WO2024130610A1

WO2024130610A1 - Method, device and computer readable medium for communications

Info

Publication number: WO2024130610A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/140839
Authority: WO
Inventors: Xincai LI; Gang Wang
Original assignee: NEC Corp
Current assignee: NEC Corp
Priority date: 2022-12-21
Filing date: 2022-12-21
Publication date: 2024-06-27
Anticipated expiration: 2025-06-21
Also published as: CN120731645A

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods, devices and computer readable media for communications. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a terminal device receives a first configuration of CORESET group associated with at least one first time unit from a network device. The at least one first time unit is configured with frequency subbands for different link directions The terminal device receives a second configuration of CORESET group associated with at least one second time unit from the network device. The at least one second time unit is not configured with the frequency subbands. The terminal device receives, from the network device, a control channel on resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group. In this way, the frequency domain resource assignment can be performed appropriately in the SBFD communication.

Description

METHOD, DEVICE AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM FOR COMMUNICATIONS

FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of communication, and in particular, to devices, methods and computer readable medium for communications.

BACKGROUND

With the development of communication technology, a time unit (for example, a symbol, slot, frame, sub-frame and so on) can be configured with a plurality of frequency subbands. The plurality of frequency subbands may be respectively used for different link directions, for example, uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) . This time unit may be also referred to as subband non-overlapping full duplex (SBFD) time unit. In turn, a device for communication (for example, a network device or a terminal device) may perform the simultaneous transmission and reception in different link directions on these time units, in order to improve communication efficiency.

In addition, the existing resource configuration is generally designed for the non-SBFD time units, that is, the time unit which is not configured with the plurality of frequency subbands. In this case, the resource configuration in the SBFD time unit may be further optimized.

SUMMARY

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to devices, methods, and computer readable medium for communications.

In a first aspect, there is provided a terminal device. The terminal device comprises a transceiver and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver. The processor is configured to cause the terminal device to: receive a first configuration of control resource set (CORESET) group associated with at least one first time unit from a network device. The at least one first time unit is configured with frequency subbands for different link directions. The terminal device is further caused to receive a second configuration of CORESET group associated with at least one second time unit from the network device. The at least one second time unit is not configured with the frequency subbands. The terminal device is further caused to receive, from the network device, a control channel on resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group.

In a second aspect, there is provided a terminal device. The terminal device comprises a transceiver and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver. The processor is configured to cause the terminal device to: receive a search space (SS) CORESET configuration that comprises a SS and a plurality of CORESETs associated with the SS from a network device. The terminal device is further caused to receive a control channel on resources that are indicated by the search space and at least one of the plurality of CORESETs from the network device.

In a third aspect, there is provided a terminal device. The terminal device comprises a transceiver and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver. The processor is configured to cause the terminal device to: receive, from a network device, a CORESET configuration indicating resources that at least partially overlap with a frequency subband configured for a UL channel. The terminal device is further caused to determine at least one of a first priority level associated with the UL channel and a second priority level associated with downlink control information (DCI) type. The terminal device is further caused to receive a control channel on the resources based on determining at least one of the first priority level being lower than a first priority threshold and the second priority level being higher than a second priority threshold.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a network device. The network device comprises a transceiver and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver. The processor is configured to cause the network device to: transmit a first configuration of CORESET group associated with at least one first time unit to a terminal device. The at least one first time unit is configured with frequency subbands for different link directions. The network device is further caused to transmit, a second configuration of CORESET group associated with at least one second time unit to the terminal device. The at least one second time unit is not configured with the frequency subbands. The network device is further caused to transmit a control channel on resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration CORESET group to the terminal device.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a network device. The network device comprises a transceiver and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver. The processor is configured to cause the network device to: transmit a SS CORESET configuration that comprises a SS and a plurality of CORESETs associated with the SS to a terminal device. The network device is further caused to transmit a control channel on resources that are indicated by the search space and at least one of the plurality of CORESETs to the terminal device.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a network device. The network device comprises a transceiver and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver. The processor is configured to cause the network device to: transmit a CORESET configuration indicating resources that at least partially overlap with a frequency subband configured for a UL channel to a terminal device. The network device is further caused to determine at least one of a first priority level associated with the UL channel and a second priority level associated with DCI type. The network device is further caused to transmit a control channel on the resources based on determining at least one of the first priority level being lower than a first priority threshold and the second priority level being higher than a second priority threshold.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided a method implemented at a terminal device. In the method, the terminal device receives a first configuration of CORESET group associated with at least one first time unit from a network device. The at least one first time unit is configured with frequency subbands for different link directions The terminal device receives a second configuration of CORESET group associated with at least one second time unit from the network device. The at least one second time unit is not configured with the frequency subbands. The terminal device receives, from the network device, a control channel on resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a method implemented at a terminal device. In the method, the terminal device receives a search space (SS) CORESET configuration that comprises a SS and a plurality of CORESETs associated with the SS from a network device. The terminal device receives a control channel on resources that are indicated by the search space and at least one of the plurality of CORESETs from the network device.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a method implemented at a terminal device. In the method, the terminal device receives, from a network device, a CORESET configuration indicating resources that at least partially overlap with a frequency subband configured for a UL channel. The terminal device determines at least one of a first priority level associated with the UL channel and a second priority level associated with downlink control information (DCI) type. The terminal device receives a control channel on the resources based on determining at least one of the first priority level being lower than a first priority threshold and the second priority level being higher than a second priority threshold.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a method implemented at a network device. In the method, the network device transmits a first configuration of CORESET group associated with at least one first time unit to a terminal device. The at least one first time unit is configured with frequency subbands for different link directions. The network device transmits a second configuration of CORESET group associated with at least one second time unit to the terminal device. The at least one second time unit is not configured with the frequency subbands. The network device transmits a control channel on resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration CORESET group to the terminal device.

In a eleventh aspect, there is provided a method implemented at a network device. In the method, the network device transmits a SS CORESET configuration that comprises a SS and a plurality of CORESETs associated with the SS to a terminal device. The network device transmits a control channel on resources that are indicated by the search space and at least one of the plurality of CORESETs to the terminal device.

In a twelfth aspect, there is provided a method implemented at a network device. In the method, the network device transmits a CORESET configuration indicating resources that at least partially overlap with a frequency subband configured for a UL channel to a terminal device. The network device determines at least one of a first priority level associated with the UL channel and a second priority level associated with DCI type. The network device transmits a control channel on the resources based on determining at least one of the first priority level being lower than a first priority threshold and the second priority level being higher than a second priority threshold.

In a thirteenth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method of any one of the first aspect to the sixth aspect.

It is to be understood that the summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of example embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

Fig. 1A illustrates an example environment in which some embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

Fig. 1B illustrates an frequency subband division and a resource configuration in a SBFD time unit;

Fig. 2 illustrates a signaling process for configuring a respective CORESET group in SBFD time unit or non-SBFD time unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figs. 3A to 3B illustrate examples of CORESET group configuration in SBFD time unit or non-SBFD time unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figs. 4A to 4B illustrate example resource block (RB) offset for appropriately configuring CORESET according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 5 illustrates example resource block group (RBG) size for configuring CORESET in SBFD time unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 6 illustrate example mapping between control channel element (CCE) and resource element group (REG) for configuring CORESET in SBFD time unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 7 illustrates a signaling process for CORESET configuration in SBFD time unit or non-SBFD time unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figs. 8A and 8B illustrate a plurality of CORESETs in SBFD time unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, at least one of the set of CORESETs can be activated or deactivated;

Fig. 9 illustrates a signaling process for handling resource collision between CORESET and UL frequency subband in SBFD time unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 10 illustrates an example CORESET configuration for avoiding collision between terminal devices in SBFD time unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 11 illustrates a flowchart of an example method implemented at a terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 12 illustrates a flowchart of an example method implemented at a terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 13 illustrates a flowchart of an example method implemented at a terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 14 illustrates a flowchart of an example method implemented at a network device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 15 illustrates a flowchart of an example method implemented at a network device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 16 illustrates a flowchart of an example method implemented at a network device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

Fig. 17 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitations as to the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

As used herein, the term ‘terminal device’ refers to any device having wireless or wired communication capabilities. Examples of the terminal device include, but not limited to, user equipment (UE) , personal computers, desktops, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) , portable computers, tablets, wearable devices, internet of things (IoT) devices, Ultra-reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) devices, Internet of Everything (IoE) devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, device on vehicle for V2X communication where X means pedestrian, vehicle, or infrastructure/network, devices for Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) , Small Data Transmission (SDT) , mobility, Multicast and Broadcast Services (MBS) , positioning, dynamic/flexible duplex in commercial networks, reduced capability (RedCap) , Space borne vehicles or Air borne vehicles in Non-terrestrial networks (NTN) including Satellites and High Altitude Platforms (HAPs) encompassing Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) , eXtended Reality (XR) devices including different types of realities such as Augmented Reality (AR) , Mixed Reality (MR) and Virtual Reality (VR) , the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) commonly known as a drone which is an aircraft without any human pilot, devices on high speed train (HST) , or image capture devices such as digital cameras, sensors, gaming devices, music storage and playback appliances, or Internet appliances enabling wireless or wired Internet access and browsing and the like. The ‘terminal device’ can further has ‘multicast/broadcast’ feature, to support public safety and mission critical, V2X applications, transparent IPv4/IPv6 multicast delivery, IPTV, smart TV, radio services, software delivery over wireless, group communications and IoT applications. It may be also incorporated one or multiple Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) as known as Multi-SIM. The term “terminal device” can be used interchangeably with a UE, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile terminal, a user terminal, a wireless device or a reduced capability terminal device.

As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a device which is capable of providing or hosting a cell or coverage where terminal devices can communicate. Examples of a network device include, but not limited to, a Node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a next generation NodeB (gNB) , a transmission reception point (TRP) , a remote radio unit (RRU) , a radio head (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , an IAB node, a low power node such as a femto node, a pico node, a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) , Network-controlled Repeaters, and the like.

The terminal device or the network device may have Artificial intelligence (AI) or Machine learning capability. It generally includes a model which has been trained from numerous collected data for a specific function, and can be used to predict some information. The terminal or the network device may work on several frequency ranges, e.g. FR1 (410 MHz –7125 MHz) , FR2 (24.25 GHz to 71 GHz) , 71 GHz to 114 GHz, and frequency band larger than 100 GHz as well as Tera Hertz (THz) . It can further work on licensed/unlicensed/shared spectrum. The terminal device may have more than one connections with the network devices under Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity (MR-DC) application scenario. The terminal device or the network device can work on full duplex, flexible duplex and cross division duplex modes.

The network device may have the function of network energy saving, Self-Organizing Networks (SON) /Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT) . The terminal may have the function of power saving.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed in test equipment, e.g. signal generator, signal analyzer, spectrum analyzer, network analyzer, test terminal device, test network device, channel emulator.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed according to any generation communication protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples of the communication protocols include, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, 5.5G, 5G-Advanced networks, or the sixth generation (6G) networks.

In one embodiment, the terminal device may be connected with a first network device and a second network device. One of the first network device and the second network device may be a master node and the other one may be a secondary node. The first network device and the second network device may use different radio access technologies (RATs) . In one embodiment, the first network device may be a first RAT device and the second network device may be a second RAT device. In one embodiment, the first RAT device is eNB and the second RAT device is gNB. Information related with different RATs may be transmitted to the terminal device from at least one of the first network device and the second network device. In one embodiment, first information may be transmitted to the terminal device from the first network device and second information may be transmitted to the terminal device from the second network device directly or via the first network device. In one embodiment, information related with configuration for the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted from the second network device via the first network device. Information related with reconfiguration for the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted to the terminal device from the second network device directly or via the first network device.

As used herein, the singular forms ‘a’ , ‘an’ and ‘the’ are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The term ‘includes’ and its variants are to be read as open terms that mean ‘includes, but is not limited to. ’ The term ‘based on’ is to be read as ‘at least in part based on. ’ The term ‘one embodiment’ and ‘an embodiment’ are to be read as ‘at least one embodiment. ’ The term ‘another embodiment’ is to be read as ‘at least one other embodiment. ’ The terms ‘first, ’ ‘second, ’ and the like may refer to different or same objects. Other definitions, explicit and implicit, may be included below.

In some examples, values, procedures, or apparatus are referred to as ‘best, ’ ‘lowest, ’ ‘highest, ’ ‘minimum, ’ ‘maximum, ’ or the like. It will be appreciated that such descriptions are intended to indicate that a selection among many used functional alternatives can be made, and such selections need not be better, smaller, higher, or otherwise preferable to other selections.

The term “circuitry” used herein may refer to hardware circuits and/or combinations of hardware circuits and software. For example, the circuitry may be a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuits with software/firmware. As a further example, the circuitry may be any portions of hardware processors with software including digital signal processor (s) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a terminal device or a network device, to perform various functions. In a still further example, the circuitry may be hardware circuits and or processors, such as a microprocessor or a portion of a microprocessor, that requires software/firmware for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation. As used herein, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (s) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor (s) and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. In this disclosure, the subband and the frequency subband may be used interchangeable without any limitation. The group size of a RBG may be also referred to as the RBG size without any limitation. The time unit configured with SBFD communication may be also referred to as SBFD time unit, and the time unit not configured with SBFD communication may be also referred to as non-SBFD time unit. In this disclosure, the control channel may be interchangeably used with the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) without any limitation.

As mentioned above, since the existing resource configuration is generally designed for the non-SBFD time units, the resource configuration in the SBFD time unit may be further optimized.

Without any limitation, take resources in the SBFD time that are allocated to a CORESET group unit as an example. Downlink control channels are known as physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs) . In new radio (NR) , one major difference compared to long-term evolution (LTE) is the more flexible time frequency structure of downlink control channels where PDCCHs are transmitted in one or more CORESETs which, unlike LTE where the full carrier bandwidth is used, can be configured to occupy only part of the carrier bandwidth. A CORESET is a time frequency resource in which the terminal device tries to decode candidate control channels using one or more search spaces (SS) . Generally, one SS ID may be combined with one CORESET ID. In this disclosure, the above one or more CORESETs may be also referred to as a CORESET group. Since the SBFD time unit may include frequency subband for uplink channel, the configuration of CORESET group should be optimized, in order to adapt to the SBFD time unit.

At least for solving the above technical issues, the example embodiments of the disclosure propose a mechanism for configuring a respective CORESET group in SBFD time unit and non-SBFD time unit. In this mechanism, a terminal device receives a first configuration of CORESET group associated with at least one first time unit from a network device. The at least one first time unit is SBFD time unit. The terminal device further receives a second configuration of CORESET group associated with at least one second time unit from the network device. The at least one second time unit is non-SBFD time unit. Then, the terminal device receives a control channel from the network device on resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group. The control channel may be the PDCCH as discussed above.

In this way, the SBFD time unit or non-SBFD time unit are configured with the corresponding CORESET group, such that the uplink frequency subband of the SBFD time unit can be coordinated with CORESET group (indicating resources for PDCCH) for the SBFD time unit. In addition, the communication efficient of non-SBFD time unit is not affected.

For illustrative purposes, principle and example embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to Figs. 1A-6. However, it is to be noted that these embodiments are given to enable the skilled in the art to understand inventive concepts of the present disclosure and implement the solution as proposed herein, and not intended to limit scope of the present application in any way.

Fig. 1A illustrates an example environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented.

The environment 100A, which may be a part of a communication network, comprises a terminal device 110, a terminal device 120 and a network device 130. In some embodiments, the communication network may include NTN, NB-IoT and/or eMTC. In some other embodiments, the communication network may include any other possible communication network. It is to be understood that the number of network devices and terminal devices is given only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. The communication network may include any suitable number of network devices and/or terminal devices adapted for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. Although not shown, it would be appreciated that one or more terminal devices may be located in the environment 100. Without any limitation, the network device 130 supports the SBFD communication. For example, the network device 130 may transmit DL channel to the terminal device 110 and receive UL channel from the terminal device 120 in the SBFD time unit, simultaneously.

Fig. 1B illustrates a frequency subband division and a resource configuration in a SBFD time unit.

As shown in Fig. 1B, in the SBFD time unit, the bandwidth part (BWP) can be divided into frequency subbands for UL and DL. Specifically, in an example, the BWP may be divided by means of DL-UL-DL {DUD} pattern or {UDU} pattern. In addition, the one or more CORESETs for PDCCH monitoring or receiving are semi-statically configured. In turn, the configured CORESET may overlap with the semi-static or dynamic UL frequency subband (for example, UL time-frequency resource of SBFD time unit. The SBFD time unit may include DL time unit or flexible time unit for SBFD operation. In this disclosure, the time unit comprises a symbol, a slot, a frame, a subframe and so on.

With {DUD} subband frequency pattern, the available DL resources are partitioned into two DL subbands and one UL subband located therein. Further, the CORESET are allocated with resources in a granularity of a resource block group (RBG) having 6 resource blocks (RB) . When the boundary between different frequency subbands (or between a frequency subband and a guardband) is not aligned with the RBG boundary, the RBG that is not aligned may include both RBs for DL CORESET and RBs for UL frequency subband or guardband. However, this may affect the power consumption for performing PDCCH monitoring and the effective use of PDCCH resources. In addition the PDCCH capacity may be reduced. An enhancement for CORESET/PDCCH resource allocation can be considered.

Fig. 2 illustrates a signaling process 200 for configuring a respective CORESET group in SBFD time unit and non-SBFD time unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For illustrative purposes, the process 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

In the signaling process 200, the network device 130 transmits (210) a first configuration of CORESET group (which may be also referred to as the first configuration in this disclosure) associated with at least one first time unit to the terminal device 110 (or the terminal device 120) . Without any limitation, the embodiments are discussed with reference to the terminal device 120. The at least one first time unit is configured with frequency subbands for different link directions. The first time unit configured with frequency subbands for different link directions may be also referred to as the SBFD time unit. The network device 130 further transmits (220) a second configuration of CORESET group (which may be also referred to the second configuration in this disclosure) associated with at least one second time unit to the terminal device 110. The at least one second time unit is not configured with the frequency subbands. The second time unit that is not configured with frequency subbands for different link directions may be also referred to as the non-SBFD time unit.

With receiving (210, 220) the first configuration of CORESET group and the second configuration of CORESET group, the terminal device 110 can obtain the frequency location of the CORESET group in the SBFD time unit or the frequency location of the CORESET group in non-SBFD time unit. In some embodiments, the frequency resources of the CORESETs indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group may not overlap with a first frequency subband and a guardband of the at least one first time unit. The first frequency subband may be configured for the UL channel. In this case, the UL frequency subband and the CORESET group are appropriately coordinated and not overlapped with each other in the frequency domain. As such, at least two CORESET (and/or search space, SS) groups are configured for a terminal device. For illustrative purposes, the first configuration and the second configuration are further discussed with reference to Figs. 3A to 3B.

Figs. 3A to 3B illustrate examples of CORESET group configuration in SBFD time unit or non-SBFD time unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

In Fig. 3A, the second configuration of CORESET group 310 in the non-SBFD time unit is shown. In the non-SBFD time unit, without the UL frequency subband, the CORESET group can be arbitrarily configured. In Fig. 3B, the second configuration of CORESET group 310 having the CORESET 320-1 and the CORESET 320-2 is shown. As shown in Fig. 3B, the CORESET 320-1 and the CORESET 320-2 do not overlap with the UL subband and the guardband.

Referring back to Fig. 2, in some embodiments, a new parameter CORESETGroupIdList can be defined to indicate a list of CORESET or search space (SS) group. As an example, the CORESETGroupIdList may indicate the CORESET IDs of the CORESETs in the first CORESET group and the second CORESET group. In addition, each SS ID may be still combined with one respective CORESET ID. In turn, in some embodiments, the network device 130 may transmit the CORESETGroupIdList to the terminal device 110, and the CORESETGroupIdlist indicates the first configuration and the second configuration of of the CORESET group (for example, CORESET configuration in each of the first and second configuration) . The terminal device 110 may receive the first configuration and the second configuration by receiving the CORESETGroupIdList. In addition, the configured slot periodicity and slot offsets and symbol for SS configuration in the first configuration is the same as periodicity of the SBFD symbols/slot in the SBFD configuration.

The above embodiments may be also expressed as below:

Then, the network device 130 transmits (230) a control channel on resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group. For example, during the SBFD time unit, the network device 130 may transmit the control channel on the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group. Alternatively, during the non-SBFD time unit, the network device 130 may transmit the control channel on the resources indicated by the second configuration of CORESET group. In turn, the terminal device 110 receives (230) the control channel accordingly.

In some embodiments, the network device 130 may directly indicate to the terminal device 110 which of the first configuration of CORESET group and the second configuration of CORESET group is to be used. For example, the network device 130 may transmit (240) downlink control information (DCI) that indicates one of the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group. Further, the network device 130 may transmit the control channel on the resources indicated by the one of the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group. At the terminal device 110, the terminal device 110 may receive the control channel based on the one of the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group which is indicated by the received DCI.

In addition, the DCI is a group common DCI and may implicitly or explicitly indicate to switch the configuration of CORESET groups. In an explicit manner, a field is added to the DCI, and the field indicates on which CORESET group resources (i.e., the resources indicated by the first configuration or the second configuration) the terminal device 110 shall perform PDCCH monitoring. For example, the added field may be one bit, and value 0 of the one bit indicates the terminal device 110 to start monitoring PDCCH according to the first configuration, and value 1 the one bit indicates the terminal device to start monitoring PDCCH according to the second configuration. And if the first or second configuration is not indicated in the DCI, the terminal device 110 may perform the PDCCH monitoring according to the defaulted CORESET/SS group, such as the second configuration.

In an implicit manner, for example, if the DCI trigger the UL subband and guardband resources in the SBFD time unit to be valid, then the CORESET/SS Group switching may be triggered. In this case, the employed CORESET configuration may be switched from the second configuration of CORESET group to the first configuration of CORESET group.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine (250) to use one of the first configuration and the second configuration based on a type of the time unit. For example, the terminal device 110 determining whether a time unit is the SBFD time unit or the non-SBFD time unit. If determining that the time unit is the SBFD time unit the terminal device 110 may receive the control channel on the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group. Otherwise, the terminal device 110 may receive the control channel on the resources indicated by the second configuration of CORESET group. As such, the terminal device can adapt the monitored SS CORESET configuration based on whether the time unit is SBFD time unit or non-SBFD time unit. Alternatively, the terminal device 110 may also determine the CORESET/SS switching based on whether the CORESET/SS time/frequency resources overlap with UL subband resources or not. If the CORESET/SS time/frequency resources overlap with UL subband resources, then the employed CORESET configuration may be switched from the second configuration of CORESET group to the first configuration of CORESET group. Otherwise, the employed CORESET configuration may be the default CORESET configuration, for example, the second CORESET configuration.

Still referring to Fig. 2, alternatively or in addition to switching the configuration of CORESET group as discussed above, the resource allocation of the CORESET may be also enhanced, such that the overlapping between the CORESET and UL frequency subband in a SBFD time unit is avoided.

In some embodiments, the resources indicated by CORESET group (for example, the first configuration and/or the second configuration) may include a first plurality of RBGs. The size of each of the first plurality of resource block groups is a first number of resource blocks (for example, six RBs) .

In order to avoid the misalignment between the ending boundary of frequency subband and another ending boundary of the RBGs allocated for the CORESET, a RB level offset may be preconfigured between the starting RB of the BWP and the starting location of the RBGs allocated to the CORESETs. In some embodiments, a first offset is configured between a starting resource block group of the first plurality of resource block groups and a first boundary of a second frequency subband of the first time unit, such that the first plurality of resource block groups ends at a second boundary of the second frequency subband. The second frequency subband may be configured for the DL channel. For illustrative purposes, the RB level offset is further discussed with reference to Fig. 4A.

Fig. 4A illustrates example RB offset for appropriately configuring CORESET according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown in Fig. 4A, the frequency location 410 is the starting boundary of the BWP or DL frequency subband, and the frequency location 420 is the starting boundary of the CORESETs. A first RB offset is preconfigured between the starting boundary of the BWP or DL frequency subband and the starting boundary of the CORESETs. In this way, an RB offset may be configured for the first RBG (including 6RBs) of the CORESET, and the offset indicates the RB level offset from the first RB of the first 6RB group to the first RB of the first DL subband or the BWP. The value of the first RB offset may be any integer. In some embodiments, the value of the first RB offset may be 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. In some other embodiments, the value may be any other integer number.

The above embodiments may be also expressed as below

Referring back to Fig. 2, in the SBFD time unit of {DUD} pattern, there may be a second RB level offset configured for another DL frequency subband. In some embodiments, the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group further comprise a second plurality of resource block groups. In addition, a second offset is configured between a starting resource block group of the second plurality of resource block groups and a first boundary of another second frequency subband of the first time unit, such that the second plurality of resource block groups ends at a second boundary of the other second frequency subband. The second frequency subband is another DL frequency subband. For illustrative purposes, the second RB level offset is further discussed with reference to Fig. 4B.

Fig. 4B illustrates example RB offset for appropriately configuring CORESET according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown in Fig. 4B, as similar as Fig. 4A, a second RB offset is preconfigured between the starting boundary of the BWP or DL frequency subband and the starting boundary of the CORESETs. The value of the second RB offset may be any integer. In some embodiments, the value of the second RB offset may be 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. In some other embodiments, the value may be any other integer number.

The above embodiments may be also expressed as below

As such, the collision of the PDCCH monitoring and the UL subband can be avoided in the SBFD symbols.

Referring back to Fig. 2, alternatively, the RBG size of the RBGs allocated to the CORESET may be also adjusted. In some embodiments, the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group comprise a third plurality of RBGs. The size of each of the third plurality of RBGs is a second number of resource blocks. The above first number (for example, six RBs) may be an integer multiple of the second number (for example, two RBs or three RBs) . In this way, the resource allocation granularity for CORESET/PDCCH monitoring in frequency domain in the SBFD time unit is changed to be a smaller value. For illustrative purposes, this is further discussed with reference to Fig. 5.

Fig. 5 illustrates example resource block group (RBG) size for configuring CORESET in SBFD time unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown in Fig. 5, one or multiple candidate values for frequency resource allocation granularity (for example, RBG size) can be configured for the terminal device 110 to monitor PDCCH. If only one value is configured, then the configured value is used for both the SBFD symbols and non-SBFD symbols. In addition, the value may be 6.

For example, a new parameter, such as RBG size can be added in frequencyDomainResources in the CORESET IE configuration, and the candidate value can be two or three. That is each bit of the bitmap in the CORESET configuration may correspond to a RBG having two or three RBs in the SBFD symbol. In addition, in other symbols, the RBG size still 6 RB. Further, in some embodiments, The RBG size in the CORESET configuration for the SBFD symbols is configured based on the DL subband boundary or the UL subband size, such that RB waste is the lowest.

Referring back to Fig. 2, alternatively, the numbering method of PRB or resource element group (REG) in the SBFD time unit may be also adjusted. A control channel element (CCE) for the control channel is mapped to the REG. In some embodiments, the REG is numbered without the REGs that are located in the UL frequency subband. For illustrative purposes, this numbering method is further discussed with reference to Fig. 6.

Fig. 6 illustrate example mapping between CCE and REG for configuring CORESET in SBFD time unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown in Fig. 6, new PRB/REG numbering method is introduced for SBFD symbols. The new REG numbering is based on the two DL subbands, without including the REGs in the UL subband and the guardband resource of the SBFD slot. Then, the mapping of CCE and REG is based on the new numbered REG. In this way, the UL subband and the guardband resource is subtracted when numbering the REG. Therefore, the REG in the two DL subband are continuous arranged in SBFD slot. In addition, the time-first mapping is still used on the SBFD symbols. In addition, the PDCCH for terminal device that not be aware of the SBFD time unit cannot be transmitted on these time units.

In the above embodiments, one SS is associated with one CORESET, for example, one SS ID is associated with one CORESET. In turn, the association between the SS and CORESET may be also improved for the SBFD time unit.

Fig. 7 illustrates a signaling process 700 for CORESET configuration in SBFD time unit or non-SBFD time unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For illustrative purposes, the process 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

In the signaling process 700, the network device 130 transmits (710) a SS CORESET configuration to the terminal device 110. The SS CORESET configuration includes a SS and a plurality of CORESETs associated with the SS. In some embodiments, the plurality of CORESETs is associated with the SS by associating a corresponding CORESET ID of each of the plurality of CORESETs with a SS ID of the SS. In addition, the plurality of CORESETs may include at least one first CORESET and at least one second CORESET. The at least one first CORESET is configured for the SBFD time units, and the least one second CORESET is configured for the non-SBFD time units.

In this way, one SS ID can associate with at least two CORESET IDs which identifies the at least one first CORESETs and the at least one second CORESETs respectively. The at least one first CORESET is used for the terminal device 110 to perform PDCCH monitoring in SBFD symbols, and the at least one second CORESET is used for the terminal device 110 to perform PDCCH monitoring in non-SBFD symbols. As such, different frequency domain resource assignment (FDRA) can be achieved for PDCCH monitoring. The terminal device 110 may adapt the frequency domain (FD) position of PDCCH monitoring for the one SS according to the symbols type (SBFD or not) .

Still referring to Fig. 2, the network device 130 further transmits (720) the control channel on the resources that are indicated by the SS and at least one of the plurality of CORESETs. At the terminal device 110, after receiving (710) the SS CORESET configuration, the terminal device 110 receives (720) on the resources that are indicated by the SS and at least one of the plurality of CORESETs accordingly.

In some embodiments, the network device 130 may determine (740) whether a time unit is the above first time unit or the above second time unit. Based on determining that the time unit is the first time unit, the network device 130 may transmit the control channel on the resources that are indicated by the SS and the at least one first CORESET during the time unit. Otherwise, the network device 130 may transmit the control channel on the resources that are indicated by the SS and the at least one second CORESET during the time unit. The terminal device 110 may determine (740) the time unit and receive the control channel in the similar manner.

The above embodiments may be also expressed as below:

Alternatively or in addition to the two CORESETs ID (identify the at least one first CORESET and the at least one second CORESET, respectively) being associated with the one SS ID, the CORESET of the plurality of CORESETs associated with the SS may be activated or deactivated for the SBFD time unit. In other words, one SS associated with the CORESET may have multiple monitoring locations in the BWP.

In some embodiments, the plurality of CORESETs is distributed over a plurality of divided frequency subbands. A CORESET of the plurality of CORESETs that is distributed within a certain frequency subband is preconfigured by a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. For example, the certain frequency subband may be the first DL frequency subband. The other CORESETs of the plurality of CORESETs are reflected into other frequency subbands based on the preconfigured CORESET. For illustrative purposes, one SS associated with the CORESET having multiple monitoring locations is further discussed with reference to Fig. 8A and 8B.

Figs. 8A and 8B illustrate a plurality of CORESETs in SBFD time unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, at least one of the set of CORESETs can be activated or deactivated.

As shown in Fig. 8A, the CORESET 810 may be the CORESET that is preconfigured by the RRC signaling. The

CORESETs

820 and 830 may be the other CORESETs that are reflected into other frequency subbands based on the CORESET 810.

The preconfigured CORESET 810 can be confined within the first DL sub-band. Within the search space set configuration associated with the CORESET, each of the PDCCH monitoring locations is configured within a subband bandwidth and has a frequency domain resource allocation pattern that is replicated from the pattern configured in the CORESET 810.

In addition, the reflected FDRA method in each subband for SS can be activated (enabled) or deactivated (disabled) by a 2 bit bitmap indication in the DCI. If the value of this bit is 1, it means the reflected method is enabled in this subband, and if this bit value is 0 for this subband, then it means the replicated method is not applied to this subband.

As shown in Fig. 8B, in the SBFD time unit, the CORESET located in the UL subband may be deactivated and the other CORESET 830 may be activated. In this case, the network device 130 may use the bitmap “01” to indicate that the reflected pattern is only activated in the DL subband and is deactivated the UL subband. In non-SBFD symbols, network device 130 may use 11 to indicate that the reflected pattern is activated to all the other subbands.

Referring back to Fig. 7, the network device 130 may transmit (730) the activation indication having the bitmap to the terminal device 110. The activation indication may indicate which of the other CORESETs (reflected CORESETs) in the plurality of CORESETs is activated or deactivated. With receiving (730) the activation indication, the terminal device may receive the control channel on the resources indicated by the SS and the activated CORESETs in the plurality of CORESETs.

As discussion above, the collision between the CORESET and the UL frequency subband may be avoided. In addition, the embodiments of the disclosure also provide the scheme for handling the collisions if it is occurred.

Fig. 9 illustrates a signaling process 900 for handling resource collision between CORESET and UL frequency subband in SBFD time unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For illustrative purposes, the process 900 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

In the signaling process 900, the network device 130 transmits (910) a CORESET configuration indicating resources that at least partially overlap with a frequency subband configured for a UL channel.

Then, after receiving (910) the CORESET configuration, the terminal device 110 determines (920) at least one of a first priority level associated with the UL channel and a second priority level associated DCI type. The terminal device 110 receives (930) a control channel on the resources based on determining at least one of the first priority level being lower than a first priority threshold and the second priority level being higher than a second priority threshold.

In some embodiments, if the PUCCH carries the HARQ-ACK, then the terminal device 110 may drop the PDCCH monitoring even if the SS is configured in the SBFD symbols. The priority of PUCCH is higher than candidate PDCCH monitoring in the SBFD time units. In turn, the network device will not transmit PDCCH on the SBFD subband and the terminal device 130 will not perform the PDCCH monitoring in the whole BW.

In addition or alternatively, the terminal device 110 determines whether the PDCCH monitoring is dropped based on the DCI type. For example, if the type of the PDCCH is type 0/0A/1/2 in CSS, then the terminal device 110 will cancel the semi-statically scheduled uplink transmission including the configured grant (CG) PUSCH and periodic channel state information (CSI) reporting. The priority of PDCCH Type 0/0A/1/2 in CSS is higher than UE dedicated semi-statically scheduled uplink transmission.

In addition or alternatively, if the terminal device 110 receives the DCI, such as format 0_2 scheduling URLLC traffic on the UL subband, then the terminal device 110 will cancel the PDCCH monitoring on those time units even if CORESET is configured.

In addition, if the SBFD time unit includes the CORESET allocated to another terminal device 120 and the CORESET at least partially overlap with the UL channel of the terminal device 110, the terminal device 110 may also adjust the UL channel in order to avoid interfering the terminal device 120.

In some embodiments, the network device 130 may transmit (940) an indication of rate matching pattern associated with another CORESET configured for another terminal device 120. In this case, with receiving (940) the indication of the rate matching pattern, the terminal device 110 may perform, based on the indication, rate matching on a UL data transmission. For illustrative purposes, the rate matching pattern is further discussed with reference to Fig. 10.

Fig. 10 illustrates an example CORESET configuration for avoiding collision between different terminal devices in SBFD time unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown in Fig. 10, the

CORESETs

1010, 1020 and 1030 are CORESET and/or SS for the terminal device 120. The UL subband is the UL subband allocated for the terminal device 110. In this case, the terminal device 110 may perform rate matching for the UL PUSCH transmission on the CORESET resource 1020 for the terminal device 120. Furthermore, the rate matching resource is the CORESET for USS that configured for the terminal device 120 to perform PDCCH monitoring.

Referring back to Fig. 9, in addition or alternatively, the network device 130 may also transmit (950) a beam indication of a first beam for a UL data transmission. The first beam not overlap with a second beam configured for a downlink (DL) control channel to the terminal device 120. After receiving (950) the beam indication, the terminal device 110 may transmit the UL data transmission to the network device using the first beam.

In this way, the collision between the UL subband and the CORESET for one terminal device or for different terminal devices can be avoided.

Fig. 11 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 1100 implemented at a terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 1100 can be implemented at the terminal device 110 shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1100 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. It is to be understood that the method 1100 may include additional acts not shown and/or may omit some shown acts, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

At 1110, the terminal device 110 receives a first configuration of CORESET group associated with at least one first time unit from a network device 130. The at least one first time unit is configured with frequency subbands for different link directions At 1120, the terminal device receives a second configuration of CORESET group associated with at least one second time unit from the network device 130. The at least one second time unit is not configured with the frequency subbands. At 1130, the terminal device receives a control channel from the network device 130 on resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group.

In some embodiments, resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group not overlap with a first frequency subband and a guardband of the at least one first time unit, the first frequency subband being configured for a first link direction different from a second link direction of the control channel.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive the first configuration of CORESET group and the second configuration of CORESET group by: receiving, from the network device, a CORESET group list indicating the first configuration of CORESET group and the second configuration of CORESET group.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive the control channel by: receiving downlink control information (DCI) that indicates one of the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group; and receiving the control channel on the resources indicated by the one of the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive the control channel by: determining whether a time unit is the first time unit or the second time unit; and receiving, on the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group, the control channel during the time unit based on determining that the time unit is the first time unit; or receiving, on the resources indicated by the second configuration of CORESET group, the control channel during the time unit based on determining that the time unit is the second time unit.

In some embodiments, the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group comprise a first plurality of resource block groups, a size of a resource block group of the first plurality of resource block groups is a first number of resource blocks.

In some embodiments, a first offset is configured between a starting resource block group of the first plurality of resource block groups and a first boundary of a second frequency subband of the first time unit, such that the first plurality of resource block groups ends at a second boundary of the second frequency subband, and the second frequency subband is configured for a second link direction of the control channel.

In some embodiments, the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group further comprise a second plurality of resource block groups, a second offset is configured between a starting resource block group of the second plurality of resource block groups and a first boundary of another second frequency subband of the first time unit, such that the second plurality of resource block groups ends at a second boundary of the other second frequency subband. The other second frequency subband is configured for the second link direction.

In some embodiments, the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group comprise a third plurality of resource block groups, a size of a resource block group of the third plurality of resource block groups is a second number of resource blocks. The first number is an integer multiple of the second number.

In some embodiments, a control channel element (CCE) for the control channel is mapped to resource element group (REG) , and wherein the REG is numbered without the REGs that are located in a first frequency subband. The first frequency subband is configured for a first link direction different from a second link direction of the control channel.

Fig. 12 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1200 of communication implemented at a terminal device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 1200 can be implemented at the terminal device 110 shown in Fig. 1. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1200 will be described with reference to Fig. 1. It is to be understood that the method 1200 may include additional acts not shown and/or may omit some shown acts, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

At 1210, the terminal device 110 receives a SS CORESET configuration that comprises a SS and a plurality of CORESETs associated with the SS from a network device. At 1220, the terminal device 110 receives a control channel on resources that are indicated by the search space and at least one of the plurality of CORESETs from the network device.

In some embodiments, the plurality of CORESETs comprises a first CORESET configured for at least one first time unit and a second CORESET configured for at least one second time unit. The at least one first time unit is configured with frequency subbands for different link directions, and the at least one second time unit being not configured with the frequency subbands.

In some embodiments, the plurality of CORESETs is associated with the SS by: associating a corresponding CORESET ID of each of the plurality of CORESETs with a SS ID of the SS.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 receives the control channel by: determining whether a time unit is the first time unit or the second time unit; and receiving, on the resources that are indicated by the SS and the first CORESET, the control channel during the time unit based on determining that the time unit is the first time unit; or receiving, on the resources that are indicated by the SS and the second CORESET, the control channel during the time unit based on determining that the time unit is the second time unit.

In some embodiments, the plurality of CORESETs is distributed over a plurality of divided frequency subbands.

In some embodiments, a CORESET of the plurality of CORESETs that is distributed within a frequency subband is configured by a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, other CORESETs of the plurality of CORESETs that are distributed within other frequency subbands correspond to the CORESET, and at least one of the other CORESETs is activated by an activation indication.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive the control channel by: receiving, from the network device, the activation indication that activates the at least one of the other CORESETs distributed within the other frequency subbands; and receiving the control channel on the resources that are indicated by the SS, the CORESET and the at least one of the other CORESETs.

Fig. 13 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1300 of communication implemented at a terminal device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 1300 can be implemented at the terminal device 110 shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1300 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. It is to be understood that the method 1300 may include additional acts not shown and/or may omit some shown acts, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

At 1310, the terminal device 110 receives, from a network device, a CORESET configuration indicating resources that at least partially overlap with a frequency subband configured for a UL channel. At 1320, the terminal device 110 determines at least one of a first priority level associated with the UL channel and a second priority level associated with downlink control information (DCI) type. At 1330, the terminal device 110 receives a control channel on the resources based on determining at least one of the first priority level being lower than a first priority threshold and the second priority level being higher than a second priority threshold.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive, from the network device, an indication of rate matching pattern associated with another CORESET configured for another terminal device; perform, based on the indication, rate matching on a UL data transmission, the UL data transmission being transmitted on the frequency subband that at least partially overlap with resources indicated by the other CORESET.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive, from the network device, a beam indication of a first beam for a UL data transmission, the first beam not overlap with a second beam configured for a downlink (DL) control channel to another terminal device; and transmit the UL data transmission to the network device using the first beam.

Fig. 14 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1400 of communication implemented at a network device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 1400 can be implemented at the network device 130 shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1400 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. It is to be understood that the method 1400 may include additional acts not shown and/or may omit some shown acts, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

At 1410, the network device 130 transmits a first configuration of CORESET group associated with at least one first time unit to a terminal device. The at least one first time unit is configured with frequency subbands for different link directions. At 1420, the network device 130 transmits a second configuration of CORESET group associated with at least one second time unit to the terminal device. The at least one second time unit is not configured with the frequency subbands. At 1410, the network device 130 transmits a control channel on resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration CORESET group to the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the network device 130 may transmit the first configuration of CORESET group and the second configuration of CORESET group by: transmitting, to the terminal device, a CORESET group list indicating the first configuration of CORESET group and the second configuration of CORESET group.

In some embodiments, the network device 130 may transmit the control channel by: transmitting downlink control information (DCI) that indicates one of the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group; and transmitting the control channel on the resources indicated by the one of the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group.

In some embodiments, the network device 130 may transmit the control channel by: determining whether a time unit is the first time unit or the second time unit; and

transmitting, on the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group, the control channel during the time unit based on determining that the time unit is the first time unit; or transmitting, on the resources indicated by the second configuration of CORESET group, the control channel during the time unit based on determining that the time unit is the second time unit.

In some embodiments, the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group further comprise a second plurality of resource block groups, a second offset is configured between a starting resource block group of the second plurality of resource block groups and a first boundary of another second frequency subband of the first time unit, such that the second plurality of resource block groups ends at a second boundary of the other second frequency subband, and the other second frequency subband is configured for the second link direction.

In some embodiments, the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group comprise a third plurality of resource block groups, a size of a resource block group of the third plurality of resource block groups is a second number of resource blocks, the first number being an integer multiple of the second number.

In some embodiments, a CCE for the control channel is mapped to a REG, and wherein the REG is numbered without the REGs that are located in a first frequency subband, the first frequency subband being configured for a first link direction different from a second link direction of the control channel.

Fig. 15 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1500 of communication implemented at a network device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 1500 can be implemented at the network device 130 shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1500 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. It is to be understood that the method 1500 may include additional acts not shown and/or may omit some shown acts, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

At 1110, the network device 130 transmits a SS CORESET configuration that comprises a SS and a plurality of CORESETs associated with the SS to a terminal device. At 1120, the network device 130 transmits a control channel on resources that are indicated by the search space and at least one of the plurality of CORESETs to the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the plurality of CORESETs comprises a first CORESET configured for at least one first time unit and a second CORESET configured for at least one second time unit. The at least one first time unit is configured with frequency subbands for different link directions, and the at least one second time unit is not configured with the frequency subbands.

In some embodiments, the network device 130 may transmit the control channel by: determining whether a time unit is the first time unit or the second time unit; and transmitting, on the resources that are indicated by the SS and the first CORESET, the control channel during the time unit based on determining that the time unit is the first time unit; or transmitting, on the resources that are indicated by the SS and the second CORESET, the control channel during the time unit based on determining that the time unit is the second time unit.

In some embodiments, the network device 130 may transmit the control channel by: transmitting, to the network device, the activation indication that activates at least one of the other CORESETs distributed within the other frequency subbands; and transmitting the control channel on the resources that are indicated by the SS, the SS, the CORESET and the at least one of the other CORESETs.

Fig. 16 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1600 of communication implemented at a network device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 1600 can be implemented at the network device 130 shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1600 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. It is to be understood that the method 1600 may include additional acts not shown and/or may omit some shown acts, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

At 1610, the network device 130 transmits a CORESET configuration indicating resources that at least partially overlap with a frequency subband configured for a UL channel to a terminal device. At 1620, the network device 130 determines at least one of a first priority level associated with the UL channel and a second priority level associated with DCI type. At 1630, the network device 130 transmits a control channel on the resources based on determining at least one of the first priority level being lower than a first priority threshold and the second priority level being higher than a second priority threshold.

In some embodiments, the network device 130 may transmit, to the terminal device, an indication of rate matching pattern associated with another CORESET configured for another terminal device.

In some embodiments, the network device 130 may transmit, to the terminal device, a beam indication of a first beam for a UL data transmission, the first beam not overlap with a second beam configured for a downlink (DL) control channel to another terminal device.

Fig. 17 is a simplified block diagram of a device 1700 that is suitable for implementing some embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 1700 can be considered as a further example embodiment of the

terminal device

110 or 120 as shown in FIG. 1 or network devices 130 as shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly, the device 1700 can be implemented at or as at least a part of the above network devices or terminal devices.

As shown, the device 1700 includes a processor 1710, a memory 1720 coupled to the processor 1710, a suitable transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) 1740 coupled to the processor 1710, and a communication interface coupled to the TX/RX 1740. The memory 1720 stores at least a part of a program 1730. The TX/RX 1740 is for bidirectional communications. The TX/RX 1740 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, though in practice an Access Node mentioned in this application may have several ones. The communication interface may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements, such as X2 interface for bidirectional communications between gNBs or eNBs, S1 interface for communication between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) /Serving Gateway (S-GW) and the gNB or eNB, Un interface for communication between the gNB or eNB and a relay node (RN) , or Uu interface for communication between the gNB or eNB and a terminal device.

The program 1730 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 1710, enable the device 1700 to operate in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, as discussed herein with reference to FIGs. 1-16. The embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 1710 of the device 1700, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 1710 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure. Furthermore, a combination of the processor 1710 and memory 1720 may form processing means 1750 adapted to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.

The memory 1720 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory, as non-limiting examples. While only one memory 1720 is shown in the device 1700, there may be several physically distinct memory modules in the device 1700. The processor 1710 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 1700 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

In some embodiments, a terminal device comprises circuitry configured to perform

method

1100, 1200 or 1300.

In some embodiments, a network device comprises circuitry configured to perform

method

1400, 1500 or 1600.

The components included in the apparatuses and/or devices of the present disclosure may be implemented in various manners, including software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, one or more units may be implemented using software and/or firmware, for example, machine-executable instructions stored on the storage medium. In addition to or instead of machine-executable instructions, parts or all of the units in the apparatuses and/or devices may be implemented, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components. For example, and without limitation, illustrative types of hardware logic components that can be used include Field-programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) , Application-specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) , Application-specific Standard Products (ASSPs) , System-on-a-chip systems (SOCs) , Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs) , and the like.

Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representation, it will be appreciated that the blocks, apparatus, systems, technique terminal devices or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor, to carry out the process or method as described above with reference to any of Figs. 3 to 14. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

The above program code may be embodied on a machine readable medium, which may be any tangible medium that may contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine readable medium may be a machine readable signal medium or a machine readable storage medium. A machine readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the machine readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM) , a read-only memory (ROM) , an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) , an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) , an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific embodiment details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

In summary, embodiments of the present disclosure may provide the following solutions.

1. A terminal device comprising a transceiver and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver, and the processor is configured to cause the terminal device to: receive, from a network device, a first configuration of control resource set (CORESET) group associated with at least one first time unit, the at least one first time unit being configured with frequency subbands for different link directions; receive, from the network device, a second configuration of CORESET group associated with at least one second time unit, the at least one second time unit being not configured with the frequency subbands; and receive, from the network device, a control channel on resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group.

In one embodiment, wherein resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group not overlap with a first frequency subband and a guardband of the at least one first time unit, the first frequency subband being configured for a first link direction different from a second link direction of the control channel.

In one embodiment, wherein the terminal device is caused to receive the first configuration of CORESET group and the second configuration of CORESET group by: receiving, from the network device, a CORESET group list indicating the first configuration of CORESET group and the second configuration of CORESET group.

In one embodiment, wherein the terminal device is caused to receive the control channel by: receiving downlink control information (DCI) that indicates one of the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group; and receiving the control channel on the resources indicated by the one of the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group.

In one embodiment, wherein the terminal device is caused to receive the control channel by: determining whether a time unit is the first time unit or the second time unit; and receiving, on the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group, the control channel during the time unit based on determining that the time unit is the first time unit; or receiving, on the resources indicated by the second configuration of CORESET group, the control channel during the time unit based on determining that the time unit is the second time unit.

In one embodiment, , wherein the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group comprise a first plurality of resource block groups, a size of a resource block group of the first plurality of resource block groups is a first number of resource blocks.

In one embodiment, a first offset is configured between a starting resource block group of the first plurality of resource block groups and a first boundary of a second frequency subband of the first time unit, such that the first plurality of resource block groups ends at a second boundary of the second frequency subband, and the second frequency subband is configured for a second link direction of the control channel.

In one embodiment, the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group further comprise a second plurality of resource block groups, a second offset is configured between a starting resource block group of the second plurality of resource block groups and a first boundary of another second frequency subband of the first time unit, such that the second plurality of resource block groups ends at a second boundary of the other second frequency subband, and the other second frequency subband is configured for the second link direction.

In one embodiment, wherein the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group comprise a third plurality of resource block groups, a size of a resource block group of the third plurality of resource block groups is a second number of resource blocks, the first number being an integer multiple of the second number.

In one embodiment, wherein a control channel element (CCE) for the control channel is mapped to resource element group (REG) , and wherein the REG is numbered without the REGs that are located in a first frequency subband, the first frequency subband being configured for a first link direction different from a second link direction of the control channel.

A terminal device comprising a transceiver and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver, and the processor is configured to cause the terminal device to: receive, from a network device, a search space (SS) control resource set (CORESET) configuration that comprises a SS and a plurality of CORESETs associated with the SS; and receive, from the network device, a control channel on resources that are indicated by the search space and at least one of the plurality of CORESETs.

In one embodiment, wherein the plurality of CORESETs comprises a first CORESET configured for at least one first time unit and a second CORESET configured for at least one second time unit, and wherein the at least one first time unit is configured with frequency subbands for different link directions, and the at least one second time unit being not configured with the frequency subbands.

In one embodiment, wherein the plurality of CORESETs is associated with the SS by: associating a corresponding CORESET ID of each of the plurality of CORESETs with a SS ID of the SS.

In one embodiment, wherein the terminal device is caused to receive the control channel by: determining whether a time unit is the first time unit or the second time unit; and receiving, on the resources that are indicated by the SS and the first CORESET, the control channel during the time unit based on determining that the time unit is the first time unit; or receiving, on the resources that are indicated by the SS and the second CORESET, the control channel during the time unit based on determining that the time unit is the second time unit.

In one embodiment, wherein the plurality of CORESETs is distributed over a plurality of divided frequency subbands.

In one embodiment, wherein: a CORESET of the plurality of CORESETs that is distributed within a frequency subband is configured by a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, other CORESETs of the plurality of CORESETs that are distributed within other frequency subbands correspond to the CORESET, and at least one of the other CORESETs is activated by an activation indication.

In one embodiment, wherein the terminal device is caused to receive the control channel by: receiving, from the network device, the activation indication that activates the at least one of the other CORESETs distributed within the other frequency subbands; and receiving the control channel on the resources that are indicated by the SS, the CORESET and the at least one of the other CORESETs.

18. A terminal device comprising a transceiver and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver, and the processor is configured to cause the terminal device to: receive, from a network device, a control resource set (CORESET) configuration indicating resources that at least partially overlap with a frequency subband configured for a uplink (UL) channel; determine at least one of a first priority level associated with the UL channel and a second priority level associated with downlink control information (DCI) type; and receive a control channel on the resources based on determining at least one of the first priority level being lower than a first priority threshold and the second priority level being higher than a second priority threshold.

In one embodiment, wherein the terminal device is further caused to: receive, from the network device, an indication of rate matching pattern associated with another CORESET configured for another terminal device; perform, based on the indication, rate matching on a UL data transmission, the UL data transmission being transmitted on the frequency subband that at least partially overlap with resources indicated by the other CORESET.

In one embodiment, wherein the terminal device is further caused to: receive, from the network device, a beam indication of a first beam for a UL data transmission, the first beam not overlap with a second beam configured for a downlink (DL) control channel to another terminal device; and transmit the UL data transmission to the network device using the first beam.

A network device comprising a transceiver and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver, and the processor is configured to cause the network device to: transmit, to a terminal device, a first configuration of control resource set (CORESET) group associated with at least one first time unit, the at least one first time unit being configured with frequency subbands for different link directions; transmit, to the terminal device, a second configuration of CORESET group associated with at least one second time unit, the at least one second time unit being not configured with the frequency subbands; and transmit, to the terminal device, a control channel on resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration CORESET group.

In one embodiment, wherein the network device is caused to transmit the first configuration of CORESET group and the second configuration of CORESET group by: transmitting, to the terminal device, a CORESET group list indicating the first configuration of CORESET group and the second configuration of CORESET group.

In one embodiment, wherein the network device is caused to transmit the control channel by: transmitting downlink control information (DCI) that indicates one of the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group; and transmitting the control channel on the resources indicated by the one of the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group.

In one embodiment, wherein the network device is caused to transmit the control channel by: determining whether a time unit is the first time unit or the second time unit; and transmitting, on the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group, the control channel during the time unit based on determining that the time unit is the first time unit; or transmitting, on the resources indicated by the second configuration of CORESET group, the control channel during the time unit based on determining that the time unit is the second time unit.

In one embodiment, wherein the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group comprise a first plurality of resource block groups, a size of a resource block group of the first plurality of resource block groups is a first number of resource blocks.

In one embodiment, wherein: the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group further comprise a second plurality of resource block groups, a second offset is configured between a starting resource block group of the second plurality of resource block groups and a first boundary of another second frequency subband of the first time unit, such that the second plurality of resource block groups ends at a second boundary of the other second frequency subband, and the other second frequency subband is configured for the second link direction.

In one embodiment, wherein a control channel element (CCE) for the control channel is mapped to a resource element group (REG) , and wherein the REG is numbered without the REGs that are located in a first frequency subband, the first frequency subband being configured for a first link direction different from a second link direction of the control channel.

A network device comprising a transceiver and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver, and the processor is configured to cause the network device to: transmit, to a terminal device, a search space (SS) control resource set (CORESET) configuration that comprises a SS and a plurality of CORESETs associated with the SS; and transmit, to the terminal device, a control channel on resources that are indicated by the search space and at least one of the plurality of CORESETs.

In one embodiment, wherein the network device is caused to transmit the control channel by: determining whether a time unit is the first time unit or the second time unit; and transmitting, on the resources that are indicated by the SS and the first CORESET, the control channel during the time unit based on determining that the time unit is the first time unit; or transmitting, on the resources that are indicated by the SS and the second CORESET, the control channel during the time unit based on determining that the time unit is the second time unit.

In one embodiment, a CORESET of the plurality of CORESETs that is distributed within a frequency subband is configured by a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, other CORESETs of the plurality of CORESETs that are distributed within other frequency subbands correspond to the CORESET, and at least one of the other CORESETs is activated by an activation indication.

In one embodiment, wherein the network device is caused to transmit the control channel by: transmitting, to the network device, the activation indication that activates at least one of the other CORESETs distributed within the other frequency subbands; and transmitting the control channel on the resources that are indicated by the SS, the SS, the CORESET and the at least one of the other CORESETs.

A network device comprising a transceiver and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver, and the processor is configured to cause the network device to: transmit, to a terminal device, a control resource set (CORESET) configuration indicating resources that at least partially overlap with a frequency subband configured for a uplink (UL) channel; determine at least one of a first priority level associated with the UL channel and a second priority level associated with downlink control information (DCI) type; and transmit a control channel on the resources based on determining at least one of the first priority level being lower than a first priority threshold and the second priority level being higher than a second priority threshold.

In one embodiment, wherein the network device is further caused to: transmit, to the terminal device, an indication of rate matching pattern associated with another CORESET configured for another terminal device.

In one embodiment, wherein the network device is further caused to: transmit, to the terminal device, a beam indication of a first beam for a UL data transmission, the first beam not overlap with a second beam configured for a downlink (DL) control channel to another terminal device.

A method of communication, comprising: receiving, at a terminal device from a network device, a first configuration of control resource set (CORESET) group associated with at least one first time unit, the at least one first time unit being configured with frequency subbands for different link directions; receiving, from the network device, a second configuration of CORESET group associated with at least one second time unit, the at least one second time unit being not configured with the frequency subbands; and receiving, from the network device, a control channel on resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group.

A method of communication, comprising: receiving, at a terminal device from a network device, a search space (SS) control resource set (CORESET) configuration that comprises a SS and a plurality of CORESETs associated with the SS; and receiving, from the network device, a control channel on resources that are indicated by the search space and at least one of the plurality of CORESETs.

A method of communication, comprising: receiving, at a terminal device from a network device, a control resource set (CORESET) configuration indicating resources that at least partially overlap with a frequency subband configured for a uplink (UL) channel; determining at least one of a first priority level associated with the UL channel and a second priority level associated downlink control information (DCI) type; and receiving a control channel on the resources based on determining at least one of the first priority level being lower than a first priority threshold and the second priority level being higher than a second priority threshold.

A method of communication, comprising: transmitting, at a network device to a terminal device, a first control resource set (CORESET) configuration associated with at least one first time unit, the at least one first time unit being configured with frequency subbands for different link directions; transmitting, to the terminal device, a second configuration of CORESET group associated with at least one second time unit, the at least one second time unit being not configured with the frequency subbands; and transmitting, to the terminal device, a control channel on resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group.

A method of communication, comprising: transmitting, at a network device to a terminal device, a search space (SS) control resource set (CORESET) configuration that comprises a SS and a plurality of CORESETs associated with the SS; and transmitting, to the terminal device, a control channel on resources that are indicated by the search space and at least one of the plurality of CORESETs.

A method of communication, comprising: transmitting, at a network device to a terminal device, a control resource set (CORESET) configuration indicating resources that at least partially overlap with a frequency subband configured for a uplink (UL) channel; determining at least one of a first priority level associated with the UL channel and a second priority level associated downlink control information (DCI) type; and transmitting a control channel on the resources based on determining at least one of the first priority level being lower than a first priority threshold and the second priority level being higher than a second priority threshold.

A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the above methods.

Claims

A terminal device comprising:

a transceiver; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver, and the processor is configured to cause the terminal device to:

receive, from a network device, a first configuration of control resource set (CORESET) group associated with at least one first time unit, the at least one first time unit being configured with frequency subbands for different link directions;

receive, from the network device, a second configuration of CORESET group associated with at least one second time unit, the at least one second time unit being not configured with the frequency subbands; and

receive, from the network device, a control channel on resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group.
The terminal device of claim 1, wherein resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group not overlap with a first frequency subband and a guardband of the at least one first time unit, the first frequency subband being configured for a first link direction different from a second link direction of the control channel.
The terminal device of claim 1 or 2, wherein the terminal device is caused to receive the first configuration of CORESET group and the second configuration of CORESET group by:

receiving, from the network device, a CORESET group list indicating the first configuration of CORESET group and the second configuration of CORESET group.
The terminal device of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the terminal device is caused to receive the control channel by:

receiving downlink control information (DCI) that indicates one of the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group; and

receiving the control channel on the resources indicated by the one of the first configuration of CORESET group or the second configuration of CORESET group.
The terminal device of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the terminal device is caused to receive the control channel by:

determining whether a time unit is the first time unit or the second time unit; and

receiving, on the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group, the control channel during the time unit based on determining that the time unit is the first time unit; or

receiving, on the resources indicated by the second configuration of CORESET group, the control channel during the time unit based on determining that the time unit is the second time unit.
The terminal device of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group comprise a first plurality of resource block groups, a size of a resource block group of the first plurality of resource block groups is a first number of resource blocks.
The terminal device of claim 6, wherein:

a first offset is configured between a starting resource block group of the first plurality of resource block groups and a first boundary of a second frequency subband of the first time unit, such that the first plurality of resource block groups ends at a second boundary of the second frequency subband, and

the second frequency subband is configured for a second link direction of the control channel.
The terminal device of claim 7, wherein:

the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group further comprise a second plurality of resource block groups,

a second offset is configured between a starting resource block group of the second plurality of resource block groups and a first boundary of another second frequency subband of the first time unit, such that the second plurality of resource block groups ends at a second boundary of the other second frequency subband, and

the other second frequency subband is configured for the second link direction.
The terminal device of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the resources indicated by the first configuration of CORESET group comprise a third plurality of resource block groups, a size of a resource block group of the third plurality of resource block groups is a second number of resource blocks, the first number being an integer multiple of the second number.
The terminal device of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein a control channel element (CCE) for the control channel is mapped to resource element group (REG) , and wherein the REG is numbered without the REGs that are located in a first frequency subband, the first frequency subband being configured for a first link direction different from a second link direction of the control channel.
A terminal device comprising:

a transceiver; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver, and the processor is configured to cause the terminal device to:

receive, from a network device, a search space (SS) control resource set (CORESET) configuration that comprises a SS and a plurality of CORESETs associated with the SS; and

receive, from the network device, a control channel on resources that are indicated by the SS and at least one of the plurality of CORESETs.
The terminal device of claim 11, wherein the plurality of CORESETs comprises a first CORESET configured for at least one first time unit and a second CORESET configured for at least one second time unit, and wherein

the at least one first time unit is configured with frequency subbands for different link directions, and

the at least one second time unit being not configured with the frequency subbands.
The terminal device of claim 11, wherein the plurality of CORESETs is associated with the SS by:

associating a corresponding CORESET ID of each of the plurality of CORESETs with a SS ID of the SS.
The terminal device of claim 12 or 13, wherein the terminal device is caused to receive the control channel by:

determining whether a time unit is the first time unit or the second time unit; and

receiving, on the resources that are indicated by the SS and the first CORESET, the control channel during the time unit based on determining that the time unit is the first time unit; or

receiving, on the resources that are indicated by the SS and the second CORESET, the control channel during the time unit based on determining that the time unit is the second time unit.
The terminal device of claim 11, wherein the plurality of CORESETs is distributed over a plurality of divided frequency subbands.
The terminal device of claim 15, wherein:

a CORESET of the plurality of CORESETs that is distributed within a frequency subband is configured by a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling,

other CORESETs of the plurality of CORESETs that are distributed within other frequency subbands correspond to the CORESET, and

at least one of the other CORESETs is activated by an activation indication.
The terminal device of claim 16, wherein the terminal device is caused to receive the control channel by:

receiving, from the network device, the activation indication that activates the at least one of the other CORESETs distributed within the other frequency subbands; and

receiving the control channel on the resources that are indicated by the SS, the CORESET and the at least one of the other CORESETs.
A terminal device comprising:

a transceiver; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver, and the processor is configured to cause the terminal device to:

receive, from a network device, a control resource set (CORESET) configuration indicating resources that at least partially overlap with a frequency subband configured for a uplink (UL) channel;

determine at least one of a first priority level associated with the UL channel and a second priority level associated with downlink control information (DCI) type; and

receive a control channel on the resources based on determining at least one of the first priority level being lower than a first priority threshold and the second priority level being higher than a second priority threshold.
The terminal device of claim 18, wherein the terminal device is further caused to:

receive, from the network device, an indication of rate matching pattern associated with another CORESET configured for another terminal device;

perform, based on the indication, rate matching on a UL data transmission, the UL data transmission being transmitted on the frequency subband that at least partially overlap with resources indicated by the other CORESET.
The terminal device of claim 18, wherein the terminal device is further caused to:

receive, from the network device, a beam indication of a first beam for a UL data transmission, the first beam not overlapping with a second beam configured for a downlink (DL) control channel to another terminal device; and

transmit the UL data transmission to the network device using the first beam.