidly, e.g., several times per slot.

The air interface in the radio access network 200 may utilize one or more multiplexing and multiple access algorithms to enable simultaneous communication of the various devices. For example, 5G NR specifications provide multiple access for UL transmissions from UEs 222 and 224 to base station 210, and for multiplexing for DL transmissions from base station 210 to one or more UEs 222 and 224, utilizing orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP) . In addition, for UL transmissions, 5G NR specifications provide support for discrete Fourier transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) with a CP (also referred to as single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) ) . However, within the scope of the present disclosure, multiplexing and multiple access are not limited to the above schemes, and may be provided utilizing time division multiple access (TDMA) , code division multiple access (CDMA) , frequency division multiple access (FDMA) , sparse code multiple access (SCMA) , resource spread multiple access (RSMA) , or other suitable multiple access schemes. Further, multiplexing DL transmissions from the base station 210 to UEs 222 and 224 may be provided utilizing time division multiplexing (TDM) , code division multiplexing (CDM) , frequency division multiplexing (FDM) , orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) , sparse code multiplexing (SCM) , or other suitable multiplexing schemes.

Various aspects of the present disclosure will be described with reference to an OFDM waveform, schematically illustrated in FIG. 3. It should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the various aspects of the present disclosure may be applied to a DFT-s-OFDMA waveform in substantially the same way as described herein below. That is, while some examples of the present disclosure may focus on an OFDM link for clarity, it should be understood that the same principles may be applied as well to DFT-s-OFDMA waveforms.

As referred to within the present disclosure, a frame may refer to a duration of 10 ms for wireless transmissions, with each frame consisting of 10 subframes of 1 ms each. On a given carrier, there may be one set of frames in the UL, and another set of frames in the DL. Referring now to FIG. 3, an expanded view of an exemplary downlink subframe 302 is illustrated, showing an OFDM resource grid 304. However, as those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the PHY transmission structure for any particular application may vary from the example described here, depending on any number of factors. Here, time is in the horizontal direction with units of OFDM symbols; and frequency is in the vertical direction with units of subcarriers or tones.

The resource grid 304 may be used to schematically represent time–frequency resources for a given antenna port. That is, in a MIMO implementation with multiple antenna ports available, a corresponding multiple number of resource grids 304 may be available for communication. The resource grid 304 is divided into multiple resource elements (REs) 306. An RE, which is 1 subcarrier × 1 symbol, is the smallest discrete part of the time–frequency grid, and contains a single complex value representing data from a physical channel or signal. Depending on the modulation utilized in a particular implementation, each RE may represent one or more bits of information. In some examples, a block of REs may be referred to as a physical resource block (PRB) or more simply a resource block (RB) 308, which contains any suitable number of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. In one example, an RB may include 12 subcarriers, a number independent of the numerology used. In some examples, depending on the numerology, an RB may include any suitable number of consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain. Within the present disclosure, it is assumed that a single RB such as the RB 308 entirely corresponds to a single direction of communication (either transmission or reception for a given device) .

A UE generally utilizes only a subset of the resource grid 304. An RB may be the smallest unit of resources that can be allocated to a UE. Thus, the more RBs scheduled for a UE, and the higher the modulation scheme chosen for the air interface, the higher the data rate for the UE. In this illustration, the RB 308 is shown as occupying less than the entire bandwidth of the subframe 302, with some subcarriers illustrated above and below the RB 308. In a given implementation, the subframe 302 may have a bandwidth corresponding to any number of one or more RBs 308. Further, in this illustration, the RB 308 is shown as occupying less than the entire duration of the subframe 302, although this is merely one possible example.

Each 1 ms subframe 302 may consist of one or multiple adjacent slots. In the example shown in FIG. 3, one subframe 302 includes four slots 310, as an illustrative example. In some examples, a slot may be defined according to a specified number of OFDM symbols with a given cyclic prefix (CP) length. For example, a slot may include 7 or 14 OFDM symbols with a nominal CP. Additional examples may include mini-slots having a shorter duration (e.g., one or two OFDM symbols) . These mini-slots may in some cases be transmitted occupying resources scheduled for ongoing slot transmissions for the same or for different UEs.

An expanded view of one of the slots 310 illustrates the slot 310 including a control region 312 and a data region 314. In general, the control region 312 may carry control channels (e.g., the PDCCH) , and the data region 314 may carry data channels (e.g., PDSCH or PUSCH) . Of course, a slot may contain all DL, all UL, or at least one DL portion and at least one UL portion. The structure illustrated in FIG. 3 is merely exemplary in nature, and different slot structures may be utilized, and may include one or more of each of the control region (s) and data region (s) .

Although not illustrated in FIG. 3, the various REs 306 within a RB 308 may be scheduled to carry one or more physical channels, including control channels, shared channels, data channels, etc. Other REs 306 within the RB 308 may also carry pilots or reference signals, including but not limited to a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) a control reference signal (CRS) , or a sounding reference signal (SRS) . These pilots or reference signals may provide for a receiving device to perform channel estimation of the corresponding channel, which may enable coherent demodulation/detection of the control and/or data channels within the RB 308.

In a DL transmission, the transmitting device (e.g., the scheduling entity 108) may allocate one or more REs 306 (e.g., within a control region 312) to carry DL control information 114 including one or more DL control channels, such as a PBCH; a PSS; a SSS; a physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH) ; a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) indicator channel (PHICH) ; and/or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) , etc., to one or more scheduled entities 106. The PCFICH provides information to assist a receiving device in receiving and decoding the PDCCH. The PDCCH carries downlink control information (DCI) including but not limited to power control commands, scheduling information, a grant, and/or an assignment of REs for DL and UL transmissions. The PHICH carries HARQ feedback transmissions such as an acknowledgment (ACK) or negative-acknowledgment (NACK) . HARQ is a technique well-known to those of ordinary skill in the art, wherein the integrity of packet transmissions may be checked at the receiving side for accuracy, e.g., utilizing any suitable integrity checking mechanism, such as a checksum or a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) . If the integrity of the transmission confirmed, an ACK may be transmitted, whereas if not confirmed, a NACK may be transmitted. In response to a NACK, the transmitting device may send a HARQ retransmission, which may implement chase combining, incremental redundancy, etc.

In an UL transmission, the transmitting device (e.g., the scheduled entity 106) may utilize one or more REs 306 to carry UL control information 118 including one or more UL control channels, such as a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) , to the scheduling entity 108. UL control information may include a variety of packet types and categories, including pilots, reference signals, and information configured to enable or assist in decoding uplink data transmissions. In some examples, the control information 118 may include a scheduling request (SR) , e.g., a request for the scheduling entity 108 to schedule uplink transmissions. Here, in response to the SR transmitted on the control channel 118, the scheduling entity 108 may transmit downlink control information 114 that may schedule resources for uplink packet transmissions. UL control information may also include HARQ feedback, channel state feedback (CSF) , or any other suitable UL control information.

In addition to control information, one or more REs 306 (e.g., within the data region 314) may be allocated for user data or traffic data. Such traffic may be carried on one or more traffic channels, such as, for a DL transmission, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) ; or for an UL transmission, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) . In some examples, one or more REs 306 within the data region 314 may be configured to carry system information blocks (SIBs) , carrying information that may enable access to a given cell.

The channels or carriers described above and illustrated in FIGs. 1-3 are not necessarily all the channels or carriers that may be utilized between a scheduling entity 108 and scheduled entities 106, and those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other channels or carriers may be utilized in addition to those illustrated, such as other traffic, control, and feedback channels.

These physical channels described above are generally multiplexed and mapped to transport channels for handling at the medium access control (MAC) layer. Transport channels carry blocks of information called transport blocks (TB) . The transport block size (TBS) , which may correspond to a number of bits of information, may be a controlled parameter, based on the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and the number of RBs in a given transmission.

FIG. 4 illustrates exemplary Control Resource Set (CORESET) and Search Space (SS) transmissions within slots. The Control Resource Set (CORESET) is basically the PDCCH decode configuration and may be shared by muliple UE’s in a cell. Therefore, the network cell may be responsible for alignment with all UE’s . The CORESET may define the building blocks (e.g., N _RB resource blocks in FD and N _symb∈ {1, 2, 3} symbols) for PDCCH monitoring, while the search space (SS) set configuration indicates time domain pattern where PDCCH is monitored.

In one example, the CORESET may comprises one or more control resource elements (CCEs) , where a CCE consists of 6 resource element groups (REGs) . A REG equals one resource block (RB) during one symbol. The SS set configuration may define the periodicity of slots and slots in the periodicity where the SS set is monitored. More than one monitoring occasion of the same SS set can be configured in a slot. In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, two

monitoring occasions

402 and 404 of a SS set is configured in slot 0 and slot 1.

FIG. 5 illustrates two alternative repletion approaches that may be used to mitigate potential coverage loss for power-efficient devices. A first approach 500 illustrates the use of intra-slot repetition of the PDCCH 506, where one or more monitoring occasions 507 are defined or identified within a single slot 502. This is approach has the benefit of improved power savings for receiving UEs. However, this approach may have limited diversity gain and possibly insufficient symbols considering coexistence with LTE.

A second approach 510 illustrates the use of inter-slot repetition of the PDCCH 520, where one or more monitoring occasions 517 are defined across

multiple slots

512, 514, 516, and 518. This is approach has the benefit of potentially larger diversity gain and minimizing the impact to legacy UE by using only the first 3 symbols. However, this approach may require new/additional information for determining K0 (where K0 is a scheduling delay in number of slots between PDCCH and the start of PDSCH) , and may cause UEs to have increased power consumption for monitoring in multiple slots.

Turning to exemplary aspects for mitigating coverage loss by UEs, a UE may be required to monitor the PDCCH in each configured monitoring occasion based on higher layer configuration where monitoring means to decode a PDCCH candidate. A PDCCH candidate is defined by a DCI size, an aggregation level (AL) , i.e. the number of CCEs, and the time/frequency locations of the CCEs. In each monitoring occasion, UE may be required to decode multiple PDCCH candidates based on higher layer configuration, and each candidate may be associated with a different aggregation level, which can be 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 and a different CCE allocation within the CORESET

FIG. 6 illustrates an example 600 of slot structures for a downlink transmission. In this example, the downlink transmission may be performed using a plurality of

slots

602 and 604 which may include one or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCH) 606 and one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCH) 608. In order to reduce or minimize the potential of coverage loss for power-efficient devices having a reduced number of receive antennas (e.g., one receive antenna) , intra-slot repetition of the PDCCH 606 may be used. For instance, within a first slot 602, a plurality of monitoring occasions 607 may be defined (e.g., by a radio resource control signaling or RRC) so that the PDCCH 606 may be repeated multiple times, thereby improving the chances that the PDCCH content may be correctly received by a receiving user device. In this example, the PDCCH is repeated four (4) times within the first slot 602. The content of the PDCCH 606 may provide scheduling information for the PDSCH 608 in the second slot 604, indicating when the user device should expect to receive the PDSCH 608. In one example, the start of the PDSCH 608 may be measured relative to the transmission of the last PDCCH 606 in the first slot 602.

It is contemplated that different numbers of PDCCH repetitions may implemented in various systems. In one exemplary approach 610 the number of PDCCH repetitions may be sent over one, two, or four monitoring occasions 607 within a single slot with the same starting monitoring occasion. In this manner, the receiving user device may only have to monitor the PDCCH during the expected monitoring occasions 607 based on the maximum number of PDCCH repetitions configured by RRC. That is, the receiving user device may save power by not having to turn its radio on to monitor in unused monitoring occasions in the slot.

In another exemplary approach 612, available monitoring occasions that may be used to send PDCCHs can be larger than one. For instance, if a first PDCCH-1 is only being sent over one monitoring occasion, then one of the

monitoring occasions

614, 616, 618, and 620 may be used. In another example, if the first PDCCH-1 is being repeated over two monitoring occasion, then the remaining monitoring occasions may be used to send a second PDCCH-2 over two other monitoring occasions. That is, different repetitions may be used or start at different monitoring occasions within the same slot.

FIG. 7 illustrates another example 700 of slot structures for a downlink transmission. In this example, the downlink transmission may be performed using a first slot 702 which may include one or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCH) 706 while an uplink shared channel (PUSCH) 708 is transmitted over second slot 704. In order to reduce or minimize the potential of coverage loss for power-efficient devices having a reduced number of receive antennas (e.g., one receive antenna) , intra-slot repetition of the PDCCH 706 may be used. In this example, the PDCCH 706 is repeated across multiple monitoring occasions 707 within the first slot 702, and a reference symbol 710 is included (in at least some of the monitoring occasions 707) to determine PUSCH preparation time (e.g. N ₂) and/or channel state information (CSI) computation time (e.g. Z) shall be specified. More particularly, this example illustrates the use of two repetitions (Rep=2) of the PDCCH (i.e., two monitoring occasions are used for repetition) .

Currently, the PUSCH preparation time (e.g. N ₂) and/or channel state information (CSI) computation time is based on the last symbol of the PDCCH 706 scheduling the PUSCH 708 or triggering the CSI report. However, it is required that the start of a PUSCH transmission be after the preparation time, otherwise a user device will not transmit.

In the case of PDCCH intra-slot repetition as described herein, in a first approach, the last reference symbol of the PDCCH candidate may be inferred based on the indicated number of repetitions (i.e., monitoring occasions) by the DCI. That is, the PUSCH preparation time (e.g. N ₂) and/or channel state information (CSI) computation time may be started from the last repetition 712 (i.e., monitoring occasion) as indicated in the DCI. Note that if the PUSCH preparation time N2 is determined based on a maximum 4 repetitions, then time gap T is too short, and a receiving UE may erroneously drop PUSCH 708. Therefore, measuring the preparation time T based on the maximum number of repetitions may not be preferred.

In a second approach, the last reference symbol 711 detected/decoded by the receiving device is used in conjunction with the decoded number of repetitions (monitoring occasions) expected. That is, the preparation time may be measured from the last reference symbol 711 detected/decoded. In such case, the UE uses the last symbol of the decoded one repetition PDCCH to determine the PUSCH preparation time instead of the last symbol of 2-repetition PDCCH.

In both approaches, PUSCH is not required to occur after the last maximum number of repetitions (monitoring occasions) .

FIG. 8 illustrates yet another example of slot structures for a downlink transmission. The number of consecutive control channel elements (CCEs) required to carry one PDCCH is called an "aggregation level” (AL) . When repetition is configured for the PDCCH, repetition may be supported for larger aggregation levels and the maximum number of repetitions for each aggregation level can be different since the PDCCH performance with N repetitions of AL X/n is the same as assigning a candidate with AL X. For

aggregation level

1, 2 or 4, the PDCCH performance can be improved by using larger aggregation level and thus no repetition is needed. For example, the maximum number or repetitions may be one (1) for aggregation levels AL1, 2 and 4, four (4) maximum repetitions for aggregation levels AL8 and two (2) maximum repetitions for aggregation level AL16. Depending on the configured maximum number of repetitions for a given AL, the receiving user equipment or device (UE) may assume different K0 values for PDSCH, e.g. K0≥0 for MaxNumRep=1 and K0>0 for MaxNumRep>1, where K0 is the scheduling delay in number of slots between PDCCH and the start of PDSCH.

In a first example 800, the PDCCH 806 with a maximum one repetition may schedule a PDSCH 804 within the same slot 802. In a second example 801, the PDCCH 808 with a maximum number of repetition larger than one in a first slot 810 may schedule a PDSCH 812 in a second slot 814.

If the number of PDCCH repetitions is indicated in the DCI, the K0 value range can be determined based on the detected PDCCH candidate, e.g. K0≥0 for NumRep=1 and K0>0 for NumRep>1 where NumRep is the number of PDCCH repetitions indicated in the DCI. The benefit of cross slot scheduling (K0>0) for a PDSCH scheduled by a PDCCH with repetition is to avoid buffering data between the multiple monitoring occasions for PDCCH repetition.

FIG. 9 illustrates yet another example 900 of slot structures for a downlink transmission in which time-interleaved transmissions of PDCCH repetition and PDSCH within a slot are used. This figure illustrates a slot having 14 symbols used to transmit a PDSCH 904, a PDDCH 906, and a demodulation referencing signal (DMRS) 908. If a detected PDCCH candidate with repetition levels R≥1 schedules PDSCH within the same slot (as illustrated in 900) , the resources corresponding to the PDCCH candidate with R _max are not available for the PDSCH.

The receiving user equipment or device (UE) may assume PDSCH DMRS 908 is not overlapped with PDCCH 906 resources determined by R _max and in case of such collision, e.g. for the PDSCH ending in

symbol

9, 10 or 11 with two additional DMRS, then two alternative approaches may be implemented. In a first approach, the UE may drop the additional DMRS symbols 909 that are colliding with PDCCH resources 911. In a second approach, the additional DMRS symbol 909’ may be moved to next available symbol (e.g. shifting the last additional DMRS from 9th symbol to the 10th symbol when the CORESET for PDCCH spans 2 symbols) .

FIG. 10 illustrates yet another example 1000 of slot structures for a downlink transmission in which the PDCCH is repeated across

monitoring occasions

1002 and 1004 within a slot but using various CCE allocations.

In a first approach, the same CCE allocation may be used for PDCCH repetition across monitoring occasions (e.g., CCE allocation for PDCCH 1006 is the same in all monitoring occasions) . This approach has the benefit for supporting PDCCH DMRS bundling across repetitions.

In a second approach,

different CCE allocations

1006 and 1008 for the same PDCCH are used for repetition across the monitoring occasions. This approach has the benefit that the CCE allocations may be more flexible for inter-cell interference randomization. To avoid the decoding complexity due to blind decoding and combining of PDCCH candidates across repetitions, a pre-defined pattern for the CCE allocation may be used in this second approach (e.g., cyclic shift of the CCE based on an identifier which may be the index of the monitoring occasion in the slot) .

FIG. 11 illustrates yet another example of aggregating a PDCCH with repetition across multiple monitoring occasions within a slot. In a first approach, the same PDCCH is repeated with the same aggregation level throughout the slot. In another approach, the same PDCCH is repeated with different aggregation levels. This second approach may be supported only for the aggregation level 4 PDCCH candidate repeated with a larger aggregation level (e.g. 8 or 16) since the same code block size is used for AL4, 8 and 16. In this second approach, the aggregation level 8 PDCCH candidate with an overlapping CCE allocation with the aggregation level 4 PDCCH candidate is determined as the repetition of the same PDCCH.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of PDCCH repetition with frequency hopping for diversity gain. In this example, CORESET frequency hopping may be applied for every N monitoring occasions (MOs) to achieve more diversity gain, where N is configured by a higher layer protocol. In this approach, four

monitoring occasions

1204 and 1206 are defined within a slot 1208, but a first set of monitoring occasions 1204 are offset in frequency from a second set of monitoring occasions 1206. In this example, a hopping offset 1210 may be configured to allow hopping out of the active bandwidth part (BWP) , and a DCI bit can indicate whether the scheduled PDSCH is shifted also by the same hopping offset.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a scheduling entity or base station 1300 employing a processing system 1314. For example, the scheduling entity 1300 may be a user equipment (UE) as illustrated in any one or more of FIGs. 1 or 2. In another example, the scheduling entity 1300 may be a base station as illustrated in any one or more of FIGs. 1 and 2.

The scheduling entity 1300 may be implemented with a processing system 1314 that includes one or more processors 1304. Examples of processors 1104 include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs) , field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) , programmable logic devices (PLDs) , state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functionality described throughout this disclosure. In various examples, the scheduling entity 1300 may be configured to perform any one or more of the functions described herein. That is, the processor 1304, as utilized in a scheduling entity 1300, may be used to implement any one or more of the processes and procedures described below and illustrated in the flow diagram of FIG. 11, to be discussed later.

In this example, the processing system 1314 may be implemented with a bus architecture, represented generally by the bus 1302. The bus 1302 may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specific application of the processing system 1314 and the overall design constraints. The bus 1302 communicatively couples together various circuits including one or more processors (represented generally by the processor 1304) , a memory 1305, and computer-readable media (represented generally by the computer-readable medium 1306) . The bus 1302 may also link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further. A bus interface 1308 provides an interface between the bus 1302 and a transceiver 1310. The transceiver 1310 provides a communication interface or means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. Depending upon the nature of the apparatus, a user interface 1312 (e.g., keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick) may also be provided.

In some aspects of the disclosure, the processor 1304 may include control channel generation circuitry 1340 configured for various functions, including, for example, determining multiple monitoring occasions for transmitting a downlink control channel in a slot by the scheduling entity 1300.

The processor 1304 is responsible for managing the bus 1302 and general processing, including the execution of software stored on the computer-readable medium 1306. The software, when executed by the processor 1304, causes the processing system 1314 to perform the various functions described below for any particular apparatus. The computer-readable medium 1306 and the memory 1305 may also be used for storing data that is manipulated by the processor 1304 when executing software.

One or more processors 1304 in the processing system may execute software. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. The software may reside on a computer-readable medium 1306. The computer-readable medium 1306 may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. A non-transitory computer-readable medium includes, by way of example, a magnetic storage device (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strip) , an optical disk (e.g., a compact disc (CD) or a digital versatile disc (DVD) ) , a smart card, a flash memory device (e.g., a card, a stick, or a key drive) , a random access memory (RAM) , a read only memory (ROM) , a programmable ROM (PROM) , an erasable PROM (EPROM) , an electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM) , a register, a removable disk, and any other suitable medium for storing software and/or instructions that may be accessed and read by a computer. The computer-readable medium 1306 may reside in the processing system 1314, external to the processing system 1314, or distributed across multiple entities including the processing system 1314. The computer-readable medium 1306 may be embodied in a computer program product. By way of example, a computer program product may include a computer-readable medium in packaging materials. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implement the described functionality presented throughout this disclosure depending on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

In one or more examples, the computer-readable storage medium 1306 may include control channel segment determining software or instructions 1352 configured for various functions, including, for example, defining of monitoring occasions within a slot and repetitions. Of course, in the above examples, the circuitry included in the processor 1304 is merely provided as an example, and other means for carrying out the described functions may be included within various aspects of the present disclosure, including but not limited to the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium 1306, or any other suitable apparatus or means described in any one of the FIGs. 1 or 2, and utilizing, for example, the processes and/or algorithms described herein in relation to FIGs. 4–12.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method 1400 for wireless communication in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. As described below, some or all illustrated features may be omitted in a particular implementation within the scope of the present disclosure, and some illustrated features may not be required for implementation of all embodiments. In some examples, the method 1400 may be carried out by the scheduling entity 1300 illustrated in FIG. 13. In some examples, the method 1400 may be carried out by any suitable apparatus or means for carrying out the functions or algorithm described below.

At block 1402, the method 1400 includes defining a repetition configuration including a number of repetitions used for a downlink control channel. In some examples, the repetition configuration may be transmitted to the UE via RRC, and the repetition configuration may comprise configuring a different maximum number of repetitions for different aggregation levels associated with a downlink control channel. The actual number of repetitions used for a downlink control channel may be equal to or smaller than the maximum number of repetitions defined by the repetition configuration. In some examples, the repetition configuration may indicate a number of repetitions used for a downlink control channel, and the repetition configuration may be transmitted to the UE using a downlink control indicator (DCI) . One or more control channel monitoring occasions may be identified within a slot for transmitting the downlink control channel, wherein the number of one or more control channel monitoring occasions is based on the number of repetitions used for the downlink control channel 1404. The downlink control channel may be transmitted, from a first cell to one or more devices, over the identified one or more control channel monitoring occasions 1406. An uplink shared channel transmission may be subsequently received after a preparation time as measured from a last of a number of repetitions for the downlink control channel 1408.

In one example, the same downlink control channel content may be repeated over the one or more control channel monitoring occasions.

According to one approach, different number of repetitions for the downlink control channel are transmitted starting from different control channel monitoring occasions in the slot. According to an alternative approach, different number of repetitions for the downlink control channel are transmitted starting from the same control channel monitoring occasion in the slot.

In one example, the starting control channel monitoring occasion is the first control channel monitoring occasion in the slot.

In one implementation, a downlink shared channel may be sent in a different slot based on the number of repetitions defined by the repetition configuration is larger than one.

In another implementation, a downlink shared channel may be sent in the same slot based on the number of repetitions defined by the repetition configuration is equal to one.

In one aspect, the downlink control channel may schedule a transmission of a downlink shared channel time-interleaved within the same slot. The downlink shared channel may be rate-matched around all the control channel monitoring occasions in the slot.

In another example, demodulation reference signals of the downlink shared channel may be remapped within the slot to avoid collisions with all the control channel monitoring occasions. The same control information may be repeated over the one or more control channel monitoring occasions but at different time and/or frequency allocations (e.g. various CCE allocation) . The time and/or frequency allocation in one control channel monitoring occasion may have a fixed association with time and/or frequency allocation in another control channel monitoring occasion.

In one instance, the downlink control channel may be repeated with a same aggregation level over the one or more control channel monitoring occasions.

In another instance, the downlink control channel may be repeated with a different aggregation level over the one or more control channel monitoring occasions, and the aggregation level in at least one of the control channel monitoring occasions is four (4) . In such case, the aggregation level 8 PDCCH candidate with an overlapping CCE allocation with the aggregation level 4 PDCCH candidate is determined as the repetition of the same PDCCH.

FIG. 15 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an exemplary scheduled entity or UE 1500 employing a processing system 1514. In accordance with various aspects of the disclosure, an element, or any portion of an element, or any combination of elements may be implemented with a processing system 1514 that includes one or more processors 1504. For example, the scheduled entity 1400 may be a user equipment (UE) as illustrated in any one or more of FIGs. 1 and 2.

The processing system 1514 may be substantially the same as the processing system 1014 illustrated in FIG. 10, including a bus interface 1508, a bus 1502, memory 1505, a processor 1504, and a computer-readable medium 1506. Furthermore, the scheduled entity 1500 may include a user interface 1512 and a transceiver 1510 substantially similar to those described above in FIG. 13. That is, the processor 1504, as utilized in a scheduled entity 1500, may be used to implement any one or more of the processes described below and illustrated in FIG. 16. In one example, the transceiver 1510 may be coupled to a single antenna.

In some aspects of the disclosure, the processor 1504 may include control channel decoding circuit 1540 configured for various functions, including, for example, receiving the PDCCH control channel within multiple monitoring occasions in a slot received from the scheduling entity (e.g., 1300) and initiate decoding of one or more of at least one of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) , a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) , or downlink control indicators (DCIs) . In another example, the circuitry 1540 may be configured to implement one or more of the functions described below in relation to the method illustrated in FIG. 15.

Of course, in the above examples, the circuitry included in the processor 1504 is merely provided as an example, and other means for carrying out the described functions may be included within various aspects of the present disclosure, including but not limited to the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium 1506, or any other suitable apparatus or means described in any one of the FIGs. 1 or 2, and utilizing, for example, the processes and/or algorithms described herein in relation to FIGs. 4–9. Instructions or software corresponding to the circuit 1540 include instructions 1552, respectively.

FIG. 16 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method 1600 for wireless communication in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. As described below, some or all illustrated features may be omitted in a particular implementation within the scope of the present disclosure, and some illustrated features may not be required for implementation of all embodiments. In some examples, the method 1600 may be carried out by the scheduled entity 1500 illustrated in FIG. 15. In some examples, the method 1600 may be carried out by any suitable apparatus or means for carrying out the functions or algorithm described below.

As illustrated at block 1602, method 1600 includes receiving, at a user device (UE) from a scheduling cell, a repetition configuration including a number of repetitions used for a downlink control channel. The user device (UE) may receive, from the scheduling cell, the downlink control channel within one or more control channel monitoring occasions in a slot, wherein the number of one or more control channel monitoring occasions is based on the number of repetitions used for the downlink control channel 1604. The one or more control channel monitoring occasions within the slot may be decoded to obtain content in the downlink control channel 1606. Subsequently, an uplink shared channel transmission may be sent after a preparation time as measured from a last of a number of decoded repetitions for the downlink control channel 1608.

In one aspect, different number of repetitions for the downlink control channel may be received starting from different control channel monitoring occasions in the slot.

In an alternative aspect, different number of repetitions for the downlink control channel may be received starting from the same control channel monitoring occasion in the slot. The starting control channel monitoring occasion may be the first control channel monitoring occasion in the slot.

The number of decoded repetitions for the downlink control channel may be equal to or smaller than the number of repetitions defined by the repetition configuration.

According to one example, a downlink shared channel may be received in a different slot if the number of repetitions defined by the repetition configuration is larger than one. In another example, the downlink shared channel may be received in the same slot if the number of repetitions defined by the repetition configuration is equal to one.

The downlink control channel may schedule a transmission of a downlink shared channel time-interleaved within the same slot.

In some implementations, the downlink shared channel may be rate-matched around all the control channel monitoring occasions in the slot.

According to one aspect, demodulation reference signals for the downlink shared channel may be remapped within the slot to avoid collisions with all the control channel monitoring occasions.

In some implementations, the same control information may be repeated over the one or more control channel monitoring occasions but at different time and/or frequency allocations. Time and/or frequency allocation in one control channel monitoring occasion may have a fixed association with time and/or frequency allocation in another control channel monitoring occasion.

According to one aspect, the downlink control channel may be repeated with a same aggregation level over the one or more control channel monitoring occasions.

According to another feature, the downlink control channel may be repeated with a different aggregation level over the one or more control channel monitoring occasions, and the aggregation level in at least one of the control channel monitoring occasions is four (4) .

Several aspects of a wireless communication network have been presented with reference to an exemplary implementation. As those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, various aspects described throughout this disclosure may be extended to other telecommunication systems, network architectures and communication standards.

By way of example, various aspects may be implemented within other systems defined by 3GPP, such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE) , the Evolved Packet System (EPS) , the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) , and/or the Global System for Mobile (GSM) . Various aspects may also be extended to systems defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) , such as CDMA2000 and/or Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) . Other examples may be implemented within systems employing IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) , IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) , IEEE 802.20, Ultra-Wideband (UWB) , Bluetooth, and/or other suitable systems. The actual telecommunication standard, network architecture, and/or communication standard employed will depend on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

Within the present disclosure, the word “exemplary” is used to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration. ” Any implementation or aspect described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects of the disclosure. Likewise, the term “aspects” does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation. The term “coupled” is used herein to refer to the direct or indirect coupling between two objects. For example, if object A physically touches object B, and object B touches object C, then objects A and C may still be considered coupled to one another-even if they do not directly physically touch each other. For instance, a first object may be coupled to a second object even though the first object is never directly physically in contact with the second object. The terms “circuit” and “circuitry” are used broadly, and intended to include both hardware implementations of electrical devices and conductors that, when connected and configured, enable the performance of the functions described in the present disclosure, without limitation as to the type of electronic circuits, as well as software implementations of information and instructions that, when executed by a processor, enable the performance of the functions described in the present disclosure.

One or more of the components, steps, features and/or functions illustrated in FIGs. 1–16 may be rearranged and/or combined into a single component, step, feature or function or embodied in several components, steps, or functions. Additional elements, components, steps, and/or functions may also be added without departing from novel features disclosed herein. The apparatus, devices, and/or components illustrated in FIGs. 1–16 may be configured to perform one or more of the methods, features, or steps described herein. The novel algorithms described herein may also be efficiently implemented in software and/or embedded in hardware.

It is to be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed is an illustration of exemplary processes. Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods may be rearranged. The accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless specifically recited therein.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more. ” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. A phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover: a; b; c; a and b; a and c; b and c; and a, b and c. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112 (f) unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for. ”

Claims

A method of wireless communication comprising:

receiving, at a user device (UE) from a scheduling cell, a repetition configuration including a number of repetitions used for a downlink control channel;

receiving, at the user device (UE) from the scheduling cell, the downlink control channel within one or more control channel monitoring occasions in a slot, wherein the number of one or more control channel monitoring occasions is based on the number of repetitions used for the downlink control channel; and

decoding the one or more control channel monitoring occasions within the slot to obtain content in the downlink control channel.
The method of claim 1, wherein the same downlink control channel content is repeated over the one or more control channel monitoring occasions.
The method of claim 1, wherein different number of repetitions for the downlink control channel are received starting from different control channel monitoring occasions in the slot.
The method of claim 1, wherein different number of repetitions for the downlink control channel are received starting from the same control channel monitoring occasion in the slot.
The method of claim 4, wherein the starting control channel monitoring occasion is the first control channel monitoring occasion in the slot.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending an uplink shared channel transmission after a preparation time as measured from a last of a number of decoded repetitions for the downlink control channel.
The method of claim 6, wherein the number of decoded repetitions for the downlink control channel is equal to or smaller than the number of repetitions defined by the repetition configuration.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a downlink shared channel in a different slot if the number of repetitions defined by the repetition configuration is larger than one.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a downlink shared channel in the same slot if the number of repetitions defined by the repetition configuration is equal to one.
The method of claim 1, wherein the downlink control channel schedules a transmission of a downlink shared channel time-interleaved within the same slot.
The method of claim 10, wherein the downlink shared channel is rate-matched around all the control channel monitoring occasions in the slot.
The method of claim 1, wherein demodulation reference signals for the downlink shared channel are remapped within the slot to avoid collisions with all the control channel monitoring occasions.
The method of claim 12, wherein the same control information is repeated over the one or more control channel monitoring occasions but at different time and/or frequency allocations.
The method of claim 13, wherein time and/or frequency allocation in one control channel monitoring occasion has a fixed association with time and/or frequency allocation in another control channel monitoring occasion.
The method of claim 1, wherein the downlink control channel is repeated with a same aggregation level over the one or more control channel monitoring occasions.
The method of claim 1, wherein the downlink control channel is repeated with a different aggregation level over the one or more control channel monitoring occasions, and the aggregation level in at least one of the control channel monitoring occasions is four (4) .
An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one processor;

a transceiver communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

receive, at a user device (UE) from a scheduling cell, a repetition configuration including a number of repetitions used for a downlink control channel;

receive, at the user device (UE) from the scheduling cell, the downlink control channel within one or more control channel monitoring occasions in a slot, wherein the number of one or more control channel monitoring occasions is based on the number of repetitions used for the downlink control channel; and

decode the one or more control channel monitoring occasions within the slot to obtain content in the downlink control channel.
The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the same downlink control channel content is repeated over the one or more control channel monitoring occasions.
The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

send an uplink shared channel transmission after a preparation time as measured from the last of a number of decoded repetitions for the downlink control channel.
A method of wireless communication, comprising:

defining a repetition configuration including a number of repetitions used for a downlink control channel;

identifying one or more control channel monitoring occasions within a slot for transmitting the downlink control channel, wherein the number of one or more control channel monitoring occasions is based on the number of repetitions used for the downlink control channel; and

transmitting, from a first cell to one or more devices, the repetition configuration and downlink control channel over the identified one or more control channel monitoring occasions.
The method of claim 20, wherein the same downlink control channel content is repeated over the one or more control channel monitoring occasions.
The method of claim 20, wherein different number of repetitions for the downlink control channel are transmitted starting from different control channel monitoring occasions in the slot.
The method of claim 20, wherein different number of repetitions for the downlink control channel are transmitted starting from the same control channel monitoring occasion in the slot.
The method of claim 23, wherein the starting control channel monitoring occasion is the first control channel monitoring occasion in the slot.
The method of claim 20, further comprising:

receiving an uplink shared channel transmission after a preparation time as measured from a last of a number of repetitions for the downlink control channel.
The method of claim 25, wherein the number of repetitions for the downlink control channel is equal to or smaller than the number of repetitions defined by the repetition configuration.
The method of claim 20, further comprising:

sending a downlink shared channel in a different slot based on the number of repetitions defined by the repetition configuration is larger than one.
The method of claim 20, further comprising:

sending a downlink shared channel in the same slot based on the number of repetitions defined by the repetition configuration is equal to one.
The method of claim 20, wherein the downlink control channel schedules a transmission of a downlink shared channel time-interleaved within the same slot.
The method of claim 29, wherein the downlink shared channel is rate-matched around all the control channel monitoring occasions in the slot.
The method of claim 20, wherein the demodulation reference signals of the downlink shared channel are remapped within the slot to avoid collisions with all the control channel monitoring occasions.
The method of claim 31, wherein the same control information is repeated over the one or more control channel monitoring occasions but at different time and/or frequency allocations.
The method of claim 32, wherein time and/or frequency allocation in one control channel monitoring occasion has a fixed association with time and/or frequency allocation in another control channel monitoring occasion.
The method of claim 20, wherein the downlink control channel is repeated with a same aggregation level over the one or more control channel monitoring occasions.
The method of claim 20, wherein the downlink control channel is repeated with a different aggregation level over the one or more control channel monitoring occasions, and the aggregation level in at least one of the control channel monitoring occasions is four (4) .
An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one processor;

a transceiver communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

define a repetition configuration including a number of repetitions used for a downlink control channel;

identify one or more control channel monitoring occasions within a slot for transmitting the downlink control channel, wherein the number of one or more control channel monitoring occasions is based on the number of repetitions used for the downlink control channel; and

transmit, from a first cell to one or more devices, the repetition configuration and downlink control channel over the identified one or more control channel monitoring occasions.
The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the same downlink control channel content is repeated over the one or more control channel monitoring occasions.
The apparatus of claim 36, wherein different number of repetitions for the downlink control channel are transmitted starting from different control channel monitoring occasions in the slot.