BR112020013297B1 - METHODS OF OPERATION OF A USER EQUIPMENT, USER EQUIPMENT, AND, NETWORK NODE - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of operating a user equipment (10) in a radio access network is described. The user equipment (10) is configured with a reference time resource available, in one or more slots, for transmission of a scheduling request by the user equipment (10), the reference time resource comprising a reference symbol R, wherein each of the one or more slots has a slot duration that is based on a number N of symbols in the slot. The user equipment (10) is further configured with a request periodicity P that indicates a periodicity with a shorter time period than the slot duration. The method comprises transmitting a scheduling request message in a request transmission symbol T that is based on the reference symbol R and the periodicity P. The description also relates to related methods and devices.

Description

Technical Field

[001] This description relates to wireless communication or telecommunication technology, in particular to radio access technology, for example for mobile communication.

Fundamentals of the Invention

[002] Currently, 5th Generation radio telecommunications technology is being developed, with the aim of serving a wide variety of use cases. Thus, the development aims at providing systems with a high level of flexibility, which can lead to undesirable levels of signaling (control) overhead. One type of control signaling is related to scheduling requests, for example, if a user equipment (UE) requests resources for transmission. The request itself needs to be sent on resources, which need to be configured or otherwise indicated or reserved. In particular, for low latency applications, or other applications that require a high density of resources available for such requests, the signaling overhead can be significant.

Summary of the Invention

[003] It is an objective of this disclosure to provide approaches that enable efficient control signaling, in particular, to handle scheduling requests, e.g. the transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a network (e.g. a network node) indicating that the UE desires resources for uplink transmission. The approaches are particularly advantageously implemented in a 5th Generation (5G) telecommunication network or 5G radio access network (RAT/RAN) technology or network, in particular, according to 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project, a standardization organization). A suitable RAN may in particular be a RAN according to NR, e.g. edition 15 or later, or LTE Evolution.

[004] In general, a method of operating a user equipment (or, more generally, a first radio node) in a radio access network is described. The user equipment (or first radio node) is configured with a reference time resource. The reference time resource is available in one or more slots for transmission of a scheduling request by the user equipment. Furthermore, the reference time resource comprises a reference symbol R, wherein each of the one or more slots has a slot duration that is based on a number N of symbols in the slot. The user equipment or first radio node is further configured with a request periodicity P that indicates a periodicity with a shorter time period than the slot duration. The method comprises transmitting a scheduling request message in a request transmission symbol T that is based on the reference symbol R and the periodicity P.

[005] Also considered is user equipment for a radio access network. The user equipment is configured with a reference time resource. The reference time resource is available, in one or more slots, for transmission of a scheduling request by the user equipment. The reference time resource comprises a reference symbol R, wherein each of the one or more slots has a slot duration that is based on a number N of symbols in the slot. The user equipment (or first radio node) is further configured with a request periodicity P, which indicates a periodicity with a shorter time period than the slot duration. The user equipment (or first radio node) is adapted and/or configured to transmit a scheduling request message in a transmission symbol of the request T that is based on the reference symbol R and the periodicity P. The user equipment or the first radio node may comprise, and/or be adapted to utilize, a processing circuitry and/or a radio circuitry system, in particular a transmitter and/or a receiver and/or a transceiver, for transmitting and/or being configured and/or determining the transmission symbol of the request T. Alternatively, or additionally, the user equipment or the first radio node may comprise (e.g., have stored in memory) a corresponding transmission module and/or configuration module and/or determination module.

[006] A method of operating a radio node (or a network node arrangement) in a radio access network is described. The method comprises configuring a user equipment or a first radio node with a reference time resource. The reference time resource is available, in one or more slots, for transmission of a scheduling request by the user equipment or first radio node. The reference time resource further comprises a reference symbol R, wherein each of the one or more slots has a slot duration that is based on a number N of symbols in the slot. The user equipment or first radio node is also configured (e.g., by the network, in particular the radio node or node arrangement) with a request periodicity P that indicates a periodicity with a shorter time period than the slot duration. The method comprises receiving a scheduling request message (e.g., from the user equipment or the first radio node) in a reception symbol RC that is based on the reference symbol R and the periodicity P. The method may also comprise scheduling the user equipment or the first radio node based on the received scheduling request message, e.g., for transmission on a data channel, such as a physical channel and/or a shared channel, in particular, a PUSCH or a PSSCH.

[007] A radio node (or network node arrangement) for a radio access network is also proposed. The radio node (or network node arrangement) is adapted and/or configured to configure a user equipment or first radio node with a reference time resource. The reference time resource is available, in one or more slots, for transmission of a scheduling request by the user equipment or first radio node. The reference time resource comprises a reference symbol R, wherein each of the one or more slots has a slot duration that is based on a number N of symbols in the slot. The user equipment or first radio node is also configured (e.g., by the network, in particular, the radio node or node arrangement) with a request periodicity P that indicates a periodicity with a shorter time period than the slot duration. Furthermore, the radio node (or network node arrangement) is adapted to receive a scheduling request message (e.g., from the user equipment or first radio node) in a request reception symbol RC that is based on the reference symbol R and the periodicity P. The radio node (or network node arrangement) may be adapted or configured for scheduling the user equipment or first radio node based on the received scheduling request message, e.g., for transmission on a data channel, such as a physical channel and/or shared channel, in particular, a PUSCH or a PSSCH. The radio node (or network node arrangement) may comprise, and/or be adapted to utilize, a processing circuitry and/or a radio circuitry system, in particular, a transmitter and/or a receiver and/or a transceiver, for configuring and/or receiving and/or scheduling. Alternatively, or additionally, the radio node (or network node arrangement) may comprise corresponding configuration module and/or reception module and/or scheduling module.

[008] A radio node, in particular the first radio node, may be a user equipment or a network node. In some cases, the first radio node is a user equipment and/or the radio node is a network node. However, in some variants, e.g. a side link scenario, the radio node may be a user equipment. In other variants, the first radio node may be a network node, e.g. in a relay and/or data concentration transfer scenario.

[009] The reference time resource may be associated with a time/frequency resource, e.g., a resource cluster or resource region. The reference time resource may be considered to comprise or consist of a symbol (namely, the reference symbol R), or one or more additional symbols, which may be consecutive in time. The duration (length in time) of the reference time resource may be shorter than the slot duration, and/or may comprise MR symbols in time. MR may be equal to N, or shorter. In some variants, MR may be 1, or 2, or 3, or 4 to 14. The reference symbol may indicate the start and/or a reference and/or a duration in time of the reference time resource, e.g., in number of symbols.

[0010] Configuring the reference time resource may comprise configuring, for example, indicating, that the first radio node or user equipment determines one or more available symbols (available for transmission of a scheduling request) based on the periodicity and the reference symbol. The corresponding behavior may be enabled or disabled by means of a configuration. This configuration may be with the same message that configures the reference time resource and/or the reference symbol, or a different message.

[0011] N may in some variants be 14, however other variants may be considered. The symbols in a slot may be numbered with consecutive integers, for example from 0 to N-1, in particular from 0 to 13.

[0012] The periodicity P may correspond to a time interval shorter than the slot duration, in particular, equal to or less than half the slot duration (N/2). In some cases, P may correspond to 2 or 7 symbols, or a number of symbols in between. In general, the periodicity may indicate a periodicity of resources available for transmission of scheduling requests. The reference symbol may be seen as an anchor symbol for a pattern defined by the periodicity, where the periodicity lies on a time scale below a slot duration. In this way, multiple available symbols (respectively, resources) may be provided or configured.

[0013] The request transmission symbol may be associated with a corresponding resource. Depending on the slot length and periodicity, there may be at least two, or more than two, possible or available request transmission symbols. The reference symbol R may be considered as the request transmission symbol. In general, the request transmission symbol may be determined and/or selected, for example by the user equipment or first radio node, from the symbols of a slot that may be addressed based on the periodicity P and the reference symbol R. In particular, a set may comprise the symbols of a slot numbered R+ I x P, with I being a positive or negative integer or zero, such that the symbol is still in the slot. In some variants, the values for I may be positive to cross up to one or more consecutive slots (of the more than one slots for which R is available). In this case, for each slot edge crossed, the symbol number may be reduced by the total number of symbols N in a slot. Alternatively, for each slot, the available symbols may be of the given form with I limited to represent the symbol numbers in the slot only. If the reference symbol is available for more than one slot, the slots may be consecutive in time, or in some cases interrupted by slots without R being available for scheduling requests, e.g., with a given slot periodicity. For more than one slot, the reference symbol R may have the same number, such that in each of the slots at least the same-numbered reference symbol is available.

[0014] The scheduling request, respectively corresponding signaling, may relate to a carrier aggregation, and/or carrier, and/or bandwidth portion, and/or a channel (e.g. physical channel, such as PUSCH or PSSCH, or logical channel) or group of channels (in particular, group of logical channels) or carrier (or group of carriers). The scheduling request may be transmitted on a specific channel, e.g. a control channel, which may be a physical control channel, e.g. a PUCCH or a PSCCH, and/or which may be a contention-free channel. The channel may be associated with the carrier aggregation and/or carrier, and/or bandwidth portion, and/or a channel or group of channels or carrier to which the scheduling request relates. A scheduling request may be considered to relate to one of such frames if it indicates that resources are requested for transmission in the frame.

[0015] In general, transmitting (or receiving) a scheduling request message may comprise determining a set of symbols available to transmit the request, based on the reference symbol R and the periodicity P. Such determination may be for each slot individually, or for a set of slots, e.g., by selecting I in this manner, or another method.

[0016] The reference symbol R may be configured for a start slot, e.g. based on a slot offset. The start slot may be the first slot for which the reference symbol R becomes available. The start slot may be predetermined (e.g. based on processing time and/or a pattern definition) and/or may be configured or configurable, e.g. with higher layer signaling, e.g. semi-static signaling and/or RRC signaling. The start slot may be configured as a slot offset. In some variants, the reference symbol R may be the first (in time) symbol available for transmission of a scheduling request.

[0017] A scheduling request may indicate that a user equipment or first radio node requests resources for transmission, for example, if it has data to transmit in a buffer. In some variants, the scheduling request may comprise buffer state information, which may be indicative of the data size and/or data size range of one or more buffers. A buffer may correspond to a channel, or a group of channels. A scheduling request may be conveyed by a scheduling request message.

[0018] In general, a symbol available for scheduling requests may indicate or represent a range of symbols in which it is included, across which a scheduling request may be transmitted. Two symbols available for transmission of a scheduling request in a slot may be separated by at least one symbol of the slot, such that the available symbols may be non-consecutive or interrupted. However, a range of symbols across which the scheduling request is transmitted in the request transmission symbol T may be long enough to reach one or more other available symbols. It may be considered that for such available symbols, no scheduling request transmission is initiated, but a previous transmission may continue. A symbol available for transmission may indicate a symbol in which transmission may be initiated.

[0019] It may be considered that, in general, for each available symbol, a time/frequency resource and/or channel and/or transmission format (e.g. a message format) is indicated and/or configured, for example semi-statically, e.g. with RRC signaling. Such configuration may be with the message configuring the reference symbol, or with a different message. A time/frequency resource may, in general, comprise one or more resource elements, for example, one or more symbols and one or more associated subcarriers or physical resource blocks.

[0020] The scheduling request message may be transmitted over one or more than one symbol, and/or the reference time resource comprises one or more than one symbols. The scheduling request message may in particular be a PUCCH or PSSCH message, e.g. a format 0 or format 1 message (or derivatives thereof), and/or be transmitted over 1 symbol (e.g. format 0), or more than one symbol (e.g. 4 to 14, which may be configurable or configured, e.g. with the configuration of the reference time resource).

[0021] In some variants, the scheduling request message may be a physical control channel message, e.g., a PUCCH or PSSCH message.

[0022] The periodicity P and/or the reference symbol R may be semi-statically configured, and/or the periodicity P and/or the reference symbol R may be configured using Radio Resource Control signaling.

[0023] It may be considered that the periodicity P and the reference symbol R are configured with the same message, or with different messages. Different messages may come from different radio nodes, or come from the same radio node.

[0024] The request transmission symbol T may be earlier by one slot than the reference symbol R of the same slot. This may be, for example, for the start slot, such that a scheduling request may be transmitted earlier than the first configured R symbol.

[0025] It may be envisaged that the user equipment or the first radio node is configured (e.g. by the network, in particular the radio node) with a slot offset, the slot offset indicating a start slot from which the reference time resource becomes available. In this way, the position of the start slot may be adapted to the operating conditions and/or capabilities of the UE (which may for example be signaled to the network, e.g. the radio node).

[0026] The scheduling request message may comprise or represent 1 or 2 bits, which, for example, may be payload or information bits. In some variants, the message may comprise error coding bits, and/or repeat the payload or information bit(s), for example, if the message is transmitted over more than one symbol.

[0027] In general, 1 bit (or more than one bit) of the scheduling request message may indicate whether the user equipment requests resources for transmission by the user equipment.

[0028] Also considered is a program product that comprises instructions adapted to cause the processing circuitry system to control and/or perform a method, in the manner described herein.

[0029] Furthermore, a carrier media arrangement that carries and/or stores a program product as described herein is described.

[0030] A corresponding information system comprising, and/or connected or connectable to, a radio node in the manner described herein may be contemplated.

[0031] In general, a symbol available for transmission of a scheduling request may represent a possible or available starting symbol of such a transmission. In this way, a transmission of a scheduling request transmitted in a transmission symbol of the request may start in the transmission symbol of the request.

[0032] A request reception symbol may be based on the request transmission symbol and a signaling time. Receiving the scheduling request message may comprise, and/or be based on, determining the request reception symbol in this manner. It should be noted that receiving may comprise associating a transmission received in the request reception symbol (and/or associated time/frequency resource) with a scheduling request message and/or the first radio node (or UE). Receiving may generally comprise monitoring a scheduling request message in reception symbols corresponding to symbols available for transmission. Scheduling a first radio node or UE may comprise configuring it with scheduled resources, e.g. for data signaling, which may be on a data channel such as a shared channel, e.g. PUSCH or PSSCH, or on a dedicated channel, which may be, e.g., a low latency channel.

[0033] A network node arrangement may comprise one or more radio nodes, in particular network nodes, which may be of the same or different types. The different nodes of the arrangement may be adapted for, and/or provide, different functionalities described herein. A network node arrangement may, in some variants, represent a radio access network, and/or a heterogeneous network (HetNet), and/or provide dual (or multiple) connectivity, e.g. comprising an anchor node and an amplifier node, and/or one or more of each or both. The radio nodes of a node arrangement may comprise suitable interfaces for communication between them, e.g. communication interfaces and/or corresponding circuitry.

[0034] A system comprising a plurality of radio nodes as described herein, in particular a network node and one or more user equipment, may be envisaged.

[0035] Signaling or a transmission may be considered to carry a message and/or information if the message and/or information is represented in the (modulated) waveform of the signaling. In particular, extracting a message and/or information may require demodulating and/or decoding the signaling. Information may be considered to be included in a message if the message comprises a value and/or a parameter and/or a bit field and/or an indication or an indicator representing the information, or more than one or a combination thereof. Information included in such a message may be considered to be carried by the signaling carrying the message, and vice versa.

[0036] The approaches described herein allow for efficient configuration of resources for the scheduling request, in particular for short periodicities, e.g. below the slot duration. The first radio node or UE can determine the symbols available in a slot based on only one reference resource/symbol that is configured (e.g. with corresponding signaling), limiting signaling over-processing.

[0037] The reference symbol may generally be configured directly, e.g. by indicating the symbol with an indicator, or indirectly, e.g. in relation to a resource set, and/or table, and/or time/frequency resource.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0038] The drawings are provided to illustrate the concepts and approaches described herein, and are not intended to limit the scope thereof. The drawings comprise: Figure 1, which shows the symbols available for scheduling requests; Figure 2, which shows an exemplary radio node implemented as a user equipment; and Figure 3, which shows an exemplary radio node implemented as a network node.

Detailed Description

[0039] In the following, the approaches are described for illustrative purposes in the context of NR RAT. However, they are generally applicable with other technologies. Also, uplink and downlink communication between a signaling radio node as a network node and a radio node as a UE is described by way of example. The approaches should not be construed as limited to such communication, but may also be applied to sidelink communication or data concentration transfer or retransmission. For ease of reference, in some cases, a channel is referred to to represent signaling or transmission on the channel. A PUSCH may represent uplink data signaling, downlink data signaling on the PDSCH, downlink control signaling on the PDCCH (in particular, one or more DCI messages such as scheduling assignments or grants), uplink control signaling on the PUCCH, in particular, UCI signaling. A scheduling request message may in some cases be a message carrying only, as payload or information, a scheduling request (e.g. 1 bit), or at most one additional bit. However, in some cases, the message may also comprise additional payload, e.g. additional control information, e.g. feedback information (e.g. HARQ acknowledgement information such as ACK/NACK) and/or measurement reporting information, e.g. channel status information and/or beamforming information. In addition to the bits representing the payload information, the message may comprise error coding bits.

[0040] Figure 1 shows the configuration for scheduling requests. Several consecutive slots are shown, each of which has a slot duration based on a number of symbols in the slot, e.g. 14 or 12, or a different number (for NR, the same may be 14). For each slot, a reference time resource for a scheduling request (SR) is configured, which is referred to as the SR-configured PUCCH resource. This may be configured with RRC signaling and/or semi-statically. A reference symbol R is associated with this resource and configured implicitly or explicitly with the resource. It should be noted that the resource may span more than one symbol in time. A periodicity P is also configured for SR scheduling requests, which corresponds to a shorter period than the slot duration, e.g. to a number of symbols smaller than the symbols in the slot. The other available symbols (and/or associated symbol resources or ranges) in a slot may be determined, for example, automatically, by the UE or by the network node (for reception or scheduling). It may be assumed that a PUCCH resource configured for SR has starting symbol SSR in a slot, which may be the reference symbol. The periodicity of the SR may be P = LSR, with LSR being, for example, 2 or 7 symbols, or another value, in particular, between 2 and 7. In total, per slot, the following PUCCH resources for SR are defined with starting positions SsR,n = SSR,O + n • LSR, with SSR,O = mod(SsR, LSR) and with L being the length of the slot in symbols. For the start slot, it can be set or configurable, or predetermined, whether some starting positions (corresponding to available symbols) preceding the reference symbol are available.

[0041] The resource(s) associated with an available symbol may generally be associated with control signaling and/or a control channel, in particular a physical control channel such as PUCCH or PSCCH, and/or may be associated with control information generally (e.g., UCI and/or SCI) or the scheduling request specifically. A format for transmission may be configured for the resource and/or the scheduling request, for example, a format having a payload size of either 1 or 2 bits, such as formats 0 or 1 (or derivatives thereof).

[0042] Figure 2 schematically shows a radio node, in particular a wireless terminal or device 10, which may in particular be implemented as a UE (User Equipment). The radio node 10 comprises a processing circuitry (which may also be referred to as a control circuitry) 20, which may comprise a controller connected to a memory. Any module of the radio node 10, for example a communication module or a determination module, may be implemented in and/or executable by the processing circuitry 20, in particular as the module in the controller. The radio node 10 also comprises a radio circuitry 22 providing reception and transmission or transception functionality (e.g. one or more transmitters and/or receivers and/or transceivers), the radio circuitry 22 being connected or connectable to the processing circuitry. An antenna circuitry 24 of radio node 10 is connected or connectable to radio circuitry 22 for collecting or sending and/or amplifying signals. Radio circuitry 22 and processing circuitry 20 controlling the same are configured for cellular communication with a network, e.g., a RAN as described herein, and/or for side-link communication. Radio node 10 may generally be adapted to perform any of the methods of operating a radio node, such as terminal or UE described herein; in particular, it may comprise corresponding circuitry, e.g., processing circuitry, and/or modules.

[0043] Figure 3 schematically shows a radio node 100, which may in particular be implemented as a network node 100, e.g. an eNB or gNB or similar for NR. The radio node 100 comprises a processing circuitry (which may also be referred to as a control circuitry) 120, which may comprise a controller connected to a memory. Any module, e.g. the transmission module and/or the reception module and/or the configuration module of the node 100, may be implemented in and/or executable by the processing circuitry 120. The processing circuitry 120 is connected to control the radio circuitry 122 of the node 100, which provides receiver and transmitter and/or transceiver functionalities (e.g. comprising one or more transmitters and/or receivers and/or transceivers). An antenna circuit system 124 may be connected or connectable to radio circuit system 122 for reception or transmission and/or amplification of the signal. Node 100 may be adapted to carry out any of the methods for operating a radio node or a network node described herein; in particular, it may comprise a corresponding circuit system, e.g., a processing circuit system, and/or modules. Antenna circuit system 124 may be connected to and/or comprise an antenna array. Node 100, respectively its circuit system, may be adapted to carry out any of the methods for operating a network node or a radio node, as described herein; in particular, it may comprise corresponding circuit system, e.g., processing circuit system, and/or modules. The radio node 100 may, in general, comprise a system of communication circuits, for example, for communication with another network node, such as a radio node, and/or with a central network and/or the internet or local area network, in particular, with an information system, which may provide the information and/or data to be transmitted to a user equipment.

[0044] References to specific resource structures such as transmission timing structure and/or symbol and/or slot and/or mini-slot and/or subcarrier and/or carrier may relate to a specific numerology, which may be predefined and/or configured or configurable. A transmission timing structure may represent a time slot, which may cover one or more symbols. Some examples of a transmission timing structure are transmission time interval (TTI), subframe, slot and mini-slot. A slot may comprise a predetermined, e.g. predefined and/or configured or configurable, number of symbols, e.g. 6 or 7, or 12 or 14. A mini-slot may comprise a number of symbols (which may in particular be configurable or configurable) smaller than the number of symbols of a slot, in particular 1, 2, 3 or 4 symbols. A transmission timing structure may cover a time slot of a specific length, which may be dependent on the symbol time length and/or the cyclic prefix used. A transmission timing structure may relate to, and/or cover, a specific time slot in a continuous time stream, e.g., synchronized for communication. Timing structures used and/or scheduled for transmission, e.g., slots and/or mini-slots, may be scheduled relative to, and/or synchronized with, a timing structure provided and/or defined by other transmission timing structures. Such transmission timing structures may define a timing grid, e.g., with symbol time slots in individual frames representing the smallest timing units. Such a timing grid may, for example, be defined by slots or subframes (where, in some cases, subframes may be considered specific variants of slots). A transmission timing frame may have a duration (length in time) determined based on the durations of its symbols, possibly in addition to the cyclic prefix(es) used. The symbols of a transmission timing frame may have the same duration, or may, in some variants, have different durations. The number of symbols in a transmission timing frame may be predefined and/or configured or configurable, and/or be numerology dependent. The timing of a mini-slot may in general be configurable or configurable, in particular, by the network and/or by a network node. The timing may be configurable to start and/or end on any symbol of the transmission timing frame, in particular, one or more slots. A mini-slot may be considered to correspond to a specific form of scheduling or signaling or transmission, which may be referred to as non-slot-based or Type B (in NR), which may be seen as distinct from signaling scheduled for the entire slot and/or in relation to a slot-based structure.

[0045] In general, a program product comprising instructions adapted to cause the processing and/or control circuitry system to perform and/or control any method described herein, in particular when executed in the processing and/or control circuitry system, is considered. Also, a carrier media arrangement that carries and/or stores a program product in the manner described herein is considered.

[0046] A carrier media arrangement may comprise one or more carrier media. In general, a carrier media may be accessible and/or readable and/or receivable by the processing or control circuitry. The storage of data and/or a program product and/or code may be viewed as part of the conduction of data and/or a program product and/or code. A carrier media, in general, may comprise a guide/transport medium and/or a storage medium. A guide/transport medium may be adapted to conduct and/or conduct and/or store signals, in particular electromagnetic signals and/or electrical signals and/or magnetic signals and/or optical signals. A carrier media, in particular a guide/transport medium, may be adapted to guide such signals to carry the same. A carrier medium, in particular a guide/transport medium, may comprise electromagnetic field, e.g. radio waves or microwaves, and/or optically transmissive material, e.g. glass fiber and/or cable. A storage medium may comprise at least one of a memory, which may be volatile or non-volatile, a temporary storage, a cache, an optical disk, magnetic memory, flash memory, etc.

[0047] A system comprising one or more radio nodes as described herein, in particular a network node and a user equipment, is described. The system may be a wireless communication system, and/or provide and/or represent a radio access network.

[0048] Furthermore, in general, a method of operating an information system may be considered, the method comprising providing information. Alternatively, or additionally, an information system adapted to provide the information may be considered. Provision of the information may comprise providing the information to, and/or at, a target system, which may comprise and/or be implemented as a radio access network and/or a radio node, in particular, a network node or user or terminal equipment. Provision of the information may comprise the transfer and/or streaming and/or sending and/or passing of the information, and/or offering the information for such and/or for transfer, and/or triggering such provision, for example by triggering a different system or node for streaming and/or transferring and/or sending and/or passing of the information. The information system may comprise, and/or be connected or connectable to, a target, for example, via one or more intermediary systems, for example, a core network and/or the internet and/or a private or local area network. The information may be provided using and/or via such intermediary system(s). The provision of the information may be for radio transmission and/or for transmission via an air interface and/or using a RAN or a radio node, as described herein. The connection of the information system to a target, and/or the provision of the information, may be based on a target indication, and/or adaptive to a target indication. A target indication may indicate the target, and/or one or more transmission parameters that relate to the target and/or the paths or connections through which the information is provided to the target. Such parameter(s) may in particular refer to the air interface and/or the radio access network and/or the radio node and/or the network node. Example parameters may indicate, for example, the type and/or nature of the target, and/or the transmission capacity (e.g. data rate) and/or the latency and/or the reliability and/or the cost, and/or indicate the quality of service and/or the latency and/or the transmission rate and/or the prioritization of the data, in particular they may indicate a capability to provide such, respectively, one or more estimates thereof. The target indication may be provided by the target, or determined by the information system, e.g. based on information received from the target and/or historical information, and/or be provided by a user, e.g. a user operating the target or a device in communication with the target, e.g. via the RAN and/or the air interface. For example, a user may indicate on a user equipment that communicates with the information system that information is to be provided via a RAN, for example by selecting from a selection provided by the information system, for example in a user application or user interface, which may be a web interface. An information system may comprise one or more information nodes. An information node may, in general, comprise a system of processing circuits and/or a system of communication circuits. In particular, an information system and/or an information node may be implemented as a computer and/or an array of computers, for example a host computer or host computer array and/or server or server array. In some variants, an interaction server (e.g., web server) of the information system may provide a user interface and, based on user input, may trigger the transmission and/or continuous transmission of the provision of information to the user (and/or the target) from another server, which may be connected or connectable to the interaction server and/or be part of the information system or be connected or connectable to it. The information may be any type of data, in particular data intended for a user for use at a terminal, for example, video data and/or audio data and/or location data and/or interactive data and/or game-related data and/or environmental data and/or technical data and/or traffic data and/or vehicle data and/or situational data and/or operational data. The information provided by the information system may be mapped to, and/or mappable to, and/or intended for mapping to, data communication or signaling and/or one or more data channels, as described herein (which may be signaling or channel(s) of an air interface and/or used in a RAN and/or for radio transmission). It may be considered that the information is formatted based on the target indication and/or the target, e.g. in relation to the amount of data and/or the data rate and/or the data structure and/or the timing, which in particular may refer to a mapping to data communication or signaling and/or one or more data channel(s). Mapping of the information to data signaling and/or data channel(s) may be considered to refer to the use of the signaling/channel(s) to carry the data, e.g. in higher communication layers, with the signaling/channel(s) underlying the transmission. A target indication may in general comprise different components, which may have different sources, and/or which may indicate different characteristics of the target and/or the communication path(s) to it. A format of the information may be specifically selected, for example from a set of different formats, for the information to be transmitted over an air interface and/or by a RAN, as described herein. This may be particularly pertinent as an air interface may be limited in terms of capacity and/or predictability, and/or potentially cost-sensitive. The format may be selected to be adapted to the indication of the transmission, which may in particular indicate that a RAN or a radio node, as described herein, is on the path (which may be the indicated and/or planned and/or expected path) of the information between the target and the information system. An information (communication) path may represent the interface(s) (e.g., air and/or cable interfaces) and/or the intermediate system(s) (if any), between the information system and/or the node providing or transferring the information, and the target, through which the information is, or is to be, passed. A path may be (at least partially) indeterminate when a target indication is provided, and/or the information is provided/transferred by the information system, e.g., if the Internet is involved, which may comprise multiple dynamically chosen paths. The information and/or a format used for the information may be packet-based, and/or be mapped, and/or be mappable, and/or be intended for mapping to packets. Alternatively, or additionally, a method for operating a target device comprising providing a target indicating to an information system may be considered. More alternatively, or additionally, a target device may be envisaged, the target device being adapted to provide a target indication to an information system. In another approach, a target indication tool may be envisaged adapted to, and/or comprising an indication module for, providing a target indication to an information system. The target device may, in general, be a target, as set forth. A target indication tool may comprise, and/or be implemented as, software and/or application or app, and/or web interface or user interface, and/or may comprise one or more modules for implementing actions performed and/or controlled by the tool. The tool and/or target device may be adapted to, and/or the method may comprise, receiving a user input, based on which a target indication may be determined and/or provided. Alternatively, or additionally, the tool and/or target device may be adapted for, and/or the method may comprise, receiving information and/or communicating signaling carrying the information, and/or operating on, and/or presenting (e.g. on a screen and/or as audio or as another form of indication), the information. The information may be based on received information and/or communicating signaling carrying the information. Presenting the information may comprise processing the received information, e.g. decoding and/or transforming, in particular between different formats, and/or to hardware used for presentation. Operating on the information may be independent of or without presentation, and/or precede or follow presentation, and/or may be without user interaction or even user reception, e.g. for automatic processes, or target devices without user interaction (e.g. regular), such as MTC devices, for automotive or transportation or industrial use. Signaling of the information or communication may be expected and/or received based on the target indication. The presentation and/or operation on the information may in general comprise one or more processing steps, in particular decoding and/or execution and/or interpretation and/or transformation of the information. The operation on the information may in general comprise relaying and/or transmitting the information, e.g. on an air interface, which may include mapping the information onto the signaling (such mapping may in general concern one or more layers, e.g. one or more layers of an air interface, e.g. RLC (Radio Link Control) layer and/or MAC layer and/or physical layer(s)). The information may be imprinted (or mapped) onto the signaling communication based on the target indication, which may make it particularly suitable for use in a RAN (e.g. to a target device such as a network node or in particular a UE or a terminal). The tool may in general be adapted for use on a target device such as a UE or a terminal. In general, the tool may provide multiple functionalities, for example, to provide and/or select the target indication, and/or presentation, e.g., of video and/or audio, and/or the operation on and/or storage of the received information. Provision of a target indication may comprise transmitting or transferring the indication as signaling, and/or carried in signaling, in a RAN, e.g., if the target device is a UE, or the tool for a UE. It should be noted that such provided information may be transferred to the information system via one or more communication interfaces and/or additional paths and/or connections. The target indication may be a higher layer indication and/or the information provided by the information system may be higher layer information, e.g., application layer or user layer, in particular, above radio layers, such as transport layer and physical layer. The target indication may be mapped into the physical layer radio signaling, e.g., related to or in the user plane, and/or the information may be mapped into the physical layer radio communication signaling, e.g., related to or in the user plane (in particular, in reverse communication directions). The described approaches allow a target indication to be provided, facilitating that the information is provided in a specific format particularly suited and/or adapted to efficiently use an air interface. A user input may, for example, represent a selection from a plurality of possible modes or formats and/or transmission paths, e.g., in terms of data rate and/or packaging and/or size of the information to be provided by the information system.

[0049] In general, a numerology and/or a subcarrier spacing may indicate the bandwidth (in the frequency domain) of a subcarrier of a carrier, and/or the number of subcarriers in a carrier, and/or the numbering of subcarriers in a carrier. Different numerologies may in particular differ in the bandwidth of a subcarrier. In some variants, all subcarriers in a carrier have the same bandwidth associated with them. The numerology and/or the subcarrier spacing may differ between carriers, in particular in relation to the subcarrier bandwidth. A symbol time duration, and/or a timing duration of a sync frame with respect to a carrier may be dependent on the carrier frequency, and/or the subcarrier spacing, and/or the numerology. In particular, different numerologies may have different symbol time durations. For a carrier, more than one numerology can be defined and/or configured. A numerology can be parameterized by a subcarrier spacing and/or a bandwidth and/or a frequency reference. The bandwidth can represent the frequency range of the carrier to be used for the numerology. The frequency reference can identify the waveform on the carrier the bandwidth is located. The frequency reference can correspond to an edge frequency of the bandwidth, e.g. low or high frequency edge, and/or it can represent a center frequency of a subcarrier. The subcarrier can be a reference subcarrier, in particular, an edge subcarrier. For example, the subcarrier can be the lowest subcarrier (e.g. in frequency and/or number) in a physical resource block of the numerology, e.g. the physical resource block at the leading/low end of the bandwidth (in frequency). In some cases, the subcarrier may be the highest subcarrier (in frequency and/or number) of the physical resource block at the high/tail end of the bandwidth (in frequency).

[0050] Signaling may in general comprise one or more symbols and/or signals and/or messages. A signal may comprise or represent one or more bits. An indication may represent signaling, and/or be implemented as a signal, or as a plurality of signals. One or more signals may be included in and/or represented by a message. Signaling, in particular control signaling, may comprise a plurality of signals and/or messages, which may be transmitted on different carriers and/or be associated with different signaling processes, for example, which represent and/or refer to one or more such processes and/or corresponding information. An indication may comprise signaling, and/or a plurality of signals and/or messages and/or may be comprised therein, which may be transmitted on different carriers and/or be associated with different acknowledgement signaling processes, for example, which represent and/or refer to one or more such processes. The signaling associated with a channel may be transmitted in such a manner that it represents the signaling and/or information for that channel, and/or that the signaling is interpreted by the transmitter and/or receiver to belong to that channel. Such signaling may, in general, conform to the transmission parameters and/or format(s) for the channel.

[0051] Uplink or sidelink signaling may be OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) or SC-FDMA (Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access) signaling. Downlink signaling may in particular be OFDMA signaling. However, the signaling is not limited to the same (Filter Bank based signaling may be considered as an alternative).

[0052] A radio node may in general be considered a device or a node adapted for wireless and/or radio frequency (and/or microwave) communication, and/or for communication using an air interface, for example, in accordance with a communication standard.

[0053] A radio node may be a network node, or a user equipment or a terminal. A network node may be any radio node of a wireless communication network, for example, a base station and/or a gNodeB (gNB) and/or an eNodeB (eNB) and/or a relay node and/or a micro/nano/pico/femto node and/or a transmission point (TP) and/or an access point (AP) and/or another node, in particular for a RAN, as described herein.

[0054] The terms wireless device, user equipment (UE) and terminal may be considered interchangeable in the context of this description. A wireless device, a user equipment or a terminal may represent a terminal device for communication using the wireless communication network, and/or be implemented as a user equipment according to a standard. Examples of user equipment may comprise a telephone such as a smartphone, a personal communication device, a cellular telephone or terminal, a computer, in particular a laptop, a sensor or a machine with radio capability (and/or adapted for the air interface), in particular, for MTC (Machine Type Communication, sometimes also referred to as M2M, Machine to Machine), or a vehicle adapted for wireless communication. A user equipment or a terminal may be mobile or stationary.

[0055] A radio node may, in general, comprise a system of processing circuits and/or a system of radio circuits. A radio node, in particular a network node, may in some cases comprise a system of cable circuits and/or a system of communication circuits, to which it may be connected or connectable to another radio node and/or a core network.

[0056] The circuitry system may comprise an integrated circuit system. The processing circuitry system may comprise one or more processors and/or controllers (e.g., microcontrollers), and/or ASICs (application specific integrated circuit systems) and/or FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), or the like. The processing circuitry system may be considered to comprise, and/or be (operatively) connected or connectable to, one or more memories or memory arrays. A memory array may comprise one or more memories. A memory may be adapted to store digital information. Examples of memories include volatile and non-volatile memory, and/or random access memory (RAM) and/or read-only memory (ROM), and/or magnetic and/or optical memory, and/or flash memory, and/or hard disk memory, and/or EPROM or EEPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM or Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM).

[0057] The radio circuit system may comprise one or more transmitters and/or receivers and/or transceivers (a transceiver may operate or be operable as both a transmitter and a receiver, and/or may comprise a joint or separate circuit system for receiving and transmitting, e.g. in a package or housing), and/or may comprise one or more amplifiers and/or oscillators and/or filters, and/or may comprise, and/or be connectable or connectable to, the antenna circuit system and/or one or more antennas and/or antenna arrays. An antenna array may comprise one or more antennas, which may be arranged in a dimensional array, e.g. 2D or 3D array, and/or antenna panels. A remote radio head (RRH) may be considered as an example of an antenna array. However, in some variants, a RRH may also be implemented as a network node, depending on the type of circuit system and/or functionality implemented.

[0058] The communication circuit system may comprise a radio circuit system and/or a cable circuit system. The communication circuit system may in general comprise one or more interfaces, which may be air interface(s) and/or cable interface(s) and/or optical interface(s), e.g. laser-based. The interface(s) may in particular be packet-based. The cable circuit system and/or a cable interface may comprise, and/or be connected or connectable to, one or more cables (e.g. fiber-optic-based and/or wire-based), which may be directly or indirectly (e.g. via one or more intermediate systems and/or interfaces) connected or connectable to a target, e.g. controlled by the communication circuit system and/or the processing circuit system.

[0059] Any and all of the modules described herein may be implemented in software and/or embedded software and/or hardware. The different modules may be associated with different components of a radio node, e.g., different circuit systems or different parts of a circuit system. A module may be considered to be distributed across different components and/or circuit systems. A program product, as described herein, may comprise modules related to a device on which the program product (e.g., a user equipment or a network node) is intended to be executed (execution may be performed on, and/or controlled by, the associated circuit system).

[0060] A radio access network may be a wireless communication network, and/or a radio access network (RAN), in particular according to a communication standard. A communication standard may in particular be a standard according to 3GPP and/or 5G, for example according to NR or LTE, in particular LTE Evolution.

[0061] Contention-based and/or concession-free transmission and/or access may be based on resource(s) that are not specifically scheduled or reserved for the transmission or a specific device (or group of devices in some cases), and/or comprise transmission that is not uniquely associable, by the receiver, with a transmitter, for example, based on the resources used for transmission.

[0062] A wireless communication network may be and/or comprise a radio access network (RAN), which may be and/or comprise any type of cellular and/or wireless radio network, which may be connected or connectable to a core network. The approaches described herein are particularly suited for a 5G network, e.g. LTE Evolution and/or NR (New Radio), respectively, successors thereof. A RAN may comprise one or more network nodes, and/or one or more terminals, and/or one or more radio nodes. A network node may in particular be a radio node adapted for radio and/or wireless and/or cellular communication with one or more terminals. A terminal may be any device adapted for radio and/or wireless and/or cellular communication with or in a RAN, e.g. a user equipment (UE) or cellular telephone or smart phone or computing device or vehicular communication device or device for Machine Type Communication (MTC), etc. A terminal may be mobile, or in some cases stationary. A RAN or a wireless communication network may comprise at least one network node and one UE, or at least two radio nodes. A wireless communication network or system may generally be considered, e.g. a RAN or RAN system, comprising at least one radio node, and/or at least one network node and at least one terminal.

[0063] Downlink transmission may relate to transmission from the network or network node to the terminal. Uplink transmission may relate to transmission from the terminal to the network or network node. Sidelink transmission may relate to (direct) transmission from one terminal to another. Uplink, downlink and sidelink (e.g. sidelink transmission and reception) may be considered as communication directions. In some variants, uplink and downlink may also be used for the described wireless communication between network nodes, e.g. for data concentration transfer and/or wireless relay communication and/or (wireless) network communication, e.g. between base stations or similar network nodes, in particular communication terminating at such. It may be considered that data concentration transfer and/or retransmission communication and/or network communication is implemented as a form of sidelink or uplink communication or similar thereto.

[0064] The control information or a control information message or corresponding signaling (control signaling) may be transmitted on a control channel, e.g., a physical control channel, which may be a downlink channel or (or a sidelink channel in some cases, e.g., a UE scheduling another UE). For example, the control information/allocation information may be signaled by a network node on the PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) and/or on a PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel) and/or on a HARQ-specific channel. Acknowledgement signaling, for example as a form of information or control signaling, such as uplink control information/signaling, may be transmitted by a terminal on a PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) and/or a PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel) and/or a HARQ-specific channel. Multiple channels may be applicable for multicomponent/multicarrier indication or signaling.

[0065] Signaling may generally be considered to represent an electromagnetic wave structure (e.g., over a time interval and frequency interval), which is intended to carry information to at least one specific or generic target (e.g., someone who can pick up the signaling). A signaling process may comprise transmitting the signaling. Transmitting the signaling, in particular control signaling or communication signaling, e.g., comprising or representing acknowledgement signaling and/or resource request information, may comprise encoding and/or modulation. The encoding and/or modulation may comprise error detection encoding and/or forward error correction encoding and/or scrambling. Receiving the control signaling may comprise corresponding decoding and/or demodulation. Error detection encoding may comprise, and/or be based on, parity or checksum approaches, e.g., CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check). Forward error correction coding may comprise and/or be based on, for example, turbo coding and/or Reed-Muller coding, and/or polar coding and/or LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) coding. The type of coding used may be based on the channel (e.g., physical channel) with which the coded signal is associated. A code rate may represent the ratio of the number of information bits before coding to the number of coded bits after coding, assuming that coding adds coding bits for error detection coding and forward error correction. Encoded bits may refer to information bits (also called systematic bits) plus coding bits.

[0066] Communication signaling may comprise, and/or represent, and/or be implemented as data signaling, and/or user plane signaling. Communication signaling may be associated with a data channel, e.g., a physical downlink channel or physical uplink channel or physical sidelink channel, in particular, a PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel) or PSSCH (Physical Sidelink Shared Channel). In general, a data channel may be a shared channel or a dedicated channel. Data signaling may be signaling associated with and/or on a data channel.

[0067] An indication, in general, may indicate explicitly and/or implicitly the information that it represents and/or indicates. The implicit indication may be, for example, based on the position and/or the resource used for transmission. The explicit indication may be, for example, based on a parameterization with one or more parameters, and/or one or more index or indices, and/or one or more bit patterns representing the information. In particular, it may be considered that control signaling, as described herein, based on the resource sequence used, implicitly indicates the type of control signaling.

[0068] A resource element may, in general, describe the smallest individually usable and/or encodeable and/or decodeable and/or modulable and/or demodulable temporal frequency resource, and/or may describe a temporal frequency resource that covers a symbol time duration in time and a subcarrier in frequency. A signal may be allocatable and/or allocated to a resource element. A subcarrier may be a subband of a carrier, e.g., as defined by a standard. A carrier may define a frequency and/or a frequency band for transmission and/or reception. In some variants, a signal (jointly encoded/modulated) may cover more than one resource element. A resource element may, in general, be as defined by a corresponding standard, e.g., NR or LTE. Since the time duration of the symbol and/or subcarrier spacing (and/or numerology) may be different between different symbols and/or subcarriers, different resource elements may have different extent (length/width) in the time and/or frequency domain, in particular, resource elements that refer to different carriers.

[0069] A resource, in general, may represent a time-frequency and/or code resource, on which signaling, e.g. according to a specific format, may be communicated, e.g. transmitted and/or received, and/or be intended for transmission and/or reception.

[0070] A resource bundle may in general indicate and/or comprise resources, in particular temporal frequency resources, e.g. time and frequency slots, which may be contiguous or interrupted, and/or code resources. A resource bundle may in particular indicate and/or comprise resource elements and/or resource blocks, e.g. PRBs. A radio node such as a user equipment may be considered configured with a resource bundle if it has received corresponding control signaling configuring the same. Such control signaling may in particular be transmitted by a receiving radio node in the manner described herein. The control signaling may in particular be higher layer signaling, e.g. MAC and/or RRC signaling, and/or may be semi-static or semi-persistent. In some cases, the responding radio node or user equipment may be considered configured with a resource bundle if it is informed about a corresponding configuration, e.g. that it may access resources in the bundle for transmission. Such a configuration may in some cases be pre-defined, e.g. based on a standard and/or standard configuration. A resource pool may be dedicated to a responding radio node or user equipment, or in some cases shared among several. It may be envisaged that a resource pool may be general, or for specific types of signalling, e.g. control signalling or data signalling. A transmission resource pool may in particular be for control signalling, e.g. uplink control signalling and/or sidelink control signalling, and/or may be dedicated to the responding radio node/user equipment. It may be envisaged that a resource pool comprises a plurality of resource structures, which may be arranged in sub-pools or groups, e.g. referring to and/or according to the type of signalling (received or scheduled) or type of response control signalling. Each group or subgroup may comprise a number of resource structures, the number of which may be representable by an indicator and/or bit field of the selection control information. For example, the maximum number of resource structures in a group may correspond to the maximum number of different values representable by the indicator or bit field. Different groups may have different numbers of resource structures. In general, a group may be considered to comprise a smaller number of resource structures than is representable by the indicator or bit field. A resource grouping may represent a search space and/or availability space of resources and/or resource structures available for specific signaling. In particular, a transmission resource grouping may be considered to represent a domain or space (time/frequency and/or code) of resources available for response control signaling.

[0071] The configuration of a radio node, in particular a terminal or a user equipment, may refer to the radio node being adapted or caused or set and/or instructed to operate in accordance with the configuration. The configuration may be done by another device, for example a network node (e.g. a radio node of the network such as a base station or an eNodeB) or network, in which case it may comprise transmitting configuration data to the radio node to be configured. Such configuration data may represent the configuration to be configured and/or comprise one or more instructions regarding a configuration, for example a configuration for transmission and/or reception on allocated resources, in particular frequency resources. A radio node may configure itself, for example, based on configuration data received from a network or a network node. A network node may use, and/or be adapted to use, its circuitry(ies) to configure. Allocation information may be considered a form of configuration data. The configuration data may comprise and/or be represented by configuration information, and/or one or more corresponding indications and/or message(s).

[0072] In general, configuration may include determining configuration data representing the configuration and providing, e.g., transmitting, the same to one or more other nodes (in parallel and/or sequentially), which may further transmit the same to the radio node (or another node, which may be repeated until the same reaches the wireless device). Alternatively, or additionally, configuration of a radio node, e.g., by a network node or other device, may include receiving configuration data and/or data referring to the configuration data, e.g., from another node, such as a network node, which may be a higher-level node of the network, and/or transmitting the received configuration data to the radio node. In this manner, determining a configuration and transmitting the configuration data to the radio node may be performed by different nodes or network entities, which may be capable of communicating via a suitable interface, e.g., an X2 interface in the case of LTE or a corresponding interface for NR. Configuring a terminal may comprise scheduling downlink and/or uplink transmissions to the terminal, e.g., downlink data and/or downlink control signaling and/or DCI and/or uplink control or data or communication signaling, in particular, acknowledgement signaling, and/or configuration resources and/or a pooling of resources therefor.

[0073] A resource structure may be considered a neighbor in the frequency domain to another resource structure if they share a common edge frequency, for example, one as an upper frequency edge and the other as a lower frequency edge. Such an edge may be, for example, represented by the upper end of a bandwidth assigned to a subcarrier n, which also represents the lower end of a bandwidth assigned to a subcarrier n+1. A resource structure may be considered a neighbor in the time domain to another resource structure if they share a common edge time, for example, one as an upper (or right in the figures) edge and the other as a lower (or left in the figures) edge. Such an edge may be, for example, represented by the end of the symbol time slot assigned to a symbol n, which also represents the beginning of a symbol time slot assigned to a symbol n+1.

[0074] In general, a resource structure that is neighboring another resource structure in a domain may also be referred to as bordering and/or edge relative to the other resource structure in the domain.

[0075] A resource structure may in general represent a structure in the time and/or frequency domain, in particular representing a time slot and a frequency slot. A resource structure may comprise and/or be comprised of resource elements, and/or the time slot of a resource structure may comprise and/or be comprised of symbol time slot(s), and/or the frequency slot of a resource structure may comprise and/or be comprised of subcarrier(s). A resource element may be considered as an example for a resource structure, a slot or mini-slot or a Physical Resource Block (PRB) or parts thereof may be considered as others. A resource structure may be associated with a specific channel, e.g. a PUSCH or a PUCCH, in particular a resource structure smaller than a slot or a PRB.

[0076] Examples of a resource structure in the frequency domain comprise a bandwidth or a band, or a bandwidth portion. A bandwidth portion may be a portion of a bandwidth available to a radio node for communication, e.g., due to the circuitry and/or configuration and/or regulations and/or a standard. A bandwidth portion may be configured or configurable for a radio node. In some variants, a bandwidth portion may be the portion of a bandwidth used for communication, e.g., transmission and/or reception, by a radio node. The bandwidth portion may be smaller than the bandwidth (which may be a device bandwidth defined by the circuitry/configuration of a device, and/or a system bandwidth, e.g., available to a RAN). A bandwidth portion may be considered to comprise one or more resource blocks or resource block groups, in particular, one or more PRBs or PRB groups. A bandwidth portion may relate to, and/or comprise, one or more carriers. A cluster or a region or a set of resources may in general comprise one or a plurality (in particular two or a multiple of two greater than two) of resources or resource structures. A resource or a resource structure may comprise one or more resource elements (in particular two or a multiple of two greater than two), or one or more PRBs or PRB groups (in particular two or a multiple of two greater than two), which may be frequency continuous. A Control Channel Element (CCE) may be considered as an example of a resource structure, in particular for control signaling, e.g. DCI or SCI.

[0077] A carrier may, in general, represent a frequency band or range and/or refer to a center or centre frequency and an associated frequency interval. A carrier may be considered to comprise a plurality of subcarriers. A carrier may have assigned to it a center frequency or a center frequency interval, for example, represented by one or more subcarriers (each subcarrier may, in general, be assigned a bandwidth or a frequency interval). Different carriers may be non-overlapping, and/or may be neighbours in the frequency domain.

[0078] It should be noted that the term “radio” in this description may be taken to refer to wireless communication in general, and may also include wireless communication using microwave and/or millimeter frequency and/or other frequencies, in particular between 100 MHz or 1 GHz and 100 GHz or 20 or 10 GHz. Such communication may use one or more carriers.

[0079] A radio node, in particular a network node or a terminal, may in general be any device adapted to transmit and/or receive signals and/or data by radio and/or wireless, in particular communication data, in particular on at least one bearer. The at least one bearer may comprise a bearer accessed based on an LBT procedure (which may be called an LBT bearer), e.g. an unlicensed bearer. The bearer may be considered to be part of a bearer aggregate.

[0080] Reception or transmission on a cell or carrier may refer to reception or transmission using a frequency (band) or spectrum associated with the cell or carrier. A cell may generally comprise and/or be defined by or for one or more carriers, in particular at least one carrier for UL communication/transmission (called a UL carrier) and at least one carrier for DL communication/transmission (called a DL carrier). A cell may be considered to comprise different numbers of UL carriers and DL carriers. Alternatively, or additionally, a cell may comprise at least one carrier for UL communication/transmission and DL communication/transmission, e.g. in TDD-based approaches.

[0081] A channel may, in general, be a logical, transport or physical channel. A channel may comprise and/or be arranged on one or more carriers, in particular a plurality of subcarriers. A channel that carries and/or for carrying control signaling/control information may be considered a control channel, in particular if it is a physical layer channel and/or if it carries control plane information. Similarly, a channel that carries and/or for carrying data signaling/user information may be considered a data channel, in particular if it is a physical layer channel and/or if it carries user plane information. A channel may be defined for a specific communication direction, or for two complementary communication directions (e.g. UL and DL, or two-way side link), in which case it may be considered to have two component channels, one for each direction. Examples of channels include a channel for low latency and/or high reliability transmission, in particular, a channel for Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC), which may be for control and/or data.

[0082] In general, a symbol may represent and/or be associated with a symbol time duration, which may be dependent on the carrier and/or subcarrier spacing and/or the associated carrier numerology. In this manner, a symbol may be considered to indicate a time interval with a symbol time duration relative to the frequency domain. A symbol time duration may be dependent on a carrier frequency and/or bandwidth and/or the numerology and/or subcarrier spacing of, or associated with, a symbol. In this manner, different symbols may have different symbol time durations. In particular, numerologies with different subcarrier spacing may have different symbol time durations. In general, a symbol time duration may be based on, and/or include, a security time interval or cyclic extension, e.g., prefix or postfix.

[0083] A side link may in general represent a communication channel (or channel structure) between two UEs and/or terminals, in which data is transmitted between the participants (UEs and/or terminals) via the communication channel, e.g. directly and/or without being relayed via a network node. A side link may be established only and/or directly via the air interface(s) of the participant, which may be directly connected via the side link communication channel. In some variants, side link communication may be performed without interaction by a network node, e.g. over fixedly defined resources and/or over resources negotiated between the participants. Alternatively, or additionally, it may be envisaged that a network node provides some control functionality, e.g. by configuring resources, in particular one or more resource pool(s), for side link communication, and/or monitoring a side link, e.g. for billing purposes.

[0084] Side link communication may also be referred to as device-to-device (D2D) communication and/or in some cases as ProSe (Proximity Services) communication, e.g. in the context of LTE. A side link may be implemented in the context of V2x (vehicle communication) communication, e.g. V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle), V2I (vehicle-to-infrastructure) and/or V2P (vehicle-to-person). Any device adapted for side link communication may be considered a user or terminal equipment.

[0085] A side link communication channel (or structure) may comprise one or more channels (e.g., physical or logical), for example, a PSCCH (Physical Side Link Control Channel, which may, for example, carry control information such as an acknowledgement position indication) and/or a PSSCH (Physical Side Link Shared Channel, which, for example, may carry acknowledgement data and/or signaling). A side link communication channel (or structure) may be considered to refer to and/or use one or more carrier(s) and/or frequency band(s) associated with, and/or used by, cellular communication, for example, in accordance with a specific license and/or standard. Participants may share a (physical) channel and/or resources, in particular in the frequency domain and/or related to a frequency resource such as a carrier of a side link, in such a way that two or more participants transmit thereon, for example simultaneously and/or offset in time, and/or specific channels and/or resources may be associated with specific participants, so that, for example, only one participant transmits on a specific channel or on a specific resource or specific resources, for example in the frequency domain and/or related to one or more carriers or subcarriers.

[0086] A side link may conform to, and/or be implemented in accordance with, a specific standard, for example a standard based on LTE and/or NR. A side link may use TDD (Time Division Duplex) and/or FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) technology, for example, configured by a network node, and/or pre-configured and/or negotiated between participants. A user equipment may be considered adapted for side link communication if it, and/or its radio circuitry system and/or processing circuitry system, is adapted to use a side link, for example in one or more frequency bands and/or carriers and/or in one or more formats, in particular in accordance with a specific standard. In general, it may be considered that a radio access network is defined by two participants in a side link communication. Alternatively, or additionally, a radio access network may be represented, and/or defined with, and/or related to a network node and/or communication with such a node.

[0087] Communication or communicating may generally comprise transmitting and/or receiving signaling. Communication on a side link (or side link signaling) may comprise utilizing the side link for communication (respectively, for signaling). Side link transmission and/or transmitting on a side link may be considered to comprise transmission utilizing the side link, e.g., the associated resources and/or transmission formats and/or circuitry and/or air interface. Side link reception and/or receiving on a side link may be considered to comprise reception utilizing the side link, e.g., the associated resources and/or transmission formats and/or circuitry and/or air interface. Side link control information (e.g., SCI) may generally be considered to comprise control information transmitted utilizing a side link.

[0088] In general, carrier aggregation (CA) may refer to the concept of a connection and/or a radio communication link between a wireless and/or cellular communication network and/or a network node and a terminal or in a lateral link comprising a plurality of carriers for at least one transmission direction (e.g. DL and/or UL) as well as the carrier aggregate. A corresponding communication link may be referred to as a carrier aggregate communication link or a CA communication link; the carriers in a carrier aggregate may be referred to as component carriers (CC). In such a link, data may be transmitted over more than one of the carriers and/or all of the carriers of the carrier aggregation (the carrier aggregate). A carrier aggregation may comprise one (or more) dedicated control carriers and/or primary carriers (which may be, for example, referred to as a primary component carrier or PCC), over which control information may be transmitted, wherein the control information may refer to the primary carrier and other carriers, which may be referred to as secondary carriers (or secondary component carrier, SCC). However, in some approaches, control information may be sent over more than one carrier of an aggregate, for example, one or more PCCs and one PCC and one or more SCCs.

[0089] A transmission may, in general, refer to a specific channel and/or specific resources, in particular, with a start symbol and an end symbol in time, covering the interval between them. A scheduled transmission may be a transmission that is scheduled and/or expected and/or for which resources are scheduled or provided or reserved. However, not every scheduled transmission need be performed. For example, a scheduled downlink transmission may not be received, or a scheduled uplink transmission may not be transmitted due to power limitations, or other influences (e.g., a channel on an unlicensed carrier that is busy). A transmission may be scheduled for a subframe of the transmission timing (e.g., a minislot, and/or covering only a portion of a transmission timing frame) in a transmission timing frame such as a slot. An edge symbol may be indicative of a symbol in the transmission timing frame at which the transmission begins or ends.

[0090] Predefined, in the context of this description, may refer to related information that is defined, e.g., in a standard, and/or that is available without specific configuration from a network or a network node, e.g., stored in memory, e.g., independently of being configured. Configured or configurable may be taken to refer to corresponding information that is defined/configured, e.g., by the network or a network node.

[0091] A configuration or schedule, such as a mini-slot configuration and/or frame configuration, may schedule transmissions, e.g., by the time/transmissions for which it is valid, and/or the transmissions may be scheduled by separate signaling or separate configuration, e.g., separate RRC signaling and/or downlink control information signaling. The scheduled transmission(s) may represent signaling to be transmitted by the device for which it is scheduled, or signaling to be received by the device for which it is scheduled, depending on which side of a communication the device is on. It should be noted that downlink control information or, specifically, DCI signaling may be considered physical layer signaling, as opposed to higher layer signaling such as MAC (Media Access Control) signaling or RRC layer signaling. The higher the signaling layer, the less frequent/more time/resource consuming it can be considered, at least partially because the information contained in such signaling needs to be passed through several layers, each layer requiring processing and handling.

[0092] A scheduled transmission, and/or a transmission timing structure such as a mini-slot or slot, may relate to a specific channel, in particular a physical uplink shared channel, a physical uplink control channel, or a physical downlink shared channel, e.g. PUSCH, PUCCH or PDSCH, and/or may relate to a specific cell and/or a carrier aggregation. A corresponding configuration, e.g. scheduling configuration or symbol configuration may relate to such a channel, cell and/or carrier aggregation. The scheduled transmission may be considered to represent transmission on a physical channel, in particular a physical shared channel, e.g. a physical uplink shared channel or a physical downlink shared channel. For such channels, the semi-persistent configuration may be particularly suitable.

[0093] In general, a configuration may be a configuration indicating synchronization, and/or be represented or configured with corresponding configuration data. A configuration may be embedded in, and/or comprised in, a message or configuration or corresponding data, which may indicate and/or schedule resources, in particular, semi-persistently and/or semi-statically. In general, a configuration, in particular a feedback configuration and/or a codebook configuration or a set thereof, may be configured based on one or more messages. Such messages may be associated with different layers, and/or there may be at least one message for the dynamic configuration and/or at least one message for the semi-static configuration. Different messages may configure different or similar or the same parameter(s) and/or setting(s); in some cases, dynamic configuration, e.g. with DCI/SCI signaling, may override semi-static configuration, and/or may indicate a selection from a set of configurations, which may be, e.g., predefined and/or configured with upper layer/semi-static configuration. In particular, a configuration such as a feedback configuration may be configured with one or more Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages and/or one or more Media Access Control (MAC) messages and/or one or more Control Information messages, e.g. Downlink Control Information (DCI) messages and/or Sidelink Control Information (SCI) messages.

[0094] A control region of a transmission timing structure may be a time slot intended or scheduled or reserved for control signaling, in particular downlink control signaling, and/or for a specific control channel, e.g. a physical downlink control channel such as PDCCH. The slot may comprise, and/or consist of, a number of time symbols, which may be configured or configurable, e.g. by dedicated (UE-specific) signaling (which may be broadcast individually, e.g. addressed to or intended for a specific UE), e.g. on a PDCCH, or RRC signaling, or on a multicast or broadcast channel. In general, the transmission timing structure may comprise a control region covering a configurable number of symbols. It may be considered that, in general, the edge symbol is configured to come after the control region in time.

[0095] The duration of a symbol (time duration or symbol interval) of the transmission timing structure may, in general, be dependent on a numerology and/or a carrier, where the numerology and/or the carrier may be configurable. The numerology may be the numerology to be used for the scheduled transmission.

[0096] Scheduling of a device, or for a device, and/or related transmission or signaling, may be considered as comprising, or being a form of, configuring the device with resources, and/or indicating to the device the resources, e.g., to be used for communication. Scheduling may in particular relate to a transmission timing structure, or a substructure thereof (e.g., a slot or a mini-slot, which may be considered a substructure of a slot). It may be considered that an edge symbol may be identified and/or determined with respect to the transmission timing structure, even if for a substructure that is scheduled, e.g., if a basic timing grid is defined based on the transmission timing structure. Signaling indicating scheduling may comprise corresponding scheduling information and/or be considered as representing or containing configuration data indicating scheduled transmission and/or comprising scheduling information. Such configuration or signaling data may be considered as a resource configuration or a scheduling configuration. It should be noted that a configuration like this (in particular as an individual message) may in some cases not be complete without other configuration data, e.g. configured with other signaling, e.g. upper layer signaling. In particular, the symbol configuration may be provided in addition to the schedule/resource configuration to identify exactly which symbols are assigned to a scheduled transmission. A schedule (or resource) configuration may indicate the transmission timing structure(s) and/or the amount of resource (e.g. in number of symbols or length in time) for a scheduled transmission.

[0097] A scheduled transmission may be a transmission scheduled, for example, by the network or by the network node. The transmission may in this context be an uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) or sidelink (SL) transmission. A device, for example a user equipment, for which the scheduled transmission is scheduled may in this manner be scheduled to receive (for example, in DL or SL) or to transmit (for example, in UL or SL) the scheduled transmission. Scheduling the transmission may in particular be considered to comprise configuring a scheduled device with the resource(s) for this transmission, and/or informing the device that the transmission is intended and/or scheduled for some resource. A transmission may be scheduled to cover a time interval, in particular a successive number of symbols, which may form a continuous time interval between (and including) a start symbol and a end symbol. The start symbol and the end symbol of a (e.g. scheduled) transmission may be in the same transmission timing structure, e.g. the same slot. However, in some cases, the end symbol may be in a transmission timing structure later than the start symbol, in particular a structure following in time. A scheduled transmission may be associated and/or indicated with a duration, e.g. in a number of associated symbols or time slots. In some variants, there may be different scheduled transmissions in the same transmission timing structure. A scheduled transmission may be considered to be associated with a specific channel, e.g. a shared channel such as PUSCH or PDSCH.

[0098] In the context of this description, a distinction may be made between dynamically scheduled or aperiodic transmission and/or configuration, and semi-static or semi-persistent or periodic transmission and/or configuration. The term “dynamic” or similar terms may generally refer to valid and/or scheduled and/or configured transmission/configuration for (relatively) short time scales and/or a number (e.g. predefined and/or configured and/or limited and/or defined) of transmission timing occurrences and/or structures, e.g. one or more transmission timing structures such as slots or slot aggregations, and/or for one or more (e.g. specific number) transmission/occurrences. Dynamic configuration may be based on low-level signaling, e.g. control signaling at the physical layer and/or at the MAC layer, in particular in the form of DCI or SCI. Periodic/semi-static may relate to longer time scales, e.g., several slots and/or more than one frame, and/or an indefinite number of occurrences, e.g., until a dynamic configuration contradicts, or until a new periodic configuration arrives. A periodic or semi-static configuration may be based on, and/or configured with, upper layer signaling, in particular, RCL layer signaling and/or RRC signaling and/or MAC signaling.

[0099] A transmission timing structure may comprise a plurality of symbols, and/or define an interval comprising a plurality of symbols (respectively, their associated time intervals). In the context of this description, it should be noted that a reference to a symbol for ease of reference may be interpreted to refer to the time domain projection or time interval or component or time duration or time length of the symbol, unless it is clear from the context that the frequency domain component also needs to be considered. Examples of transmission timing structures include slot, subframe, mini-slot (which may also be considered a substructure of a slot), slot aggregation (which may comprise a plurality of slots and may be considered a superstructure of a slot), respectively, their time domain component. A transmission timing structure may, in general, comprise a plurality of symbols defining the time domain extent (e.g., interval or length or duration) of the transmission timing structure, and arranged neighboring each other in a numbered sequence. A timing structure (which may also be considered or implemented as a synchronization structure) may be defined by a succession of such transmission timing structures, which may, for example, define a timing grid with symbols representing the smallest grid structures. A transmission timing structure, and/or an edge symbol or a scheduled transmission may be determined or scheduled relative to such a timing grid. A transmission reception timing structure may be the transmission timing structure in which the scheduling control signaling is received, for example, relative to the timing grid. A transmission timing structure may in particular be a slot or a subframe or, in some cases, a mini-slot.

[00100] The control information may in general be transmitted in a control message, e.g. on a physical layer or channel, e.g. as a dynamic message such as a DCI message or an SCI message, or in some cases as upper layer signaling, e.g. RRC or MAC layer signaling. A control message may be a command-type message, which may comprise, and/or consist of, command-type information; or a scheduling-type message, which may comprise scheduling information, e.g. scheduling data signaling. The control information may comprise scheduling-type control information (or, for short, scheduling-type information), e.g. control information indicating the resources and/or transmission parameters for reception of signaling, and/or control information indicating the resources and/or transmission parameters for transmission of signaling. The signaling may in particular be data signaling, e.g. on a data channel. The control information may in particular comprise, or consist of, command-type control information, and/or be included in a command-type message. In general, control information or control messages, e.g. DCI or SCI messages, can be distinguished between scheduling information/messages and command-type information/messages. A scheduling message may schedule transmission on a data channel (data signaling), e.g. for reception or transmission to the target radio node, e.g. on downlink or uplink respectively. Scheduling grant and scheduling assignment are examples of such scheduling messages. A command-type message may be a message of a different type, e.g. that does not schedule transmission on a data channel. A command-type message may comprise a set of instructions, which may be configurable or flexible. The instructions may be scheduling-independent. Command-type information may, for example, indicate and/or instruct bandwidth switching, for example to another bandwidth portion, and/or activation or deactivation of a carrier and/or a cell and/or a bandwidth portion, and/or activation or deactivation of lease-free transmissions, and/or indications of selection of a parameter or a configuration from a set of configured parameters or configurations. In some variants, a command-type message may be schedule-independent, such that it does not schedule data signaling, or it may have a structure in which such scheduling may be configurable or optional. For command-type, there may be no scheduled transmission based on which reception of control information may be inferred. It should be noted that scheduling-type messages may comprise command-type information. Feedback information may be considered a form of control information, in particular UCI or SCI, depending on the direction or mode of communication. Feedback signaling may be considered a form of control signaling. A control message comprising feedback information may be considered as an additional type, which may be referred to as a feedback-type message, which may include a request for resources or, in general, UCI or UCI-type information on a lateral link or data concentration transfer link or retransmission link.

[00101] Signaling, in particular control signaling, may comprise a plurality of signals and/or messages, which may be transmitted on different carriers and/or be associated with different acknowledgement signaling processes, for example, representing and/or referring to one or more such processes. An indication may comprise signaling and/or a plurality of signals and/or messages and/or may be comprised therein, which may be transmitted on different carriers and/or be associated with different acknowledgement signaling processes, for example, representing and/or referring to one or more such processes.

[00102] In general, it should be noted that the number of bits or a bit rate associated with specific signaling that can be carried in a resource element may be based on a modulation and coding scheme (MCS). Thus, bits or a bit rate may be viewed as a form of resources that represent a resource structure or range in frequency and/or time, e.g., depending on the MCS. The MCS may be configured or configurable, e.g., by control signaling, e.g., DCI or MAC (Media Access Control) or RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling.

[00103] Different control information formats may be considered, for example, different formats for a control channel such as a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH). The PUCCH may carry control information or corresponding control signaling, e.g. Uplink Control Information (UCI). The UCI may comprise feedback signaling, and/or acknowledgement signaling such as HARQ feedback (ACK/NACK), and/or measurement information signaling, e.g. comprising Channel Quality Information (CQI), and/or Scheduling Request (SR) signaling. One of the supported PUCCH formats may be short, and may, for example, occur at the end of a slot interval, and/or multiplexed and/or neighbored to the PUSCH. Similar control information may be provided on a side link, for example, as Side Link Control Information (SCI), in particular, on a (physical) side link control channel, such as a (P)SCCH.

[00104] A resource structure in the frequency domain (which may be referred to as a frequency range and/or band) may be represented by a subcarrier grouping. A subcarrier grouping may

Claims (8)

1. A method of operating a user equipment (10) in a New Radio (NR) radio access network, characterized in that the method comprises: receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message configuring the user equipment with a reference time resource, the reference time resource being available, in at least one slot, for transmission of a scheduling request by the user equipment (10), the reference time resource comprising a reference symbol R, the reference symbol R being configured for a starting slot based on a slot offset, the slot offset being predefined, each of the at least one slot having a slot duration of 14 symbols; the received RRC message further configuring the user equipment (10) with a request periodicity P indicating a periodicity with a shorter time period than the slot duration, the request periodicity P corresponding to one of 2 and 7 symbols; and transmit a scheduling request message on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) in a request transmission symbol T that is based on the reference symbol R and the request periodicity P, the scheduling request message being a PUCCH format 0 message transmitted over 1 symbol. 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the RRC message explicitly indicates at least one of P and R. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference time feature is configured as one of 1 symbol, more than 1 symbol, and between 4 and 14 symbols. 4. User equipment (10) for a New Radio (NR) radio access network, characterized in that: the user equipment (10) comprises: processing circuits and radio circuits, and being configured to utilize the processing circuits and radio circuits to: receive a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message configuring the user equipment (10) with a reference time resource, the reference time resource being available, in at least one slot, for transmission of a scheduling request by the user equipment (10), the reference time resource comprising a reference symbol R, the reference symbol R being configured for a starting slot based on a slot offset, the slot offset being predefined, each of the at least one slot having a slot duration of 14 symbols; the received RRC message further configuring the user equipment (10) with a request periodicity P indicating a periodicity with a shorter time period than the slot duration, the request periodicity P corresponding to one of 2 and 7 symbols; and transmit a scheduling request message on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) in a request transmission symbol T that is based on the reference symbol R and the request periodicity P, the scheduling request message being a PUCCH format 0 message transmitted over 1 symbol. 5. User equipment according to claim 4, characterized in that the RRC message explicitly indicates at least one of P and R. 6. User equipment according to claim 4, characterized in that the reference time resource is configured as one of 1 symbol, 2 symbols, and one of 4 to 14 symbols. 7. A network node (100) for a New Radio (NR) radio access network, wherein the network node comprises: processing circuits and radio circuits, and being configured to utilize the processing circuits and radio circuits to: configure a user equipment by transmitting, to the user equipment, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message configuring the user equipment (10) with a reference time resource, the reference time resource being available, in at least one slot, for transmission of a scheduling request by the user equipment (10), the reference time resource comprising a reference symbol R, the reference symbol R being configured for a starting slot based on a slot offset, the slot offset being predefined, each of the at least one slot having a slot duration of 14 symbols; the received RRC message further configuring the user equipment (10) with a request periodicity P that indicates a periodicity with a shorter time period than the duration of the slot; the request periodicity P corresponding to one of 2 and 7 symbols; and transmit a scheduling request message on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) in a request reception symbol RC that is based on the reference symbol R and the request periodicity P, the scheduling request message being a PUCCH format 0 message transmitted over 1 symbol. 8. The network node of claim 7, wherein the RRC message explicitly indicates at least one of P and R.