CN112868261A

CN112868261A - L1 signaling for serving cell

Info

Publication number: CN112868261A
Application number: CN201880098804.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 杨涛; K·肖伯
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Networks Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Oyj
Priority date: 2018-10-17
Filing date: 2018-10-17
Publication date: 2021-05-28
Anticipated expiration: 2038-10-17
Also published as: WO2020077560A1; CN112868261B

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to apparatuses, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for scheduling and activating serving cells using layer 1(L1) signaling. In an example embodiment, a first indication of a first set of active serving cells from a plurality of serving cells is sent by a network device to a terminal device in a first L1 signaling message. A second indication of a second set of active bandwidth parts for the first set of active serving cells is sent to the terminal device in a second L1 signaling message. A third indication of the third set of scheduled active serving cells from the first set of active serving cells is sent to the terminal device in a third L1 signaling message.

Description

L1 signaling for serving cell

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of communications, and, in particular, to an apparatus, method, device, and computer-readable storage medium for scheduling and activating serving cells using layer 1(L1) signaling.

Background

In the standardization of the third generation partnership project (3GPP) Radio Access Network (RAN), Carrier Aggregation (CA) and Dual Connectivity (DC) functions for New Radios (NR) have been approved. One of the goals is to speed up the activation and deactivation of the serving cell, the bandwidth part (BWP) handover and the corresponding scheduling. For example, efficient and low latency for serving cell configuration, activation and establishment may be achieved by minimizing signaling overhead and latency incurred in L1, layer 2(L2) or layer 3 (L3) during initial cell establishment, additional cell establishment or additional cell activation for data transmission. The target is applied to various scenarios of multi-RAT (radio access technology) DC, NR-NR DC, CA, etc. The enhancement may be implemented in "idle", "inactive" and "connected" modes.

In order to reduce the activation delay of the serving cell in the NR L1 layer, activation and deactivation of the serving cell based on Downlink Control Information (DCI) is proposed instead of the conventional activation and deactivation of the serving cell based on a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) as used in Long Term Evolution (LTE). However, no efficient and effective L1 signaling design is proposed.

Disclosure of Invention

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide devices, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for scheduling and activating serving cells using L1 signaling.

In a first aspect, an apparatus is provided that includes at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to transmit, by the network device, a first indication of a first set of active serving cells among the plurality of serving cells in a first L1 signaling message to a terminal device. The apparatus is also caused to send a second indication of a second set of active bandwidth portions for the first set of active serving cells to the terminal device in a second L1 signaling message. The apparatus is also caused to transmit a third indication of a third set of scheduled active serving cells from among the first set of active serving cells to the terminal device in a third L1 signaling message.

In a second aspect, an apparatus is provided that includes at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive, by the terminal device, a first indication of a first set of active serving cells from among the plurality of serving cells in a first L1 signaling message from the network device. The apparatus is also caused to receive, from the network device in a second L1 signaling message, a second indication of a second set of active bandwidth portions for the first set of active serving cells. The apparatus is also caused to receive, from the network device in a third L1 signaling message, a third indication of a third set of scheduled active serving cells of the first set of active serving cells.

In a third aspect, a method is provided. In the method, a first indication of a first set of active serving cells from among a plurality of serving cells is sent by a network device to a terminal device in a first L1 signaling message. A second indication of a second set of active bandwidth parts for the first set of active serving cells is sent to the terminal device in a second L1 signaling message. A third indication of the third set of scheduled active serving cells from the first set of active serving cells is sent to the terminal device in a third L1 signaling message.

In a fourth aspect, a method is provided. In the method, a first indication of a first set of active serving cells from among a plurality of serving cells is received by a terminal device from a network device in a first L1 signaling message. A second indication of a second set of active bandwidth portions for the first set of active serving cells is received from the network device in a second L1 signaling message. A third indication of a third set of scheduled active serving cells from the first set of active serving cells is received from the network device in a third L1 signaling message.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for performing a method according to the third or fourth aspect.

In a sixth aspect, a computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon is provided. The computer program, when executed by a processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the method according to the third or fourth aspect.

It should be understood that this summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the example embodiments of the disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become readily apparent from the following description.

Drawings

Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

fig. 2 shows a flow diagram of an example method according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 illustrates an example process of transmitting two L1 signaling messages to indicate an active or inactive state of a serving cell and corresponding BWP and resources, in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 shows a flowchart of an example method according to some other example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 shows a simplified block diagram of a device suitable for implementing an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers refer to the same or similar elements.

Detailed Description

The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to a few exemplary embodiments. It is understood that these embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and are presented to aid those skilled in the art in understanding and enabling the disclosure, without placing any limitation on the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described herein may be implemented in a variety of other ways besides those described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

As used herein, the term "network device" refers to any suitable device on the network side of a communication network. The network device may comprise any suitable device in an access network of a communication network, including, for example, a Base Station (BS), a relay, an Access Point (AP), a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), a NR NodeB (gNB), a remote radio module (RRU), a Radio Head (RH), a Remote Radio Head (RRH), a low power node (such as femto, pico), etc.

As used herein, the term "terminal device" refers to a device that is capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate with a network device or another terminal device in a communication network. The communication may involve the transmission and/or reception of wireless signals using electromagnetic signals, radio waves, infrared signals, and/or other types of signals suitable for the communication of information over the air. In some example embodiments, a terminal device may be configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to a request from the network side, the terminal device may transmit information to the network device on a predetermined schedule.

Examples of end devices include, but are not limited to, User Equipment (UE), such as a smart phone, a wireless-enabled tablet computer, a Laptop Embedded Equipment (LEE), a laptop installation equipment (LME), and/or a wireless Customer Premises Equipment (CPE). For purposes of discussion, some example embodiments will be described with reference to a UE as an example of a terminal device, and the terms "terminal device" and "user equipment" (UE) may be used interchangeably within the context of this disclosure.

As used herein, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following:

(a) a purely hardware circuit implementation (such as an implementation in analog and/or digital circuitry only); and

(b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (as applicable): (i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuitry and software/firmware, and (ii) a hardware processor with software (including a digital signal processor), any portion of software and memory that work in conjunction to cause a device such as a mobile telephone or server to perform various functions; and

(c) hardware circuits and/or processors, such as microprocessors or portions of microprocessors, that require software (e.g., firmware) to operate but may not exist when software operation is not required.

This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of the term in this application, including in any claims. As another example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also encompasses an implementation of a portion of a purely hardware circuit or processor (or processors) or a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also encompasses (e.g., and if applicable to the particular claim element) a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The term "comprising" and its variants are to be understood as open-ended terms meaning "including but not limited to". The term "based on" should be understood as "based at least in part on". The terms "one embodiment" and "an embodiment" should be understood as "at least one embodiment". The term "another embodiment" should be understood as "at least one other embodiment". Other definitions (whether explicit or implicit) may be included below.

Conventionally, for example, MAC CEs in LTE are used to activate and deactivate serving cells in NR to trade off between fast signaling and signaling accuracy, for example. The latency requirement is more critical in NR compared to LTE. As a result, MAC CEs in LTE do not seem fast enough due to the long L2 signaling caused by, for example, multiple hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retransmissions or necessary communication between different layers, such as the L1 or Physical (PHY) layer and the L2 or MAC layer. It has been proposed to speed up the activation and deactivation of the serving cell using L1 signaling, such as DCI. However, there is no efficient and effective L1 signaling design to support it.

In the fifth generation (5G) NR, the BWP concept is specified to support wider bandwidth and different User Equipment (UE) capabilities. Up to 4 BWPs may be configured for the NR serving cell. For data transmission per serving cell, at most one BWP is active. For example, upon serving cell activation, a predefined BWP of a serving cell configured in a higher layer (such as L2 or L3) becomes active.

Handover or activation of DCI-based BWPs has been defined to support data transmission on different BWPs of a serving cell at different time slots. These BWPs may be jointly scheduled or activated. However, such joint scheduling and activation may not be applicable in a case where a plurality of active BWPs are in an active state in a plurality of serving cells, where there is one active BWP in one active serving cell.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a new L1 signaling design to simultaneously enable activation (or deactivation) of serving cells, scheduling, and BWP handover. On the network equipment side, an indication of the active serving cell is sent to the terminal equipment in an L1 signaling message. The L1 signaling message may be sent in any active serving cell. For the active serving cells, an indication of the corresponding active BWP (one active BWP per serving cell) is sent to the terminal device in the L1 signaling message or a different L1 signaling message. An indication of the scheduled active serving cell is also sent to the terminal device. An indication of the active serving cell being scheduled may be sent along with an indication of the active BWP. Accordingly, on the terminal device side, the active or inactive state of the serving cell, the active BWP of the active serving cell, and the scheduled or unscheduled state of the active serving cell may be determined based on the indication received from the network device in L1.

In this way, the activation and deactivation of the serving cell and the corresponding BWP activation/handover/scheduling may be combined. Fast data transmission may be achieved by fast and efficient activation or deactivation of the serving cell and BWP operation. The delay is much shorter compared to conventional MAC CE based activation/deactivation operations of the serving cell. Therefore, the fast data transmission requirement can be satisfied. Also, signaling overhead for activation or deactivation of the serving cell and BWP may be reduced, and thus higher signaling efficiency may be achieved. In addition, with L1 signaling, scheduling of active services can be more flexible or dynamic.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Environment 100, which may be part of a communication network, includes network device 110 and terminal device 120. It should be understood that one network device 110 and one terminal device 120 are shown in environment 100 for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. Environment 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Terminal device 120 may communicate with network device 110, either directly or via network device 110, with another terminal device (not shown). The communication may follow any suitable communication standard or protocol, such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), fifth generation (5G) NR, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) standards, and may employ any suitable communication technology including, for example, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM), Code Division Multiplexing (CDM), Bluetooth (Bluetooth), ZigBee, and Machine Type Communication (MTC), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), large scale Machine Type Communication (MTC), and ultra-reliable low delay communication (URLLC) technologies.

In environment 100, network device 110 may provide multiple serving cells by itself or with other network devices (not shown). In a CA scenario, different serving cells may operate on different carriers. These serving cells may be available for terminal device 120 to communicate with.

In various example embodiments of the present disclosure, some serving cells are active and other serving cells are inactive for terminal device 120. Terminal device 120 may transmit or receive data in the active serving cell. Further, in any active serving cell, terminal device 120 may receive at least one L1 signaling message from network device 110. The L1 signaling messages may include L1 or any suitable signaling message in the PHY layer, such as DCI messages. Using L1 signaling, the activation or deactivation of a serving cell, the activation of a corresponding BWP, and the scheduling of active serving cells may be more rapid and flexible.

Fig. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 200 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 200 may be implemented by network device 110 shown in fig. 1. For discussion purposes, the method 200 will be described with reference to fig. 1.

At block 205, network device 110 sends an indication (referred to as a first indication) of a set (referred to as a first set) of active serving cells among the plurality of serving cells to terminal device 120 in one of one or more L1 signaling messages (referred to as a first L1 signaling message). The first L1 signaling message may be sent in any active serving cell.

The first indication may identify which serving cell is to be in an active state for potential data scheduling. In some example embodiments, the first indication may identify only active serving cells among the serving cells configured for the terminal device 120. In some other example embodiments, the first indication may identify an active or inactive state of each serving cell configured for terminal device 120.

The first indication may be implemented in any suitable format. In some example embodiments, the first indication may be contained in an Information Element (IE) of the first L1 signaling message (referred to as a first IE). The first IE may include a plurality of bits indicating active or inactive states of different serving cells. The bits corresponding to different serving cells may be ordered according to the corresponding Carrier Indicator Field (CIF) sequence of the serving cell.

In a CA scenario, multiple serving cells may be activated for terminal device 120, and thus may be active at the same time. Accordingly, in example embodiments where the first indication only identifies active serving cells, the size (or length) of the first IE may vary depending on the number of actual/currently active serving cells. At terminal device 120, Blind Decoding (BD) may be performed to detect the first IE, as will be described in detail in the following paragraphs with reference to fig. 4.

In example embodiments where the first indication identifies an active or inactive state of each serving cell, the first IE may have a predetermined size or length, such as a predetermined number of bits. Each bit is used to indicate an active or inactive state of a respective one of the configured serving cells. The predetermined size may be indicated by network device 110 in a higher layer signaling message, such as a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling message. For example, network device 110 may use higher layer signaling messages to transmit an explicit indication of a predetermined size to terminal device 120. As another example, the indication may be implicit. For example, network device 110 may implicitly indicate the predetermined size using other higher layer signaling, e.g., to indicate the number of configured cells. The predetermined size may also be specified based on terminal device capabilities, for example, as a maximum number of cells or carriers allowed by the terminal device in the communication network. As an alternative example, the predetermined size may be determined as the maximum number of cells supported by the communication network in the CA, e.g. as specified in the relevant standard.

The configured serving cells may include a primary cell (Pcell) and a set of secondary cells (scells), where the Pcell is typically active. In this case, the first set of active serving cells indicated by the first indication may include only active secondary cells. For example, one bit for Pcell may be skipped or omitted in the first IE to further reduce overhead. Such bits may also be reserved in the first IE to align with the Scell. In this case, the bit may always be set to indicate the active state of the Pcell.

At block 210, network device 110 sends an indication (referred to as a second indication) of a set of active BWPs (referred to as a second set) for the first set of active serving cells to terminal device 120 in one of one or more L1 signaling messages (referred to as a second L1 signaling message). The second L1 signaling message may or may not be the same as the first signaling message. The second indication may be used to handover (or activate) at least one BWP for each active serving cell, e.g., for DL measurements and/or data transmission.

In some example embodiments, the second indication may be sent in another IE of the second LI signaling message (referred to as the second IE). In some implementations, the second IE may include a plurality of BWP fields. Each BWP field corresponds to an active serving cell and indicates at least one BWP that is activated for the active serving cell.

In some example embodiments, each BWP field may include a plurality (e.g., N) of bits. N is a positive integer, and may depend on the number of BWPs allowed based on the capability of the terminal device or based on the number of BWPs configured for the serving cell of the terminal device. For example, a 2-bit BWP field may be used in the case where one active serving cell has up to four configured BWPs in the active state.

In some example embodiments, the number of BWP fields may be associated with the number of active serving cells. Network device 110 may implicitly indicate the number of BWP fields to terminal device 120 by the number of active serving cells or the size of the first IE containing the first indication.

In some example embodiments, the number of BWP fields may depend on the number of BWPs activated for the previously active serving cell. In this case, if no additional cell is activated, the terminal device 120 may know the size of the second IE in advance and detect the IE accordingly. In some other example embodiments, the number of BWPI fields may be equal to the number of configured serving cells to ensure reliability. Thus, all these BWP fields may be ordered according to the corresponding CIF sequence of the active, previously active or configured serving cell.

As described above, since the Pcell is typically in an active state, the BWP field of the Pcell may be included in the second IE to identify the BWP activated for the Pcell. Such BWP field may be located at any predetermined location within the second IE. For example, the BWP field may be arranged at the beginning of the IE.

At block 215, network device 110 sends an indication (referred to as a third indication) of a set of scheduled active serving cells (referred to as a third set) among the first set of active serving cells to terminal device 120 in one of one or more L1 signaling messages (referred to as a third L1 signaling message). In some example embodiments, the third L1 signaling message may be the same as the second L1 signaling message. The first L1 signaling message, the second L1 signaling message, and the third L1 signaling message may also be different. The third indication may identify a scheduled or non-scheduled status of each active serving cell.

In some example embodiments, the third indication may be sent in another IE (referred to as a third IE) of the first L1 signaling message. In some implementations, the third IE may include a plurality of Resource Allocation (RA) fields to indicate, for example, resources scheduled (or allocated) to the active serving cell for data transmission and/or reception. For a scheduled active serving cell, the RA field may explicitly identify the corresponding resource allocation.

Different RA values may be used to identify the scheduling or non-scheduling state of the active serving cell. For example, a particular value of the RA field (e.g., an effective resource allocation in the RA field) may indicate that the corresponding active serving cell is scheduled for data transmission or reception on the corresponding active BWP. A special value of the RA field indicates that the corresponding active serving cell is only in an active state, but not scheduled for data transmission or reception.

In some example embodiments, a predefined special RA value may be used to indicate a "non-scheduled and DL measurement triggered" serving cell. For these serving cells, the terminal device 120 may perform only Downlink (DL) measurements or transmit Sounding Reference Signals (SRS), i.e. no data transmission or reception. In some example embodiments, an additional predefined RA value may be used to indicate no transmission or reception at all.

The number of RA fields may also depend on the number of active, previously active, or configured serving cells. Thus, the RA field is ordered according to the CIF sequence of the active, previously active or configured serving cell. The implementation of the number of RA fields is similar to that of the number of BWP fields contained in the second IE as described above, and the details thereof will be omitted.

In some example embodiments, a dedicated RA field may be included to identify the scheduling state of the active BWP of the Pcell. This field may be placed at the beginning or other location of the third IE.

In some example embodiments, the first indication, the second indication, and the third indication may be sent in the same L1 signaling message or in different L1 signaling messages. If the three indications are included in one L1 signaling message (e.g., one DCI message), only one round of L1 signaling procedure is required to activate and schedule the serving cell and its corresponding BWP, thereby enabling fast data transmission and reception and shorter delay for data transmission. At the same time, the DL control overhead can be significantly reduced. At the terminal device 120, the BD may be used to decode the L1 signaling message since the size (or length or number of bits) of the first, second and third IEs may change dynamically depending on the number of active serving cells.

For example, in some example embodiments, where the three indications are separated in different L1 signaling messages, the first indication may be contained in one of the two L1 signaling messages, while the second and third indications may be contained in the other of the two L1 signaling messages. In these embodiments, the first indication may be sent only when necessary, for example only when the active or inactive state of the serving cell changes. In example embodiments in which the sizes of the second and third IEs are associated with the size of the first IE, the sizes of the second and third IEs may be implicitly indicated by the size of the first IE.

Fig. 3 illustrates an example process 300 of transmitting two L1 signaling messages to indicate an active or inactive state of a serving cell and corresponding active BWP and resources, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. In this example, terminal device 120 is configured with two serving cells operating in different Component Carriers (CCs), referred to as CC #0 and CC #1, respectively. CC #0 is the primary serving cell and CC #1 is the secondary serving cell.

As shown, in slot 302 (e.g., slot #0), an L1 signaling message 304 is transmitted on the active BWP (e.g., BWP #0) of CC #0 in the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) to indicate that CC #0 is in the active state and that CC #1 is in the inactive state. An L1 signaling message 306 is also transmitted in the PDSCH to indicate the RA for BWP #0 of CC # 0. In slot 308 (e.g., slot #1), L1 signaling message 310 is sent on BWP #0 of CC #0 to indicate the new RA scheduled for BWP #0 of CC # 0. In this example, the activity state of the serving cell has not changed, and therefore an L1 signaling message indicating the activity state of the serving cell is not transmitted.

In slot 312 (e.g., slot #2), L1 signaling message 314 is sent on BWP #0 of CC #0 to indicate that both CC #0 and CC #1 are in the active state. On BWP #0 of CC #1, L1 signaling message 316 is sent indicating the resources scheduled for BWP #0 of CC #0 and BWP #0 of CC # 1. In this example, the RA field corresponding to CC #1 indicates by a special predetermined value that only measurement is triggered on BWP #0 of CC #1, but no data is scheduled, as shown.

Subsequently, L1 signaling messages 318 and 320 are sent in slots 322 and 324 (e.g., slot #3 and slot #4) on BWP #0 of CC #1 to indicate the resources that are rescheduled for the BWPs of CC #0 and CC # 1. As shown, the RA field in L1 signaling message 318 indicates that BWP #0 of CC #1 is not scheduled by a special predetermined value for the corresponding RA field.

It should be understood that the L1 signaling messages indicating the active state of the serving cell and the corresponding scheduled resources and BWPs are shown as being sent in the same time slot for purposes of illustration only and not intended to suggest any limitation. In other implementations, the L1 signaling message may be sent in a different time slot.

Based on the above-described first, second, and third indications from network device 110, terminal device 120 may identify an active state for each configured serving cell, and may also identify an active BWP for each active serving cell and a scheduled state and resource allocation for the active serving cells. Thus, in different situations, different actions and operations will be taken at the terminal device 120. For example, terminal device 120 may receive or transmit data for active and scheduled serving cells. For an active but non-scheduled serving cell, terminal device 120 may only perform DL measurements or SRS transmissions. In addition, terminal device 120 may cease all activity on inactive serving cells.

Fig. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 400 in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 400 may be implemented by terminal device 120 as shown in fig. 1. For discussion purposes, the method 400 will be described with reference to fig. 1.

At block 405, the terminal device 120 receives a first indication of the first set of active serving cells in a first LI signaling message in any active serving cells. In an example embodiment in which the first indication is sent in the first IE, terminal device 120 may detect the first IE and then obtain the first indication from the first IE. Thus, the terminal device 120 may identify the active or inactive state of each configured serving cell.

In example embodiments where the first indication only identifies active serving cells, the size of the first IE may be dynamically changed according to the number of active serving cells. In this case, the terminal device 120 may execute the BD to decode the L1 signaling message.

In example embodiments in which the first IE has a predetermined size, terminal device 120 may detect the first IE based on the predetermined size. For example, terminal device 120 may receive an explicit indication of the predetermined size in higher layer signaling or implicitly determine the predetermined size from other parameters received from network device 110 in higher layer signaling (such as RRC signaling). As another example, the predetermined size relates to the maximum number of configured serving cells, the maximum data is specified in the communication network or is based on capabilities reported by the terminal device 120, and the terminal device 120 knows the size in advance.

At block 410, terminal device 120 receives a second indication of a second set of active BWPs for the first set of active serving cells from network device 110 in a second L1 signaling message. In embodiments where the second indication is sent in a second IE, terminal device 120 may detect the second IE and then obtain the second indication from the second IE. In this manner, for an active serving cell, terminal device 120 may identify a configured BWP that may be handed off or activated for subsequent data transmissions. Upon receiving the first indication, the terminal device 120 may also check for active BWPs of all active serving cells based on the second indication. The final behavior of the terminal device 120 may be in accordance with the third indication.

At block 415, the terminal device 120 receives a third indication of the third set of scheduled active serving cells from the network device 110 in an L1 signaling message. In an example embodiment in which the third indication is sent in a third IE, terminal device 120 may detect the third IE and then obtain the third indication from the third IE. For an active serving cell, the terminal device 120 may identify whether the corresponding active BWP is scheduled for data transmission, e.g., based on whether the RA field indicates an effective resource allocation, such as at least one scheduling Resource Block (RB) or Physical Resource Block (PRB). For the scheduled active serving cell, the terminal device 120 may perform data reception or transmission according to the RA and other scheduling information related to the corresponding active BWP.

In an example embodiment in which the first, second and third indications are contained in one L1 signaling message, the terminal device 120 may perform BD for all possible sizes of L1 signaling messages with a dynamically changing number of active serving cells. If the size of the second or third IE is based on previously active serving cells or the size depends on the number of configured serving cells, the terminal device 120 may know the size and detect the corresponding IE based on the assumed size.

In example embodiments where the first indication is sent in one of two L1 signaling messages and the second indication and the third indication are sent in the other of two L1 signaling messages, the size of the second IE or the third IE may depend on the size of the first IE. In this case, blind decoding is not required to decode the L1 signaling message containing the second and third indications, thereby further reducing transmission delay and complexity.

In some example embodiments, for active and non-scheduled serving cells, it may also be indicated to the terminal device 120 whether measurements are triggered in that cell. For example, a predefined RA value may indicate such a measurement trigger. If the measurements are triggered, the terminal device 120 may only make configured DL measurements of configured SRS transmissions, e.g. for mobility management or Channel State Information (CSI) feedback, on the corresponding active BWP of the non-scheduled active serving cell. Thus, when network device 110 has a large amount of data to schedule, CSI reporting may be triggered on the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH). This is beneficial for the potential scheduling operations at hand.

All operations and features described above for method 200 with reference to fig. 2 and 3 are equally applicable to method 400 and have similar effects. Details will be omitted for the sake of simplicity.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the

method

200 or 400 may include means for performing the respective steps of the

method

200 or 400. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in circuitry or software modules.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method 200 comprises: means for transmitting, by the network device, a first indication of a first set of active serving cells among the plurality of serving cells to the terminal device in a first layer 1 signaling message; means for sending a second indication of a second set of active bandwidth parts for the first set of active serving cells to the terminal device in a second layer 1 signaling message; and means for transmitting a third indication of a third set of scheduled active serving cells from among the first set of active serving cells to the terminal device in a third layer 1 signaling message.

In some example embodiments, the means for sending the first indication may include means for sending the first indication in a first information element of a first layer 1 signaling message.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further include means for sending an indication of the predetermined size of the first information element to the terminal device in a higher layer signaling message.

In some example embodiments, the plurality of serving cells may include a primary cell and a set of secondary cells. The first set of active serving cells may include at least one active secondary cell in the set of secondary cells.

In some example embodiments, the means for sending the second indication may include means for sending the second indication in a second information element of the second layer 1 signaling message.

In some example embodiments, the second information element may include a number of bandwidth part fields to indicate the bandwidth parts activated for the first set of active serving cells.

In some example embodiments, the number of bandwidth part fields may be associated with the number of active serving cells in the first set of active serving cells.

In some example embodiments, the means for sending the third indication may include means for sending the third indication in a third information element of a third layer 1 signaling message.

In some example embodiments, the third information element may include a number of resource allocation fields to indicate resources scheduled for the first set of active serving cells.

In some example embodiments, the number of resource allocation fields may be associated with a number of active serving cells in the first set of active serving cells.

In some example embodiments, the predefined value of the resource allocation field may indicate that downlink measurements are to be performed by the terminal device in the active serving cell corresponding to the resource allocation field.

In some example embodiments, the second L1 signaling message may be the same as the third L1 signaling message and different from the first L1 signaling message. In some example embodiments, the first L1 signaling message, the second L1 signaling message, and the third L1 signaling message may be the same L1 signaling message.

In some example embodiments, at least one of the first layer 1 signaling message, the second layer 1 signaling message, and the third layer 1 signaling message may be a downlink control information message.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method 400 comprises: means for receiving, by a terminal device, a first indication of a first set of active serving cells among a plurality of serving cells from a network device in a first layer 1 signaling message; means for receiving, in a second layer 1 signaling message from the network device, a second indication of a second set of active bandwidth portions for the first set of active serving cells; and means for receiving, in a third layer 1 signaling message from the network device, a third indication of a third set of scheduled active serving cells from among the first set of active serving cells.

In some example embodiments, the means for receiving the first indication may comprise: means for detecting a first information element of a first layer 1 signaling message; and means for obtaining a first indication from the first information element.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further include means for receiving an indication of the predetermined size of the first information element in a higher layer signaling message.

In some example embodiments, the means for receiving the second indication may comprise: means for detecting a second information element of a second layer 1 signaling message; and means for obtaining a second indication from the second information element.

In some example embodiments, the means for detecting the second information element may comprise: means for determining a size of the second information element based on a number of active serving cells in the first set of active serving cells; and means for detecting a second information element based on the determined size.

In some example embodiments, the means for receiving the third indication may comprise: means for detecting a third information element in a layer 1 signaling message; and means for obtaining a third indication from the third information element.

In some example embodiments, the means for detecting the third information element may comprise: means for determining a size of the third information element based on a number of active serving cells in the first set of active serving cells; and means for detecting a third information element based on the determined size.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further include means for performing measurements in an active serving cell corresponding to the resource allocation field in response to a predetermined value of the resource allocation field.

Fig. 5 is a simplified block diagram of a device 500 suitable for implementing an example embodiment of the present disclosure. Device 500 may be implemented at or at least as part of network device 110 or terminal device 120 as shown in fig. 1.

As shown, the device 500 includes a processor 510, a memory 520 coupled to the processor 510, a communication module 530 coupled to the processor 510, and a communication interface (not shown) coupled to the communication module 530. The memory 520 stores at least a program 540. The communication module 530 is used for bidirectional communication. The communication interface may represent any interface necessary for communication.

The program 540 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 510, enable the device 500 to operate in accordance with example embodiments of the present disclosure, as discussed herein with reference to fig. 1-4. The example embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 510 of the device 500, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 510 may be configured to implement various example embodiments of the present disclosure.

The memory 520 may be of any type suitable to the local technology network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as non-transitory computer readable storage media, semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory, as non-limiting examples. Although only one memory 520 is shown in device 500, there may be several physically distinct memory modules in device 500. Processor 510 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network, and may include, by way of non-limiting example, one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture. The device 500 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is time dependent from a clock synchronized to the main processor.

When the device 500 is acting as the network device 110, the memory 520 and the program 540 may work with the processor 510 to cause the device 500 to perform the method 200 described above with reference to fig. 2 and 3. When the device 500 is acting as the terminal device 120, the memory 520 and the programs 540 may work with the processor 510 to cause the device 500 to perform the method 400 described above with reference to fig. 4. All operations and features as described above with reference to fig. 1 to 4 are equally applicable to the device 500 and have similar effects. Details will be omitted for the sake of simplicity.

In general, the various physical embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While various aspects of the example embodiments of this disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product comprises computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, that execute in the device on the target real or virtual processor to perform the

methods

200 and 400 as described above with reference to fig. 1-4. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data types, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various exemplary embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within local or distributed devices. In a distributed facility, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage media.

Program code for performing the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the execution of the program codes by the processor or controller causes the functions/operations specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram to be performed. The program code may execute entirely on the machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of the present disclosure, computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium.

The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination thereof. More specific examples of a computer-readable storage medium include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof.

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Also, while the above discussion contains several specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular example embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate example embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple example embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

Although the disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Various example embodiments of the technology have been described. In addition to or instead of the above, the following examples are described. The functionality described in any of the examples below may be used with other examples described herein.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

sending, by a network device, a first indication of a first set of active serving cells among a plurality of serving cells to a terminal device in a first layer 1 signaling message;

sending a second indication of a second set of active bandwidth parts for the first set of active serving cells to the terminal device in a second layer 1 signaling message; and

transmitting a third indication of a third set of scheduled active serving cells from among the first set of active serving cells to the terminal device in a third layer 1 signaling message.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is caused to send the first indication by:

transmitting the first indication in a first information element of the first layer 1 signaling message.

3. An apparatus of claim 2, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

sending an indication of a predetermined size of the first information element to the terminal device in a higher layer signaling message.

4. The apparatus of any of claims 1-3, wherein the plurality of serving cells includes a primary cell and a set of secondary cells, and the first set of active serving cells includes at least one active secondary cell in the set of secondary cells.

5. The apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the apparatus is caused to send the second indication by:

transmitting the second indication in a second information element of the second layer 1 signaling message.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the second information element comprises a number of bandwidth part fields to indicate a bandwidth part activated for the first set of active serving cells.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the number of bandwidth part fields is associated with a number of active serving cells in the first set of active serving cells.

8. The apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the apparatus is caused to send the third indication by:

transmitting the third indication in a third information element of the layer 1 signaling message.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the third information element comprises a number of resource allocation fields to indicate resources scheduled for the first set of active serving cells.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the number of resource allocation fields is associated with a number of active serving cells in the first set of active serving cells.

11. The apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the predefined value of the resource allocation field indicates that measurements are to be performed by the terminal device in an active serving cell corresponding to the resource allocation field.

12. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the second layer 1 signaling message is the same as the third layer 1 signaling message and different from the first layer 1 signaling message.

13. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the first layer 1 signaling message, the second layer 1 signaling message, and the third layer 1 signaling message are the same layer 1 signaling message.

14. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein at least one of the first layer 1 signaling message, the second layer 1 signaling message, and the third layer 1 signaling message is a downlink control information message.

15. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

receiving, by a terminal device from a network device in a first layer 1 signaling message, a first indication of a first set of active serving cells among a plurality of serving cells;

receiving, from the network device in a second layer 1 signaling message, a second indication of a second set of active bandwidth portions for the first set of active serving cells; and

receiving, from the network device in a third layer 1 signaling message, a third indication of a third set of scheduled active serving cells among the first set of active serving cells.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the apparatus is further caused to receive the first indication by:

detecting a first information element of the first layer 1 signaling message; and

obtaining the first indication from the first information element.

17. An apparatus of claim 16, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

receiving an indication of a predetermined size of the first information element in a higher layer signaling message.

18. The apparatus of any of claims 15 to 17, wherein the plurality of serving cells comprises a primary cell and a set of secondary cells, and the first set of active serving cells comprises at least one active secondary cell of the set of secondary cells.

19. The apparatus according to any one of claims 15 to 18, wherein the apparatus is caused to receive the second indication by:

detecting a second information element of the second layer 1 signaling message; and

obtaining the second indication from the second information element.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the second information element comprises a number of bandwidth part fields to indicate a bandwidth part activated for the first set of active serving cells.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the number of bandwidth part fields is associated with a number of active serving cells in the first set of active serving cells.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the apparatus is caused to detect the second information element by:

determining a size of the second information element based on a number of active serving cells in the first set of active serving cells; and

detecting the second information element based on the determined size.

23. The apparatus according to any one of claims 15 to 22, wherein the apparatus is caused to receive the third indication by:

detecting a third information element of the third layer 1 signaling message; and

obtaining the third indication from the third information element.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the third information element comprises a number of resource allocation fields for indicating resources scheduled for the first set of active serving cells.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the number of resource allocation fields is associated with a number of active serving cells in the first set of active serving cells.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the apparatus is caused to detect the third information element by:

determining a size of the third information element based on a number of active serving cells in the first set of active serving cells; and

detecting the third information element based on the determined size.

27. An apparatus according to any one of claims 15-26, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

performing measurements in an active serving cell corresponding to the resource allocation field in response to a predetermined value of the resource allocation field.

28. The apparatus according to any of claims 15 to 27, wherein the second layer 1 signaling message is the same as the third layer 1 signaling message and different from the first layer 1 signaling message.

29. The apparatus according to any of claims 15 to 27, wherein the first layer 1 signaling message, the second layer 1 signaling message and the third layer 1 signaling message are the same layer 1 signaling message.

30. The apparatus according to any of claims 15-29, wherein at least one of the first layer 1 signaling message, the second layer 1 signaling message, and the third layer 1 signaling message is a downlink control information message.

31. A method, comprising:

32. The method of claim 30, wherein sending the first indication comprises:

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

34. The method of any of claims 31-33, wherein the plurality of serving cells includes a primary cell and a set of secondary cells, and the first set of active serving cells includes at least one active secondary cell in the set of secondary cells.

35. The method of any of claims 31-34, wherein sending the second indication comprises:

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the second information element comprises a number of bandwidth part fields for indicating a bandwidth part activated for the first set of active serving cells.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the number of bandwidth part fields is associated with a number of active serving cells in the first set of active serving cells.

38. The method of any of claims 31-37, wherein sending the third indication comprises:

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the third information element comprises a number of resource allocation fields for indicating resources scheduled for the first set of active serving cells.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the number of resource allocation fields is associated with a number of active serving cells in the first set of active serving cells.

41. The method according to claim 39 or 40, wherein a predefined value of the resource allocation field indicates that measurements are to be performed by the terminal device in an active serving cell corresponding to the resource allocation field.

42. The method of any of claims 31-41, wherein the second layer 1 signaling message is the same as the third layer 1 signaling message and different from the first layer 1 signaling message.

43. The method of any of claims 31-41, wherein the first layer 1 signaling message, the second layer 1 signaling message, and the third layer 1 signaling message are the same layer 1 signaling message.

44. The method according to any of claims 31-43, wherein the at least one layer 1 signaling message comprises at least one downlink control information message.

45. A method, comprising:

46. The method of claim 45, wherein receiving the first indication comprises:

obtaining the first indication from the first information element.

47. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

48. The method of any of claims 45 to 47, wherein the plurality of serving cells comprises a primary cell and a set of secondary cells, and the first set of active serving cells comprises at least one active secondary cell in the set of secondary cells.

49. The method of any of claims 45-48, wherein receiving the second indication comprises:

obtaining the second indication from the second information element.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the second information element comprises a number of bandwidth part fields for indicating the activated bandwidth parts for the first set of active serving cells.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein the number of bandwidth part fields is associated with a number of active serving cells in the first set of active serving cells.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein detecting the second information element comprises:

detecting the second information element based on the determined size.

53. The method of any of claims 45-52, wherein receiving the third indication comprises:

obtaining the third indication from the third information element.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein the third information element comprises a number of resource allocation fields for indicating resources scheduled for the first set of active serving cells.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein the number of resource allocation fields is associated with a number of active serving cells in the first set of active serving cells.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein detecting the third information element comprises:

detecting the third information element based on the determined size.

57. The method of any of claims 54-56, further comprising:

58. The method of any of claims 45-57, wherein the second layer 1 signaling message is the same as the third layer 1 signaling message and different from the first layer 1 signaling message.

59. The method of any one of claims 45 to 57, wherein the first layer 1 signaling message, the second layer 1 signaling message, and the third layer 1 signaling message are the same layer 1 signaling message.

60. The method according to any one of claims 45 to 59, wherein at least one of the first layer 1 signaling message, the second layer 1 signaling message and the third layer 1 signaling message is a downlink control information message.

61. An apparatus, comprising:

means for transmitting, by the network device, a first indication of a first set of active serving cells among the plurality of serving cells to the terminal device in a first layer 1 signaling message;

means for sending a second indication of a second set of active bandwidth parts for the first set of active serving cells to the terminal device in a second layer 1 signaling message; and

means for transmitting a third indication of a third set of scheduled active serving cells from among the first set of active serving cells to the terminal device in a third layer 1 signaling message.

62. An apparatus, comprising:

means for receiving, by a terminal device, a first indication of a first set of active serving cells among a plurality of serving cells from a network device in a first layer 1 signaling message;

means for receiving, in a second layer 1 signaling message from the network device, a second indication of the second set of active bandwidth portions for the first set of active serving cells; and

means for receiving, in a third layer 1 signaling message from the network device, a third indication of a third set of scheduled active serving cells among the first set of active serving cells.

63. A computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 31-44.

64. A computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 45 to 60.