WO2023077310A1

WO2023077310A1 - Method, device and computer readable medium for communication

Info

Publication number: WO2023077310A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/128456
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gang Wang
Original assignee: Nec Corporation
Priority date: 2021-11-03
Filing date: 2021-11-03
Publication date: 2023-05-11

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods, devices and computer readable media for communication. A terminal device receives resource allocation information from a network device. The resource allocation information indicates a set of resource block groups (RBGs) for a unicast service. The resource allocation information also indicates a plurality of resource blocks for a multicast service. A RBG comprises a set of consecutive resource blocks. At least one RBG partially overlaps with the plurality of resource blocks. The terminal device receives a bitmap from the network device. The bitmap indicates whether the unicast service is scheduled on a subset of resource blocks in the at least one RBG. In this way, it solves resource collisions between the unicast and multicast services.

Description

METHOD, DEVICE AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM FOR COMMUNICATION

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication, and in particular, to methods, devices and computer storage media for communication.

BACKGROUND

With development of communication technologies, several solutions have been proposed to provide efficient and reliable solutions for communication. For example, Multicast and Broadcast Service (MBS) has been proposed to make it possible for efficient use of radio and network resources while transmitting audio and video content to a large group of end users. The term “MBS” used herein refers to a point-to-multipoint communication scheme where data packets are transmitted simultaneously from a single source to multiple destinations. MBS is a point-to-multipoint communication scheme where data packets are transmitted simultaneously from a single source to multiple destinations. The term broadcast refers to the ability to deliver content to all users. Multicast, on the other hand, refers to distribution of content among a specific group of users that are subscribed to those services.

SUMMARY

In general, embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods, devices and computer storage media for communications.

In a first aspect, there is provided a method of communication. The method comprises: receiving, at a terminal device and from a network device, resource allocation information indicating: a set of resource block groups for a unicast service and a plurality of resource blocks for a multicast service, wherein at least one resource block group partially overlaps with the plurality of resource blocks; and receiving, from the network device, a bitmap indicating whether a unicast service is scheduled on a subset of resource blocks in the at least one resource block group.

In a second aspect, there is provided a method of communication. The method comprises: receiving, at a terminal device and from a network device, resource allocation information indicating: a plurality of resource blocks for a multicast service and a resource indication value; determining, at the terminal device, a number of consecutive resource blocks based on the resource indication value by skipping the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service; and receiving, from the network device, a unicast transmission on the consecutive resource blocks.

In a third aspect, there is provided a method of communication. The method comprises: transmitting, at a network device and to a terminal device, resource allocation information indicating: a set of resource block groups for a unicast service and a plurality of resource blocks for a multicast service, wherein at least one resource block group partially overlaps with the plurality of resource blocks; and transmitting, to the terminal device, a bitmap indicating whether a unicast service is scheduled on a subset of resource blocks in the at least one resource block group.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a method of communication. The method comprises: determining, at a network device, a resource indication value for a unicast service by skipping a plurality of resource blocks for a multicast service; transmitting, to a terminal device, resource allocation information indicating the resource indication value; and transmitting, to the terminal device, a unicast transmission on consecutive resource blocks.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a terminal device. The terminal device comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory stores instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the terminal device to perform: receiving, from a network device, resource allocation information indicating: a set of resource block groups for a unicast service and a plurality of resource blocks for a multicast service, wherein at least one resource block group partially overlaps with the plurality of resource blocks; and receiving, from the network device, a bitmap indicating whether a unicast service is scheduled on a subset of resource blocks in the at least one resource block group.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a terminal device. The terminal device comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory stores instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the terminal device to perform: receiving, from a network device, resource allocation information indicating: a plurality of resource blocks for a multicast service and a resource indication value; determining, at the terminal device, a number of consecutive resource blocks based on the resource indication value by skipping the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service; and receiving, from the network device, a unicast transmission on the consecutive resource blocks.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided a network device. The network device comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory stores instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the network device to perform: transmitting, to a terminal device, resource allocation information indicating: a set of resource block groups for a unicast service and a plurality of resource blocks for a multicast service, wherein at least one resource block group partially overlaps with the plurality of resource blocks; and transmitting, to the terminal device, a bitmap indicating whether a unicast service is scheduled on a subset of resource blocks in the at least one resource block group.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a network device. The network device comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory stores instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the network device to perform: determining a resource indication value for a unicast service by skipping a plurality of resource blocks for a multicast service; transmitting, to a terminal device, resource allocation information indicating the resource indication value; and transmitting, to the terminal device, a unicast transmission on consecutive resource blocks.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon. The instructions, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method according to any one of the first, second, third or fourth aspect of the present disclosure.

Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Through the more detailed description of some embodiments of the present disclosure in the accompanying drawings, the above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent, wherein:

Fig. 1A shows a schematic diagram of resource blocks according to conventional technologies;

Fig. 1B shows a schematic diagram of resource blocks according to conventional technologies;

Fig. 1C shows a schematic diagram of resource blocks according to conventional technologies;

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a communication environment in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

Fig. 3 illustrates a signaling flow for communications between devices in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 4A shows a schematic diagram of resource blocks in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 4B shows a schematic diagram of resource blocks in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 4C shows a schematic diagram of resource blocks in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 4D shows a schematic diagram of resource blocks in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 4E shows a schematic diagram of resource blocks in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 5 illustrates a signaling flow for communications between devices in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of resource blocks in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 7 illustrates a flow chart of an example method of communication implemented at a terminal device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 8 illustrates a flow chart of an example method of communication implemented at a terminal device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 9 illustrates a flow chart of an example method of communication implemented at a network device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 10 illustrates a flow chart of an example method of communication implemented at a network device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

Fig. 11 is a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitations as to the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

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

As used herein, the term “terminal device” refers to any device having wireless or wired communication capabilities. Examples of the terminal device include, but not limited to, user equipment (UE) , personal computers, desktops, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) , portable computers, tablets, wearable devices, internet of things (Iota) devices, Internet of Everything (Iowa) devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, device on vehicle for V2X communication where X means pedestrian, vehicle, or infrastructure/network, or image capture devices such as digital cameras, gaming devices, music storage and playback appliances, or Internet appliances enabling wireless or wired Internet access and browsing and the like. The term “terminal device” can be used interchangeably with a UE, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile terminal, a user terminal or a wireless device. In addition, the term “network device” refers to a device which is capable of providing or hosting a cell or coverage where terminal devices can communicate. Examples of a network device include, but not limited to, a Node B (Node or NB) , an Evolved Node (anode or eNB) , a next generation Node (gNB) , a Transmission Reception Point (TRP) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a radio head (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a low power node such as a femto node, a pico node, and the like.

In one embodiment, the terminal device may be connected with a first network device and a second network device. One of the first network device and the second network device may be a master node and the other one may be a secondary node. The first network device and the second network device may use different radio access technologies (RATs) . In one embodiment, the first network device may be a first RAT device and the second network device may be a second RAT device. In one embodiment, the first RAT device is eNB and the second RAT device is gNB. Information related with different RATs may be transmitted to the terminal device from at least one of the first network device and the second network device. In one embodiment, first information may be transmitted to the terminal device from the first network device and second information may be transmitted to the terminal device from the second network device directly or via the first network device. In one embodiment, information related with configuration for the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted from the second network device via the first network device. Information related with reconfiguration for the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted to the terminal device from the second network device directly or via the first network device.

As used herein, the singular forms ‘a’ , ‘an’ and ‘the’ are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The term ‘includes’ and its variants are to be read as open terms that mean ‘includes, but is not limited to. ’ The term ‘based on’ is to be read as ‘at least in part based on. ’ The term ‘one embodiment’ and ‘an embodiment’ are to be read as ‘at least one embodiment. ’ The term ‘another embodiment’ is to be read as ‘at least one other embodiment. ’ The terms ‘first, ’ ‘second, ’ and the like may refer to different or same objects. Other definitions, explicit and implicit, may be included below.

In some examples, values, procedures, or apparatus are referred to as ‘best, ’ ‘lowest, ’ ‘highest, ’ ‘minimum, ’ ‘maximum, ’ or the like. It will be appreciated that such descriptions are intended to indicate that a selection among many used functional alternatives can be made, and such selections need not be better, smaller, higher, or otherwise preferable to other selections.

The term “circuitry” used herein may refer to hardware circuits and/or combinations of hardware circuits and software. For example, the circuitry may be a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuits with software/firmware. As a further example, the circuitry may be any portions of hardware processors with software including digital signal processor (s) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a terminal device or a network device, to perform various functions. In a still further example, the circuitry may be hardware circuits and or processors, such as a microprocessor or a portion of a microprocessor, that requires software/firmware for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation. As used herein, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (s) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor (s) and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware.

Conventionally, for a downlink (DL) transmission, a UE can be allocated with frequency domain resources. There can be two types of resource allocation, for example, type 0 by bitmap and type 1 by resource indication value (RIV) .

For type 0 frequency domain resource allocation, one bit can map to more than one consecutive virtual resource blocks determined by the value P. The value P can be determined by two parameters: bandwidth part (BWP) size and configuration type. The size of the first resource block group (RBG) and the size of last RBG can be determined by three parameters: P, the first RB of the active BWP

and the size of the active BWP

The gNB can indicate the different first active BWP with dedicated BWP sizes for different UEs by firstActiveDownlinkBWP-Id if the UE has dedicated BWP configuration. For type 1 frequency domain resource allocation, the gNB allocates a set of contiguously non-interleaved or interleaved virtual RBs within the active bandwidth part to UE.

When the multicast service is introduced, the UEs in the MBS group can receive a group common-physical downlink control channel (GC-PDCCH) in specific RBs configured in the common frequency resource (CFR) . The specific RBs for receiving multicast service can be allocated by type 0 or type 1. As shown in Fig. 1A, a first UE can be configured with a set of resource blocks 1110, a second UE can be configured with a set of resource blocks 1120 and a third UE can be configured with a set of resource blocks 1130. The first UE can receive GC-PDCCH in the resource blocks 1110-1.1110-2, 1110-3 and 1110-4 in the CFR 101. The second UE can receive GC-PDCCH in the resource blocks 1120-1.1120-2, 1120-3 and 1120-4 in the CFR 101. The third UE can receive GC-PDCCH in the resource blocks 1130-1.1130-2, 1130-3 and 1130-4 in the CFR 101. According to conventional technologies, the first RBG and/or last RBG in CFR may be allocated to unicast services and multicast services at the same time, which may cause repeated allocation of frequency resources.

According to the conventional technologies, for type 0 frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) of DL transmission, one bit can be mapped to P physical resource blocks (PRBs) . If the RBG in the middle of a BWP crosses the CFR boundary, the available RBs used for multicast and available RBs used for unicast will be overlapping in the head of CFR. The same issue exists in the end of the CFR. This issue can be avoided by gNB implement, but the shortcomings are quite obvious. For type 0 FDRA, some RBs will be not available for unicast and multicast especially when the value of P is large. For type 1 FDRA, the gNB cannot schedule large block of RBs to a UE for unicast service when the signal interference noise ratio (SINR) of DL is relatively low.

In some scenarios, as shown in Fig. 1B, for type 0 FDRA, the value of P for unicast service can be 8. For example, the first RBG for unicast service can comprise 8 resource blocks, i.e., 1140-0, 1140-1, ..., 1140-7. The second RBG for unicast service can comprise resource blocks 1140-8, 1140-9, 1140-10, 1140-11, 1140-12, 1140-13, 1140-14, and 1140-15. The value of P for multicast service can be 4. For example, the first RBG for multicast service can comprise resource blocks 1140-11, 1140-12, 1140-13 and 1140-14. The second RBG for multicast service can comprise resource blocks 1140-15, 1140-16, 1140-17 and 1140-18. The third RBG for multicast service can comprise resource blocks 1140-19, 1140-20, 1140-21 and 1140-22. As shown in Fig. 1B, the first RBG for multicast service fully overlaps with the second RBG for unicast service. The second RBG for multicast service partially overlaps with the second RBG for unicast service. In this case, it is not clear whether the overlapped resource blocks are used for multicast or unicast service.

Moreover, for type 1 FDRA, the contiguous resource blocks may be interrupted by CFR for supporting multicast reception. For example, as shown in Fig. 1C, if the start resource block is 1140-8 and the length of the resource blocks is 8, the CFR may interrupt the contiguous resource blocks.

In order to solve at least part of above problems, a new solution on resource allocation for multicast service is needed. A terminal device receives resource allocation information from a network device. The resource allocation information indicates a set of RBGs for a unicast service. The resource allocation information also indicates a plurality of resource blocks for a multicast service. A RBG comprises a set of consecutive resource blocks. At least one RBG partially overlaps with the plurality of resource blocks. The terminal device receives a bitmap from the network device. The bitmap indicates whether the unicast service is scheduled on a subset of resource blocks in the at least one RBG. In this way, it solves resource collisions between the unicast and multicast services.

Fig. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of a communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. The communication system 100, which is a part of a communication network, comprises a terminal device 110-1, a terminal device 110-2, ..., a terminal device 110-N, which can be collectively referred to as “terminal device (s) 110. ” The number N can be any suitable integer number.

The communication system 100 further comprises a network device 120. In the communication system 100, the network devices 120 and the terminal devices 110 can communicate data and control information to each other. The numbers of devices shown in Fig. 1 are given for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations.

Communications in the communication system 100 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol (s) , comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols of the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) and the fifth generation (5G) and on the like, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and/or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Divided Multiple Address (CDMA) , Frequency Divided Multiple Address (FDMA) , Time Divided Multiple Address (TDMA) , Frequency Divided Duplexer (FDD) , Time Divided Duplexer (TDD) , Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) , Orthogonal Frequency Divided Multiple Access (OFDMA) and/or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

Embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to any suitable scenarios. For example, embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented at NR IIoT/URLLC. Alternatively, embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented in one of the followings: reduced capability NR devices, NR multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) , NR sidelink enhancements, NR systems with frequency above 52.6GHz, an extending NR operation up to 71GHz, narrow band-Internet of Thing (NB-IOT) /enhanced Machine Type Communication (eMTC) over non-terrestrial networks (NTN) , NTN, UE power saving enhancements, NR coverage enhancement, NB-Iota and LTE-MTC, Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) , NR Multicast and Broadcast Services, or enhancements on Multi-Radio Dual-Connectivity.

Fig. 3 shows a signaling chart illustrating process 200 among devices according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Only for the purpose of discussion, the process 200 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. The process 200 may involve the terminal device 110-1 and the network device 120 in Fig. 2. It should be noted that the process 200 is only an example not limitation.

The network device 120 determines 2010 resource allocation for the terminal device 110-1. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine multiple resource blocks which can be allocated to the terminal device 110-1. The number of resource blocks allocated to the terminal device 110-1 can be any suitable number. The multiple resource blocks can comprise a set of RBGs. One RBG can comprise a set of consecutive resource blocks. It should be noted that the number of RBGs and the number of consecutive resource blocks in one RBG can be any suitable number. Table 1 below shows examples of nominal RBG size P, where P represents the number of consecutive resource blocks in the RBG.

Table 1

Bandwidth Part Size	Configuration	1	Configuration 2
1-36	2	4
37-72	4	8
73-144	8	16
145-275	16	16

The total number of RBGs (represented as N _RBG) for a downlink bandwidth part i of size PRBs can be determined by:

where N _RBG represents the total number of RBGs,

represents the first resource block of the active BWP,

represents the size of the active BWP, and P represents the RBG size.

For example, as shown in Figs. 4A-4D, the multiple resource blocks 400 can be allocated to the terminal device 110-1. The multiple resource blocks 400 comprise resource blocks 410-0, 410-1, ...., 410-71, 410-72, ..., 410-M, where M can be any integer number. It should be noted that some resource blocks are omitted for clarity purpose.

The multiple resource blocks can comprise a set of RBGs. As shown in Figs. 4A-4D, a RBG can comprise 8 resource blocks. The set of RBGs can comprise the RBGs 430-1, 430-2 and 430-3. The RBG 430-1 may comprise resource blocks 410-0, 410-1, ..., 410-7. The RBG 430-2 may comprise resource blocks 410-8, 410-9, 410-10, 410-11, 410-12, 410-13, 410-14, and 410-15. The RBG 430-3 may comprise resource blocks 410-64, 410-65, 410-66, 410-67, 410-68, 410-69, 410-70, and 410-71. It should be noted that the number of RBGs shown in Figs. 4A-4D is only an example not limitation.

The network device 120 may also determine a plurality of resource blocks for multicast service. The plurality of resource blocks for multicast service can be referred to as common frequency resource (CFR) . The number of resource blocks in the plurality of resource blocks can be any suitable number. As shown in Figs. 4A-4D, the CFR 420 can comprise 54 resource blocks, i.e., resource blocks 410-11, 410-12, 410-13, 410-14, ...., and 410-64.

One or more RBGs for the unicast service partially overlap with the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service. For example, as shown in Figs. 4A-4D, the RBG 430-2 may overlap with the CFR 420. In this situation, the overlapped resource block (s) can comprise the resource blocks 410-11, 410-12, 410-13, 410-14 and 410-15. Additionally, the RBG 430-3 may also overlap with the CFR 420. In this situation, the overlapped resource block (s) may comprise the resource block 410-64. It should be noted that in some embodiments, there may be only one RBG overlapped with the CFR.

The network device 120 transmits 2020 the resource allocation information to the terminal device 110-1. The resource allocation information indicates a set of RBGs for the unicast service. The resource allocation information also indicates the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service. In some embodiments, the resource allocation information may be transmitted via RRC signaling. Alternatively, the resource allocation information may be transmitted via other higher layer signaling.

In some embodiments, the size of the first RBG can be

and the size of last RBG can be

if

is larger than 0. In other embodiments, the size of all RBG can be P. For example, in some embodiments,

can be 40,

can be 9 and rbg-Size can be configuration 1. Therefore, the RBG size P can be 4. In this case, the size of the first RBG can be 3 (i.e.,

) , the size of the last RBG can be 1 (i.e.,

) and the size of all other RBGs can be 4.

The network device 120 transmits 2030 a bitmap to the terminal device 110-1. The bitmap can be of size N _RBG bits with one bitmap bit per RBG such that each RBG is addressable. For example, the RBGs shall be indexed in the order of increasing frequency and starting at the lowest frequency of the bandwidth part. The order of RBG bitmap is such that RBG 0 to RBG N _RBG-1 can be mapped from most significant bit (MSB) to least significant bit (LSB) . The RBG may be allocated to the terminal device if the N _RBG-1 corresponding bit value in the bitmap is 1. Alternatively, if the N _RBG-1 corresponding bit value in the bitmap is 0, the RBG is not allocated to the terminal device otherwise.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit an indication or RRC configuration to the terminal device 110-1 to indicate that one bit in the bitmap may not correspond to one RBG. For example, one bit in the bitmap may correspond to one or more resource blocks of the RBG. Alternatively, one bit in the bitmap may correspond to resource blocks from more than one RBG. While other bits in the bit may be corresponding to their respective RBG, respectively. The bitmap can comprise more than one bit which does not correspond to one RBG. Only an example, the bitmap may comprise a bit that corresponds to an incomplete RBG and another bit that corresponds to another incomplete RBG.

In some embodiments, if the terminal device 110-1 receives GC-PDSCH in the CFR, and if one bit indicates a set of consecutive RBs that contained inside CFR and outside CFR simultaneous, this bit can always indicate the resources outside CFR. For example, if the resource blocks in the CFR are not scheduled for the unicast service, the incomplete resource blocks nearest to the beginning and/or end of the CFR can be represented by one bit in the bitmap, respectively.

For example, as shown in Fig. 4A, the RBG 430-2 can comprise a first subset of resource blocks which are not overlapped with the CFR 420 and a second subset of resource blocks which are overlapped with the CFR 420. The RBG 430-3 can comprise a third subset of resource blocks which are not overlapped with the CFR 420 and a fourth subset of resource blocks which are overlapped with the CFR 420. In this case, the bitmap can comprise a bit indicating that the unicast service is able to be scheduled on the first subset of resource blocks. The bitmap can comprise another bit indicating that the unicast service is able to be scheduled on the third subset of resource blocks. As shown in Fig. 4A, each RBG can comprise 8 resource blocks. In this case, the first bit in the bitmap can indicate whether the unicast is scheduled on the resource blocks 410-0 to 410-7. The second bit in the bitmap can indicate whether the unicast is scheduled on the resource blocks 410-8 to 410-10 (i.e., the first subset of resource blocks in the RBG 430-2) . The third bit in the bitmap can indicate whether the unicast is scheduled on the resource blocks 410-65 to 410-71 (i.e., the third subset of resource blocks in the RBG 430-3) . Other bits in the bitmap can indicate whether the unicast is scheduled on the resource blocks after the resource block 410-72. In this way, the terminal device can understand that the overlapped resource blocks can be used for the unicast service.

Alternatively, if the resource blocks in the CFR are not scheduled for the unicast service, the incomplete RBGs nearest to the beginning and/or the end of CFR represented by one bit in total, even if the total number of resource blocks is large than the RBG size. For example, as shown in Fig. 4B, the RBG 430-2 can comprise a first subset of resource blocks which are not overlapped with the CFR 420 and a second subset of resource blocks which are overlapped with the CFR 420. The RBG 430-3 can comprise a third subset of resource blocks which are not overlapped with the CFR 420 and a fourth subset of resource blocks which are overlapped with the CFR 420. In this case, the bitmap can comprise a bit indicating that the unicast service is able to be scheduled on the first subset of resource blocks and the third subset of resource blocks. As shown in Fig. 4B, each RBG can comprise 8 resource blocks. In this case, the first bit in the bitmap can indicate whether the unicast is scheduled on the resource blocks 410-0 to 410-7. The second bit in the bitmap can indicate whether the unicast is scheduled on the resource blocks 410-8, 410-9, 410-10, 410-65, 410-66, 410-67, 410-68, 410-69, 410-70 and 410-71 (i.e., the first subset of resource blocks and the second subset of resource blocks) . Other bits in the bitmap can indicate whether the unicast is scheduled on the resource blocks after the resource block 410-72. In this way, the terminal device can understand that the overlapped resource blocks can be used for the unicast service.

In other embodiments, if the resource blocks in the CFR are not scheduled for the unicast service, the RBGs nearest to the beginning and/or the end of CFR may not be unavailable for unicast service. For example, if the terminal device 110-1 receives GC-PDSCH in the CFR, and if one bit indicated a set of consecutive RBs that contained inside CFR and outside CFR simultaneous, this bit may always be set to 0. The RBGs nearest to the beginning and/or the end of CFR may be represented by a predetermined value, for example, 0. In other words, bit values of the RBG which overlaps with the CFR can be set to a predetermined value.

For example, as shown in Fig. 4C, the RBG 430-2 can comprise a first subset of resource blocks which are not overlapped with the CFR 420 and a second subset of resource blocks which are overlapped with the CFR 420. The RBG 430-3 can comprise a third subset of resource blocks which are not overlapped with the CFR 420 and a fourth subset of resource blocks which are overlapped with the CFR 420. In this case, bit values of the RBGs 430-2 and 430-3 can be set to 0. As shown in Fig. 4C, each RBG can comprise 8 resource blocks. In this case, the first bit in the bitmap can indicate whether the unicast is scheduled on the resource blocks 410-0 to 410-7. The second bit in the bitmap can indicate whether the unicast is scheduled on the resource blocks 410-72 to 410-79. Resource blocks 410-8, 410-9, 410-10, 410-65, 410-66, 410-67, 410-68, 410-69, 410-70 and 410-71 may not be unavailable for both unicast and multicast services. In this way, it solves resource collisions.

In some embodiments, if the resource blocks inside CFR can be scheduled for the unicast service, some resource blocks in the beginning (and end, if the last resource block of BWP is in CFR) of CFR can be reserved for unicast transmission and not available for multicast transmission. In other words, a set of resource blocks contained in the RBG that overlaps with the plurality of resource blocks in frequency domain may be reserved for the unicast service.

In some embodiments, the number of reserved resource blocks is determined based on the maximum configured RBG size for the terminal device 110-1. Due to the value of P for different terminal devices in the MBS group may not same, the number of resource blocks of RBG for unicast transmission containing in CFR may be different. For example, as shown in Fig. 4D, if the value of P is 2, the resource blocks 4110-1 and 4110-2 can be reserved for the unicast transmission. In some embodiments, if the value of P is 8, the resource blocks 4120-1, 4120-2, 4120-3, 4120-4, 4120-5, 4120-6, 4120-7 and 4120-8 can be reserved for the unicast transmission. Alternatively, if the value of P is 8, the resource blocks 4, the resource blocks 4130-1, 4130-2, 4130-3 and 4130-4 can be reserved for the unicast transmission. In this way, it solves resource collisions.

Alternatively, the number of reserved resource blocks may be determined based on the RBG size among terminal devices which are in a group of the multicast service. For example, if the maximum RBG size is 16 resource blocks, 15 resource blocks can be reserved. Alternatively, as shown in Fig. 4E, each RBG can comprise 8 resource blocks. In this case, the first bit in the bitmap can indicate whether the unicast is scheduled on the resource blocks 410-0 to 410-7. The second bit in the bitmap can indicate whether the unicast is scheduled on the resource blocks 410-8 to 410-15. The third bit in the bitmap can indicate whether the unicast is scheduled on the resource blocks 410-648 to 410-71. Other bits in the bitmap can indicate whether the unicast is scheduled on the resource blocks after the resource block 410-72. In this way, it solves resource collisions.

Referring back to Fig. 3, the network device 120 may transmit 2040 downlink data to the terminal device 110-1. The network device 120 may transmit the downlink data based on the resource allocation. For example, as shown in Fig. 4C, the network device 120 may not transmit the downlink data on the resource blocks 410-8 to 410-10 and resource blocks 410-65 to 410-71. Alternatively, as shown in Fig. 4E, the network device 120 may transmit the downlink data for the unicast service on the resource blocks 410-11 to 410-15 and the resource block 410-64.

Fig. 5 shows a signaling chart illustrating process 500 among devices according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Only for the purpose of discussion, the process 500 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. The process 500 may involve the terminal device 110-1 and the network device 120 in Fig. 2. It should be noted that the process 500 is only an example not limitation.

The network device 120 determines 5010 a resource indication value (RIV) for the unicast service. The network device 120 may determine the RIV by skipping the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service. In other words, the CFR included in BWP can be automatically eliminated and the resource blocks outside the CFR can be regarded as contiguous resources.

For example, if the BWP size is 72 and the CFR size is 21, the value

should be replaced from the resource block 72 to 49 (72-21) and the length of the resource blocks (L _RBs) plus the start resource block (RB _start) shall not exceed 49. For example, if (L _RBs -1) is not larger than

the RIV can be determined by

Alternatively, the RIV can be determined by

The network device 120 transmits 5020 the resource allocation information to the terminal device 110-1. The resource allocation information indicates the resource indication value. In some embodiments, the resource allocation information may also indicate the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service. In some embodiments, the resource allocation information may be transmitted via RRC signaling. Alternatively, the resource allocation information may be transmitted via other higher layer signaling. As shown in Fig. 6, the CFR 620 can comprise 54 resource blocks, i.e., resource blocks 610-11, 610-12, 610-13, 610-14, ...., and 610-64. The BWP comprise resource blocks 610-0, 610-1, ...., 610-7, 610-8, 610-9, 610-10, 610-11, 610-12, 610-13, 610-14, ...., 610-64, 610-65, 610-66, 610-67, 610-68, 610-69, 610-70, 610-71 and 610-72.

The terminal device 110-1 determines 5030 a number of consecutive resource blocks based on the resource indication value by skipping the plurality of resource blocks. For example, if the start resource block indicated in the resource allocation is 610-8 and the length of the resource blocks is 8, the terminal device 110-1 may determine the resource blocks 610-8, 610-9, 610-10, 610-65, 610-66, 610-67, 610-68 and 610-69 as the number of consecutive resource blocks.

The network device 120 transmits 5040 the unicast transmission to the terminal device 110-1 on the consecutive resource blocks. In this way, it avoids resource collision between unicast and multicast services.

Fig. 7 shows a flowchart of an example method 700 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the method 700 can be implemented at a terminal device 110-1 as shown in Fig. 2.

At block 710, the terminal device 110-1 receives resource allocation information from the network device 120. The resource allocation information indicates a set of RBGs for the unicast service. The resource allocation information also indicates the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service. In some embodiments, the resource allocation information may be transmitted via RRC signaling. Alternatively, the resource allocation information may be transmitted via other higher layer signaling.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine multiple resource blocks which can be allocated to the terminal device 110-1. The number of resource blocks allocated to the terminal device 110-1 can be any suitable number. The multiple resource blocks can comprise a set of RBGs. One RBG can comprise a set of consecutive resource blocks. It should be noted that the number of RBGs and the number of consecutive resource blocks in one RBG can be any suitable number. The multiple resource blocks can comprise a set of RBGs.

The network device 120 may also determine a plurality of resource blocks for multicast service. The plurality of resource blocks for multicast service can be referred to as common frequency resource (CFR) . The number of resource blocks in the plurality of resource blocks can be any suitable number. One or more RBGs for the unicast service partially overlap with the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service. It should be noted that in some embodiments, there may be only one RBG overlapped with the CFR.

At block 720, the terminal device 110-1 receives a bitmap from the network device 120. The bitmap can be of size N _RBG bits with one bitmap bit per RBG such that each RBG is addressable. For example, the RBGs shall be indexed in the order of increasing frequency and starting at the lowest frequency of the bandwidth part. The order of RBG bitmap is such that RBG 0 to RBG N _RBG-1 can be mapped from most significant bit (MSB) to least significant bit (LSB) . The RBG may be allocated to the terminal device if the N _RBG-1 corresponding bit value in the bitmap is 1. Alternatively, if the N _RBG-1 corresponding bit value in the bitmap is 0, the RBG is not allocated to the terminal device otherwise.

For example, the RBG can comprise a first subset of resource blocks which are not overlapped with the CFR and a second subset of resource blocks which are overlapped with the CFR. The RBG can comprise a third subset of resource blocks which are not overlapped with the CFR and a fourth subset of resource blocks which are overlapped with the CFR. In this case, the bitmap can comprise a bit indicating that the unicast service is able to be scheduled on the first subset of resource blocks. The bitmap can comprise another bit indicating that the unicast service is able to be scheduled on the third subset of resource blocks.

Alternatively, if the resource blocks in the CFR are not scheduled for the unicast service, the incomplete RBGs nearest to the beginning and/or the end of CFR represented by one bit in total, even if the total number of resource blocks is large than the RBG size. For example, the RBG can comprise a first subset of resource blocks which are not overlapped with the CFR and a second subset of resource blocks which are overlapped with the CFR. The RBG can comprise a third subset of resource blocks which are not overlapped with the CFR and a fourth subset of resource blocks which are overlapped with the CFR. In this case, the bitmap can comprise a bit indicating that the unicast service is able to be scheduled on the first subset of resource blocks and the third subset of resource blocks.

In some embodiments, the number of reserved resource blocks is determined based on the maximum configured RBG size for the terminal device 110-1. Due to the value of P for different terminal devices in the MBS group may not same, the number of resource blocks of RBG for unicast transmission containing in CFR may be different.

Alternatively, the number of reserved resource blocks may be determined based on the RBG size among terminal devices which are in a group of the multicast service. For example, if the maximum RBG size is 16 resource blocks, 15 resource blocks can be reserved.

Fig. 8 shows a flowchart of an example method 800 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the method 800 can be implemented at a terminal device 110-1 as shown in Fig. 2.

At block 810, the terminal device 110-1 receives resource allocation information from the network device 120. The resource allocation information indicates the resource indication value. The resource allocation information also indicates the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service. In some embodiments, the resource allocation information may be transmitted via RRC signaling. Alternatively, the resource allocation information may be transmitted via other higher layer signaling.

At block 820, the terminal device 110-1 determines a number of consecutive resource blocks based on the resource indication value by skipping the plurality of resource blocks. For example, if the BWP size is 72 and the CFR size is 21, the value

the RIV can be determined by

Alternatively, the RIV can be determined by

At block 830, the terminal device 110-1 receives the unicast transmission from the network device 120 on the consecutive resource blocks. In this way, it avoids resource collision between unicast and multicast services.

Fig. 9 shows a flowchart of an example method 900 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the method 900 can be implemented at a network device 120 as shown in Fig. 2.

The network device 120 may determine resource allocation for the terminal device 110-1. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine multiple resource blocks which can be allocated to the terminal device 110-1. The number of resource blocks allocated to the terminal device 110-1 can be any suitable number. The multiple resource blocks can comprise a set of RBGs. One RBG can comprise a set of consecutive resource blocks. The multiple resource blocks can comprise a set of RBGs. It should be noted that the number of RBGs and the number of consecutive resource blocks in one RBG can be any suitable number. The total number of RBGs (represented as N _RBG) for a downlink bandwidth part i of size PRBs can be determined by:

where N _RBG represents the total number of RBGs,

represents the first resource block of the active BWP,

represents the size of the active BWP, and P represents the RBG size.

The network device 120 may also determine a plurality of resource blocks for multicast service. The plurality of resource blocks for multicast service can be referred to as common frequency resource (CFR) . The number of resource blocks in the plurality of resource blocks can be any suitable number. One or more RBGs for the unicast service partially overlap with the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service.

At block 910, the network device 120 transmits the resource allocation information to the terminal device 110-1. The resource allocation information indicates a set of RBGs for the unicast service. The resource allocation information also indicates the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service. In some embodiments, the resource allocation information may be transmitted via RRC signaling. Alternatively, the resource allocation information may be transmitted via other higher layer signaling.

In some embodiments, the size of the first RBG can be

and the size of last RBG can be

if

can be 40,

) , the size of the last RBG can be 1 (i.e.,

) and the size of all other RBGs can be 4.

At block 920, the network device 120 transmits a bitmap to the terminal device 110-1. The bitmap can be of size N _RBG bits with one bitmap bit per RBG such that each RBG is addressable. For example, the RBGs shall be indexed in the order of increasing frequency and starting at the lowest frequency of the bandwidth part. The order of RBG bitmap is such that RBG 0 to RBG N _RBG-1 can be mapped from most significant bit (MSB) to least significant bit (LSB) . The RBG may be allocated to the terminal device if the N _RBG-1 corresponding bit value in the bitmap is 1. Alternatively, if the N _RBG-1 corresponding bit value in the bitmap is 0, the RBG is not allocated to the terminal device otherwise.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit downlink data to the terminal device 110-1. The network device 120 may transmit the downlink data based on the resource allocation.

Fig. 10 shows a flowchart of an example method 1000 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the method 1000 can be implemented at a network device 120 as shown in Fig. 2.

At block 1010, the network device 120 determines a resource indication value (RIV) for the unicast service. The network device 120 may determine the RIV by skipping the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service. In other words, the CFR included in BWP can be automatically eliminated and the resource blocks outside the CFR can be regarded as contiguous resources.

For example, if the BWP size is 72 and the CFR size is 21, the value

the RIV can be determined by

Alternatively, the RIV can be determined by

At block 1020, the network device 120 transmits the resource allocation information to the terminal device 110-1. The resource allocation information indicates the resource indication value. The resource allocation information also indicates the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service. In some embodiments, the resource allocation information may be transmitted via RRC signaling. Alternatively, the resource allocation information may be transmitted via other higher layer signaling.

At block 1030, the network device 120 transmits the unicast transmission to the terminal device 110-1 on the consecutive resource blocks. In this way, it avoids resource collision between unicast and multicast services.

In some embodiments, a terminal device comprises circuitry configured to receive, from a network device, resource allocation information indicating: a set of resource block groups for a unicast service and a plurality of resource blocks for a multicast service, wherein at least one resource block group partially overlaps with the plurality of resource blocks; and receive, from the network device, a bitmap indicating whether a unicast service is scheduled on a subset of resource blocks in the at least one resource block group.

In some embodiments, at least one resource block group comprises a first resource block group and a second resource block group, a first subset of resource blocks in the first resource block group are not overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks, a second subset of resource blocks in the first resource block group are overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks, a third subset of resource blocks in the second resource block group are not overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks, and a fourth subset of resource blocks in the second resource block group are overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks, the bitmap comprises a first bit indicating the unicast service is able to be scheduled on the first subset of resource blocks, and the bitmap comprises a second bit indicating the unicast service is able to be scheduled on the third subset of resource blocks.

In some embodiments, at least one resource block group comprises a first resource block group and a second resource block group, a first subset of resource blocks in the first resource block group are not overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks, a second subset of resource blocks in the first resource block group are overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks, a third subset of resource blocks in the second resource block group are not overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks, and a fourth subset of resource blocks in the second resource block group are overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks, , and the bitmap comprises a third bit indicating the unicast service is able to be scheduled on the first subset of resource blocks and the third subset of resource blocks.

In some embodiments, wherein bit values of the at least one resource block group are set to a predetermined value.

In some embodiments, a set of resource blocks contained in the at least one resource block group are reserved for the unicast service.

In some embodiments, the number of reserved resource blocks is determined based on a maximum configured resource block group size for the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the number of reserved resource blocks is determined based on a resource block group size among terminal devices which are in a group of the multicast service.

In some embodiments, a terminal device comprises circuitry configured to receive, from a network device, resource allocation information indicating: a plurality of resource blocks for a multicast service and a resource indication value; and determine, at the terminal device, a number of consecutive resource blocks based on the resource indication value by skipping the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service; and receive, from the network device, a unicast transmission on the consecutive resource blocks.

In some embodiments, a network device comprises circuitry configured to transmit, to a terminal device, resource allocation information indicating: a set of resource block groups for a unicast service and a plurality of resource blocks for a multicast service, wherein at least one resource block group partially overlaps with the plurality of resource blocks; and transmit, to the terminal device, a bitmap indicating whether a unicast service is scheduled on a subset of resource blocks in the at least one resource block group.

In some embodiments, at least one resource block group comprises a first resource block group and a second resource block group, a first subset of resource blocks in the first resource block group are not overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks, a second subset of resource blocks in the first resource block group are overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks, a third subset of resource blocks in the second resource block group are not overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks, and a fourth subset of resource blocks in the second resource block group are overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks, and the bitmap comprises a third bit indicating the unicast service is able to be scheduled on the first subset of resource blocks and the third subset of resource blocks.

In some embodiments, bit values of the at least one resource block group are set to a predetermined value.

In some embodiments, the number of reserved resource blocks is determined based on the maximum configured resource block group size for a terminal device.

In some embodiments, the number of reserved resource blocks is determined based on the resource block group size among terminal devices which are in a group of the multicast service.

In some embodiments, a network device comprises circuitry configured to determine a resource indication value for a unicast service by skipping a plurality of resource blocks for a multicast service; transmit, to a terminal device, resource allocation information indicating the resource indication value; and transmit, to the terminal device, a unicast transmission on consecutive resource blocks.

Fig. 11 is a simplified block diagram of a device 1100 that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 1100 can be considered as a further example implementation of the network device 120, or the terminal device 110 as shown in Fig. 2. Accordingly, the device 1100 can be implemented at or as at least a part of the terminal device 110, or the network device 120.

As shown, the device 1100 includes a processor 1101, a memory 1102 coupled to the processor 1101, a suitable transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) 1104 coupled to the processor 1101, and a communication interface coupled to the TX/RX 1104. The memory 1101stores at least a part of a program 1103. The TX/RX 1104 is for bidirectional communications. The TX/RX 1104 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, though in practice an Access Node mentioned in this application may have several ones. The communication interface may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements, such as X2 interface for bidirectional communications between eNBs, S1 interface for communication between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) /Serving Gateway (S-GW) and the eNB, Un interface for communication between the eNB and a relay node (RN) , or Uu interface for communication between the eNB and a terminal device.

The program 1103 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 1101, enable the device 1100 to operate in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, as discussed herein with reference to Figs. 3 to 10. The embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 1101 of the device 1100, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 1101 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure. Furthermore, a combination of the processor 1101 and memory 1102 may form processing means adapted to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.

The memory 1102 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory, as non-limiting examples. While only one memory 1102 is shown in the device 1100, there may be several physically distinct memory modules in the device 1100. The processor 1101 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 1100 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

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

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor, to carry out the process or method as described above with reference to Figs. 2 to 17. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

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

The above program code may be embodied on a machine readable medium, which may be any tangible medium that may contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine readable medium may be a machine readable signal medium or a machine readable storage medium. A machine readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the machine readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM) , a read-only memory (ROM) , an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) , an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) , an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

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

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

As used herein, the term ‘terminal device’ refers to any device having wireless or wired communication capabilities. Examples of the terminal device include, but not limited to, user equipment (UE) , personal computers, desktops, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) , portable computers, tablets, wearable devices, internet of things (Iota) devices, Ultra-reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) devices, Internet of Everything (Iowa) devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, device on vehicle for V2X communication where X means pedestrian, vehicle, or infrastructure/network, devices for Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) , Space borne vehicles or Air borne vehicles in Non-terrestrial networks (NTN) including Satellites and High Altitude Platforms (HAPs) encompassing Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) , eXtended Reality (XR) devices including different types of realities such as Augmented Reality (AR) , Mixed Reality (MR) and Virtual Reality (VR) , the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) commonly known as a drone which is an aircraft without any human pilot, devices on high speed train (HST) , or image capture devices such as digital cameras, sensors, gaming devices, music storage and playback appliances, or Internet appliances enabling wireless or wired Internet access and browsing and the like. The ‘terminal device’ can further has ‘multicast/broadcast’ feature, to support public safety and mission critical, V2X applications, transparent IPv4/IPv6 multicast delivery, IPTV, smart TV, radio services, software delivery over wireless, group communications and Iota applications. It may also incorporated one or multiple Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) as known as Multi-SIM. The term “terminal device” can be used interchangeably with a UE, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile terminal, a user terminal or a wireless device.

The term “network device” refers to a device which is capable of providing or hosting a cell or coverage where terminal devices can communicate. Examples of a network device include, but not limited to, a Node B (Node or NB) , an evolved Node (anode or eNB) , a next generation Node (gNB) , a transmission reception point (TRP) , a remote radio unit (RRU) , a radio head (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , an IAB node, a low power node such as a femto node, a pico node, a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) , and the like.

The terminal device or the network device may have Artificial intelligence (AI) or Machine learning capability. It generally includes a model which has been trained from numerous collected data for a specific function, and can be used to predict some information.

The terminal or the network device may work on several frequency ranges, e.g. FR1 (410 MHz –7125 MHz) , FR2 (24.25GHz to 71GHz) , frequency band larger than 100GHz as well as Tera Hertz (THz) . It can further work on licensed/unlicensed/shared spectrum. The terminal device may have more than one connections with the network devices under Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity (MR-DC) application scenario. The terminal device or the network device can work on full duplex, flexible duplex and cross division duplex modes.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed in test equipment, e.g. signal generator, signal analyzer, spectrum analyzer, network analyzer, test terminal device, test network device, channel emulator.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed according to any generation communication protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples of the communication protocols include, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, 5.5G, 5G-Advanced networks, or the sixth generation (6G) networks.

Claims

A communication method, comprising:

receiving, at a terminal device and from a network device, resource allocation information indicating: a set of resource block groups for a unicast service and a plurality of resource blocks for a multicast service, wherein at least one resource block group partially overlaps with the plurality of resource blocks; and

receiving, from the network device, a bitmap indicating whether a unicast service is scheduled on a subset of resource blocks in the at least one resource block group.
The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one resource block group comprises a first resource block group and a second resource block group;

a first subset of resource blocks in the first resource block group are not overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service;

a second subset of resource blocks in the first resource block group are overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service;

a third subset of resource blocks in the second resource block group are not overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service; and

a fourth subset of resource blocks in the second resource block group are overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service;

the bitmap comprises a first bit indicating the unicast service is able to be scheduled on the first subset of resource blocks; and

the bitmap comprises a second bit indicating the unicast service is able to be scheduled on the third subset of resource blocks.
The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one resource block group comprises a first resource block group and a second resource block group;

a first subset of resource blocks in the first resource block group are not overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service;

a second subset of resource blocks in the first resource block group are overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service;

a third subset of resource blocks in the second resource block group are not overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service; and

a fourth subset of resource blocks in the second resource block group are overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service; and

the bitmap comprises a bit indicating the unicast service is able to be scheduled on the first subset of resource blocks and the third subset of resource blocks.
The method of claim 1, wherein bit values of the at least one resource block group are set to a predetermined value.
The method of claim 1, wherein a set of resource blocks contained in the at least one resource block group are reserved for the unicast service.
The method of claim 5, wherein the number of reserved resource blocks is determined based on a maximum configured resource block group size for the terminal device.
The method of claim 5, wherein the number of reserved resource blocks is determined based on the resource block group size among terminal devices which are in a group of the multicast service.
A communication method, comprising:

receiving, at a terminal device and from a network device, resource allocation information indicating: a plurality of resource blocks for a multicast service, and a resource indication value;

determining, at the terminal device, a number of consecutive resource blocks based on the resource indication value by skipping the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service; and

receiving, from the network device, a unicast transmission on the consecutive resource blocks.
A communication method, comprising:

transmitting, at a network device and to a terminal device, resource allocation information indicating: a set of resource block groups for a unicast service and a plurality of resource blocks for a multicast service, wherein at least one resource block group partially overlaps with the plurality of resource blocks; and

transmitting, to the terminal device, a bitmap indicating whether a unicast service is scheduled on a subset of resource blocks in the at least one resource block group.
The method of claim 9, wherein the at least one resource block group comprises a first resource block group and a second resource block group;

a first subset of resource blocks in the first resource block group are not overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service;

a second subset of resource blocks in the first resource block group are overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service;

a third subset of resource blocks in the second resource block group are not overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service; and

a fourth subset of resource blocks in the second resource block group are overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service;

the bitmap comprises a first bit indicating the unicast service is able to be scheduled on the first subset of resource blocks; and

the bitmap comprises a second bit indicating the unicast service is able to be scheduled on the third subset of resource blocks.
The method of claim 9, wherein the at least one resource block group comprises a first resource block group and a second resource block group;

a first subset of resource blocks in the first resource block group are not overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service;

a second subset of resource blocks in the first resource block group are overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service;

a third subset of resource blocks in the second resource block group are not overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service; and

a fourth subset of resource blocks in the second resource block group are overlapped with the plurality of resource blocks for the multicast service; and

the bitmap comprises a bit indicating the unicast service is able to be scheduled on the first subset of resource blocks and the third subset of resource blocks.
The method of claim 9, wherein bit values of the at least one resource block group are set to a predetermined value.
The method of claim 9, wherein a set of resource blocks contained in the at least one resource block group are reserved for the unicast service.
The method of claim 13, wherein the number of reserved resource blocks is determined based on a maximum configured resource block group size for the terminal device.
The method of claim 13, wherein the number of reserved resource blocks is determined based on a resource block group size among terminal devices which are in a group of the multicast service.
A communication method, comprising:

determining, at a network device, a resource indication value for a unicast service by skipping a plurality of resource blocks for a multicast service;

transmitting, to a terminal device, resource allocation information indicating the resource indication value; and

transmitting, to the terminal device, a unicast transmission on consecutive resource blocks.
A terminal device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor and storing instructions thereon, the instructions, when executed by the processor, causing the terminal device to perform the method according to any of claims 1-7 or claim 8.
A terminal device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor and storing instructions thereon, the instructions, when executed by the processor, causing the terminal device to perform the method according to any of claims 9-15 or claim 16.
A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method according to any of claims 1-7 or claim 8.
A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method according to any of claims 9-15 or claim 16.