WO2023213302A1

WO2023213302A1 - Methods and constraints for ue configuration in subband-fullduplex network

Info

Publication number: WO2023213302A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/092308
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jozsef Gabor NEMETH; Mohammed S Aleabe AL-IMARI; Timothy Frost; Lung-Sheng Tsai; Francesc Boixadera-Espax
Original assignee: MediaTek Singapore Pte Ltd
Current assignee: MediaTek Singapore Pte Ltd
Priority date: 2022-05-06
Filing date: 2023-05-05
Publication date: 2023-11-09
Anticipated expiration: 2024-11-06
Also published as: TW202349907A

Abstract

Techniques pertaining to methods and constraints for user equipment (UE) in subband-fullduplex (SBFD) networks are described. A UE communicates in a SBFD radio access network (RAN) and performs either or both of: (1) restricting flexibility in frequency-domain subband partitioning within one or more symbols or slots with respect to either or both of an allowed number of subbands and an allowed number of partitioning configurations; and (2) reusing flexibility guard bands (GBs) in resource allocations when a link direction of a subband or cluster of a symbol or slot is switched from one of uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) directions to another of the UL and DL directions such that all subbands or clusters of the symbol or slot are used in a same link direction.

Description

METHODS AND CONSTRAINTS FOR UE CONFIGURATION IN SUBBAND-FULLDUPLEX NETWORK

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION (S)

The present disclosure is part of a non-provisional application claiming the priority benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 63/338,907, filed 06 May 2022, the content of which herein being incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is generally related to mobile communications and, more particularly, to methods and constraints for user equipment (UE) configuration in subband-fullduplex (SBFD) networks.

BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise indicated herein, approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims listed below and are not admitted as prior art by inclusion in this section.

In wireless communications, such as mobile communications under the 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specification (s) for 5^th Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) , in non-overlapping SBFD radio access network (RAN) deployments, a time-division duplex (TDD) carrier is portioned into uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) subbands where different half-duplex UEs can transmit and receive concurrently. The intra-cell and inter-site interferences include gNB self-interference and cross-link interferences (CLIs) . The CLIs include gNB/DL-to-gNB-UL and UE/UL-to-UE/DL. Suppression of one or another type of interference would require a frequency guard band (GB) between UL and DL subbands within partitioned symbols and slots. However, there remain some issues that need to be addressed.

One issue is that scheduling constraints with respect to GB sizes need to be defined. Another issue is that enhanced UE may be required to achieve a certain level of isolation from UL subband transmission of an aggressor UE to the ongoing reception in the DL subband. A further issue is that, if the link direction in a subband of a particular symbol or slot can flip from UL to DL, or vice versa (e.g., due to dynamic scheduling) , then all subbands are used in the same link direction. As such, it is an open issue as to whether these GBs ought to be maintained or could be allocated to transmission or reception. In other words, whether the scheduling in this case behaves the same as that for non-partitioned symbols/slots is an issue that needs to be addressed. Therefore, there is a need for a solution of methods and constraints for UE configuration in SBFD networks.

SUMMARY

The following summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be limiting in any way. That is, the following summary is provided to introduce concepts, highlights, benefits and advantages of the novel and non-obvious techniques described herein. Select implementations are further described below in the detailed description. Thus, the following summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended for use in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

An objective of the present disclosure is to propose solutions or schemes that address the issue (s) described herein. More specifically, various schemes proposed in the present disclosure are believed to provide solutions involving methods and constraints for UE configuration in SBFD networks. For instance, some of the proposed schemes in accordance with the present disclosure aim to restrict the flexibility in frequency-domain partitioning, with respect to the allowed number of subbands and the allowed number of partitioning configurations, respectively. Some other proposed schemes in accordance with the present disclosure aim to reuse the GB for allocations when a link direction in a subband of a particular symbol or slot flips from UL to DL, or vice versa, in such a way that all subbands are used in the same link direction (e.g., as if the slot/symbol was not partitioned) .

In one aspect, a method may involve a UE communicating in a SBFD. The method may also involve the UE restricting flexibility in frequency-domain subband partitioning within one or more symbols or slots with respect to either or both of an allowed number of subbands and an allowed number of partitioning configurations.

In another aspect, a method may involve a UE communicating in a SBFD. The method may also involve the UE reusing flexibility GBs in resource allocations when a link direction of a subband or cluster of a symbol or slot is switched from one of UL and DL directions to another of the UL and DL directions such that all subbands or clusters of the symbol or slot are used in a same link direction.

In another aspect, an apparatus implementable in an application server side network may include a transceiver and a processor coupled to the transceiver. The transceiver may be configured to communicate wirelessly. The processor may communicate in a SBFD RAN and perform either or both of: (1) restricting flexibility in frequency-domain subband partitioning within one or more symbols or slots with respect to either or both of an allowed number of subbands and an allowed number of partitioning configurations; and (2) reusing flexibility GBs in resource allocations when a link direction of a subband or cluster of a symbol or slot is switched from one of UL and DL directions to another of the UL and DL directions such that all subbands or clusters of the symbol or slot are used in a same link direction.

It is noteworthy that, although description provided herein may be in the context of certain radio access technologies, networks and network topologies such as 5G/NR mobile communications, the proposed concepts, schemes and any variation (s) /derivative (s) thereof may be implemented in, for and by other types of radio access technologies, networks and network topologies such as, for example and without limitation, Long-Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced, LTE-Advanced Pro, Internet-of-Things (IoT) , Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) , Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) , vehicle-to-everything (V2X) , and non-terrestrial network (NTN) communications. Thus, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the examples described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of the present disclosure. The drawings illustrate implementations of the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. It is appreciable that the drawings are not necessarily in scale as some components may be shown to be out of proportion than the size in actual implementation in order to clearly illustrate the concept of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example network environment in which various proposed schemes in accordance with the present disclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an example scenario under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an example scenario under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an example scenario under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example communication system in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an example process in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an example process in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED IMPLEMENTATIONS

Detailed embodiments and implementations of the claimed subject matters are disclosed herein. However, it shall be understood that the disclosed embodiments and implementations are merely illustrative of the claimed subject matters which may be embodied in various forms. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments and implementations set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments and implementations are provided so that description of the present disclosure is thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. In the description below, details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments and implementations.

Overview

Implementations in accordance with the present disclosure relate to various techniques, methods, schemes and/or solutions pertaining to methods and constraints for UE configuration in SBFD networks. According to the present disclosure, a number of possible solutions may be implemented separately or jointly. That is, although these possible solutions may be described below separately, two or more of these possible solutions may be implemented in one combination or another.

In the present disclosure, the term “subband” or “cluster” may refer to a contiguous set of resource blocks (RBs) sharing the same link direction. The term “group of RBs” or “RB set” may refer to a set of contiguous RBs within a carrier and should be distinguished from the existing concept of “RB sets” in Release 17 (R17) of the 3GPP specification regarding New Radio unlicensed band (NR-U) , which are used in wideband operation over shared spectrum. The concept of cluster availability is based on listen-before-talk in R17 while, in R18, cluster availability for sending or receiving is based on a periodic subband layout pattern. In R17, all UEs use the same cluster availability, whereas in R18, cluster configurations may be different per UE. Moreover, non-contiguous cluster operation is not allowed in R17, whereas in R18, non-contiguous cluster operation needs to be supported. Furthermore, in R18, it is assumed that there is co-existence of legacy UEs (time-division duplexing (TDD) ) and enhanced UEs (SBFD-aware) . The term “CLI” may refer to cross-link interference (e.g., UE/UL-to-UE/DL, gNB/DL-to-gNB/UL) . The term “SIC” may refer to self-interference cancellation on the gNB side. The term “CC” may refer to component carrier in the context of carrier aggregation (CA) or multi-carrier duplexing. The term “RateMatchPattern” may refer to a concept used by the 3GPP standard to define a frequency-time region and its repetitions (called a pattern) over the network resources that are excluded from those network resources used by a DL transmission scheduled in an overlapping region. To send the same payload over less resources, the coding rate needs to be matched. The term “active UE DL cluster” may refer to a cluster that is schedulable for a UE in a given slot when the UE is receiving. The term “active UE UL cluster” may refer to a cluster that is schedulable for a UE in a given slot when the UE is transmitting. The term “active UE cluster” may refer to any DL or UL cluster that is schedulable for the UE in a given slot.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network environment 100 in which various solutions and schemes in accordance with the present disclosure may be implemented. FIG. 2 ～ FIG. 7 illustrate examples of implementation of various proposed schemes in network environment 100 in accordance with the present disclosure. The following description of various proposed schemes is provided with reference to FIG. 1 ～ FIG. 7.

Referring to FIG. 1, network environment 100 may involve a UE 110 in wireless communication with a RAN 120 (e.g., a 5G NR mobile network or another type of network such as an NTN) . UE 110 may be in wireless communication with RAN 120 via a base station or network node 125 (e.g., an eNB, gNB or transmit-receive point (TRP) ) . RAN 120 may be a part of a network 130. In network environment 100, UE 110 and network 130 (via network node 125 of RAN 120) may implement various schemes pertaining to methods and constraints for UE configuration in SBFD networks, as described below. It is noteworthy that, although various proposed schemes, options and approaches may be described individually below, in actual applications these proposed schemes, options and approaches may be implemented separately or jointly. That is, in some cases, each of one or more of the proposed schemes, options and approaches may be implemented individually or separately. In other cases, some or all of the proposed schemes, options and approaches may be implemented jointly.

For a single component carrier (CC) in a licensed band, a UE can be configured with a single contiguous range of channel resource blocks (CRBs) for DL reception or UL transmission as determined by UE channel bandwidth and bandwidth part (BWP) configurations. According to a study on non-overlapping subband-wise full-duplexing in Release 18 (R18) of the 3GPP Technical Specification, a base station (e.g., gNB) can transmit and receive on non-overlapping frequency subbands in a given slot. The configuration of subbands applicable over a radio frame within the network/gNB is referred to as a subband layout. On the base station (BS) side, transmitting (Tx) and receiving (Rx) subband selectivity can reduce the DL-UL BS self-interference as well as BS-BW cross-link interferences. For maximum gain in latency, user perceived throughput and/or coverage when operating in a full-duplex deployment, new requirements may be necessary with respect to enhanced UEs. However, at present time, such requirements remain to be defined. For a legacy victim UE, depending on its DL BWP RB configuration with respect to an aggressor UE UL transmission RB, there may be two UE-UE CLI situations or cases. In a first case (Case 1) , the aggressor UL UE is transmitting in a stop-band of the victim UE receiver. Hence, the interference in the respective RBs is attenuated by an adjacent subband selectivity of the receiver (ASBS) . Either ASBS or the adjacent subband leakage ratio (ASBLR) may turn out to be worse. In a second case (Case 2) , the aggressor UL UE is transmitting in a pass-band of the victim UE receiver. Hence, the interference in the respective RBs is attenuated by in-cell selectivity of the receiver (ICS) . The in-channel selectivity may be the limiting factor, compared to adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) and/or ASBLR. The current 3GPP specification (e.g., in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.101-1) seems to suggest that adjacent channel selectivity (ACS) and ACLR should apply not only to carriers but also BWP, provided that the minimum GB requirements are met.

In general, a cluster is composed of a group of contiguous, schedulable RBs. As with BWP size, cluster size may be expressed in terms of the number of RBs that can be scheduled. Adjacent UL and DL clusters are separated by GBs, in a similar way as channels are. In the present disclosure, the term “subband” may interchangeably refer to “cluster” , but in certain contexts it may refer to the bandwidth including GBs as well (e.g., when reference is made to the nominal channel bandwidths) .

In the various proposed schemes of the present disclosure, for legacy UEs, UE channel configuration or BWP configuration may be used to determine the selected cluster. However, transmission (Tx) and reception (Rx) selectivity may only be assumed if standard channel sizes are selected. Therefore, network configurations may be constrained to ensure that Tx and RX inter-subband selectivity can be assumed for legacy UEs operating in the cell. Enhanced UEs may or may not support the case in which multiple clusters are active in a specific link direction in a specific slot. For enhanced UEs, new methods may be devised for cluster configuration. One extreme may be that the cluster only selects a group of RBs (e.g., single/multiple RB sets) . The other extreme may be that the cluster also has attributes that govern allocations similarly as with attributes of a BWP (e.g., single/multiple active BWPs) . Other solutions between the two extremes may be utilized. Moreover, the network and enhanced UEs may need to support fast reconfiguration of subband partitions between subsequent slots.

Under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure with respect to subband layout configuration, on initial access, master information block (MIB) -defined DL BWP may be used as an initial DL subband. Under the proposed scheme, a system information block (e.g., SIB1) may be utilized to support configuration of multiple clusters. Alternatively, or additionally, UE-specific radio resource control (RRC) configuration may be utilized to support configuration of multiple clusters.

Under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure, a number of inter-subband GBs and/or distributed active clusters in a DL or UL BWP of a UE may be limited by the 3GPP specification and/or by UE capability reporting. For instance, the same limit on the number of GBs may apply to both DL and UL transmissions. Alternatively, or additionally, the same limit on the number of distributed clusters may apply to both DL and UL transmissions. Alternatively, or additionally, the limit may apply on the number of distributed DL and UL active clusters. Alternatively, or additionally, a set of subband layouts (with parametrized subband sizes) may be predefined in the 3GPP standard.

Under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure, a number of GB frequency positions within a periodic subband layout pattern and/or a change of GB frequency positions between two adjacent slots may be restricted by the 3GPP specification and/or UE capability reporting. For instance, the number of inter-subband GB positions may be limited to 1 (not counting the GBs on the channel edges) . Alternatively, or additionally, the inter-subband GB (s) may be enabled and disabled between adjacent slots but may not move or change in frequency.

It is noteworthy that, in case that a cluster is simply a group of RBs in a CRB-to-PRB mapping, then the aggregation of such group of RBs may freely be done as it is transparent to scheduling. Alternatively, clusters may be non-transparent to scheduling and additional rules may be required to aggregate respective allocations. Under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure, in case of localized clusters, a group of schedulable RBs may be joined in case their GBs fully overlap with the aggregated schedulable RBs. Under another proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure, localized clusters may be formed from adjacent clusters separated by GBs when their link direction are (or change from one slot to another) identical (e.g., both DL or both UL) by replacing these GBs with schedulable RBs.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example scenario 200 under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure. Each of parts (A) , (B) and (C) of FIG. 2 shows an example of clusters or sets of RBs for DL and UL transmissions. Each of parts (B) and (C) of FIG. 2 also shows use of GBs. In scenario 200, it may be assumed that the same subband layout may repeat in each radio frame. Under the proposed scheme, a UE configuration method may involve enabling and/or disabling clusters in each slot, and localized clusters may be applied where the entire bandwidth is available to DL or UL transmissions exclusively. With localized clusters, all the RBs may become available for scheduling, and receiver filtering may protect the aggregate cluster. Notably, there may be a maximum of two GBs in each slot of the pattern, and their positions do not change across slots where they are in effect.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example scenario 300 under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure. In scenario 300, GBs may lose their effect in that they are no longer in effect between localized clusters. This may effectively involve the BS receiver filter switched and a single fast Fourier transform (FFT) used. Minimum GB constraints may need to be met for the increased bandwidth, too.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example scenario 400 under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure. In scenario 400, GBs may lose their effect in that they are no longer in effect between localized clusters. The in-between GBs may be merged into RBs that can be allocated. The BS receiver filter needs to be switched and the FFT size needs to be updated. Minimum GB constraints may need to be met for the increased bandwidth, too.

Illustrative Implementations

FIG. 5 illustrates an example communication system 500 having at least an example apparatus 510 and an example apparatus 520 in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure. Each of apparatus 510 and apparatus 520 may perform various functions to implement schemes, techniques, processes and methods described herein pertaining to methods and constraints for UE configuration in SBFD networks, including the various schemes described above with respect to various proposed designs, concepts, schemes, systems and methods described above, including network environment 100, as well as processes described below.

Each of apparatus 510 and apparatus 520 may be a part of an electronic apparatus, which may be a network apparatus or a UE (e.g., UE 110) , such as a portable or mobile apparatus, a wearable apparatus, a vehicular device or a vehicle, a wireless communication apparatus or a computing apparatus. For instance, each of apparatus 510 and apparatus 520 may be implemented in a smartphone, a smart watch, a personal digital assistant, an electronic control unit (ECU) in a vehicle, a digital camera, or a computing equipment such as a tablet computer, a laptop computer or a notebook computer. Each of apparatus 510 and apparatus 520 may also be a part of a machine type apparatus, which may be an IoT apparatus such as an immobile or a stationary apparatus, a home apparatus, a roadside unit (RSU) , a wire communication apparatus or a computing apparatus. For instance, each of apparatus 510 and apparatus 520 may be implemented in a smart thermostat, a smart fridge, a smart door lock, a wireless speaker or a home control center. When implemented in or as a network apparatus, apparatus 510 and/or apparatus 520 may be implemented in an eNodeB in an LTE, LTE-Advanced or LTE-Advanced Pro network or in a gNB or TRP in a 5G network, an NR network or an IoT network.

In some implementations, each of apparatus 510 and apparatus 520 may be implemented in the form of one or more integrated-circuit (IC) chips such as, for example and without limitation, one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more complex-instruction-set-computing (CISC) processors, or one or more reduced-instruction-set-computing (RISC) processors. In the various schemes described above, each of apparatus 510 and apparatus 520 may be implemented in or as a network apparatus or a UE. Each of apparatus 510 and apparatus 520 may include at least some of those components shown in FIG. 5 such as a processor 512 and a processor 522, respectively, for example. Each of apparatus 510 and apparatus 520 may further include one or more other components not pertinent to the proposed scheme of the present disclosure (e.g., internal power supply, display device and/or user interface device) , and, thus, such component (s) of apparatus 510 and apparatus 520 are neither shown in FIG. 5 nor described below in the interest of simplicity and brevity.

In one aspect, each of processor 512 and processor 522 may be implemented in the form of one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, or one or more CISC or RISC processors. That is, even though a singular term “aprocessor” is used herein to refer to processor 512 and processor 522, each of processor 512 and processor 522 may include multiple processors in some implementations and a single processor in other implementations in accordance with the present disclosure. In another aspect, each of processor 512 and processor 522 may be implemented in the form of hardware (and, optionally, firmware) with electronic components including, for example and without limitation, one or more transistors, one or more diodes, one or more capacitors, one or more resistors, one or more inductors, one or more memristors and/or one or more varactors that are configured and arranged to achieve specific purposes in accordance with the present disclosure. In other words, in at least some implementations, each of processor 512 and processor 522 is a special-purpose machine specifically designed, arranged and configured to perform specific tasks including those pertaining to methods and constraints for UE configuration in SBFD networks in accordance with various implementations of the present disclosure.

In some implementations, apparatus 510 may also include a transceiver 516 coupled to processor 512. Transceiver 516 may be capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data. In some implementations, transceiver 516 may be capable of wirelessly communicating with different types of wireless networks of different radio access technologies (RATs) . In some implementations, transceiver 516 may be equipped with a plurality of antenna ports (not shown) such as, for example, four antenna ports. That is, transceiver 516 may be equipped with multiple transmit antennas and multiple receive antennas for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communications. In some implementations, apparatus 520 may also include a transceiver 526 coupled to processor 522. Transceiver 526 may include a transceiver capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data. In some implementations, transceiver 526 may be capable of wirelessly communicating with different types of UEs/wireless networks of different RATs. In some implementations, transceiver 526 may be equipped with a plurality of antenna ports (not shown) such as, for example, four antenna ports. That is, transceiver 526 may be equipped with multiple transmit antennas and multiple receive antennas for MIMO wireless communications.

In some implementations, apparatus 510 may further include a memory 514 coupled to processor 512 and capable of being accessed by processor 512 and storing data therein. In some implementations, apparatus 520 may further include a memory 524 coupled to processor 522 and capable of being accessed by processor 522 and storing data therein. Each of memory 514 and memory 524 may include a type of random-access memory (RAM) such as dynamic RAM (DRAM) , static RAM (SRAM) , thyristor RAM (T-RAM) and/or zero-capacitor RAM (Z-RAM) . Alternatively, or additionally, each of memory 514 and memory 524 may include a type of read-only memory (ROM) such as mask ROM, programmable ROM (PROM) , erasable programmable ROM (EPROM) and/or electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) . Alternatively, or additionally, each of memory 514 and memory 524 may include a type of non-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM) such as flash memory, solid-state memory, ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) , magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) and/or phase-change memory.

Each of apparatus 510 and apparatus 520 may be a communication entity capable of communicating with each other using various proposed schemes in accordance with the present disclosure. For illustrative purposes and without limitation, a description of capabilities of apparatus 510, as a UE (e.g., UE 110) , and apparatus 520, as a network node (e.g., network node 125) of a network (e.g., network 130 as a 5G/NR mobile network) , is provided below.

Under various proposed schemes in accordance with the present disclosure pertaining to methods and constraints for UE configuration in SBFD networks, processor 512 of apparatus 510, implemented in or as UE 110, may communicate, via transceiver 516, in a SBFD RAN of a network (e.g., network 130 via apparatus 520 as network node 125) . Moreover, processor 512 may restrict, via transceiver 516, flexibility in frequency-domain subband partitioning within one or more symbols or slots with respect to either or both of an allowed number of subbands and an allowed number of partitioning configurations.

In some implementations, in restricting, processor 512 may restrict either or both of the following: (a) a number of inter-subband GBs; and (b) one or more distributed active clusters in a DL or UL BWP of the UE. In some implementations, a same limit on the number of inter-subband GBs may be applied in both DL and UL directions. Alternatively, or additionally, a same limit on a number of the one or more distributed active clusters may be applied in both DL and UL directions. Alternatively, or additionally, in restricting the one or more distributed active clusters, processor 512 may apply a limit on a number of distributed DL and UL active clusters. Alternatively, or additionally, in restricting, process 600 may involve processor 512 restricting based on a predefined set of subband layouts.

In some implementations, in restricting, processor 512 may restrict either or both of the following: (a) a number of GB frequency positions within a periodic subband layout pattern; and (b) a change of the GB frequency positions between two adjacent slots. In some implementations, in restricting, processor 512 may restrict a number of inter-subband GB positions to 1. In some implementations, in restricting, processor 512 may enable one or more inter-subband GB positions between adjacent slots. Alternatively, in restricting, processor 512 may disable one or more inter-subband GB positions between adjacent slots.

Under other proposed schemes in accordance with the present disclosure pertaining to methods and constraints for UE configuration in SBFD networks, processor 512 of apparatus 510, implemented in or as UE 110, may communicate, via transceiver 516, in a SBFD RAN of a network (e.g., network 130 via apparatus 520 as network node 125) . Furthermore, processor 512 may reuse, via transceiver 516, GBs in resource allocations when a link direction of a subband or cluster of a symbol or slot is switched from one of UL and DL directions to another of the UL and DL directions such that all subbands or clusters of the symbol or slot are used in a same link direction. A group of resource blocks RBs in the subband or cluster may be aggregated.

In some implementations, a group of schedulable RBs may be joined responsive to respective GBs of the group of schedulable RBs fully overlap with aggregated schedulable RBs of localized clusters.

In some implementations, localized clusters may be formed from adjacent clusters separated by respective GBs responsive to respective link direction being identical by replacing the respective GBs with schedulable RBs.

Illustrative Processes

FIG. 6 illustrates an example process 600 in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure. Process 600 may represent an aspect of implementing various proposed designs, concepts, schemes, systems and methods described above, whether partially or entirely, including those pertaining to those described above. More specifically, process 600 may represent an aspect of the proposed concepts and schemes pertaining to methods and constraints for UE configuration in SBFD networks. Process 600 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as illustrated by one or more of blocks 610 and 620. Although illustrated as discrete blocks, various blocks of process 600 may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. Moreover, the blocks/sub-blocks of process 600 may be executed in the order shown in FIG. 6 or, alternatively in a different order. Furthermore, one or more of the blocks/sub-blocks of process 600 may be executed iteratively. Process 600 may be implemented by or in apparatus 510 and apparatus 520 as well as any variations thereof. Solely for illustrative purposes and without limiting the scope, process 600 is described below in the context of apparatus 510 as a UE (e.g., UE 110) and apparatus 520 as a communication entity such as a network node or base station (e.g., network node 125 network node 125) of a network (e.g., network 130 as a 5G/NR mobile network) . Process 600 may begin at block 610.

At 610, process 600 may involve processor 512 of apparatus 510 communicating, via transceiver 516, in a SBFD RAN of a network (e.g., network 130 via apparatus 520 as network node 125) . Process 600 may proceed from 610 to 620.

At 620, process 600 may involve processor 512 restricting, via transceiver 516, flexibility in frequency-domain subband partitioning within one or more symbols or slots with respect to either or both of an allowed number of subbands and an allowed number of partitioning configurations.

In some implementations, in restricting, process 600 may involve processor 512 restricting either or both of the following: (a) a number of inter-subband GBs; and (b) one or more distributed active clusters in a DL or UL BWP of the UE. In some implementations, a same limit on the number of inter-subband GBs may be applied in both DL and UL directions. Alternatively, or additionally, a same limit on a number of the one or more distributed active clusters may be applied in both DL and UL directions. Alternatively, or additionally, in restricting the one or more distributed active clusters, process 600 may involve processor 512 applying a limit on a number of distributed DL and UL active clusters. Alternatively, or additionally, in restricting, process 600 may involve processor 512 restricting based on a predefined set of subband layouts.

In some implementations, in restricting, process 600 may involve processor 512 restricting either or both of the following: (a) a number of GB frequency positions within a periodic subband layout pattern; and (b) a change of the GB frequency positions between two adjacent slots. In some implementations, in restricting, process 600 may involve processor 512 restricting a number of inter-subband GB positions to 1. In some implementations, in restricting, process 600 may involve processor 512 enabling one or more inter-subband GB positions between adjacent slots. Alternatively, in restricting, process 600 may involve processor 512 disabling one or more inter-subband GB positions between adjacent slots.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example process 700 in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure. Process 700 may represent an aspect of implementing various proposed designs, concepts, schemes, systems and methods described above, whether partially or entirely, including those pertaining to those described above. More specifically, process 700 may represent an aspect of the proposed concepts and schemes pertaining to methods and constraints for UE configuration in SBFD networks. Process 700 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as illustrated by one or more of blocks 710 and 720. Although illustrated as discrete blocks, various blocks of process 700 may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. Moreover, the blocks/sub-blocks of process 700 may be executed in the order shown in FIG. 7 or, alternatively in a different order. Furthermore, one or more of the blocks/sub-blocks of process 700 may be executed iteratively. Process 700 may be implemented by or in apparatus 510 and apparatus 520 as well as any variations thereof. Solely for illustrative purposes and without limiting the scope, process 700 is described below in the context of apparatus 510 as a UE (e.g., UE 110) and apparatus 520 as a communication entity such as a network node or base station (e.g., network node 125 network node 125) of a network (e.g., network 130 as a 5G/NR mobile network) . Process 700 may begin at block 710.

At 710, process 700 may involve processor 512 of apparatus 510 communicating, via transceiver 516, in a SBFD RAN of a network (e.g., network 130 via apparatus 520 as network node 125) . Process 700 may proceed from 710 to 720.

At 720, process 700 may involve processor 512 reusing, via transceiver 516, GBs in resource allocations when a link direction of a subband or cluster of a symbol or slot is switched from one of UL and DL directions to another of the UL and DL directions such that all subbands or clusters of the symbol or slot are used in a same link direction. A group of resource blocks RBs in the subband or cluster may be aggregated.

Additional Notes

The herein-described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components contained within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely examples, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively "associated" such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as "associated with" each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being "operably connected" , or "operably coupled" , to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being "operably couplable" , to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components.

Further, with respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

Moreover, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims, e.g., bodies of the appended claims, are generally intended as “open” terms, e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to, ” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least, ” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to, ” etc. It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to implementations containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an, " e.g., “a” and/or “an” should be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more; ” the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number, e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations, " without other modifiers, means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations. Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc. ” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention, e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc. In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc. ” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention, e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc. It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “Aand B. ”

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various implementations of the present disclosure have been described herein for purposes of illustration, and that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the various implementations disclosed herein are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

Claims

A method, comprising:

communicating, by a processor of a user equipment (UE) , in a subband-fullduplex (SBFD) radio access network (RAN) ; and

restricting, by the processor, flexibility in frequency-domain subband partitioning within one or more symbols or slots with respect to either or both of an allowed number of subbands and an allowed number of partitioning configurations.
The method of Claim 1, wherein the restricting comprises restricting either or both of:

a number of inter-subband guard bands (GBs) ; and

one or more distributed active clusters in a downlink (DL) or uplink (UL) bandwidth part (BWP) of the UE.
The method of Claim 2, wherein a same limit on the number of inter-subband GBs is applied in both DL and UL directions.
The method of Claim 2, wherein a same limit on a number of the one or more distributed active clusters is applied in both DL and UL directions.
The method of Claim 2, wherein the restricting of the one or more distributed active clusters comprises applying a limit on a number of distributed DL and UL active clusters.
The method of Claim 2, wherein the restricting comprises restricting based on a predefined set of subband layouts.
The method of Claim 1, wherein the restricting comprises restricting either or both of:

a number of guard band (GB) frequency positions within a periodic subband layout pattern; and

a change of the GB frequency positions between two adjacent slots.
The method of Claim 7, wherein the restricting comprises restricting a number of inter-subband GB positions to 1.
The method of Claim 7, wherein the restricting comprises enabling one or more inter-subband GB positions between adjacent slots.
The method of Claim 7, wherein the restricting comprises disabling one or more inter-subband GB positions between adjacent slots.
A method, comprising:

communicating, by a processor of a user equipment (UE) , in a subband-fullduplex (SBFD) radio access network (RAN) ; and

reusing, by the processor, guard bands (GBs) in resource allocations when a link direction of a subband or cluster of a symbol or slot is switched from one of uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) directions to another of the UL and DL directions such that all subbands or clusters of the symbol or slot are used in a same link direction,

wherein a group of resource blocks (RBs) in the subband or cluster are aggregated.
The method of Claim 11, wherein a group of schedulable RBs are joined responsive to respective GBs of the group of schedulable RBs fully overlap with aggregated schedulable RBs of localized clusters.
The method of Claim 11, wherein localized clusters are formed from adjacent clusters separated by respective GBs responsive to respective link direction being identical by replacing the respective GBs with schedulable RBs.
An apparatus implementable in a user equipment (UE) , comprising:

a transceiver configured to communicate wirelessly; and

a processor coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform, via the transceiver, operations comprising:

communicating in a subband-fullduplex (SBFD) radio access network (RAN) ; and

performing either or both of:

restricting flexibility in frequency-domain subband partitioning within one or more symbols or slots with respect to either or both of an allowed number of subbands and an allowed number of partitioning configurations; and

reusing guard bands (GBs) in resource allocations when a link direction of a subband or cluster of a symbol or slot is switched from one of uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) directions to another of the UL and DL directions such that all subbands or clusters of the symbol or slot are used in a same link direction,

wherein a group of resource blocks (RBs) in the subband or cluster are aggregated.
The apparatus of Claims 14, wherein the restricting comprises restricting either or both of:

a number of inter-subband guard bands (GBs) ; and

one or more distributed active clusters in a downlink (DL) or uplink (UL) bandwidth part (BWP) of the UE.
The apparatus of Claim 15, wherein:

a same limit on the number of inter-subband GBs is applied in both DL and UL directions; or

a same limit on a number of the one or more distributed active clusters is applied in both DL and UL directions; or

the restricting of the one or more distributed active clusters comprises applying a limit on a number of distributed DL and UL active clusters; or

the restricting comprises restricting based on a predefined set of subband layouts.
The apparatus of Claim 14, wherein the restricting comprises restricting either or both of:

a number of guard band (GB) frequency positions within a periodic subband layout pattern; and

a change of the GB frequency positions between two adjacent slots.
The apparatus of Claim 17, wherein:

the restricting comprises restricting a number of inter-subband GB positions to 1; or

the restricting comprises enabling or disabling one or more inter-subband GB positions between adjacent slots; or

the restricting comprises one or more inter-subband GB positions between the adjacent slots.
The apparatus of Claim 14, wherein a group of schedulable RBs are joined responsive to respective GBs of the group of schedulable RBs fully overlap with aggregated schedulable RBs of localized clusters.
The apparatus of Claim 14, wherein localized clusters are formed from adjacent clusters separated by respective GBs responsive to respective link direction being identical by replacing the respective GBs with schedulable RBs.