WO2023184273A1

WO2023184273A1 - Method, device and computer storage medium of communication

Info

Publication number: WO2023184273A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/084197
Authority: WO
Inventors: Xiaohong Zhang; Gang Wang
Original assignee: Nec Corporation
Priority date: 2022-03-30
Filing date: 2022-03-30
Publication date: 2023-10-05

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods, devices and computer readable media for communication. A terminal device determines a set of slots associated with a HARQ feedback for a set of downlink data transmissions. If a slot in the set of slots is associated with a full duplex mode, the terminal device constructs a HARQ codebook comprising the HARQ feedback by determining presence or absence of a set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook, and transmits the HARQ codebook to a network device on an uplink control channel. In this way, a sub-band non-overlapping full duplex scheme may be well supported.

Description

METHOD, DEVICE AND COMPUTER STORAGE MEDIUM OF 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 of communication for a sub-band non-overlapping full duplex scheme.

BACKGROUND

Traditionally, user equipment (UE) only performs a half duplex operation in a communication with a network. That is, if a half duplex time division duplex (TDD) mode is configured for UE, UE is only configured to perform one of an uplink (UL) transmission and a downlink (DL) transmission with a network for a bandwidth part (BWP) at one time.

In New radio (NR) technology, it is intended to deploy a sub-band non-overlapping full duplex scheme in an unpaired spectrum. That is, UE may be configured with a slot or a symbol with both DL resources and UL resources simultaneously, and gNB may schedule DL transmissions for some UEs and UL transmissions for other UEs in the same slot or symbol. Under this scheme, a BWP may be divided into multiple non-overlapping sub-bands. A guard band may be configured between two sub-bands in a BWP. UE may be configured to perform an UL transmission over one of the multiple sub-bands in a slot and perform a DL transmission over another of the multiple sub-bands in another slot. That is, UE may perform transmission or reception in a sub-band full duplex mode. This scheme may achieve enhanced UL coverage, reduced latency, improved system capacity and improved configuration flexibility for NR TDD operations in an unpaired spectrum. However, details of such scheme are still incomplete and need to be further developed.

SUMMARY

In general, embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods, devices and computer storage media of communication for a sub-band non-overlapping full duplex scheme.

In a first aspect, there is provided a method of communication. The method comprises: determining, at a terminal device, a set of slots associated with a HARQ feedback for a set of downlink data transmissions; in accordance with a determination that a slot in the set of slots is associated with a full duplex mode, constructing a HARQ codebook comprising the HARQ feedback by determining presence or absence of a set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook; and transmitting the HARQ codebook to a network device on an uplink control channel.

In a second aspect, there is provided a method of communication. The method comprises: receiving, at a terminal device and from a network device, a configuration indicating a mapping between an index of a slot and a set of indexes of a set of BWPs available for the slot; and performing a BWP switching among slots associated with different duplex modes based on the configuration.

In a third aspect, there is provided a method of communication. The method comprises: receiving, at a network device and from a terminal device, a HARQ codebook on an uplink control channel, the HARQ codebook comprising a HARQ feedback for a set of downlink data transmissions; and in accordance with a determination that a slot in a set of slots associated with the HARQ feedback is associated with a full duplex mode, determining the HARQ feedback from the HARQ codebook by determining presence or absence of a set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a method of communication. The method comprises: transmitting, from a network device and to a terminal device, a configuration indicating a mapping between an index of a slot and a set of indexes of a set of BWPs available for the slot; and performing a BWP switching among slots associated with different duplex modes based on the configuration.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a terminal device. The terminal device comprises a processor configured to cause the terminal device to perform the method according to the first or second aspect of the present disclosure.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a network device. The network device comprises a processor configured to cause the network device to perform the method according to the third or fourth aspect of the present disclosure.

In a seventh 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 the first or second aspect of the present disclosure.

In an eighth 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 the 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. 1 illustrates an example communication network in which some embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

FIG. 2A illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating an example construction of a HARQ codebook in a related solution;

FIG. 2B illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating an example scenarios of a construction of a HARQ codebook in a sub-band non-overlapping full duplex scheme;

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating a process of communication for a HARQ feedback transmission according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4A illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating an example construction of a HARQ codebook according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4B illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating another example construction of a HARQ codebook according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4C illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating still another example construction of a HARQ codebook according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4D illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating yet another example construction of a HARQ codebook according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5A illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating an example scenario of a BWP switching in a related solution;

FIG. 5B illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating another example scenario of a BWP switching in a related solution;

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating a process of communication for a BWP switching according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

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

FIG. 8 illustrates another example method of communication implemented at a terminal device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

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

FIG. 10 illustrates another 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 (IoT) devices, Ultra-reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) devices, Internet of Everything (IoE) 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 IoT 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 (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a next generation NodeB (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 to 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.

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 or 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.

In the context of the present application, the term “occasion” refers to any of the following: 1) a time domain resource and frequency domain resource assigned, configured or granted for a data transmission, for example, the time domain resource may include one or more slots, one or more mini-slots, or one or more symbols; 2) one or more slots in which a DL assignment, UL grant or sidelink grant occurs; 3) one or more symbols in which a DL assignment, UL grant or sidelink grant occurs.

In the context of the present application, the term “symbol” refers to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol or a discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbol. The term “slot” includes multiple consecutive symbols, e.g., 14 symbols, or 12 symbols. The term “mini-slot” includes one or more consecutive symbols, and has less symbol than a slot, e.g., 1, 2, 4, or 7 symbols.

In the context of the present disclosure, the term “HARQ codebook” may be interchangeably used with “HARQ-ACK codebook” or “semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook” .

Generally, in a traditional half duplex TDD mode, when a semi-static HARQ-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) codebook is configured for UE, if HARQ-ACK information for multiple physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmissions are indicated to be transmitted in a same slot or sub-slot, the HARQ-ACK information for multiple PDSCHs will be multiplexed in a semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook and transmitted on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) . The semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook is constructed based on a radio resource control (RRC) configured timing value set (for example, K1 set) , a time domain resource assignment (TDRA) list and TDD configurations.

In a traditional half duplex TDD mode, i.e., UE operates transmission or reception at a time based on dynamic or semi-static TDD configuration, a slot on a cell is only associated with one transmission direction (for example, DL or UL) , e.g., if a slot is configured as DL, gNB will only send DL transmissions for UEs in the cell . However, when a sub-band non-overlapping full duplex scheme is deployed in an unpaired spectrum, a slot on a cell may be associated with one transmission direction (i.e., DL or UL) or two transmission directions (i.e., DL and UL) . A slot associated with one transmission direction is called as a half duplex slot, i.e., TDD slot, and a slot associated with two transmission directions is called as a full duplex slot. If UE is transmitting or receiving data on a cell configured with both a half duplex slot and a full duplex slot, how to construct a semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook is unclear.

In view of this, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for a HARQ feedback transmission so as to overcome the above or other potential issues. In the solution, a semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook comprising a HARQ feedback is constructed. The HARQ feedback is associated with a set of slots, and the set of slots at least is associated with a full duplex mode. The HARQ codebook is transmitted to a network device on an uplink control channel (for example, a PUCCH) . In particular, if a slot is associated with a full duplex mode, presence or absence of a HARQ position for the slot in the HARQ codebook is determined. Then a HARQ codebook is constructed based on the determination. In this way, a sub-band non-overlapping full duplex scheme may be well supported.

In addition, a BWP is only configured with one sub-band for UL or DL transmission generally. When a sub-band non-overlapping full duplex scheme is deployed in an unpaired spectrum, a full duplex slot on a cell may be associated with two transmission directions. A network may need to change a BWP frequently to match a slot pattern configuration, e.g., to support a switching between a half duplex slot and a full duplex slot. However, traditional methods may not work well in this case. For example, a dynamic BWP switching by DCI indication will increase PDCCH transmissions. A semi-static BWP switching by RRC reconfiguration will lead to larger delay, which is not suitable for latency sensitive services.

In view of this, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for a BWP switching so as to overcome the above or other potential issues. In the solution, a BWP switching is performed based on a configuration indicating a mapping between an index of a slot and a set of indexes of a set of BWPs available for the slot. In this way, a fast BWP switching may be achieved.

Principles and implementations of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the figures.

EXAMPLE OF COMMUNICATION NETWORK

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example communication network 100 in which some embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication network 100 may include a terminal device 110 and a network device 120. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may provide a serving cell (also referred to as a cell herein) , and the terminal device 110 may be located in the cell and may be served by the network device 120. It is to be understood that the number of devices or cells in FIG. 1 is given for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations to the present disclosure. The communication network 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and/or terminal devices and/cells adapted for implementing implementations of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 1, the terminal device 110 may communicate with the network device 120 via a channel such as a wireless communication channel. The communications in the communication network 100 may conform to any suitable standards including, but not limited to, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) , Long Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Evolution, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , New Radio (NR) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) , GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN) , Machine Type Communication (MTC) and the like. 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.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive DL data from the network device 120 via a DL data channel transmission. For example, the DL data channel transmission may be a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission. Of course, any other suitable forms are also feasible.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may transmit uplink control information (UCI) , e.g., HARQ feedback information to the network device 120 via an UL control channel transmission. For example, the UL control channel transmission may be a PUCCH transmission. Of course, any other suitable forms are also feasible.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive, from the network device 120, downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling an UL control channel transmission for HARQ feedback. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may construct a HARQ codebook for the HARQ feedback and transmit the HARQ codebook via the UL control channel transmission.

FIG. 2A illustrates a schematic diagram 200A illustrating an example construction of a HARQ codebook in a related solution. In this example, assuming that a RRC configured K1 set is {3, 6, 8} and only a PDSCH may be scheduled in a slot, K1 value in the K1 set refers the slot offset between the PDSCH reception and the PUCCH transmission. As shown in FIG. 2A, assuming that a PUCCH transmission 205 at slot 8 is scheduled for HARQ feedback. Based on the K1 set {3, 6, 8} and slot 8,

slots

0, 2 and 5 may be determined for a multiplexing window of HARQ feedback. As the

slots

0, 2 and 5 are configured as DL slots, gNB may schedule PDSCH for UE in these slots, i.e., there may be PDSCH occasions in these slots. Thus, UE will generate HARQ-ACK positions for these PDSCH occasions, and a HARQ-ACK codebook 210 may be constructed. The HARQ-ACK codebook 210 comprises a HARQ position for each of the

slots

0, 2 and 5.

As another example, assuming that a PUCCH transmission 206 at slot 9 is scheduled for HARQ feedback. Based on the K1 set {3, 6, 8} and slot 9,

slots

1, 3 and 6 may be determined for a multiplexing window of HARQ feedback. As the

slots

1 and 6 are configured as DL slots and the slot 3 is configured as an UL slot, gNB may schedule PDSCH for UE in slot 1 and slot 6 while gNB may only schedule an UL transmission in slot 3. Thus, there may be no PDSCH occasions in slot 3, and a HARQ-ACK codebook 220 may be constructed. The HARQ-ACK codebook 220 comprises a HARQ position for each of the

slots

1 and 6 and no HARQ position for the slot 3.

FIG. 2B illustrates a schematic diagram 200B illustrating an example scenarios of a construction of a HARQ codebook in a sub-band non-overlapping full duplex scheme. In this example, assuming that a RRC configured K1 set is {1, 2, 3, 4} . As shown in FIG. 2B, assuming that a PUCCH transmission 207 at slot 4 is scheduled for HARQ feedback. Based on the K1 set {1, 2, 3, 4} and slot 4,

slots

0, 1, 2 and 3 may be determined for a multiplexing window of HARQ feedback. As the

slots

0 and 1 are configured as half duplex DL slots, a HARQ-ACK codebook 230 comprises a HARQ position for each of the

slots

0 and 1. However, as the

slots

2 and 3 are configured as full duplex slots, the full duplex slot may be configured with both DL resources and UL resources in a BWP, which is associated with both DL and UL. But UE cannot determine whether the full duplex slot is only for DL reception or UL transmission, i.e., UE cannot determine whether generate HARQ-ACK positions for these full duplex slots, so it is unclear whether the HARQ-ACK codebook 230 comprises a HARQ position for each of the

slots

2 and 3.

In view of this, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for a HARQ feedback transmission to solve the above and other potential issues. The detailed description will be made with reference to FIGs. 3 to 4D below.

EXAMPLE IMPLEMENTATION OF HARQ FEEDBACK TRANSMISSION

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating a process 300 of communication for a HARQ feedback transmission according to embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the process 300 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The process 300 may involve the terminal device 110 and the network device 120 as illustrated in FIG. 1. It is to be understood that the steps and the order of the steps in FIG. 3 are merely for illustration, and not for limitation. For example, the order of the steps may be changed. Some of the steps may be omitted or any other suitable additional steps may be added.

As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal device 110 determines 310 a set of slots associated with a HARQ feedback for a set of DL data transmissions. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the set of slots based on a configured set of timing values (for example, a set of K1 values configured for the terminal device 110) and a slot for transmitting the HARQ feedback. A HARQ codebook will be constructed for the set of slots.

The terminal device 110 determines 320 whether a slot in the set of slots is associated with a full duplex mode or a half duplex mode. If the slot is associated with the half duplex mode, the terminal device 110 may determine whether the slot is a DL slot or an UL slot based on a TDD configuration configured for the terminal device 110. If the slot is the DL slot, the terminal device 110 may determine a set of HARQ positions (may also referred to as a set of HARQ bits herein) for the slot in the HARQ codebook. The number of the set of HARQ positions is determined based on the number of DL data transmissions that can be scheduled on the slot. If the slot is the UL slot, no PDSCH will be scheduled in the slot, the terminal device 110 may determine that there is no HARQ position for the slot in the HARQ codebook.

If the slot is associated with the full duplex mode (i.e., a full duplex slot) , the terminal device 110 may determine presence or absence of a set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook, i.e., the terminal device 110 may determine whether to generate HARQ-ACK positions for the full duplex slot in the HARQ-ACK codebook. Based on the presence or absence of the set of HARQ positions, the terminal device 110 constructs 330 the HARQ codebook.

Some example embodiments on determination of the presence or absence of the set of HARQ positions for the full duplex slot will be described in connection with Embodiments 1 to 4.

Embodiment 1

In this embodiment, the terminal device 110 may handle the full duplex slot as a DL slot or a flexible slot associated with a half duplex mode, e.g., the full duplex slot is regarded as a DL slot in TDD configuration. In this case, the terminal device 110 may determine a set of HARQ positions for the full duplex slot in the HARQ codebook.

For example, for a UE is configured with sub-band-FullDuplex, if a slot on a cell associated with the configured K1 set is configured with both a DL sub-band or resource and an UL sub-band or resource, UE determines HARQ-ACK position (s) for the slot same as DL slot. For illustration, an example will be described in FIG. 4A.

FIG. 4A illustrates a schematic diagram 400A illustrating an example construction of a HARQ codebook according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In this example, assuming that a RRC configured K1 set is {1, 2, 3, 4} . As shown in FIG. 4A, assuming that a PUCCH transmission 401 at slot 4 is scheduled for HARQ feedback. Based on the K1 set {1, 2, 3, 4} and slot 4,

slots

0 and 1 are configured as DL slots, a HARQ-ACK codebook 410 comprises a HARQ position 411 for the slot 0 (i.e., K1=4) and a HARQ position 412 for the slot 1 (i.e., K1=3) . The

slots

2 and 3 are full duplex slots and then are handled as DL slots or flexible slots associated with a half duplex TDD mode. In this case, the HARQ-ACK codebook 410 comprises a HARQ position 413 for the slot 2 (i.e., K1=2) and a HARQ position 414 for the slot 3 (i.e., K1=1) . It is to be understood that FIG. 4A is merely for illustration and is not for limitation.

This solution is simple and has less impact on the communication specification.

Embodiment 2

In this embodiment, the terminal device 110 may handle the full duplex slot as a UL slot associated with a half duplex mode. In this case, the terminal device 110 may determine that there is no HARQ position for the full duplex slot in the HARQ codebook.

For example, for a UE is configured with sub-band-FullDuplex, if a slot on a cell associated with the configured K1 set is configured with both a DL sub-band or resource and an UL sub-band or resource, UE does not generate HARQ-ACK position (s) for the slot. For illustration, an example will be described in FIG. 4B.

FIG. 4B illustrates a schematic diagram 400B illustrating another example construction of a HARQ codebook according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In this example, assuming that a RRC configured K1 set is {1, 2, 3, 4} . As shown in FIG. 4B, assuming that a PUCCH transmission 402 at slot 4 is scheduled for HARQ feedback. Based on the K1 set {1, 2, 3, 4} and slot 4,

slots

0 and 1 are configured as DL slots, a HARQ-ACK codebook 420 comprises a HARQ position 421 for the slot 0 (i.e., K1=4) and a HARQ position 422 for the slot 1 (i.e., K1=3) . The

slots

2 and 3 are full duplex slots and then are handled as UL slots associated with a half duplex TDD mode, UE will not generate HARQ-ACK positions for these two slots. In this case, the HARQ-ACK codebook 420 does not comprise HARQ positions for the slot 2 (i.e., K1=2) and the slot 3 (i.e., K1=1) . It is to be understood that FIG. 4B is merely for illustration and is not for limitation.

The third generation partnership project (3GPP) 38.213 specification may be updated as follows.

This solution is also simple and has less impact on the communication specification.

Embodiment 3

In this embodiment, the terminal device 110 may receive, from the network device 120, a reference TDD configuration for the set of slots, and determine, based on the reference TDD configuration, whether the slot associated with the full duplex mode is handled as the DL slot or the UL slot or the flexible slot associated with a half duplex mode.

In other words, a reference TDD pattern may be configured for a cell with full duplex slots. For example, for a UE is configured with sub-band-FullDuplex, if a full duplex slot on a cell associated with the configured K1 set is configured with both a DL sub-band or resource and an UL sub-band or resource, UE determines HARQ-ACK position (s) for the slot based on the reference TDD pattern. For example, if the reference TDD configuration for the full duplex slot is DL slot, UE will assume the full duplex slot is DL slot for PDSCH receptions and generate HARQ-ACK positions for the full duplex slot.

If the slot is determined to be handled as the DL slot or the flexible slot based on the reference TDD configuration, the terminal device 110 may determine a set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook, as described in Embodiment 1. If the slot is determined to be handled as the UL slot based on the reference TDD configuration, the terminal device 110 may determine absence of a set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook, as described in Embodiment 2.

The 3GPP 38.213 specification may be updated as follows.

Comparing with the solutions described in

Embodiments

1 and 2, the solution described in Embodiment 3 may be more flexible.

Embodiment 4

In this embodiment, the terminal device 110 may receive an indication indicating that whether at least a part of slots associated with the full duplex mode within a HARQ multiplexing window are handled as DL slots or UL slots or flexible slots associated with a half duplex mode, and determine, based on the indication, whether the slot is handled as the DL slot or the UL slot or the flexible slot.

In some embodiments, the indication may be applied for all full duplex slots within the HARQ multiplexing window associated with the configured K1 set. In some embodiments, the indication may be applied for a part of full duplex slots within the HARQ multiplexing window associated with the configured K1 set.

In some embodiments, the indication may be carried in a RRC configuration. In some alternative embodiments, the indication may be carried in DCI. In some embodiments, the DCI may be the last DCI for scheduling the transmission of the HARQ feedback on the uplink control channel. It is to be understood that this is merely an example, any other suitable DCI may also be feasible.

If the slot is determined to be handled as the DL slot or the flexible slot, the terminal device 110 may determine a set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook, as described in Embodiment 1. If the slot is determined to be handled as the UL slot, the terminal device 110 may determine absence of a set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook, as described in Embodiment 2. In this case, the HARQ codebook may be constructed based on an explicit network configuration or indication.

The 3GPP 38.213 specification may be updated as follows.

Comparing with the solutions described in Embodiments 1 to 3, the solution described in Embodiment 4 may be more flexible by introducing additional control signaling.

Embodiment 5

In this embodiment, the terminal device 110 may receive, from the network device 120, an indication indicating a mapping between indexes of slots associated with the full duplex mode and types of sub-bands available for the slots. If a type of a sub-band corresponding to an index of the slot is a DL sub-band or a flexible sub-band, the terminal device 110 may determine that the slot is handled as the DL slot or the flexible slot. If the type of the sub-band is an UL sub-band, the terminal device 110 may determine that the slot is handled as the UL slot. In this case, the HARQ codebook may be constructed based on a sub-band configuration or indication.

In some embodiments, the indication of the mapping may be carried in a RRC configuration. In some alternative embodiments, the indication of the mapping may be carried in DCI. It is to be understood that any other suitable ways are also feasible.

In this embodiment, assuming that available sub-bands with transmission directions in a set of slots may be configured or indicated for UE. As an example, a periodical time domain pattern for a mapping between available sub-band indexes and slot indexes may be semi-statically configured by a group common DCI. As another example, a bit mapping between available sub-band indexes and slot indexes may be dynamically indicated by UE specific scheduled DCI.

For a UE is configured with sub-band-FullDuplex, if a slot on a cell associated with the configured K1 set is configured with both a DL sub-band or resource and an UL sub-band or resource, UE determines whether to generate HARQ-ACK position (s) for the slot based on the transmission direction of the available sub-band configured or indicated for the slot.

If the slot is determined to be handled as the DL slot or the flexible slot, the terminal device 110 may determine a set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook, as described in Embodiment 1. If the slot is determined to be handled as the UL slot, the terminal device 110 may determine absence of a set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook, as described in Embodiment 2. In this case, the HARQ codebook may be constructed based on the sub-band configuration or indication. For illustration, an example will be described in FIG. 4C.

FIG. 4C illustrates a schematic diagram 400C illustrating still another example construction of a HARQ codebook according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4C, a mapping 430 between indexes of slots associated with the full duplex mode and types of sub-bands available for the slots may be indicated.

In this example, assuming that a RRC configured K1 set is {1, 2, 3, 4} . As shown in FIG. 4C, assuming that a PUCCH transmission 403 at slot 4 is scheduled for HARQ feedback. Based on the K1 set {1, 2, 3, 4} and slot 4,

slots

0, 1, 2 and 3 may be determined for a multiplexing window of HARQ feedback. As the slot 0 is configured as a DL slot, a HARQ-ACK codebook 440 comprises a HARQ position 441 for the slot 0 (i.e., K1=4) . The slot 1 is a full duplex slot, and it can be known from the mapping 430 that available sub-band for the slot 1 is a DL sub-band. Thus, a HARQ-ACK codebook 440 comprises a HARQ position 442 for the slot 1 (i.e., K1=3) . The slot 2 is a full duplex slot, and it can be known from the mapping 430 that available sub-band for the slot 2 is a DL sub-band. Thus, a HARQ-ACK codebook 440 comprises a HARQ position 443 for the slot 2 (i.e., K1=2) . The slot 3 is a full duplex slot, and it can be known from the mapping 430 that available sub-band for the slot 3 is a UL sub-band. Thus, a HARQ-ACK codebook 440 does not comprise HARQ positions for the slot 3 (i.e., K1=1) . It is to be understood that FIG. 4C is merely for illustration and is not for limitation.

The 3GPP 38.213 specification may be updated as follows.

This solution does not introduce additional signaling overhead.

Embodiment 6

In this embodiment, the terminal device 110 may receive, from the network device 120, a configuration indicating whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for a single duplex mode or multiple duplex modes.

In some embodiments, if the HARQ codebook is constructed for the multiple duplex modes, the terminal device 110 may determine the set of slots based on the configured set of timing values and the slot for transmitting the HARQ feedback.

In some embodiments, if the HARQ codebook is constructed for the single duplex mode, the terminal device 110 may determine whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode or a half duplex mode.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a duplex mode associated with a slot at which a DL data transmission in the set of DL data transmissions is received. Based on the determined duplex mode, the terminal device 110 may determine whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode or the half duplex mode. For example, if the determined duplex mode is the full duplex mode, the terminal device 110 may determine that the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode. If the determined duplex mode is the half duplex mode, the terminal device 110 may determine that the HARQ codebook is constructed for the half duplex mode.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a duplex mode by an indication in DCI for scheduling the UL control channel transmission for the HARQ feedback. Based on the determined duplex mode, the terminal device 110 may determine whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode or the half duplex mode. For example, if the determined duplex mode is the full duplex mode, the terminal device 110 may determine that the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode. If the determined duplex mode is the half duplex mode, the terminal device 110 may determine that the HARQ codebook is constructed for the half duplex mode.

If the terminal device 110 determines that the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode, the terminal device 110 may determine the set of slots based on a configured set of timing values by skipping one or more slots associated with the half duplex mode. That is, the HARQ-ACK timing slot offset value is separately counted for slot with different duplex mode. For example, during a determination of the k1 value for a PDSCH in a full duplex slot, the half-duplex TDD slot will be skipped and not counted. If the terminal device 110 determines that the HARQ codebook is constructed for the half duplex mode, the terminal device 110 may determine the set of slots based on the configured set of timing values by skipping a set of slots associated with the full duplex mode.

Then the HARQ codebook may be constructed. For example, if a slot in the set of slots is associated with a half duplex mode, the terminal device 110 may determine whether the slot is a DL slot or an UL slot based on a TDD configuration configured for the terminal device 110. If the slot is the DL slot, the terminal device 110 may determine a set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook. If the slot is the UL slot, the terminal device 110 may determine that there is no HARQ position for the slot in the HARQ codebook. If the slot is associated with the full duplex mode, the terminal device 110 may construct the HARQ codebook as described in any of Embodiments 1 to 5.

FIG. 4D illustrates a schematic diagram 400D illustrating yet another example construction of a HARQ codebook according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In this example, assuming that the HARQ codebook is constructed for only half duplex TDD mode and a RRC configured K1 set is {1, 2, 3, 4} . As shown in FIG. 4D, assuming that a PUCCH transmission 404 at slot 6 is scheduled for HARQ feedback. As

slots

4 and 5 are full duplex slots and need to be skipped upon determination of a multiplexing window of HARQ feedback. Thus, based on the K1 set {1, 2, 3, 4} and slot 6,

slots

0, 1, 2 and 3 may be determined for the multiplexing window of HARQ feedback, while

slots

4 and 5 are skipped and not counted. As the slot 0 is an UL slot, there is no HARQ position in the HARQ codebook. Thus, a HARQ-ACK codebook 450 is constructed to comprise a HARQ position 451 for the slot 1 (i.e., K1=3) , a HARQ position 452 for the slot 2 (i.e., K1=2) and a HARQ position 453 for the slot 3 (i.e., K1=1) . It is to be understood that FIG. 4D is merely for illustration and is not for limitation.

In this way, UE may separately construct the HARQ-ACK codebooks for half duplex slots and full duplex slots.

Embodiment 7

For traditional UE only associated with one duplex mode, when UE receives DCI triggering a Type-3 HARQ-ACK codebook or an enhanced Type-3 HARQ-ACK codebook by gNB, UE will determine the HARQ-ACK codebook based on number of the configured HARQ process on configured cells. For example, when UE is configured with two cells and eight HARQ processes are configured per cell, the Type-3 HARQ-ACK codebook includes 16 HARQ-ACK bit positions, and each HARQ-ACK bit position corresponds to PDSCH with a given HARQ process number in one of the two cells.

Generally, for UE supporting both a half duplex mode and a full duplex mode, HARQ processes for a half duplex mode and a full duplex mode are independently configured and calculated. When UE receives DCI triggering a Type-3 HARQ-ACK codebook or an enhanced Type-3 HARQ-ACK codebook, it is unclear the HARQ-ACK codebook will be constructed based the number of configured HARQ process of which one of a half duplex mode and a full duplex mode.

In view of this, embodiments of the present disclosure provide solutions for solving the above issue. In one solution, the terminal device 110 may receive, from the network device 120, an indication indicating a duplex mode used for the construction of the HARQ codebook, and construct the HARQ codebook based on the number of HARQ processes associated with the duplex mode.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive the indication in DCI for scheduling the transmission of the HARQ codebook on the UL control channel. In some embodiments, if the DCI is scrambled by a first identity of the terminal device 110, the terminal device 110 may determine that the indication indicates a half duplex mode. If the DCI is scrambled by a second identity of the terminal device 110, the terminal device 110 may determine that the indication indicates a full duplex mode, the second identity being different from the first identity. For example, DCI scrambled by cell-radio network temporary identity (C-RNTI) may be used for triggering a HARQ-ACK codebook for half duplex TDD mode. DCI scrambled by x-RNTI may be used for triggering a HARQ-ACK codebook for full duplex TDD mode. The x-RNTI may be a newly defined RNTI or an existing RNTI.

In another solution, the terminal device 110 may construct a first sub-codebook based on the number of HARQ processes associated with a half duplex mode, and construct a second sub-codebook based on the number of HARQ processes associated with a full duplex mode. Then the terminal device 110 may concatenate the first sub-codebook with the second sub-codebook. For example, the first sub-codebook may be placed before the second sub-codebook. As another example, the first sub-codebook may be placed after the second sub-codebook.

Continue to refer to FIG. 3, upon construction of the HARQ codebook, the terminal device 110 transmits 340 the HARQ codebook to the network device 120. Upon reception of the HARQ codebook, the network device 120 may determine 350 the HARQ feedback from the HARQ codebook by determining presence or absence of a set of HARQ positions for a slot in the HARQ codebook. The determination of the presence or absence of a set of HARQ positions for a slot in the HARQ codebook is similar with that done at the terminal device 110, and thus is not repeated here for concise.

EXAMPLE IMPLEMENTATION OF BWP SWITCHING

In this embodiment, assuming that for a sub-band non-overlapping full duplex scheme, a BWP is only configured with one sub-band for UL or DL transmission.

FIG. 5A illustrates a schematic diagram 500A illustrating an example scenario of a BWP switching in a related solution. As shown in FIG. 5A, slot #0 is configured with DL BWP #0 or UL BWP #0 (not shown) , slot #4 is configured with UL BWP #0 or DL BWP #0 (not shown) . That is, slot #0 and slot #4 are half duplex TDD slots. Slot #1, slot #2 and slot #3 are configured with both UL BWP #1 and DL BWP #1. That is, slot #1, slot #2 and slot #3 are full duplex slots. It can be seen that a BWP switching needs to be performed between slot #0 and slot #1, and another BWP switching also needs to be performed between slot #3 and slot #4.

FIG. 5B illustrates a schematic diagram 500B illustrating another example scenario of a BWP switching in a related solution. As shown in FIG. 5B, slot #0 is configured with DL BWP #0, slot #4 is configured with UL BWP #0. That is, slot #0 and slot #4 are half duplex slots. Each of Slot #1, slot #2 and slot #3 are configured with DL BWP #1, UL BWP #1 and DL BWP #2. That is, slot #1, slot #2 and slot #3 are full duplex slots. It can be seen that a BWP switching needs to be performed between slot #0 and slot #1, and another BWP switching also needs to be performed between slot #3 and slot #4.

When a sub-band non-overlapping full duplex scheme is deployed in unpaired spectrum, a frequent BWP switching may need to be performed to match the slot pattern configuration and duplex mode configuration. If a dynamic BWP switching based on DCI is used, PDCCH transmissions may be increased and the system performance may be degraded. If a semi-static BWP switching based on RRC reconfiguration is used, service requirements due to a large switching delay may not be satisfied. If a BWP switching based on a timer (for example, BWP-InactiveTimer) is used, it may be only applicable for DL BWP switching and not flexible.

In view of this, embodiments of the present disclosure provide an improved solution of a BWP switching. This will be described in connection with FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating a process 600 of communication for a BWP switching according to embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the process 600 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The process 600 may involve the terminal device 110 and the network device 120 as illustrated in FIG. 6. It is to be understood that the steps and the order of the steps in FIG. 6 are merely for illustration, and not for limitation. For example, the order of the steps may be changed. Some of the steps may be omitted or any other suitable additional steps may be added.

As shown in FIG. 6, the network device 120 transmits 610, to the terminal device 110, a configuration (may also referred to as a BWP timing pattern herein) indicating a mapping between an index of a slot and a set of indexes of a set of BWPs available for the slot.

In some embodiments, the configuration may further indicate a delay of the BWP switching associated with the index of the slot. For example, the delay may be 0 if a center frequency of two switched BWPs is not changed.

In some embodiments, the configuration may further indicate a guard band of a set of BWPs in a slot. For example, when a BWP in a TDD slot is switched to two BWPs with different directions in a full duplex slot, the guard band may be configured for DL BWP and UL BWP in the full duplex slot.

In other words, a semi-static BWP switching operation may be performed based on a RRC configured BWP timing pattern of applicable BWP (s) in a slot or a set of slots or a set of symbols. For illustration, some examples of the RRC configured BWP timing pattern are shown in Tables 1 and 2.

Table 1 An Example of RRC Configured BWP Timing Pattern

Table 1 may be applicable for the scenario as shown in FIG. 5A.

Table 2 Another Example of RRC Configured BWP Timing Pattern

Table 2 may be applicable for the scenario as shown in FIG. 5B.

In some embodiments, the BWP timing pattern may be applied for the terminal device 110 periodically. For example, the BWP timing pattern may be configured based on the terminal device 110’s traffic characteristics.

Upon reception of the configuration, the terminal device 110 performs 620 a BWP switching among slots based on the configuration. In this way, the configuration may indicate multiple BWP switching in a period of time, a fast BWP switching may be achieved and PDCCH transmissions may be reduced.

In some embodiments, if the terminal device 110 supports multiple active BWPs at a time, a set of applicable BWPs in a slot or a set of slots may be indicated for the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, if no bandwidth part indicator is indicated in DCI for scheduling a data transmission, the terminal device 110 may perform the data transmission by using a reference BWP. If a BWP is indicated in the DCI for scheduling the data transmission, the terminal device 110 may perform the data transmission by using the indicated BWP.

In some embodiments, the reference BWP may be a BWP having the smallest BWP ID. In some embodiments, the reference BWP may be a BWP having the largest BWP ID.

In some alternative embodiments, the BWP switching between slots with different duplex mode may be performed based on a duplex mode of a slot for a newly scheduled transmission. For example, active BWP (s) of TDD slot is configured or indicated as BWP1, and active BWP (s) of full duplex slot is configured or indicated as BWP2. When UE operates DL receptions in active BWP1 in current half-duplex TDD DL slot, if gNB schedules a next PDSCH in a DL sub-band in a later sub-band full duplex slot by DCI, UE will switch the DL BWP1 for TDD DL slot to DL BWP2 for sub-band full duplex slot starting from the ending of PDCCH reception for the DCI. While if gNB schedules a next PDSCH in a later TDD DL slot by a DCI, UE will not switch the active BWP. When UE operates DL receptions in a DL sub-band (i.e., DL BWP2) in current sub full duplex slot, if gNB schedules a next PDSCH in a later half-duplex DL slot by a DCI, UE will switch DL BWP2 for sub-band full duplex slot to DL BWP1 for TDD DL slot starting from the ending of PDCCH reception for the DCI.

In some scenarios, an UL transmission in an UL BWP associated with a first slot may be overlapped with a DL transmission in a DL BWP associated with the first slot. Assuming that the UL transmission is scheduled by a PDCCH in a second slot and the DL transmission is scheduled by a PDCCH in a third slot. In some embodiments, if the second slot is earlier than the third slot, the terminal device 110 may drop the UL transmission. If the third slot is earlier than the second slot, the terminal device 110 may not receive the DL transmission. That is, if both DL transmission and UL transmission are separately scheduled DL BWP and UL BWP in a full duplex slot, and the later scheduled transmission has higher priority, UE will cancel the earlier scheduled transmission or reception.

In some alternative embodiments, if a priority of the UL transmission is lower than a priority of the DL transmission, the terminal device 110 may drop the UL transmission. If a priority of the DL transmission is lower than a priority of the UL transmission, the terminal device 110 may drop the DL transmission.

In some embodiments, if a configured grant UL transmission without PDCCH in an UL BWP associated with a first slot is overlapped with a DL transmission scheduled by DCI in a DL BWP associated with the first slot, the terminal device 110 may cancel the CG UL transmission, and the terminal device 110 may receive the DL transmission. In some embodiments, if a configured grant DL transmission without PDCCH in a DL BWP associated with a first slot is overlapped with a UL transmission scheduled by DCI in a UL BWP associated with the first slot, the terminal device 110 may not receive the DL transmission and the terminal device 110 may transmit the UL transmission.

In some alternative embodiments, the terminal device 110 doesn’ t expect the overlapping happens. That is, when the overlapping between transmissions with different directions in a slot happens, the terminal device 110 will handle the overlapping as an error case.

Continue to refer to FIG. 6, in some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive 630 DCI indicating an index of a BWP. The terminal device 110 may determine 640 whether the index of the BWP indicated by the DCI is different from an index in the set of indexes of the set of BWPs indicated by the configuration. If the index of the BWP indicated by the DCI is different from an index in the set of indexes of the set of BWPs indicated by the configuration, the terminal device 110 may perform 650 a transmission on the BWP indicated by the DCI.

In other words, when both semi-static BWP switching and dynamic BWP switching are enabled for a terminal device, the dynamic BWP switching indication may override the semi-static BWP switching indication.

EXAMPLE IMPLEMENTATION OF METHODS

Corresponding to the above processes, embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods of communication implemented at a terminal device and a network device. These methods will be described below with reference to FIGs. 7 and 8.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example method 700 of communication implemented at a terminal device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the method 700 may be performed at the terminal device 110 as shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, in the following, the method 700 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. It is to be understood that the method 700 may include additional blocks not shown and/or may omit some blocks as shown, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

At block 710, the terminal device 110 determines a set of slots associated with a HARQ feedback for a set of downlink data transmissions.

At block 720, the terminal device 110 determines whether a slot in the set of slots is associated with a full duplex mode. If the slot is associated with the full duplex mode, the method 700 proceeds to block 730.

At block 730, the terminal device 110 constructs a HARQ codebook comprising the HARQ feedback by determining presence or absence of a set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook by handling the slot as a downlink slot or a flexible slot associated with a half duplex mode.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the absence of the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook by handling the slot as an uplink slot associated with a half duplex mode.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine whether the slot is handled as a downlink slot or an uplink slot or a flexible slot associated with a half duplex mode. If the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the flexible slot, the terminal device 110 may determine the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook. If the slot is handled as the uplink slot, the terminal device 110 may determine the absence of the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive a reference TDD configuration for the set of slots, and determine, based on the reference TDD configuration, whether the slot associated with the full duplex mode is handled as the downlink slot or the uplink slot or the flexible slot.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive an indication indicating that whether at least a part of slots associated with the full duplex mode within a HARQ multiplexing window are handled as downlink slots or uplink slots or flexible slots, and determine, based on the indication, whether the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the uplink slot or the flexible slot.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive the indication in DCI. In some embodiments, the DCI may be the last DCI for scheduling the transmission of the HARQ feedback on the uplink control channel. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive the indication in a RRC configuration.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive, from the network device 120, an indication indicating a mapping between indexes of slots associated with the full duplex mode and types of sub-bands available for the slots. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive DCI comprising the indication. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive a RRC configuration comprising the indication.

If a type of a sub-band corresponding to an index of the slot is a downlink sub-band or a flexible sub-band, the terminal device 110 may determine that the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the flexible slot. If the type of the sub-band is an uplink sub-band, the terminal device 110 may determine that the slot is handled as the uplink slot.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive, from the network device 120, a configuration indicating whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for a single duplex mode or multiple duplex modes. If the HARQ codebook is constructed for the single duplex mode, the terminal device 110 may determine whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode or a half duplex mode. If the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode, the terminal device 110 may determine the set of slots based on a configured set of timing values by skipping a set of slots associated with a half duplex mode. If the HARQ codebook is constructed for the half duplex mode, the terminal device 110 may determine the set of slots based on the configured set of timing values by skipping a set of slots associated with the full duplex mode.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a duplex mode associated with a slot at which a downlink data transmission in the set of downlink data transmissions is received, and determine, based on the duplex mode, whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode or the half duplex mode.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a duplex mode by an indication in DCI for scheduling the transmission of the HARQ codebook on the uplink control channel; and determine, based on the duplex mode, whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode or the half duplex mode.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive, from the network device 120, an indication indicating a duplex mode used for the construction of the HARQ codebook. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive the indication in DCI for scheduling the transmission of the HARQ codebook on the uplink control channel. In some embodiments, if the DCI is scrambled by a first identity of the terminal device 110, the terminal device 110 may determine that the indication indicates a half duplex mode. If the DCI is scrambled by a second identity of the terminal device 110, the terminal device 110 may determine that the indication indicates a full duplex mode, the second identity being different from the first identity. Then the terminal device 110 may construct the HARQ codebook based on the number of HARQ processes associated with the duplex mode.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may construct a first sub-codebook based on the number of HARQ processes associated with a half duplex mode, and construct a second sub-codebook based on the number of HARQ processes associated with a full duplex mode. The terminal device 110 may concatenate the first sub-codebook with the second sub-codebook.

At block 740, the terminal device 110 transmits the HARQ codebook to a network device on an uplink control channel.

With the method of FIG. 7, a sub-band non-overlapping full duplex scheme may be well achieved.

FIG. 8 illustrates another example method 800 of communication implemented at a terminal device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the method 800 may be performed at the terminal device 110 as shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, in the following, the method 800 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. It is to be understood that the method 800 may include additional blocks not shown and/or may omit some blocks as shown, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

At block 810, the terminal device 110 receives, from the network device 120, a configuration indicating a mapping between an index of a slot and a set of indexes of a set of BWPs available for the slot. In some embodiments, the configuration further indicates a delay of the BWP switching associated with the index of the slot.

At block 820, the terminal device 110 performs a BWP switching among slots associated with different duplex modes based on the configuration.

In some embodiments, if no BWP is indicated in DCI for scheduling a data transmission, the terminal device 110 may perform the data transmission by using a reference BWP. If a BWP is indicated in the DCI for scheduling the data transmission, the terminal device 110 may perform the data transmission by using the indicated BWP.

In some embodiments, an uplink transmission in an uplink BWP associated with a first slot is overlapped with a downlink transmission in a downlink BWP associated with the first slot, the uplink transmission being scheduled at a second slot, the downlink transmission being scheduled at a third slot. In these embodiments, if the second slot is earlier than the third slot, the terminal device 110 may drop the uplink transmission. If the third slot is earlier than the second slot, the terminal device 110 may stop receiving the downlink transmission.

In some embodiments where an uplink transmission in an uplink BWP associated with a first slot is overlapped with a downlink transmission in a downlink BWP associated with the first slot, if a priority of the uplink transmission is lower than a priority of the downlink transmission, the terminal device 110 may drop the uplink transmission. If a priority of the downlink transmission is lower than a priority of the uplink transmission, the terminal device 110 may stop receiving the downlink transmission.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive DCI indicating an index of a BWP. If the index of the BWP indicated by the DCI is different from an index in the set of indexes of the set of BWPs indicated by the configuration, the terminal device 110 may perform a transmission on the BWP indicated by the DCI.

With the method of FIG. 8, a fast BWP switching may be achieved.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example method 900 of communication implemented at a network device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the method 900 may be performed at the network device 120 as shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, in the following, the method 900 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. It is to be understood that the method 900 may include additional blocks not shown and/or may omit some blocks as shown, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

At block 910, the network device 120 receives, from the terminal device 110, a HARQ codebook on an uplink control channel. The HARQ codebook comprises a HARQ feedback for a set of downlink data transmissions.

At block 920, the network device 120 determines whether a slot in a set of slots associated with the HARQ feedback is associated with a full duplex mode. If the slot is associated with the full duplex mode, the method 900 proceeds to block 930.

At block 930, the network device 120 determines the HARQ feedback from the HARQ codebook by determining presence or absence of a set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook by handling the slot as a downlink slot or a flexible slot associated with a half duplex mode.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine the absence of the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook by handling the slot as an uplink slot associated with a half duplex mode.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine whether the slot is handled as a downlink slot or an uplink slot or a flexible slot associated with a half duplex mode. If the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the flexible slot, the network device 120 may determine the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook. If the slot is handled as the uplink slot, the network device 120 may determine the absence of the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit, to the terminal device, a reference TDD configuration for the set of slots.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit, to the terminal device, an indication indicating that whether at least a part of slots associated with the full duplex mode within a HARQ multiplexing window are handled as downlink slots or uplink slots or flexible slots. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit the indication in DCI. In some embodiments, the DCI is the last DCI for scheduling the transmission of the HARQ feedback on the uplink control channel. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit the indication in a RRC configuration.

In some embodiments, if a type of a sub-band corresponding to an index of the slot is a downlink sub-band or a flexible sub-band, the network device 120 may determine that the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the flexible slot. If the type of the sub-band is an uplink sub-band, the network device 120 may determine that the slot is handled as the uplink slot.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit, to the terminal device, an indication indicating a mapping between indexes of slots associated with the full duplex mode and types of sub-bands available for the slots. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit DCI comprising the indication. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit a RRC configuration comprising the indication.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit, to the terminal device 110, a configuration indicating whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for a single duplex mode or multiple duplex modes. In some embodiments, the single duplex mode may correspond to a duplex mode associated with a slot at which a downlink data transmission in the set of downlink data transmissions is transmitted or a duplex mode associated with a slot at which DCI for scheduling the transmission of the HARQ codebook on the uplink control channel is transmitted.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit, to the terminal device 110, an indication indicating a duplex mode used for the construction of the HARQ codebook. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit the indication in DCI for scheduling the transmission of the HARQ codebook on the uplink control channel.

In some embodiments, if the indication indicates a half duplex mode, the network device 120 may scramble the DCI by a first identity of the terminal device 110. If the indication indicates a full duplex mode, the network device 120 may scramble the DCI by a second identity of the terminal device 110, the second identity being different from the first identity.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may receive a first sub-codebook and a second sub-codebook, the first sub-codebook concatenating with the second sub-codebook, the first sub-codebook being based on the number of HARQ processes associated with a half duplex mode, the second sub-codebook being based on the number of HARQ processes associated with a full duplex mode.

With the method of FIG. 9, a sub-band non-overlapping full duplex scheme may be well supported.

FIG. 10 illustrates another example method 1000 of communication implemented at a network device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the method 1000 may be performed at the network device 120 as shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, in the following, the method 1000 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. It is to be understood that the method 1000 may include additional blocks not shown and/or may omit some blocks as shown, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

At block 1010, the network device 120 transmits, to the terminal device 110, a configuration indicating a mapping between an index of a slot and a set of indexes of a set of BWPs available for the slot. In some embodiments, the configuration further indicates a delay of the BWP switching associated with the index of the slot.

At block 1020, the network device 120 performs a BWP switching among slots associated with different duplex modes based on the configuration.

In some embodiments, if no BWP is indicated in DCI for scheduling a data transmission, the network device 120 may perform the data transmission by using a reference BWP. If a BWP is indicated in the DCI for scheduling the data transmission, the network device 120 may perform the data transmission by using the indicated BWP.

In some embodiments, an uplink transmission in an uplink BWP associated with a first slot is overlapped with a downlink transmission in a downlink BWP associated with the first slot, the uplink transmission being scheduled at a second slot, the downlink transmission being scheduled at a third slot. In these embodiments, if the second slot is earlier than the third slot, the terminal device 110 may stop receiving the uplink transmission. If the third slot is earlier than the second slot, the terminal device 110 may drop the downlink transmission.

In some embodiments where an uplink transmission in an uplink BWP associated with a first slot is overlapped with a downlink transmission in a downlink BWP associated with the first slot, if a priority of the uplink transmission is lower than a priority of the downlink transmission, the terminal device 110 may stop receiving the uplink transmission. If a priority of the downlink transmission is lower than a priority of the uplink transmission, the terminal device 110 may drop the downlink transmission.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit DCI indicating an index of a BWP, the index of the BWP indicated by the DCI being different from an index in the set of indexes of the set of BWPs indicated by the configuration. In these embodiments, the network device 120 may perform a transmission on the BWP indicated by the DCI.

With the method of FIG. 10, a fast BWP switching may be achieved.

EXAMPLE IMPLEMENTATION OF DEVICE

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 terminal device 110 or the network device 120 as shown in FIG. 1. 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 1110, a memory 1120 coupled to the processor 1110, a suitable transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) 1140 coupled to the processor 1110, and a communication interface coupled to the TX/RX 1140. The memory 910 stores at least a part of a program 1130. The TX/RX 1140 is for bidirectional communications. The TX/RX 1140 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/Xn interface for bidirectional communications between eNBs/gNBs, S1/NG interface for communication between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) /Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) /SGW/UPF and the eNB/gNB, Un interface for communication between the eNB/gNB and a relay node (RN) , or Uu interface for communication between the eNB/gNB and a terminal device.

The program 1130 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 1110, enable the device 1100 to operate in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, as discussed herein with reference to FIGs. 1 to 6. The embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 1110 of the device 1100, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 1110 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure. Furthermore, a combination of the processor 1110 and memory 1120 may form processing means 1150 adapted to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.

The memory 1120 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 1120 is shown in the device 1100, there may be several physically distinct memory modules in the device 1100. The processor 1110 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.

In some embodiments, a terminal device comprises a circuitry configured to: determine a set of slots associated with a HARQ feedback for a set of downlink data transmissions; in accordance with a determination that a slot in the set of slots is associated with a full duplex mode, construct a HARQ codebook comprising the HARQ feedback by determining presence or absence of a set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook; and transmit the HARQ codebook to a network device on an uplink control channel.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to construct the HARQ codebook by: determining the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook by handling the slot as a downlink slot or a flexible slot associated with a half duplex mode.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to construct the HARQ codebook by: determining the absence of the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook by handling the slot as an uplink slot associated with a half duplex mode.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to construct the HARQ codebook by: determining whether the slot is handled as a downlink slot or an uplink slot or a flexible slot associated with a half duplex mode; in accordance with a determination that the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the flexible slot, determining the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook; and in accordance with a determination that the slot is handled as the uplink slot, determining the absence of the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to determine whether the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the uplink slot or the flexible slot by: receiving a reference TDD configuration for the set of slots; and determining, based on the reference TDD configuration, whether the slot associated with the full duplex mode is handled as the downlink slot or the uplink slot or the flexible slot.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to determine whether the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the uplink slot or the flexible slot by: receiving an indication indicating that whether at least a part of slots associated with the full duplex mode within a HARQ multiplexing window are handled as downlink slots or uplink slots or flexible slots; and determining, based on the indication, whether the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the uplink slot or the flexible slot. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to receive the indication by: receiving the indication in DCI; or receiving the indication in a RRC configuration. In some embodiments, the DCI is the last DCI for scheduling the transmission of the HARQ feedback on the uplink control channel.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to determine whether the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the uplink slot or the flexible slot by: receiving, from the network device, an indication indicating a mapping between indexes of slots associated with the full duplex mode and types of sub-bands available for the slots; in accordance with a determination that a type of a sub-band corresponding to an index of the slot is a downlink sub-band or a flexible sub-band, determining that the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the flexible slot; and in accordance with a determination that the type of the sub-band is an uplink sub-band, determining that the slot is handled as the uplink slot.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to receive the indication by: receiving DCI comprising the indication; or receiving a RRC configuration comprising the indication.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to determine the set of slots by:receiving, from the network device, a configuration indicating whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for a single duplex mode or multiple duplex modes; in accordance with a determination that the HARQ codebook is constructed for the single duplex mode, determining whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode or a half duplex mode; in accordance with a determination that the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode, determining the set of slots based on a configured set of timing values by skipping a set of slots associated with a half duplex mode; and in accordance with a determination that the HARQ codebook is constructed for the half duplex mode, determining the set of slots based on the configured set of timing values by skipping a set of slots associated with the full duplex mode.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to determine whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode or the half duplex mode by: determining a duplex mode associated with a slot at which a downlink data transmission in the set of downlink data transmissions is received; and determining, based on the duplex mode, whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode or the half duplex mode.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to determine whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode or the half duplex mode by: determining a duplex mode by an indication in DCI for scheduling the transmission of the HARQ codebook on the uplink control channel; and determining, based on the duplex mode, whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode or the half duplex mode.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to construct the HARQ codebook by: receiving, from the network device, an indication indicating a duplex mode used for the construction of the HARQ codebook; and constructing the HARQ codebook based on the number of HARQ processes associated with the duplex mode.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to receive the indication by: receiving the indication in DCI for scheduling the transmission of the HARQ codebook on the uplink control channel.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to receive the indication in the DCI by: in accordance with a determination that the DCI is scrambled by a first identity of the terminal device, determining that the indication indicates a half duplex mode; or in accordance with a determination that the DCI is scrambled by a second identity of the terminal device, determining that the indication indicates a full duplex mode, the second identity being different from the first identity.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to construct the HARQ codebook by: constructing a first sub-codebook based on the number of HARQ processes associated with a half duplex mode; constructing a second sub-codebook based on the number of HARQ processes associated with a full duplex mode; and concatenating the first sub-codebook with the second sub-codebook.

In some embodiments, a terminal device comprises a circuitry configured to: receive, from a network device, a configuration indicating a mapping between an index of a slot and a set of indexes of a set of BWPs available for the slot; and perform a BWP switching among slots associated with different duplex modes based on the configuration.

In some embodiments, the configuration further indicates a delay of the BWP switching associated with the index of the slot.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to: in accordance with a determination that no BWP is indicated in DCI for scheduling a data transmission, perform the data transmission by using a reference BWP; and in accordance with a determination that a BWP is indicated in the DCI for scheduling the data transmission, perform the data transmission by using the indicated BWP.

In some embodiments, in accordance with a determination that an uplink transmission in an uplink BWP associated with a first slot is overlapped with a downlink transmission in a downlink BWP associated with the first slot, the uplink transmission being scheduled at a second slot, the downlink transmission being scheduled at a third slot. In these embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to: in accordance with a determination that the second slot is earlier than the third slot, drop the uplink transmission; and in accordance with a determination that the third slot is earlier than the second slot, stop receiving the downlink transmission.

In some embodiments where an uplink transmission in an uplink BWP associated with a first slot is overlapped with a downlink transmission in a downlink BWP associated with the first slot, the circuitry may be further configured to: in accordance with a determination that a priority of the uplink transmission is lower than a priority of the downlink transmission, drop the uplink transmission; and in accordance with a determination that a priority of the downlink transmission is lower than a priority of the uplink transmission, stop receiving the downlink transmission.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to: receive DCI indicating an index of a BWP; and in accordance with a determination that the index of the BWP indicated by the DCI is different from an index in the set of indexes of the set of BWPs indicated by the configuration, perform a transmission on the BWP indicated by the DCI.

In some embodiments, a network device comprises a circuitry configured to: receive, from a terminal device, a HARQ codebook on an uplink control channel, the HARQ codebook comprising a HARQ feedback for a set of downlink data transmissions; and in accordance with a determination that a slot in a set of slots associated with the HARQ feedback is associated with a full duplex mode, determine the HARQ feedback from the HARQ codebook by determining presence or absence of a set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to determine the HARQ feedback by: determining the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook by handling the slot as a downlink slot or a flexible slot associated with a half duplex mode.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to determine the HARQ feedback by determining the absence of the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook by handling the slot as an uplink slot associated with a half duplex mode.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to determine the HARQ feedback by: determining whether the slot is handled as a downlink slot or an uplink slot or a flexible slot associated with a half duplex mode; in accordance with a determination that the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the flexible slot, determining the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook; and in accordance with a determination that the slot is handled as the uplink slot, determining the absence of the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to: transmit, to the terminal device, a reference TDD configuration for the set of slots.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to: transmit, to the terminal device, an indication indicating that whether at least a part of slots associated with the full duplex mode within a HARQ multiplexing window are handled as downlink slots or uplink slots or flexible slots.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to transmit the indication by: transmitting the indication in DCI; or transmitting the indication in a RRC configuration. In some embodiments, the DCI is the last DCI for scheduling the transmission of the HARQ feedback on the uplink control channel.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to determine whether the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the uplink slot or the flexible slot by: in accordance with a determination that a type of a sub-band corresponding to an index of the slot is a downlink sub-band or a flexible sub-band, determining that the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the flexible slot; and in accordance with a determination that the type of the sub-band is an uplink sub-band, determining that the slot is handled as the uplink slot.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to: transmit, to the terminal device, an indication indicating a mapping between indexes of slots associated with the full duplex mode and types of sub-bands available for the slots.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to transmit the indication by: transmitting DCI comprising the indication; or transmitting a RRC configuration comprising the indication.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to: transmit, to the terminal device, a configuration indicating whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for a single duplex mode or multiple duplex modes. In some embodiments, the single duplex mode corresponds to a duplex mode associated with a slot at which a downlink data transmission in the set of downlink data transmissions is transmitted or a duplex mode associated with a slot at which DCI for scheduling the transmission of the HARQ codebook on the uplink control channel is transmitted.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to transmit, to the terminal device, an indication indicating a duplex mode used for the construction of the HARQ codebook. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to transmit the indication by: transmitting the indication in DCI for scheduling the transmission of the HARQ codebook on the uplink control channel.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to transmit the indication in the DCI by: in accordance with a determination that the indication indicates a half duplex mode, scrambling the DCI by a first identity of the terminal device; or in accordance with a determination that the indication indicates a full duplex mode, scrambling the DCI by a second identity of the terminal device, the second identity being different from the first identity.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to receive the HARQ codebook by: receiving a first sub-codebook and a second sub-codebook, the first sub-codebook concatenating with the second sub-codebook, the first sub-codebook being based on the number of HARQ processes associated with a half duplex mode, the second sub-codebook being based on the number of HARQ processes associated with a full duplex mode.

In some embodiments, a network device comprises a circuitry configured to: transmit, to a terminal device, a configuration indicating a mapping between an index of a slot and a set of indexes of a set of BWPs available for the slot; and perform a BWP switching among slots associated with different duplex modes based on the configuration.

In some embodiments, an uplink transmission in an uplink BWP associated with a first slot is overlapped with a downlink transmission in a downlink BWP associated with the first slot, the uplink transmission being scheduled at a second slot, the downlink transmission being scheduled at a third slot. In these embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to: in accordance with a determination that the second slot is earlier than the third slot, stop receiving the uplink transmission; and in accordance with a determination that the third slot is earlier than the second slot, drop the downlink transmission.

In some embodiments where an uplink transmission in an uplink BWP associated with a first slot is overlapped with a downlink transmission in a downlink BWP associated with the first slot, the circuitry may be further configured to: in accordance with a determination that a priority of the uplink transmission is lower than a priority of the downlink transmission, stop receiving the uplink transmission; and in accordance with a determination that a priority of the downlink transmission is lower than a priority of the uplink transmission, drop the downlink transmission.

In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to: transmit DCI indicating an index of a BWP, the index of the BWP indicated by the DCI being different from an index in the set of indexes of the set of BWPs indicated by the configuration; and perform a transmission on the BWP indicated by the DCI.

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.

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. 1 to 6. 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.

Claims

A method of communication, comprising:

determining, at a terminal device, a set of slots associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback for a set of downlink data transmissions;

in accordance with a determination that a slot in the set of slots is associated with a full duplex mode, constructing a HARQ codebook comprising the HARQ feedback by determining presence or absence of a set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook; and

transmitting the HARQ codebook to a network device on an uplink control channel.
The method of claim 1, wherein constructing the HARQ codebook comprises:

determining the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook by handling the slot as a downlink slot or a flexible slot associated with a half duplex mode.
The method of claim 1, wherein constructing the HARQ codebook comprises:

determining the absence of the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook by handling the slot as an uplink slot associated with a half duplex mode.
The method of claim 1, wherein constructing the HARQ codebook comprises:

determining whether the slot is handled as a downlink slot or an uplink slot or a flexible slot associated with a half duplex mode;

in accordance with a determination that the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the flexible slot, determining the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook; and

in accordance with a determination that the slot is handled as the uplink slot, determining the absence of the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook.
The method of claim 4, wherein determine whether the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the uplink slot or the flexible slot comprises:

receiving a reference time division duplex (TDD) configuration for the set of slots; and

determining, based on the reference TDD configuration, whether the slot associated with the full duplex mode is handled as the downlink slot or the uplink slot or the flexible slot.
The method of claim 4, wherein determine whether the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the uplink slot or the flexible slot comprises:

receiving an indication indicating that whether at least a part of slots associated with the full duplex mode within a HARQ multiplexing window are handled as downlink slots or uplink slots or flexible slots; and

determining, based on the indication, whether the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the uplink slot or the flexible slot.
The method of claim 6, wherein receiving the indication comprises:

receiving the indication in downlink control information (DCI) ; or

receiving the indication in a radio resource control (RRC) configuration.
The method of claim 7, wherein the DCI is the last DCI for scheduling the transmission of the HARQ feedback on the uplink control channel.
The method of claim 4, wherein determine whether the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the uplink slot or the flexible slot comprises:

receiving, from the network device, an indication indicating a mapping between indexes of slots associated with the full duplex mode and types of sub-bands available for the slots;

in accordance with a determination that a type of a sub-band corresponding to an index of the slot is a downlink sub-band or a flexible sub-band, determining that the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the flexible slot; and

in accordance with a determination that the type of the sub-band is an uplink sub-band, determining that the slot is handled as the uplink slot.
The method of claim 9, wherein receiving the indication comprises:

receiving downlink control information (DCI) comprising the indication; or

receiving a radio resource control (RRC) configuration comprising the indication.
The method of claim 1, wherein determining the set of slots comprises:

receiving, from the network device, a configuration indicating whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for a single duplex mode or multiple duplex modes;

in accordance with a determination that the HARQ codebook is constructed for the single duplex mode, determining whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode or a half duplex mode;

in accordance with a determination that the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode, determining the set of slots based on a configured set of timing values by skipping a set of slots associated with the half duplex mode; and

in accordance with a determination that the HARQ codebook is constructed for the half duplex mode, determining the set of slots based on the configured set of timing values by skipping a set of slots associated with the full duplex mode.
The method of claim 11, wherein determining whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode or the half duplex mode comprises:

determining a duplex mode associated with a slot at which a downlink data transmission in the set of downlink data transmissions is received; and

determining, based on the duplex mode, whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode or the half duplex mode.
The method of claim 11, wherein determining whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode or the half duplex mode comprises:

determining a duplex mode by an indication in downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the transmission of the HARQ codebook on the uplink control channel; and

determining, based on the duplex mode, whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for the full duplex mode or the half duplex mode.
The method of claim 1, wherein constructing the HARQ codebook comprises:

receiving, from the network device, an indication indicating a duplex mode used for the construction of the HARQ codebook; and

constructing the HARQ codebook based on the number of HARQ processes associated with the duplex mode.
The method of claim 14, wherein receiving the indication comprises:

receiving the indication in downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the transmission of the HARQ codebook on the uplink control channel.
The method of claim 15, wherein receiving the indication in the DCI comprises:

in accordance with a determination that the DCI is scrambled by a first identity of the terminal device, determining that the indication indicates a half duplex mode; or

in accordance with a determination that the DCI is scrambled by a second identity of the terminal device, determining that the indication indicates a full duplex mode, the second identity being different from the first identity.
The method of claim 1, wherein constructing the HARQ codebook comprises:

constructing a first sub-codebook based on the number of HARQ processes associated with a half duplex mode;

constructing a second sub-codebook based on the number of HARQ processes associated with a full duplex mode; and

concatenating the first sub-codebook with the second sub-codebook.
A method of communication, comprising:

receiving, at a terminal device and from a network device, a configuration indicating a mapping between an index of a slot and a set of indexes of a set of bandwidth parts (BWPs) available for the slot; and

performing a BWP switching among slots associated with different duplex modes based on the configuration.
The method of claim 18, wherein the configuration further indicates a delay of the BWP switching associated with the index of the slot.
The method of claim 18, further comprising:

in accordance with a determination that no BWP is indicated in downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling a data transmission, performing the data transmission by using a reference BWP; and

in accordance with a determination that a BWP is indicated in the DCI for scheduling the data transmission, performing the data transmission by using the indicated BWP.
The method of claim 18, further comprising:

in accordance with a determination that an uplink transmission in an uplink BWP associated with a first slot is overlapped with a downlink transmission in a downlink BWP associated with the first slot, the uplink transmission being scheduled at a second slot, the downlink transmission being scheduled at a third slot,

in accordance with a determination that the second slot is earlier than the third slot, dropping the uplink transmission; and

in accordance with a determination that the third slot is earlier than the second slot, stopping receiving the downlink transmission.
The method of claim 18, further comprising:

in accordance with a determination that an uplink transmission in an uplink BWP associated with a first slot is overlapped with a downlink transmission in a downlink BWP associated with the first slot,

in accordance with a determination that a priority of the uplink transmission is lower than a priority of the downlink transmission, dropping the uplink transmission; and

in accordance with a determination that a priority of the downlink transmission is lower than a priority of the uplink transmission, stopping receiving the downlink transmission.
The method of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving downlink control information (DCI) indicating an index of a BWP; and

in accordance with a determination that the index of the BWP indicated by the DCI is different from an index in the set of indexes of the set of BWPs indicated by the configuration, performing a transmission on the BWP indicated by the DCI.
A communication method, comprising:

receiving, at a network device and from a terminal device, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) codebook on an uplink control channel, the HARQ codebook comprising a HARQ feedback for a set of downlink data transmissions; and

in accordance with a determination that a slot in a set of slots associated with the HARQ feedback is associated with a full duplex mode, determining the HARQ feedback from the HARQ codebook by determining presence or absence of a set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook.
The method of claim 24, wherein determining the HARQ feedback comprises:

determining the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook by handling the slot as a downlink slot or a flexible slot associated with a half duplex mode.
The method of claim 24, wherein determining the HARQ feedback comprises:

determining the absence of the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook by handling the slot as an uplink slot associated with a half duplex mode.
The method of claim 24, wherein determining the HARQ feedback comprises:

determining whether the slot is handled as a downlink slot or an uplink slot or a flexible slot associated with a half duplex mode;

in accordance with a determination that the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the flexible slot, determining the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook; and

in accordance with a determination that the slot is handled as the uplink slot, determining the absence of the set of HARQ positions for the slot in the HARQ codebook.
The method of claim 27, further comprising:

transmitting, to the terminal device, a reference time division duplex (TDD) configuration for the set of slots.
The method of claim 27, further comprising:

transmitting, to the terminal device, an indication indicating that whether at least a part of slots associated with the full duplex mode within a HARQ multiplexing window are handled as downlink slots or uplink slots or flexible slots.
The method of claim 29, wherein transmitting the indication comprises:

transmitting the indication in downlink control information (DCI) ; or

transmitting the indication in a radio resource control (RRC) configuration.
The method of claim 30, wherein the DCI is the last DCI for scheduling the transmission of the HARQ feedback on the uplink control channel.
The method of claim 27, wherein determining whether the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the uplink slot or the flexible slot comprises:

in accordance with a determination that a type of a sub-band corresponding to an index of the slot is a downlink sub-band or a flexible sub-band, determining that the slot is handled as the downlink slot or the flexible slot; and

in accordance with a determination that the type of the sub-band is an uplink sub-band, determining that the slot is handled as the uplink slot.
The method of claim 27, further comprising:

transmitting, to the terminal device, an indication indicating a mapping between indexes of slots associated with the full duplex mode and types of sub-bands available for the slots.
The method of claim 33, wherein transmitting the indication comprises:

transmitting downlink control information (DCI) comprising the indication; or

transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) configuration comprising the indication.
The method of claim 24, further comprising:

transmitting, to the terminal device, a configuration indicating whether the HARQ codebook is constructed for a single duplex mode or multiple duplex modes.
The method of claim 35, wherein the single duplex mode corresponds to a duplex mode associated with a slot at which a downlink data transmission in the set of downlink data transmissions is transmitted or a duplex mode associated with a slot at which downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the transmission of the HARQ codebook on the uplink control channel is transmitted.
The method of claim 24, further comprising:

transmitting, to the terminal device, an indication indicating a duplex mode used for the construction of the HARQ codebook.
The method of claim 37, wherein transmitting the indication comprises:

transmitting the indication in downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the transmission of the HARQ codebook on the uplink control channel.
The method of claim 38, wherein transmitting the indication in the DCI comprises:

in accordance with a determination that the indication indicates a half duplex mode, scrambling the DCI by a first identity of the terminal device; or

in accordance with a determination that the indication indicates a full duplex mode, scrambling the DCI by a second identity of the terminal device, the second identity being different from the first identity.
The method of claim 24, wherein receiving the HARQ codebook comprises:

receiving a first sub-codebook and a second sub-codebook, the first sub-codebook concatenating with the second sub-codebook, the first sub-codebook being based on the number of HARQ processes associated with a half duplex mode, the second sub-codebook being based on the number of HARQ processes associated with a full duplex mode.
A method of communication, comprising:

transmitting, from a network device and to a terminal device, a configuration indicating a mapping between an index of a slot and a set of indexes of a set of bandwidth parts (BWPs) available for the slot; and

performing a BWP switching among slots associated with different duplex modes based on the configuration.
The method of claim 41, wherein the configuration further indicates a delay of the BWP switching associated with the index of the slot.
The method of claim 41, further comprising:

in accordance with a determination that no BWP is indicated in downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling a data transmission, performing the data transmission by using a reference BWP; and

in accordance with a determination that a BWP is indicated in the DCI for scheduling the data transmission, performing the data transmission by using the indicated BWP.
The method of claim 41, further comprising:

in accordance with a determination that an uplink transmission in an uplink BWP associated with a first slot is overlapped with a downlink transmission in a downlink BWP associated with the first slot, the uplink transmission being scheduled at a second slot, the downlink transmission being scheduled at a third slot,

in accordance with a determination that the second slot is earlier than the third slot, stopping receiving the uplink transmission; and

in accordance with a determination that the third slot is earlier than the second slot, dropping the downlink transmission.
The method of claim 41, further comprising:

in accordance with a determination that an uplink transmission in an uplink BWP associated with a first slot is overlapped with a downlink transmission in a downlink BWP associated with the first slot,

in accordance with a determination that a priority of the uplink transmission is lower than a priority of the downlink transmission, stopping receiving the uplink transmission; and

in accordance with a determination that a priority of the downlink transmission is lower than a priority of the uplink transmission, dropping the downlink transmission.
The method of claim 41, further comprising:

transmitting downlink control information (DCI) indicating an index of a BWP, the index of the BWP indicated by the DCI being different from an index in the set of indexes of the set of BWPs indicated by the configuration; and

performing a transmission on the BWP indicated by the DCI.
A device of communication, comprising:

a processor configured to perform the method according to any of claims 1 to 17 or any of claims 18 to 23.
A device of communication, comprising:

a processor configured to perform the method according to any of claims 24 to 40 or any of claims 41 to 46.