EP4670314A1

EP4670314A1 - ASSIGNMENT OF A PHYSICAL LAYER OF NON-ADJUSTING FREQUENCY RESOURCES

Info

Publication number: EP4670314A1
Application number: EP24711399.6A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jibing Wang; Erik Stauffer
Original assignee: Google LLC
Current assignee: Google LLC
Priority date: 2023-03-24
Filing date: 2024-02-07
Publication date: 2025-12-31
Also published as: WO2024205747A1

Abstract

A base station communicates with user equipment (UE) using a frequency domain bandset, which includes one or more bandparts having a set of contiguous frequencies. Within the bandset, the different bandparts are non-contiguous in the frequency domain. The base station jointly codes the downlink bandparts of a bandset that are sent to a UE and the UE jointly codes the uplink bandparts of a bandset that are sent to the base station.

Description

PHYSICAL LAYER ASSIGNMENT OF NON-CONTIGUOUS FREQUENCY RESOURCES

BACKGROUND

[0001] A base station allocates a set of contiguous frequencies for a downlink (DL) and an uplink (UL) to a user equipment (UE). The bandwidth of the set of contiguous frequencies is typically defined by standards and the set of contiguous frequencies is commonly referred to as a component carrier. Some wireless communication systems support carrier aggregation (CA) to accommodate varied bandwidths by allocating DL and UL resources in two or more component carriers. Carrier aggregation involves layer 2 processing at the MAC layer to allocate downlink data to the different component carriers of the aggregated component carriers. The protocol layers above MAC are unaware of the aggregated component carriers but the physical layer accommodates the separate carriers of the aggregated component carrier.

[0002] Dual Connectivity (DC) is another technique for accommodating varied bandwidths by using separate connections between a UE and two base stations. Dual connectivity uses layer 2 processing at the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer to allocate the downlink data to the two base stations for transmission to the user equipment. The protocol layers above PDCP are unaware of the dual connectivity but the MAC and physical layers must be designed to accommodate the transmissions from two different base stations. Both base stations assign the user equipment an identifier (e.g., a cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI)) and a separate uplink control channel (e.g., a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)).

[0003] Although carrier aggregation and dual connectivity provide flexibility for accommodating varied bandwidths, these techniques have limitations. Both techniques are implemented in layer 2, and thus require the lower layers to accommodate the changes in processing at layer 2. Dual connectivity also increases signaling overhead because the UE is assigned separate identifiers and separate uplink control channels for both supporting base stations. [0004] Thus, it would be desirable to provide flexibility in the assignment of frequency resources that minimizes the impact on the processing at layers above the physical layer.

SUMMARY

[0005] This disclosure provides techniques for efficiently using wireless frequency spectrum by employing a bandset with bandparts in disjoint sets of frequencies for UE and base station communications. The set of frequencies within a bandpart are contiguous in the frequency domain but each set of frequencies of the bandparts are non-contiguous (i.e. , not directly adjacent) in the frequency domain with the sets of frequencies of other bandparts in the bandset. A bandset can be defined for one or both of the downlink and uplink. Within a bandset, one of the bandparts is a primary bandpart carrying the control signals and the other bandpart(s) is/are secondary bandparts that do not carry control signals, which minimizes associated signaling overhead. The bandset can be adjusted by adding bandparts to the bandset, removing bandparts from the bandset, and/or redefining which bandpart is the primary bandpart and which bandpart is a secondary bandpart. The bandset is implemented at the physical layer, which allows the use of carrier aggregation and/or dual connectivity. The different bandparts of a bandset can be in the same frequency range or can be in different frequency ranges.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate one or more embodiments and, together with the description, explain these embodiments. In the drawings:

[0007] Figures 1 A-1 E are time-frequency diagrams of downlink bandsets having bandparts according to embodiments.

[0008] Figures 2A and 2B are time-frequency diagrams of uplink bandsets having bandparts according to embodiments.

[0009] Figure 3 is a signaling diagram illustrating various signals exchanged for communicating using a bandset having bandparts according to embodiments. [0010] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method performed by a base station for communicating using a bandset having bandparts according to embodiments.

[0011] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method performed by a UE for communicating using a bandset having bandparts according to embodiments.

[0012] Figure 6A illustrates a bandset capability identifier field according to embodiments.

[0013] Figure 6B illustrates a table of bandset capability identifiers and corresponding supported downlink and uplink bandparts.

[0014] Figure 7 is a signaling diagram illustrating various signals exchanged for handing a UE over from one base station to another according to embodiments.

[0015] Figure 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method performed by a UE for handing over between base stations according to embodiments.

[0016] Figure 9 is a block diagram illustrating software and hardware of a UE and a base station according to embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] As described in the Background section, frequency resource assignment above the physical layer requires modification of the physical layer processing to accommodate the frequency resource assignment. Further, some frequency resource assignment methods above the physical layer also increase signaling overhead. The techniques disclosed below allow assignment of non-contiguous uplink and/or downlink frequency resources at the physical layer with data transmissions jointly coded across the non-contiguous frequency resources (i.e. , the same coding and modulation is used for the non-contiguous frequency resources). This avoids changing both the layer 2 and layer 1 processing for frequency resource assignment and minimizes additional overhead to accommodate the frequency resource assignments and use of the assigned frequency resources. This approach may be used in conjunction with carrier aggregation and/or dual connectivity or this approach can be used independent of carrier aggregation and/or dual connectivity.

[0018] In the discussion below a set of non-contiguous frequency resources is referred to herein as a bandset, which is comprised of one or more bandparts that are non-contiguous (i.e. , not directly adjacent) in the frequency domain. In other words, within a bandset, the different bandparts are non-contiguous in the frequency domain. Each bandpart is comprised of a set of frequencies that are contiguous (i.e., directly adjacent) in the frequency domain. The particular sets of frequencies used for the bandparts depends upon the frequency spectrum allocated to the base station (which can be limited by governmental regulations), as well as the sets of frequencies that the UE is capable of using for communications.

[0019] Non-limiting examples of non-contiguously assigned downlink frequency resources are illustrated in the time-frequency diagrams of Figures 1 A-1 E. In the example illustrated in Figure 1A, a downlink bandset 102A is comprised of a primary downlink bandpart 104A and a secondary downlink bandpart 106A. The primary downlink bandpart 104A includes a control channel 105A. In the example illustrated in Figure 1 B, the downlink bandset 102B is comprised of a primary downlink bandpart 104B and a secondary downlink bandpart 106B. The primary downlink bandpart 104B includes a control channel 105B. In the example illustrated in Figure 1A the primary downlink bandpart 104A comprises a set of frequencies that are lower in the frequency spectrum than the set of frequencies of the secondary downlink bandpart 106A, whereas in Figure 1 B the primary downlink bandpart 104B comprises a set of frequencies that are higher in the frequency spectrum than the set of frequencies of the secondary downlink bandpart 106B.

[0020] Figures 1 C-1 E illustrate that the downlink bandset 102 can include more than one secondary downlink bandpart 106. In the example illustrated in Figure 1 C the primary downlink bandpart 104C comprises a set of frequencies that is lower in the frequency spectrum than the secondary downlink bandparts 106C1 and 106C. In the example illustrated in Figure 1 D the primary downlink bandpart 104D comprises a set of frequencies that is higher in the frequency spectrum than the secondary downlink bandparts 106D1 and 106D2. In the example illustrated in Figure 1 E the primary downlink bandpart comprises a set of frequencies that is between the set of frequencies of the secondary downlink bandparts 106E1 and 106E2. In all of the examples, the primary downlink bandpart 104 includes a control channel 105 and any bandpart can include a pilot signal for user equipment (UE) signal measurements. [0021] Non-limiting examples of non-contiguously assigned uplink frequency resources are illustrated in the time-frequency diagrams of Figures 2A and 2B. In the example illustrated in Figure 2A the uplink bandset 202A includes a single uplink bandpart 204A, which includes a control channel 205A. In the example illustrated in Figure 2B the uplink bandset 202B includes a primary uplink bandpart 204B, which includes a control channel 205B, and a secondary uplink bandpart 206B. Similar to the discussion above in connection with the downlink bandsets 102, the uplink bandset 202 can include more than one secondary bandpart 206. Further, the arrangement of the set of frequencies of the primary uplink bandpart 204 and the one or more secondary uplink bandparts 206 can be arranged so that the primary uplink bandpart 204 comprises a set of frequencies that is lower in the frequency spectrum than the one or more uplink secondary bandparts 206. The control channel 205 can carry the physical uplink control channel (PLICCH).

[0022] The set of frequencies used for the downlink bandset 102 and the uplink bandset can be distinct sets of frequencies, partially overlapping sets of frequencies, or identical sets of frequencies. The downlink bandparts 104 and 106 may or may not be associated with a corresponding uplink bandpart 204 and 206. Thus, the primary downlink bandpart 104 can use the same set of contiguous frequencies as the primary uplink bandpart 204 or the primary downlink bandpart 104 can use a different set of contiguous frequencies as the primary uplink bandpart 204. Similarly, the downlink secondary bandparts 106 can use the same set of contiguous frequencies as the secondary uplink bandparts 206 or the secondary downlink bandparts 106 can use a different set of contiguous frequencies as the secondary uplink bandparts 206.

[0023] It should be recognized that although the bandparts span a particular portion of the time domain, a UE 312 is not necessarily allocated all of those time resources. Instead, the time resources within a bandset can be allocated to the UE 312 and multiple other UEs in the form of resource blocks. The resource blocks assigned to a particular UE 312 can be continually indexed across the different bandparts of a bandset. The different resource blocks can have the same sub-carrier spacing and cyclic prefixes or different sub-carrier spacings and cyclic prefixes. Each bandpart within a bandset can have an associated bandpart identifier. Further, the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)/downlink control information (DCI) can include the bandpart identifier and the resource block indexes within the bandpart associated with the bandpart identifier. The PDCCH/DCI can also specify the carrier bandwidth part (BWP) and the associated resource block allocation within that BWP.

[0024] When the bandsets are implemented in a system using frequency division duplexing (FDD), the uplink bandset can include uplink bandparts corresponding to a subset of the downlink bandparts. Further, each downlink bandset can have a corresponding uplink bandpart or can have no corresponding uplink bandpart. The uplink bandset can include uplink bandparts that do not correspond to any downlink bandparts, in which case these uplink bandparts can be referred to as supplemental uplink bandparts. [0025] When the bandsets are implemented using time division duplexing (TDD), the uplink bandset can be the same as the downlink bandset or the uplink bandset can be a subset of the downlink bandset. An uplink bandpart corresponding to a particular downlink bandpart can be in the same set of contiguous frequencies.

[0026] Regardless of whether FDD or TDD is implemented, adjacent channel interference between uplink and downlink transmissions of different UEs can be addressed, for example, by implementing adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) emission requirements for the base station and UE transmitters and by implementing out-of-band (OOB) emission requirements for the base station and UE transmitters.

[0027] Further, assuming support in the UE, the bandsets can also be implemented so that some bandparts use TDD and other bandparts use FDD. The TDD bandparts and the FDD bandparts can be included in the same bandset.

[0028] Implementing the downlink bandsets and the uplink bandsets at the physical layer provides great flexibility with respect to subcarrier spacing, time slot duration, and cyclic prefixes. For example, the primary downlink bandpart 104 and the one or more secondary downlink bandparts 106 of a bandset 102 can have the same frequency bandwidths or different frequency bandwidths. Similarly, the primary uplink bandpart 204 and the one or more secondary uplink bandparts 206 of a bandset 202 can have the same frequency bandwidths or different frequency bandwidths. Thus, it should be recognized that the size of the bandparts illustrated in Figures 1 A-1 E and Figures 2A and 2B in the time and frequency domain are merely examples and the bandparts can occupy more or fewer resources in the time and/or frequency domain than what is illustrated in these figures.

[0029] The primary downlink bandpart 104 and the one or more secondary downlink bandparts 106 of a bandset 102 can use the same subcarrier spacings or different subcarrier spacings. Similarly, the primary uplink bandpart 204 and the one or more secondary uplink bandparts 206 of a bandset 202 can use the same subcarrier spacings or different subcarrier spacings.

[0030] The primary downlink bandpart 104 and the one or more secondary downlink bandparts 106 of a bandset 102 can use the same time slot durations or different time slot durations. Similarly, the primary uplink bandpart 204 and the one or more secondary uplink bandparts 206 of a bandset 202 can use the same time slot durations or different time slot durations.

[0031] The primary downlink bandpart 104 and the one or more secondary downlink bandparts 106 of a bandset 102 can use the same cyclic prefixes or different cyclic prefixes. Similarly, the primary uplink bandpart 204 and the one or more secondary uplink bandparts 206 of a bandset 202 can use the same cyclic prefixes or different cyclic prefixes.

[0032] Implementing the downlink bandsets and the uplink bandsets at the physical layer also allows the use of carrier aggregation and/or dual connectivity.

[0033] The downlink bandset 102 and uplink bandset 202 can be used with or without carrier aggregation. With carrier aggregation the primary downlink bandpart 104 can include one component carrier and the one or more secondary downlink bandparts 106 include additional component carriers. Further, the primary downlink bandpart 104 and/or one or more of the secondary downlink bandparts 106 can include two or more aggregated component carriers. Likewise, with carrier aggregation the primary uplink bandpart 204 can be considered as one component carrier and the one or more secondary uplink bandparts 206 can be considered as additional component carriers. Further, the primary uplink bandpart 204 and/or one or more of the secondary uplink bandparts 206 can include two or more aggregated component carriers.

[0034] The downlink bandset 102 and uplink bandset 202 can also be used with or without dual connectivity. With dual connectivity a first base station can transmit to the UE 312 using the primary downlink bandpart 104 of a bandset 102 and a second base station can transmit to the UE 312 in the one or more secondary downlink bandparts 106 of the bandset 102. Further, the first base station can transmit to the UE 312 in the primary downlink bandpart 104 and one or more of the secondary bandparts 106 of a bandset 102 and the second base station can transmit to the UE 312 in the remaining ones of the one or more secondary downlink bandparts 106 of the bandset 102. Similarly, with dual connectivity the UE 312 can transmit in the primary uplink bandpart 204 of an uplink bandset 202 to a first base station and the UE 312 can transmit in the one or more secondary uplink bandparts 206 of the bandset 202 to a second base station. Further, the UE 312 can transmit in the primary uplink bandpart 204 and one or more of the secondary uplink bandparts 206 to the first base station and the UE 312 can transmit in the remaining ones of the one or more secondary uplink bandparts 206 to the second base station. [0035] As discussed in more detail below, the primary downlink bandpart 104 and primary uplink bandpart 204 include a control channel 105, 205 for all of the bandparts of a particular uplink bandset and downlink bandset, respective. Accordingly, only the primary downlink bandpart 104 carries the control channel 105 and only the primary uplink bandpart 204 carries the control channel 205. These control channels 105 and 205 thus aggregate the control signaling for the secondary bandparts 106 and 206, respectively, which reduces the signaling overhead associated with the different bandparts of a bandset. The control channel 105 in the primary downlink bandpart 104 can carry a PDCCH, a synchronization signal, broadcast information, and grant information. The control channel 105 in the primary downlink bandpart 104 can also carry a master information block (MIB) and a system information block (SIB). The control channel 205 in the primary uplink bandpart 204 can carry the ACK/NACK signals for the HARQ process. The one or more secondary downlink bandparts 106 can carry the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The one or more secondary uplink bandparts 206 can carry the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and/or the sounding reference signal (SRS). If the bandsets are implemented in a next-generation radio access network (NG-RAN), the NG synchronization signal can be located in any of the bandparts of a bandset or in all of the bandparts of the bandset. [0036] Further, as also discussed in more detail below, the set of frequencies assigned to the primary bandpart and the secondary bandpart(s) can be changed, which includes reassigning the set of frequencies of the primary bandpart to a secondary bandpart and reassigning the set of frequencies of one of the secondary bandparts to the primary bandpart.

[0037] A method for communicating between a base station 310 and a UE 312 using a bandset having bandparts will now be described in connection with Figures 3-6B. The base station 310 transmits (step 414) downlink synchronization signals and system information 314 , which is received (step 514) by the UE 312. The UE 312 synchronizes (316 and step 516) with the base station 310 and acquires the system information. The UE 312 transmits (step 518) a bandset capability message 318, which is received (step 418) by the base station 310. The bandset capability message 318 identifies whether the UE 312 supports a bandset with bandparts that are disjoint in the frequency domain and can include an identification of the frequencies that the UE 312 is capable of transmitting and/or receiving on based on the capability of the UE’s radio frequency transmitters and radio frequency front-end (e.g., the MIMO layer support for each carrier, whether subcarrier spacing type (SCS) is supported for each carrier, whether the UE has a broadband transmitter or two narrow-band transmitters, etc.)

[0038] Alternatively, as illustrated in Figures 6A and 6B, the UE 312 can transmit a bandset capability message 602 with a bandset capability identifier (ID) 604. The base station 310 and the UE 312 store copies of a table correlating bandset capability identifiers 604 with sets of frequencies of different downlink bandparts 606 and sets of frequencies of different uplink bandparts 608. In another alternative the UE 312 uses a bitmap to identify the radio frequencies useable by the UE 312.

[0039] The base station 310 uses the received bandset capability 318 to determine (320 and step 420) whether the UE 312 supports jointly coding bandsets with bandparts that are disjointed in the frequency domain (i.e. , two or more of the bandparts are noncontiguous in the frequency domain). If the UE 312 does not support jointly coding bandparts that are disjointed in the frequency domain (“No” path out of decision step 420), the base station 310 transmits (step 421 ) a frequency channel assignment to the UE 312 and the base station 310 and the UE 312 communicate by individually coding data for each of the different sets of assigned frequencies.

[0040] If the UE 312 supports joint-coding of bandsets with disjoint bandparts (“Yes” path out of decision step 420), then the base station 310 transmits (step 422) the bandset assignment 322, which is received (step 522) by the UE 312. The assignment of the downlink bandset (including the identification of the sets of frequencies for the downlink bandparts) and the assignment of the uplink bandset (including the identification of the sets of frequencies for the uplink bandparts) can be conveyed using the SIB/MIB.

[0041] Alternatively, the bandset assignment 322 can identify the frequencies for the downlink bandparts 104 and 106 of the downlink bandset 102 and/or the frequencies for uplink bandparts 204 and 206 of the uplink bandset 202. In another alternative the base station 310 can use a bandset identifier (ID) in a manner similar to the bandset capability ID 604. This involves the base station 310 and the UE 312 having copies of a table correlating the bandset ID with different uplink bandsets and different downlink bandsets in a manner similar to the bandset capability ID table illustrated in Figure 6B. In a further alternative, the base station 310 can use a bitmap to identify the frequencies for the downlink bandparts 104 and 106 of the downlink bandset 102 and/or the frequencies for uplink bandparts 204 and 206 of the uplink different sets of frequencies of the uplink bandset 202.

[0042] The UE 312 configures (324, step 524) one or more of its wireless radios for the assigned bandset. In this configuration, at least one of the wireless radios receives control information for the bandset exclusively in the primary downlink bandpart 104. After the UE 312 is configured with the bandset in the bandset assignment 322, the base station 310 and UE 312 can communicate using the assigned bandsets. Accordingly, if the base station 310 has downlink data for the UE 312 (“Yes” path out of decision step 426), the base station 310 determines (step 427) a bandwidth for the downlink data and the base station 310 jointly codes (328, step 428) the data across the primary downlink bandpart 104 and the one or more secondary downlink bandparts 106 in the assigned bandset 102. The base station 310 also includes information in the control channel 105 for the UE 312. The base station 310 transmits (step 430) the control channel 105 information in the primary bandpart 104 and the downlink data 330 jointly coded across the primary downlink bandpart 104 and the one or more secondary downlink bandparts 106, which are received (step 530) by the UE 312. The UE 312 jointly decodes (332 and step 532) the data in the primary downlink bandpart 104 and the one or more secondary downlink bandparts 106. [0043] The UE 312 then determines (step 534) whether it has uplink data to transmit. If there is not uplink data to transmit (“No” path out decision step 534), the UE 312 transmits (step 538A) ACK/NACK indicators 338 on the primary uplink bandpart as part of the HARQ process, which are received (step 438) by the base station 310. In one implementation, the ACK/NACK indictors are associated with data received on all bandparts 104 and 106 of a downlink bandset 102. If there is uplink data to transmit (“Yes” path out of decision step 534), the UE 312 transmits (step 538B1 ) the ACK/NACK indicators 338 on the primary uplink bandpart and transmits (step 538B2) uplink data that is jointly coded (step 432) across the primary uplink bandpart 204 and the one or more secondary uplink bandparts 206, which are received (step 438) by the base station 310. [0044] At any point during the method illustrated in the flowchart of Figure 4, the base station 310 determines (step 440) whether or not the downlink bandset 102 and/or the uplink bandset 202 should be adjusted. The decision of whether or not a bandset should be adjusted can be based on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, the amount of bandwidth required, interference on one or more bandparts of a bandset, scheduling (e.g., the amount of bandwidth required to support other UEs), etc. The bandset adjustment can involve adding a bandpart to the bandset (e.g., changing the bandset from one of the bandsets illustrated in Figs. 1 A and 1 B with a single secondary bandpart 106 to one of the bandsets illustrated in Figures 1 C-1 E with multiple secondary bandparts 106. The bandset adjustment can also involve switching the set of frequencies assigned to the primary bandpart and the secondary bandpart (e.g., changing the bandset from the one illustrated in Figure 1 A to the one illustrated in Figure 1 B). For example, the base station 310 can require associating each downlink bandpart in a bandset an independent channel state information (CSI) process and the UE 312 accordingly transmits CSI for each downlink bandpart in the bandset.

[0045] If the base station 310 determines that one of the downlink and uplink bandsets should be adjusted (“Yes” path out of decision step 440), the base station 310 transmits (step 442) an adjusted channel assignment to the UE 312. If the UE 312 receives an adjusted assignment (“Yes” path out of decision step 540), the UE 312 configures (step 524) the radio frequency bandset based on the received adjusted channel assignment. Otherwise (“No” path out of decision step 540), the base station 310 and UE 312 continue to communicate using the current downlink bandset 102 and/or uplink bandset 202.

[0046] A method for handing over the UE 312 from a first base station to a second base station while supporting bandsets comprising bandparts disjoint in the frequency domain will now be described in connection with Figures 7 and 8. As illustrated in Figure 7, the UE 312 has an established connection 702 with the first base station 310A (sometimes called a “source base station”) and is handing over to the second base station 310B (also called a “target base station”). The established connection 702 with the first base station 310A can be an active connection or a dormant connection. The handover can be initiated by the first base station 310A or the UE 312. The first base station 310A transmits a handover request message 704 to the second base station 310B. The handover request message 704 can include the radio frequency capability of the UE 312. This capability can be conveyed as a listing of frequencies or frequency bands supported by the UE 312, a bandset capability identifier (as described above in connection with Figures 6A and 6B), or a bitmap. The second base station 310B transmits a handover request acknowledgement message 706 identifying the measurement bandpart of a bandset to the first base station 310A, which includes a pilot signal. In some embodiments, the measurement bandpart is the primary downlink bandpart of the bandset 102 that includes the control channel 105.

[0047] The first base station 310A then transmits a handover instruction message 708 including the identified measurement bandpart, which is received (step 808) by the UE 312. The second base station 310B transmits a pilot signal 710 in the measurement bandpart, which is received (step 810) by the UE 312. The UE 312 measures (712, step 812) the pilot signal 710 in the measurement bandpart and transmits (step 814) a measurement report message 714 to the first base station 310A. When the UE 312 only has to perform the pilot signal measurements in the primary bandpart, the UE 312 conserves energy by not having to also measure pilot signals in any of the secondary bandparts of the bandset. [0048] If the measurement report 714 indicates acceptable conditions for the second base station 31 OB to support the UE 312, the first base station transmits a radio resource control (RRC) message 716 instructing the UE 312 to handover to the second base station 31 OB. The UE 312 receives (step 816) the handover instruction from the supporting base station and hands over (718, step 818) from the first base station 310A to the second base station 31 OB.

[0049] The discussion of handover in connection with Figures 7 and 8 involved a UE 312 with an active established connection or a dormant established connection. In a similar manner, a UE in idle mode can perform a reselection. In this case, the idle mode UE can be assigned a specific downlink bandpart in the bandset for paging and measurements. Further, a base station 310 can identify a particular bandpart, which is a portion of a downlink bandset for a different cell, for a UE 312 to perform measurements to determine whether the UE 312 should reselect to the different cell.

[0050] It should be recognized that a bandpart is different from a BWP, and a BWP can be a subset of one bandpart. Accordingly, a bandpart can include multiple active BWPs. The base station 310 can transmit an RRC message to configure the UE 312 on whether a BWP is within one bandpart. Each BWP within a bandset can have the same discontinuous reception (DRX) setting, and accordingly the connected DRX (CDRX) configuration for the multiple BWPs can be different. In other words, DRX can be set on a per-bandpart basis and therefore each bandpart within a bandset can enter and exit sleep mode independently.

[0051] Figure 9 is a block diagram illustrating software and hardware of a UE 312 and a base station 310 that can implement various aspects of the methods described above. The block diagram 900 illustrates the components of the UE 312 and base station 310 relevant for this discussion and it will be recognized that the UE 312 and base station 310 can include other software and hardware components. Signaling arrow 901 generally represents both uplink and downlink signals transmitted by UE 312 and base station 310. Further, the term “base station” can be interchangeable herein with eNB, gNB, master node, and secondary node, depending on which radio technology deployment is used and which embodiments described herein are implemented. [0052] The UE 312 includes antennas 952, one or more radio frequency (RF) front ends 954A-954X, and one or more one RF transceivers 956A-956X. The antennas 952 and the RF front end(s) 954A-954X can be tuned to one or more frequency bands, e.g., as may be defined by 3GPP LTE, 5G NR, and 6G communication standards and implemented by the one or more transceivers 956A- 956X. The antennas 952, one or more RF front ends 954A-954X, and the one or more RF transceivers 956A-956X can be configured to support beamforming.

[0053] The UE 312 also includes a processor 958, which executes one or more software applications, and computer-readable storage media (CRM) 960. The processor 958 can include one or more single or multiple-core processors, and the CRM 960 excludes propagating signals and includes any suitable memory/storage. For example, memory/storage can include random-access memory (RAM), static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), non-volatile RAM (NVRAM), read-only memory (ROM), and/or flash memory useable to store device data of the UE 312. The device data of the UE stores instructions executable by the processor 958 to facilitate userplane communication, control-plane signaling, and user interaction with the base station 310.

[0054] The base station 310 is illustrated as a single network node (e.g., a gNB or an eNB). However, the functionality of base station 310 may be distributed across multiple entities such as a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), and/or a radio unit (RU). The base station 310 includes antennas 902, one or more RF front ends 904A- 904X, and one or more RF transceivers 906A and 906B. The antennas 952 and the one or more RF front ends 904A-904X can be tuned to one or more frequency bands, e.g., as may be defined by 3GPP LTE, 5G NR, and 6G communication standards and implemented by the one or more transceivers 906A-906X. The antennas 902, one or more RF front ends 904A-904X, and the one or more RF transceivers 906A-906X can be configured to support beamforming.

[0055] The base station 310 includes at least one processor 908, which executes one or more software applications, and computer-readable storage media (CRM) 910. The at least one processor 908 can include single or multiple-core processors, and the CRM 910 excludes propagating signals and includes any suitable memory/storage. For example, memory/storage can include random-access memory (RAM), static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), non-volatile RAM (NVRAM), read-only memory (ROM), and/or flash memory useable to store device data of the base station 310. The device data of the base station 310 includes network scheduling data, radio resource management data, applications, and/or an operating system of base station 310, which are executable by the at least one processor 908 to enable wireless communication 901 with the UE 312.

[0056] As will be appreciated from the discussion above, using a bandset that involves jointly coding the different bandparts at the physical layer reduces signaling overhead compared to prior approaches. Specifically, current standards require each frequency band, which can be as small as 5 MHz, requires its own synchronization channel, broadcast channel and grant/PDCCH. Further, an RRC message is required to configure each contiguous frequency band, a MAC CE is required to activate each contiguous frequency band, and each contiguous frequency band is required to have its own HARQ process. In contrast, the disclosed bandsets comprising a plurality of bandparts aggregates all of these processes into the control channel of the primary bandpart and does not require separate processes for each of the secondary bandparts. [0057] By way of example, and not limitation, the techniques described in this document support the following embodiments.

[0058] Example 1 - A method for user equipment, the method comprising: obtaining a channel assignment from a base station, the channel assignment identifying a bandset having a first bandpart and a second bandpart, each bandpart including a set of adjacent frequencies, and the set of adjacent frequencies of the first bandpart is noncontiguous with the set of adjacent frequencies of the second bandpart; receiving, from the base station, data in the first bandpart and the second bandpart; and jointly decoding the received data.

[0059] Example 2 - The method of example 1 , wherein the bandset is a downlink bandset, the first bandpart is a first downlink bandpart, and the second bandpart is a second downlink bandpart.

[0060] Example 3 - The method of example 2, wherein the first downlink bandpart is a primary downlink bandpart and the second downlink bandpart is a secondary downlink bandpart, the method further comprising: receiving control information from the base station in the primary downlink bandpart.

[0061] Example 4 - The method of example 3, further comprising: configuring at least one wireless radio of the user equipment so that the user equipment receives control information in the primary downlink bandpart.

[0062] Example 5 - The method of example 3 or 4, further comprising: receiving, from the base station, an updated channel assignment identifying that the second downlink bandpart is the primary downlink bandpart and the first downlink bandpart is the secondary downlink bandpart.

[0063] Example 6 - The method of any one of examples 3-5, wherein the control information is carried in a physical downlink control channel in the primary downlink bandpart.

[0064] Example 7 - The method of any one of examples 3-6, further comprising: receiving a master information block and system information block from the base station in the primary bandpart.

[0065] Example 8 - The method of any one of examples 2-7, further comprising: receiving a synchronization signal from the base station in at least one of the first downlink bandpart and the second downlink bandpart.

[0066] Example 9 - The method of any one of examples 2-8, wherein the first downlink bandpart or the second downlink bandpart includes at least two aggregated frequency carriers.

[0067] Example 10 - The method of any one of examples 2-9, wherein the first downlink bandpart and the second downlink bandpart have different frequency bandwidths.

[0068] Example 11 - The method of any one of examples 2-10, wherein the first downlink bandpart and the second downlink bandpart have different subcarrier spacings.

[0069] Example 12 - The method of any one of examples 2-11 , wherein the first downlink bandpart and the second downlink bandpart have different time slot durations. [0070] Example 13 - The method of any one of examples 2-12, wherein the first downlink bandpart and the second downlink bandpart have different cyclic prefixes. [0071] Example 14 - The method of any one of examples 1 -13, wherein the channel assignment identifies an uplink bandset having a first uplink bandpart and a second uplink bandpart, each uplink bandpart includes a set of adjacent frequencies and the set of adjacent frequencies of the first uplink bandpart is non-contiguous with the set of adjacent frequencies of the second uplink bandpart, wherein one of the first uplink bandpart and the second uplink bandpart is a primary uplink bandpart and the other is a secondary uplink bandpart, the method further comprising: transmitting uplink control information to the base station in the primary uplink bandpart.

[0072] Example 15 - The method of example 14, further comprising: configuring at least one wireless radio of the user equipment so that the user equipment exclusively transmits the uplink control information in the primary uplink bandpart.

[0073] Example 16 - The method of example 14 or 15, wherein the first uplink bandpart and the second uplink bandpart have different frequency bandwidths.

[0074] Example 17 - The method of any one of examples 14-16, wherein the first uplink bandpart and the second uplink bandpart have different subcarrier spacings.

[0075] Example 18 - The method of any one of examples 14-17, wherein the first uplink bandpart and the second uplink bandpart have different time slot durations.

[0076] Example 19 - The method of examples 14, 16, or 17, wherein the first uplink bandpart and the second uplink bandpart have different frequency bandwidths and the first uplink bandpart and the second uplink bandpart have different time slot durations.

[0077] Example 20 - The method of any one of examples 14-19, wherein one of the first uplink bandpart and the second uplink bandpart corresponds to one of the first downlink bandpart and the second downlink bandpart.

[0078] Example 21 - The method of any one of examples 14-20, wherein the set of adjacent frequencies of the first downlink bandpart and the set of frequencies of the first uplink bandpart are the same.

[0079] Example 22 - The method of any one of examples 14-21 , wherein the first uplink bandpart and the second uplink bandpart have different cyclic prefixes. [0080] Example 23 - The method of any one of examples 14-22, wherein the set of adjacent frequencies of the first uplink bandpart and the set of frequencies of the second uplink bandpart are in a same frequency range.

[0081] Example 24 - The method of any one of examples 14-22, wherein the set of frequencies of the first uplink bandpart and the set of frequencies of the second uplink bandpart are in different frequency ranges.

[0082] Example 25 - The method of any one of examples 2-24, wherein the downlink bandset includes a third downlink bandpart including a set of adjacent frequencies, wherein the set of adjacent frequencies of the third downlink bandpart is non-contiguous with the set of adjacent frequencies of the first downlink bandpart and is non-contiguous with the set of adjacent frequencies of the second downlink bandpart.

[0083] Example 26 - The method of any one of examples 2-25, further comprising: receiving a message from the base station identifying a third bandpart of a further base station; transmitting, to the base station, a measurement report of measurements taken within the third bandpart; receiving, from the base station, a handover instruction; and handing-over from the base station to the further base station.

[0084] Example 27 - A method for a base station, the method comprising: transmitting a channel assignment to a user equipment, the channel assignment identifying a bandset having a first bandpart and a second bandpart, each bandpart including a set of adjacent frequencies, and the set of adjacent frequencies of the first bandpart is non-contiguous with the set of adjacent frequencies of the second bandpart; and jointly coding data addressed to the user equipment; and transmitting the jointly coded data in the first bandpart and the second bandpart to the user equipment.

[0085] Example 28 - The method of example 27, wherein the bandset is a downlink bandset, the first bandpart is a first downlink bandpart, and the second bandpart is a second downlink bandpart.

[0086] Example 29 - The method of example 28, wherein the first downlink bandpart is a primary downlink bandpart and the second downlink bandpart is a secondary downlink bandpart, the method further comprising: transmitting control information to the user equipment in the primary downlink bandpart. [0087] Example 30 - The method of example 29, further comprising: transmitting an updated channel assignment to the user equipment, the updated channel assignment identifying that the second downlink bandpart is the primary downlink bandpart and the first downlink bandpart is the secondary downlink bandpart.

[0088] Example 31 - The method of example 29 or 30, wherein the control information is carried in a physical downlink control channel in the primary downlink bandpart.

[0089] Example 32 - The method of any one of examples 29-31 , further comprising: transmitting a master information block and system information block to the user equipment in the primary bandpart.

[0090] Example 33 - The method of any one of examples 28-32, further comprising: transmitting a synchronization signal to the user equipment in at least one of the first downlink bandpart and the second downlink bandpart.

[0091] Example 34 - The method of any one of examples 28-33, wherein the first downlink bandpart or the second downlink bandpart includes at least two aggregated frequency carriers.

[0092] Example 35 - The method of any one of examples 28-34, wherein the first downlink bandpart and the second downlink bandpart have different frequency bandwidths.

[0093] Example 36 - The method of any one of examples 28-35, wherein the first downlink bandpart and the second downlink bandpart have different subcarrier spacings.

[0094] Example 37 - The method of any one of examples 28-36, wherein the first downlink bandpart and the second downlink bandpart have different time slot durations. [0095] Example 38 - The method of any one of examples 28-37, wherein the first downlink bandpart and the second downlink bandpart have different cyclic prefixes.

[0096] Example 39 - The method of any one of examples 27-38, wherein the channel assignment identifies an uplink bandset having a first uplink bandpart and a second uplink bandpart, each uplink bandpart includes a set of adjacent frequencies and the set of adjacent frequencies of the first uplink bandpart is non-contiguous with the set of adjacent frequencies of the second uplink bandpart, wherein one of the first uplink bandpart and the second uplink bandpart is a primary uplink bandpart and the other is a secondary uplink bandpart, the method further comprising: receiving uplink control information from the user equipment in the primary uplink bandpart.

[0097] Example 40 - The method of example 39, wherein the first uplink bandpart and the second uplink bandpart have different frequency bandwidths.

[0098] Example 41 - The method of example 39 or 40, wherein the first uplink bandpart and the second uplink bandpart have different subcarrier spacings.

[0099] Example 42 - The method of any one of examples 39-41 , wherein the first uplink bandpart and the second uplink bandpart have different time slot durations.

[0100] Example 43 - The method of any one of examples 39-42, wherein one of the first uplink bandpart and the second uplink bandpart corresponds to one of the first downlink bandpart and the second downlink bandpart.

[0101] Example 44 - The method of any one of examples 39-43, wherein the set of adjacent frequencies of the first downlink bandpart and the first uplink bandpart are the same.

[0102] Example 45 - The method of any one of examples 39-44, wherein the first uplink bandpart and the second uplink bandpart have different cyclic prefixes.

[0103] Example 46 - The method of any one of examples 39-45, wherein the set of adjacent frequencies of the first uplink bandpart and the second uplink bandpart are in a same frequency range.

[0104] Example 47 - The method of any one of examples 39-45, wherein the set of frequencies of the first uplink bandpart and the second uplink bandpart are in different frequency ranges.

[0105] Example 48 - The method of any one of examples 28-47, wherein the downlink bandset includes a third downlink bandpart including a set of adjacent frequencies, wherein the set of adjacent frequencies of the third downlink bandpart is non-contiguous with the set of adjacent frequencies of the first downlink bandpart and is non-contiguous with the set of adjacent frequencies of the second downlink bandpart. [0106] Example 49 - The method of any one of examples 27-48, wherein the base station is a serving base station for the user equipment, the method further comprising: transmitting a handover instruction message to the user equipment; receiving, from the user equipment, a measurement report of a pilot signal of a target base station; and transmitting a handover message to the user equipment to handover from the serving base station to the target base station.

[0107] Example 50 - The method of example 49, wherein the handover message is in a radio resource control message.

[0108] Example 51 - A user equipment, comprising: at least one wireless radio; and a processor coupled to the at least one wireless radio, the processor performing any of the methods of examples 1 -26.

[0109] Example 52 - A base station, comprising: at least one wireless radio; and a processor coupled to the at least one wireless radio, the processor performing any of the methods of examples 27-50.

[0110] Although the features and elements of the present embodiments are described in the embodiments in particular combinations, each feature or element can be used alone without the other features and elements of the embodiments or in various combinations with or without other features and elements disclosed herein. The methods or flowcharts provided in the present application may be implemented in a computer program, software or firmware tangibly embodied in a computer-readable storage medium for execution by a specifically programmed computer or processor.

[0111] Although the signaling diagrams and flow charts illustrate messages being sent and steps being performed in a particular order, these messages and steps can be performed in a different order than illustrated.

[0112] In concluding, it is noted that references to the singular (e.g., “a” or “an”, “the”) should include the plural unless clearly indicated otherwise.

[0113] The term “and/or” is intended to include any combination of the terms “and” and “or.” For example, "A and/or B" may be understood to mean any combination including "A, B, or A and B." The terms “and” and “or” may be used in the conjunctive or disjunctive sense and may be understood to be equivalent to “and/or.”

[0114] The construction “at least one of A or B” (e.g., A, B, or C) should be interpreted as any combination including A and/or B, including “A,” “B,” “A+A,” “B+B,” and “A+B.” The same reference numbers in different drawings identify the same or similar elements. [0115] Reference throughout the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Further, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. [0116] Note that numerical adjectives “first”, “second”, and “third” do not imply any order (are not ordinals) but are markers to distinguish separate instances of similar elements.

[0117] While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting.

Claims

1 . A method for user equipment (312), the method comprising: obtaining (522) a channel assignment (322) from a base station (310), the channel assignment (322) identifying a bandset (102) having a first bandpart and a second bandpart, each bandpart including a set of adjacent frequencies, and the set of adjacent frequencies of the first bandpart is non-contiguous with the set of adjacent frequencies of the second bandpart; receiving (530), from the base station (310), data (330) in the first bandpart and the second bandpart; and jointly decoding (332, 532) the received data.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the bandset (102) is a downlink bandset, the first bandpart is a first downlink bandpart, and the second bandpart is a second downlink bandpart, and wherein the first downlink bandpart is a primary downlink bandpart (104) and the second downlink bandpart is a secondary downlink bandpart (106), the method further comprising: receiving (530) control information (330) from the base station (312) in the primary downlink bandpart (104).

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: receiving (538), from the base station (310), an updated channel assignment identifying that the second downlink bandpart is the primary downlink bandpart (104) and the first downlink bandpart is the secondary downlink bandpart (106).

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the bandset (102) is a downlink bandset, the first bandpart is a first downlink bandpart, and the second bandpart is a second downlink bandpart, and wherein the first downlink bandpart and the second downlink bandpart have different frequency bandwidths, different subcarrier spacings, different time slot durations, or different cyclic prefixes.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the channel assignment (322) identifies an uplink bandset (202) having a first uplink bandpart and a second uplink bandpart, each uplink bandpart includes a set of adjacent frequencies and the set of adjacent frequencies of the first uplink bandpart is non-contiguous with the set of adjacent frequencies of the second uplink bandpart, wherein one of the first uplink bandpart and the second uplink bandpart is a primary uplink bandpart (204) and the other is a secondary uplink bandpart (206), the method further comprising: transmitting (538B1 ) uplink control information (338) to the base station (310) in the primary uplink bandpart (204).

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: configuring (324, 524) at least one wireless radio (954, 956) of the user equipment (312) so that the user equipment exclusively transmits the uplink control information (338) in the primary uplink bandpart (204).

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the first uplink bandpart and the second uplink bandpart have different frequency bandwidths, different subcarrier spacings, or different time slot durations.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the bandset (102) is a downlink bandset, the first bandpart is a first downlink bandpart, and the second bandpart is a second downlink bandpart, and wherein the downlink bandset (102) includes a third downlink bandpart including a set of adjacent frequencies, wherein the set of adjacent frequencies of the third downlink bandpart is non-contiguous with the set of adjacent frequencies of the first downlink bandpart and is non-contiguous with the set of adjacent frequencies of the second downlink bandpart.

9. A method for a base station (310), the method comprising: transmitting (422) a channel assignment (322) to a user equipment (312), the channel assignment (322) identifying a bandset (102) having a first bandpart and a second bandpart, each bandpart including a set of adjacent frequencies, and the set of adjacent frequencies of the first bandpart is non-contiguous with the set of adjacent frequencies of the second bandpart; and jointly coding (428) data addressed to the user equipment (312); and transmitting (430) the jointly coded data (330) in the first bandpart and the second bandpart to the user equipment (312).

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the bandset (102) is a downlink bandset, the first bandpart is a first downlink bandpart, and the second bandpart is a second downlink bandpart, and wherein the first downlink bandpart is a primary downlink bandpart (104) and the second downlink bandpart is a secondary downlink bandpart (106), the method further comprising: transmitting (430) control information (330) to the user equipment (312) in the primary downlink bandpart (104).

11 . The method of claim 10, further comprising: transmitting (440) an updated channel assignment to the user equipment (312), the updated channel assignment identifying that the second downlink bandpart is the primary downlink bandpart (104) and the first downlink bandpart is the secondary downlink bandpart (106).

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the bandset (102) is a downlink bandset, the first bandpart is a first downlink bandpart, and the second bandpart is a second downlink bandpart, and wherein the first downlink bandpart and the second downlink bandpart have different frequency bandwidths, different subcarrier spacings, different time slot durations, or different cyclic prefixes.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the channel assignment (322) identifies an uplink bandset (202) having a first uplink bandpart and a second uplink bandpart, each uplink bandpart includes a set of adjacent frequencies and the set of adjacent frequencies of the first uplink bandpart is non-contiguous with the set of adjacent frequencies of the second uplink bandpart, wherein one of the first uplink bandpart and the second uplink bandpart is a primary uplink bandpart (204) and the other is a secondary uplink bandpart (206), the method further comprising: receiving (438) uplink control information (338) from the user equipment (312) in the primary uplink bandpart (204).

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first uplink bandpart and the second uplink bandpart have different frequency bandwidths, different subcarrier spacings, or different time slot durations.

15. A user equipment (312), comprising: at least one wireless radio (954, 956); and a processor (958) coupled to the at least one wireless radio (954, 956), the processor (958) performing any of the methods of claims 1-8.

16. A base station (310), comprising: at least one wireless radio (904, 906); and a processor (908) coupled to the at least one wireless radio (904, 906), the processor (908) performing any of the methods of claims 9-14.