CN112825581B

CN112825581B - Method and device for determining PDCCH monitoring capability in mobile communication

Info

Publication number: CN112825581B
Application number: CN202011251711.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 阿布戴拉提夫·沙拿; 穆罕默德·S·阿利比·艾勒马利
Original assignee: MediaTek Singapore Pte Ltd
Current assignee: MediaTek Singapore Pte Ltd
Priority date: 2019-11-21
Filing date: 2020-11-11
Publication date: 2023-07-25
Anticipated expiration: 2040-11-11
Also published as: CN112825581A

Abstract

Various solutions for PDCCH monitoring capability determination in a CA scenario are described herein relating to user equipment and network devices in mobile communications. The apparatus may send a capability report to indicate the first PDCCH monitoring capability and the second PDCCH monitoring capability. An apparatus may receive a configuration that configures a first set of cells using the first PDCCH monitoring capability and a second set of cells using the second PDCCH monitoring capability. The apparatus may determine a first monitoring budget corresponding to the first set of cells based on the first PDCCH monitoring capability and a second monitoring budget corresponding to the second set of cells based on the second PDCCH monitoring capability. The apparatus may perform PDCCH monitoring based on the first monitoring budget and the second monitoring budget. The invention realizes the PDCCH monitoring capability determination in the CA scene.

Description

Method and device for determining PDCCH monitoring capability in mobile communication

Cross reference

The invention requires the following priorities: U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/938,356, issued on 11/21/2019, issued on 4/11/2020, and issued on 17/088,837, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to mobile communications, and more particularly to physical downlink control channel (physical downlink control channel, PDCCH) monitoring capability determination for user equipment and network devices in a carrier aggregation (carrier aggregation, CA) scenario in mobile communications.

Background

Unless otherwise indicated, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in the list of follows and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

In Long-Term Evolution (LTE) or New Radio (NR), a PDCCH candidate refers to a region in a downlink resource grid (resource grid) where a PDCCH may be carried. The UE needs to perform blind decoding among all these PDCCH candidates in an attempt to find PDCCH data (e.g., downlink control information (downlink control information, DCI)). The UE is configured with PDCCH candidates to be monitored by means of the search space set. Monitoring a large number of PDCCH candidates increases the complexity of the UE. Thus, NR specifies the maximum number of PDCCH candidates requiring blind decoding and the maximum number of control channel elements (control channel element, CCEs) requiring channel estimation. This limits the UE complexity to a reasonable level and has an acceptable limit on the set of search spaces for PDCCH monitoring.

In the third generation partnership project (3 ^rd Generation Partnership Project,3 GPP) release 15, rel-15, a limit on the maximum number of PDCCH candidates to be monitored in a CA scenario is defined for each slot. A maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs or Blind Decoding (BD) is specified for each slot. In release 16 (Rel-16) of the 3GPP technical specification for NR, an increased PDCCH monitoring capability for the number of non-overlapping CCEs is proposed for better latency. Each monitoring span specifies a clear limit on the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs or BDs.

However, in Rel-16, PDCCH monitoring capability in CA scenarios has not been defined, in particular if the UE indicates more than 4 serving cells for carrier aggregation and the UE configuration has a larger number of cells than the reported maximum number of monitored cells. In Rel-15, a limit of the maximum number of PDCCH candidates to be monitored in a CA scenario is defined for each slot. In Rel-16, a span-based PDCCH monitoring function is introduced and co-existence between a Rel-16 CCE/BD budget (widget) defined for each span and a Rel-15 slot-based budget is supported. Thus, for the Rel-16 CA scenario, rel-15 requires some modification to the slot-based budget calculation. In Rel-16, span-based budget calculations need to be designed and specified for CA scenarios.

Therefore, how to determine the PDCCH monitoring capability in a CA scenario for coexistence between a Rel-16 span-based configuration and a Rel-15 slot-based configuration becomes an important issue for newly developed wireless communication networks. Therefore, there is a need to provide an appropriate PDCCH monitoring scheme for the CA scenario in Rel-16.

Disclosure of Invention

The following summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. That is, the following summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts, gist, benefits, and advantages of the novel and non-obvious techniques described herein. Selected embodiments are described further in the detailed description below. Accordingly, the following summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter.

The present invention aims to solve the aforementioned problems related to PDCCH monitoring capability determination in CA scenario for user equipment and network devices in mobile communication, and proposes a solution or solution.

In one aspect, a method may include an apparatus transmitting a capability report to indicate a first PDCCH monitoring capability and a second PDCCH monitoring capability. The method may also include the apparatus receiving a configuration that uses a first set of cells for the first PDCCH monitoring capability and a second set of cells for the second PDCCH monitoring capability. The method may further include the apparatus determining a first monitoring budget corresponding to the first set of cells based on the first PDCCH monitoring capability and determining a second monitoring budget corresponding to the second set of cells based on the second PDCCH monitoring capability. The method may further include the apparatus performing PDCCH monitoring based on the first monitoring budget and the second monitoring budget.

In one aspect, an apparatus may include a transceiver to wirelessly communicate with a network node of a wireless network during operation. The apparatus also includes a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver. The processor may perform operations during operation: a capability report is sent via the transceiver to indicate the first PDCCH monitoring capability and the second PDCCH monitoring capability. The processor may perform operations of: a configuration is received via a transceiver, the configuration configuring a first set of cells using the first PDCCH monitoring capability and a second set of cells using the second PDCCH monitoring capability. The processor may further perform the operations of: a first monitoring budget corresponding to the first set of cells is determined based on the first PDCCH monitoring capability and a second monitoring budget corresponding to the second set of cells is determined based on the second PDCCH monitoring capability. The processor may further perform the operations of: and performing PDCCH monitoring according to the first monitoring budget and the second monitoring budget.

The invention provides a method and a device for determining the PDCCH monitoring capability in mobile communication, which realize the PDCCH monitoring capability determination in a CA scene.

Notably, while the description provided herein includes content such as LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-Advanced Pro), internet of Things (Internet-of-thins, ioT), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT, and industrial Internet of Things (Industrial Internet of Things, IIoT), the proposed concepts, schemes, and any variations/derivatives thereof may be implemented in, for, or through any other type of radio access technology, network, and network topology. The scope of the invention is not limited to the examples described herein.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. It will be appreciated that for clarity of illustration of the concepts of the invention, the drawings are not necessarily to scale, and that some of the components shown may be shown in an out of scale dimension from the actual implementation.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example scenario under a scheme shown according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a table of example CCE and BD budgets under a scheme in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example scenario under a scheme according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example communication device and an example network device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of an example flow according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Detailed examples and implementations of the claimed subject matter are disclosed herein. It is to be understood, however, that the disclosed examples and implementations are merely illustrative of the claimed subject matter, which may be embodied in various forms. Moreover, the present invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments and implementations set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments and implementations are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the following description, details of known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments and implementations.

SUMMARY

Embodiments in accordance with the present invention relate to various techniques, methods, schemes and/or solutions related to PDCCH monitoring capability determination in a CA scenario involving a user equipment and a network device in mobile communications. According to the invention, a plurality of possible solutions can be implemented individually or in combination. That is, although these solutions are described separately below, two or more of these possible solutions may be implemented in one combination or another.

In LTE or NR, PDCCH candidates refer to regions in the downlink resource grid where PDCCHs can be carried. The UE needs to perform blind decoding among all these PDCCH candidates in an attempt to find PDCCH data (e.g., DCI). The UE is configured with PDCCH candidates to be monitored by means of the search space set. Monitoring a large number of PDCCH candidates increases the complexity of the UE. Thus, NR specifies the maximum number of PDCCH candidates requiring blind decoding and the maximum number of CCEs requiring channel estimation. This limits the UE complexity to a reasonable level and has an acceptable limit on the set of search spaces for PDCCH monitoring.

In Rel-15 of the 3GPP technical specification for NR, a limit of the maximum number of PDCCH candidates to be monitored in the CA scenario is defined for each slot. The maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs or BDs is specified for each slot. In Rel-16 of the 3GPP technical specification for NR, an increased PDCCH monitoring capability for the number of non-overlapping CCEs is proposed for better latency. Each monitoring span specifies an explicit (explicit) limit of the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs or BDs.

Fig. 1 shows an example scenario 100 under an approach according to an embodiment of the invention. Scenario 100 includes a UE and a plurality of network nodes that are part of a wireless communication network (e.g., an LTE network, a 5G network, an NR network, an IoT network, an NB-IoT network, or an IIoT network). In Rel-16 span-based monitoring is used for explicit BD/CCE budgets. The UE reports one or more combinations of the number of symbols (X, Y) for PDCCH monitoring, wherein X+.gtoreq.Y. A span is a set of consecutive symbols in a slot in which the UE is configured to monitor PDCCH candidates. The UE supports PDCCH monitoring occasions (monitoring occasion) at any symbol in a slot with a minimum time interval, where the minimum time interval is X symbols between the first symbol of two consecutive spans (including across slots). The duration of the span is d _span ＝max(d _CORESET,max ,Y _min ) Wherein d is _CORESET,max Is the largest duration of the control resource set (CORESET) allocated to the UE, Y _min Is the minimum value of Y in the combination (X, Y) reported by the UE. The last span in a slot may have a shorter duration than the other spans in the slot. On the activated Downlink (DL) bandwidth part (BWP) of the serving cell, the UE for PDCCH monitoring can define each time slot or each span on the activated DL BWP of the serving cell according to the maximum number of PDCCH candidates and non-overlapping CCEs monitored respectively per time slot or per span Force.

Scenario 100 illustrates an example of span determination. The UE may report the spans that it can support. For example, the UE may report supported spans (X, Y) = { (7, 3), (4, 3) } to the network node. The network node may select at least one of them and configure the selected span to the UE. If the span arrangement satisfies the gap time interval of at least one (X, Y) of the candidate values reported by the UEs set in each slot (including across slot boundaries), then a specific PDCCH monitoring configuration satisfying the UE capability constraint may be configured. For example, the network node may determine span duration = max { the maximum of all CORESET durations, the minimum of Y } = max {3,3} = 3. The span arrangement does not satisfy the gap time interval of (X, Y) = (7, 3), and the gap time interval of (X, Y) = (4, 3) may be satisfied. Thus, the PDCCH monitoring configuration corresponding to the monitoring span (X, Y) = (4, 3) may be configured by the network node to the UE.

In Rel-15, the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs and the maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates (e.g., the maximum number of BDs) are specified for each slot for different subcarrier spacing (SCS) (e.g., μ=0, 1, or 3). In Rel-16, for a combination (X, Y) and different SCS (e.g., μ=0, 1), the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs and the maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates (e.g., the maximum number of BDs) are specified for each span.

Fig. 2 shows an example table 200 under an arrangement according to an embodiment of the invention. Table 200 shows the CCE budget and BD budget corresponding to the Rel-15 slot-based configuration and the Rel-16 span-based configuration, respectively. 3 monitoring spans were introduced in Rel-16, including (2, 2), (4, 3) and (7, 3). The UE may be configured to determine the CCE budget and BD budget from table 200, which table 200 is also defined in the 3GPP technical specification for NR.

Fig. 3 shows an example scenario 300 under an approach according to an embodiment of the invention. Scenario 300 includes a UE and a plurality of network nodes that are part of a wireless communication network (e.g., an LTE network, a 5G network, an NR network, an IoT network, an NB-IoT network, or an IIoT network). Scenario 300 illustrates an example of CCE/BD budget determination. For scs=15 KHz (e.g., μ=0) and 30KHz (e.g., μ=1), a CCE/BD budget is defined in Rel-16 for each span. Assuming that the PDCCH monitoring configuration corresponding to the monitoring span (X, Y) = (4, 3) is configured and the SCS is 15KHz, the UE may be configured to determine the CCE/BD budget according to the table 200 defined in the 3GPP technical specification for NR. As shown in fig. 3, for (X, Y) = (4, 3) and scs=15khz, the ue may determine that the CCE budget is equal to 36 and the BD budget is equal to 28 for each span.

However, in Rel-16, PDCCH monitoring capability in CA scenarios has not been defined, in particular if the UE indicates more than 4 serving cells for carrier aggregation and the UE configuration has a larger number of cells than the reported maximum number of monitored cells. In Rel-15, a limit of the maximum number of PDCCH candidates to be monitored in a CA scenario is defined for each slot. In Rel-16, a span-based PDCCH monitoring function is introduced and co-existence between the Rel-16CCE/BD budget defined for each span and the Rel-15 slot-based budget is supported. Thus, for the Rel-16 CA scenario, rel-15 slot-based budget calculation requires some modification. In Rel-16, span-based budget calculations need to be designed and specified for CA scenarios.

In view of the above, the present invention proposes various schemes regarding PDCCH monitoring capability determination in a CA scenario involving a UE and a network device. According to the scheme of the invention, the UE can support the monitoring of the PDCCH based on time slots and the monitoring of the PDCCH based on span of the Rel-16 aiming at the CA scene. The number of Rel-15 CCE/BD budgets and Rel-16CCE/BD budgets may be determined separately and independently. The UE may report various combinations of the number of carriers that Rel-15 and Rel-16 may support. Then, some Rel-15 slot-based carriers and some other Rel-16 span-based carriers may be configured independently. The UE may determine the Rel-15 CCE/BD budget for the Rel-15 slot-based carrier according to the slot-based parameters and formulas and may determine the Rel-16CCE/BD budget for the Rel-15 slot-based carrier according to the span-based parameters and formulas. Thus, under coexistence between Rel-16 span-based PDCCH monitoring and Rel-15 slot-based PDCCH monitoring, PDCCH monitoring capabilities may be properly specified/determined for CA scenarios. With the newly introduced Rel-16 span-based PDCCH configuration, the network node and UE can configure and monitor the PDCCH correctly/appropriately.

Specifically, in the case where PDCCH monitoring capability per span of Rel-16 is supported for each component carrier (component carrier, CC) being scheduled. The UE may be configured to send a capability report to indicate the first PDCCH monitoring capability and the second PDCCH monitoring capability. The first PDCCH monitoring capability may include a slot-based PDCCH monitoring capability (e.g., rel-15 PDCCH monitoring capability). The second PDCCH monitoring capability may include a span-based PDCCH monitoring capability (e.g., rel-16 PDCCH monitoring capability). The capability report may include various combinations of the first PDCCH monitoring capability and the second PDCCH monitoring capability. For example, the UE may report support CA with a certain number of carriers. Various combinations (e.g., multiple candidates) may be reported to the network node. The UE may report that it may support a first combination of 4 Rel-16 CC and 1 Rel-15CC, a second combination of 3 Rel-16 CC and 2 Rel-15CC, and a third combination of 1 Rel-16 CC and 4 Rel-15 CC.

The network node may select one of the combinations supported by the UE to configure the UE. The UE may receive a configuration configuring a first set of cells or CCs that use a first PDCCH monitoring capability and a second set of cells or CCs that use a second PDCCH monitoring capability. The configuration may include a certain number of Rel-15CC and a certain number of Rel-16 CC that need to be monitored by the UE. Thus, the UE may be configured with Rel-16 per span monitoring for some CCs (e.g., 3 Rel-16 CC) and Rel-15 per slot monitoring for some other CCs (e.g., 2 Rel-15 CCs). Rel-16 CC may be used for ultra-reliable low-latency-latency communication, URLLC) services.

The UE may then be configured to determine a first monitoring budget corresponding to the first set of cells based on the first PDCCH monitoring capability and determine a second monitoring budget corresponding to the second set of cells based on the second PDCCH monitoring capability. The first monitoring budget may include a first CCE or BD budget. The second monitoring budget may include a second CCE or BD budget. The UE may monitor the PDCCH according to the first and second monitoring budgets, respectively.

In the case of Rel-15,indicating the number of configured DL serving cells. Use of +.>And it represents the number of cells on which the UE can monitor the PDCCH. If->Then->If it isThen-> (PDCCH blindly detects CA) (if reported by UE), otherwise The parameter pdcch-BlindDetectionCA shall pass the condition +.> And (5) performing verification. Thus, 4 is the minimum value of pdcch-BlindDetectionCA. The parameter PDCCH-BlindDetectionCA indicates PDCCH blind decoding capability supported for CA UEs with more than 4 CCs. The field value is from 4 to 16. For example, a UE may be configured with 7 cells and report pdcch-Blinddetectionca=5, therefore +.> And->

In the case of the Rel-16,also indicates the number of configured DL serving cells. Use of +. >And it represents the number of cells on which the UE can monitor the PDCCH. It is used for replacing->Thus, the first and second substrates are bonded together,rel-16>Is to support Rel-15 per slot monitoring the number of DL cells for CCE/BD budget. Rel-16>Is to support Rel-16 per span monitoring the number of DL cells for CCE/BD budget. In Rel-16, the Rel-15 parameter pdcch-BlindDetectionCA is replaced at Rel-16 by two new parameters pdcch-BlindDetectionCA-r15 and pdcch-BlindDetectionCA-r 16. In Rel-16, the UE reports the combination of the CA's pdcch-BlindDetectionCA-r15 and pdcch-BlindDetectionCA-r 16. The minimum value of pdcch-BlindDetectionCA-r15 is 1 and the minimum value of pdcch-BlindDetectionCA-r16 is 1. Candidate values for pdcch-BlindDetectionCA-r15 are 1 to 15. The candidate value for pdcch-BlindDetectionCA-r16 is 1To 15. The number of reports should be in the range of 3.ltoreq.pdcch-Blind detection CA-r15+pdcch-Blind detection CA-r16.ltoreq.16. For example, 7 cells may be configured for the UE and (pdcch-blinddetection ca-r15, pdcch-blinddetection ca-r 16) = (3, 2) may be reported. Thus (S)>And is also provided with

In some embodiments, when the UE is configured to perform carrier aggregation operations in more than Y downlink cells or more than Z downlink cells, respectively, and using at least one downlink cell from Y downlink cells and at least one downlink cell from Z downlink cells, when the UE indicates that the UE is a non-overlapping monitored cell of PDCCH-NR-Capability-R15 (UE-NR-Capability-R15) or UE-NR-Capability-R16 (UE-NR-Capability-R16) with carrier aggregation Capability greater than Y downlink cells or greater than Z downlink cells, respectively, the UE includes an indication in the UE-NR-Capability-R15 or UE-NR-Capability-R16 that is a candidate of PDCCH-PDCCH monitoring Capability for a maximum number of downlink cells or PDCCH configurations of PDCCH monitoring Capability configuration (pdcchhmoningcanblinconconfig) =r15 PDCCH monitoring Capability (R15 PDCCH monitoring Capability) and PDCCH monitoring Capability of PDCCH 3716. When the UE is not configured for NR dual connectivity (NR-DC, NR-dual connectivity) operation, the UE determines that monitoring corresponds to respectively Individual downlink cells or +>The ability of the maximum number of PDCCH candidates and the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs per slot or per span of the downlink cells. If the UE does not provide pdcch-BlindDetectionCA-r15, then +.>Is the number of configured downlink cells. Otherwise, go (L)>Is the value of pdcch-BlindDetectionCA-r 15. If the UE does not provide pdcch-BlindDetectionCA-r16Is the number of configured downlink cells. Otherwise, go (L)>Is the value of pdcch-BlindDetectionCA-r 16.

In some embodiments, the UE is configured with monitoring capability using Rel-15 PDCCHThe number of downlink cells in a single cell, and is configured with relevant PDCCH candidates monitored on active DL BWP of the cell being scheduled using SCS configuration μ (wherein +.>) The DL BWP of the activated cell is the activated DL BWP of the activated cell, and the DL BWP of the deactivated cell is the DL BWP with the index provided by the first actiondownlink BWP-Id for the deactivated cell, and the UE does not need to be in the following stateMonitoring for more than +_ per time slot on active DL BWP of the cell being scheduled in the downlink cells>Individual PDCCH candidates or exceeding->And non-overlapping CCEs. Configured with monitoring capabilities using Rel-15 PDCCH at UE In the case of downlink cells for both force and Rel-16 PDCCH monitoring capability, +.>By->And (5) replacing. Thus, the UE may perform blind decoding by using Rel-15 PDCCH (e.g., +.>) To replace PDCCH blind decoding capability (e.g., +.>) To determine a first monitoring budget (e.g.)>Or->)。

In some embodiments, the UE is configured with only monitoring capabilities using Rel-16 PDCCHIndividual downlink cells and +.>+.>The individual downlink cells use the combination (X, Y) for PDCCH monitoring and have an active DL BWP configured with SCS (wherein,) The DL BWP of the activated cell is the activated DL BWP of the activated cell, and the DL BWP of the deactivated cell is provided with the first actiondownlinkbwp-Id as the deactivated cellIndexed DL BWP, if +.>The span of the scheduling cells in the downlink cells is aligned and the UE does not need to be inMonitoring for excess per span on active DL BWP of a cell being scheduled in a downlink cellIndividual PDCCH candidates or exceedingA non-overlapping CCE, whereinIs the number of cells configured with SCS configuration j using Rel-16 PDCCH monitoring capability. In case the UE is configured with a downlink cell that uses both Rel-15 PDCCH monitoring capability and Rel-16 PDCCH monitoring capability, By->And (5) replacing. Thus, the UE may perform a blind decoding function (e.g., a +_>) Replacement PDCCH blind decoding function (e.g. +.>) To determine a second monitoring budget (e.g.)>Or (b))。

In some implementations, after determining the supported number of CCE/BD budgets of Rel-15 CC, the determined CCE/BD budgets should be shared among all Rel-15 CC. The UE may be configured to split (split) a first monitoring budget among a first number of cells or CCs that use a first PDCCH monitoring capability. The CCE/BD budget for PDCCH monitoring for configuring CCs with Rel-15 PDCCH monitoring should be calculated using the Rel-15 formula for these specific CCs. Similarly, after determining the supported number of CCE/BD budgets of Rel-16CC, the determined CCE/BD budgets should be shared among all Rel-16 CC. The UE may be configured to split a second monitoring budget among a second number of cells or CCs that use the first PDCCH monitoring capability. In Rel-16, the number of CCEs to be monitored (e.g.,) And the number of PDCCH candidates (e.g.,) Is defined for Rel-15 and Rel-16, respectively. Thus, there is one budget for Rel-15 CC and another budget for Rel-16 CC. Rel-15 CC will continue to use the conventional Rel-15 equation and the Rel-16 carrier will use the newly defined equation.

In some embodiments, the formula for CCE/BD budget per span may be applied to a subset of carriers with aligned spans (e.g., non-staggered spans) for a set of cells with the same numerical parameters (numerology) and the same monitoring spans (X, Y). The aligned spans include CCs sharing the same span. In the case of span staggering (stacked), then groups of aligned spans may be defined and the aligned spans may be calculated together. In the case of span alignment of the second set of cells, the UE may be configured to determine a second monitoring budget (e.g., rel-16 CCE/BD budget) corresponding to the second set of cells (e.g., rel-16 CC) based on the same formula. In the event that the spans of the second set of cells are not aligned, the UE may be configured to determine a second monitoring budget (e.g., rel-16 CCE/BD budget) corresponding to the second set of cells (e.g., rel-16 CC) based on a different formula.

For example, with monitoring span (X, Y) = (7, 3) in 3 cells configuration, and with monitoring span (X, Y) = (4, 3) in 2 cells configuration, due to parametersAnd->Is different and defined for each span, so CCE/BD budgets corresponding to two different monitoring spans can be calculated independently. Thus, the UE may distinguish between aligned span CCs and non-aligned span CCs and apply different formulas for CCE/BD budget determination on CCs of the aligned span. In another embodiment, aligned spans (e.g., non-staggered spans) are not allowed. Configuring CCs with the same numerical parameters with the same span configuration may be configured with aligned spans.

Illustrative embodiments

Fig. 4 illustrates an example communication device 410 and an example network device 420 according to an embodiment of the invention. To implement schemes, techniques, flows and methods relating to PDCCH monitoring capability determination in a CA scenario involving user equipment and network devices in wireless communications, each of the communication device 410 and the network device 420 may perform various functions, including the scenario or scheme described above and the flow 500 described below.

The communication device 410 may be part of an electronic device, may be a UE such as a portable or mobile device, a wearable device, a wireless communication device, or a computing device. For example, the communication apparatus 410 may be implemented in a smart phone, a smart watch, a personal digital assistant, a digital camera, or a computing device such as a tablet, laptop, or notebook. The communication device 410 may also be part of a machine type device, which may be an IoT, NB-IoT or IIoT device such as a fixed or static device, a home device, a wired communication device, or a computing device. For example, the communication device 410 may be implemented in a smart thermostat, a smart refrigerator, a smart door lock, a wireless speaker, or a home control center. Alternatively, the communication device 410 may be implemented in the form of one or more integrated circuit (Integrated circuit, IC) chips, such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more reduced-Instruction-Set-Computing (RISC) processors, or one or more Complex-Instruction-Set-Computing (CISC) processors. The communication device 410 includes at least a portion of those components shown in fig. 4, such as the processor 412. The communications apparatus 410 can further include one or more other components (e.g., an internal power source, a display device, and/or a user interface device) that are not relevant to the proposed solution of the present invention, but for simplicity and brevity, these other components in the communications apparatus 410 are not depicted in fig. 4 nor described below.

Network device 420 may be part of an electronic device and may be a network node such as a base station, small cell, router, or gateway. For example, network apparatus 420 may be implemented in an evolved node B (eNodeB) or a next generation node B (gNB) of 5G, NR, ioT, NB-IoT or IIoT in an LTE, LTE-Advanced, or LTE-Advanced Pro network. Alternatively, network device 420 may be implemented in one or more integrated circuit IC core slices, such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more RISC or CISC processors. Network device 420 includes at least a portion of those components shown in fig. 4, such as processor 422. Network apparatus 420 may further include one or more other components (e.g., internal power supplies, display devices, and/or user interface devices) that are not relevant to the proposed solution of the present invention, but for simplicity and brevity, these other components in network apparatus 420 are not depicted in fig. 4, nor described below.

In an aspect, each of processor 412 and processor 422 may be implemented in the form of one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, or one or more CISC processors. That is, even though the singular term "processor" is used herein to refer to the processor 412 and the processor 422, each of the processor 412 and the processor 422 may include multiple processors in some embodiments and may include a single processor in other embodiments according to the present invention. In another aspect, each of processor 412 and processor 422 may be implemented in hardware (and, optionally, firmware) having electronic components that may include, but are not limited to, one or more transistors, one or more diodes, one or more capacitors, one or more resistors, one or more inductors, one or more memristors, and/or one or more varactors configured and arranged to achieve a particular purpose in accordance with the invention. In other words, according to various embodiments of the present invention, each of processor 412 and processor 422 may, at least in some embodiments, be dedicated machines designed, configured, and arranged specifically to perform specific tasks including out-of-order HARQ feedback about devices (represented by communications apparatus 410) and networks (represented by network apparatus 420) according to various embodiments of the present invention.

In some embodiments, the communication device 410 may further include a transceiver 416 coupled to the processor 412, the transceiver 416 being capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data. In some implementations, the communication device 410 may further include a memory 414, the memory 414 coupled to the processor 412 and capable of being accessed by the processor 412 and storing data therein. In some implementations, the network device 420 may also include a transceiver 426 coupled to the processor 422, the transceiver 426 wirelessly transmitting and receiving data. In some implementations, the network device 420 may further include a memory 424, the memory 424 coupled to the processor 422 and accessible to and storing data in the processor 222. In some implementations, the network device 420 may further include a memory 224 coupled to the processor 222 and capable of being accessed by the processor 222 and storing data therein. Accordingly, communication device 410 and network device 420 may wirelessly communicate with each other via transceiver 416 and transceiver 426, respectively. To facilitate a better understanding, a description of the operation, functionality, and capabilities of each of communication device 410 and network device 420 is provided below in the context of a mobile communication environment in which communication device 410 is implemented as or in a communication device or UE in a communication network, and network device 420 is implemented in or as a network node of the communication network.

In some implementations, the processor 412 may be configured to send a capability report via the transceiver 416 to indicate the first PDCCH monitoring capability and the second PDCCH monitoring capability. Processor 412 may report a slot-based PDCCH monitoring capability (e.g., rel-15 PDCCH monitoring capability). Processor 412 may report span-based PDCCH monitoring capabilities (e.g., rel-16 PDCCH monitoring capabilities). Processor 412 may report various combinations of the first PDCCH monitoring capability and the second PDCCH monitoring capability. For example, the processor 412 may report support for CAs with a certain number of carriers. Processor 412 may report various combinations (e.g., multiple candidates) of network device 420. Processor 412 may report that it may support a first combination of 4 Rel-16CC and 1 Rel-15 CC, a second combination of 3 Rel-16CC and 2 Rel-15 CC, and a third combination of 1 Rel-16CC and 4 Rel-15 CC.

In some implementations, network device 420 may select one of the combinations supported by communication device 410 to configure communication device 410. Processor 412 may receive, via transceiver 416, a configuration using a first set of cells/CCs for a first PDCCH monitoring capability, and a second set of cells or CCs for a second PDCCH monitoring capability. Network device 420 may configure a number of Rel-15 CC and a number of Rel-16 CCs that need to be monitored by communication device 410. Thus, processor 412 may be configured to monitor Rel-16 per span for some CCs (e.g., 3 Rel-16 CC) and Rel-15 per slot for some other CCs (e.g., 2 Rel-15 CC). The network device 420 may configure Rel-16CC for the URLLC service. Network device 420 may configure Rel-15 CC for an eMBB service.

In some implementations, the processor 412 may be configured to determine a first monitoring budget corresponding to the first set of cells based on the first PDCCH monitoring capability and to determine a second monitoring budget corresponding to the second set of cells based on the second PDCCH monitoring capability. The processor 412 may determine a first CCE or BD budget. The processor 412 may determine a second CCE or BD budget. Processor 412 may perform PDCCH monitoring based on the first and second monitoring budgets, respectively.

In some implementations, the processor 412 may be configured to split the first monitoring budget among a first number of cells or CCs that use the first PDCCH monitoring capability. Processor 412 may calculate the CCE/BD budget for PDCCH monitoring for configuring CCs with Rel-15 PDCCH monitoring by using the Rel-15 equation for these particular CCs. Similarly, the processor 412 may be configured to split the second monitoring budget among a second number of cells or CCs that use the second PDCCH monitoring capability. In Rel-16, processor 412 may calculate the number of CCEs for Rel-15 CC and Rel-16 CC, respectively (e.g.,) And the number of PDCCH candidates (e.g., +.>). Thus, processor 412 can determine one budget for Rel-15 CC and another budget for Rel-16 CC. Processor 412 may use a conventional Rel-15 equation for Rel-15 CC and a newly defined equation for the Rel-16 carrier.

In some embodiments, for a group of cells having the same numerical parameters and the same monitoring span (X, Y), processor 412 may apply the formula for the CCE/BD budget per span for a group of subcarriers having aligned spans (e.g., non-staggered spans). In the case of span interleaving, the processor 412 may determine a set of aligned spans and calculate together for the aligned spans. In the case of span alignment of the second set of cells, the processor 412 may be configured to determine a second monitoring budget (e.g., rel-16 CCE/BD budget) corresponding to the second set of cells (e.g., rel-16 CC) based on the same formula. In the event that the spans of the second set of cells are not aligned, the processor 412 may be configured to determine a second monitoring budget (e.g., rel-16 CCE/BD budget) corresponding to the second set of cells (e.g., rel-16 CC) based on a different formula.

In some embodiments, having a monitoring span (X, Y) = (7, 3) is configured at 3 cells, and 2 cells are configured with a monitoring span (X, Y) = (4, 3), due to parametersAnd->Is different and defined for each span, and therefore CCE/BD budget processors 412 corresponding to two different monitored spans may be calculated independently. Thus, the processor 412 may distinguish between aligned span CCs and non-aligned span CCs and apply different formulas for CCE/BD budget determinations on the aligned span CCs.

Illustrative flow

Fig. 5 is an example flow 500 described in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The flow 500 may be an example implementation of the above scheme, partially or fully related to PDCCH monitoring capability determination in a CA scenario according to the present invention. Flow 500 may represent an aspect of an implementation of the functional features of communication device 410. Flow 500 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions illustrated by one or more of blocks 510, 520, 530, and 540. Although the individual blocks are shown as discrete, the individual blocks in flow 500 may be split into more blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or a portion of blocks removed, depending on the desired implementation. Further, the blocks of flow 500 may be performed in the order shown in fig. 5 or may be performed in a different order. The process 500 may be implemented by the communication apparatus 410 and/or any suitable UE or type of device thereof. For purposes of illustration only and not limitation, flow 500 is described below in the context of communication device 410. The flow 500 may begin at block 510.

In block 510, the flow 500 may include a processor of the apparatus 410 sending a capability report to indicate the first PDCCH monitoring capability and the second PDCCH monitoring capability. Flow 500 continues from block 510 to block 520.

In block 520, the process 500 may include the processor 412 receiving a configuration that configures a first set of cells using a first PDCCH monitoring capability and a second set of cells using a second PDCCH monitoring capability. From block 520, flow 500 proceeds to block 530.

In block 530, the process 500 may include the processor 412 determining a first monitoring budget corresponding to the first set of cells based on the first PDCCH monitoring capability and determining a second monitoring budget corresponding to the second set of cells based on the second PDCCH monitoring capability. From block 530, flow 500 proceeds to block 540.

In block 540, the process 500 may include the processor 412 performing PDCCH monitoring based on the first monitoring budget and the second monitoring budget.

In some embodiments, the first PDCCH monitoring capability may include a slot-based PDCCH monitoring capability. The second PDCCH monitoring capability may include a span-based PDCCH monitoring capability.

In some embodiments, the configuration may include a first number of cells or CCs that use a first PDCCH monitoring capability and a second number of cells or CCs that use a second PDCCH monitoring capability.

In some implementations, the first monitored budget may include a first CCE or BD budget. The second monitoring budget may include a second CCE or BD budget.

In some embodiments, the capability report may include various combinations of the first PDCCH monitoring capability and the second PDCCH monitoring capability.

In some embodiments, the process 500 may include the processor 412 determining the first monitoring budget by replacing PDCCH blind decoding capability with Rel-15 PDCCH blind decoding capability.

In some embodiments, the process 500 may include the processor 412 determining to determine the second monitoring budget by replacing PDCCH blind decoding capability with Rel-16 PDCCH blind decoding capability.

In some implementations, the process 500 may include the processor 412 dividing a first monitoring budget among a first number of cells or CCs that use a first PDCCH monitoring capability. The flow 500 may also include the processor 412 dividing a second monitoring budget among a second number of cells or CCs that use the first PDCCH monitoring capability.

In some implementations, the process 500 can include the processor 412 determining a second monitoring budget corresponding to the second set of cells based on the same formula in the event of span alignment on the second set of cells.

In some implementations, the process 500 can include the processor 412 determining a second monitoring budget corresponding to the second set of cells based on a different formula if the spans of the second set of cells are not aligned.

Additional description

The subject matter described herein sometimes illustrates different components included within or connected with different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely examples, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively "associated" such that the desired functionality is achieved. Thus, regardless of architecture or intermediate components, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as "associated with" each other such that the desired functionality is achieved. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being "operably connected," or "operably coupled," to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being "operably couplable," to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operationally couplable include, but are not limited to, physically matable and/or physically interactable components and/or wirelessly interactable components and/or logically interactable components.

Still further, with respect to any plural and/or singular terms used herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate for the context and/or application. For clarity, various singular/plural reciprocity may be explicitly set forth herein.

Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that, in general, terms used herein, and especially those used in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended to mean "open" terms, such as, for example, the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," and so forth. Those skilled in the art will also understand that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, to facilitate understanding, the appended claims may include use of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more". However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to implementations containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an", e.g., "a" and/or "an" should be interpreted to mean "at least one" or "one or more", as well as the use of the indefinite articles recited in the claim. Furthermore, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number, and the bare recitation of "two recitations," without other modifiers, for example, means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations. Further, where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B and C, etc." is used, such a construction is generally intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B and C" would include but not be limited to systems having A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B and C together, etc.). Where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B or C, etc." is used, such a construction is generally intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B or C" would include but not be limited to systems having a alone, B alone, C alone, a and B together, a and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B and C together, etc.). Those skilled in the art will also understand that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative items, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the items, either of the items, or both. For example, the phrase "a or B" will be understood to include the possibilities of "a" or "B" or "a and B".

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, and that various modifications may be made without deviating from the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the various embodiments disclosed herein are not meant to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being determined by the following claims.

Claims

1. A method of determining physical downlink control channel monitoring capability in mobile communications, comprising:

transmitting a capability report to indicate a first physical downlink control channel monitoring capability and a second physical downlink control channel monitoring capability;

receiving a configuration, the configuration configured using a first set of cells for the first physical downlink control channel monitoring capability and a second set of cells for the second physical downlink control channel monitoring capability;

determining a first monitoring budget corresponding to the first set of cells based on the first physical downlink control channel monitoring capability and determining a second monitoring budget corresponding to the second set of cells based on the second physical downlink control channel monitoring capability; and

physical downlink control channel monitoring is performed in accordance with the first monitoring budget and the second monitoring budget.

2. The method of determining physical downlink control channel monitoring capability in mobile communication of claim 1, wherein the first physical downlink control channel monitoring capability comprises a time slot based physical downlink control channel monitoring capability, and wherein the second physical downlink control channel monitoring capability comprises a span based physical downlink control channel monitoring capability.

3. The method of determining physical downlink control channel monitoring capability in mobile communication according to claim 1, wherein the configuration comprises a first number of cells or component carriers using the first physical downlink control channel monitoring capability and a second number of cells or component carriers using the second physical downlink control channel monitoring capability.

4. The method of determining physical downlink control channel monitoring capability in mobile communication according to claim 1, wherein the first monitoring budget comprises a first control channel element or a blind decoding budget, and wherein the second monitoring budget comprises a second control channel element or a blind decoding budget.

5. The method of determining physical downlink control channel monitoring capability in mobile communication according to claim 1, wherein the capability report includes a plurality of combinations of the first physical downlink control channel monitoring capability and the second physical downlink control channel monitoring capability.

6. The method of determining physical downlink control channel monitoring capability in mobile communication of claim 1, wherein the step of determining the first monitoring budget comprises determining the first monitoring budget by replacing physical downlink control channel blind decoding capability with release 15 physical downlink control channel blind decoding capability.

7. The method of determining physical downlink control channel monitoring capability in mobile communication of claim 1, wherein the step of determining the second monitoring budget comprises determining the second monitoring budget by replacing physical downlink control channel blind decoding capability with release 16 physical downlink control channel blind decoding capability.

8. The method for determining physical downlink control channel monitoring capability in mobile communication according to claim 3, further comprising:

dividing the first monitoring budget among the first number of cells or component carriers using the first physical downlink control channel monitoring capability; and

the second monitoring budget is divided among the second number of cells or component carriers using the first physical downlink control channel monitoring capability.

9. The method of determining physical downlink control channel monitoring capability in mobile communication according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining the second monitoring budget comprises determining the second monitoring budget corresponding to the second set of cells based on the same formula in case of span alignment on the second set of cells.

10. The method of determining physical downlink control channel monitoring capability in mobile communication according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining the second monitoring budget includes determining the second monitoring budget corresponding to the second set of cells based on a different formula if the spans of the second set of cells are not aligned.

11. An apparatus for determining physical downlink control channel monitoring capability in mobile communications, comprising:

a transceiver in wireless communication with a network node of a wireless network during operation; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver such that during operation, the processor performs the following:

transmitting a capability report via the transceiver to indicate a first physical downlink control channel monitoring capability and a second physical downlink control channel monitoring capability;

Receiving, via the transceiver, a configuration using a first set of cells for the first physical downlink control channel monitoring capability and a second set of cells for the second physical downlink control channel monitoring capability;

12. The apparatus for determining physical downlink control channel monitoring capability in mobile communication of claim 11, wherein the first physical downlink control channel monitoring capability comprises a time slot based physical downlink control channel monitoring capability, and wherein the second physical downlink control channel monitoring capability comprises a span based physical downlink control channel monitoring capability.

13. The apparatus for determining physical downlink control channel monitoring capability in mobile communication according to claim 11, wherein the configuration includes a first number of cells or component carriers using the first physical downlink control channel monitoring capability and a second number of cells or component carriers using the second physical downlink control channel monitoring capability.

14. The apparatus for determining physical downlink control channel monitoring capability in mobile communication of claim 11, wherein the first monitoring budget comprises a first control channel element or a blind decoding budget, and wherein the second monitoring budget comprises a second control channel element or a blind decoding budget.

15. The apparatus for determining physical downlink control channel monitoring capability in mobile communication according to claim 11, wherein the capability report includes a plurality of combinations of the first physical downlink control channel monitoring capability and the second physical downlink control channel monitoring capability.

16. The apparatus for determining physical downlink control channel monitoring capability in mobile communication of claim 11 wherein in the step of determining the first monitoring budget for the first set of cells, the processor determines the first monitoring budget by replacing physical downlink control channel blind decoding capability with release 15 physical downlink control channel blind decoding capability.

17. The apparatus for determining physical downlink control channel monitoring capability in mobile communications of claim 11 wherein in the step of determining the second monitoring budget for the second set of cells, the processor determines the second monitoring budget by replacing physical downlink control channel blind decoding capability with release 16 physical downlink control channel blind decoding capability.

18. The apparatus for determining physical downlink control channel monitoring capability in mobile communications of claim 13, wherein during operation the processor further performs the operations of:

19. The apparatus for determining physical downlink control channel monitoring capability in mobile communication of claim 11, wherein in the step of determining the second monitoring budget corresponding to the second set of cells, the processor determines the second monitoring budget corresponding to the second set of cells based on the same formula if spans on the second set of cells are aligned.

20. The apparatus for determining physical downlink control channel monitoring capability in mobile communication according to claim 11, wherein in the step of determining the second monitoring budget corresponding to the second set of cells, the processor determines the second monitoring budget corresponding to the second set of cells based on a different formula if the spans of the second set of cells are not aligned.