CN111034299B - Control of data multiplexing on resources in a new radio technology - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for enabling a wireless communication device to access a service provided by a radio access network in a communication between first and second wireless communication devices, wherein the communication comprises at least one control region comprising a group of physical resource blocks, the method comprising: multiplexing data within at least a portion of the control region to free space in the control region such that the freed space is available for data transmission.

Description

Control of data multiplexing on resources in a new radio technology

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to wireless communication systems and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for enabling a wireless communication device, such as a User Equipment (UE) or mobile device, to access a Radio access technology (Radio Access Technology, RAT) or a Radio access network (Radio Access Network, RAN), and in particular, but not exclusively, to control multiplexing of data on resources in New Radio (NR) technology.

Background

Wireless communication systems, such as third generation mobile phone standards and technologies, are well known, and the third generation partnership project (3 GPP) has developed such 3G standards and technologies, and in general, third generation wireless communications have been developed to the extent that macrocell mobile phone communications are supported, communication systems and networks have been developed toward broadband and mobile systems.

The third generation partnership project has evolved a so-called Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, an evolved universal mobile telecommunications system regional radio access network (E-UTRAN), for a mobile access network of one or more macro cells supported by base stations called enodebs or enbs (evolved nodebs). Recently, LTE has evolved further towards so-called 5G or NR (new radio) systems, where one or more cells are supported by a base station called a gNB.

The 5G standard will support a number of different services, each with very different requirements. These services include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) technology for high speed data transmission, ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) technology for devices requiring low latency and high link reliability, and large-scale machine type communication (mctc) technology for communications requiring high energy efficiency, long service lives, to support a large number of low power devices.

In order to maintain the requirements of different levels of quality of service (quality of service, qoS) required to meet a large number of services, the 5G standard must allow a flexible and scalable design scheme to support these different requirements at the same time.

NR supports slot-based scheduling and communication in a "flavor" or manner very close to LTE. In addition, in NR, mini-slots (mini-slots) have been standardized to meet low latency and/or small size packet requirements. When data for URLLC service occurs after the gNB scheduler makes a slot scheduling decision (and has ready the downlink control information (Downlink Control Information, DCI)), the data may be sent in small slots, along with its control information, in order to meet low latency requirements. Multiplexing data in the control region of a minislot is crucial because of the relatively few time-frequency resources available for the minislot.

In NR systems, the use of COntrol REsource SETs (CORESETs) has been agreed. This is a set of physical resource blocks (physical resource block, PRBs) for a certain number of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing, OFDM) symbols to carry control information from the gNB to the users. The time and/or frequency portion of the spreading of CORESET may be important because of the wider carrier bandwidth available for NR, which if not used, may reduce the system spectral efficiency. This requires multiplexing of data (e.g., physical downlink shared channel (Physical Downlink Shared Channel, PDSCH)) on these resources to improve spectral efficiency.

In LTE technology, there is a significant time interval between control (physical dedicated control channel (Physical Dedicated Control Channel, PDCCH) region) and data (PDSCH). In contrast to LTE, in NR technology, control information will be sent to the user through a different CORESET in the control region. CORESET may not always occupy the entire control region due to the availability of a large broadband carrier in NR. In order to obtain good spectral efficiency, the NR technology has agreed to multiplex data over control resources. However, the user does not know the existence and exact location of CORESET for which he is not configured. Similarly, CORESET may consist of certain time-frequency resources to potentially accommodate control information for several users. Since these users do not necessarily have relevant control information in CORESET during each scheduling interval, this will result in a partly used CORESET, which also implies an inefficient use of time-frequency system resources.

In the NR technique, one slot is defined as 7 or 14 OFDM symbols for the same subcarrier spacing up to 60kHz with a normal Cyclic Prefix (CP); and for the same subcarrier spacing above 60kHz with normal CP, one slot is defined as 14 OFDM symbols. One slot may contain all downlink, all uplink, or at least one downlink portion and at least one uplink portion. Time slot aggregation is also supported, i.e., data transmissions can be scheduled to span one or more time slots. Also defined are minislots having a length that supports a length of 1 symbol for at least 6GHz or more; for lengths from 2 to slot length-1, at least 2 symbols are supported for URLLC. For at least 6GHz and above, a small slot may start from any one OFDM symbol. A small slot contains a demodulation reference signal (Demodulation Reference Signal, DMRS) at a position(s) relative to the start of the small slot.

There are many protocols in standard documents regarding CORESET and search space, which are readily available to those skilled in the art. The requirements and functions that require further investigation are listed in these protocols. Various protocols have also produced a series of proposals to address various issues and problems.

The present invention seeks to address at least some of the outstanding problems in the art.

It is an object of the present invention to achieve efficient data multiplexing on so-called control resources over time slot based and small time slot based scheduling use cases without the problems of previous methods and schemes.

Disclosure of Invention

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for enabling a wireless communication device to access a service provided by a radio access network in a communication between first and second wireless communication devices, wherein the communication comprises at least one control region comprising a group of physical resource blocks, the method comprising: multiplexing data within at least a portion of the control region to free space in the control region such that the freed space is available for data transmission.

Preferably, the group of physical resource blocks comprises CORESET.

Preferably, the first communication device comprises a base station, and the second device comprises a UE; and wherein the base station configures data for the UE in a control region of the transmission.

Preferably, the base station configures data for the UE in the control region of the transmission if not all frequency carriers allocated to the UE are configured for any CORESET.

Preferably, the base station configures data for the UE in the control region, and the frequency resources allocated by the user in the control region partially or completely overlap with the own CORESET.

Preferably, the base station configures data for a UE in the control region, and the frequency resources allocated by the user in the control region may comprise any number of known CORESETs including common, group common and user-specific CORESETs to which it is allocated.

Preferably, the base station multiplexes data for a UE whose frequency allocation is extended in the control section where CORESET is configured that is not known to this particular user but does not currently include any control data.

Preferably, the base station may configure data for one user in the control section so that the frequency carrier of the user is using resources around CORESET of other users, and the gNB transmits the resource occupation of CORESET to the user.

Preferably, the base station configures resources for a user in the control portion that allows for irregularities around the unknown CORESET by conveying limited information about the boundary of the unknown CORESET.

Preferably, the limited information about the boundary of the unknown CORESET comprises at least one of a last PRB of the CORESET and a first available PRB of the user, and further comprises information about the length of the CORESET.

Preferably, information about the boundaries of the unknown CORESET is sent at a granularity higher than PRBs to reduce signaling overhead.

Preferably, the information about the length of the CORESET includes one of an absolute length or a relative length from a start of scheduling data of the user.

Preferably, the base station uses one of a set of predefined CORESET patterns.

Preferably, the base station may activate more than one pattern at the same time.

Preferably, the base station may also send a bitmap conveying the activation status of CORESET for an active CORESET pattern.

Preferably, the activation information is sent as one of cell-specific data or group-specific data.

Preferably, the base station may configure data for a user within a CORESET for its allocated PRB if one or more symbols within the CORESET for the frequency resource of the user are not used in the current scheduling interval.

Preferably, the base station may configure data for a user within a CORESET with one or more OFDM symbols in which CCEs of the user exist in the symbol.

Preferably, the CCEs may be time or frequency-first maps and may exist locally or distributively in the CORESET.

Preferably, when there is an unknown CCE from at least one user, the base station may configure data for one user by extending its frequency resources for one or more OFDM symbols in one CORESET.

Preferably, the base station provides location information to the user to enable wrapping of data around CCEs of unknown users.

Preferably, the base station provides limited location information indicating that the user knows a frequency location from which its data has been multiplexed within a CORESET.

Preferably, the frequency location information represents the number of PRBs or a higher granularity for a group of PRBs to reduce signaling overhead.

Preferably, the radio access network is a new radio/5G network.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a base station adapted to perform the method of another aspect of the present invention.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a UE adapted to perform the method of another aspect of the present invention.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer readable instructions for execution by a processor to perform the method according to another aspect of the present invention.

The non-transitory computer readable medium may include at least one of the group consisting of: hard disks, CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, and flash memory.

Drawings

Further details, aspects and embodiments of the invention are described below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. For simplicity and clarity, elements in the figures have been shown and are not necessarily drawn to scale. The same reference numerals are included in the various figures to facilitate understanding.

FIG. 1 shows a simplified diagram of CORESET level sharing of control resources for data according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a simplified diagram of enhanced CORESET level data reuse according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 shows a simplified diagram of an exemplary set of CORESET patterns, according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 4 shows a simplified diagram of enhancing the use of control resources by limited signaling according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 5 shows a simplified diagram of control resource reuse for CCE levels of data including frequency-first localized CCE mapping in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 shows a simplified diagram of control resource reuse for CCE levels including data of time-prioritized localized CCE mapping, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 shows a simplified diagram of CCE level reuse of control resources for data according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 shows a simplified diagram of RE reuse at enhanced CCE level for data surrounding an unknown CCE, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 shows a simplified diagram of data multiplexing on control resources for small time slots according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 10 shows a simplified diagram of small slot data multiplexing within CORESET around unknown CCEs of other users, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Those skilled in the art will recognize and appreciate that the specific details of the examples described are merely illustrative of some embodiments and that the teachings set forth herein are applicable in a variety of alternative configurations.

The present invention relates to a method and system for data transmission using unused control resources that increases the spectral efficiency of the system. This may be used to increase the available resources for data transmission in, for example, the DL direction. Conversely, this may increase the throughput of the user. For data, the use of more time-frequency resources can be used to reduce the coding rate of a given information block, thereby improving reliability.

The present invention exceeds the level of the prior art in both CORESET level reuse and CCE/DCI level reuse. For CORESET level reuse, it provides techniques and efficient signaling to achieve this using unknown CORESET surrounding resources. In addition, a pattern-based technique is provided that has a hierarchical refinement function or a change with an additional bitmap indicating configured and unconfigured coreets. Similarly, for data multiplexing within the core at the DCI/CCE level, the present invention provides techniques to achieve data multiplexing around CCEs of other users that are not commonly known to the UE.

One feature of the present invention is reuse around unknown CORESET. To overcome the signalling burden, a signalling strategy is provided that can exploit most multiplexing gains with a limited number of bits by indicating only the boundaries of unknown CORESET. The multiplexing of data at the CCE/DCI level may take a similar way. Another important feature involves placing the CORESET configuration pattern on top of the unoccupied CORESET and sending a bitmap about the unoccupied CORESET to inform the UE.

In fourth generation mobile communication systems, such as LTE and LTE-Advanced, there is a clear division in the control region at the beginning of a subframe and the data region on the remaining symbols. This control region includes three physical control channels, namely a Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), a physical hybrid ARQ indicator channel (PHICH), and a PDCCH. The PCFICH provides the size of the control region in which the user can then search for their associated control information based on the system configuration and their identity.

Since the carrier bandwidth may be very large in an NR system, by dedicating the first few symbols to control to maintain a clear time division between control and data regions, a huge waste of resources may result. Thus, it has been agreed that part of the control resources can be used for data transmission. In 3GPP, protocols have been reached that do not configure each user to search through the control area to find its associated control information, but instead may configure one or more CORESETs to find its control information.

CORESET is a combination of consecutive Resource Element Groups (REGs) of duration 1, 2 or 3 OFDM symbols. Furthermore, after reading the Master Information Block (MIB), the user may know at least one CORESET. As with the common CORESET, there may be a group of common PDCCH transmissions heard by a group of users. Thus, each user in the system may be configured to listen to at least one or more CORESETs. Most likely, these CORESETs do not define a perfectly regular rectangle at the beginning of the time slot, which means that there may be time-frequency resources available at the beginning of the time slot, i.e. in the so-called control region.

According to the protocols of 3GPP in the use of control resources to implement data transmission, various solutions with different gains and different granularity of signaling requirements can be employed to implement these mechanisms. For this reason, 3GPP has reached a consensus that the start symbol of the data transmission may be indicated dynamically, possibly also the length of the allocation.

The first level of sharing is that the gNB configures the beginning of data for a user within the control area, but only if all PRBs allocated to that user can be extended in time to the control area without overlapping any of the configured configurations. The next level of sharing of control resources may be achieved when the gNB configures PRBs for the UE starting from a certain OFDM symbol, with the PDSCH allocated region overlapping with one or more CORESETs known to the UE. With knowledge of the resource allocation of CORESET, the UE can accurately determine the time-frequency resources in the control region that may carry its data.

With respect to the figures, it should be noted that for a CORESET that is continuous in the frequency domain (frequency localized), these ideas can also be directly applied to CORESETs that are discontinuous in the frequency domain, meaning that a single CORESET maps to non-adjacent or discontinuous frequencies.

FIG. 1 shows an example illustrating two levels of control resource sharing. Fig. 1 (a) on the left shows a conventional arrangement. The time slot includes a control region at the beginning followed by a data region. The control region includes one common CORESET and three other CORESETs. Three users, denoted UE 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3, respectively, are configured and scheduled by CORESET 1. CORESET2 has scheduled UE 2.1. No users of CORESET3 are scheduled in this slot. In conventional scheduling schemes, in this case, the gNB schedules users only in the data region.

Fig. 1 (b) shows a first level of reuse of control resources for data, where gNB indicates the first data symbol of a user, which is the first symbol whose PRB does not overlap with any CORESET. This shows the symbol times for UE 1.1 and UE 2.1 to acquire the resources corresponding to its allocated PRBs. In the time-frequency grid, a great amount of resource waste still exists in the control area. The resources obtained by this step have been represented by horizontal shading.

Fig. 1 (c) shows the case where the gNB configures the user with data starting with OFDM symbols, in which case they may overlap with any known CORESET. The gNB may choose to puncture (puncturing) or rate-matching around these CORESET. For rate matching, the gNB may select a target code rate for PDSCH. For puncturing cases, it uses a lower code rate to compensate for puncturing around CORESET. In general, puncturing may facilitate gNB operation as compared to rate matching, in which case puncturing requires rate matching based on data resources that can be multiplexed for a particular user in the control portion. The gNB configures for UE 1.2 to receive the PDSCH from the first symbol of the slot. The PRB to which it is allocated overlaps with its CORESET1 so that after leaving the resources of CORESET1 it only successfully takes the resource elements of the transmission data. Similarly, UEs 1.3 have been allocated PRBs that overlap in frequency with CORESET1 and the region of common CORESET known to all users in the cell. The gNB has configured the PDSCH of UE 1.3 from the first symbol of the slot. Thus, UE 1.3 may not consider the resources occupied by CORESET1 and the common CORESET, while the remaining resource elements carry their data. The resources obtained in this step by UE 1.2 and UE 1.3 have been filled up with vertical hatching.

It should be noted that the network does not require additional signalling other than the indication on the start symbol of the data (which has been agreed by the 3 GPP).

Fig. 2 is basically an extension of fig. 1, showing two additional arrangements. In fig. 2 (a), it is assumed that CORESET3 is a group common CORESET known to at least UE 1.1 and UE 2.1, or that the gNB has informed at least these users of the resource allocation of the CORESET. Under this assumption, the gNB may configure the PDSCH starting symbols for UE 1.1 and UE 2.1 as the first symbol of the slot, puncture or rate match around CORESET3 for data for UE 1.1, and puncture/rate match around CORESET2 and 3 for data for UE 2.1. The square filled PDSCH region shows that additional PDSCH resources are made available by this enhancement.

If CORESET3 is not configured or no information is carried exactly during this slot, the gNB can configure the PDSCH of these UEs 1.1 and UW2.1 from the first symbol of the slot without rate matching around CORESET 3. This extension of additional PDSCH resources is shown as a region of the cross pattern. The region of interest here is the region occupied by CORESET3 shown in fig. 2 (a). Here, the gNB may configure the user on the area if nothing happens to be carried.

Fig. 2 has demonstrated that knowledge of CORESET at the UE can enable the control resources of the data to be used efficiently. Unfortunately, each user may typically only know the CORESET that is configured for it. Informing all UEs of all active CORESET locations (time and frequency regions) may significantly increase signaling load. Each user may need to be informed of CORESET, possibly with control information, plus CORESET of other UEs, respectively, such that data multiplexing is implemented on the control resources, or common signaling (at cell level or group level) may be required.

In order to reduce the signalling load required to implement data multiplexing in the control region, one possibility is to predefine a set of CORESET patterns. The gNB may then dynamically select an appropriate pattern for use based on the network and the user. FIG. 3 shows an example set of predefined CORESET patterns. Such CORESET patterns may be defined for different system/carrier bandwidths. The gNB may inform the users in the cell which pattern is currently configured by common or group common control signaling. This will enable the use of time-frequency resources of the data in the control region which are not part of any CORESET.

Since there may be many variations in the size and periodicity requirements of the CORESET configuration, such variations are handled, or the set of patterns may contain multiple patterns, while the gNB selects the pattern best suited for the current load and dynamic variations in a semi-static manner. Another possibility is to have a relatively small number of simple patterns in the group, while the gNB may activate one or more patterns at the same time. This may provide some flexibility when the gNB needs to scale up or down the number of CORESETs without any modification to the currently active CORESETs and configured users.

One enhancement to CORESET pattern design may be to use a layered pattern. One or more base patterns may be present, and the gNB may optimize or adjust these patterns. This may further reduce the amount of signaling since the pattern used is not expected to change drastically from one slot/subframe to the next. This also ensures that if the gNB thus needs to scale up or down CORESET resources due to network/user dynamics, there is no need to deallocate and then reallocate the currently active users.

Another strategy is that for data multiplexing, dynamic use of control resources can be achieved. For only a few active CORESET slots in the configured CORESET pattern, the gNB may send a bitmap for the configured/active CORESET. This is more applicable in the case of a single active pattern, because the more patterns, the dynamic information about all patterns can be a problem. This information may be cell specific and sent to all users. The information may also be sent to a group of users or user-specific in a group-specific manner. In the latter case, for example, for users that are currently requesting high throughput in the DL direction and are actively scheduled. After informing the relevant users of the bitmap of current CORESET activity, the gNB may configure the user from the first symbol of the slot, and the user who knows the active CORESET may be able to use the resource elements in the control region (not part of CORESET) plus the resource elements corresponding to unconfigured or inactive CORESET. This may improve system spectral efficiency despite the need for dynamic signaling.

Instead of using CORESET patterns and associated signaling to implement data multiplexing in the control region, another alternative is to have the gNB configure CORESET where it deems appropriate. In this way, data multiplexing in the control region may be achieved by the gNB sending limited control information to the users being scheduled, the data schedule of which may be extended in the control region so as to overlap with some unknown CORESET. This limited information may be sent to a group of users instead of only to the individual user in question. In one example, there may be a group of users currently active. Referring to fig. 4, which is explained for convenience of description, fig. 4 shows only a single scheduling user.

Fig. 4 (a) shows a classical control and data separation approach. If the gNB allows data resource allocation in a known CORESET attachment, the result is shown in FIG. 4 (b). This is achieved by indicating the start symbol as the second symbol of the slot. The UE knows that the gNB rate matches its data around CORESET1 and the common CORESET. Thus, both the gNB and the UE have a common solution to the scheduling location of PDSCH data. Since CORESET2 is unknown to the UE, the gNB cannot start the user's data from the first symbol. As shown in fig. 4 (c), using the resources from the first symbol may require the gNB to signal the CORESET2 region to the UE. This may increase signaling overhead. Spectral efficiency approaching this can be achieved by employing the following rules: the gNB can only allow a single irregularity/dent in the rectangular block, which is not caused by the known CORESET. This is shown in fig. 4 (d). Thus, the gNB may inform the UE about the PRB location at the end of CORESET2 or the first PRB that UE 1.1 may use after CORESET 2. In order to be able to use the resources correctly, the UE must obtain knowledge of the duration of the unknown CORESET in addition to the frequency location of the unknown CORESET. Since only 1, 2 or 3 symbols can be configured for CORESET in time, this information can be easily conveyed with 1 or 2 bits of information. The CORESET duration may be indicated with a first symbol relative to a slot, or with a PDSCH starting symbol relative to a user being configured to use these resources. In addition to the known CORESET at one corner, fig. 4 (d) also shows one indentation or irregularity in the PRB of the user. It is straightforward to convey the dent information at one corner, since only one PRB needs to be indicated. In case the indentation occurs in the middle part of the user PRB, then the starting and ending positions, or one position plus the CORESET length, need to be communicated to the user. The gNB may choose to configure data on the unknown CORESET only at the corners of the allocated PRBs, limiting the information that needs to be transmitted. Another way to further reduce the bits of signalling required to indicate boundary PRBs is to employ a higher granularity in PRBs by considering a certain number of adjacent PRBs that make up a group. Therefore, instead of indicating PRBs, the gNB needs to indicate the boundary of the unknown CORESET from the perspective of the group PRBs, which requires fewer bits than indicating from the perspective of the PRBs.

Reuse of DCI or CCE level control resources in CORESET for data transmission will now be discussed.

Data multiplexing over control resources within CORESET will now be discussed. There may be common, group common and UE-specific CORESETs. The UE-specific CORESET may be configured for the user through higher layer signaling, but may not know whether other users are configured with the same CORESET. This also implies that the specific mapping of the control channel elements (control channel element, CCEs) of other users in the CORESET may not be known if they happen to be present. CCE mapping within CORESET may be time/frequency-first localized or distributed. This location (and jumping to the next CCE) is typically a function of the UE identity.

One of the simplest settings for using control resources within CORESET is that one or more symbols in CORESET are not just used for CCEs when the gNB is configuring some users and allocating frequency resources for a particular user. In this case, the gNB can configure this data by indicating the start symbol of the allocation of users within the CORESET (with unused CORESET OFDM symbols), rather than multiplexing within the CORESET. An example is shown in fig. 5. The figure shows a simple case where only one CORESET spans three OFDM symbols. This is followed by 11 OFDM data symbols, but the duration is here exemplary, which may be any allowed length in these regions. In fig. 5, CCE mapping is frequency-preferred and positioning is performed for two UEs. Fig. 5 (a) shows a setup such that there is an unused OFDM symbol in CORESET1, but the data for users 1.1 and 1.2 starts after CORESET. Fig. 5 (b) shows a simple multiplexing over CORESET, where the frequency allocations of two users have been spread in time over the unused CORESET symbols. Additional resource gains are shown in areas filled with vertical line patterns.

When the gNB indicates the starting symbol of the data in a slot that even contains its own CCE, the position of which is certainly known to the UE, the next level of data multiplexing within CORESET can be forced. The gNB may apply puncturing/rate matching of data resources around the CCEs of the user in the CORESET, although it should not be confused at the UE end as to whether rate matching is used or not. This is shown in fig. 5 (c), where the gNB configures UE 1.1 and UE 1.2 from the first symbol of the slot without any additional information. The frequency allocation of each UE overlaps with the location of its CCE known to each UE. Thus, after obtaining the scheduling command from this first symbol and knowing its CCE location, each user knows that the gNB has scheduled its data around its CCEs, and can therefore successfully identify the data resource elements from the CCEs. Other additional resources available for data multiplexing are shown in the plus filled pattern on the first symbol in fig. 5 (c).

Fig. 6 shows the same strategy as applied to the case of multiplexing data on CORESET resources when CCEs are mapped in a time-first manner in a localized manner. Fig. 6 (a) shows a conventional scheduling scheme in which no data is multiplexed on CORESET. Fig. 6 (b) shows a case where the gNB allows data scheduling on unused CORESET symbols. Due to the time-prioritized CCE mapping, the CCEs will occupy the resource element group (Resource Element Group, REG) for the duration of CORESET. Thus, this alternative does not allow for the addition of data resource elements for any user. Fig. 6 (c) shows a case where the gNB employs a data scheduling policy around CCEs known to the user. Thus, the gNB schedules data for each user by puncturing or rate matching around each user's CCE, starting with the first symbol of the slot. Since each user knows the exact location of its CCE, with the start symbol as the first symbol of the slot, after receiving the scheduling command from the gNB, it knows the multiplexing of data around its CCE without any need to transmit signaling. This may improve the spectral efficiency of the system. The additional resources made available by this scheme are shown in the plus filled pattern in fig. 6 (c).

Fig. 7 shows a case of distributed mapping of CCEs. The upper graph shows a frequency-first mapping case, while the lower graph shows a time-first mapping case. Fig. 7 (a) shows a scenario where CORESET contains CCEs for UEs 1.1 and 1.2, which users are scheduled outside CORESET. Fig. 7 (b) shows a scenario that allows the gNB to CORESET reuse of data for a particular UE if all PRBs for that user are not used on one or more symbols of CORESET. For the frequency-first mapping case, this allows the gNB to schedule the data of two users with two symbols in CORESET, a vertical line pattern symbol shown in the figure. In contrast, this does not improve on the time-first mapping case, since CCEs extend and use all CORESET symbols. Fig. 7 (c) shows a case where the gNB schedules users on known CCEs. This allows the UE 1.2 to make additional use of its frequency resources, with only its own CCEs present in CORESET. This additional area is shown in a horizontal line pattern.

Reuse of control resources at the enhanced CCE level in CORESET for data transmission will now be discussed.

Now consider the case of active (active) data multiplexing on CORESET resources, which may overlap with CCEs unknown to the user around which they are being scheduled. This may be achieved by the gNB communicating some information to the user.

One way to achieve such a surrounding resource sharing of unknown user CCEs might be to enforce certain CCE patterns, similar to the way proposed for CORESET in fig. 3. These patterns may be different for different system bandwidths. In order to make it possible to multiplex data of a specific user around the CCE of another user, the gNB may inform the specific user about the pattern of another user and may schedule the data by puncturing or rate matching around the CCE pattern. Once this pattern is known, the user can take data multiplexes around the other user CCEs.

Another way is to inform the users being scheduled of the locations of other user CCEs. If only CCEs of one or two other users are present in the locally present user frequency resources, this may require additional signaling, but if the distributed mapping may burden DL signaling, complete information is conveyed. Thus, the use of such multiplexing may not be optimal. DL signaling burden of informing the user about other unknown CCEs can be tolerated by transmitting only limited information about the boundaries of other user CCEs.

Fig. 8 shows the case where the above-described manner is applied to resource elements inside CORESET. Fig. 8 (a) shows a typical arrangement in which CORESET contains CCEs of a local time-first map of two users allocated data resources other than CORESET. Fig. 8 (b) shows reuse of control resources for data when UE 1.2 is scheduled from the first symbol of a slot without any additional information. Fig. 8 (c) shows a case where the gNB further schedules UE 1.1 from the first symbol of the slot and performs data puncturing or rate matching of UE 1.1 around CCEs of UE 1.2. To make this possible, the gNB informs UE 1.1 about the exact location of UE 1.2 CCEs. With such active reuse, the additional resources that become available to UE 1.1 are shown in the pattern filled with "+" signs.

From a spectral efficiency point of view, it may be the best choice to send complete information to the user about the unknown CCEs of other users, which may lead to control overhead problems when there are CCEs of multiple users mapped in a distributed manner in CORESET. Signaling overhead can be tolerated if the gNB uses only one side of the unknown CCE surrounding resources for a particular user. An example is shown in fig. 8 (d), where the gNB schedules the data of UE 1.1 from the first symbol of the slot and indicates only the first PRB after the unknown CCE. This gives the UE 1.1 that in such a setup he can use the PRB in the first symbol starting from this PRB to its last PRB. Fig. 8 (d) shows some unused resource elements that cannot be used by this limited signaling, although this strategy appears to provide a very reasonable tradeoff considering that this limited signaling is necessary in enabling such data multiplexing. The following facts are an important aspect: the gNB does not need to inform the user in time about the number of symbols occupied by CCEs of other users. CORESET may have a time-first mapping or a frequency-first mapping, so in case of a time-first mapping, the UE knows that all symbols within CORESET will be occupied by other user CCEs in the form of resource element groups. Similarly, for the case of frequency-first mapping, it will know that the next symbol will be blank unless there are some user CCEs embedded after the first symbol, then the gNB may need to send some information about the time boundaries of the unknown CCEs.

The discussion and figures illustrated herein are for the case of localized mapping, but are equally valid for the case of distributed CCE mapping as well as the case of time and frequency prioritization. The principle of using control resources of some parts around an unknown CCE by indicating a single boundary of the unknown CCE is also fully applicable in the case of distributed mapped CCEs. The number of bits of signaling needed to indicate the boundary of an unknown CCE may be reduced by informing the boundary at a granularity higher than PRBs.

Reuse of DCI or CCE level control resources in CORESET for small slots will now be discussed. This discussion relates to a small time slot having both a control portion and a data portion. Such small time slots may be reserved for use by URLLC users. The use of control resources outside and inside CORESET around CCEs is more important for small slot-based scenarios than for slot-based scenarios. Due to their small size, the spectral efficiency of small time slots can be significantly improved by data multiplexing the control resources.

Fig. 9 shows the concept previously described as applied to the small slot case. Fig. 9 (a) shows two groups of small time slots, which are scheduled to control with different time and frequency resources in one time slot. Each minislot control region is shown with one CORESET, which is shown as CCE containing users for PDSCH scheduling. Here, the PDSCH length is shown as only one symbol, but this is not a limitation, and the same applies to small slots where the data duration is greater than one symbol. In fig. 9 (a), data is not scheduled on CORESET, although CORESET2 has been configured with fewer frequency resources than the frequency resources of PDSCH configuring UE y (as shown without shading). Fig. 9 (b) shows the case where gNB is the data scheduling control resource around CORESET. This allows more data resource elements to be provided for UE y around CORESET2, but does not help for UE x. In fig. 9 (c), the gNB configures the data of the user from the beginning of the mini-slot and punctures/rate matches around CCEs present therein. When users know their own CCEs, they can perfectly retrieve their data resource elements from CORESET. The added resources are represented in fig. 9 (c) by a "+" pattern.

Fig. 9 shows the case of two groups of small slots, where only one user has CCEs in CORESET. Although several URLLC users may be assigned the same CORESET, their periodicity is more frequent than a slot-based CORESET (e.g., every symbol or every two symbols, etc.). The chance that multiple users need to communicate at the same exact moment with low delay becomes smaller. Thus, this scenario appears to be a typical scenario for small time slots.

Nevertheless, there may be cases where the gNB scheduler receives data from higher layers of multiple URLLC users simultaneously. The above approach is still valid for the case of CCEs of multiple CORESETs or multiple users within each CORESET. The use of control resources inside CORESET around unknown CCEs may be very relevant for small slot scenarios. This is presented by way of example in fig. 10. Fig. 10 (a), 10 (b), and 10 (c) on the left are for the distributed case, while fig. 10 (a), 10 (b), and 10 (c) on the right are for the local mapping case. Fig. 10 (a) shows CORESET containing CCEs of two users, where only UE x PDSCH is shown on the same PRB. To simplify the discussion, it is assumed that UE y is being scheduled on different time-frequency resources, or at least on frequency resources that are completely disjoint from the frequency resources shown in the figure. The gNB will not schedule UE x's data in CORESET due to UE y's unknown CCE. In fig. 10 (b), the gNB schedules data for UE x in CORESET around CCE of UE y. This may require informing UE x about the location of CCE placement for UE y. The signalling required may be moderate for local mapping, but is very cumbersome for the case of distributed mapping. Fig. 10 (c) shows an application of a limited signaling scheme, where the gNB informs UE x about the boundary of UE y CCEs. This may leave some resource elements unused in CORESET, but the spectral efficiency gain of the data is very important in view of the limited signalling it requires.

The opening or rate matching around CORESET or DCI/CCE is now discussed.

The manner in which the CORESET or DCI/CCE levels described herein are used for data multiplexing in the control region may result in different PRB lengths being allocated to users in the slot due to the use of resources around or at the edges of the active control resource elements. This can complicate the processing of the gNB even more if it applies rate matching, as it requires complete rate matching. This operation can be simplified to some extent by assigning granularity to the levels of PRB groups.

For such uneven lengths, punching is relatively easy. The gNB may encode the user data at a slightly lower encoding rate and then puncture the control resources. Although relatively simple to apply, the puncturing operation reduces performance for large puncturing blocks even if the coding rate is reduced. One way is that when CORESET is semi-statically configured, rate matching is applied at the CORESET level, so the gNB can know the amount of control resources it can use as data transmission before scheduling DCI/CCEs in CORESET. For DCI/CCE level multiplexing, where most modest resources will be available, puncturing may facilitate the operation of the gNB. One way is that when this CORESET has CCEs for a single user, the rate matching inside the CORESET can also be applied to CCE level data multiplexing. This may be useful for small time slots, in which case a single active user per small time slot is expected to be a typical use case.

CORESET on non-contiguous frequency resources may also be an issue of interest because NR technology allows a single CORESET to have contiguous or non-contiguous frequency resources. The present invention is generally directed to the case of a continuous frequency CORESET. However, these approaches are equally effective for other situations, such as the case of a frequency discontinuous CORESET. Each individual distributed CORESET may be considered as a plurality of CORESETs known (shared, group shared, or assigned to a user) or unknown to the user, and then used in concert based on the user's knowledge of these CORESETs.

The present invention has been described above with reference to frequency localized PDSCH allocation. However, all the ways related to CORESET level sharing and DCI/CCE level sharing are also applicable to distributed allocation.

An interesting situation may occur when CORESET is configured on discontinuous frequency resources and PDSCH allocations are also distributed by frequency. If the distributed CORESET and the distributed PDSCH allow similar granularity and they share all or part of the PRBs, this may facilitate the application of the concepts presented in this invention to data multiplexing on control resources.

For simplicity of description, a plurality of DCIs (CCEs) of one UE are used herein for description, for example, in the case where one DCI (a set of CCEs) is allocated to one user, but one UE may have a plurality of DCIs in one or different coreets received in the same slot. Multiple DCIs may be due to dl+ul control, dl+common, ul+common, etc. All the ways described above are also applicable to these scenarios.

Slot aggregation or cross-slot scheduling has been standardized by 3 GPP. The present invention has been described using a generic example of the same slot scheduling, but these concepts are still widely applicable to all types of slot aggregation or use cases of cross slot scheduling. For PDSCH data scheduled in a later time slot than the current time slot or in the slot aggregation part in the next time slot, the gNB may not know the DCI/CCE size of the upcoming time slot. Thus, DCI level sharing inside CORESET may be more difficult to implement. CORESET, on the other hand, is semi-statically configured, so all concepts for CORESET level sharing can be used for future PDSCH multiplexing for slot aggregation or cross-slot scheduling.

Many other alternatives and variations may be suitable for use and function in the various ways set forth herein.

Although not shown in detail, any device or means forming part of the network may comprise at least a processor, a storage unit and a communication interface, wherein the processor unit, the storage unit and the communication interface are configured to perform the method of any aspect of the invention. Further options and choices are described below.

The signal processing functions of embodiments of the present invention, particularly the gNB and the UE, may be implemented using computing systems or architectures known to those skilled in the relevant art. Computing systems such as desktop, laptop or notebook computers, hand-held computing devices (PDAs, cell phones, palmtops, etc.), mainframes, servers, clients, or any other type of special or general purpose computing device as may be desired or appropriate for a given application or environment may be used. The computing system may include one or more processors, which may be implemented using a general-purpose or special-purpose processing engine, such as, for example, a microprocessor, microcontroller, or other control module.

The computing system may also include a main memory, such as Random Access Memory (RAM) or other dynamic memory, for storing instructions and information to be executed by the processor. Such main memory may also be used for storing temporary variables and other intermediate information to be executed by the processor during execution of instructions. The computing system may also include a Read Only Memory (ROM) or other static storage device for storing static information and instructions for the processor.

The computing system may also include an information storage system, which may include, for example, a media drive and a removable storage interface. The media drive may include a drive or other mechanism to support fixed or removable storage media, such as a hard disk drive, floppy disk drive, tape drive, optical disk drive, compact Disk (CD) or Digital Video Drive (DVD), read or write drive (R or RW), or other removable or fixed media drive. Storage media may include, for example, hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, CD or DVD, or other fixed or removable medium that is read by and written to by media drives. The storage medium may include a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein specific computer software or data.

In alternative embodiments, the information storage system may include other similar components for allowing computer programs or other instructions or data to be loaded into the computing system. Such components may include, for example, removable storage units and interfaces such as program cartridges and cartridge interfaces, removable memory (e.g., flash memory or other removable memory modules) and memory slots, and other removable storage units and interfaces that allow software and data to be transferred from the removable storage unit to the computing system.

The computing system may also include a communication interface. Such a communication interface may be used to allow software and data to be transferred between the computing system and external devices. Examples of communication interfaces may include modems, network interfaces (such as ethernet or other NIC cards), communication ports (such as, for example, universal Serial Bus (USB) ports), PCMCIA slots and cards, and so forth. Software and data transferred via the communications interface are in the form of signals which may be electronic, electromagnetic and optical or other signals capable of being received by the communications interface medium.

In this document, the terms "computer program product," "computer-readable medium," "non-transitory computer-readable medium," and the like may be used generally to refer to tangible media, such as memory, storage devices, or storage units. These and other forms of computer-readable media may store one or more instructions for use by a processor, including a computer system, to cause the processor to perform specified operations. Such instructions, generally referred to as "computer program code" (which may be grouped in the form of computer programs or other groupings), when executed, enable the computing system to perform functions of embodiments of the present invention. . Note that the code may directly cause the processor to perform specified operations, be compiled to do so, and/or be combined with other software, hardware, and/or firmware elements (e.g., libraries for performing standard functions) to do so

The non-transitory computer readable medium may include at least one of the group consisting of: hard disks, CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, EPROM, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, and flash memory.

In embodiments where the elements are implemented using software, the software may be stored in a computer readable medium and loaded into a computing system using, for example, a removable storage drive. The control modules (in this example, software instructions or executable computer program code) when executed by a processor in a computer system cause the processor to perform the functions of the invention as described herein.

Furthermore, the inventive concept may be applied to any circuit for performing signal processing functions within a network element. It is further envisioned that a semiconductor manufacturer may utilize the inventive concepts in designing stand-alone devices such as Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) or microcontrollers of Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) and/or any other subsystem elements, for example.

It will be appreciated that the above description has described embodiments of the invention with reference to a single processing logic for clarity. However, the inventive concept may equally be implemented by a number of different functional units and processors to provide signal processing functionality. Thus, references to specific functional units are only to be seen as references to suitable means for providing the described functionality rather than indicative of a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

Aspects of the invention may be implemented in any suitable form including hardware, software, firmware or any combination of these. The invention may alternatively be implemented at least in part as computer software running on one or more data processors and/or digital signal processors or as a configurable module component such as an FPGA device. Thus, the elements and components of an embodiment of the invention may be physically, functionally and logically implemented in any suitable way. Indeed the functionality may be implemented in a single unit, in a plurality of units or as part of other functional units.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with some embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. Rather, the scope of the invention is limited only by the appended claims. Furthermore, although features may appear to be described in connection with particular embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that various features of the described embodiments may be combined in accordance with the invention. In the claims, the term "comprising" does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps.

Furthermore, although individually listed, a plurality of means, elements or method steps may be implemented by e.g. a single unit or processor. Furthermore, although individual features may be included in different claims, these may possibly be advantageously combined, and the inclusion in different claims does not imply that a combination of features is not feasible and/or advantageous. Moreover, the inclusion of a feature in one category of claims does not imply a limitation to this category but rather indicates that the feature is equally applicable to other claim categories as appropriate.

Furthermore, the order of features in the claims does not imply any specific order in which the features must be performed and in particular the order of individual steps in a method claim does not imply that the steps must be performed in that order. Rather, the steps may be performed in any suitable order. Furthermore, singular references do not exclude a plurality. Thus, references to "a," "an," "the first," "the second," etc. do not exclude a plurality.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with some embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. Rather, the scope of the invention is limited only by the appended claims. Furthermore, while certain features have been described in connection with specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that different features of the described embodiments may be combined in accordance with the invention. In the claims, the term "comprising" does not exclude the presence of other elements.

Claims (23)

1. A method for enabling a wireless communication device to access a service provided by a radio access network in a communication between a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the first communication device comprises a base station, the second communication device comprises a UE, the communication comprises at least one control region comprising a group of physical resource blocks comprising CORESET, the method comprising:

Multiplexing data within at least a portion of the control region to free space in the control region, such that the freed space is available for data transmission,

wherein the base station uses one of a set of predefined CORESET patterns, or the base station activates more than one CORESET pattern at the same time, and wherein the base station concurrently transmits a bitmap conveying activation status for CORESETs in one activated CORESET pattern.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the base station configures data for the UE in a control region of the transmission.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the base station configures data for the UE in a control region of the transmission if all frequency carriers allocated to the UE are not configured for any CORESET.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the base station configures data for the UE in the control region in which user allocated frequency resources partially or fully overlap with its own CORESET.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the base station configures data for one UE in the control region, and the frequency resources allocated by the user in the control region may contain any number of known CORESETs including common, group common, and user-specific CORESETs to which it is allocated.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the base station multiplexes data for a UE whose frequency allocation is extended in the control region in which CORESET is configured that is unknown to this particular user but does not currently include any control data.

7. A method according to claim 2, wherein the base station can configure data for one user in the control region such that the frequency carrier of a user is using resources around CORESET of other users and the gNB sends the resource occupancy of CORESET to the user.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the base station configures resources for one user in the control region that allows for irregularities around an unknown CORESET by conveying restricted information about the boundary of the unknown CORESET.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the restricted information about the boundary of the unknown CORESET includes at least one of a last PRB of the CORESET and a first available PRB of the user, and further including information about a length of the CORESET.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein information about boundaries of the unknown CORESET is transmitted at a granularity higher than PRBs to reduce signaling overhead.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the information about the length of the unknown CORESET comprises one of an absolute length or a relative length from a beginning of the user's scheduling data.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the activation information is sent as one of cell-specific data or group-specific data.

13. The method of claim 2, wherein the base station may configure data for a user within one CORESET for its allocated PRBs if one or more symbols within the CORESET are not used for the frequency resource of the user in the current scheduling interval.

14. The method of claim 2, wherein the base station can configure data for a user within a CORESET with one or more OFDM symbols in which CCEs for the user are present in the symbol.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the CCEs may be time or frequency-first maps and may exist locally or distributively in the CORESET.

16. The method of claim 2, wherein the base station can configure data for one user by extending its frequency resources for one or more OFDM symbols in one CORESET when there is an unknown CCE from at least one user.

17. The method of claim 2, wherein the base station provides location information to the user to enable wrapping of data around CCEs of unknown users.

18. A method according to claim 2, wherein the base station provides restricted location information indicating that the user knows a frequency location from which its data has been multiplexed within a CORESET.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the frequency location information represents a number of PRBs or a higher granularity for a group of PRBs to reduce signaling overhead.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the radio access network is a new radio/5G network.

21. A user equipment comprising a processor, a storage unit and a communication interface, wherein the processor, storage unit and communication interface are configured to perform the method according to any of claims 1 to 20.

22. A base station comprising a processor, a memory unit and a communication interface, wherein the processor, memory unit and communication interface are configured to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 20.

23. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer readable instructions for execution by a processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 20.