WO2024217850A1

WO2024217850A1 - Triggering of reports indicating interference and/or integrity of downlink data related to cross-link interference

Info

Publication number: WO2024217850A1
Application number: PCT/EP2024/058698
Authority: WO
Inventors: Shin Horng Wong; Martin Warwick Beale; Yassin Aden Awad; Naoki Kusashima
Original assignee: Sony Europe BV United Kingdom Branch; Sony Group Corp
Current assignee: Sony Europe BV United Kingdom Branch; Sony Group Corp
Priority date: 2023-04-18
Filing date: 2024-03-28
Publication date: 2024-10-24
Anticipated expiration: 2025-10-18

Abstract

A method of operating a communications device with a wireless communications network, comprises receiving downlink data transmitted via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network. The downlink data is transmitted in a downlink channel forming part of the wireless access interface. The method comprises generating a metric indicative of an integrity of the downlink data received via the downlink channel. The downlink channel carrying the downlink data may be referred to as a target channel. The method further comprises generating a metric indicative of cross-link interference (CLI) present with the downlink data received via the target downlink channel from measurement resource from which the CLI can be measured for the target downlink channel, and determining whether to trigger a reporting event to report the metric indicative of the cross-link interference and/or integrity of the downlink data, based on the metric indicative of the cross-link interference and/or integrity of the downlink data. According to example embodiments, a decision made by the UE to transmit an indication of a cross-link interference metric is based on an integrity of the downlink data such as an error rate, or a number of similar consecutive HARQ-ACKs and/or the measured CLI, so as to be more responsive to the CLI by adapting transmission of the downlink data or avoiding the CLI.

Description

TRIGGERING OF REPORTS INDICATING INTERFERENCE AND/OR INTEGRITY OF DOWNLINK DATA RELATED TO

CROSS-LINK INTERFERENCE

BACKGROUND

Field of Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to communications devices, infrastructure equipment, and methods of operating communications devices and infrastructure equipment in a wireless communications network. The present disclosure benefits from the Paris convention priority of European patent application number EP23168602.3 filed on 18 April 2023, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Description of Related Art

The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present technique.

Previous generation mobile telecommunication systems, such as those based on the 3GPP defined UMTS and Long Term Evolution (LTE) architecture, are able to support a wider range of services than simple voice and messaging services offered by previous generations of mobile telecommunication systems. For example, with the improved radio interface and enhanced data rates provided by LTE systems, a user is able to enjoy high data rate applications such as mobile video streaming and mobile video conferencing that would previously only have been available via a fixed line data connection. The demand to deploy such networks is therefore strong and the coverage area of these networks, i.e. geographic locations where access to the networks is possible, is expected to continue to increase rapidly.

Current and future wireless communications networks are expected to routinely and efficiently support communications with an ever-increasing range of devices associated with a wider range of data traffic profiles and types than existing systems are optimised to support. For example, it is expected future wireless communications networks will be expected to efficiently support communications with devices including reduced complexity devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, high resolution video displays, virtual reality headsets, extended Reality (XR) and so on. Some of these different types of devices may be deployed in very large numbers, for example low complexity devices for supporting the “The Internet of Things”, and may typically be associated with the transmissions of relatively small amounts of data with relatively high latency tolerance. Other types of device, for example supporting high- definition video streaming, may be associated with transmissions of relatively large amounts of data with relatively low latency tolerance. Other types of device, for example used for autonomous vehicle communications and for other critical applications, may be characterised by data that should be transmitted through the network with low latency and high reliability. A single device type might also be associated with different traffic profiles I characteristics depending on the application(s) it is running. For example, different consideration may apply for efficiently supporting data exchange with a smartphone when it is running a video streaming application (high downlink data) as compared to when it is running an Internet browsing application (sporadic uplink and downlink data) or being used for voice communications by an emergency responder in an emergency scenario (data subject to stringent reliability and latency requirements).

In view of this there is expected to be a desire for current wireless communications networks, for example those which may be referred to as 5G or new radio (NR) systems I new radio access technology (RAT) systems, or indeed future 6G wireless communications, as well as future iterations I releases of existing systems, to efficiently support connectivity for a wide range of devices associated with different applications and different characteristic data traffic profiles and requirements.

One example of a new service is referred to as Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) services which, as its name suggests, requires that a data unit or packet be communicated with a high reliability and with a low communications delay. Another example of a new service is enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services, which are characterised by a high capacity with a requirement to support up to 20 Gb/s. URLLC and eMBB type services therefore represent challenging examples for both LTE type communications systems and 5G/NR communications systems.

5G NR has continuously evolved and the current work plan includes 5G-NR-advanced in which some further enhancements are expected, especially to support new use- cases/scenarios with higher requirements. The desire to support these new use-cases and scenarios gives rise to new challenges for efficiently handling communications in wireless communications systems that need to be addressed.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure can help address or mitigate at least some of the issues discussed above.

Embodiments of the present technique can provide a method of operating a communications device with a wireless communications network. The method comprises receiving downlink data transmitted via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network. The downlink data is transmitted in a downlink channel forming part of the wireless access interface. The method further comprises generating a metric indicative of an integrity of the downlink data received via the downlink channel. The method further comprises generating a metric indicative of cross-link interference (CLI) present with the downlink data received via the target downlink channel from measurement resource, and determining whether to trigger a reporting event to report the metric indicative of the integrity and/or the metric indicative of the cross-link interference of the downlink data, based on the metric indicative of the integrity and/or the metric indicative of the cross-link interference.

According to example embodiments, a decision made by a communications device to transmit an indication of the cross-link interference, is based on a relative metric evaluating an integrity of a target downlink channel carrying the downlink data such as an error rate, or a number of HARQ-ACK and/or CLI. The UE therefore determines whether to transmit the report of the cross-link interference experienced based on a measurement or estimate of the integrity of the target downlink channel. The reports may be layer 1 , L1 reports. Accordingly, an improvement can be provided in communicating downlink data more efficiently and effectively by mitigating the CLI or more accurately controlling link adaptation based upon cross-link interference experienced by the communications device when receiving the downlink data.

Embodiments of the present technique can also provide methods of operating infrastructure equipment, communications devices, infrastructure equipment, circuitry for communications devices, circuitry for infrastructure equipment computer programs, and computer-readable storage mediums.

Respective aspects and features of the present disclosure are defined in the appended claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, but are not restrictive, of the present technology. The described embodiments, together with further advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the disclosure and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 schematically represents some aspects of an LTE-type wireless telecommunication system which may be configured to operate in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figure 2 schematically represents some aspects of a new radio access technology (RAT) wireless telecommunications system which may be configured to operate in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of an example infrastructure equipment and communications device which may be configured to operate in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figure 4 schematically illustrates an example of inter-cell cross link interference;

Figure 5 illustrates an example approach for accounting for inter-cell cross link interference;

Figure 6 schematically represents an example of non-overlapping subbands for uplink and downlink transmissions;

Figure 7 schematically represents an example of non-overlapping subbands for uplink and downlink transmissions;

Figure 8 schematically illustrates an example of intra-cell cross link interference;

Figure 9 schematically illustrates an example of inter sub-band interference;

Figure 10 schematically illustrates an example of intra sub-band interference;

Figure 11 schematically illustrates CSI-RS resources and CSI reports;

Figure 12 schematically illustrates a CSI-RS arranged close to a PDSCH in accordance with example embodiments; and

Figure 13 is a flow diagram representing an example embodiment in which a CLI report is triggered based on one or both of an integrity of the received downlink data and the measured CLI according to example embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Long Term Evolution Advanced Radio Access Technology (4G)

Figure 1 provides a schematic diagram illustrating some basic functionality of a mobile telecommunications network / system 6 operating generally in accordance with LTE principles, but which may also support other radio access technologies, and which may be adapted to implement embodiments of the disclosure as described herein. Various elements of Figure 1 and certain aspects of their respective modes of operation are well-known and defined in the relevant standards administered by the 3GPP (RTM) body, and also described in many books on the subject, for example, Holma H. and Toskala A [1], It will be appreciated that operational aspects of the telecommunications networks discussed herein which are not specifically described (for example in relation to specific communication protocols and physical channels for communicating between different elements) may be implemented in accordance with any known techniques, for example according to the relevant standards and known proposed modifications and additions to the relevant standards.

The network 6 includes a plurality of base stations 1 connected to a core network 2. Each base station provides a coverage area 3 (i.e. a cell) within which data can be communicated to and from communications devices 4. Although each base station 1 is shown in Figure 1 as a single entity, the skilled person will appreciate that some of the functions of the base station may be carried out by disparate, inter-connected elements, such as antennas (or antennae), remote radio heads, amplifiers, etc. Collectively, one or more base stations may form a radio access network.

Data is transmitted from base stations 1 to communications devices 4 within their respective coverage areas 3 via a radio downlink. Data is transmitted from communications devices 4 to the base stations 1 via a radio uplink. The core network 2 routes data to and from the communications devices 4 via the respective base stations 1 and provides functions such as authentication, mobility management, charging and so on. Terminal devices may also be referred to as mobile stations, user equipment (UE), user terminal, mobile radio, communications device, and so forth. Services provided by the core network 2 may include connectivity to the internet or to external telephony services. The core network 2 may further track the location of the communications devices 4 so that it can efficiently contact (i.e. page) the communications devices 4 for transmitting downlink data towards the communications devices 4.

Base stations, which are an example of network infrastructure equipment, may also be referred to as transceiver stations, nodeBs, e-nodeBs, eNB, g-nodeBs, gNB and so forth. In this regard different terminology is often associated with different generations of wireless telecommunications systems for elements providing broadly comparable functionality. However, certain embodiments of the disclosure may be equally implemented in different generations of wireless telecommunications systems, and for simplicity certain terminology may be used regardless of the underlying network architecture. That is to say, the use of a specific term in relation to certain example implementations is not intended to indicate these implementations are limited to a certain generation of network that may be most associated with that particular terminology.

New Radio Access Technology (5G) Systems incorporating NR technology are expected to support different services (or types of services), which may be characterised by different requirements for latency, data rate and/or reliability. For example, Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services are characterised by high capacity with a requirement to support up to 20 Gb/s. The requirements for Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) services are for one transmission of a 32 byte packet to be transmitted from the radio protocol layer 2/3 SDU ingress point to the radio protocol layer 2/3 SDU egress point of the radio interface within 1 ms with a reliability of 1 - 10’⁵ (99.999 %) or higher (99.9999%) [2],

Massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC) is another example of a service which may be supported by NR-based communications networks. In addition, systems may be expected to support further enhancements related to Industrial Internet of Things (lloT) in order to support services with new requirements of high availability, high reliability, low latency, and in some cases, high-accuracy positioning.

An example configuration of a wireless communications network which uses some of the terminology proposed for and used in NR and 5G is shown in Figure 2. In Figure 2 a plurality of transmission and reception points (TRPs) 10 are connected to distributed control units (DUs) 41 , 42 by a connection interface represented as a line 16. Each of the TRPs 10 is arranged to transmit and receive signals via a wireless access interface within a radio frequency bandwidth available to the wireless communications network. Thus, within a range for performing radio communications via the wireless access interface, each of the TRPs 10, forms a cell of the wireless communications network as represented by a circle 12. As such, wireless communications devices 14 which are within a radio communications range provided by the cells 12 can transmit and receive signals to and from the TRPs 10 via the wireless access interface. Each of the distributed units 41 , 42 are connected to a central unit (CU) 40 (which may be referred to as a controlling node) via an interface 46. The central unit 40 is then connected to the core network 20 which may contain all other functions required to transmit data for communicating to and from the wireless communications devices and the core network 20 may be connected to other networks 60.

The elements of the wireless access network shown in Figure 2 may operate in a similar way to corresponding elements of an LTE network as described with regard to the example of Figure 1. It will be appreciated that operational aspects of the telecommunications network represented in Figure 2, and of other networks discussed herein in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure, which are not specifically described (for example in relation to specific communication protocols and physical channels for communicating between different elements) may be implemented in accordance with any known techniques, for example according to currently used approaches for implementing such operational aspects of wireless telecommunications systems, e.g. in accordance with the relevant standards.

The TRPs 10 of Figure 2 may in part have a corresponding functionality to a base station or eNodeB of an LTE network. Similarly, the communications devices 14 may have a functionality corresponding to the UE devices 4 known for operation with an LTE network. It will be appreciated therefore that operational aspects of a new RAT network (for example in relation to specific communication protocols and physical channels for communicating between different elements) may be different to those known from LTE or other known mobile telecommunications standards. However, it will also be appreciated that each of the core network component, base stations and communications devices of a new RAT network will be functionally similar to, respectively, the core network component, base stations and communications devices of an LTE wireless communications network.

In terms of broad top-level functionality, the core network 20 connected to the new RAT telecommunications system represented in Figure 2 may be broadly considered to correspond with the core network 2 represented in Figure 1 , and the respective central units 40 and their associated distributed units I TRPs 10 may be broadly considered to provide functionality corresponding to the base stations 1 of Figure 1. The term network infrastructure equipment I access node may be used to encompass these elements and more conventional base station type elements of wireless telecommunications systems. Depending on the application at hand the responsibility for scheduling transmissions which are scheduled on the radio interface between the respective distributed units and the communications devices may lie with the controlling node I central unit and I or the distributed units I TRPs. A communications device 14 is represented in Figure 2 within the coverage area of the first communication cell 12. This communications device 14 may thus exchange signalling with the first central unit 40 in the first communication cell 12 via one of the distributed units I TRPs 10 associated with the first communication cell 12.

It will further be appreciated that Figure 2 represents merely one example of a proposed architecture for a new RAT based telecommunications system in which approaches in accordance with the principles described herein may be adopted, and the functionality disclosed herein may also be applied in respect of wireless telecommunications systems having different architectures.

Thus, certain embodiments of the disclosure as discussed herein may be implemented in wireless telecommunication systems I networks according to various different architectures, such as the example architectures shown in Figures 1 and 2. It will thus be appreciated the specific wireless telecommunications architecture in any given implementation is not of primary significance to the principles described herein. In this regard, certain embodiments of the disclosure may be described generally in the context of communications between network infrastructure equipment I access nodes and a communications device, wherein the specific nature of the network infrastructure equipment I access node and the communications device will depend on the network infrastructure for the implementation at hand. For example, in some scenarios the network infrastructure equipment I access node may comprise a base station, such as an LTE-type base station 1 as shown in Figure 1 which is adapted to provide functionality in accordance with the principles described herein, and in other examples the network infrastructure equipment may comprise a control unit I controlling node 40 and / or a TRP 10 of the kind shown in Figure 2 which is adapted to provide functionality in accordance with the principles described herein.

A more detailed diagram of some of the components of the network shown in Figure 2 is provided by Figure 3. In Figure 3, a TRP 10 as shown in Figure 2 comprises, as a simplified representation, a wireless transmitter 30, a wireless receiver 32 and a controller or controlling processor 34 which may operate to control the transmitter 30 and the wireless receiver 32 to transmit and receive radio signals to one or more UEs 14 within a cell 12 formed by the TRP 10. As shown in Figure 3, an example UE 14 is shown to include a corresponding transmitter 49, a receiver 48 and a controller 44 which is configured to control the transmitter 49 and the receiver 48 to transmit signals representing uplink data to the wireless communications network via the wireless access interface formed by the TRP 10 and to receive downlink data as signals transmitted by the transmitter 30 and received by the receiver 48 in accordance with the conventional operation.

The transmitters 30, 49 and the receivers 32, 48 (as well as other transmitters, receivers and transceivers described in relation to examples and embodiments of the present disclosure) may include radio frequency filters and amplifiers as well as signal processing components and devices in order to transmit and receive radio signals in accordance for example with the 5G/NR standard. The controllers 34, 44 (as well as other controllers described in relation to examples and embodiments of the present disclosure) may be, for example, a microprocessor, a CPU, or a dedicated chipset, etc., configured to carry out instructions which are stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-volatile memory. The processing steps described herein may be carried out by, for example, a microprocessor in conjunction with a random access memory, operating according to instructions stored on a computer readable medium. The transmitters, the receivers and the controllers are schematically shown in Figure 3 as separate elements for ease of representation. However, it will be appreciated that the functionality of these elements can be provided in various different ways, for example using one or more suitably programmed programmable computer(s), or one or more suitably configured application-specific integrated circuit(s) I circuitry I chip(s) I chipset(s). As will be appreciated the infrastructure equipment I TRP I base station as well as the UE I communications device will in general comprise various other elements associated with its operating functionality.

As shown in Figure 3, the TRP 10 also includes a network interface 50 which connects to the DU 42 via a physical interface 16. The network interface 50 therefore provides a communication link for data and signalling traffic from the TRP 10 via the DU 42 and the CU 40 to the core network 20.

The interface 46 between the DU 42 and the CU 40 is known as the F1 interface which can be a physical or a logical interface. The F1 interface 46 between CU and DU may operate in accordance with specifications 3GPP TS 38.470 and 3GPP TS 38.473, and may be formed from a fibre optic or other wired or wireless high bandwidth connection. In one example the connection 16 from the TRP 10 to the DU 42 is via fibre optic. The connection between a TRP 10 and the core network 20 can be generally referred to as a backhaul, which comprises the interface 16 from the network interface 50 of the TRP 10 to the DU 42 and the F1 interface 46 from the DU 42 to the CU 40.

Full Duplex Time Division Duplex (FD-TDD)

NR/5G networks can operate using Time Division Duplex (TDD), where an entire frequency band or carrier is switched to either downlink or uplink transmissions for a time period and can be switched to the other of downlink or uplink transmissions at a later time period. Currently, TDD operates in Half Duplex mode (HD-TDD) where the gNB or UE can, at a given time, either transmit or receive packets, but not both at the same time. As wireless networks transition from NR to 5G-Advanced networks, a proposed new feature of such networks is to enhance duplexing operation for Time Division Duplex (TDD) by enabling Full Duplex operation in TDD (FD-TDD) [3], [4], In FD-TDD, a gNB can transmit and receive data to and from the UEs at the same time on the same frequency band. In addition, a UE can operate either in HD-TDD or FD-TDD mode, depending on its capability. For example, when UEs are only capable of supporting HD-TDD, FD-TDD is achieved at the gNB by scheduling a DL transmission to a first UE and scheduling a UL transmission from a second UE within the same orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol (i.e. at the same time). Conversely, when UEs are capable of supporting FD-TDD, FD-TDD is achieved both at the gNB and the UE, where the gNB can simultaneously schedule this UE with DL and UL transmissions within the same OFDM symbol by scheduling the DL and UL transmissions at different frequencies (e.g. physical resource blocks (PRBs)) of the system bandwidth. A UE supporting FD-TDD requires more complex hardware than a UE that only supports HD-TDD. Development of current 5G networks is focused primarily on enabling FD-TDD at the gNB with UEs operating in HD-TDD mode.

Motivations for enhancing duplexing operation for TDD include an improvement in system capacity, reduced latency, and improved uplink coverage. For example, in current HD-TDD systems, OFDM symbols are allocated only for either a DL or UL direction in a semi-static manner. Hence, if one direction experiences less or no data, the spare resources cannot be used in the other direction, or are, at best, under-utilized. However, if resources can be used for DL data and UL data (as in FD-TDD) at the same time, the resource utilization in the system can be improved. Furthermore, in current HD-TDD systems, a UE can receive DL data, but cannot transmit UL data at the same time, which causes delays. If a gNB or UE is allowed to transmit and receive data at the same time (as with FD-TDD), the traffic latency will be improved. In addition, UEs are usually coverage limited in their UL transmissions when located close to the edge of a cell. While the UE coverage at the cell-edge can be improved if more time domain resources are assigned to UL transmissions (e.g. repetitions), if the UL direction is assigned more time resources, fewer time resources can be assigned to the DL direction, which can lead to system imbalance. Enabling FD-TDD would allow a UE to be assigned more UL time resources when required, without sacrificing DL time resources.

Inter-Cell Cross Link Interference (CLI)

In NR systems, a slot format (i.e., the allocation of DL and UL OFDM symbols in a slot) can be semi-statically or dynamically configured, where each OFDM symbol (OS) in a slot can be configured as Downlink (DL), Uplink (UL) or Flexible (F). An OFDM symbol that is semi- statically configured to be Flexible can be indicated dynamically as DL, UL or remain as Flexible by a Dynamic Slot Format Indicator (SFI), which is transmitted in a Group Common (GO) DCI using DCI Format 2_0, where the CRC of the GC-DCI is masked with SFI-RNTI. Flexible OFDM Symbols that remain Flexible after instruction from the SFI can be changed to a DL symbol or a UL symbol by a DL Grant or a UL Grant respectively. That is, a DL Grant scheduling a PDSCH that overlaps Flexible OFDM Symbols would convert these Flexible OFDM Symbols to DL and similarly a UL Grant scheduling a PUSCH that overlaps Flexible OFDM Symbols would convert these Flexible OFDM Symbols to UL.

Since each gNB in a network can independently change the configuration of each OFDM symbol, either semi-statically or dynamically, it is possible that in a particular OFDM symbol, one gNB is configured for UL and a neighbour gNB is configured for DL. This causes intercell Cross Link Interference (CLI) among the conflicting gNBs (due to the UL/DL symbol clash for one or more symbols). Inter-cell CLI occurs when a UE’s UL transmission interferes with a DL reception by another UE in another cell, or when a gNB’s DL transmission interferes with a UL reception by another gNB. That is, inter-cell CLI is caused by non-aligned (conflicting) slot formats among neighbouring cells. An example is shown in Figure 4, where gNB1 411 and gNB2 412 have synchronised slots. At a given slot, gNBTs 411 slot format = {D, D, D, D, D, D, D, D, D, D, U, U, U, U} whilst gNB2’s 412 slot format = {D, D, D, D, D, D, D, D, D, D, D, II, II, II}, where ‘D’ indicates DL and ‘II’ indicates UL. Inter-cell CLI occurs during the 11^th OFDM symbol of the slot, where gNB1 411 is performing UL whilst gNB2 412 is performing DL. Specifically, inter-cell CLI 441 occurs between gNB1 411 and gNB2 412, where gNB2’s 412 DL transmission 431 interferes with gNBTs 411 UL reception 432. CLI 442 also occurs between UE1 421 and UE2 422, where UETs 421 UL transmission 432 interferes with UE2’s 422 DL reception 431 .

Rel-16 CLI Measurements

Some legacy implementations attempt to reduce inter-cell CLI in TDD networks caused by flexible and dynamic slot format configurations. Two CLI measurement reports to manage and coordinate the scheduling among neighbouring gNBs include: sounding reference signal (SRS) reference signal received power (RSRP) and CLI received signal strength indicator (RSSI). In SRS-RSRP, a linear average of the power contribution of an SRS transmitted by a UE is measured by a UE in a neighbour cell. This is measured over the configured resource elements within the considered measurement frequency bandwidth, in the time resources in the configured measurement occasions. In CLI-RSSI, a linear average of the total received power observed is measured only at certain OFDM symbols of the measurement time resource(s), in the measurement bandwidth, over the configured resource elements for measurement by a UE.

Both SRS-RSRP and CLI-RSSI are RRC measurements and are performed by a UE, for use in mitigating against UE to UE inter-cell CLI. For SRS-RSRP, an aggressor UE (i.e. a UE whose UL transmissions cause interference at another UE in a neighbouring cell) would transmit an SRS in the uplink and a victim UE (i.e. a UE that experiences interference due to an UL transmission from the UE in the neighbouring cell) in a neighbour cell would be configured with a measurement configuration including the aggressor UE’s SRS parameters, in order to allow the interference from the aggressor UE to be measured. An example is shown in Figure 5 where, at a particular slot, the 11^th OS (OFDM symbol) of gNB1 511 and gNB2 512 causes inter-cell CLI. Here, gNB1 511 has configured UE1 521 , the aggressor UE, to transmit an SRS 540 and gNB2 512 has configured UE2 522, the victim UE, to measure that SRS 540. UE2 522 is provided with UETs 521 SRS configured parameters, e.g. RS sequence used, frequency resource, frequency transmission comb structure and time resources, so that UE2 522 can measure the SRS 540. In general, a UE can be configured to monitor 32 different SRSs, at a maximum rate of 8 SRSs per slot.

For CLI-RSSI measurements, the UE measures the total received power, i.e. signal and interference, following a configured periodicity, start and end OFDM symbols of a slot, and a set of frequency Resource Blocks (RBs). Since SRS-RSRP measures a transmission by a specific UE, the network can target a specific aggressor UE to reduce its transmission power and in some cases not schedule the aggressor UE at the same time as a victim UE that reports a high SRS-RSRP measurement. In contrast, CLI-RSSI cannot be used to identify a specific aggressor UE’s transmission, but CLI-RSSI does provide an overall estimate of the inter-cell CLI experienced by the victim UE. However, both SRS-RSRP and CLI-RSSI are layer 3 measurements which typically take a longer time than measurements performed at lower layers (such as layer 1).

Subband Full Duplex (SBFD)

In SBFD, the frequency resource of a TDD system bandwidth or Bandwidth Part (BWP) (i.e. at the UE/gNB) is divided into two or more non-overlapping sub-bands, where each sub-band can be DL or UL [5], Guard subbands may be used between DL and UL subbands to reduce inter subband interference.

An example is shown in Figure 6, where simultaneous DL and UL transmissions occur in different non-overlapping sub-bands 401 to 403, i.e. in different sets of frequency Resource Blocks (RB): Sub-band#1 401 , Sub-band#2 402 and Sub-band#3 403 such that Sub-band#1

401 and Sub-band#3 403 are used for DL transmissions whilst Sub-band#2 402 is used for UL transmissions.

While Figure 6 shows the system bandwidth as being divided into three sub-bands, any number of sub-bands could be used. For example, the system bandwidth may be divided into four sub-bands, which may include the two downlink sub-bands 401 , 403, the uplink sub-band

402 and another uplink subband, though other sub-band arrangements are envisioned. To reduce leakage from one sub-band 401 to 403 to another, a guard sub-band 410 may be configured between UL and DL sub-bands 401 to 403. Guard sub-bands 410 are configured, between DL Sub-band#3 403 and UL Sub-band#2 402 and between UL Sub-band#2 402 and DL Sub-band#1 401.

The arrangement of sub-bands 401 to 403 shown in Figure 6 is just one possible arrangement of the sub-bands and other arrangements are possible, and guard bands may be used in substantially any sub-band arrangement.

Figure 7 shows two further examples with a DL and UL subband separated by a guard subband. For example, on the left-side of Figure 7, a UL subband#1 501 is separated from a DL subband#2 503 by a guard subband 502. In this case, the DL subband#2 503 occupies a higher frequency portion of the system bandwidth than the UL subband#1 501 . On the rightside of Figure 7, a DL subband#1 504 is separated from a UL subband#2 506 by a guard subband 505. In this case, the UL subband#2 506 occupies a higher frequency portion of the system bandwidth than the DL subband#1 504.

Intra-Cell Cross Link Interference

In addition to inter-cell CLI, FD-TDD also suffers from intra-cell CLI at the gNB and at the UE. An example is shown in Figure 8, where a gNB 610 is capable of FD-TDD and is simultaneously receiving UL transmission 631 from UE1 621 and transmitting a DL transmission 642 to UE2 622. At the gNB 610, intra-cell CLI is caused by the DL transmission 642 at the gNB’s transmitter self-interfering 641 with its own receiver that is trying to decode UL signals 631. At UE2 622, intra-cell CLI 632 is caused by an aggressor UE, e.g. UE1 621 , transmitting in the UL 631 , whilst a victim UE, e.g. UE2 622, is receiving a DL signal 642.

The intra-cell CLI at the gNB due to self-interference can be significant, as the DL transmission can in some cases be over 100 dB more powerful than the UL reception. Accordingly, complex RF hardware and interference cancellation are required to isolate this self-interference. Inter Sub-Band Interference

However, SBFD may suffer from inter sub-band interferences, which are caused by transmission leakage and the receiver’s selectivity. Although a transmission is typically scheduled within a specific frequency subband, i.e. a specific set of RBs, transmission power can leak out to other subbands. This occurs because subband filters are not perfect, and as such the roll-off of the filter will cause power to leak into the subband adjacent to the intended specific frequency subband.

An example is shown in Figure 9, where an aggressor transmits a signal in an adjacent subband 1010 at a lower frequency than the victim’s receiving subband 1020. Due to roll-off of the transmission filter and nonlinearities in components of the transmitter, some transmission power is leaked into the victim’s receiving subband 1020. Similarly, the receiver’s filter is also not perfect and will receive unwanted power from the subband 1010. Therefore, the receiver will experience interference 1050.

Intra Sub-Band Interference

Intra sub-band interference can occur when the sub-band configurations among gNBs are not aligned in the frequency domain. Here, CLI may occur in the overlapping frequencies of intercell sub-bands. An example is shown in Figure 10, where gNBTs 1111 system bandwidth is divided into UL sub-band UL-SB#1 1152 occupying f₀ to f2 and DL sub-band DL-SB#1 1151 occupying f2 to f , whilst gNB2’s 1112 system bandwidth is divided into UL sub-band UL-SB#2 1154 occupying f₀ to fi and DL sub-band DL-SB#2 1153 occupying fi to . The non-aligned sub-band configurations 1150 cause UL-SB#1 1152 to overlap with DL-SB#2 1153, thereby causing intra sub-band CLI within the overlapping frequencies fi to fa. In this example, intra sub-band CLI 1141 occurs at gNB1 1111 due to gNB2’s 1112 DL transmission 1132 within fi to fa in DL-SB#2 1153 interfering with gNBTs 1111 UL reception 1131 from UE1 1121 within fi to fa in UL-SB#1 1152. In addition, intra sub-band CLI 1142 occurs at UE2 1122 due to UETs 1121 UL transmission 1131 within fi to 2 in UL-SB#1 1152 interfering with UE2’s 1122 DL reception 1132 within fi to f2 in DL-SB#2 1153.

One of the enhancements proposed for Release-18 Duplex Evolution is to introduce CLI measurements and reporting these measurements in Layer 1 and Layer 2. That is, instead of performing the CLI measurements and reporting in Layer 3, which is typically a slow process, these CLI measurements and reporting are performed at Layer 1 and/or Layer 2, which is faster, especially at Layer 1 , and more beneficial in a dynamically changing CLI environment. It has been agreed to consider using the legacy CSI framework for the new Layer 1 CLI measurement reporting. That is, similar to CSI reporting, the new Layer 1 CLI measurement can be reported periodically, in a semi-persistent or in an aperiodic (triggered by DCI) manner [6], In addition to periodic, semi-persistent and aperiodic CLI reporting, it is also proposed that event triggered CLI reporting is introduced. In [7], an event trigger is proposed where the UE sends a CLI report if it has K consecutive NACKs and the CLI is above a threshold.

In the legacy system, the CSI measurements are performed on CSI resources, typically the CSI-RS and the gNB can configure multiple CSI resources, where the UE reports a CSI report for each of the CSI resources. For example, in Figure 11 , the UE is configured with 2 CSI-RS resources labelled as CSI-RS#1 and CSI-RS#2. Here the UE is to send a CSI report based on CSI-RS#1 in CSI Report#1 in a PUCCH in Slot n+4 and another CSI report based on CSI- RS#2 in CSI Report#2 in another PUCCH in Slot n+9, as represented by arrows 1101 , 1102.

In the legacy system, the aperiodic CSI report can be triggered by a UL Grant.

Link adaptation is a technique in which modulation and error correction coding applied to downlink data transmission in a mobile communications network is adapted in accordance with prevailing radio channel conditions, which include radio link quality as well as co-channel interference. If the radio link quality is good and interference is low, then the modulation scheme can be set to a high order in which a number of bits per symbol is high allowing a greater amount of data to be transmitted in available communications resources. Similarly, the error correction coding scheme can be set to a high rate in which a lower amount of redundancy is included in the transmitted data again utilizing available capacity for communicating the downlink data. Of course, in contrast, where interference is high or radio conditions are poor, then the link adaptation process will reduce the order of the modulation scheme to a lower number of bits per symbol and reduce the coding rate to improve protection of the transmitted data to errors with a consequence of reducing an amount of data which can be transmitted in the available communications resources.

Example embodiments can provide a method of operating a communications device with a wireless communications network. The method comprises receiving downlink data transmitted via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network. The downlink data is transmitted in a downlink channel forming part of the wireless access interface. The method further comprises generating a metric indicative of an integrity of the downlink data received via the downlink channel. The downlink channel carrying the downlink data may be referred to as a target channel. The method further comprises generating a metric indicative of cross-link interference (CLI) present with the downlink data received via the target downlink channel from measurement resource from which the CLI can be measured for the target downlink channel, and determining whether to trigger a reporting event to report the metric indicative of the cross-link interference and/or integrity of the downlink data, based on the metric indicative of the cross-link interference and/or integrity of the downlink data. According to example embodiments, a decision made by the UE to transmit an indication of a cross-link interference metric is based on an integrity of the downlink data such as an error rate, or a number of similar consecutive HARQ-ACKs and/or the measured CLI. The UE therefore determines whether to transmit the report of the cross-link interference based on a measurement or estimate of the integrity of the downlink data and/or the CLI. Therefore, the UE does not always transmit a metric indicating cross-link interference but determines whether or not to transmit a report based on an evaluation of the integrity of the target downlink channel. The UE may therefore transmit the report of the metric indicative of the cross-link interference in an uplink channel. The uplink channel may be associated with the generated measurement of the cross-link interference and/or the target downlink channel. The uplink channel may be associated with the generated measurement of the cross-link interference. The report of the CLI and/or data integrity may be communicated by layer 1 , L1 , messages/signaling.

According to example embodiments, a layer 1 CLI is reported based on the decoding of a target channel. In other words, an event trigger for a CLI report is based on decoding of a target channel. The CLI report is therefore associated with the targeted channel. Unlike the prior art [7] that reports the CLI only when the decoding performance is bad, embodiments of the present technique can report CLI when decoding performance is good despite a UE operating in a scenario where CLI is present. This is beneficial for a gNB in its link adaptation process as the gNB would not need to be too pessimistic in its scheduling under CLI if the UE is robust enough to decode a channel or when the CLI experienced by the UE suddenly changes. The gNB performs its link adaptation when CLI lessens, and the rate of NACKs hence falls. Embodiments of the present technique also recognize that in addition to errors (NACKs) caused by conditions on the radio propagation channel, the UE also suffers from CLI and hence the gNB’s link adaption has to take the CLI, an additional factor, into account in deciding a suitable MCS for the UE. The CLI report can also be used by the gNB to determine whether to execute some CLI mitigation process, e.g., power boost DL transmission or by coordinating with other gNBs in managing their resources. It should be noted that other CLI mitigation techniques can of course be used by the gNB.

In the prior art in [7], it is proposed that the UE sends a CLI report if it has K consecutive NACKs for PDSCH and the CLI is high. This only provides a CLI level to the gNB when decoding fails which may lead to over pessimistic link adaptation. In contrast, embodiments can provide a gNB with CLI measurements when decoding is performing badly and also when it is performing well under CLI, notably under high CLI, or during transitions from operating in high CLI to operating in low CLI. This will avoid the gNB from scheduling overly pessimistic MCS to the UE and therefore allows the gNB to use the resources more efficiently.

PDSCH

In some embodiments, a target channel is the PDSCH. In other words, a CLI is transmitted based on the decoding of data transmitted and received in the PDSCH.

In some embodiments, a CLI report is triggered when a UE transmits HARQ-ACKs feedback in a PUCCH or PUSCH. In other words, the CLI report is associated with one or more PDSCHs. For example, after decoding one or more PDSCHs, the UE may transmit a PUCCH to indicate whether the one or more PDSCHs have been successfully decoded (i.e., ACK) or unsuccessfully decoded (i.e., NACK). In such cases, the UE may transmit the CLI report with the HARQ-ACK feedback. For example, the CLI report may be attached to the HARQ-ACK feedback. It will be appreciated that a PUCCH can carry HARQ-ACK for multiple PDSCHs. The CLI report may report an average CLI of CLI measurement resource associated with the PDSCHs, i.e., single CLI value, or a CLI measurement for each of the one or more PDSCH, i.e., multiple CLI values in the report.

In some embodiments, the CLI is reported in the form of multi-level HARQ-ACK for PDSCH. For example, a 4 level HARQ-ACK can be reported using 2 bits as follows:

• NACK under heavy CLI

• NACK under light CLI

• ACK under light CLI

• ACK under heavy CLI

The UE may measure the CLI whilst decoding PDSCH or based on predefined CLI resources (e.g., such as CSI-RS or the DMRS of the PDSCH as described in the section entitled “CLI Measurement Resource” below). The UE then reports the multi-level HARQ-ACK which provides an indication to the gNB of the impact of the CLI on the PDSCH decoding. For example, if the UE sends an ACK under heavy CLI, the gNB can be more optimistic and schedule a UE with a higher MCS. If the UE reports NACK under heavy CLI then the gNB may start to be more pessimistic in terms of scheduling, for example with a lower MCS compared to NACK under light CLI. Although example embodiments are discussed above with reference to 4 HARQ-ACK levels, it will be appreciated that the number of HARQ-ACK levels may be less than or greater than 4.

Heavy CLI is defined as being a CLI value that exceeds a certain threshold, whilst light CLI is defined as being a CLI value that doesn’t exceed the certain threshold. The certain threshold is pre-defined by specification or configured by higher layer signalling.

In some embodiments, the CLI is reported in units of RSRP, RSRQ, SINR or RSSI.

In some embodiments, the CLI is reported according to quantized levels, e.g., similar to Channel Quality Indicator (CQI). For example, the CLI can be reported with 5 bits representing 32 levels of CLI {0, ... , 31}, where 0 means no CLI detected and 31 means extremely high CLI.

In some embodiments, the CLI report is triggered after decoding NRBTX PDSCH retransmissions. In such embodiments, the UE can report the CLI of the initial PDSCH decoding and the retransmitted PDSCH decoding. Since the initial PDSCH and the subsequent retransmissions may experience different levels of CLI, it is beneficial for the gNB to know the level of CLI the UE is experiencing. In some implementations, NRBTX is indicated in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signal, dynamically indicated in a DL Grant or predefined in the specifications, e.g., NRBTX =1.

In some embodiments, the CLI report is triggered by a DL Grant. Using a DL Grant to trigger the CLI report is particularly advantageous as the CLI measurement can be based on the targeted PDSCH. For example, following reception of the DL Grant, the UE can prepare to measure the CLI on the targeted PDSCH that will be received later. In these embodiments, the DL Grant may contain indication of PUCCH or PUSCH resource to report the CLI. It will be appreciated that the CLI can be conveyed by PUCCH or PUSCH that is indicated by other DCI than the DL Grant.

In some embodiments, the CLI report is triggered by an activation DCI for an SPS (semi- persistently scheduled resources). In such embodiments, the target channel is the PDSCH of the SPS. In these embodiments, the activation DCI may indicate semi-persistent PUCCH resource to report the CLI.

In some embodiments, the CLI report is triggered if there are multiple ACKs associated with light CLI following a period of heavy CLI. The ACKs associated with light CLI would be indicative of more favourable CLI conditions, following a period of adverse CLI. This would enable the gNB to adapt the link to take into account the improved CLI, for example by increasing the scheduled MCS. Alternatively, the gNB may switch between two link adaptation control procedures: a light CLI control procedure and a heavy CLI control procedure. In some embodiments, CLI is reported if there are multiple ACKs associated with light CLI following a period where multiple NACKs were decoded. The ACKs associated with light CLI would be indicative of more favourable CLI conditions, following a period of adverse CLI that had caused those multiple NACKs. This would enable the gNB to adapt the link to take into account the improved CLI, for example by increasing the scheduled MCS. Alternatively, the gNB could switch between two link adaptation control procedures: a light CLI control procedure and a heavy CLI control procedure.

The metric indicative of the integrity of the target downlink channel can hence be based on various measurements, including the number of retransmissions and the number of ACKs or NACKs received, as described above. The metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink channel can also or alternatively be derived based on a parameter within the error correction decoding function of the UE’s receiver. Example parameters within the error correction decoding function include statistics on the LLRs (log likelihood ratios) within the decoder, an intermediate error rate estimate within the decoder, the number of decoding iterations required to correctly decode a transport block etc.

In some embodiments, there may be multiple potential triggers for the CLI report and the gNB configures which trigger the UE should apply. For example, the gNB may configure the UE to report CLI based either on (1) light CLI following a period of heavy CLI or (2) light CLI following a period where multiple NACKs were decoded.

Alternatively or additionally, the gNB may configure multiple triggers and the UE indicates the event (e.g. in the form of an ID) that triggers the CLI report.

PDCCH

In some embodiments, the target channel is the PDCCH. In other words, the CLI is transmitted based on the decoding of a detected PDCCH.

In some embodiments, the CLI report is triggered based on an Aggregation Level (AL) of the PDCCH. In some embodiments, the UE sends a CLI report if the AL is above a threshold. Such embodiments are particularly advantageous when high AL indicates poor channel conditions (in such cases, the gNB would need to carefully manage CLI). In some embodiments, the UE sends a CLI report if the AL is below a threshold. Such embodiments are particularly advantageous because a PDCCH transmitted with low AL is less robust and hence more susceptible to CLI: in such a case, the CLI conditions should be reported to improve robustness of the PDCCH. The threshold may be RRC configured or predefined in the specifications.

In some embodiments, a CLI report is triggered based on the Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) used by the PDCCH. For example, if the PDCCH uses C-RNTI or CS-RNTI, the UE sends a CLI report otherwise the UE doesn’t send any CLI report. Such embodiments recognise that some PDCCHs (for example those using a C-RNTI) are related to channels to which link adaptation is applied, whereas PDCCHs that use other RNTIs may not have link adaptation applied to their associated channels. CLI Measurement Resource

Similar to CSI measurement resource, the gNB may configure CLI measurement resources for a UE and the UE may send a CLI report based on one or more CLI measurement resources

In some embodiments, the CLI measurement resource is a set of configured CSI-RS or a set of reference signals (RS). The gNB may configure a set of CSI-RS/RS and ask the UE to measure the CLI on these resources. The CSI-RS may be Zero-Powered (ZP-CSI) or NonZero Powered CSI (NZP-CSI) resources. ZP-CSI does not have any signal from the serving gNB and may be used to measure CLI from other cells.

In some embodiments, the CLI measurement resource is the DMRS of the targeted channel. That is the measurement is based on the CLI experienced in the DMRS of the channel. For example, if the channel is a PDSCH, the CLI is based on the DMRS of the PDSCH.

In some embodiments, the CLI measurement resource is the CSI-RS in the vicinity of the targeted channel. That is the CLI measurement resource is within a predefined time window of the targeted channel. For example, in Figure 12 the target channel is the PDSCH in Slot n and here the CSI-RS in the vicinity of the PDSCH is CSI-RS#1 in Slot n.

In some embodiments, the CLI measurement is the CSI-RS that is in the same slot as the targeted channel. For example, if the channel is a PDSCH then the CSI-RS that is in the same slot as the PDSCH, are the measurement resources for the CLI report.

In some embodiments, the CLI measurement is the CSI-RS that overlaps in time with the targeted channel. For example, if the channel is a PDSCH, then the CSI-RS that are in the same OFDM symbols as the PDSCH are used as CLI measurement resource. Using the example in Figure 12 the targeted channel is the PDSCH in Slot n and here the CLI measurement resources are CSI-RS#1 in the 5^th OFDM symbol of Slot n since they overlap with the PDSCH. The CSI-RS#1 in the 9^th OFDM symbol is not used in the CLI report.

In some embodiments, the CLI resource is the portion of the CSI-RS that is close to the targeted channel in terms of frequency. For example, the CLI resource can be the CSI-RS resource that is within NCLI_PRB of the edges of the targeted channel.

In some embodiments, the CLI measurement resource is the SRS of an aggressor UE. In this implementation, the SRS is transmitted in the vicinity of the targeted channel, for example in the same slot with the targeted channel.

Example Operation

According to the above explanation, an example embodiment illustrating an operation of a gNB and UE in accordance with the present technique is represented by the flow diagram shown in Figure 13. The operations of the UE and the gNB as represented in Figure 13 are summarised as follows:

S1 : In a first step, the gNB transmits a configuration of a cross-link interference, CLI, measurement resource, such as a CSI-RS, from which cross-link interference can be measured by the UE. S2: The gNB may then transmit, to the UE, conditions for triggering a reporting event. The reporting event may report one or both of an integrity of downlink data received by the communications device and a metric indicative of CLI.

S3: The gNB then transmits downlink data or control signaling/information (also referred to as downlink data) via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network to the UE. The downlink data is transmitted in a downlink channel forming part of the wireless access interface, such as a PDSCH or the downlink control information or signaling may be transmitted via a PDCCH for example, which may be subject to the CLI.

S4: The UE receives the downlink data transmitted in the downlink channel. According to some examples the downlink data is transmitted in accordance with a HARQ-ACK process. Accordingly, the UE generates ACKs or NACKs depending on whether each transport block or code block carrying the downlink data is received correctly or not.

S5: The UE generates a metric indicative of an integrity of the downlink data received via the downlink channel, This could be based on a number of ACKs or NACKs generated within a HARQ-ACK report or a metric generated as part of an error correction decoding scheme. As will be appreciated, an ACK indicates that a PDSCH was decoded successfully and a NACK indicates a failure to decode a PDSCH. Using the measurement resource communicated by the gNB, the UE generates a metric indicative of cross-link interference (CLI) present with the received downlink data. The metric may be generated from the measurement resource for measuring the CLI for the downlink channel which is a target of the measurement.

S6: The UE then determines, based on the condition received in S2, whether conditions have been met for triggering a measurement report, based on one or more of the metric indicative of the cross-link interference and metric indicative of the integrity of the received downlink data.

S7: If the conditions for triggering a reporting event occur, the UE transmits a CLI report including one or both of the integrity of the received downlink data and the measure of the CLI. The report may be transmitted via an associated uplink channel such as a PUCCH. The UE may also transmit at this time the ACK or NACK for each transport block to the gNB forming part of the same report or may transmit the ACKs or NACKs without the CLI report if no report is triggered in step S6.

S8: The gNB then assesses the received report to determine whether it should perform actions either to reduce the CLI or to improve the integrity of the downlink data when received or both and may transmit control information as part of this action. An example which aims to improve the integrity of the downlink data is to perform a link adaptation for the downlink channel by adjusting modulation and coding values (MCS). Examples which aim to mitigate the CLI include controlling transmissions of an aggressor UE and/or using a different DL beam or frequency/time resources.

S9: In one example, in which the gNB transmit control information to increase the integrity of the downlink data, the gNB transmits a new MCS value via a downlink control information message (DCI) as part of a link adaptation technique.

The following numbered paragraphs provide further example aspects and features of the present technique:

Paragraph 1. A method of operating a communications device with a wireless communications network, the method comprising receiving downlink data transmitted via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network, the downlink data being transmitted in a downlink channel forming part of the wireless access interface, generating a metric indicative of an integrity of the downlink data received via the downlink channel, which is a target channel generating a metric indicative of cross-link interference, CLI, present with the downlink data received via the downlink channel, the metric being generated from measurement resource for measuring the CLI, and determining whether to trigger a reporting event to report the one or more of the metric indicative of the cross-link interference and metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data, based on one or more of the metric indicative of the CLI and the metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data.

Paragraph 2. A method of paragraph 1 , comprising based upon the determined trigger of a reporting event, transmitting a report of the one or more of the metric indicative of the CLI and the metric indicative of the integrity of the received downlink data in an uplink channel.

Paragraph 3. A method of paragraph 1 or 2, wherein the uplink channel is associated with the generated measurement of the cross-linking interference.

Paragraph 4. A method of paragraph 1 , 2 or 3, wherein the downlink data is transmitted as one or more transport blocks in accordance with a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request, HARQ, scheme in which, for each transport block an acknowledgement, ACK, or negative acknowledgement, NACK, is generated for reporting to the wireless communications network if a transport block carrying the downlink data is determined to have been received correctly, generating an ACK, or not received correctly, generating a NACK, and the metric indicative of the integrity of the received downlink data is determined from the number of ACKs or NACKs generated for the received downlink data.

Paragraph 5. A method of any of paragraphs 1 to 3 wherein the downlink data has been encoded using an error correction code and the metric indicative of the integrity of the received downlink data is determined from a parameter derived while decoding the error correction code.

Paragraph 6. A method of any of paragraphs 1 to 5, wherein the triggering of a reporting event comprises determining whether to trigger a reporting event based upon a combination of the determined metric indicative of the cross-link interference and the determined metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data.

Paragraph 7. A method of any of paragraphs 1 to 6, comprising generating a report for the reporting event, the report being indicative of the determined metric indicative of the cross-link interference and the determined metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data.

Paragraph 8. A method of paragraph 7, wherein the generating the reporting event comprises generating a value representing one of a plurality of levels representing a combination of the determined metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data and the determined metric indicative of the cross-link interference.

Paragraph 9. A method of paragraph 8, wherein the generating the reporting event comprises generating the value of the report to indicate one of a NACK with heavy cross-link interference, a NACK with light cross-link interference, an ACK with light cross-link interference or an ACK based on heavy cross-link interference.

Paragraph 10. A method of any of paragraphs 1 to 9, wherein the target downlink channel is a Physical Downlink Shared Channel, PDSCH. Paragraph 11. A method of any of paragraphs 1 to 9, wherein the target downlink channel is one or more PDSCH channels and the metric indicative of the cross-link interference is generated from reference symbols transmitted in association with the one or PDSCH.

Paragraph 12. A method of any of paragraphs 4 to 11 , wherein the determining whether to trigger a reporting event to report the one or more of the metric indicative of the cross-link interference and metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data, comprises determining a number of NACKs generated from a plurality of transport blocks of the downlink data within a predetermined period, and triggering a reporting event if the number of NACKs exceeds a predetermined number Nretx.

Paragraph 13. A method of any of paragraphs 4 to 11 , wherein the determining whether to trigger a reporting event to report the one or more of the metric indicative of the cross-link interference and metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data, comprises determining a first level of the CLI during a first period, and determining that a plurality of ACKs are subsequently generated from a plurality of transport blocks of the downlink data during a second period of a second level of CLI, after the first period, and triggering a reporting event if the first level of the CLI is greater than the second level of the CLI.

Paragraph 14. A method of any of paragraphs 4 to 11 , wherein the determining whether to trigger a reporting event to report the one or more of the metric indicative of the cross-link interference and metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data, comprises determining that a plurality of NACKs have been generated from a plurality of transport blocks of the downlink data during a first period, and determining that a plurality of ACKs have been generated from a plurality of transport blocks of the downlink data during a second period, and triggering a reporting event if the CLI during the second period is lower than the CLI during the first period.

Paragraph 15. A method of any of paragraphs 1 to 14, wherein the target downlink channel is a Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH.

Paragraph 16. A method of paragraph 15, wherein the determining whether to trigger a reporting event comprises determining an Aggregation Level, AL, of the PDCCH, and based upon the AL, triggering a reporting event.

Paragraph 17. A method of paragraph 16, wherein the triggering a reporting event comprises comparing the AL with a predetermined threshold, and triggering a reporting event if the AL is above the predetermined threshold.

Paragraph 18. A method of paragraph 16, wherein the triggering a reporting event comprises comparing the AL with a predetermined threshold, and triggering a reporting event if the AL is below the predetermined threshold.

Paragraph 19. A method of paragraph 15, wherein the determining whether to trigger a reporting event comprises triggering a reporting event depending upon a radio network temporary identifier used by the PDCCH.

Paragraph 20. A method of any of paragraphs 1 to 19, comprising receiving a configuration of the measurement resource from the wireless communications network comprising cross-link interference, CLI, measurement resources from which the metric indicative of cross-link interference is generated, and the generating the metric indicative of cross-link interference, CLI, present with the downlink data comprises generating the metric indicative of cross-link interference present with the downlink data from one or more of the CLI measurement resources.

Paragraph 21. A method of paragraph 20, wherein the CLI measurement resources comprise a set of one or more Channel State Information Reference Symbols, CSI-RS, or a set of one or more Reference Symbols, RS.

Paragraph 22. A method of paragraph 21 , wherein the receiving the configuration of the measurement resource from the wireless communications network comprises receiving a configuration indicating which of the set of CSI-RS or RS should be used to generate the metric indicative of the cross-link interference.

Paragraph 23. A method of paragraph 21 or 22, wherein one or more of the CSI-RS are Zero- Powered Channel State Information Reference Symbols.

Paragraph 24. A method of paragraph 21 or 22, wherein one or more of the CSI-RS are Non- Zero-Powered Channel State Information Reference Symbols.

Paragraph 25. A method of paragraph 21 or 22, wherein the one or more CSI-RS are Channel State Information Reference Symbols within a predefined time window of the target downlink channel.

Paragraph 26. A method of paragraph 25, wherein the one or more CSI-RS are Channel State Information Reference Symbols within the same time slot of the wireless access interface as the target downlink channel.

Paragraph 27. A method of paragraph 25, wherein the CSI-RS are Channel State Information Reference Symbols, which overlap in time with the target downlink channel forming part of the same Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed, OFDM, symbol of the wireless access interface.

Paragraph 28. A method of paragraph 20, wherein the CLI measurement resources comprise demodulation reference symbols of the target downlink channel.

Paragraph 29. A method of paragraph 21 or 22, wherein the CSI-RS are within a predefined frequency of the target downlink channel.

Paragraph 30. A method of paragraph 20, wherein the CLI measurement resources comprise Synchronization Reference Symbols, SRS, transmitted by an aggressor communications device, which is generating the cross-link interference.

Paragraph 31 . A method of any of paragraphs 1 to 30, comprising receiving conditions for triggering a reporting event, and the determining whether to trigger the reporting event comprises determining whether the received conditions have been satisfied to trigger a reporting event.

Paragraph 32. A method of operating an infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communications network, the method comprising transmitting a configuration of a cross-link interference, CLI, measurement resource from which a metric indicative of cross-link interference can be generated by a receiving communications device, transmitting downlink data via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network to the receiving communications device in a serving cell formed by the infrastructure equipment, the downlink data being transmitted in a target downlink channel forming part of the wireless access interface, which may be subject to the CLI, receiving a report including one or both of a metric indicative of an integrity of the downlink data received by the communications device via the target downlink channel and a metric indicative of CLI determined by the receiving communications device, and transmitting control information via the wireless communications network, which control information is for one or both of reducing the CLI when receiving downlink data and increasing the integrity of the downlink data when received by the communications device. Paragraph 33. A method of paragraph 32, wherein the transmitting the control information comprises transmitting, in response to the received report, downlink control information, which informs the receiving communications device that a modulation or coding of the downlink data is adapted in response to one or both of a metric indicative of an integrity of the downlink data received by the communications device via the target downlink channel and a metric indicative of cross-link interference, CLI, determined by the receiving communications in the received measurement report.

Paragraph 34. A method of paragraph 32 or 33, wherein the transmitting the control information comprises transmitting control information to an aggressor communications device to adapt uplink transmissions by the aggressor communications device to reduce the CLI, or transmitting control information to the receiving communications device to use a different receiving beam or frequency, or transmitting control information to another infrastructure equipment forming part of the wireless communications network to reduce the CLI.

Paragraph 35. A method of paragraph 32 or 34, comprising transmitting, to the receiving communications device, conditions for triggering a reporting event, the reporting event reporting one or both of an integrity of downlink data received by the communications device and a metric indicative of cross-link interference, CLI.

Paragraph 36. A method of any of paragraphs 32 to 35, wherein the transmitting the downlink data comprises transmitting as one or more transport blocks in accordance with a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request, HARQ, scheme in which, for each transport block an acknowledgement, ACK, or negative acknowledgement, NACK, is generated, and the method comprises receiving the ACK or NACK for each transport block, wherein the metric indicative of the integrity of the received downlink data is determined from the number of ACKs or NACKs generated for the received downlink data.

Paragraph 37. A method of any of paragraphs 32 to 35, wherein the transmitting the downlink data comprises encoding the downlink data using an error correction code and the metric indicative of the integrity of the received downlink data, included with the received report includes a parameter derived by the communications device when decoding the downlink data. Paragraph 38. A method of any of paragraphs 32 to 37, wherein the report includes the determined metric indicative of the cross-link interference and the determined metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data.

Paragraph 39. A method of paragraph 38, wherein the report includes a value representing one of a plurality of levels representing a combination of the determined metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data and the determined metric indicative of the cross-link interference. Paragraph 40. A method of paragraph 39, wherein the report includes a value representing one of a NACK with heavy cross-link interference, a NACK with light cross-link interference, an ACK with light cross-link interference or an ACK based on heavy cross-link interference.

Paragraph 41 . A method of any of paragraphs 32 to 40, wherein the target downlink channel is a Physical Downlink Shared Channel, PDSCH.

Paragraph 42. A method of any of paragraphs 32 to 40, wherein the target downlink channel is one or more PDSCH channels and the metric indicative of the cross-link interference is generated from reference symbols transmitted in association with the one or more PDSCH channels.

Paragraph 43. A method of any of paragraphs 32 to 40, wherein the target downlink channel is a Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH.

Paragraph 44. A method of any of paragraphs 32 to 43, wherein the CLI measurement resources comprise a set of one or more Channel State Information Reference Symbols, CSI- RS, or a set of one or more Reference Symbols, RS.

Paragraph 45. A method of paragraph 44, wherein one or more of the CSI-RS are Zero- Powered Channel State Information Reference Symbols.

Paragraph 46. A method of paragraph 44 or 45, wherein one or more of the CSI-RS are Non- Zero-Powered Channel State Information Reference Symbols.

Paragraph 47. A method of paragraph 43, 44 or 45, wherein the one or more CSI-RS are Channel State Information Reference Symbols within a predefined time window of the target downlink channel.

Paragraph 48. A method of paragraph 47, wherein the one or more CSI-RS are Channel State Information Reference Symbols within the same time slot of the wireless access interface as the target downlink channel.

Paragraph 49. A method of paragraph 47, wherein the CSI-RS are Channel State Information Reference Symbols, which overlap in time with the target downlink channel forming part of the same Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed, OFDM, symbol of the wireless access interface.

Paragraph 50. A method of any of paragraphs 32 to 43, wherein the CLI measurement resources comprise demodulation reference symbols of the target downlink channel.

Paragraph 51. A method of any of paragraphs 44 to 50, wherein the CSI-RS are within a predefined frequency of the target downlink channel.

Paragraph 52. A method of any of paragraphs 32 to 43, wherein the CLI measurement resources comprise Synchronization Reference Symbols, SRS, transmitted by an aggressor communications device, which is generating the cross-link interference.

Paragraph 53. A communications device operating with a wireless communications network, the communications device comprising transceiver circuitry configured to transmit data via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network and to receive data transmitted via the wireless access interface, and controller circuitry configured to control the transceiver circuitry to receive downlink data transmitted via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network, the downlink data being transmitted in a downlink channel forming part of the wireless access interface, and the controller circuitry is configured to generate a metric indicative of an integrity of the downlink data received via the downlink channel, which is a target channel, to generate a metric indicative of cross-link interference, CLI, present with the downlink data received via the downlink channel, the metric being generated from measurement resource for measuring the CLI, and to determine whether to trigger a reporting event to report the one or more of the metric indicative of the cross-link interference and metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data, based on one or more of the metric indicative of the CLI and the metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data.

Paragraph 54. An infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communications network, the infrastructure equipment comprising transceiver circuitry configured to transmit data via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network to one or more communications devices and to receive data transmitted via the wireless access interface from the one or more communications devices, and controller circuitry configured to control the transceiver circuitry, wherein the controller circuitry is configured with the transceiver circuitry to transmit, to a communications device, a configuration of a cross-link interference, CLI, measurement resource from which a metric indicative of cross-link interference can be generated by the communications device when receiving downlink data, to transmit, to the receiving communications device, conditions for triggering a reporting event, the reporting event reporting one or both of an integrity of downlink data received by the communications device and a metric indicative of cross-link interference, CLI, to transmit downlink data via the wireless access interface to the receiving communications device in a serving cell formed by the infrastructure equipment, the downlink data being transmitted in a target downlink channel forming part of the wireless access interface, which may be subject to the CLI, to receive a report including one or both of a metric indicative of an integrity of the downlink data received by the receiving communications device via the target downlink channel and a metric indicative of CLI, determined by the receiving communications device and to transmit control information via the wireless communications network, which control information is for one or both of reducing the CLI when receiving downlink data and increasing the integrity of the downlink data when received by the communications device.

Paragraph 55. An infrastructure equipment of paragraph 54, wherein the controller circuitry is configured to control the transceiver circuitry to transmit, in response to the received report, downlink channel information which informs the receiving communications device that a modulation or coding of the downlink data is adapted, wherein the report, which includes one or both of the metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data and the metric indicative of the CLI determined by the receiving communications device, is received following a trigger to transmit the report based on a metric indicative of the cross-link interference generated from the CLI measurement resource.

Paragraph 56. An infrastructure equipment of paragraph 54 or 55, wherein the controller circuitry is configured to control the transceiver circuitry to transmit control information either to an aggressor communications device to adapt uplink transmissions by the aggressor communications device to reduce the CLI, or to transmit control information to the receiving communications device to use a different receiving beam or frequency, or to transmit control information to another infrastructure equipment forming part of the wireless communications network to reduce the CLI. Paragraph 57. An infrastructure equipment of paragraph 54 or 55, wherein the controller circuitry is configured to control the transceiver circuitry to transmit, to the receiving communications device, conditions for triggering a reporting event, the reporting event reporting one or both of an integrity of downlink data received by the communications device and a metric indicative of cross-link interference, CLI.

It will be appreciated that the above description for clarity has described embodiments with reference to different functional units, circuitry and/or processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, circuitry and/or processors may be used without detracting from the embodiments.

Described embodiments may be implemented in any suitable form including hardware, software, firmware or any combination of these. Described embodiments may optionally be implemented at least partly as computer software running on one or more data processors and/or digital signal processors. The elements and components of any embodiment may be physically, functionally and logically implemented in any suitable way. Indeed, the functionality may be implemented in a single unit, in a plurality of units or as part of other functional units. As such, the disclosed embodiments may be implemented in a single unit or may be physically and functionally distributed between different units, circuitry and/or processors.

Although the present disclosure has been described in connection with some embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. Additionally, although a feature may appear to be described in connection with particular embodiments, one skilled in the art would recognise that various features of the described embodiments may be combined in any manner suitable to implement the technique.

REFERENCES

[1] Holma H. and ToskalaA, “LTE for UMTS OFDMA and SC-FDMA based radio access”, John Wiley and Sons, 2009.

[2] TR 38.913, “Study on Scenarios and Requirements for Next Generation Access Technologies (Release 14)”, 3rd Generation Partnership Project, v14.3.0, August 2017.

[3] RP-213591 , “New SI: Study on evolution of NR duplex operation,” CMCC, RAN#94e, December 2021.

[4] RP-220633, “Revised SID: Study on evolution of NR duplex operation,” CMCC, RAN#95e, March 2022.

[5] European Patent No. 3545716.

[6] R1 -2301978, “Summary #3 of potential enhancement on dynamic/flexible TDD,” Moderator (LG Electronics), RAN1#112.

[7] R1 -2300332, “Potential enhancements on dynamic/flexible TDD operation,” InterDigital, Inc., RAN1#112.

Claims

1. A method of operating a communications device with a wireless communications network, the method comprising receiving downlink data transmitted via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network, the downlink data being transmitted in a downlink channel forming part of the wireless access interface, generating a metric indicative of an integrity of the downlink data received via the downlink channel, which is a target channel generating a metric indicative of cross-link interference, CLI, present with the downlink data received via the downlink channel, the metric being generated from measurement resource for measuring the CLI, and determining whether to trigger a reporting event to report the one or more of the metric indicative of the cross-link interference and metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data, based on one or more of the metric indicative of the CLI and the metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data.

2. A method of claim 1 , comprising based upon the determined trigger of a reporting event, transmitting a report of the one or more of the metric indicative of the CLI and the metric indicative of the integrity of the received downlink data in an uplink channel.

3. A method of claim 1 , wherein the uplink channel is associated with the generated measurement of the cross-linking interference.

4. A method of claim 1 , wherein the downlink data is transmitted as one or more transport blocks or code blocks in accordance with a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request, HARQ, scheme in which, for each transport block an acknowledgement, ACK, or negative acknowledgement, NACK, is generated for reporting to the wireless communications network if a transport block carrying the downlink data is determined to have been received correctly, generating an ACK, or not received correctly, generating a NACK, and the metric indicative of the integrity of the received downlink data is determined from the number of ACKs or NACKs generated for the received downlink data.

5. A method of claim 1 wherein the downlink data has been encoded using an error correction code and the metric indicative of the integrity of the received downlink data is determined from a parameter derived while decoding the error correction code.

6. A method of claim 1 , wherein the triggering of a reporting event comprises determining whether to trigger a reporting event based upon a combination of the determined metric indicative of the cross-link interference and the determined metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data.

7. A method of claim 1 , comprising generating a report for the reporting event, the report being indicative of the determined metric indicative of the cross-link interference and the determined metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data.

8. A method of claim 7, wherein the generating the reporting event comprises generating a value representing one of a plurality of levels representing a combination of the determined metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data and the determined metric indicative of the cross-link interference.

9. A method of claim 8, wherein the generating the reporting event comprises generating the value of the report to indicate one of a NACK with heavy cross-link interference, a NACK with light cross-link interference, an ACK with light cross-link interference or an ACK based on heavy cross-link interference.

10. A method of claim 1 , wherein the target downlink channel is a Physical Downlink Shared Channel, PDSCH.

11. A method of claim 1 , wherein the target downlink channel is one or more PDSCH channels and the metric indicative of the cross-link interference is generated from reference symbols transmitted in association with the one or PDSCH.

12. A method of claim 4, wherein the determining whether to trigger a reporting event to report the one or more of the metric indicative of the cross-link interference and metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data, comprises determining a number of NACKs generated from a plurality of transport blocks of the downlink data within a predetermined period, and triggering a reporting event if the number of NACKs exceeds a predetermined number Nretx.

13. A method of claim 4, wherein the determining whether to trigger a reporting event to report the one or more of the metric indicative of the cross-link interference and metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data, comprises determining a first level of the CLI during a first period, and determining that a plurality of ACKs are subsequently generated from a plurality of transport blocks of the downlink data during a second period of a second level of CLI, after the first period, and triggering a reporting event if the first level of the CLI is greater than the second level of the CLI.

14. A method of claim 4, wherein the determining whether to trigger a reporting event to report the one or more of the metric indicative of the cross-link interference and metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data, comprises determining that a plurality of NACKs have been generated from a plurality of transport blocks of the downlink data during a first period, and determining that a plurality of ACKs have been generated from a plurality of transport blocks of the downlink data during a second period, and triggering a reporting event if the CLI during the second period is lower than the CLI during the first period.

15. A method of claim 1 , wherein the target downlink channel is a Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH.

16. A method of claim 15, wherein the determining whether to trigger a reporting event comprises determining an Aggregation Level, AL, of the PDCCH, and based upon the AL, triggering a reporting event.

17. A method of claim 16, wherein the triggering a reporting event comprises comparing the AL with a predetermined threshold, and triggering a reporting event if the AL is above the predetermined threshold.

18. A method of claim 16, wherein the triggering a reporting event comprises comparing the AL with a predetermined threshold, and triggering a reporting event if the AL is below the predetermined threshold.

19. A method of claim 15, wherein the determining whether to trigger a reporting event comprises triggering a reporting event depending upon a radio network temporary identifier used by the PDCCH.

20. A method of claim 1 , comprising receiving a configuration of the measurement resource from the wireless communications network comprising cross-link interference, CLI, measurement resources from which the metric indicative of cross-link interference is generated, and the generating the metric indicative of cross-link interference, CLI, present with the downlink data comprises generating the metric indicative of cross-link interference present with the downlink data from one or more of the CLI measurement resources.

21 . A method of claim 20, wherein the CLI measurement resources comprise a set of one or more Channel State Information Reference Symbols, CSI-RS, or a set of one or more Reference Symbols, RS.

22. A method of claim 21 , wherein the receiving the configuration of the measurement resource from the wireless communications network comprises receiving a configuration indicating which of the set of CSI-RS or RS should be used to generate the metric indicative of the cross-link interference.

23. A method of claim 21 , wherein one or more of the CSI-RS are Zero-Powered Channel State Information Reference Symbols.

24. A method of claim 21 , wherein one or more of the CSI-RS are N on-Zero- Powered Channel State Information Reference Symbols.

25. A method of claim 21 , wherein the one or more CSI-RS are Channel State Information Reference Symbols within a predefined time window of the target downlink channel.

26. A method of claim 25, wherein the one or more CSI-RS are Channel State Information Reference Symbols within the same time slot of the wireless access interface as the target downlink channel.

27. A method of claim 25, wherein the CSI-RS are Channel State Information Reference Symbols, which overlap in time with the target downlink channel forming part of the same Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed, OFDM, symbol of the wireless access interface.

28. A method of claim 20, wherein the CLI measurement resources comprise demodulation reference symbols of the target downlink channel.

29. A method of claim 21 , wherein the CSI-RS are within a predefined frequency of the target downlink channel.

30. A method of claim 20, wherein the CLI measurement resources comprise Synchronization Reference Symbols, SRS, transmitted by an aggressor communications device, which is generating the cross-link interference.

31. A method of claim 1 , comprising receiving conditions for triggering a reporting event, and the determining whether to trigger the reporting event comprises determining whether the received conditions have been satisfied to trigger a reporting event.

32. A method of operating an infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communications network, the method comprising transmitting a configuration of a cross-link interference, CLI, measurement resource from which a metric indicative of cross-link interference can be generated by a receiving communications device, transmitting downlink data via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network to the receiving communications device in a serving cell formed by the infrastructure equipment, the downlink data being transmitted in a target downlink channel forming part of the wireless access interface, which may be subject to the CLI, receiving a report including one or both of a metric indicative of an integrity of the downlink data received by the communications device via the target downlink channel and a metric indicative of CLI determined by the receiving communications device, and transmitting control information via the wireless communications network, which control information is for one or both of reducing the CLI when receiving downlink data and increasing the integrity of the downlink data when received by the communications device.

33. A method of claim 32, wherein the transmitting the control information comprises transmitting, in response to the received report, downlink control information, which informs the receiving communications device that a modulation or coding of the downlink data is adapted in response to one or both of a metric indicative of an integrity of the downlink data received by the communications device via the target downlink channel and a metric indicative of cross-link interference, CLI, determined by the receiving communications in the received measurement report.

34. A method of claim 32, wherein the transmitting the control information comprises transmitting control information to an aggressor communications device to adapt uplink transmissions by the aggressor communications device to reduce the CLI, or transmitting control information to the receiving communications device to use a different receiving beam or frequency, or transmitting control information to another infrastructure equipment forming part of the wireless communications network to reduce the CLI.

35. A method of claim 32, comprising transmitting, to the receiving communications device, conditions for triggering a reporting event, the reporting event reporting one or both of an integrity of downlink data received by the communications device and a metric indicative of cross-link interference, CLI.

36. A method of claim 32, wherein the transmitting the downlink data comprises transmitting as one or more transport blocks in accordance with a Hybrid Automatic

Repeat Request, HARQ, scheme in which, for each transport block an acknowledgement, ACK, or negative acknowledgement, NACK, is generated, and the method comprises receiving the ACK or NACK for each transport block, wherein the metric indicative of the integrity of the received downlink data is determined from the number of ACKs or NACKs generated for the received downlink data.

37. A method of claim 32, wherein the transmitting the downlink data comprises encoding the downlink data using an error correction code and the metric indicative of the integrity of the received downlink data, included with the received report includes a parameter derived by the communications device when decoding the downlink data.

38. A method of claim 32, wherein the report includes the determined metric indicative of the cross-link interference and the determined metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data.

39. A method of claim 38, wherein the report includes a value representing one of a plurality of levels representing a combination of the determined metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data and the determined metric indicative of the cross-link interference.

40. A method of claim 39, wherein the report includes a value representing one of a NACK with heavy cross-link interference, a NACK with light cross-link interference, an ACK with light cross-link interference or an ACK based on heavy cross-link interference.

41. A method of claim 32, wherein the target downlink channel is a Physical Downlink Shared Channel, PDSCH.

42. A method of claim 32, wherein the target downlink channel is one or more PDSCH channels and the metric indicative of the cross-link interference is generated from reference symbols transmitted in association with the one or more PDSCH channels.

43. A method of claim 32, wherein the target downlink channel is a Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH.

44. A method of claim 32, wherein the CLI measurement resources comprise a set of one or more Channel State Information Reference Symbols, CSI-RS, or a set of one or more Reference Symbols, RS.

45. A method of claim 44, wherein one or more of the CSI-RS are Zero-Powered Channel State Information Reference Symbols.

46. A method of claim 44, wherein one or more of the CSI-RS are N on-Zero- Powered Channel State Information Reference Symbols.

47. A method of claim 43, wherein the one or more CSI-RS are Channel State Information Reference Symbols within a predefined time window of the target downlink channel.

48. A method of claim 47, wherein the one or more CSI-RS are Channel State Information Reference Symbols within the same time slot of the wireless access interface as the target downlink channel.

49. A method of claim 47, wherein the CSI-RS are Channel State Information Reference Symbols, which overlap in time with the target downlink channel forming part of the same Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed, OFDM, symbol of the wireless access interface.

50. A method of claim 32, wherein the CLI measurement resources comprise demodulation reference symbols of the target downlink channel.

51. A method of claim 44, wherein the CSI-RS are within a predefined frequency of the target downlink channel.

52. A method of claim 32, wherein the CLI measurement resources comprise Synchronization Reference Symbols, SRS, transmitted by an aggressor communications device, which is generating the cross-link interference.

53. A communications device operating with a wireless communications network, the communications device comprising transceiver circuitry configured to transmit data via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network and to receive data transmitted via the wireless access interface, and controller circuitry configured to control the transceiver circuitry to receive downlink data transmitted via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network, the downlink data being transmitted in a downlink channel forming part of the wireless access interface, and the controller circuitry is configured to generate a metric indicative of an integrity of the downlink data received via the downlink channel, which is a target channel, to generate a metric indicative of cross-link interference, CLI, present with the downlink data received via the downlink channel, the metric being generated from measurement resource for measuring the CLI, and to determine whether to trigger a reporting event to report the one or more of the metric indicative of the cross-link interference and metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data, based on one or more of the metric indicative of the CLI and the metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data.

54. An infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communications network, the infrastructure equipment comprising transceiver circuitry configured to transmit data via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network to one or more communications devices and to receive data transmitted via the wireless access interface from the one or more communications devices, and controller circuitry configured to control the transceiver circuitry, wherein the controller circuitry is configured with the transceiver circuitry to transmit, to a communications device, a configuration of a cross-link interference, CLI, measurement resource from which a metric indicative of cross-link interference can be generated by the communications device when receiving downlink data, to transmit, to the receiving communications device, conditions for triggering a reporting event, the reporting event reporting one or both of an integrity of downlink data received by the communications device and a metric indicative of cross-link interference, CLI, to transmit downlink data via the wireless access interface to the receiving communications device in a serving cell formed by the infrastructure equipment, the downlink data being transmitted in a target downlink channel forming part of the wireless access interface, which may be subject to the CLI, to receive a report including one or both of a metric indicative of an integrity of the downlink data received by the receiving communications device via the target downlink channel and a metric indicative of CLI, determined by the receiving communications device and to transmit control information via the wireless communications network, which control information is for one or both of reducing the CLI when receiving downlink data and increasing the integrity of the downlink data when received by the communications device.

55. An infrastructure equipment of claim 54, wherein the controller circuitry is configured to control the transceiver circuitry to transmit, in response to the received report, downlink channel information which informs the receiving communications device that a modulation or coding of the downlink data is adapted, wherein the report, which includes one or both of the metric indicative of the integrity of the downlink data and the metric indicative of the CLI determined by the receiving communications device, is received following a trigger to transmit the report based on a metric indicative of the cross-link interference generated from the CLI measurement resource.

56. An infrastructure equipment of claim 54, wherein the controller circuitry is configured to control the transceiver circuitry to transmit control information either to an aggressor communications device to adapt uplink transmissions by the aggressor communications device to reduce the CLI, or to transmit control information to the receiving communications device to use a different receiving beam or frequency, or to transmit control information to another infrastructure equipment forming part of the wireless communications network to reduce the CLI.

57. An infrastructure equipment of claim 54, wherein the controller circuitry is configured to control the transceiver circuitry to transmit, to the receiving communications device, conditions for triggering a reporting event, the reporting event reporting one or both of an integrity of downlink data received by the communications device and a metric indicative of cross-link interference, CLI.