CN113508626A

CN113508626A - Method, apparatus and computer readable medium for SSB transmission and reception

Info

Publication number: CN113508626A
Application number: CN201880100675.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 梁林; 王刚
Original assignee: NEC Corp
Current assignee: NEC Corp
Priority date: 2018-12-14
Filing date: 2018-12-14
Publication date: 2021-10-15
Also published as: WO2020118717A1

Abstract

A method for SSB transmission and reception is provided. The method for SSB transmission is performed at a network device, wherein SSBs may be transmitted within any of a plurality of consecutive sets of candidate SSB locations. In the method, a scrambling sequence for the SSB is generated based on a set of candidate SSB locations in which the SSB is to be transmitted, and at least a portion of the SSB is scrambled with the generated scrambling sequence.

Description

Method, apparatus and computer readable medium for SSB transmission and reception

Technical Field

The non-limiting and exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of wireless communication technology and, more particularly, relate to a method, apparatus, and computer-readable medium for a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (SSB) in a wireless communication system.

Background

This section introduces aspects that may help to better understand the disclosure. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of what falls within or is not in the prior art.

New radio access systems, also called NR systems or NR networks, are next generation communication systems. In the Radio Access Network (RAN) #71 conference of the third generation partnership project (3GPP) working group, research on the NR system was approved. The NR system will consider frequency ranges up to 100Ghz with the goal of a single technology framework that addresses all usage scenarios, requirements, and deployment scenarios defined in the technical report TR 38.913, including requirements such as enhanced mobile broadband, mass machine type communications, and ultra-reliable low-latency communications.

To improve data rate performance, in 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), unlicensed band operation for both downlink and uplink transmissions is introduced, which is known as Licensed Assisted Access (LAA). As Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks enter their next evolution phase with wider bandwidth waveforms under the NR project, solutions for NR unlicensed bands (NR-U) are investigated.

For synchronization and initial access, reference signals and system information should be broadcast to terminal devices, such as User Equipment (UE). In NR systems, these signals are combined together to generate a Synchronization Signal (SS)/Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) block, also referred to simply as an SSB. The SSB assumes a period (period) of 20ms for UE signal detection and at the same time soft combining is used among SSBs of the same index within 80ms in order to improve detection point.

The period of the SB will be greater than 20ms on the unlicensed band to avoid frequent access to the channel. On the unlicensed band, a Listen Before Talk (LBT) operation should be performed before transmission to check whether the channel is clear. This means that SSB may not be transmitted as expected in case of LBT failure. Therefore, it seems beneficial for LBT operation if more candidate SSBs can be used within the SSB transmission window. In NR unlicensed systems, such SSB is called discovery reference signal, and the window in which DRS can be transmitted is called DRS measurement time configuration.

Disclosure of Invention

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide new solutions for uplink resource mapping in wireless communication systems.

In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method for transmitting a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (SSB) of a discovery reference signal is provided. The SSB may be transmitted within any of a plurality of consecutive sets of candidate SSB locations. The method may include, at a network device: generating a scrambling sequence for the SSB based on a set of candidate SSB locations in which the SSB is to be transmitted; and scrambling at least a portion of the SSB with the generated scrambling sequence.

In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a method for receiving an SSB of a discovery reference signal is provided. The SSB may be received within any of a plurality of consecutive sets of candidate SSB locations. The method may comprise, at the terminal device: receiving SSBs in a plurality of consecutive sets of candidate SSB locations; acquiring information on a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) included in a DMRS in a physical broadcast channel of each of the SSBs on an SSB index; and performing descrambling and soft combining on the received SSBs based on the information on the SSB index.

In a third aspect of the disclosure, a network device is provided. The network device may include at least one processor, and at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor. The at least one memory has computer program code therein configured to, when executed on the at least one processor, cause the network device at least to perform the actions of the method as provided in the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device may include: at least one processor, and a memory coupled with the at least one processor. The at least one memory has therein computer program code configured to, when executed on the at least one processor, cause the terminal device at least to perform the actions of the method as provided in the second aspect.

According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, which, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the actions in the method according to any of the embodiments in the first aspect.

According to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, which, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the actions in the method according to any embodiment in the second aspect.

According to a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program product comprising the computer readable storage medium according to the fifth aspect.

According to a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program product comprising the computer readable storage medium according to the sixth aspect.

Drawings

The above and other aspects, features and benefits of various embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings in which the same reference numerals are used to designate the same or equivalent elements. The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of embodiments of the disclosure and are not necessarily drawn to scale, are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 illustrates a candidate SSB location configuration for FR1 in an NR system;

fig. 2 illustrates three alternative solutions for SSB transmission after LBT in the prior art;

fig. 3 schematically illustrates a flow diagram of a method for transmitting SSBs in a wireless communication system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 schematically illustrates an example set of candidate SSB locations, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 5A and 5B schematically illustrate two example SSB transmission scenarios, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 schematically illustrates a flow chart of another method for transmitting SSBs in a wireless communication system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 7 schematically illustrates the pulses of the synchronization signal in ideal and actual conditions;

fig. 8A and 8B schematically illustrate example cover codes for a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS)/Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure;

fig. 9 schematically illustrates a flow diagram of a method for receiving SSBs in a wireless communication system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 10 schematically illustrates a flow chart of another method for receiving SSBs in a wireless communication system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 11 schematically illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for transmitting SSBs in a wireless communication system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 12 schematically illustrates a block diagram of another apparatus for transmitting SSBs in a wireless communication system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 13 schematically illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for receiving SSBs in a wireless communication system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 14 schematically illustrates a block diagram of another apparatus for receiving SSBs in a wireless communication system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

fig. 15 schematically illustrates a simplified block diagram of an apparatus 1510 that may be embodied as or included in a terminal device, such as a UE, and an apparatus 1520 that may be embodied as or included in a network device, such as a gNB, as described herein.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, the solution as provided in the present disclosure will be described in detail by embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that these examples are presented solely to enable those skilled in the art to better understand and practice the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment, can be used with another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementation are described in this specification.

In the drawings, various embodiments of the disclosure are illustrated in block diagrams, flowcharts, and other figures. Each block in the flowcharts or blocks may represent a module, a program, or a portion of code, which contains one or more executable instructions for performing specified logical functions, and in the present disclosure, unnecessary blocks are illustrated with dashed lines. Further, while the blocks are illustrated in a particular order for performing the steps of the method, in fact, the blocks are not necessarily performed in the exact order illustrated. For example, the blocks may be performed in reverse order or simultaneously, depending on the nature of the corresponding operations. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions/acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

References in the specification to "one embodiment," "an example embodiment," etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element may be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element may be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed items.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises/comprising," "has/having," and/or "including/including," when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, components, and/or the like, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

As used herein, the term "wireless communication network" refers to a network that conforms to any suitable wireless communication standard, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), and the like. A "wireless communication network" may also be referred to as a "wireless communication system". Further, communication between network devices, between a network device and a terminal device, or between terminal devices in a wireless communication network may be performed according to any suitable communication protocol including, but not limited to, global system for mobile communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), New Radio (NR), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) standards such as the IEEE 802.11 standard, and/or any other suitable wireless communication standard currently known or developed in the future.

As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a wireless communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. Depending on the terminology and technology applied, a network device may refer to a Base Station (BS) or an Access Point (AP), e.g., a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also known as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a Radio Header (RH), a Remote Radio Header (RRH), a relay, a low power node (such as femto, pico, etc.).

The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example, and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, User Equipment (UE), Subscriber Station (SS), portable subscriber station, Mobile Station (MS), or Access Terminal (AT). End devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable end devices, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture end devices such as digital cameras, gaming end devices, music storage and playback appliances, in-vehicle wireless end devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, Laptop Embedded Equipment (LEE), laptop installation equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), and the like. In the following description, the terms "terminal device," "communication device," "terminal," "user equipment," and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

As yet another example, in an internet of things (IOT) scenario, a terminal device may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements and transmits results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another terminal device and/or network equipment. In this case, the terminal device may be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may be referred to as a Machine Type Communication (MTC) device in the 3GPP context. As one particular example, the terminal device may be a UE implementing the 3GPP narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT) standard. Examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices (such as electric meters), industrial machinery, or household or personal appliances (e.g. refrigerators, televisions), personal wearable devices (such as watches), etc. In other scenarios, the terminal device may represent a vehicle or other equipment capable of monitoring and/or reporting its operational status or other functionality associated with its operation.

As used herein, Downlink (DL) transmissions refer to transmissions from a network device to a UE, while Uplink (UL) transmissions refer to transmissions in the opposite direction.

In NR systems, there are at most 64 SSBs for FR2 (higher frequency range) and at most 8 SSBs for FR1 (lower frequency range), and thus the signaling capability is 64. For illustration purposes only, fig. 1 illustrates SSB candidate location configuration of FR1 in an NR system. As illustrated in fig. 1, within one DRS measurement time configuration, 8 candidate SSB locations SSB0 to SSB 7 are configured.

In the NR system, 6 bits are used to indicate an index of SSB (hereinafter also referred to as SSB index). Three bits may be implicitly carried by a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and the other three bits may be explicitly carried by the MIB. Soft combining of SSBs may be supported by means of two-stage scrambling.

However, as mentioned above, in NR systems soft combining is used among SSBs of the same index within 80ms, whereas in NR-U systems the periodicity of SSBs will be much larger than 20ms to avoid accessing the channel frequently, and it may be e.g. 80ms, 160ms or even longer. Therefore, if the channel is not available within one DRS measurement time configuration, the SSB cannot be transmitted at the expected time. Therefore, it would be beneficial to use more SSBs within one DRS measurement time configuration.

In Radio Access Network (RAN)1 conference #94b, an agreement has been reached:

for SSB transmissions as part of DRS:

extending the maximum number of candidate SSB locations within the DRS transmission window to Y (e.g., Y ═ 64) is considered beneficial

■ FFS: how to derive frame timing from detected SS/PBCH blocks

O transmitted SSBs do not overlap

■ FFS: granularity of shift between candidate SSB locations/candidate SSB groups

■ within the DRS transmission window, the maximum number of SSBs transmitted is [ X ]. X is 8

■ FFS: duration of DRS transmission window

■ FFS: duration of DRS transmitted within a window including SSB and other multiplexed signals/channels

O, FFS: relationship between transmitted SSB index and quasi co-location (QCL) hypothesis at UE

O, FFS: whether and how to support beam repetition for soft combining of SSBs within the same DRS transmission.

From the convention, it is clear that the maximum number of candidate SSB locations has been extended to 64.

On the other hand, some solutions for SSB transmission after LBT are also provided. For example, in 3GPP RAN1 conference #94bis, technical document R1-1813906, several alternative solutions for SSB transmission after LTB success are identified. In the identified solution, if an SSB cannot be transmitted at the expected time due to medium contention, its transmission is allowed to start after the LTB is successful (i.e., the channel is available).

For purposes of illustration, FIG. 2 illustrates a diagram of an alternative solution as set forth in R1-1813906. As illustrated, in alternative 1, once the channel is available, the SSB transmission starts from the SSB0 that should be transmitted first at the expected time, i.e., the SSB transmission is shifted to the transmission instance after the channel is available. In such a case, the PBCH Information Element (IE) needs to be used to inform the UE of the time offset of the SSB 0. In alternative 2, SSB transmission is performed by looping around the SSB(s) that were dropped due to LBT failure until the burst set transmission ends. In alternative 3, the SSB transmission starts from SSB0, and SSB0 should be transmitted at the expected time first, similar to alternative 1, but in alternative 3, the beams for the SSB transmission may be shifted along with the SSBs so the network can flexibly locate the SSB index. In such a case, too, the UE still needs to be informed of the time offset of the SSB 0.

In 3GPP RAN1 technical document R1-1813459, it is proposed that the UE uses the SS/PBCH block index (extended to Y ═ 64 for NR-U) and the half frame indicator as in release 15(Rel-15) NR to determine the frame timing from the detected SS/PBCH blocks. The UE uses the effective SS/PBCH block index given by the detected SS/PBCH index modulo N to determine the relationship between the transmitted SS/PBCH block index and the QCL hypothesis. However, to support soft combining of PBCH, a large specification impact can be foreseen, and it is also unclear how the UE can derive the frame timing in such a scheme.

In view of this, embodiments of the present disclosure provide solutions for transmitting and receiving SSBs to support soft combining within the same DRS transmission. In particular, SSBs for soft combining may be transmitted within any of a plurality of consecutive sets of candidate SSB locations, and preferably in consecutive transmission resources. At the network device, each of the SSBs may be scrambled based on a set of candidate SSB locations for which the SSB is to be transmitted; and thus, at the terminal device, soft combining may be performed based on information on the SSB index contained within the DMRS in the PBCH. In the case where the SSBs are transmitted in the same candidate SSB location group, soft combining may be performed first, and descrambling may be directly performed using a scrambling sequence corresponding to information on SSB indexes decoded from a master information block of the SSB. Otherwise, the scrambling operation may be performed first by a descrambling attempt with the potential scrambling sequence, and then soft combining may be performed on the descrambled SSBs. In this way, even if the period of SSB is larger than that in NR system, it is possible to benefit from soft combining.

In the following, the solution as proposed in the present disclosure will be described in detail further with reference to the drawings. However, it should be understood that the following examples are given for illustrative purposes only, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Additionally, it should be noted that embodiments of the present disclosure relate primarily to DRS transmissions; however, it can also be applied to other formed reference signals carried by the SSB.

Fig. 3 schematically illustrates a flow diagram of a method for transmitting SSBs, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 300 may be implemented at a network device (e.g., a gNB or any other network device).

As illustrated in fig. 3, at step 310, the network device may generate a scrambling sequence for the SSB based on the set of candidate SSB locations in which the SSB is to be transmitted.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, SSBs included in one DRS may be transmitted within any of a plurality of contiguous sets of candidate SSB locations. Herein, SSB refers to a transport block carrying a synchronization signal and PBCH; the candidate SSB locations refer to time-frequency transmission resources on which SSBs may be transmitted. As mentioned above, the maximum number of candidate SSB locations within the DRS transmission window has been extended to [ Y ], e.g., Y ═ 64. This means that for FR1 covering lower frequency ranges; its candidate SSB location extends to Y. Hereinafter, 64 will be taken as an example of Y to describe an embodiment of the present disclosure, but it should be noted that the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

In such a case, it is possible to divide the Y candidate positions for SSB transmission into a plurality of candidate position groups. For example, for 64 candidate SSB locations, the 64 candidate SSB locations may be divided into 8 candidate location groups, group 0 through group 7, each candidate location group containing 8 candidate locations, as illustrated in fig. 4A. It should be appreciated that "contiguous" as used herein does not mean that the candidate locations are contiguous in the transmission resource, but rather means that the candidate SSB locations have contiguous SSB indices and that the candidate SSB locations are all used for the same DRS transmission within a predetermined transmission time interval (e.g., 80 ms).

A scrambling sequence is generated for each of the set of candidate SSB locations. This means that all candidate SSB locations in the same group will share the same scrambling sequence, and different groups of candidate SSB locations may use different scrambling sequences.

Preferably, SSBs for soft combining will be transmitted in successive candidate SSB locations once the channel is available. SSBs may be transmitted in the same set of candidate SSBs (as illustrated in fig. 5A) and, therefore, all SSBs share the same scrambling sequence. SSBs may also be transmitted in two consecutive sets of candidate SSBs (as illustrated in fig. 5B). For example, a first portion of an SSB will be transmitted in a first set of candidate SSB locations and a second portion of an SSB will be transmitted in a second set of candidate SSB locations that is adjacent to the first set of candidate SSB locations. In such a case, two scrambling sequences for the first portion of the SSB and the second portion of the SSB may be generated based on the first set of candidate SSB locations and the second set of candidate SSB locations, respectively. It should be appreciated that "adjacent" as used herein does not mean that these candidate locations are directly adjacent in the transmission resource, but rather means that two candidate SSB location groups have indices of consecutive candidate SSB locations and there is no other candidate SSB location group in between.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, each of the candidate SSB location groups may be indicated by SSB location group information contained in a master information block of the physical broadcast channel, and generating the scrambling sequence may be performed based on the SSB location group information.

In the existing solution of NR systems, 6 bits are used to indicate the SSB index, i.e. the index of the candidate SSB position carrying the SSB. Three bits are carried by DMRS and the other bits are explicitly carried by MIB. In embodiments of the present disclosure, it is possible to use a similar scheme. Bits carried by DMRS (e.g., 3 bits for 64 candidate positions) are used to indicate the index of a candidate SSB position within the set of candidate SSB positions, and bits carried by MIB (e.g., 3 bits for 64 candidate positions) may be used as SSB position set information to indicate the index of the set of candidate SSB positions carrying one or more SSBs. In such a case, the scrambling sequence may be generated based on the three bits carried by the MIB, i.e., the fourth, fifth, and sixth bits of the SSB index.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the scrambling sequence s (i) may be defined by the following equation for PBCH transmitted on unlicensed bands with soft combining configuration:

s_ic (j + vM) (formula 1)

Wherein c is the length M_PNC may be defined by the following formula:

c(n)＝(x₁(n+N_C)+x₂(n+N_C))mod2

x₁(n+31)＝(x₁(n+3)+x₁(n))mod2

x₂(n+31)＝(x₂(n+3)+x₂(n+2)+x₂(n+1)+x₂(n)) mod2 (formula 2)

Wherein n is 0, 1_PN-1, Nc 1600, and a first m-sequence x₁(n) should utilize x₁(0)＝1，x₁(n) ═ 0, n ═ 1, 2.., 30. Second m-sequence x₂(n) initialization by

An indication, having a value that depends on the application of the sequence. For L-64, at the beginning of each SFN satisfying mod (SFN, 8-0 and M-a-6

Initializing a pseudo-random sequence c; and v is determined using the 6 th, 5 th and 4 th bits of the SS/PBCH block index according to table 1.

Table 1: value for PBCH scrambling

Next, at step 320, the network device scrambles the SSB with the generated scrambling sequence. In particular, the bit sequence a for PBCH transmission in a frame₀，a₁，a₂，a₃，...，a_A-1Is scrambled into a bit sequence a'₀，a′₁，a′₂，a′₃，...，a′_A-1Wherein for i ═ 0, 1., a-1, a'_i＝(a_i+s_i) mod 2. If a is_iCorresponding to any one of the bits belonging to the SS/PBCH block index, the 2 nd and 3 rd least significant bits s of the field index and the system frame number _i0; otherwise, as shown in formula 1, s_iC (j + vM). The scrambled bit sequence may then be mapped onto a corresponding transmission resource for transmission to a terminal device.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, another solution for improving system performance is provided. In NR-U, the maximum number of candidate locations with DRS transmission window is extended to 64. However, there is a high likelihood that the SSB will be transmitted on the starting candidate locations, and therefore, it would be beneficial to distinguish these candidate locations from other candidate locations. Accordingly, the SSB location configuration may be used to indicate a predetermined location range in which SSBs and Physical Downlink Shared Channels (PDSCH) may be simultaneously transmitted. The PDSCH scheduled by the C-RNTI may be rate matched according to the SSB location configuration. Beyond the location range, only SSBs or PBCH can be transmitted.

Fig. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of transmitting SSBs, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 600 may be implemented at a network device (e.g., a gNB or any other network device).

As shown, at 610, the network device transmits an SSB location configuration indicating a predetermined location range within which SSBs and downlink shared channels may be transmitted simultaneously.

For example, where the maximum number of candidate SSB locations within a DRS transmission window may be represented as [ Y ] (e.g., Y ═ 64]), and the maximum number of SSBs transmitted within one DRS transmission window may be represented as [ X ] (e.g., X ═ 8]), the number of SSBs within a predetermined location range may be indicated as [ Z ], e.g., by the parameter SSB-positioninglnburst, e.g., Z ═ 16. This case means that there are a maximum of 64 candidate SSB locations for one DRS transmission; up to 8 SSBs will be transmitted within one DRS transmission window; and within the first 16 candidate locations, the SSB and PDSCH may be transmitted simultaneously, and the PDSCH scheduled by the C-RNTI may be rate matched at the 16 candidate locations. While only one of the SSBs and PDSCH may be allowed to be transmitted for the other candidate SSB locations (SSB 16 to SSB 63).

The parameter ssb-PositionsInBurs may be a higher layer parameter, which may have an intra-group bitmap and an inter-group bitmap. The bit length of the inter-group bitmap determines the value of Z, and the first Z SSBs of the Y candidate SSB positions are positions within the range of positions indicated by SSB-PositionsInburst.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, for an SS/PBCH block providing a higher layer parameter MasterInformationBlock to a UE, a network device may configure the UE with an index of the following SS/PBCH block by a higher layer parameter ssb-positioninburst in SystemInformationBlockType 1: for these SS/PBCH blocks, the UE does not receive other signals or channels in the REs that overlap with the REs corresponding to these SS/PBCH blocks. The network device may configure the UE with an index of the following SS/PBCH block per serving cell through the higher layer parameter ssb-positioninburst in ServingCellConfigCommon: for these SS/PBCH blocks, the UE does not receive other signals or channels in the REs that overlap with the REs corresponding to these SS/PBCH blocks. The UE expects the configuration provided by ssb-positioninburst in ServingCellConfigCommon to be the same as that provided by ssb-positioninburst in SystemInformationBlockType 1. The UE may be provided per serving cell with a higher layer parameter ssb-periodicityserving cell for receiving a half-frame periodicity of SS/PBCH blocks for the serving cell.

It should be noted that although the predetermined location range may be configured by the network device through higher layers, such as ssb-positioninburst, the disclosure is not so limited. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the predetermined location range may also be a default value known to both the network device and the terminal device.

Referring again to fig. 6, at step 620, the network device simultaneously transmits SSBs and downlink shared channels within a predetermined range of locations within a plurality of consecutive sets of candidate SSB locations. At step 630, the network device transmits only one of the SSBs and the downlink shared channel in other candidate SSB locations outside the predetermined location range within the plurality of consecutive groups of candidate SSB locations.

Additionally, for SSB soft combining, to improve symbol-level estimation accuracy, cover codes may be used to scramble the transmitted PSS/SSS. Fig. 7A illustrates the detected power of the primary synchronization signal without a cover code under ideal conditions. Under ideal conditions, the pulse with the largest amplitude will be detected as the timing of the primary synchronization signal. However, in actual conditions, the largest pulse and the second largest pulse in fig. 7A may be approximate in the presence of noise superimposed on the signal, and thus the actual pulse may be erroneously detected under the noise.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, to improve symbol level estimation accuracy, cover codes may be scrambled in the transmitted PSS/SSS. Fig. 7B illustrates the detected power of the primary synchronization signal with the cover code. Since the gap between the largest pulse and the second largest pulse is larger than in fig. 7A, the timing detection accuracy is greatly improved.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, it is directed to within DRS on unlicensed bands with configurationTransmitted PSS, first transmitted PSS d^l _PSS(n)＝S(l)·d_PSS(n), and s (l) is defined as one of the rows in the table as illustrated in fig. 8A. Preferably, the cover code illustrated in fig. 8B may be used to have better system performance. In addition, other cover codes (e.g., [ 11-11-1111 ]]Or [ 111-11-111]Or [ 1111-1-11-1]) May also be used to achieve better system performance.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a cover code for N-SSB soft combining may have similar subsequences to a cover code for M-SSB soft combining, where N and M indicate the number of SSBs used for soft combining, and N is a multiple of M. In other words, the cover code may use a nested structure, which means that the 4-SSB soft combining may be for the first 4 codes or odd sequences of the cover code of the 8-SSB soft combining. For example, for a 2-SSB combination, the cover code is [ 11 ], for a 4-SSB combination, the cover code is [ 11-11 ] or [ 111-1 ].

With the aid of the cover code, the effect of noise on the synchronization signal can be reduced, since multiple PBCH decoding attempts, which are normally required for synchronization signals without cover codes, are not required. Thus, detection complexity may be reduced.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in the event that a channel is not available from the beginning of the DRS transmission window, the SSB may be shifted to the transmission instance immediately after LBT success. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a shift granularity of 0.5ms may be used for hypothesis detection that reduces Cyclic Prefix (CP) length, since different CP lengths at boundary 0.5ms may be different and may lead to difficulties in increasing soft combining.

Fig. 9 illustrates a method for receiving an SSB in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Method 900 may be implemented at a terminal device (e.g., a UE or any other terminal device).

As illustrated in fig. 9, first, in step 910, the terminal device first receives SSBs in a plurality of consecutive sets of candidate SSB locations. The SSB may be received within any of a plurality of consecutive sets of candidate SSB locations. In other words, the SSB is received within one DRS transmission window.

Next, in step 920, the terminal device acquires information on the SSB index contained within a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) in the physical broadcast channel of each of the SSBs. The information on the SSB index contained within the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) may indicate the location of the SSB within one candidate SSB location group. Based on these locations of SSBs, the terminal device can know whether all SSBs are transmitted in the same set of candidate SSB locations. For example, for the case as illustrated in fig. 5A, the information contained within the DMRS about the SSB index would indicate that the indices of the SSB are 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. From this information, the terminal device can know that these indices are located within the same candidate SSB group, since these indices are consecutive. As another example, for the case as illustrated in fig. 5B, the information about the SSB index contained within the DMRS would indicate that the indices of the SSB are 6, 7, 0, and 1, respectively. From this information, the terminal device can determine that the SSBs are located in different candidate SSB groups, since the numbers of locations are not consecutive.

Referring again to fig. 9, in step 930, descrambling and soft combining are performed on the received SSB based on the information on the SSB index.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the information on the SSB index indicates that the SSBs are transmitted within two adjacent candidate location groups, respectively. In such a case, the MIB of the PBCH of the received SSB will carry different information about the SSB index, and thus descrambling may be achieved first. In such a case, performing scrambling and soft combining may include: the SSBs are descrambled with the potential scrambling sequence and then soft combining is performed on the descrambled SSBs.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the information about the SSB index indicates that the SSB is transmitted within one candidate location group. In such a case, the MIB of the PBCH of the received SSB will carry the same information about the SSB index, and thus soft combining may be performed first. Accordingly, the MIB of the PBCH may be acquired by soft-combining, and then the SSB may be scrambled using a scrambling sequence corresponding to the decoded information on the SSB index. In such a case, performing scrambling and soft combining may include: performing soft combining on the received SSBs; and descrambling the combined SSB with a scrambling sequence corresponding to information about the SSB index decoded from the MIB of the SSB.

Fig. 10 illustrates a flow diagram of SSB reception in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 1000 can be implemented at a terminal device (e.g., a UE or any other terminal device).

As illustrated in fig. 10, in step 1010, the terminal device receives an SSB location configuration indicating a predetermined location range within which SSBs and downlink shared channels can be simultaneously transmitted. As described above, the SSB location configuration may be carried by the higher signaling SSB-positioninburst. With the higher layer SSB-positioninburst, the terminal device can know the predetermined location range in which the SSB and PDSCH can be allowed to be transmitted simultaneously. For details regarding SSB location configuration, reference may be made to the description regarding fig. 6.

Then, in step 1020, the terminal device simultaneously receives the SSB and the downlink shared channel within a predetermined position range within a plurality of consecutive candidate SSB position groups. In step 1030, only one of the SSB and the downlink shared channel is received in other candidate SSB locations outside a predetermined position range within the plurality of consecutive groups of candidate SSB locations.

In another embodiment of the disclosure, the terminal device may descramble the synchronization signal within the SSB with the potential cover code. Thus, decoding efficiency may be improved without requiring multiple decoding attempts.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a potential cover code for N-SSB soft combining may have similar subsequences to a cover code for M-SSB soft combining, where N and M indicate the number of SSBs used for soft combining, and N is a multiple of M. Thus, a nested structure is adopted to improve system efficiency.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, it is also possible to adopt a single DRS detection without soft combining if there are no more than 2 SSB transmissions within the DRS that utilize the same QCL transmission. In NR-U, the DRS signal has a longer period, and thus some enhancement may be performed. Since the period is longer, some bits in the frame field may not carry useful information, and thus it is possible to improve decoding performance using predefined PBCH bits. For example, the UE may assume the least significant n bits in the frame field to be 0, where n is typically 2, 3, 4. Meanwhile, the UE may also assume that the field bits in the MIB are zero. In this way, decoding of these bits is not required, and thus decoding performance can be improved. In other words, for PBCH transmitted on the unlicensed band without soft combining, the UE assumes 4 th LSB, 3 rd LSB, 2 nd LSB, and 1 st LSB of SFN and half radio frame bit to be 0.

In the above, various aspects and embodiments of the present disclosure performed at a terminal device are described with reference to fig. 9 to 10. However, it will be appreciated that most of the operation at the terminal device corresponds to the operation at the network device, and so for some details of the operation one may refer to the description with reference to figures 3 to 8. Additionally, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above aspects, or various embodiments thereof, may be combined in any suitable manner to benefit therefrom.

Fig. 11 schematically illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for transmitting SSBs in a wireless communication system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Apparatus 1100 may be implemented at a network device (e.g., a gNB or any other network device).

As illustrated in fig. 11, the apparatus 1100 may include a sequence generation module 1110 and a scrambling module 1120. The sequence generation module 1110 may be configured to generate a scrambling sequence for an SSB based on a set of candidate SSB locations in which the SSB is to be transmitted; the scrambling module 1120 may be configured to scramble at least a portion of the SSB with the generated scrambling sequence. In embodiments of the present disclosure, an SSB may be transmitted within any of a plurality of contiguous sets of candidate SSB locations within a DRS transmission window.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a first portion of an SSB may be transmitted in a first set of candidate SSB locations and a second portion of an SSB may be transmitted in a second set of candidate SSB locations that is adjacent to the first set of candidate SSB locations. In such a case, generating the scrambling sequence may include: two scrambling sequences for a first portion of the SSB and a second portion of the SSB are generated based on the first and second sets of candidate SSB locations, respectively.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, each of the plurality of consecutive sets of candidate SSB locations may be indicated by SSB location group information contained in a master information block of the physical broadcast channel, and wherein generating the scrambling sequence may be performed based on the SSB location group information.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the SSB location group information indicates the fourth, fifth, and sixth bits of the SSB index.

Fig. 12 schematically illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for transmitting SSBs in a wireless communication system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Apparatus 1200 may be implemented at a network device (e.g., a gNB or any other network device).

As illustrated in fig. 12, the apparatus 1200 may include a configuration transmission module 1210. The configuration transmission module 1210 may be configured to transmit an SSB location configuration indicating a predetermined location range within which the SSB and downlink shared channel may be transmitted simultaneously.

As further illustrated in fig. 12, the apparatus 1200 may also include an SSB/PDSCH transmission module 1220. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the SSB/PDSCH transmitting module 1220 may be configured to simultaneously transmit SSBs and downlink shared channels within a predetermined range of positions within a plurality of consecutive groups of candidate SSB positions. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, additionally or alternatively, the SSB/PDSCH transmitting module 1220 may be configured to transmit only one of an SSB and a downlink shared channel in other candidate SSB locations outside a predetermined position range within a plurality of consecutive groups of candidate SSB locations.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for transmitting an SSB in a wireless communication system is also provided. The apparatus may also include an SS scrambling module that may be configured to scramble the synchronization signal within the SSB with a cover code.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the cover code for N-SSB soft combining may have similar subsequences as the cover code for M-SSB soft combining, where N and M indicate the number of SSBs used for soft combining, and N is a multiple of M.

Fig. 13 schematically illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 1300 for receiving SSBs in a wireless communication system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Apparatus 1300 may be implemented at a terminal device, such as a UE or any other terminal device.

As illustrated in fig. 13, the apparatus 1300 may include an SSB receiving module 1310, an information acquisition module 1320, and a descrambling/soft combining model 1330. The SSB receiving module 1310 may be configured to receive SSBs in a plurality of consecutive sets of candidate SSB locations. The information acquisition module 1320 may be configured to acquire information on a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) contained within a DMRS in a physical broadcast channel of each of the SSBs. The descrambling/soft combining model 1330 may be configured to perform descrambling and soft combining on the received SSBs based on information on the SSB index. The SSB may be received within any of a plurality of consecutive sets of candidate SSB locations within a DRS transmission window.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the information about the SSB index indicates that the SSBs may be transmitted within two adjacent sets of candidate locations, respectively, and performing scrambling and soft combining may include descrambling the SSBs with the potential scrambling sequence; and performing soft combining on the descrambled SSBs.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the information about the SSB index indicates that the SSB is transmitted within one candidate position group, and performing scrambling and soft combining comprises performing soft combining on the received SSB; and descrambling the combined SSB with a scrambling sequence corresponding to information about the SSB index decoded from the MIB of the SSB.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the information on the SSB index contained within the DMRS may indicate first, second, and third bits of the SSB index.

Fig. 14 schematically illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 1400 for receiving SSBs in a wireless communication system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Apparatus 1400 may be implemented at a terminal device (such as a UE or any other terminal device).

As further illustrated in fig. 14, the apparatus 1400 may include a configuration receiving module 1410. The configuration receiving module 1410 may be configured to receive an SSB location configuration indicating a predetermined location range within which the SSB and downlink shared channel may be simultaneously transmitted.

As further illustrated in fig. 14, the apparatus 1400 may also include an SSB/PDSCH receiving module 1420. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the SSB/PDSCH receiving module 1420 may be configured to simultaneously receive SSBs and downlink shared channels within a predetermined range of positions within a plurality of consecutive groups of candidate SSB positions. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, additionally or alternatively, the SSB/PDSCH receiving module 1420 may be configured to receive only one of SSBs and downlink shared channels in other candidate SSB locations outside a predetermined position range within a plurality of consecutive groups of candidate SSB locations.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, another apparatus for receiving an SSB in a wireless communication system is also provided, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The apparatus may be implemented at a terminal device, such as a UE or any other terminal device. The apparatus may include an SSB descrambling module configured to descramble a synchronization signal within an SSB with a potential cover code.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a potential cover code for N-SSB soft combining may have similar subsequences to a cover code for M-SSB soft combining, where N and M indicate the number of SSBs used for soft combining, and N is a multiple of M.

In the above, the apparatus provided herein is briefly described with reference to fig. 11 to 14. It may be noted that the apparatus may be configured to implement the functionality as described with reference to fig. 3 to 10. For details about the operation of the modules in these devices, one can therefore refer to the description made with reference to fig. 3 to 10 about the corresponding steps of the method.

It should also be noted that the components of the apparatus may be embodied in hardware, software, firmware, and/or any combination thereof. For example, the components of the apparatus may be implemented by a circuit, a processor, or any other suitable selection device, respectively.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing examples are illustrative only and not limiting, and that the present disclosure is not so limited; many changes, additions, deletions, and modifications may be readily envisioned from the teachings provided herein, and all such changes, additions, deletions, and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

Additionally, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, an apparatus may include at least one processor. By way of example, at least one processor suitable for use with embodiments of the present disclosure may include both general and special purpose processors, known or developed in the future. The apparatus may also include at least one memory. The at least one memory may include, for example, semiconductor memory devices such as RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices. The at least one memory may be used to store a program of computer-executable instructions. The program may be written in any high-level and/or low-level compilable or interpretable programming language. According to an embodiment, the computer-executable instructions may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform operations according to the methods as discussed with reference to fig. 3-10, respectively.

Fig. 15 schematically illustrates a simplified block diagram of an apparatus 1510 that may be embodied as or included in a terminal device (e.g., a UE), and an apparatus 1520 that may be embodied as or included in a network device (e.g., a gNB), as described herein.

The apparatus 1510 comprises at least one processor 1511, such as a Data Processor (DP), and at least one memory (MEM)1512 coupled to the processor 1511. Apparatus 1510 may also include a transmitter TX and a receiver RX 1513 coupled to processor 1511, the apparatus 1510 being operable to communicatively connect to apparatus 1520. The MEM 1512 stores a Program (PROG) 1514. The PROG 1514 may include instructions that, when executed on the associated processor 1511, enable the apparatus 1510 to operate in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure (e.g., methods 900, 1000). The combination of the at least one processor 1511 and the at least one MEM 1512 may form a processing component 1515 suitable for implementing various embodiments of the present disclosure.

The apparatus 1520 includes at least one processor 1521 (such as a DP) and at least one MEM 1522 coupled to the processor 1521. The device 1520 may also include a suitable TX/RX 1523 coupled to the processor 1521 that is operable to wirelessly communicate with the device 1510. MEM 1522 stores PROG 1524. The PROG 1524 may include instructions that, when executed on the associated processor 1521, enable the apparatus 1520 to perform actions, such as the

methods

300, 600, at a network device according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The combination of at least one processor 1521 and at least one MEM 1522 may form a processing component 1525 suitable for implementing various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Various embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented by computer programs executable by one or more of the

processors

1511, 1521, software, firmware, hardware, or combinations thereof.

The

memories

1512 and 1522 may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and the

memories

1512 and 1522 may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory, as non-limiting examples.

The

data processors

1511 and 1521 may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors, DSPs, and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples.

Additionally, the present disclosure may also provide a carrier containing a computer program as mentioned above, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal or a computer readable storage medium. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, an optical disk or an electronic memory device such as a RAM (random access memory), a ROM (read only memory), a flash memory, a magnetic tape, a CD-ROM, a DVD, a blu-ray disk, and the like.

The techniques described herein may be implemented by various means, so that an apparatus implementing one or more functions of a corresponding apparatus described with the embodiments includes not only prior art means but also means for implementing one or more functions of a corresponding apparatus described with the embodiments, and the apparatus may include separate means for each separate function or means that may be configured to perform two or more functions. For example, these techniques may be implemented in hardware (one or more devices), firmware (one or more devices), software (one or more modules), or a combination thereof. For firmware or software, implementation can be through modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein.

The exemplary embodiments herein have been described above with reference to block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods and apparatus. It will be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, respectively, can be implemented by various means including computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.

While this specification contains many implementation-specific details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any implementations or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments of particular implementations. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.

It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as the technology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. The embodiments described above are given for the purpose of illustration and not limitation of the present disclosure, and it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as those skilled in the art readily understand. Such modifications and variations are considered to be within the scope of the disclosure and the appended claims. The scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (SSB) of a Discovery Reference Signal (DRS), wherein the SSB is capable of being transmitted within any of a plurality of consecutive sets of candidate SSB locations in a DRS transmission window, the method comprising, at a network device:

generating a scrambling sequence for the SSB based on a set of candidate SSB locations in which the SSB is to be transmitted; and

scrambling at least a portion of the SSB with the generated scrambling sequence.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a first portion of the SSB is to be transmitted in a first set of candidate SSB locations and a second portion of the SSB is to be transmitted in a second set of candidate SSB locations, the second set of candidate SSB locations being adjacent to the first set of candidate SSB locations, and

wherein generating the scrambling sequence comprises: generating two scrambling sequences for the first portion of the SSB and the second portion of the SSB based on the first and second sets of candidate SSB locations, respectively.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein each of the plurality of consecutive sets of candidate SSB locations is indicated by SSB location group information contained within a master information block of a physical broadcast channel, and wherein generating a scrambling sequence is performed based on the SSB location group information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the SSB location group information indicates a fourth bit, a fifth bit, and a sixth bit of an SSB index.

5. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

transmitting an SSB location configuration indicating a predetermined location range within which SSBs and downlink shared channels can be transmitted simultaneously.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising any of:

transmitting the SSBs and downlink shared channels simultaneously within the predetermined range of positions within the plurality of consecutive groups of candidate SSB positions; or

Transmitting only one of the SSB and the downlink shared channel in other candidate SSB locations within the set of consecutive candidate SSB locations outside the predetermined range of locations.

7. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

scrambling the synchronization signal within the SSB by a cover code.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein a cover code for N-SSB soft combining has similar subsequences as a cover code for M-SSB soft combining, where N and M indicate the number of SSBs used for soft combining, and N is a multiple of M.

9. A method for receiving a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (SSB) of a Discovery Reference Signal (DRS), wherein the SSB is capable of being received within any of a plurality of consecutive sets of candidate SSB locations in a DRS transmission window, the method comprising, at a terminal device:

receiving the SSBs in the plurality of consecutive sets of candidate SSB locations;

acquiring information on a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) included in a DMRS in a physical broadcast channel of each of the SSBs; and

performing descrambling and soft combining on the received SSBs based on the information on SSB indices.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the information about SSB indices indicates that the SSBs are transmitted within two adjacent sets of candidate locations, respectively, and wherein the performing scrambling and soft combining comprises:

descrambling the SSB with a potential scrambling sequence; and

performing soft combining on the descrambled SSBs.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the information about SSB indices indicates that the SSBs are transmitted within a set of candidate locations, and wherein the performing scrambling and soft combining comprises:

performing soft combining on the received SSBs; and

descrambling the combined SSB with a scrambling sequence corresponding to information about SSB index decoded from a Master information Block of the SSB.

12. The method of any of claims 9 to 11, wherein the information on SSB indices contained within the DMRS indicates a first bit, a second bit, and a third bit of SSB indices.

13. The method of any of claims 9 to 11, further comprising:

receiving an SSB location configuration indicating a predetermined location range in which SSBs and a downlink shared channel can be transmitted simultaneously.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising any of:

simultaneously receiving the SSBs and downlink shared channels within the predetermined range of positions within the plurality of contiguous groups of candidate SSB positions; or

Receiving only one of the SSB and the downlink shared channel in other candidate SSB locations outside the predetermined range of locations within the plurality of consecutive groups of candidate SSB locations.

15. The method of any of claims 9 to 11, further comprising:

descrambling synchronization signals within the SSB with a potential cover code.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the potential cover codes for N-SSB soft combining have similar subsequences as the cover codes for M-SSB soft combining, where N and M indicate the number of SSBs used for soft combining, and N is a multiple of M.

17. A network device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor;

the at least one memory has computer program code therein configured to, when executed on the at least one processor, cause the network device at least to perform the method of any of claims 1-8.

18. A terminal device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor;

the at least one memory has computer program code therein configured to, when executed on the at least one processor, cause the terminal device at least to perform the method of any of claims 9 to 16.

19. A computer-readable medium, on which a computer program is stored which, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

20. A computer-readable medium, on which a computer program is stored which, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of claims 9 to 16.