CN113473635A - Two-cell scheduling for NR operation - Google Patents

Abstract

The present application relates to two-cell scheduling for new types of radio operation. An apparatus for use in a User Equipment (UE), comprising a Radio Frequency (RF) interface and a processor circuit coupled to the RF interface, the processor circuit to: receiving Downlink Control Information (DCI) on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) via an RF interface, wherein the DCI is configured to schedule a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) on two cells; and receiving downlink information on a PDSCH or transmitting uplink information on a PUSCH via an RF interface on the two cells based on the DCI.

Description

Two-cell scheduling for NR operation

Priority requirement

This application is based on and claims priority from PCT application PCT/CN2020/082442 filed 3/31/2020 and PCT application PCT/CN2020/082339 filed 3/31/2020, the contents of both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of wireless communications, and more particularly, to two-cell scheduling for Novel Radio (NR) operation.

Background

With the development of fourth generation (4G)/Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, the third generation partnership project (3GPP) introduced a fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) network to provide wider bandwidth, support greater traffic, extremely high reliability, low latency, and the like. Although it is expected that a 5G network will eventually replace a 4G network, there is also a period of co-existence between 5G and 4G systems. The 5G carrier may be a neighbor of the 4G carrier. The 5G carrier may also partially or completely overlap the 4G carrier in the frequency domain. Therefore, during 5G system deployment, efficient support of 5G and 4G system coexistence, i.e., Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS), is critical.

Drawings

Embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements.

Fig. 1 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for use in a UE in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of RBG size for single cell scheduling and RBG size for 2 cell scheduling.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram of the same time resources on two cells scheduled by 2-cell scheduling.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic diagram of an allocation table for TDRAs of two cells scheduled by 2-cell scheduling.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of an allocation table for TDRAs of two cells scheduled by 2-cell scheduling.

Fig. 6 shows a diagram of a dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook in the case where TBs are mapped to two cells scheduled by a 2-cell scheduling manner.

Fig. 7 shows a diagram of a semi-dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook in the case where TBs are mapped to two cells scheduled by a 2-cell scheduling manner.

Fig. 8 shows a diagram of a separate HARQ-ACK mapping for each cell scheduled by 2-cell scheduling.

Fig. 9 shows a diagram of a continuous HARQ-ACK mapping according to a reference serving cell index.

Fig. 10 shows a diagram of a continuous HARQ-ACK mapping according to a reference serving cell index.

Fig. 11 shows a schematic diagram of a network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 12 shows a schematic diagram of a wireless network in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 13 illustrates a block diagram of components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and performing any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Various aspects of the illustrative embodiments will be described using terms commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey the substance of the disclosure to others skilled in the art. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that many alternative embodiments may be practiced using portions of the described aspects. For purposes of explanation, specific numbers, materials, and configurations are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the illustrative embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that alternative embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features may be omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the illustrative embodiments.

Further, various operations will be described as multiple discrete operations in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the illustrative embodiments; however, the order of description should not be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent. In particular, these operations need not be performed in the order of presentation.

The phrases "in an embodiment," "in one embodiment," and "in some embodiments" are used repeatedly herein. Such phrases are not generally referring to the same embodiment; however, they may also relate to the same embodiment. The terms "comprising," "having," and "including" are synonymous, unless the context dictates otherwise. The phrases "A or B" and "A/B" mean "(A), (B), or (A and B)".

DSS has been considered since the NR published version (Rel-15). For example, NR User Equipment (UE) may be configured with cell-specific reference signals (CRS) to enable rate matching of downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmissions on NR carriers around Resource Elements (REs) potentially used by LTE CRS, thereby mitigating impact on LTE channel estimation and improving LTE Downlink (DL) performance. In another example, NR transmission on REs used by LTE Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) should be avoided. Consideration of LTE CRS/PDCCH may limit NR PDCCH transmission. Therefore, it is suggested to schedule a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) on two cells for NR operation using Downlink Control Information (DCI) for 2-cell scheduling.

Fig. 1 shows a flow diagram of a method 100 for use in a UE, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 1, the method 100 includes: s102, receiving DCI for 2-cell scheduling on a PDCCH, wherein the DCI for 2-cell scheduling is configured for scheduling PDSCH or PUSCH on two cells; and S104, receiving downlink information on the PDSCH or transmitting uplink information on the PUSCH on the two cells scheduled by the DCI for 2-cell scheduling based on the DCI for 2-cell scheduling.

In the method 100, DSS may be efficiently implemented on two cells since PDSCH or PUSCH on the two cells are scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling.

In NR systems, a UE may be configured with up to 4 DL or UL bandwidth portions (BWPs) within the carrier bandwidth. At most one active DL-BWP and one active UL-BWP at a given time. For each DL-BWP, a maximum of 3 control resource sets (CORESET) for PDCCH transmission may be configured in NR Rel-15, and a maximum of 10 search space sets may be configured. The set of search spaces is associated with CORESET. For self-scheduling of a serving cell, CORESET and a set of search spaces are configured on the serving cell. On the other hand, for cross-carrier scheduling, the CORESET and search space set of the scheduled cell are located on the scheduling cell. Therefore, only limited parameters specific to the scheduled cell need to be configured. Efficient DCI design is a key issue to be considered for DSS enhancement.

Details regarding information fields included in DCI for 2-cell scheduling and processing of information fields in DCI for 2-cell scheduling are described below.

Processing information fields in DCI for 2-cell scheduling

The size of the information field in the DCI for 2-cell scheduling may be determined based on a reference configuration or based on a configuration of active BWP of one of two cells scheduled by the DCI for 2-cell scheduling. In one example, all information fields in DCI for single cell scheduling are duplicated in DCI for 2-cell scheduling, which provides the most flexible control of PDSCH or PUSCH on two cells. In DCI for 2-cell scheduling, some information fields need to be transmitted independently for each cell, while other information fields for two cells may be associated with each other, which may be used to reduce the overhead of DCI for 2-cell scheduling. Thus, different processing may be applied to different information fields.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the one or more information fields may be indicated only once in the DCI for 2-cell scheduling. In other words, some common fields may be used in DCI for 2-unit scheduling.

In one option, for DL scheduling, one or more of the following information fields (if available) may be indicated only once in the DCI for 2-cell scheduling:

-a DCI format identifier;

-a Carrier Indicator (CIF);

-Transmit Power Control (TPC) commands for the scheduled PUCCH;

-one time hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) -Acknowledgement (ACK) request;

-PDSCH group index;

-a new feedback indicator;

-number of requested PDSCH groups;

-a switch to transmit request (SRS) request; and

-a secondary cell (Scell) dormancy indication.

In another option, for Uplink (UL) scheduling, one or more of the following information fields (if available) may be indicated only once in the DCI for 2-cell scheduling:

-a DCI format identifier;

-a Carrier Indicator (CIF);

-an SRS request;

-a Channel State Information (CSI) request; and

-a secondary cell (Scell) dormancy indication.

If a DCI for 2-cell scheduling cannot trigger aperiodic CSI (a-CSI) -only transmission, an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) indicator field is not included in the DCI.

In the above option, some information fields are provided that are common in DCI for 2-cell scheduling. However, this does not exclude that some other information fields in the DCI for 2-cell scheduling may also be common to both cells of the DCI scheduling for 2-cell scheduling.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, one or more information fields may be indicated separately for each of two PDSCHs or PUSCHs in DCI for 2-cell scheduling to enable full flexibility. For such information fields, although they are indicated separately for two PDSCHs or PUSCHs, it is possible to apply some compression scheme to each field to reduce the overhead of DCI for 2-cell scheduling.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, certain information of two PDSCHs or PUSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling may be jointly encoded and mapped to a single information field.

In one option, the value of the information field may be repeatedly applied to two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling. In this case, the overhead of the information field is not increased compared to single cell scheduling.

In one option, as shown in table 1, the value of the information field may be extended to indicate the same or different information of two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling. The number of bits of the jointly coded information field may be larger than the corresponding field in single cell scheduling. However, by joint coding, the overhead of DCI for 2-cell scheduling may be reduced compared to separate indication of information of two cells.

Table 1: jointly coded information field for two cells

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, one or more of the following information fields may be indicated for each TB in DCI for 2-cell scheduling to enable full flexibility:

-a New Data Indicator (NDI) indicating whether the TB is retransmitted or first transmitted;

-a Redundancy Version (RV) indicating the redundancy version of the coding format for the TB.

Modulation Coding Scheme (MCS) field

In DCI for 2-cell scheduling, two MCS fields may be indicated and applied to two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI, respectively. Alternatively, a single MCS field may be indicated and repeatedly applied to two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI. Alternatively, a single MCS field may be included in the DCI, and each value of the field jointly indicates MCS information on two cells scheduled by the DCI. For each value of the MCS field, MCS information on both cells may be configured through higher layer signaling.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a first MCS field may be indicated for one PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling, and then MCS information for the other PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by the DCI may be acquired using a second MCS field that may use the same number of bits or fewer bits as the first MCS field. For example, the second MCS field may serve as a differential value with respect to the value of the first MCS field. If a differential value of 3 bits is used, the total number of bits carrying MCS information is 8 bits. Special handling of special MCS entries indicating modulation orders may be considered. If the modulation order is up to 6 (i.e., 64QAM is supported), the special MCS entry is I _MCS29, 30, or 31. If the modulation order is up to 8 (i.e., 256QAM is supported), the special MCS entry is I_MCS28, 29, 30, or 31.

In one option, the second MCS field, which is a differential value, is always applied to derive the MCS of the second PDSCH or PUSCH. Representing MCS of first PDSCH or PUSCH as I_MCS，0≤I_MCS31 or less, and the MCS of the second PDSCH or PUSCH is represented as I_MCS，2＝mod(I_MCS+ d, 32), d is the differential value. As such, one PDSCH or PUSCH may use a special MCS indicating a modulation order, while the other PDSCH or PUSCH may use an MCS indicating a Transport Block Size (TBS).

In one option, if MCS entry I for the first PDSCH or PUSCH_MCSIndicating a TBS for the one PDSCH or PUSCH, then determining an MCS entry I indicating the TBS for the second PDSCH or PUSCH_MCS，2. The MCS for the second PDSCH or PUSCH may be

And

minimum and maximum values of MCS entries indicating TBS, respectively. In one example of the use of a magnetic resonance imaging system,

if a 64-QAM MCS table is used

If 256-QAM MCS table is used

In another example, the UE does not expect to receive I_MCSAnd d value, so in case of using 64-QAM MCS table

And in case of using 256-QAM MCS table

In one option, if the first MCS field indicates a modulation order, the same modulation order is used for two PDSCHs or PUSCHs scheduled by the DCI. In this case, the second MCS field is reserved.

In one option, if the first MCS field indicates a modulation order, the modulation order is applied to one of the two PDSCHs or PUSCHs. The second MCS field indicates a second modulation order applied to another PDSCH or PUSCH. Alternatively, the second MCS field, which is a differential value, is applied to the modulation order indicated by the first MCS field to derive a second modulation order applied to another PDSCH or PUSCH.

HARQ process field

Two cells that can be scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling may be configured with the same maximum number of HARQ processes. Alternatively, two cells may be configured with different maximum HARQ process numbers. In DCI for 2-cell scheduling, two HARQ process number fields may be indicated and may be applied to two PDSCHs or PUSCHs, respectively, scheduled by the DCI.

Alternatively, a single HARQ process number field may be indicated and repeatedly applied to two PDSCHs or PUSCHs scheduled by the DCI. Alternatively, a single HARQ process number field of value h may be indicated and applied to one of two PDSCHs or PUSCHs scheduled by the DCI, and then a differential value d is indicated to obtain the HARQ process number of the other PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by the DCI, i.e., the number of HARQ processes

Is the maximum number of HARQ processes. The HARQ process number field indicated for a certain cell is represented by a value h, and if DCI schedules a plurality of PDSCHs or PUSCHs having a plurality of Transport Blocks (TBs) on the cell, the HARQ process number h, h +1, etc. may be allocated to different TBs.

Code Block Group Transmission Information (CBGTI) field

If DCI for 2-cell scheduling can schedule multiple PDSCHs or PUCHS having multiple TBs on one cell, and if CBGTI field is indicated for multiple TBs, overhead in DCI may be large. Thus, for each of two cells scheduled by the DCI, if only one PDSCH or PUSCH is scheduled on one cell, the CBGTI field may be indicated for the PDSCH or PUSCH. On the other hand, if more than one PDSCH or PUSCH is scheduled on the cell, the CBGTI field is not indicated for these PDSCHs or PUSCHs. Since some other fields such as NDI and RV may be indicated for each TB, redundant bits are generated when only one PDSCH or PUSCH is scheduled on a certain cell. Accordingly, bits in the DCI may be shared for the NDI/RV and CBGTI fields, which helps to reduce the overhead of the DCI.

For two cells scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling, if one cell is configured for Code Block Group (CBG) based transmission and the other cell is configured for TB based transmission, the CBGTI field may be included only for cells operating with CBG based transmission.

LaunchingConfiguration Index (TCI) field

In the existing NR system, the presence of the TCI field in the DCI format is configured by TCI-PresentInDCI or TCI-PresentInDCI-format 1_2 of DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2, respectively. For DCI for 2-cell scheduling, the presence of the TCI field in DCI for 2-cell scheduling may be controlled using existing parameters, i.e., TCI-PresentInDCI and/or TCI-PresentInDCI-format 1_2, or one or two new parameters. The presence of TCI status information in DCI for 2-cell scheduling may be configured by the DCI for both cells simultaneously or not. Alternatively, if the TCI status information is configured for only one of the two cells, the TCI field in the DCI is applied only to the cell.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in DCI for 2-cell scheduling, two TCI fields may be indicated and applied to two cells scheduled by the DCI, respectively. For each value of the TCI field, one or two TCI states may be configured by higher layer signaling. For example, if multiple transmit/receive point (M-TRP) transmissions are to be supported on a cell, two TCI states are configured for the value of the TCI field of that cell.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in DCI for 2-cell scheduling, a single TCI field may be indicated and repeatedly applied to two cells scheduled by the DCI. A single TCI state is configured for the value of the TCI field through higher layer signaling, which is applied to both PDSCHs on both cells.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a single TCI field may be included in DCI for 2-cell scheduling. For each value of the TCI field, one or two TCI states may be configured through higher layer signaling. If a single TCI state is configured for a certain value, the TCI state is repeatedly applied to all PDSCHs on two cells scheduled by the DCI. If two TCI states are configured for a certain value, the two TCI states are applied to two cells scheduled by the DCI, respectively. Alternatively, if two TCI states are configured for a certain value, the two TCI states are applied to the PDSCH on one of the two cells and the two TCI states are also applied to the PDSCH on the other of the two cells. In this way, M-TRP transmission may be supported on each of the two cells.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a single TCI field may be included in DCI for 2-cell scheduling. Up to 4 TCI states may be configured by higher layer signaling for each value of the TCI field.

If a single TCI state is configured for the first value, the TCI state is repeatedly applied to all PDSCHs on the two cells scheduled by the DCI.

If two TCI states are configured for the second value, the two TCI states are applied to two cells scheduled by the DCI, respectively.

If three TCI states are configured for the third value, a rule is defined to partition the three TCI states for two cells. For example, the first cell uses only one TCI state, i.e., M-TRP transmission is not supported on the first cell. On the other hand, another two TCI states are applied to the PDSCH on the second cell, which may support M-TRP transmission.

If four TCI states are configured for the fourth value, two TCI states are applied for PDSCH on one of the two cells and two other TCI states are applied for PDSCH on the other of the two cells.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in DCI for 2-cell scheduling, when an offset between the DCI and reception of a PDSCH on one of two cells scheduled by the DCI is less than a threshold (e.g., timeDurationForQCL), or when the DCI does not include a TCI field, a default TCI state or quasi co-location (QCL) hypothesis for the PDSCH may be determined.

In one option, for PDSCH on a certain cell scheduled by the DCI, the UE acquires its QCL hypothesis for the scheduled PDSCH from the active TCI state with the lowest ID applicable to PDSCH in the active BWP of that cell.

In one option, for PDSCH on both cells scheduled by DCI, the UE acquires its QCL hypothesis for the scheduled PDSCH from the active TCI state with the lowest ID applicable to PDSCH in the active BWP of the reference serving cell.

In one option, the UE may assume that a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) port of a PDSCH of a cell is quasi co-located with one or more RSs relative to one or more QCL parameters indicated for PDCCH quasi co-location of a CORESET associated with the monitored search space, the control resource set having a lowest control resource set ID in a most recent slot of one or more CORESETs in an active BWP monitored by the UE for the cell.

In one option, the UE may assume that the DM-RS ports of the PDSCHs of the two cells scheduled by the DCI are quasi co-located with one or more RSs relative to one or more QCL parameters indicated for PDCCH quasi co-location of the CORESET associated with the monitored search space, the control resource set having the lowest control resource set ID in the most recent slot of the one or more CORESETs in the active BWP of the UE monitoring reference cell.

In one option, for PDSCH on a DCI scheduled scheduling cell, the UE acquires its QCL hypothesis for the scheduled PDSCH from the active TCI state with the lowest ID available for PDSCH in the active BWP of the scheduling cell. On the other hand, for PDSCH on the scheduled cell scheduled by DCI, the UE may assume that the DM-RS port of the PDSCH of the cell is quasi co-located with one or more RS of the one or more QCL parameters relative to the PDCCH quasi co-location indication for the CORESET associated with the monitored search space with the lowest control resource set ID in the latest slot of the one or more CORESETs in which the UE monitors the active BWP of the scheduled cell.

In the above options, the reference serving cell may be configured by higher layer signaling, or one of two cells for DCI scheduling, e.g., the cell with the lowest cell index, or the cell on which the DCI is transmitted (i.e., the scheduling cell).

Bandwidth part (BWP) indicator field

Two cells that may be scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling may be configured with the same or different number of BWPs. The active BWPs on the two cells may have different BWP indices. If a plurality of BWPs are configured in only one of two cells scheduled by the DCI, the BWP indicator field in the DCI indicates only BWP indexes of the cells configured with the plurality of BWPs.

In one option, in DCI for 2-cell scheduling, two BWP indicator fields may be indicated and applied to two cells scheduled by the DCI, respectively.

In one option, in DCI for 2-cell scheduling, a single BWP indicator field may be indicated and repeatedly applied to two cells scheduled by the DCI. Thus, the active BWPs on the two cells scheduled by the DCI have the same BWP index.

In one option, in DCI for 2-cell scheduling, a single BWP indicator field may be included, and each value of the field jointly indicates the active BWP of two cells scheduled by the DCI. For each value of the BWP indicator field, the index of BWP on both cells may be configured through higher layer signaling. The BWP indicator field in the DCI may not need to indicate all BWP index combinations on both cells, which results in reduced overhead for the BWP indicator field. In one example, a dormant BWP of one cell cannot be indicated with a non-dormant BWP on another cell. In another example, the default BWP of one cell cannot be indicated with a non-default BWP on another cell. In another example, two BWPs on two cells, which may be indicated by the value of the BWP indicator field, will use the same subcarrier spacing (SCS).

In one option, the BWP indicator field is not included in the DCI for 2-cell scheduling. That is, the PDSCH or PUSCH on one cell scheduled by the DCI is transmitted on the active BWP of the cell, and the DCI does not have a BWP handover function.

Frequency Domain Resource Allocation (FDRA) field

The channel conditions on the two cells are typically independent, so the appropriate frequency resources for the UE on the two cells are typically in different Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs). Furthermore, active BWPs on two cells scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling may be configured with the same or different number of PRBs. DCI requires balancing overhead and link performance for frequency resource allocation on two cells. The size of the FDRA field of a cell may be derived based on a reference BWP configuration or an active BWP configuration of the cell. Zero padding or truncation may be applied to align the size if the size of the FDRA field in the DCI is different from the FDRA size of the active BWP of a certain cell.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in DCI for 2-cell scheduling, two FDRA fields may be indicated and may be applied to two cells scheduled by the DCI, respectively.

In one option, both FDRA fields may be configured with the same FDRA type. For example, both FDRA fields use FDRA type 0, i.e., a bitmap indicating a Resource Block Group (RBG) allocated to a scheduled UE. Alternatively, both FDRA fields use FDRA type 1, i.e. corresponding to the starting virtual resource block RB _startResource Indication Value (RIV) of and length L of continuously allocated resource blocks_RBs。

In one option, the two FDRA fields for the two cells may be configured with different FDRA types. For example, one FDRA field uses FDRA type 0 and the other FDRA field uses FDRA type 1.

In the above option, the RBG size for a certain cell may reuse the configuration of RBG size for single cell scheduling. Alternatively, the RBG size for a certain cell may be configured separately from the configuration of the RBG size for single cell scheduling. In one example, FDRA overhead may be reduced by configuring a larger RBG size. As shown in fig. 2, the number of RBGs is reduced and thus a short bitmap of FDRA is available. In another example, since 2-cell scheduling may be for high throughput scenarios, a large number of PRBs may typically be allocated on each of the two cells. In this case, the FDRA field in the DCI does not need to indicate a small number of allocated RBGs, and thus, FDRA type 0 may be improved to reduce FDRA overhead. In one example, compression of the FDRA field may be achieved by enlarging the RBG size defined in the Rel-15NR specification by a positive integer (e.g., 2, 4, etc.).

In the above option, if the FDRA type 1 is used, the overhead of the FDRA field may be reduced by one or more methods. In one example, the granularity of the number of allocated PRBs may increase from 1 PRB to k PRB, e.g., the number of indicatable PRBs for PDSCH or PUSCH may be k · [1,2,3, … ]. In another variation of this example, the granularity of resource allocation is configured via a higher layer that applies to the determination of the length of each allocation and the indication of the starting PRB index. In these examples, it is assumed that the FDRA field in the DCI may not need to indicate a small number of allocated PRBs for the expected use case of this feature, and that this assumption is used to reduce the FDRA overhead.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in DCI for 2-cell scheduling, a single FDRA field may be indicated and may be repeatedly applied to two cells scheduled by the DCI. In this way, the same frequency resources are allocated on the active BWPs of both cells.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in DCI for 2-cell scheduling, a single FDRA field may be included, and each value of the field indicates frequency resources on an active BWP of two cells scheduled by the DCI. The overhead may be reduced by using a joint indication of frequency resources on both cells. For example, assuming that FDRA type 1 is used and BWPs on both cells have 100 PRBs, the size of the FDRA field of both cells using separate indications is

On the other hand, if joint indication is used, the size of the FDRA field is reduced to

1 bit is saved.

Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) field

In NR systems, the value of the TDRA field provides the row index to the allocation table. For PDSCH scheduling, the indexed row defines the slot offset K0, the start and length indicator SLIV or directly the start symbol S and the allocation length L, and the PDSCH mapping type assumed in PDSCH reception. For PUSCH scheduling, the indexed row defines the slot offset K2, the start and length indicator SLIV or directly the start symbol S and allocation length L, and the PUSCH mapping type to be applied in PUSCH transmission. The allocation table for each BWP of a cell may be configured separately. If a TDRA allocation table having a plurality of rows is configured for only one of two cells, the TDRA field in the DCI is applied to the cell configured with the plurality of rows of the TDRA allocation table.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in DCI for 2-cell scheduling, two TDRA fields may be indicated and applied to two cells scheduled by the DCI, respectively. The allocation table for a certain cell used in DCI for 2-cell scheduling may reuse the configuration of the allocation table for single-cell scheduling. Alternatively, the allocation table for a certain cell used in DCI for 2-cell scheduling may be configured separately from the configuration of the allocation table for single-cell scheduling.

Further, in case subcarrier spacing (SCS) values for two cells in which PDSCH or PUSCH is scheduled are different, K0/K2 values for each PDSCH/PUSCH are respectively determined by parsing the values indicated in the respective TDRA fields according to the SCS of the BWP of the respective PDSCH/PUSCH in the respective scheduled cell.

A certain restriction may be applied to values of two TDRA fields indicated by DCI for 2-cell scheduling. For example, the size of the TDRA table of the DCI format for 2-cell scheduling may be limited to a value smaller than 16 entries or 64 entries (the latter limitation is used if Rel-16 type a or type B PUSCH repetition is configured and applied to the DCI format for 2-cell scheduling), thereby reducing the bit width of the two TDRA fields. As another example, the starting symbol S of the indicated two PDSCH or PUSCH on two cells should be the same, or the PDSCH mapping type or PUSCH mapping type on the indicated two cells should be the same, or the K0 or K2 on the indicated two cells should be the same. Also, for the last option, in case the subcarrier spacing (SCS) values of the two cells in which PDSCH or PUSCH is scheduled are different, the K0/K2 values for each PDSCH/PUSCH are respectively determined by parsing the K0/K2 values indicated in the single TDRA field according to the SCS of BWP of each PDSCH/PUSCH in the scheduled cell, respectively.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in DCI for 2-cell scheduling, a single TDRA field may be indicated and may be repeatedly applied to two cells scheduled by the DCI. In this way, the same time resources are allocated on the active BWP on both cells, as shown in fig. 3. The allocation table used by the TDRA field may reuse the configuration of the allocation table of the reference serving cell for single cell scheduling. The above-mentioned reference serving cell may be configured by higher layer signaling, or be one of two cells scheduled by the DCI (e.g., a cell having the lowest cell index), or a cell on which the DCI is transmitted (e.g., a scheduling cell). Alternatively, the allocation table used by the TDRA field may be configured separately from the configuration of the allocation table for single cell scheduling.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in DCI for 2-cell scheduling, a single TDRA field may be included, and each value of the field indicates a time resource on an active BWP of two cells scheduled by the DCI. For this option and the following example, in the case where the SCS values of the two cells in which PDSCH or PUSCH is scheduled are different, the K0/K2 values for each PDSCH/PUSCH are respectively determined by parsing the particular K0/K2 value derived from the value indicated via the single TDRA field, respectively, according to the SCS of the BWP of the corresponding PDSCH/PUSCH in the corresponding scheduled cell.

In one option, for each value of the TDRA field of the DCI for DL scheduling, the time resources of the PDSCH on both cells (including K0, S, L, and PDSCH mapping type of both cells) are configured by higher layer signaling. For each value of the TDRA field of the DCI for UL scheduling, the time resources of PUSCH on two cells (including K2, S, L, and PUSCH mapping type) are configured by higher layer signaling.

Certain restrictions may be applied to the time resource allocation of the two PDSCH or PUSCH configured for the value of the TDRA field. For example, the size of the allocation table of the DCI format for 2-cell scheduling may be limited to a value smaller than 16 entries or 64 entries (the latter limitation is applied if Rel-16 type a or type B PUSCH repetition is configured and applied to DCI for 2-cell scheduling), thereby reducing the bit width of the TDRA field. For example, the starting symbols S of the indicated two PDSCH or PUSCH on two cells should be the same, or the PDSCH mapping type or PUSCH mapping type on the indicated two cells should be the same, or the K0 on the indicated two cells should be the same.

As shown in fig. 4, in the TDRA allocation table for two cells, K0, S, L, and PDSCH mapping types of the two cells are separately configured.

In one option, each value of the TDRA field of the DCI may be configured with two indices indicating rows in two allocation tables configured for two cells, respectively. The mapping between the value of the TDRA field and the two row indices may be configured by higher layer signaling. These two allocation tables may reuse the configuration of the allocation tables for single cell scheduling of two cells. Alternatively, the two allocation tables may be configured separately from the configuration of the allocation table for single cell scheduling.

Certain restrictions may be applied to the two row indices of the two allocation tables configured for the value of the TDRA field. For example, the number of available combinations of the two row indices of the two allocation tables may be limited to a value less than 16 entries or 64 entries (the latter limitation is applied if Rel-16 type a or type B PUSCH repetitions are configured and applied to DCI formats for 2-cell scheduling), thereby reducing the bit width of the TDRA field. For example, the starting symbols S of the indicated two PDSCH or PUSCH on two cells should be the same, or the PDSCH mapping type or PUSCH mapping type on the indicated two cells should be the same, or the K0 on the indicated two cells should be the same.

As shown in fig. 5, the value of the TDRA field in the DCI indicates two row indexes, which are used to index two rows in the TDRA allocation tables of two cells, respectively.

Rate matching indicator field

In DCI for 2-cell scheduling, two rate matching indicator fields may be indicated and applied to two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI, respectively. Alternatively, a single rate matching indicator field may be indicated and repeatedly applied to two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI. Alternatively, a single rate matching indicator field may be included in the DCI, each value of which jointly indicates the rate matching pattern on the two cells scheduled by the DCI. For each value of the rate matching indicator field, the rate matching pattern on both cells may be configured by higher layer signaling.

Zero Power (ZP) CSI-RS trigger field

In DCI for 2-cell scheduling, two ZP CSI-RS trigger fields may be indicated and applied to two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI, respectively. Alternatively, a single ZP CSI-RS trigger field may be indicated and repeatedly applied to two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI. Alternatively, a single ZP CSI-RS trigger field may be included in the DCI, each value of which jointly indicates a set of ZP CSI-RS resources on two cells scheduled by the DCI. For each value of the ZP CSI-RS trigger field, a set of ZP CSI-RS resources on both cells may be configured by higher layer signaling.

Antenna port field

In DCI for 2-cell scheduling, two antenna port fields may be indicated and applied to two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI, respectively. Alternatively, a single antenna port field may be indicated and repeatedly applied to two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI. Alternatively, a single antenna port field may be included in the DCI, each value of which jointly indicates antenna port information of two cells scheduled by the DCI. For each value of the antenna port field, the antenna port information on both cells may be configured by higher layer signaling.

PUCCH resource indicator field

In DCI for 2-cell scheduling, two PUCCH resource indicator fields may be indicated and applied to two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI, respectively. Alternatively, a single PUCCH resource indicator field may be indicated and repeatedly applied to two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI. Alternatively, a single PUCCH resource indicator field may be included in the DCI, each value of which jointly indicates PUCCH resource indicator information of two cells scheduled by the DCI. For each value of the PUCCH resource indicator field, PUCCH resource indicator information on both cells may be configured by higher layer signaling.

PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator (K1) field

In DCI for 2-cell scheduling, a value of one or two PDSCH-to-HARQ _ feedback timing indicator fields may be defined with reference to a slot for PUCCH transmission.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, for DCI for 2-cell scheduling, slots for HARQ-ACK transmission for two PDSCHs are determined separately, which may be the same or different.

In one option, two PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator fields may be indicated in the DCI and applied to two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI, respectively. The values of PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing for the two cells may reuse the configuration of PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing for single cell scheduling for the two cells. Alternatively, the values of the PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timings of the two cells may be configured separately from the configuration of PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timings for single cell scheduling of the two cells.

In one option, a single PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field may be indicated in the DCI and repeatedly applied to two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI.

In one option, in DCI for 2-cell scheduling, a single PDSCH-to-HARQ _ feedback timing indicator field may be included, each value of which jointly indicates two PDSCH-to-HARQ _ feedback timings of two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI. For each value of the PDSCH-to-HARQ _ feedback timing indicator field, the two PDSCH-to-HARQ _ feedback timings of the two PDSCHs may be configured by higher layer signaling.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, for DCI for 2-cell scheduling, a single slot for HARQ-ACK transmission for two PDSCHs is determined.

In one option, the value of the PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field may be defined with respect to the slot of the last symbol of the last ending PDSCH (i.e., the last ending PDSCH of the two scheduled PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI) with reference to the slot used for PUCCH transmission.

In one option, the slots used for HARQ-ACK transmission for both PDSCHs are temporarily determined by the corresponding PDSCH-to-HARQ _ feedback timing, respectively, with reference to the slot used for PUCCH transmission. Then, the latter slot is taken as a slot for HARQ-ACK transmission of two PDSCHs.

In the above option, the values of PDSCH-to-HARQ _ feedback timing for two cells may reuse the configuration of PDSCH-to-HARQ _ feedback timing for single cell scheduling for two cells. Alternatively, the values of the PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timings of the two cells may be configured separately from the configuration of the PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timings of the single cell scheduling of the two cells. Alternatively, the values of the PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timings of the two cells may be configured together by the configuration of the PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timings. Alternatively, the values of the PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timings of the two cells may be determined according to the configuration of the PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timings of the reference serving cell. The above-mentioned reference serving cell may be configured by higher layer signaling, or one of two cells scheduled by DCI (e.g., a cell having the lowest cell index), or a cell on which DCI is transmitted (e.g., a scheduling cell).

UL-SCH indicator field

In DCI for 2-cell scheduling, two UL-SCH indicator fields may be indicated and applied to two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI, respectively. To support aperiodic CSI transmission on at most one of the two PUSCHs, at most one of the two UL-SCH indicator fields may be 0. Alternatively, a single UL-SCH indicator field applicable to one of the two PUSCHs may be indicated by a fixed rule. For example, the UL-SCH indicator field is applied to the PUSCH on the reference serving cell, and the value "1" of the UL-SCH indicator field is assumed for the PUSCH on another cell. The above-mentioned reference serving cell may be configured by higher layer signaling, or one of two cells scheduled by DCI (e.g., a cell having the lowest cell index), or a cell on which DCI is transmitted (e.g., a scheduling cell). Alternatively, a single UL-SCH indicator field may be included in the DCI, each value of which jointly indicates UL-SCH indicator information for two cells scheduled by the DCI. For each value of the UL-SCH indicator field, UL-SCH indicator information on both cells may be configured by higher layer signaling.

UL/Supplemental Uplink (SUL) indicator field

The UL/SUL indicator field may be present in DCI for 2-cell scheduling, only for one cell scheduled by the DCI. That is, for another cell scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling, if the UE is not configured with supplemental uplink (supplemental uplink) in a serving cell configuration (ServingCellConfig) in the cell, or the UE is configured with supplemental uplink in a serving cell configuration in the cell but only one carrier in the cell is configured for PUSCH transmission, there is no UL/SUL indicator field for the cell. If both cells need the UL/SUL indicator, one of the following schemes may be used.

In one option, two UL/SUL indicator fields may be indicated in the DCI and applied to two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI, respectively. In this way, the UL carrier or SUL carrier scheduled for the cell can be flexibly controlled.

In one option, a single UL/SUL indicator field may be indicated in the DCI and this field is repeatedly applied to the two PUSCHs scheduled by the DCI. That is, both PDSCHs are scheduled on either the UL carrier or the SUL carrier.

In one option, a single UL/SUL indicator field may be included in the DCI, each value of which jointly indicates UL/SUL indicator information for two cells scheduled by the DCI. For each value of the UL/SUL indicator field, UL/SUL indicator information on both cells may be configured by higher layer signaling.

Returning to method 100, when receiving downlink information on PDSCH on two cells scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling, method 100 may further include: s106, based on the transmission mode of the PDSCHs on the two cells, sending HARQ-ACK feedback for the PDSCHs on the two cells, wherein the PDSCHs on the two cells are sent through transmission based on TB or transmission based on CBG. Additionally, when transmitting HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCH on this cell, the method 100 may further include: the location of the HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells in the HARQ-ACK codebook is determined. In the following, details regarding the transmission patterns of the PDSCHs on the two cells and the determination of the position of the HARQ-ACK feedback for the PDSCHs on the two cells in the HARQ-ACK codebook are described.

In the NR system, DL-DCI schedules PDSCH on only the active DL-BWP of a cell. In the type 2 HARQ-ACK codebook (i.e., dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook), the following information fields in DL DCI are used to control HARQ-ACK transmission.

-PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator, K1;

-a PUCCH Resource Indicator (PRI) indicating PUCCH resources in the slot determined by K1;

-a counter downlink allocation index (C-DAI) for ordering HARQ-ACK bits of a scheduled PDSCH whose HARQ-ACK is transmitted in the same PUCCH;

-a total DAI (T-DAI) indicating the total number of PDCCHs transmitted by the 5G node b (gnb) until the current PDCCH to help the UE to know the correct codebook size.

When CBG-based transmission is configured, the HARQ-ACK codebook includes two sub-codebooks. One sub-codebook is used for all TB-based HARQ-ACK feedback, which includes HARQ-ACK for a cell configured for TB-based PDSCH transmission and HARQ-ACK for PDSCH scheduled by fallback DCI (e.g., DCI format 1_0) on a cell configured for CBG-based transmission. Another sub-codebook is used for CBG-based HARQ-ACK feedback, which includes HARQ-ACKs for PDSCHs scheduled by other configurable DCI formats (e.g., DCI format 1_1/1_2) on cells configured for CBG-based transmission. The C-DAI and the T-DAI are applied to a sub-codebook associated with the current PDCCH. The current PDCCH is a PDCCH on which DCI for 2-cell scheduling is transmitted.

Single TB mapping to two cells

With DCI for 2-cell scheduling, DL transmissions on two cells may be scheduled by a single DCI. One TB scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling may be mapped to time/frequency resources on two cells (i.e., one TB may be jointly carried on PDSCH or PUSCH on two cells). If available, a single C-DAI field may be included in the DCI, which is used to form a dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook. The DCI may schedule one TB. Alternatively, for Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) transmission with multiple layers, two TBs may be scheduled by DCI. Each TB is mapped to a subset of the layers indicated by the DCI.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a PDSCH scheduled by a DCI for 2-cell scheduling may use only TB-based transmission. For HARQ-ACK transmission, the HARQ-ACK associated with the PDSCH belongs to a TB-based sub-codebook.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a PDSCH scheduled by a DCI for 2-cell scheduling may use only CBG-based transmission. For HARQ-ACK transmission, the HARQ-ACK associated with the PDSCH belongs to a CBG-based sub-codebook.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, whether CBG-based transmission is applied to the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI is configured by higher layer signaling. In addition, the maximum CBG number of TBs may be configured by higher layer signaling. For HARQ-ACK transmission, HARQ-ACK associated with PDSCH belongs to a CBG-based sub-codebook if CBG-based transmission is configured, and otherwise belongs to a TB-based sub-codebook.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, for a PDSCH scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling, a reference serving cell index is used to determine the location of HARQ-ACK for the PDSCH in the HARQ-ACK codebook. Two cells scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling are denoted as cell a and cell B, and the reference serving cell is cell a assuming that DCI is transmitted on cell a. Alternatively, the reference serving cell may be one of cell a and cell B, for example, a cell with a lower serving cell index is determined as the reference serving cell. Alternatively, the reference serving cell for 2-cell scheduling of cell a and cell B may be configured by higher layer signaling. The configured value may be one of the serving cell indices of cell a or cell B, or the configured value may be any valid serving cell index. Alternatively, if one scheduled cell is the same as the scheduling cell, the reference serving cell may be the scheduling cell. Alternatively, the reference serving cell may be a cell carrying the last ended PDSCH based on a Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) field in the DCI. If the two PDSCHs have aligned end symbols, the cell with the lower serving cell index may be a reference serving cell.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a common configuration of the number of TBs is applied to both 2-cell scheduling associated with DL BWP of the reference serving cell and single-cell scheduling of the reference serving cell. Alternatively, the number of TBs scheduled by the DCI for 2-cell scheduling associated with the DL BWP of the reference serving cell may be separately configured with respect to the number of TBs scheduled by the DCI for single-cell scheduling of the reference serving cell. Alternatively, the number of TBs associated with the reference serving cell scheduled by the DCI for 2-cell scheduling may be configured in a UE-specific or cell-specific manner.

From the HARQ transmission perspective, if CBG-based transmission is not configured for DCI for 2-cell scheduling, HARQ-ACK for PDSCH scheduled by the DCI is included in the TB-based sub-codebook. On the other hand, if CBG-based transmission is configured for DCI for 2-cell scheduling, HARQ-ACK for PDSCH scheduled by the DCI is included in the CBG-based sub-codebook.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the common configuration of the maximum CBG number of TBs is applied to 2-cell scheduling associated with the reference serving cell and single-cell scheduling of the reference serving cell. From the HARQ-ACK transmission perspective, the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI for 2-cell scheduling is the same as the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI for single-cell scheduling, except that the reference serving cell index is used to determine the location of the HARQ-ACK for that PDSCH in the HARQ-ACK codebook.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the maximum CBG number N of TBs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling associated with a reference serving cell_CBG，2May be separately configured with respect to a maximum CBG number of TBs for DCI scheduling for single cell scheduling of a reference serving cell. For 2-cell scheduling, the maximum configured number of TBs is denoted as N_TB，2Then the maximum number of CBGs per PDSCH is

In HARQ-ACK transmission, for sub-codebooks carrying CBG-based HARQ-ACK feedback, the number of HARQ-ACK bits corresponding to each PDCCH may be determined by the maximum number across all cells

And

to obtain the result that, among them,

is the maximum CBG number per PDSCH scheduled by DCI for single cell scheduling. The reference serving cell index is used to determine the location in the HARQ-ACK codebook of HARQ-ACKs for PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling.

For this case, in one embodiment, the DL DCI for two-cell scheduling may indicate a single K1 slot offset and PUCCH Resource Indicator (PRI) value for transmission of HARQ-ACK feedback, and a K1 slot offset (PDSCH-to-HARQ _ feedback timing indicator) indicates a slot offset relative to the slot carrying the PDSCH ending across the latter of the two scheduled cells. Additionally, in one example, taking into account any impact from timing advance, the earliest symbol of PUCCH or PUSCH carrying the respective HARQ-ACK feedback should be no earlier than T symbols from the end of the last ended PDSCH, where the duration of the T symbols is determined based on the available minimum UE processing time for PDSCH processing according to the appropriate UE capabilities. If different UE capabilities with respect to PDSCH processing time are configured on the two cells, a UE capability with a longer processing time may be applied.

HARQ-ACK codebook for single TB mapping to two cells

In order to support HARQ-ACK transmission of a TB scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling, HARQ-ACK for the TB scheduled by the DCI is mapped according to a reference cell index.

In one example, for a semi-static (type 1) HARQ-ACK Codebook (CB), the HARQ-ACK bit position may be determined from a K1 slot offset and a Start and Length Indication Value (SLIV) indicated by a Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) field for the last ending PDSCH in the scheduling DCI. If the two PDSCHs have aligned end symbols, a cell with a lower serving cell index may be used.

Alternatively, for a semi-static (type 1) HARQ-ACK codebook, the HARQ-ACK bit position may be determined based on a K1 slot offset and a Start and Length Indication Value (SLIV) indicated by a Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) field in scheduling DCI for a PDSCH scheduled on a reference serving cell, which may be determined by the UE based on implicit rules or via higher layer configuration.

In one embodiment, for a dynamic (type 2) HARQ-ACK codebook, the DCI for 2-cell scheduling may indicate a single value of C-DAI and T-DAI to indicate the location of the corresponding HARQ-ACK bit in the HARQ-ACK codebook. The location of the HARQ-ACK bit may be determined based on the K1 slot offset and the subsequent PDSCH. If the two PDSCHs have aligned end symbols, a cell with a lower serving cell index may be used. Alternatively, the location of the HARQ-ACK bit may be determined based on the K1 slot offset and the PDSCH scheduled on the reference serving cell, which may be determined by the UE based on implicit rules or via higher layer configuration.

For example, as shown in fig. 6, the same TB is transmitted on two cells scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling, the two cells having discontinuous cell indexes #0 and # 2. The DCI includes a single C-DAI field for forming a HARQ-ACK codebook. The signaled C-DAI value in fig. 6 is 1. On the other hand, the C-DAI used by the PDSCH on cell #1 scheduled by the single cell scheduling is equal to 2. The HARQ-ACK for the TBs transmitted on cell #0 and cell #2 is placed at the first position in the HARQ-ACK codebook, which corresponds to the position of the reference serving cell (i.e., cell #0 in fig. 1), followed by the HARQ-ACK for the PDSCH on cell # 1.

As shown in fig. 7, the same TB is transmitted on two cells scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling, the two cells having discontinuous cell indexes #0 and # 2. In addition, one PDSCH is transmitted on cell #1 by the single cell scheduling method, and one PDSCH is transmitted on cell #2 by the single cell scheduling method. If a semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook (also referred to as a type 1HARQ-ACK codebook) is used, HARQ-ACKs for TBs transmitted on cell #0 and cell #2 are placed in the codebook at positions for reference serving cells (i.e., cell #0 in fig. 7). The time domain resource allocation of the PDSCH in the reference serving cell is used to determine the HARQ-ACK location. HARQ-ACKs for PDSCH on cell #1 and cell #2 scheduled by the single cell scheduling manner are placed in the codebook at positions for cell #1 and cell #2, respectively.

The TB is mapped to only one of two cells

With DCI for 2-cell scheduling, DL transmissions on two cells may be scheduled by a single DCI. The TBs scheduled by the DCI for 2-cell scheduling may be mapped to time/frequency resources on only one of the two cells (i.e., one TB scheduled by the DCI is carried on a PDSCH or PUSCH on one of the two cells). In other words, the PDSCH on different cells is considered to be different PDSCH carrying different TBs. For each PDSCH, one or two TBs may be scheduled.

For this case, in one embodiment, the DL DCI for 2-cell scheduling may indicate two values of K1 slot offset and PUCCH Resource Indicator (PRI) for transmission of HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to each scheduled PDSCH, the K1 slot offset (PDSCH-to-HARQ _ feedback timing indicator) indicating the slot offset relative to the slot carrying the corresponding PDSCH in the respective scheduled cell. In another embodiment, the DL DCI for 2-cell scheduling may indicate a single value of K1 slot offset and PRI for transmitting HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to two scheduled PDSCHs.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the PDSCH on the cell scheduled by the DCI for 2-cell scheduling may use only TB-based transmission. For HARQ-ACK transmission, the HARQ-ACK associated with the PDSCH belongs to a TB-based sub-codebook.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the PDSCH on the cell scheduled by the DCI for 2-cell scheduling may use only CBG-based transmission. For HARQ-ACK transmission, the HARQ-ACK associated with the PDSCH belongs to a CBG-based sub-codebook.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, whether CBG-based transmission is applied to PDSCH on a cell scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling is configured by higher layer signaling. The configuration may be a common configuration of all cells scheduled by DCI for 2-unit scheduling. Alternatively, the configuration may be a common configuration of a pair of cells (i.e., two cells) scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling, however, different cell pairs may be differently configured as to whether CBG-based transmission is used. Alternatively, the configuration may be configured separately for each cell that may be scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling, thus allowing one cell to have CBG-based transmission and another cell to have TB-based transmission. In addition, the maximum CBG number of TBs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling may be configured by higher layer signaling. For HARQ-ACK transmission, if CBG-based transmission is configured for a PDSCH, HARQ-ACK associated with the PDSCH belongs to a CBG-based sub-codebook, otherwise, belongs to a TB-based sub-codebook.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, for a PDSCH of a cell scheduled by a DCI for 2-cell scheduling, the serving cell index of the cell is used to determine the location of a HARQ-ACK for the PDSCH in a HARQ-ACK codebook. As such, if two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI are on a cell with discontinuous cell index, HARQ-ACKs for the two PDSCHs may be mapped to discontinuous bits in the HARQ-ACK codebook.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, for two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling, a reference serving cell index is used to determine the location of HARQ-ACKs for the two PDSCHs in the HARQ-ACK codebook. The HARQ-ACKs for the two PDSCHs occupy consecutive HARQ-ACK bits in the position determined by the reference serving cell index. Two cells scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling are denoted as cell a and cell B, and the reference serving cell may be cell a assuming that DCI is transmitted on cell a. Specifically, if cross-carrier scheduling is configured, cell a may be a scheduling cell. Alternatively, the reference serving cell may be one of cell a and cell B, for example, a cell with a lower serving cell index is determined as the reference serving cell. Alternatively, the reference serving cell for 2-cell scheduling of cell a and cell B may be configured by higher layer signaling. The configured value may be one of the serving cell indices of cell a or cell B, or the configured value may be any valid serving cell index. Alternatively, the reference serving cell may be a scheduling cell if one of the scheduled cells is the same as the scheduling cell. Alternatively, the reference serving cell may be a cell carrying the last ended PDSCH based on a Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) field in the DCI. If the two PDSCHs have aligned end symbols, the cell with the lower serving cell index may be a reference serving cell.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a common configuration of the number of TBs is applied to 2-cell scheduling and single-cell scheduling of DL-BWP for a certain cell. Alternatively, the number of TBs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling for a certain cell DL-BWP may be separately configured with respect to the number of TBs scheduled by DCI for single-cell scheduling for the cell. Alternatively, the number of TBs scheduled for a certain cell by DCI for 2-cell scheduling may be configured for each UE or each serving cell.

In one option, for HARQ-ACK transmission, if CBG-based transmission is not configured for DCI for 2-cell scheduling, HARQ-ACK for PDSCH scheduled by the DCI is included in the TB-based sub-codebook.

In one option, for HARQ-ACK transmission, if CBG-based transmission is not configured for DCI for 2-cell scheduling, it is determined whether to use a TB-based subcode codebook to include HARQ-ACKs for two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI based on the number of TBs scheduled by the DCI. For example, if only two TBs are carried by two PDSCHs, a TB-based sub-codebook is used, otherwise a CBG-based sub-codebook is used.

In one option, for HARQ-ACK transmission, if CBG-based transmission is not configured for DCI for 2-cell scheduling, whether to use TB-based subcode codebook to include HARQ-ACK for two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI is configured by higher layer signaling.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, CBG-based transmission may be configured for two cells that may be scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling. The number of HARQ-ACK bits for two PDSCHs on two cells scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling is equal to the total configured number of CBGs for the two PDSCHs. Alternatively, CBG-based transmission may be configured for one of two cells that may be scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling, while TB-based transmission is configured for the other of the two cells. Representing the number of CBGs of a first cell of the two configured cells as N_CBGAnd represents the number of TBs of the second cell of the two cells as N_TBThe total number of HARQ-ACK bits for two PDSCHs on two cells scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling is then N_CBG+N_TB。

In one option, if CBG-based HARQ-ACK feedback is configured, the maximum CBG number of TBs of a cell scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling may be configured by higher layer signaling for that cell. The common configuration of the maximum CBG number of one TB is applied to both single cell scheduling and 2-cell scheduling for a certain cell. Alternatively, the maximum CBG number of TBs scheduled for a certain cell by DCI for 2-cell scheduling may be separately configured with respect to the maximum CBG number of TBs scheduled for the cell by DCI for single-cell scheduling.

In one option, if CBG-based HARQ-ACK feedback is configured for both PDSCHs, the maximum total number of CBGs for both PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI for 2-cell scheduling is equal to the configured maximum number of CBGs for each PDSCH scheduled for a single cell across all cells. Alternatively, the maximum total number of CBGs of two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling may be configured by higher layer signaling. Then, the configured maximum CBG number may be equally divided and applied to the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI. Alternatively, the maximum total number of CBGs of two TBs on two cells scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling may be configured by higher layer signaling. Then, the configured maximum CBG number may be equally divided and applied to TBs of the cell scheduled by the DCI.

HARQ-ACK codebook in case that TB is mapped to only one of two cells

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, to support dynamic HARQ-ACK transmission of two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling, HARQ-ACKs for the two PDSCHs are separately mapped according to serving cell indexes of the two cells.

In one example, for a semi-static (type 1) HARQ-ACK codebook, the HARQ-ACK bit position for each PDSCH may be determined based on a Start and Length Indication Value (SLIV) and a K1 slot offset indicated via a Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) field of the scheduling DCI for the corresponding PDSCH.

In one embodiment, for a dynamic (type 2) HARQ-ACK codebook, the DCI for 2-cell scheduling may indicate two values, C-DAI and T-DAI, to indicate the respective position of the respective HARQ-ACK bit in the HARQ-ACK codebook. Further note that in this case, the HARQ-ACK bits are not necessarily mapped to the same HARQ-ACK codebook. That is, HARQ-ACK bits may be carried in different PUCCHs according to a K1 slot offset value, relative numbers of DL serving cell and PUCCH cell, and a Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) field of each PDSCH.

In one option, the DCI may also indicate C-DAI/T-DAI for the two PDSCHs separately.

If two PDSCHs can use CBG-based transmission, HARQ-ACKs for the two PDSCHs are included in the CBG-based sub-codebook. If two PDSCHs can use TB-based transmission, HARQ-ACKs for the two PDSCHs are included in the TB-based sub-codebook. If one PDSCH uses TB-based transmission and the other PDSCH uses CBG-based transmission, HARQ-ACKs for the two PDSCHs are included in the CBG-based sub-codebook. In this case, one CBG per TB can be effectively assumed for TB-based PDSCH transmission. Alternatively, HARQ-ACK for PDSCH using TB-based transmission is included in the TB-based sub-codebook, and HARQ-ACK for PDSCH using CBG-based transmission is included in the CBG-based sub-codebook.

In one option, C-DAIs may be indicated for two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI, respectively, while a single T-DAI is transmitted in DCI for 2-cell scheduling. The T-DAI may be increased by 2 corresponding to the transmission of DCI.

For example, as shown in fig. 8, 2 cells having discontinuous cell indexes #0 and #2 are scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling. A separate C-DAI is indicated for PDSCH on both cells, otherwise the UE may not know that there is another PDSCH on cell #1 scheduled by other DCI. In fig. 8, the C-DAIs used by the two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI for 2-cell scheduling are 1 and 3, respectively, and the C-DAI used by the PDSCH on cell #1 is 2. The HARQ-ACK for PDSCH on cell #0 is placed in the first position of the HARQ-ACK codebook, followed by the HARQ-ACK for PDSCH on cell # 1. The HARQ-ACK for PDSCH on cell #2 is placed in the last position of the HARQ-ACK codebook.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, to support semi-static HARQ-ACK transmission of two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling, HARQ-ACKs for the two PDSCHs are separately mapped according to serving cell indices of the two cells. The time domain resource allocations of the two PDSCHs are used to determine HARQ-ACK locations, respectively. The number of HARQ-ACK bits per PDSCH may be determined separately for each serving cell. In one cell, if CBG-based transmission is not configured, the number of HARQ-ACK bits is determined as the maximum configured number of TBs for each PDSCH of single-cell and 2-cell scheduling. On the other hand, if CBG-based transmission is configured, the number of HARQ-ACK bits is determined as the maximum configured CBG number for each PDSCH for single-cell and 2-cell scheduling. Semi-static HARQ-ACK generation may be illustrated by fig. 7, except that the C-DAI is omitted.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, to support HARQ-ACK transmission of two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling, HARQ-ACKs of the two PDSCHs are mapped to consecutive HARQ-ACK bits in a position determined by a reference serving cell index. In this scheme, a single C-DAI field and/or T-DAI field is included in the DCI.

For this case, the DL DCI for 2-cell scheduling may indicate a single K1 slot offset and PRI value for transmitting HARQ-ACK feedback. Further, in one example, taking into account any impact from timing advance, the earliest symbol of PUCCH or PUSCH carrying the respective HARQ-ACK feedback should not be earlier than the T symbols of the end of the latter ending PDSCH, where the duration of the T symbols is determined based on the available minimum UE processing time for PDSCH processing according to the appropriate UE processing time capability. If different UE capabilities regarding PDSCH processing time are configured on the two cells, a UE capability with a longer processing time may be applied.

In one option, the number of HARQ-ACK bits for two PDSCH reports scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling is equal to the number of HARQ-ACK bits for PDSCH reports scheduled by DCI for single-cell scheduling.

The number of units of HARQ-ACK bits if TB-based HARQ-ACK feedback is used for two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling

Equal to in all cells

And

wherein the total number of TBs of the maximum configuration of the two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI for 2-cell scheduling is

By serving for single cell schedulingThe maximum TB number of the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI of

Thus, for a PDSCH scheduled by DCI for single cell scheduling or two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2 cell scheduling, the number of HARQ-ACK bits reported is

A bit.

The number of units of HARQ-ACK bits if CBG-based HARQ-ACK feedback is used for at least one PDSCH among two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling

Equal to in all cells

And

wherein the total number of CBGs of the maximum configuration of the two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI for 2-cell scheduling is

Maximum CBG number of PDSCH scheduled by DCI for single cell scheduling of

Thus, for a PDSCH scheduled by DCI for single cell scheduling or two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2 cell scheduling, the number of HARQ-ACK bits reported is

A bit. For 2-cell scheduling, if one PDSCH uses TB-based transmission, one CBG per TB can be effectively assumed for TB-based PDSCH transmission.

For example, as shown in fig. 9, two cells having discontinuous cell indexes #0 and #2 are scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling. One C-DAI is indicated to the two PDSCHs on the two cells, i.e., C-DAI ═ 1. On the other hand, a C-DAI equal to 2 is allocated to another PDSCH on cell # 1. To generate the HARQ-ACK codebook, HARQ-ACKs for two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling are concatenated and mapped to a position in the HARQ-ACK codebook according to a reference serving cell index (e.g., #0 of cell #0), and this position is followed by HARQ-ACKs for PDSCH on cell # 1.

In another option, the number of HARQ-ACK bits for two PDSCH reports scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling is twice the number of HARQ-ACK bits for PDSCH scheduled by DCI for single-cell scheduling. In this scheme, a single C-DAI value x is included in DCI for 2-cell scheduling, but two C-DAI values x and x +1 are effectively used by two PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI. The next DCI sent by the gNB may indicate a C-DAI value of x + 2.

The number of units of HARQ-ACK bits if TB-based HARQ-ACK feedback is used for two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling

Equal to in all cells

And

wherein the maximum configured number of TBs of the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI for 2-cell scheduling is

Maximum TB number of PDSCH scheduled by DCI for Single cell scheduling of

Thus, for a PDSCH scheduled by DCI for single cell scheduling, the number of HARQ-ACK bits reported is

A bit. On the other hand, for two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling, the total number of reported HARQ-ACK bits is

A bit.

The number of units of HARQ-ACK bits if CBG-based HARQ-ACK feedback is used for at least one PDSCH among two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling

Equal to in all cells

And

wherein the maximum configured number of CBGs of the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI for 2-cell scheduling is

Maximum CBG number of PDSCH scheduled by DCI for single cell scheduling of

Thus, for a PDSCH scheduled by DCI for cell-but-cell scheduling, the number of HARQ-ACK bits reported is

A bit. On the other hand, for two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling, the total number of reported HARQ-ACK bits is

A bit. For 2-cell scheduling, if one PDSCH uses transmission of TBs, one CBG per TB can be effectively assumed for TB-based PDSCH transmission.

For example, as shown in fig. 10, two cells having discontinuous cell indexes #0 and #2 are scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling. A single C-DAI is indicated in the DCI, i.e., C-DAI ═ 1. C-DAI is applied to PDSCH on cell #0, and effective C-DAI ═ 2 is applied to PDSCH on cell # 2. On the other hand, a C-DAI equal to 3 is allocated to another PDSCH on cell # 1. To generate the HARQ-ACK codebook, HARQ-ACKs for two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling are concatenated and mapped to a location in the HARQ-ACK codebook followed by HARQ-ACK for PDSCH on cell #1 according to a reference serving cell index (e.g., #0 for cell # 0).

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, to support semi-static HARQ-ACK transmission of two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling, HARQ-ACKs for the two PDSCHs are mapped to consecutive HARQ-ACK bits in positions determined by a reference serving cell index. In the reference serving cell, the maximum number is taken between the number of HARQ-ACK bits for two PDSCH reports scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling and the number of HARQ-ACK bits for PDSCH reports scheduled by DCI for single-cell scheduling. Then, for two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling and a PDSCH scheduled by DCI for single-cell scheduling, the maximum number of HARQ-ACK bits are included in the HARQ-ACK codebook. Semi-static HARQ-ACK generation may be illustrated by fig. 7, except that the maximum number of HARQ-ACK bits may be different for two PDSCHs scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling and a PDSCH scheduled by DCI for single-cell scheduling.

The same TB is mapped to each of two cells

As a specific example of the case where one TB may be mapped to only one of two cells, instead of scheduling two different TBs on two serving cells, in one embodiment, the same one or two TBs may be mapped to each of two PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled in two serving cells and scheduled using DCI for 2-cell scheduling. Further, in an example of one embodiment, the UE may be configured by dedicated Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling whether to map the same TB to each of two cells configured by the UE to be DCI scheduling for 2-cell scheduling received in the serving cell. In another example, the UE may be configured through dedicated RRC signaling, the two-cell scheduling DCI format may be used to schedule the same or different TBs on the two scheduled cells, and a bit field in the two-cell scheduling DCI format further indicates whether the same or different TBs are scheduled on each cell.

For PDSCH reception, such indication to the UE may help achieve a combination of log-likelihood ratios (LLRs) for the received channels, thereby improving the reliability of the reception. For PUSCH transmission, such indication to the UE enables transmission of redundant copies of one or two TBs via each PUSCH transmitted on two serving cells scheduled by a 2-cell scheduling DCI format.

HARQ-ACK codebook with the same TB mapped to each of two cells

In the following, for convenience of explanation, description is provided assuming that a PDSCH in a serving cell carries a single Codeword (CW) or TB. The embodiments and examples may be directly extended to the case where the PDSCH may carry multiple (e.g., two) CWs (or TBs).

In one embodiment, for the case where the same TB is carried by scheduled PDSCHs on two cells scheduled by DCI for 2-cell scheduling, the UE may report an ACK (positive acknowledgement) if any one of the scheduled PDSCHs can be successfully decoded (i.e., utilizing a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) procedure), and otherwise report a NACK (negative acknowledgement). The UE may attempt to decode each PDSCH separately based on HARQ combinations of soft bits of the PDSCH received on both cells. For this case, in one embodiment, the 2-cell scheduling DCI format carrying the DL assignment may indicate a single K1 slot offset and PRI value for transmitting HARQ-ACK feedback. Further, in one example, taking into account any impact from timing advance, the earliest symbol of PUCCH or PUSCH carrying the respective HARQ-ACK feedback should not be earlier than T symbols starting from the end position of the PDSCH ending later, where the duration of the T symbols is Is determined based on the available minimum UE processing time for PDSCH processing according to the appropriate UE processing time capabilities. If different UE capabilities with respect to PDSCH processing time are configured on the two cells, a UE capability with a longer processing time may be applied. In another embodiment, the minimum interval from the beginning of the last symbol of the last terminated PDSCH is defined as T + d_marginA symbol in which d_marginCorresponding to an additional number of symbols (taking into account the additional processing required for soft combining of PDSCH received on two serving cells), and as an example, d_marginMay be one of 0, 1, 2 and may be fixed (specified) or reported by the UE through UE capability reporting.

In another example, for a semi-static (type 1) HARQ-ACK codebook, the HARQ-ACK bit position may be determined based on a K1 slot offset and a Start and Length Indication Value (SLIV) indicated in the scheduling DCI via a Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) field for the last ending PDSCH. In another example, for a dynamic (type 2) HARQ-ACK codebook, the 2-cell scheduling DCI format may indicate a single value of C-DAI and T-DAI to indicate the location of the corresponding HARQ-ACK bit in the HARQ-ACK codebook.

Note that although all of the above embodiments in this disclosure are described for 2-cell scheduling, the case where a single PDCCH is used to schedule PDSCH and/or PUSCH transmissions in more than 2 cells may be directly extended.

Additionally, to implement the method 100 for use in a UE there may be provided a method for use in AN Access Node (AN), comprising: generating DCI for scheduling PDSCH or PUSCH on two cells; and transmitting the DCI.

System and implementation

Fig. 11-12 illustrate various systems, devices, and components that can implement aspects of the disclosed embodiments.

Fig. 11 shows a schematic diagram of a network 1100 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The network 1100 may operate in a manner consistent with the 3GPP technical specifications for LTE or 5G/NR systems. However, the exemplary embodiments are not limited in this respect and the described embodiments may be applied to other networks, such as future 3GPP systems and the like, which benefit from the principles described herein.

Network 1100 may include a UE 1102, which may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device designed to communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN)1104 via an over-the-air connection. The UE 1102 may be, but is not limited to, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a wearable computer device, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, an in-vehicle infotainment device, an in-vehicle entertainment device, a dashboard, a heads-up display device, an in-vehicle diagnostic device, a dashboard mobile device, a mobile data terminal, an electronic engine management system, an electronic/engine control unit, an electronic/engine control module, an embedded system, a sensor, a microcontroller, a control module, an engine management system, a network device, a machine-type communication device, a machine-to-machine (M2M) or device-to-device (D2D) device, an internet of things device, and/or the like.

In some embodiments, network 1100 may include multiple UEs directly coupled to each other through secondary link interfaces. The UE may be an M2M/D2D device that communicates using a physical secondary link channel (e.g., without limitation, a physical secondary link broadcast channel (PSBCH), a physical secondary link discovery channel (PSDCH), a physical secondary link shared channel (PSSCH), a physical secondary link control channel (PSCCH), a physical secondary link fundamental channel (PSFCH), etc.).

In some embodiments, the UE 1102 may also communicate with an Access Point (AP)1106 over an over-the-air connection. AP 1106 may manage WLAN connections, which may be used to offload some/all network traffic from RAN 1104. The connection between the UE 1102 and the AP 1106 may be in accordance with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 1106 may be wireless fidelity (WiFi)

A router. In some embodiments, UE 1102, RAN 1104, and AP 1106 may utilize cellular Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) aggregation (e.g., LTE-WLAN aggregation (LWA)/lightweight ip (lwip)). Cellular WLAN aggregation may involve a UE 1102 configured by the RAN 1104 to utilize both cellular radio resources and WLAN resources.

The RAN 1104 may include one or more access nodes, e.g., AN 1108. The AN 1108 may terminate the air interface protocols of the UE 1102 by providing access stratum protocols including radio resource control protocol (RRC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Radio Link Control (RLC), Medium Access Control (MAC), and L1 protocols. In this manner, the AN 1108 may enable a data/voice connection between the Core Network (CN)1120 and the UE 1102. In some embodiments, the AN 1108 may be implemented in a discrete device, or as one or more software entities running on a server computer (as part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as a distributed ran (cran) or virtual baseband unit pool, for example). AN 1108 may be referred to as a Base Station (BS), next generation base station (gNB), RAN node, evolved node b (enb), next generation enb (ng enb), node b (nodeb), roadside unit (RSU), TRxP, Transmission Reception Point (TRP), etc. The AN 1108 may be a macrocell base station or a low power base station for providing microcells, picocells, or other similar cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacities, or higher bandwidths than macrocells.

In embodiments where the RAN 1104 comprises multiple ANs, they may be coupled to each other through AN X2 interface (if the RAN 1104 is AN LTE RAN) or AN Xn interface (if the RAN 1104 is a 5G RAN). In some embodiments, the X2/Xn interface, which may be separated into a control/user plane interface, may allow the AN to communicate information related to handover, data/context transfer, mobility, load management, interference coordination, and the like.

The AN of RAN 1104 can manage one or more cells, groups of cells, component carriers, etc., respectively, to provide UE 1102 with AN air interface for network access. The UE 1102 may be simultaneously connected with multiple cells provided by the same or different ANs of the RAN 1104. For example, UE 1102 and RAN 1104 may use carrier aggregation to allow UE 1102 to connect with multiple component carriers, each corresponding to a primary cell (Pcell) or a secondary cell (Scell). In a dual connectivity scenario, the first AN may be a master node providing a Master Cell Group (MCG) and the second AN may be a secondary node providing a Secondary Cell Group (SCG). The first/second AN may be any combination of eNB, gNB, ng eNB, etc.

RAN 1104 may provide an air interface over a licensed spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum. To operate in unlicensed spectrum, a node may use a License Assisted Access (LAA), enhanced LAA (elaa), and/or further enhanced LAA (felaa) mechanism based on the Carrier Aggregation (CA) technique of PCell/Scell. Prior to accessing the unlicensed spectrum, the node may perform a media/carrier sensing operation based on, for example, a Listen Before Talk (LBT) protocol.

In a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) scenario, the UE 1102 or AN 1108 may be or act as a Road Side Unit (RSU), which may refer to any transport infrastructure entity for V2X communications. The RSU may be implemented in or by AN appropriate AN or stationary (or relatively stationary) UE. An RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referred to as a "UE-type RSU"; an RSU implemented in or by an eNB may be referred to as an "eNB-type RSU"; RSUs implemented in the next generation nodeb (gNB) or implemented by the gNB may be referred to as "gNB-type RSUs" or the like. In one example, the RSU is a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located at the curb side that provides connection support to passing vehicle UEs. The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry for storing intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, and applications/software for sensing and controlling ongoing vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may provide very low latency communications required for high speed events (e.g., collision avoidance, traffic warnings, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may provide other cellular/WLAN communication services. The components of the RSU may be enclosed in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoor installation and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., ethernet) to a traffic signal controller or backhaul network.

In some embodiments, RAN 1104 may be an LTE RAN 1110 including an evolved node b (eNB), e.g., eNB 1112. The LTE RAN 1110 may provide an LTE air interface with the following features: SCS at 15 kHz; SC-FDMA waveform for UL and CP-OFDM waveform for DL; turbo codes for data and TBCC for control, etc. The LTE air interface can rely on the CSI-RS to carry out CSI acquisition and beam management; relying on a PDSCH/PDCCH demodulation reference signal (DMRS) to demodulate the PDSCH/PDCCH; and relying on CRS for cell search and initial acquisition, channel quality measurements, and channel estimation, and on channel estimation for coherent demodulation/detection at the UE. The LTE air interface may operate on the sub-6 GHz band.

In some embodiments, RAN 1104 may be a Next Generation (NG) -RAN 1114 having a gNB (e.g., gNB 1116) or a gn-eNB (e.g., NG-eNB 1118). The gNB 1116 may connect with 5G-enabled UEs using a 5G NR interface. The gNB 1116 may be connected to the 5G core through an NG interface, which may include an N2 interface or an N3 interface. The NG-eNB 1118 may also be connected with the 5G core over the NG interface, but may be connected with the UE over the LTE air interface. The gNB 1116 and the ng-eNB 1118 may be connected to each other through an Xn interface.

In some embodiments, the NG interface may be divided into two parts, a NG user plane (NG-U) interface, which carries traffic data between nodes of the UPF 1148 and the NG-RAN1114 (e.g., the N3 interface), and a NG control plane (NG-C) interface, which is a signaling interface between the access and mobility management function (AMF)1144 and nodes of the NG-RAN1114 (e.g., the N2 interface).

The NG-RAN1114 may provide a 5G-NR air interface with the following features: variable SCS; CP-OFDM for DL, CP-OFDM for UL, and DFT-s-OFDM; polarity, repetition, simplex, and reed-muller codes for control, and LDPC for data. The 5G-NR air interface may rely on CSI-RS, PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS similar to the LTE air interface. The 5G-NR air interface may not use CRS, but may use PBCH DMRS for PBCH demodulation; performing phase tracking of the PDSCH using the PTRS; and time tracking using the tracking reference signal. The 5G-NR air interface may operate over the FR1 frequency band, which includes a sub-6 GHz frequency band, or the FR2 frequency band, which includes a 24.25GHz to 52.6GHz frequency band. The 5G-NR air interface may include SSBs, which are regions of a downlink resource grid including PSS/SSS/PBCH.

In some embodiments, the 5G-NR air interface may use BWP for various purposes. For example, BWP may be used for dynamic adaptation of SCS. For example, the UE 1102 may be configured with multiple BWPs, where each BWP configuration has a different SCS. When the BWP change is indicated to the UE 1102, the SCS of the transmission also changes. Another use case for BWP is related to power saving. In particular, the UE 1102 may be configured with multiple BWPs with different numbers of frequency resources (e.g., PRBs) to support data transmission in different traffic load scenarios. BWPs containing a smaller number of PRBs may be used for data transmission with smaller traffic load while allowing power savings at the UE 1102 and, in some cases, at the gNB 1116. BWPs containing a large number of PRBs may be used in scenarios with higher traffic loads.

RAN 1104 is communicatively coupled to CN 1120, which comprises network elements, to provide various functions to support data and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers (e.g., users of UE 1102). The components of CN 1120 may be implemented in one physical node or in different physical nodes. In some embodiments, NFV may be used to virtualize any or all of the functions provided by the network elements of CN 1120 onto physical computing/storage resources in servers, switches, and the like. Logical instances of CN 1120 may be referred to as network slices and logical instances of a portion of CN 1120 may be referred to as network subslices.

In some embodiments, CN 1120 may be LTE CN 1122, which may also be referred to as EPC. LTE CN 1122 may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME)1124, a Serving Gateway (SGW)1126, a serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) support node (SGSN)1128, a Home Subscriber Server (HSS)1130, a Proxy Gateway (PGW)1132, and a policy control and charging rules function (PCRF)1134, which are coupled to each other by an interface (or "reference point") as shown. The functions of the elements of LTE CN 1122 can be briefly introduced as follows.

The MME 1124 may implement mobility management functions to track the current location of the UE 1102 to facilitate paging, bearer activation/deactivation, handover, gateway selection, authentication, etc.

The SGW 1126 may terminate the S1 interface towards the RAN and route data packets between the RAN and the LTE CN 1122. SGW 1126 may be a local mobility anchor for inter-RAN node handovers and may also provide an anchor for inter-3 GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful interception, billing, and some policy enforcement.

The SGSN 1128 may track the location of the UE 1102 and perform security functions and access control. In addition, SGSN 1128 may perform EPC inter-node signaling for mobility between different RAT networks; PDN and S-GW selection specified by MME 1124; MME selection for handover, etc. An S3 reference point between the MME 1124 and the SGSN 1128 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3 GPP access network mobility in idle/active state.

HSS 1130 may include a database for network users that includes subscription-related information that supports network entities handling communication sessions. HSS 1130 may provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependency, etc. An S6a reference point between HSS 1130 and MME 1124 may enable the transmission of subscription and authentication data for authenticating/authorizing user access to LTE CN 1120.

PGW 1132 may terminate the SGi interface towards a Data Network (DN)1136, which may include an application/content server 1138. The PGW 1132 may route data packets between the LTE CN 1122 and the data network 1136. PGW 1132 may be coupled to SGW 1126 via an S5 reference point to facilitate user plane tunneling and tunnel management. PGW 1132 may also include nodes (e.g., PCEFs) for policy enforcement and charging data collection. Additionally, the SGi reference point between PGW 1132 and data network 1136 may be, for example, an operator external public, private PDN, or an operator internal packet data network for providing IMS services. PGW 1132 may be coupled to PCRF 1134 via a Gx reference point.

PCRF 1134 is a policy and charging control element of LTE CN 1122. The PCRF 1134 may be communicatively coupled to the application/content server 1138 to determine appropriate quality of service (QoS) and charging parameters for the service flow. PCRF 1132 may provide relevant rules to PCEF (via the Gx reference point) with appropriate Traffic Flow Templates (TFTs) and QoS Class Identifiers (QCIs).

In some embodiments, CN 1120 may be a 5G core network (5GC) 1140. The 5GC 1140 may include an authentication server function (AUSF)1142, an access and mobility management function (AMF)1144, a Session Management Function (SMF)1146, a User Plane Function (UPF)1148, a Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF)1150, a network open function (NEF)1152, an NF storage function (NRF)1154, a Policy Control Function (PCF)1156, a Unified Data Management (UDM)1158, and an Application Function (AF)1160, which are coupled to each other by an interface (or "reference point") as shown. The functions of the elements of the 5GC 1140 can be briefly described as follows.

The AUSF1142 may store data for authentication of the UE 1102 and process authentication related functions. The AUSF1142 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. The AUSF1142 may exhibit a Nausf service based interface in addition to communicating with other elements of the 5GC 1140 through reference points as shown.

The AMF 1144 may allow other functions of the 5GC 1140 to communicate with the UE 1102 and the RAN 1104 and subscribe to notification of a mobility event with respect to the UE 1102. The AMF 1144 may be responsible for registration management (e.g., registering the UE 1102), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception of AMF related events, and access authentication and authorization. AMF 1144 may provide for transmission of Session Management (SM) messages between UE 1102 and SMF 1146 and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. The AMF 1144 may also provide for the transmission of SMS messages between the UE 1102 and the SMSF. The AMF 1144 may interact with the AUSF1142 and the UE 1102 to perform various security anchoring and context management functions. Further, AMF 1144 may be a termination point of the RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between RAN 1104 and AMF 1144; the AMF 1144 may act as a termination point for NAS (N1) signaling and perform NAS ciphering and integrity protection. The AMF 1144 may also support NAS signaling with the UE 1102 over the N3 IWF interface.

The SMF 1146 may be responsible for SM (e.g., tunnel management between the UPF 1148 and the AN 1108, session establishment); UE IP address assignment and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of the UP function; configuring flow control at the UPF 1148 to route traffic to the appropriate destination; termination of the interface to the policy control function; controlling a portion of policy enforcement, charging, and QoS; lawful interception (for SM events and interface to the LI system); terminate the SM portion of the NAS message; a downlink data notification; initiating AN specific SM message (sent to AN 1108 over N2 through AMF 1144); and determining an SSC pattern for the session. SM may refer to management of PDU sessions, and a PDU session or "session" may refer to a PDU connection service that provides or enables exchange of PDUs between the UE 1102 and the data network 1136.

The UPF 1148 may serve as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point to interconnect with the data network 1136, and a branch point to support multi-homed PDU sessions. The UPF 1148 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, perform user plane part of policy rules, lawful intercepted packets (IP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS processing for the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rate enforcement), perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. The UPF 1148 may include an uplink classifier to support routing of traffic flows to a data network.

The NSSF 1150 may select a set of network slice instances that serve the UE 1102. NSSF 1150 may also determine allowed Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (NSSAI) and mapping to a single NSSAI (S-NSSAI) of the subscription, if desired. The NSSF 1150 may also determine a set of AMFs to be used to serve the UE 1102, or determine a list of candidate AMFs, based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF 1154. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 1102 may be triggered by the AMF 1144 (with which the UE 1102 registers by interacting with the NSSF 1150), which may result in a change in the AMF. NSSF 1150 may interact with AMF 1144 via N22 reference point; and may communicate with another NSSF in the visited network via an N31 reference point (not shown). Further, the NSSF 1150 may expose an interface based on the NSSF service.

NEF 1152 may securely disclose services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third parties, internal exposure/re-exposure, AF (e.g., AF 1160), edge computing or fog computing systems, and the like. In these embodiments, NEF 1152 may authenticate, authorize, or limit AF. NEF 1152 may also translate information exchanged with AF 1160 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, the NEF 1152 may convert between the AF service identifier and the internal 5GC information. NEF 1152 may also receive information from other NFs based on their public capabilities. This information may be stored as structured data at NEF 1152 or at data store NF using a standardized interface. NEF 1152 may then re-expose the stored information to other NFs and AFs, or for other purposes such as analysis. In addition, NEF 1152 may expose an interface based on the Nnef service.

NRF 1154 may support a service discovery function, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide information of discovered NF instances to NF instances. NRF 1154 also maintains information on available NF instances and the services it supports. As used herein, the terms "instantiate," "instance," and the like may refer to creating an instance, "instance" may refer to a specific occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code. Further, NRF 1154 may expose an interface based on an nrrf service.

PCF 1156 may provide policy rules to control plane functions to perform them and may also support a unified policy framework to manage network behavior. The PCF 1156 may also implement a front end to access subscription information related to policy decisions in the UDR of the UDM 1158. In addition to communicating with functions through reference points as shown, PCF 1156 also presents an interface based on Npcf services.

The UDM 1158 may process subscription-related information to support network entities handling communication sessions and may store subscription data for the UE 1102. For example, subscription data may be communicated via the N8 reference point between UDM 1158 and AMF 1144. The UDM 1158 may comprise two parts: application front end and User Data Record (UDR). The UDR may store policy data and subscription data for UDM 1158 and PCF 1156, and/or structured data and application data for exposure for NEF 1152 (including PFD for application detection, application request information for multiple UEs 1102). UDR 221 may expose an Nudr service-based interface to allow UDM 1158, PCF 1156, and NEF 1152 to access a particular collection of stored data, as well as read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to notifications of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDM may include a UDM-FE (UDM front end) that is responsible for handling credentials, location management, subscription management, and the like. Several different front ends may serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication credential processing, user identification processing, access authorization, registration/mobility management, and subscription management. UDM 1158 may expose a numm service based interface in addition to communicating with other NFs through reference points as shown.

AF 1160 may provide application impact on traffic routing, provide access to NEF, and interact with policy framework for policy control.

In some embodiments, the 5GC 1140 may enable edge computing by selecting operator/third party services geographically close to the point where the UE 1102 connects to the network. This may reduce delay and load on the network. To provide an edge computing implementation, the 5GC 1140 may select a UPF 1148 close to the UE 1102 and perform traffic steering from the UPF 1148 to the data network 1136 over an N6 interface. This may be based on UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by AF 1160. In this way, AF 1160 may influence UPF (re) selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, the network operator may allow AF 1160 to interact directly with the relevant NFs when AF 1160 is considered a trusted entity. In addition, AF 1160 may expose interfaces based on Naf services.

The data network 1136 may represent various network operator services, internet access, or third party services that may be provided by one or more servers, including, for example, an application/content server 1138.

Fig. 12 schematically illustrates a wireless network 1200 in accordance with various embodiments. The wireless network 1200 may include a UE 1202 in wireless communication with AN 1204. The UE 1202 and the AN 1204 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with like-named components described elsewhere herein.

The UE 1202 may be communicatively coupled with AN 1204 via a connection 1206. Connection 1206 is shown as an air interface to enable communicative coupling and may be consistent with a cellular communication protocol operating at millimeter-wave or sub-6 GHz frequencies, such as the LTE protocol or the 5G NR protocol.

The UE 1202 may include a host platform 1208 coupled with a modem platform 1210. Host platform 1208 may include application processing circuitry 1212, which may be coupled with protocol processing circuitry 1214 of modem platform 1210. The application processing circuitry 1212 may run various applications of source/receiver application data for the UE 1202. The application processing circuitry 1212 may also implement one or more layers of operations to send/receive application data to/from a data network. These layer operations may include transport (e.g., UDP) and internet (e.g., IP) operations.

The protocol processing circuitry 1214 may implement one or more layers of operations to facilitate the transmission or reception of data over connection 1206. Layer operations implemented by the protocol processing circuitry 1214 may include, for example, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC, and NAS operations.

The modem platform 1210 may further include digital baseband circuitry 1216, which digital baseband circuitry 1216 may implement one or more layer operations of "lower" layer operations performed by the protocol processing circuitry 1214 in the network protocol stack. These operations may include, for example, PHY operations including one or more of HARQ-ACK functions, scrambling/descrambling, encoding/decoding, layer mapping/demapping, modulation symbol mapping, received symbol/bit metric determination, multi-antenna port precoding/decoding, wherein these functions may include one or more of space-time, space-frequency, or spatial coding, reference signal generation/detection, preamble sequence generation and/or decoding, synchronization sequence generation/detection, control channel signal blind decoding, and other related functions.

Modem platform 1210 may further include transmit circuitry 1218, receive circuitry 1220, RF circuitry 1222, and RF front end (RFFE) circuitry 1224, which may include or be connected to one or more antenna panels 1226. Briefly, the transmit circuitry 1218 may include digital-to-analog converters, mixers, Intermediate Frequency (IF) components, and the like; the receive circuit 1220 may include an analog-to-digital converter, a mixer, IF components, etc.; RF circuitry 1222 may include low noise amplifiers, power tracking components, and so forth; RFFE circuitry 1224 can include filters (e.g., surface/bulk acoustic wave filters), switches, antenna tuners, beam forming components (e.g., phased array antenna components), and so forth. The selection and arrangement of components of transmit circuitry 1218, receive circuitry 1220, RF circuitry 1222, RFFE circuitry 1224, and antenna panel 1226 (collectively, "transmit/receive components") may be specific to details of a particular implementation, e.g., whether the communication is Time Division Multiplexed (TDM) or Frequency Division Multiplexed (FDM), at mmWave or sub-6 GHz frequencies, etc. In some embodiments, the transmit/receive components may be arranged in a plurality of parallel transmit/receive chains, and may be arranged in the same or different chips/modules, etc.

In some embodiments, the protocol processing circuitry 1214 may include one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functionality for the transmit/receive components.

UE reception may be established by and via antenna panel 1226, RFFE circuitry 1224, RF circuitry 1222, receive circuitry 1220, digital baseband circuitry 1216, and protocol processing circuitry 1214. In some embodiments, antenna panel 1226 may receive transmissions from AN 1204 by receiving beamformed signals received by multiple antennas/antenna elements of one or more antenna panels 1226.

UE transmissions may be established via and through the protocol processing circuitry 1214, the digital baseband circuitry 1216, the transmit circuitry 1218, the RF circuitry 1222, the RFFE circuitry 1224, and the antenna panel 1226. In some embodiments, a transmit component of UE 1204 may apply a spatial filter to the data to be transmitted to form a transmit beam transmitted by the antenna elements of antenna panel 1226.

Similar to UE 1202, AN 1204 can include a host platform 1228 coupled with a modem platform 1230. The host platform 1228 may include application processing circuitry 1232 coupled to protocol processing circuitry 1234 of the modem platform 1230. The modem platform may also include digital baseband circuitry 1236, transmit circuitry 1238, receive circuitry 1240, RF circuitry 1242, RFFE circuitry 1244, and antenna panel 1246. The components of AN 1204 can be similar to, and substantially interchangeable with, the synonymous components of UE 1202. In addition to performing data transmission/reception as described above, the components of AN 1208 may perform various logical functions including, for example, RNC functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management, and data packet scheduling.

Fig. 13 is a block diagram illustrating components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and performing any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, according to some example embodiments. In particular, fig. 13 shows a schematic diagram of hardware resources 1300, hardware resources 1300 including one or more processors (or processor cores) 1310, one or more memory/storage devices 1320, and one or more communication resources 1330, where each of these processors, memory/storage devices, and communication resources may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1340 or other interface circuitry. For embodiments utilizing node virtualization (e.g., Network Function Virtualization (NFV)), hypervisor 1302 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/subslices to utilize hardware resources 1300.

Processor 1310 may include, for example, processor 1312 and processor 1314. The processor 1310 may be, for example, a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) such as a baseband processor, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof.

Memory/storage 1320 may include a main memory, a disk storage device, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage 1320 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile, non-volatile, or semi-volatile memory, such as Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state memory, and the like.

Communication resources 1330 may include interconnection or network interface controllers, components, or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripherals 1304 or one or more data via network 1308The library 1306 or other network element. For example, communication resources 1330 can include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB, ethernet, etc.), cellular communication components, Near Field Communication (NFC) components, wireless communication components, and/or the like,

(or

Low energy) assembly,

Components, and other communication components.

The instructions 1350 may include software, programs, applications, applets, applications, or other executable code for causing at least any one of the processors 1310 to perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein. The instructions 1350 may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processor 1310 (e.g., in a cache of the processor), the memory/storage 1320, or any suitable combination thereof. Further, any portion of instructions 1350 may be transmitted to hardware resource 1300 from any combination of peripherals 1304 or database 1306. Thus, the memory of processor 1310, memory/storage 1320, peripherals 1304, and database 1306 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

The following paragraphs describe examples of various embodiments.

Example 1 includes an apparatus for use in a UE, comprising: a Radio Frequency (RF) interface; and a processor circuit coupled to the RF interface, the processor circuit to: receive Downlink Control Information (DCI) on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) via the RF interface, wherein the DCI is configured to schedule a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) on two cells, and receive downlink information on the PDSCH or transmit uplink information on the PUSCH via the RF interface on the two cells based on the DCI.

Example 2 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the DCI includes one or more information fields that are indicated only once for the two cells.

Example 3 includes the apparatus of example 2, wherein when the DCI is configured to schedule the PDSCHs on the two cells, the DCI includes a PDSCH-to-HARQ (hybrid automatic repeat request) _ feedback timing indicator field indicating a time to transmit HARQ-ACK feedback for the PDSCHs on the two cells, and the PDSCH-to-HARQ _ feedback timing indicator field is defined with respect to a last symbol of a last finished PDSCH on the two cells.

Example 4 includes the apparatus of example 2, wherein the DCI includes a New Data Indicator (NDI) field and a Redundancy Version (RV) field, the two fields being indicated for each Transport Block (TB), the NDI field indicating whether the TB is retransmitted or first transmitted, the RV field indicating a redundancy version of a coding format for the TB.

Example 5 includes the apparatus of example 2, wherein the DCI includes a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) field indicating a modulation order for the PDSCH or PUSCH on the two cells.

Example 6 includes the apparatus of example 2, wherein the DCI includes a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) field indicating a modulation order for a PDSCH or PUSCH on one of the two cells and a differential value field indicating a differential value, wherein MCS information for the other of the two cells is derived based on the differential value in combination with the MCS field.

Example 7 includes the apparatus of example 2, wherein the DCI includes a Transmission Configuration Index (TCI) field indicating transmission configuration states for the two cells, wherein: the TCI status is applied to the two cells when a single TCI status is configured for a first value of the TCI field; when two TCI states are configured for a second value of the TCI field, the two TCI states are applied to the two cells, respectively; when three TCI states are configured for a third value of the TCI field, one of the three TCI states is applied to one of the two cells and the other two of the three TCI states are applied to the other of the two cells; when four TCI states are configured for the fourth value of the TCI field, two of the four TCI states are applied to one of the two cells and the other two of the four TCI states are applied to the other of the two cells.

Example 8 includes the apparatus of example 2, wherein the DCI includes a bandwidth part (BWP) indicator field to indicate BWP active on the two cells according to one or more of the following restrictions: a dormant BWP on one of the two cells is indicated together with a non-dormant BWP on the other of the two cells; indicating a default BWP on one of the two cells together with a non-default BWP on the other of the two cells; and BWPs on the two cells use the same subcarrier spacing.

Example 9 includes the apparatus of example 2, wherein the DCI includes two frequency-domain resource allocation (FDRA) fields, each FDRA field indicating frequency resources on an active bandwidth part (BWP) on one of the two cells, and the two FDRA fields are configured as a same FDRA type or two different FDRA types.

Example 10 includes the apparatus of example 9, wherein the two different FDRA types include FDRA type 0 and FDRA type 1, wherein the FDRA type 1 indicates a greater number of physical resource Pools (PRBs) than the FDRA 0.

Example 11 includes the apparatus of example 2, wherein the DCI includes a Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) field indicating time domain resources on an active bandwidth part (BWP) on the two cells.

Example 12 includes the apparatus of example 2, wherein the DCI includes two Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) fields, each TDRA field indicating time domain resources on an active bandwidth portion (BWP) on one of the two cells.

Example 13 includes the apparatus of example 2, wherein when a deviation between the DCI and reception of the PDSCH on one of the two cells is less than a threshold duration or when the DCI does not include a Transmission Configuration Index (TCI) field indicating one or more transmission configuration states for the one cell, a default TCI state for the PDSCH on the one cell is determined to be one of: an activated TCI state with a minimum ID usable for a PDSCH in an activated Bandwidth part (BWP) of the one cell; an activated TCI state with a minimum ID that can be used for PDSCH in activated BWP of the reference serving cell; one or more Reference Signals (RSs) for one or more quasi co-location (QCL) parameters of a PDCCH quasi co-location indication for a control resource set associated with a monitored search space, the control resource set being the control resource set with a lowest control resource set ID in a latest slot of one or more control resource sets in active BWPs of the one cell monitored by the UE; one or more Reference Signals (RSs) for one or more quasi co-location (QCL) parameters of a PDCCH quasi co-location indication for a control resource set associated with a monitored search space, the control resource set being the control resource set with a lowest control resource set ID in a latest slot of one or more control resource sets in an active BWP of a reference serving cell monitored by the UE; and for a PDSCH on a scheduling cell transmitting the DCI, an active TCI state with a lowest ID available for a PDSCH in active BWP of the scheduling cell, or for a PDSCH on one scheduled cell, one or more RSs for one or more QCL parameters for PDCCH quasi co-location indication of a control resource set associated with monitored search, the control resource set being the control resource set with a lowest control resource set ID in a latest slot of one or more control resource sets in active BWP monitored by the UE for the one cell.

Example 14 includes the apparatus of example 2, wherein the processor circuit is further to: transmitting, via the RF interface, HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells based on a transmission pattern of the PDSCHs on the two cells, wherein the PDSCHs on the two cells are transmitted by Transport Block (TB) -based transmission or Code Block Group (CBG) -based transmission.

Example 15 includes the apparatus of example 14, wherein for the PDSCH on one of the two cells, whether to apply the TB or CBG based transmission to the PDSCH is configured by higher layer signaling.

Example 16 includes the apparatus of example 14, wherein one Transport Block (TB) scheduled by the DCI is jointly carried on the PDSCH or PUSCH on the two cells.

Example 17 includes the apparatus of example 16, wherein the DCI includes a counter downlink allocation index (C-DAI) field indicating a position in a HARQ-ACK codebook of HARQ feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells relative to HARQ-ACK feedback for other scheduled PDSCHs.

Example 18 includes the apparatus of example 16, wherein the processor circuit is further to: determining a position in the HARQ-ACK codebook for HARQ-ACK feedback on the two cells based on a reference serving cell index.

Example 19 includes the apparatus of example 18, wherein the reference serving cell index is a lower one of indices of the two cells, or an index of a scheduling cell that transmits the DCI, or is configured by higher layer signaling.

Example 20 includes the apparatus of example 14, wherein one Transport Block (TB) scheduled by the DCI is carried on a PDSCH or a PUSCH on one of the two cells.

Example 21 includes the apparatus of example 20, wherein the DCI includes a counter downlink assignment index (C-DAI) field indicating a location in a HARQ-ACK codebook of HARQ feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells relative to HARQ-ACK feedback for other scheduled PDSCHs.

Example 22 includes the apparatus of example 20, wherein the DCI includes a total downlink assignment index (T-DAI) field indicating a total number of PDCCHs transmitted by a scheduling cell transmitting the DCI until the PDCCH transmitting the DCI.

Example 23 includes the apparatus of example 20, wherein the DCI includes two counter downlink assignment index (C-DAI) fields, each C-DAI field indicating a position in a HARQ-ACK codebook for HARQ feedback for a PDSCH on one of the two cells relative to HARQ-ACK feedback for other scheduled PDSCHs.

Example 24 includes the apparatus of example 20, wherein the DCI includes two total downlink assignment index (T-DAI) fields, each T-DAI field indicating a total number of PDCCHs transmitted by a scheduling cell transmitting the DCI until the PDCCH transmitting the DCI.

Example 25 includes the apparatus of example 20, wherein the processor circuit is further to: for a PDSCH on one of the two cells, determining a position of HARQ-ACK feedback for the PDSCH in a HARQ-ACK codebook based on a reference serving cell index.

Example 26 includes the apparatus of example 20, wherein the processor circuit is further to: determining, based on a serving cell index, a position in a HARQ-ACK codebook of HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells, wherein consecutive HARQ-ACK bits indicating the HARQ-ACK feedback for the PDSCHs on the two cells are located at the position determined based on the reference serving cell index.

Example 27 includes the apparatus of example 25 or 26, wherein the reference serving cell index is a lower one of indices of the two cells, an index of a scheduling cell transmitting the DCI, or configured by higher layer signaling.

Example 28 includes the apparatus of example 25 or 26, wherein a number of HARQ-ACK bits for PDSCH on the two cells is equal to a number of HARQ-ACK bits for PDSCH scheduled by DCI for single cell scheduling.

Example 29 includes the apparatus of example 25 or 26, wherein a number of HARQ-ACK bits for the PDSCH on the two cells is twice a number of HARQ-ACK bits for the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI for single cell scheduling.

Example 30 includes the apparatus of example 14, wherein the same TB or CBG number configuration is applied to PDSCH or PUSCH on the two cells.

Example 31 includes the apparatus of example 14, wherein different TB or CBG number configurations are applied to PDSCH or PUSCH on the two cells.

Example 32 includes the apparatus of example 14, wherein a Transport Block (TB) scheduled by the DCI is carried on each PDSCH or PUSCH on the two cells.

Example 33 includes the apparatus of example 32, wherein whether a same TB is carried on each PDSCH or PUSCH on the two cells is configured by dedicated Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

Example 34 includes the apparatus of example 31, wherein the processor circuit is further to: sending positive HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells when any one PDSCH on the two cells is successfully received; and transmitting negative HARQ-ACK feedback for the PDSCHs on the two cells when neither PDSCH on the two cells is successfully received.

Example 35 includes the apparatus of example 31, wherein the DCI indicates a K1-slot offset and a Start and Length Indication Value (SLIV) via a Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) field of the DCI for a PDSCH that ends in a latter one of the two cells.

Example 36 includes the apparatus of example 35, wherein an earliest one symbol of a PUCCH or PUSCH carrying HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells is no earlier than T symbols starting from an end of a PDSCH ending last on the two cells, wherein a duration of the T symbols is determined based on a minimum time for the UE to process the PDSCH on one of the two cells.

Example 37 includes the apparatus of example 35, wherein the processor circuit is further to: for a semi-static HARQ-ACK Codebook (CB), determining a location of HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells based on a K1-slot offset and a SLIV indicated via a TDRA field in the DCI for a PDSCH ending the latter one of the two cells or a PDSCH on a reference serving cell, wherein the reference serving cell is one of the two cells having a lower index or configured by higher layer signaling.

Example 38 includes the apparatus of example 32, wherein the DCI includes a counter downlink allocation (C-DAI) field indicating a position in a HARQ-ACK codebook indicating HARQ feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells relative to HARQ-ACK feedback for other scheduled PDSCHs, and a total DAI (T-DAI) field indicating a total number of PDCCHs transmitted by a scheduling cell transmitting the DCI until the PDCCH transmitting the DCI.

Example 39 includes the apparatus of example 38, wherein the processor circuit is further to: for a dynamic HARQ-ACK Codebook (CB), determining a location of HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells based on the C-DAI field and the T-DAI field.

Example 40 includes a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: receiving Downlink Control Information (DCI) on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) via an RF interface, wherein the DCI is configured to schedule a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) on two cells; and receiving downlink information on the PDSCH or transmitting uplink information on the PUSCH via the RF interface on the two cells based on the DCI.

Example 41 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 40, wherein the DCI includes one or more information fields that are indicated only once for the two cells.

Example 42 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 41, wherein, when the DCI is configured to schedule the PDSCHs on the two cells, the DCI includes a PDSCH-to-HARQ (hybrid automatic repeat request) _ feedback timing indicator field indicating a time to transmit HARQ-ACK feedback for the PDSCHs on the two cells, and the PDSCH-to-HARQ _ feedback timing indicator field is defined with respect to a last symbol of a last finished PDSCH on the two cells.

Example 43 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 41, wherein the DCI includes a New Data Indicator (NDI) field that indicates for each Transport Block (TB) whether the TB is retransmitted or first transmitted and a Redundancy Version (RV) field that indicates a redundancy version of a coding format used for the TB.

Example 44 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 41, wherein the DCI includes a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) field indicating a modulation order for the PDSCH or PUSCH on the two cells.

Example 45 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 41, wherein the DCI includes a Modulation Coding Scheme (MCS) field indicating a modulation order for a PDSCH or PUSCH on one of the two cells and a differential value field indicating a differential value, wherein MCS information for another one of the two cells is derived based on the differential value in conjunction with the MCS field.

Example 46 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 41, wherein the DCI includes a Transmission Configuration Index (TCI) field indicating transmission configuration states for the two cells, wherein: the TCI status is applied to the two cells when a single TCI status is configured for a first value of the TCI field; when two TCI states are configured for a second value of the TCI field, the two TCI states are applied to the two cells, respectively; when three TCI states are configured for a third value of the TCI field, one of the three TCI states is applied to one of the two cells and the other two of the three TCI states are applied to the other of the two cells; when four TCI states are configured for the fourth value of the TCI field, two of the four TCI states are applied to one of the two cells and the other two of the four TCI states are applied to the other of the two cells.

Example 47 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 41, wherein the DCI includes a bandwidth part active (BWP) indicator field to indicate BWP over the two cells according to one or more of the following restrictions: a dormant BWP on one of the two cells is indicated together with a non-dormant BWP on the other of the two cells; indicating a default BWP on one of the two cells together with a non-default BWP on the other of the two cells; and BWPs on the two cells use the same subcarrier spacing.

Example 48 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 41, wherein the DCI includes two frequency-domain resource allocation (FDRA) fields, each FDRA field indicating frequency resources on an active bandwidth part (BWP) on one of the two cells, and the two FDRA fields are configured as a same FDRA type or two different FDRA types.

Example 49 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 48, wherein the two different FDRA types include FDRA type 0 and FDRA type 1, wherein the FDRA type 1 indicates a greater number of physical resource Pools (PRBs) than the FDRA 0.

Example 50 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 41, wherein the DCI includes a Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) field indicating time domain resources on an active bandwidth part (BWP) on the two cells.

Example 51 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 41, wherein the DCI includes two Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) fields, each TDRA field indicating time domain resources on an active bandwidth part (BWP) on one of the two cells.

Example 52 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 41, wherein when a deviation between the DCI and reception of the PDSCH on one of the two cells is less than a threshold duration or when the DCI does not include a Transmission Configuration Index (TCI) field indicating one or more transmission configuration states for the one cell, a default TCI state for the PDSCH on the one cell is determined to be one of: an activated TCI state with a minimum ID usable for a PDSCH in an activated Bandwidth part (BWP) of the one cell; an activated TCI state with a minimum ID that can be used for PDSCH in activated BWP of the reference serving cell; one or more Reference Signals (RSs) for one or more quasi co-location (QCL) parameters of a PDCCH quasi co-location indication for a control resource set associated with a monitored search space, the control resource set being the control resource set with a lowest control resource set ID in a latest slot of one or more control resource sets in active BWPs of the one cell monitored by the UE; one or more Reference Signals (RSs) for one or more quasi co-location (QCL) parameters of a PDCCH quasi co-location indication for a control resource set associated with a monitored search space, the control resource set being the control resource set with a lowest control resource set ID in a latest slot of one or more control resource sets in an active BWP monitored by the UE; and for a PDSCH on a scheduling cell transmitting the DCI, an active TCI state with a lowest ID available for a PDSCH in active BWP of the scheduling cell, or for a PDSCH on one scheduled cell, one or more RSs for one or more QCL parameters for PDCCH quasi co-location indication of a control resource set associated with monitored search, the control resource set being the control resource set with a lowest control resource set ID in a latest slot of one or more control resource sets in active BWP monitored by the UE for the one cell.

Example 53 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 41, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to further: transmitting, via the RF interface, HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells based on a transmission pattern of the PDSCHs on the two cells, wherein the PDSCHs on the two cells are transmitted by Transport Block (TB) -based transmission or Code Block Group (CBG) -based transmission.

Example 54 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 53, wherein for the PDSCH on one of the two cells, whether to apply the TB-based transmission or the CBG-based transmission is configured by higher layer signaling.

Example 55 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 54, wherein one Transport Block (TB) scheduled by the DCI is jointly carried on the PDSCH or PUSCH on the two cells.

Example 56 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 55, wherein the DCI includes a counter downlink allocation index (C-DAI) field indicating a position in a HARQ-ACK codebook for HARQ feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells relative to HARQ-ACK feedback for other scheduled PDSCHs.

Example 57 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 54, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to further: determining a position in the HARQ-ACK codebook for HARQ-ACK feedback on the two cells based on a reference serving cell index.

Example 58 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 57, wherein the reference serving cell index is a lower one of indices of the two cells, or an index of a scheduling cell that transmits the DCI, or is configured by higher layer signaling.

Example 59 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 53, wherein one Transport Block (TB) scheduled by the DCI is carried on the PDSCH or PUSCH on one of the two cells.

Example 60 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 59, wherein the DCI includes a counter downlink assignment index (C-DAI) field indicating a position in a HARQ-ACK codebook of HARQ feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells relative to HARQ-ACK feedback for other scheduled PDSCHs.

Example 61 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 59, wherein the DCI includes a total downlink assignment index (T-DAI) field indicating a total number of PDCCHs transmitted by a scheduling cell transmitting the DCI until the PDCCH transmitting the DCI.

Example 62 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 59, wherein the DCI includes two counter downlink allocation index (C-DAI) fields, each C-DAI field indicating a position in a HARQ-ACK codebook for HARQ feedback for a PDSCH on one of the two cells relative to HARQ-ACK feedback for other scheduled PDSCHs.

Example 63 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 59, wherein the DCI includes two total downlink assignment index (T-DAI) fields, each T-DAI field indicating a total number of PDCCHs transmitted by a scheduling cell transmitting the DCI until the PDCCH transmitting the DCI.

Example 64 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 59, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to further: for a PDSCH on one of the two cells, determining a position of HARQ-ACK feedback for the PDSCH in a HARQ-ACK codebook based on a reference serving cell index.

Example 65 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 59, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to further: determining, based on a serving cell index, a position in a HARQ-ACK codebook of HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells, wherein consecutive HARQ-ACK bits indicating the HARQ-ACK feedback for the PDSCHs on the two cells are located at the position determined based on the reference serving cell index.

Example 66 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 64 or 65, wherein the reference serving cell index is a lower one of the indices of the two cells, an index of a scheduling cell transmitting the DCI, or is configured by higher layer signaling.

Example 67 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 64 or 65, wherein a number of HARQ-ACK bits for the PDSCH on the two cells is equal to a number of HARQ-ACK bits for the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI for single cell scheduling.

Example 68 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 64 or 65, wherein a number of HARQ-ACK bits for the PDSCH on the two cells is twice a number of HARQ-ACK bits for the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI for single cell scheduling.

Example 69 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 53, wherein the same TB or CBG number configuration is applied to PDSCH or PUSCH on the two cells.

Example 70 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 53, wherein different TB or CBG number configurations are applied to PDSCH or PUSCH on the two cells.

Example 71 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 53, wherein one Transport Block (TB) scheduled by the DCI is carried on each PDSCH or PUSCH on the two cells.

Example 72 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 71, wherein whether a same TB is carried on each PDSCH or PUSCH on the two cells is configured by dedicated Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

Example 73 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 72, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to: sending positive HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells when any one PDSCH on the two cells is successfully received; and transmitting negative HARQ-ACK feedback for the PDSCHs on the two cells when neither PDSCH on the two cells is successfully received.

Example 74 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 72, wherein the DCI indicates a K1-slot offset and a Start and Length Indication Value (SLIV) via a Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) field of the DCI for a PDSCH that ends later in the two cells.

Example 75 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 74, wherein an earliest one symbol of a PUCCH or PUSCH carrying HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells is no earlier than T symbols starting from an end of a PDSCH ending last on the two cells, wherein a duration of the T symbols is determined based on a minimum time for the UE to process the PDSCH on one of the two cells.

Example 76 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 74, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to further: for a semi-static HARQ-ACK Codebook (CB), determining a location of HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells based on a K1-slot offset and a SLIV indicated via a TDRA field in the DCI for a PDSCH ending the latter one of the two cells or a PDSCH on a reference serving cell, wherein the reference serving cell is one of the two cells having a lower index or configured by higher layer signaling.

Example 77 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 74, wherein the DCI includes a counter downlink allocation (C-DAI) field indicating a position in a HARQ-ACK codebook indicating HARQ feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells relative to HARQ-ACK feedback for other scheduled PDSCHs and a total DAI (T-DAI) field indicating a total number of PDCCHs transmitted by a scheduling cell transmitting the DCI until the PDCCH transmitting the DCI.

Example 78 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 71, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to further: for a dynamic HARQ-ACK Codebook (CB), determining a location of HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells based on the C-DAI field and the T-DAI field.

Although certain embodiments have been illustrated and described herein for purposes of description, a wide variety of alternate and/or equivalent embodiments or implementations calculated to achieve the same purposes may be substituted for the embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present invention. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is manifestly intended that the embodiments described herein be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.

Claims (25)

1. An apparatus to be used in a User Equipment (UE), comprising:

a Radio Frequency (RF) interface; and

a processor circuit coupled to the RF interface, the processor circuit to:

receive Downlink Control Information (DCI) on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) via the RF interface, wherein the DCI is configured to schedule a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) on two cells;

receiving downlink information on the PDSCH or transmitting uplink information on the PUSCH via the RF interface on the two cells based on the DCI.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein when the DCI is configured to schedule PDSCH on the two cells, the DCI includes a PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field indicating a time to transmit HARQ feedback for PDSCH on the two cells, a value of the PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field being defined with respect to a last symbol of a last finished PDSCH on the two cells.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the DCI comprises a New Data Indicator (NDI) field and a Redundancy Version (RV) field, both fields being indicated for each Transport Block (TB), the NDI field indicating whether the TB is retransmitted or first transmitted, the RV field indicating a redundancy version of a coding format for the TB.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the DCI comprises a Modulation Coding Scheme (MCS) field indicating a modulation order for the PDSCH or PUSCH on one of the two cells and a differential value field indicating a differential value, wherein MCS information for the PDSCH or PUSCH on the other of the two cells is derived based on the differential value in conjunction with the MCS field.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the DCI comprises a Transmission Configuration Index (TCI) field indicating one or more transmission configuration states for the two cells, wherein:

the TCI status is applied to the two cells when a single TCI status is configured for a first value of the TCI field,

wherein the two TCI states are applied to the two cells, respectively, when the two TCI states are configured for the second value of the TCI field,

When three TCI states are configured for a third value of the TCI field, one of the three TCI states is applied to one of the two cells and the other two of the three TCI states are applied to the other of the two cells,

when four TCI states are configured for the fourth value of the TCI field, two of the four TCI states are applied to one of the two cells and the other two of the four TCI states are applied to the other of the two cells.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the DCI comprises a bandwidth part (BWP) indicator field that indicates active BWP on the two cells according to one or more of the following restrictions:

a dormant BWP on one of the two cells is indicated along with a non-dormant BWP on the other of the two cells,

a default BWP on one of the two cells is indicated along with a non-default BWP on the other of the two cells, an

BWPs on the two cells use the same subcarrier spacing.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the DCI comprises two frequency-domain resource allocation (FDRA) fields, each FDRA field indicating frequency resources on an active bandwidth part (BWP) on one of the two cells, and the two FDRA fields are configured to be a same FDRA type or two different FDRA types.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the DCI comprises a Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) field indicating time domain resources on an active bandwidth part (BWP) on the two cells.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein when a deviation between the DCI and reception of the PDSCH on one of the two cells is less than a threshold duration or when the DCI does not include a Transmit Configuration Index (TCI) field indicating one or more transmit configuration states for the one cell, a default TCI state for the PDSCH on the one cell is determined to be one of:

an activated TCI state with a minimum ID usable for a PDSCH in an activated bandwidth part (BWP) of the one cell,

an activated TCI state with a minimum ID that can be used for PDSCH in an activated BWP of a reference serving cell,

One or more Reference Signals (RSs) for one or more quasi co-location (QCL) parameters of a PDCCH quasi co-location indication for a control resource set associated with a monitored search space, the control resource set being the control resource set with a lowest control resource set ID in a latest slot of one or more control resource sets in active BWPs of the one cell monitored by the UE,

one or more Reference Signals (RSs) for one or more quasi co-location (QCL) parameters of a PDCCH quasi co-location indication for a control resource set associated with a monitored search space, the control resource set being the control resource set with a lowest control resource set ID in a latest slot of one or more control resource sets in an active BWP of a reference serving cell monitored by the UE, and

for a PDSCH on a scheduling cell transmitting the DCI, an active TCI state with a lowest ID available for a PDSCH in an active BWP of the scheduling cell, or for a PDSCH on one scheduled cell, one or more RSs of one or more QCL parameters for PDCCH quasi co-location indication of a control resource set associated with a monitored search space, the control resource set being the control resource set with the lowest control resource set ID in a latest slot of one or more control resource sets in an active BWP monitored by the UE.

10. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processor circuit is further to:

transmitting, via the RF interface, HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells based on a transmission pattern of the PDSCHs on the two cells, wherein the PDSCHs on the two cells are transmitted by Transport Block (TB) -based transmission or Code Block Group (CBG) -based transmission.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein for the PDSCH on one of the two cells, whether to apply the TB-based transmission or the CBG-based transmission to the PDSCH is configured by higher layer signaling.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein one Transport Block (TB) scheduled by the DCI is jointly carried on a PDSCH or a PUSCH on the two cells.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the DCI comprises a counter downlink assignment index (C-DAI) field to indicate a location of HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells in a HARQ-ACK codebook relative to HARQ-ACK feedback for other scheduled PDSCHs.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor circuit is further to:

Determining a location of HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells in the HARQ-ACK codebook based on a reference serving cell index.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein one Transport Block (TB) scheduled by the DCI is carried on a PDSCH or a PUSCH on one of the two cells.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the DCI comprises a counter downlink assignment index (C-DAI) field to indicate a location of HARQ feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells in a HARQ-ACK codebook relative to HARQ-ACK feedback for other scheduled PDSCHs.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the DCI comprises a total downlink assignment index (T-DAI) field to indicate a total number of PDCCHs transmitted by a scheduling cell transmitting the DCI until the PDCH transmitting the DCI.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the DCI comprises two counter downlink assignment index (C-DAI) fields, each C-DAI field indicating a position in a HARQ-ACK codebook for HARQ-ACK feedback for a PDSCH on one of the two cells relative to HARQ-ACK feedback for other scheduled PDSCHs.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processor circuit is further to:

for a PDSCH on one of the two cells, determining a position of HARQ-ACK feedback for the PDSCH in a HARQ-ACK codebook based on a reference serving cell index.

20. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processor circuit is further to:

determining, based on a reference serving cell index, a position in a HARQ-ACK codebook of HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCHs on the two cells, wherein consecutive HARQ-ACK bits indicating the HARQ-ACK feedback for the PDSCHs on the two cells are located at the position determined based on the reference serving cell index.

21. The apparatus of any one of claims 14, 18, and 19, wherein the reference serving cell index is a lower one of indices of the two cells, an index of a scheduling cell transmitting the DCI, or is configured by higher layer signaling.

22. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the same configuration with respect to the number of TBs or CBGs is applied to PDSCH or PUSCH on the two cells.

23. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

Receiving Downlink Control Information (DCI) on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) via an RF interface, wherein the DCI is configured to schedule a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) on two cells; and

receiving downlink information on the PDSCH or transmitting uplink information on the PUSCH via the RF interface on the two cells based on the DCI.

24. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein when the DCI is configured to schedule PDSCH on the two cells, the DCI includes a PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field indicating a time to transmit hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback for PDSCH on the two cells, and a value of the PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field is defined with respect to a last symbol of a last finished PDSCH on the two cells.

25. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the DCI includes a New Data Indicator (NDI) field and a Redundancy Version (RV) field, both fields being indicated for each Transport Block (TB), the NDI field indicating whether the TB is retransmitted or first transmitted, the RV field indicating a redundancy version of a coding format for the TB.

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