WO2019105087A1

WO2019105087A1 - Method and apparatus for time unit configuration

Info

Publication number: WO2019105087A1
Application number: PCT/CN2018/103675
Authority: WO
Inventors: Zhenshan Zhao; Jia Shen
Original assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Ltd.
Priority date: 2017-11-29
Filing date: 2018-08-31
Publication date: 2019-06-06
Also published as: CN110945938B; CN110945938A

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for time unit configuration and readable storage medium are disclosed. The method comprises transmitting a configuration signaling to a user equipment (UE), wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of time units in a first subset of a time unit set as uplink, downlink, reserved or unknown; and transmitting a slot format indicator (SFI) to the UE, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the time unit set as uplink, downlink or unknown and the second subset does not comprise time units in a third subset of the time unit set, the third subset being a subset of the first subset and comprising at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TIME UNIT CONFIGURATION

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application, Serial No. 62/592,074, filed on November 29, 2017. The entire contents of the application are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to the technical field of communication, and in particular relates to a method and apparatus for time unit configuration.

BACKGROUND

Four possible states, i.e., downlink (DL) , uplink (UL) , unknown, and reserved, per symbol can be configured by Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. Slot Format Indicator (SFI) can be used to further configure the symbol/slot format on top of RRC configuration. The UL, DL and reserved symbols configured by RRC signaling cannot be overridden by SFI.

If some symbols are configured as reserved states, while there are only DL, UL and unknown stated defined in SFI, a conflict between the RRC configuration and the SFI will arise when a symbol is indicated as UL, DL or unknown by SFI, but indicated as reserved by RRC signaling and the conflict will be confused at a UE.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for time unit configuration is provided. The method may include transmitting a configuration signaling to a user equipment (UE) , wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of time units in a first subset of a time unit set as uplink, downlink, reserved or unknown; and transmitting a slot format indicator (SFI) to the UE, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the time unit set as uplink, downlink or unknown and the second subset does not comprise time units in a third subset of the time unit set, the third subset being a subset of the first subset and comprising at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for time unit configuration is provided. The method may include receiving a configuration signaling from a base station, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of time units in a first subset of a time unit set as uplink, downlink, reserved or unknown; configuring the format of the time units in the first subset according to the configuration signaling; receiving a SFI from the base station, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the time unit set as uplink, downlink or unknown; and configuring the format of other time units in the second subset except time units in a third subset of the time unit set according to the SFI and maintaining a format of the time units in the third subset unchanged, wherein the third subset is a subset of the first subset and comprises at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for time unit configuration is provided. The apparatus may comprise a first transmission module configured to transmit a configuration signaling to a UE, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of time units in a first subset of a time unit set as uplink, downlink, reserved or unknown; and a second transmission module configured to transmit a SFI to the UE, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the time unit set as uplink, downlink or unknown and the second subset does not comprise time units in a third subset of the time unit set, the third subset being a subset of the first subset and comprising at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for time unit configuration is provided. The apparatus may comprise a first receiving module configured to receive a configuration signaling from a base station, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of time units in a first subset of a time unit set as uplink, downlink, reserved or unknown; a first configuration module configured to configure the format of the time units in the first subset according to the configuration signaling; a second receiving module configured to receive a SFI from the base station, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the time unit set as uplink, downlink or unknown; and a second configuration module configured to configure the format of other time units in the second subset except time units in a third subset of the time unit set according to the SFI and maintaining a format of the time units in the third subset unchanged, wherein the third subset is a subset of the first subset and comprises at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a base station is provided. The base station may include a processor in communication with memory, the processor being configured to execute instructions stored in the memory that cause the processor to: transmit a configuration signaling to a UE, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of time units in a first subset of a time unit set as uplink, downlink, reserved or unknown; and transmit a SFI to the UE, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the time unit set as uplink, downlink or unknown and the second subset does not comprise time units in a third subset of the time unit set, the third subset being a subset of the first subset and comprising at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a UE is provided. The UE may include a processor in communication with memory, the processor being configured to execute instructions stored in the memory that cause the processor to: receive a configuration signaling from a base station, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of time units in a first subset of a time unit set as uplink, downlink, reserved or unknown; configure the format of the time units in the first subset according to the configuration signaling; receive a SFI from the base station, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the time unit set as uplink, downlink or unknown; and configure the format of other time units in the second subset except time units in a third subset of the time unit set according to the SFI and maintaining a format of the time units in the third subset unchanged, wherein the third subset is a subset of the first subset and comprises at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a readable storage is provided. The readable storage may be stored with instructions, wherein the instructions implement any one of above-mentioned methods while executed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to make the technical solution described in the embodiments of the present disclosure more clearly, the drawings used for the description of the embodiments will be briefly described. Apparently, the drawings described below are only for illustration but not for limitation. It should be understood that, one skilled in the art may acquire other drawings based on these drawings, without making any inventive work.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a method for time unit configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for time unit configuration according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is an example of configuration signaling and SFI according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is another example of configuration signaling and SFI according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is yet another example of configuration signaling and SFI according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is yet another example of configuration signaling and SFI according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is yet another example of configuration signaling and SFI according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is yet another example of configuration signaling and SFI according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is yet another example of configuration signaling and SFI according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a structural schematic view of an apparatus for time unit configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a structural schematic view of an apparatus for time unit configuration according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a structural schematic view of an apparatus for time unit configuration according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a structural schematic view of an apparatus for time unit configuration according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a structural schematic view of a computer readable medium according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Below embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which the same or similar reference numerals have been used throughout to denote the same or similar elements or elements serving the same or similar functions. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary only, meaning they are intended to be illustrative of rather than limiting the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a method for time unit configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, the method is performed at a base station side. The base station may be connected to a core network, and has a wireless communication with a user equipment (UE) , providing communication coverage for a corresponding region. The base station may be a macro base station, a micro base station, a pico base station or femtocell. In some embodiments, the base station may be called as the wireless base station, access point, B node, evolved B node (eNodeB, eNB) , ng-eNB, gNB, en-gNB or other suitable terms. As shown in FIG. 1, the method may include the following blocks.

At block S11, a configuration signaling is transmitted to a UE. The configuration signaling can be used to configure a format/state of time units in a first subset of a time unit set as uplink (UL) , downlink (DL) , reserved or unknown. The unknown format may also be referred to as flexible format.

The time unit set can comprise multiple time units, and the first subset can comprise part or all of the time units in the time unit set. Each time unit may comprise at least one symbol or slot. The slot duration can be 14 symbols with Normal cyclic prefix (CP) and 12 symbols with Extended CP and scale in time as a function of the used sub-carrier spacing so that there is always an integer number of slots in a 1 ms subframe.

A time unit configured as UL by the configuration signaling can be referred to as a UL time unit; a time unit configured as DL by the configuration signaling can be referred to as a DL time unit; a time unit configured as reserved by the configuration signaling can be referred to as a reserved time unit; and a time unit configured as unknown by the configuration signaling can be referred to as an unknown time unit. If the first subset comprises part of the time units in the time unit set, a time unit not configured by the configuration signaling can be referred to as an un-configured time unit. In some embodiments, default format of the time unit is unknown and thus the time unit not configured by the configuration signaling can be referred to as an un-configured time unit or unknown time unit.

Specifically, the UL time units can be used for UL transmission (i.e. the transmission from the UE to the base station) and the DL time units can be used for DL transmission (i.e. the transmission from the base station to the UE) . The reserved time units is reserved for further usage , or the reserved time units is reserved which is used for legacy transmission, such as CRS (Cell-specific Reference Signaling) of LTE system.

The configuration signaling can be used to semi-persistent configure time resource format in TDD (Time Division Duplexing) system. The configuration signaling can comprise at least one Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. Each RRC signaling may be cell-specific or UE-specific. When the configuration signaling comprises more than one RRC signaling, time units /format configured by the different RRC signaling may be completely different, partially identical or identical. For example, the configuration signaling may comprise two RRC signaling, one RRC signaling can be used to configure reserved format and the other RRC signaling can be used to configure UL, DL and unknown format. Specifically, priority can be set for the RRC signaling, time unit format configured by RRC signaling with lower priority may be overridden by RRC signaling with higher priority.

At block S12, a slot format indicator (SFI) is transmitted to the UE.

The SFI may be used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the time unit set as uplink, downlink or unknown dynamically on top of the configuration signaling. The second subset does not comprise time units in a third subset of the time unit set. The third subset can be a subset of the first subset and comprise at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling. The time units in the third subset cannot be overridden by the SFI. For example, the third subset may consist of all uplink, downlink and reserved time units in the first subset and the second subset may consist of at least part of unknown time units, at least part of un-configured time units, or at least part of unknown time units and at least part of un-configured time units. The unknown and/or un-configured time units can be overridden to UL or DL by the SFI.

The SFI can be carried in Downlink Control Information (DCI) which is transmitted on Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) , such as DCI format 2_0 with CRC scrambled by SFI-Radio Network Tempory Identity (RNTI) . Information needed for SFI transmission can be configured by higher layers with parameter SlotFormatIndicator.

The second subset does not comprise time units in the third subset, so that the SFI will not configure the time units in the third subset and the conflict between the configuration signaling and the SFI can be reduced.

Referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for time unit configuration according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, the method is performed at a UE side. The UE may be fixed in one example, and may be mobile in another example, such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a wireless modem, a tablet PC, a laptop, a cordless phone, etc. As shown in FIG. 5, the method may include the following blocks.

At block S21, a configuration signaling is received from a base station. The configuration signaling can be used to configure a format of time units in a first subset of a time unit set as UL, DL, reserved or unknown. The unknown format may also be referred to as flexible.

In this embodiment, the configuration signaling may be the configuration signaling as described in previous embodiment which will not be detailed herein.

At block S22, the format of the time units in the first subset is configured according to the configuration signaling.

At block S23, a SFI is received from the base station. The SFI can be used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the time unit set as uplink, downlink or unknown dynamically on top of the configuration signaling.

The SFI can be carried in Downlink Control Information (DCI) which is transmitted on Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) , such as DCI format 2_0 with CRC scrambled by SFI-Radio Network Tempory Identity (RNTI) . Information needed for SFI transmission can be configured by higher layers with parameter SlotFormatIndicator. The UE can monitor the SFI in DL time units and some unknown time units (when configured by higher layer parameter) .

At block S24, the format of other time units in the second subset except time units in a third subset of the time unit set is configured according to the SFI and a format of the time units in the third subset is maintained unchanged.

The third subset is a subset of the first subset and comprises at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling. For example, the third subset may consist of all uplink, downlink and reserved time units in the first subset.

Since the time units in the third subset cannot be overridden by the SFI, the conflict between the configuration signaling and the SFI may arise if the SFI comprises configuration for any of time units in the third subset and is entirely applied.

The SFI is not applied to the time unit in the third subset, even if the second subset includes at least one first time unit which belongs to the third subset, i.e. the SFI comprises configuration of the first time unit (s) , so that the conflict between the configuration signaling and the SFI can be reduced.

The present embodiment may be combined with the embodiment associated with FIG. 1. In this case, the SFI does not comprise configuration of any of time units in the third subset and can be applied to all time units in the second subset.

In one example, if the SFI comprise configuration of the first time unit (s) , the UE can skip the configuration of the first time unit (s) . In another example, if the SFI comprise configuration of the first time unit (s) , the UE may apply a delay on the configuration of the at least one first time unit and time units following the first time unit (s) in the SFI so as to skip the time units in the third subset, namely, the UE may apply configuration of the first time unit (s) and time units following the first time unit (s) in the SFI to time units which follow the first time unit (s) and not belong to the third subset. If the SFI configures the time units in the second subset periodically, the actual configuration period at the UE side may be different form the configuration period in the SFI due to the delayed configuration application. For example, the SFI can comprise configuration of slot A which is in the third subset, in this case, the UE can apply the configuration of slot A and slots following the slot A to slots following the slot A and not belonging to the third subset.

The examples of configuration signaling and SFI will be described in greater detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings FIG. 3-9, common contents as those of the aforesaid embodiments will not be detailed again. The configuration signaling and SFI may configure the time unit format within a configuration period. In FIGs 3-9, each box represents a slot, the area filled with horizontal lines represent DL format, the area filled with vertical lines represent UL format, the area filled with dots represent un-configured format, the area filled with cross slashes represent reserved format, the blank area represents unknown time units, the area filled with grids represents time resource for SFI and the arrow represents the SFI configuration.

Referring to FIG 3, in one example, there are 10 slots within a configuration period. The format per slot is configured by the configuration signaling as follows:

DL time units: first 2 slots + slot #3; UL time units: last slot; unknown time units: slot #2, #4, #5; reserved time units: slot #6 and #7; un-configured time units: slot #8.

Within the configuration period, the first subset comprises slot #0-#7, #9, and the third subset comprises slot #0, #1, #3, #6, #7, #9.

On top of configuration signaling, the SFI is configured to indicate slot #4, #5 as UL, slot #8 as DL. The SFI can be applied to all configured symbols.

Referring to FIG. 4, in another example, there are 10 slots within a configuration period. The format per slot configured by the configuration signaling is identical with those in upper part of FIG. 3.

On top of configuration signaling, the SFI is configured to indicate slot #4, #5, #6 as UL, slot #8 as DL. Since slot #6 is indicated as reserved by the configuration signaling, configuration for slot #6 in the SFI will not be applied to slot #6 and be ignored by the UE.

Referring to FIG. 5, in yet another example, there are 10 slots within a configuration period. The format per slot configured by the configuration signaling is identical with those in upper part of FIG. 3.

On top of configuration signaling, the SFI is configured to indicate slot #4, #5 as UL, slot #6 as DL. Since slot #6 is indicated as reserved by the configuration signaling, configuration for slot #6 in the SFI will be applied to slot #8 rather than slot #6.

Referring to FIG. 6, in yet another example, there are 10 slots within a configuration period. The format per slot is configured by the configuration signaling as follows:

DL time units: first slot + some symbols of slot#1, #2; UL time units: last slot + some symbols of slot #8; unknown/un-configured time units: some symbols of slot #1, #2, #6, #8 and slot #3, #4, #5, #7; reserved time units: some symbols of slot #6.

Within the configuration period, the first subset comprises slot #0-#9, and the third subset comprises slot #0, #9 and some symbols of slot #1, #2, #6, #8.

On top of configuration signaling, the SFI is configured to indicate some symbols of slot #4, #5, #7 as UL, some symbols of slot #8 as DL. The SFI can be applied to all configured symbols.

Referring to FIG. 7, in yet another example, there are 10 slots within a configuration period. The format per slot configured by the configuration signaling is identical with those in upper part of FIG. 6.

On top of configuration signaling, the SFI is configured to indicate some symbols of slot #4, #5, #7 as UL, some symbols of slot#6, #8 as DL.

Since some symbols of slot #6 is indicated as reserved by the configuration signaling, configuration for some symbols of slot #6 (intersected with the reserved symbols) in the SFI will not be applied and be ignored by the UE.

Referring to FIG. 8, in yet another example, there are 10 slots within a configuration period. The format per slot configured by the configuration signaling is identical with those in upper part of FIG. 6.

On top of configuration signaling, the SFI is configured to indicate some symbols of slot #4, #5, #7 as UL, some symbols of slot#6, #7 as DL.

Since some symbols of slot #6 is indicated as reserved by the configuration signaling, configuration for some symbols of slot #6 (intersected with the reserved symbols) and the subsequent symbols of slot #7in the SFI will be applied to symbols following the reserved symbols. The interval between the configuration in the SFI and the delayed configuration is the duration of the reserved symbols.

Referring to FIG. 9, in yet another example, there are 10 slots within a configuration period. The format per slot configured by the configuration signaling is identical with those in upper part of FIG. 6.

On top of configuration signaling, the SFI is configured to indicate some symbols of slot #4, #5, #7 as UL, some symbols of slot #6, #7 as DL.

Since some symbols of slot #6 is indicated as reserved by the configuration signaling, configuration for some symbols of slot #6 (intersected with the reserved symbols) , the subsequent symbols of slot #7 in the SFI will be applied to symbols following the reserved symbols and as a result the actual configuration period of the SFI is extended. The interval between the configuration of reserved symbols and subsequent symbols of slot #7 in the SFI and the delayed configuration is equal to or more than a slot.

Referring to FIG. 10, FIG. 10 is a structural schematic view of an apparatus for time unit configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus 100 may include a first transmission module 110 and a second transmission module 120.

The first transmission module 110 can be configured to transmit a configuration signaling to a UE, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of time units in a first subset of a time unit set as uplink, downlink, reserved or unknown.

The second transmission module 120 can be configured to transmit a SFI to the UE, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the time unit set as uplink, downlink or unknown and the second subset does not comprise time units in a third subset of the time unit set, the third subset being a subset of the first subset and comprising at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

It should be noted that, the above descriptions for the methods in the above embodiments, are also appropriate for the apparatus of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, which will be not described herein.

The apparatus 100 may be a base station in one example. The apparatus 100 may be a separate component integrated in a base station, such as a base band board, in another example.

Referring to FIG. 11, FIG. 11 is a structural schematic view of an apparatus for time unit configuration according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus 200 may include a first receiving module 210, a first configuration module 220, a second receiving module 230 and a second configuration module 240.

The first receiving module 210 can be configured to receive a configuration signaling from a base station, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of time units in a first subset of a time unit set as uplink, downlink, reserved or unknown;

The first configuration module 220 can be configured to configure the format of the time units in the first subset according to the configuration signaling;

The second receiving module 230 can be configured to receive a SFI from the base station, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the time unit set as uplink, downlink or unknown; and

The second configuration module 240 can be configured to configure the format of other time units in the second subset except time units in a third subset of the time unit set according to the SFI and maintaining a format of the time units in the third subset unchanged. The third subset can be a subset of the first subset and comprise at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

Specifically, the second configuration module 240 may be configured to apply configuration of at least one first time unit which belongs to the third subset and time units following the at least one first time unit in the SFI to time units after the at least one first time unit and not belonging to the third subset when the SFI comprises configuration of the at least one first time unit.

Specifically, the second configuration module 240 may be configured to skip configuration of at least one first time unit which belongs to the third subset when the SFI comprises the configuration of the at least one first time unit.

The apparatus 200 may be a UE in one example. The apparatus 200 may be a separate component integrated in a UE, such as a base band chip, in another example.

Referring to FIG. 12, FIG. 12 is a structural schematic view of an apparatus for time unit configuration according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus 300 may include a processor 310, a communication circuit 320 and a memory 330, which are coupled together.

The communication circuit 320 may be configured to transmit and receive data, which is an interface for communication between the apparatus 300 and other communication devices.

The memory 330 is configured to store executable program instructions. The processor 310 may be configured to read the executable program instructions stored in the memory 330 to implement a procedure corresponding to the executable program instructions, so as to perform any methods for time unit configuration performed at a base station side as described in the previous embodiments or a method performed at a base station side provided with arbitrary and non-conflicting combination of the previous embodiments.

The apparatus 300 may be a base station in one example. The apparatus 300 may be a separate component integrated in a base station, such as a base band board, in another example.

Referring to FIG. 13, FIG. 13 is a structural schematic view of an apparatus for time unit configuration according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus 400 may include a processor 410, a communication circuit 420 and a memory 430, which are coupled together.

The communication circuit 420 may be configured to transmit and receive data, which is an interface for communication between the apparatus 400 and other communication devices.

The memory 430 is configured to store executable program instructions. The processor 410 may be configured to read the executable program instructions stored in the memory 430 to implement a procedure corresponding to the executable program instructions, so as to perform any methods for time unit configuration performed at a UE side as described in the previous embodiments or a method performed at a UE side provided with arbitrary and non-conflicting combination of the previous embodiments.

The apparatus 400 may be a UE in one example. The apparatus 400 may be a separate component integrated in a UE, such as a base band chip, in another example.

Referring to FIG. 14, FIG. 14 is a structural schematic view of a computer readable medium 500 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The computer readable medium may comprise a storage 510. The storage 510 can store instructions which can implement any methods for time unit configuration as described in the previous embodiments or a method provided with arbitrary and non-conflicting combination of the previous embodiments while executed.

The storage 510 may be a read-only memory (ROM) , a random access memory (RAM) , a flash memory, a hard disk, or an optical disk, etc..

A person of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate that, in combination with the examples described in the embodiments disclosed in this specification, units and algorithm steps may be implemented by electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination thereof. In order to clearly describe the interchangeability between the hardware and the software, the foregoing has generally described compositions and steps of every embodiment according to functions. Whether the functions are performed by hardware or software depends on particular applications and design constraint conditions of the technical solutions. A person skilled in the art may use different methods to implement the described functions for each particular application, but it should not be considered that the implementation goes beyond the scope of the present application.

It can be clearly understood by a person skilled in the art that, for the purpose of convenient and brief description, for a detailed working process of the foregoing system, apparatus and unit, reference may be made to the corresponding process in the method embodiments, and the details will not be described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present disclosure, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus, and method may be implemented in other manners. For example, the described apparatus embodiment is merely exemplary. For example, the unit division is merely logical function division and may be other division in actual implementation. For example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not performed. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections may be implemented through some interfaces. The indirect couplings or communication connections between the apparatuses or units may be implemented in electronic, mechanical, or other forms.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one position, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. A part or all of the units herein may be selected according to the actual needs to achieve the objectives of the solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each of the units may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit. The integrated unit may be implemented in a form of hardware, or may be implemented in a form of a software functional unit.

When the integrated unit are implemented in a form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, the integrated unit may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such an understanding, the technical solutions of the present application essentially, or the part contributing to the prior art, or all or a part of the technical solutions may be implemented in a form of software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium, and includes several instructions for instructing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to perform all or a part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. The foregoing storage medium includes: any medium that can store program codes, such as a USB flash disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM, Read-Only Memory) , a random access memory (RAM, Random Access Memory) , a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The foregoing descriptions are merely specific embodiments of the present application, but are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present application. Any equivalent modification or replacement figured out by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope of the present application shall fall within the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A method for time unit configuration, comprising:

transmitting a configuration signaling to a user equipment (UE) , wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of time units in a first subset of a time unit set as uplink, downlink, reserved or unknown; and

transmitting a slot format indicator (SFI) to the UE, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the time unit set as uplink, downlink or unknown and the second subset does not comprise time units in a third subset of the time unit set, the third subset being a subset of the first subset and comprising at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.
The method of claim 1, wherein the time unit comprises at least one symbol or slot.
The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration signaling comprises at least one Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.
The method of claim 1, wherein the SFI is carried in Downlink Control Information (DCI) .
A method for time unit configuration, comprising:

receiving a configuration signaling from a base station, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of time units in a first subset of a time unit set as uplink, downlink, reserved or unknown;

configuring the format of the time units in the first subset according to the configuration signaling;

receiving a SFI from the base station, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the time unit set as uplink, downlink or unknown; and

configuring a format of other time units in the second subset except time units in a third subset of the time unit set according to the SFI and maintaining a format of the time units in the third subset unchanged, wherein the third subset is a subset of the first subset and comprises at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.
The method of claim 5, wherein the configuring the format of the other time units in the second subset except the time units in the third subset of the time unit set according to the SFI comprises:

when the SFI comprises configuration of at least one first time unit which belongs to the third subset, applying configuration of the at least one first time unit and time units following the at least one first time unit in the SFI to time units after the at least one first time unit and not belonging to the third subset.
The method of claim 5, wherein the configuring the format of the other time units in the second subset except the time units in the third subset of the time unit set according to the SFI comprises:

when the SFI comprises configuration of at least one first time unit which belongs to the third subset, skipping the configuration of at least one first time unit.
The method of claim 5, wherein the time unit comprises at least one symbol or slot.
The method of claim 5, wherein the configuration signaling comprises at least one Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.
The method of claim 5, wherein the SFI is carried in Downlink Control Information (DCI) .
The method of claim 5, wherein the SFI does not comprise configuration of any time unit in the third subset.
An apparatus for time unit configuration, comprising:

a first transmission module configured to transmit a configuration signaling to a UE, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of time units in a first subset of a time unit set as uplink, downlink, reserved or unknown; and

a second transmission module configured to transmit a SFI to the UE, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the time unit set as uplink, downlink or unknown and the second subset does not comprise time units in a third subset of the time unit set, the third subset being a subset of the first subset and comprising at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.
An apparatus for time unit configuration, comprising:

a first receiving module configured to receive a configuration signaling from a base station, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of time units in a first subset of a time unit set as uplink, downlink, reserved or unknown;

a first configuration module configured to configure the format of the time units in the first subset according to the configuration signaling;

a second receiving module configured to receive a SFI from the base station, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the time unit set as uplink, downlink or unknown; and

a second configuration module configured to configure the format of other time units in the second subset except time units in a third subset of the time unit set according to the SFI and maintaining a format of the time units in the third subset unchanged, wherein the third subset is a subset of the first subset and comprises at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.
The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the second configuration module is configured to apply configuration of at least one first time unit which belongs to the third subset and time units following the at least one first time unit in the SFI to time units after the at least one first time unit and not belonging to the third subset when the SFI comprises configuration of the at least one first time unit.
The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the second configuration module is configured to skip configuration of at least one first time unit which belongs to the third subset when the SFI comprises the configuration of the at least one first time unit.
A base station, comprising a processor in communication with memory, the processor being configured to execute instructions stored in the memory that cause the processor to:

transmit a configuration signaling to a UE, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of time units in a first subset of a time unit set as uplink, downlink, reserved or unknown; and

transmit a SFI to the UE, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the time unit set as uplink, downlink or unknown and the second subset does not comprise time units in a third subset of the time unit set, the third subset being a subset of the first subset and comprising at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.
A base station, comprising a processor in communication with a memory, the processor being configured to execute instructions stored in the memory that cause the processor to perform the method for time unit configuration of any one of claims 1-4.
A computer readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for time unit configuration, the method comprising:

transmitting a configuration signaling to a UE, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of time units in a first subset of a time unit set as uplink, downlink, reserved or unknown; and

transmitting a SFI to the UE, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the time unit set as uplink, downlink or unknown and the second subset does not comprise time units in a third subset of the time unit set, the third subset being a subset of the first subset and comprising at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.
A computer readable medium storing instructions, wherein the instructions implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 while executed.
A user equipment, comprising a processor in communication with memory, the processor being configured to execute instructions stored in the memory that cause the processor to:

receive a configuration signaling from a base station, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of time units in a first subset of a time unit set as uplink, downlink, reserved or unknown;

configure the format of the time units in the first subset according to the configuration signaling;

receive a SFI from the base station, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the time unit set as uplink, downlink or unknown; and

configure the format of other time units in the second subset except time units in a third subset of the time unit set according to the SFI and maintaining a format of the time units in the third subset unchanged, wherein the third subset is a subset of the first subset and comprises at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.
The user equipment of claim 20, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory that cause the processor to:

when the SFI comprises configuration of at least one first time unit which belongs to the third subset, apply configuration of the at least one first time unit and time units following the at least one first time unit in the SFI to time units after the at least one first time unit and not belonging to the third subset .
The user equipment of claim 20, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory that cause the processor to:

when the SFI comprises configuration of at least one first time unit which belongs to the third subset, skip the configuration of at least one first time unit.
A user equipment, comprising a processor in communication with memory, the processor being configured to execute instructions stored in the memory that cause the processor to perform the method for time unit configuration of any one of claims 5-11.
A computer readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for time unit configuration, the method comprising:

receiving a configuration signaling from a base station, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of time units in a first subset of a time unit set as uplink, downlink, reserved or unknown;

configuring the format of the time units in the first subset according to the configuration signaling;

receiving a SFI from the base station, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the time unit set as uplink, downlink or unknown; and

configuring a format of other time units in the second subset except time units in a third subset of the time unit set according to the SFI and maintaining a format of the time units in the third subset unchanged, wherein the third subset is a subset of the first subset and comprises at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.
A computer readable medium storing instructions, wherein the instructions implement the method according to any one of claims 5 to 11 while executed..