Adaptation of the number of NR PDCCH candidates

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11405915-B2
Application number	US-201916513310-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 16, 2019
Priority date	Jul 18, 2018
Publication date	Aug 2, 2022
Grant date	Aug 2, 2022

Abstract

A user equipment (UE) in communication with a base station may receive downlink control information (DCI) on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The UE may receive a configuration of the PDCCH. The UE may determine a number of downlink PDCCH candidates and a number of uplink PDCCH candidates within a search space based on the configuration, wherein the number of downlink PDCCH candidates is different than the number of uplink PDCCH candidates, and a length of each downlink PDCCH candidate is different than a length of each uplink PDCCH candidate. The UE may blindly decode the search space with each PDCCH candidate as a hypothesis to determine whether any of the downlink PDCCH candidates or uplink PDCCH candidates decode to a DCI format.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of receiving downlink control information (DCI) on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), comprising:
receiving a configuration of the PDCCH;
determining a number of downlink PDCCH candidates and a number of uplink PDCCH candidates within a single search space based on the configuration, wherein the number of downlink PDCCH candidates is different than the number of uplink PDCCH candidates, and a length of a downlink DCI format for each downlink PDCCH candidate is different than a length of an uplink DCI format for each uplink PDCCH candidate; and
blindly decoding the single search space with each downlink PDCCH candidate and each uplink PDCCH candidate as a hypothesis to determine whether any of the downlink PDCCH candidates or the uplink PDCCH candidates decode to a DCI format.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuration of the PDCCH specifies the number of downlink PDCCH candidates and the number of uplink PDCCH candidates or a ratio of downlink PDCCH candidates to uplink PDCCH candidates.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the number of downlink PDCCH candidates and the number of uplink PDCCH candidates indicated by the configuration of the PDCCH is an anchor set of candidates, the method further comprising:
determining an activation of a second set of candidates; and
blindly decoding the second set of candidates in addition to the anchor set of candidates.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining the activation of the second set of candidates comprises receiving an activation command as one of:
a DCI with a format indicating the activation,
a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) used to scramble a physical channel, or
a media access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE).

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the activation command is received on a different search space.

6. The method of claim 3 , further comprising determining a deactivation of the second set of candidates.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining the deactivation is based on an inactivity timer.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining the deactivation is based on a deactivation command.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuration includes an indication of a set of predefined templates, each template including a number of downlink PDCCH candidates and a number of uplink PDCCH candidates at different aggregation levels within the single search space, wherein one template of the set of predefined templates is an initial anchor template.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising receiving an activation command indicating an activation of a different template of the set of predefined templates, the different template including a different number of downlink PDCCH candidates or a different number of uplink PDCCH candidates at one or more of the different aggregation levels within the single search space.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising requesting the activation of the different template of the set of predefined templates.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the activation command indicates an activation of two or more templates of the set of predefined templates and a periodic pattern for changing templates.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a need for resources outside of the search space defined by the configuration of the PDCCH for a UE or unused resources within the search space;
transmitting an activation request to a serving base station;
monitoring the search space for an activation command; and
monitoring a modified search space indicated by the activation command.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the activation request further includes one or more of:
a number of PDCCH candidates or component carriers to activate,
a type of modification to the search space, or
a duration for the modification to be in effect.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein transmitting the activation request comprises transmitting a scheduling request including a bit indicating search space activation or deactivation and a bit indicating an uplink or downlink direction.

16. A user equipment (UE) for receiving downlink control information (DCI) on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) via wireless communication, comprising:
a memory; and
a processor in communication with the memory, wherein the processor is configured to:
receive a configuration of the PDCCH;
determine a number of downlink PDCCH candidates and a number of uplink PDCCH candidates within a single search space based on the configuration, wherein the number of downlink PDCCH candidates is different than the number of uplink PDCCH candidates, and a length of a downlink DCI format for each downlink PDCCH candidate is different than a length of an uplink DCI format for each uplink PDCCH candidate; and
blindly decode the single search space with each downlink PDCCH candidate and each uplink PDCCH candidate as a hypothesis to determine whether any of the downlink PDCCH candidates or the uplink PDCCH candidates decode to a DCI format.

17. The UE of claim 16 , wherein the configuration of the PDCCH specifies the number of downlink PDCCH candidates and the number of uplink PDCCH candidates or a ratio of downlink PDCCH candidates to uplink PDCCH candidates.

18. The UE of claim 16 , wherein the number of downlink PDCCH candidates and the number of uplink PDCCH candidates indicated by the configuration of the PDCCH is an anchor set of candidates, wherein the processor is configured to:
determine activation of a second set of candidates; and
blindly decode the second set of candidates in addition to the anchor set of candidates.

19. The UE of claim 18 , wherein the processor is configured to receive an activation command for the second set of candidates as one of:
a DCI with a format indicating the activation,
a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) used to scramble a physical channel, or
a media access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE).

20. The UE of claim 19 wherein the activation command is received on a different search space.

21. The UE of claim 18 , wherein the processor is configured to determine a deactivation of the second set of candidates based on an inactivity timer or a deactivation command.

22. The UE of claim 16 , wherein the configuration includes an indication of a set of predefined templates, each template including a number of downlink PDCCH candidates and a number of uplink PDCCH candidates at different aggregation levels within the single search space, wherein one template of the set of predefined templates is an initial anchor template.

23. The UE of claim 22 , wherein the processor is configured to receive an activation command indicating an activation of a different template of the set of predefined templates, the different template including a different number of downlink PDCCH candidates or a different number of uplink PDCCH candidates at one or more of the different aggregation levels within the single search space.

24. The UE of claim 23 , wherein the processor is configured to request the activation of the different template of the set of predefined templates.

25. The UE of claim 23 , wherein the activation command indicates an activation of two or more templates of the set of predefined templates and a periodic pattern for changing templates.

26. The UE of claim 16 , wherein the processor is

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Nam Wooseok
• Awoniyi-Oteri Olufunmilola Omolade
• Luo Tao

Classifications

• H04W72/23

  in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal · CPC title

• H04L5/001

  the frequencies being arranged in component carriers · CPC title

• H04L5/0094

  Indication of how sub-channels of the path are allocated · CPC title

• H04L5/0007

  the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A) or DMT · CPC title

• H04L5/0098

  Signalling of the activation or deactivation of component carriers, subcarriers or frequency bands · CPC title