JP7701012B2 - Terminal and wireless communication system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a terminal, a base station, and a wireless communication system.

In 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), in order to realize a larger system capacity, a higher data transmission speed, and a lower latency in the wireless section, a wireless communication method called 5G or NR (New Radio) (hereinafter, this wireless communication method is referred to as "NR") is being studied. In 5G, various wireless technologies and network architectures are being studied to meet the requirement of achieving a throughput of 10 Gbps or more while reducing the latency in the wireless section to 1 ms or less (for example, Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2).

In NR, as in LTE and other systems, terminals periodically monitor scheduling information from base stations, etc. in order to send and receive information (data) (e.g., non-patent document 1).

3GPP TS 38.214 V16.4.0 (2020-12) 3GPP TS 38.331 V16.3.1 (2021-01)

With conventional NR, monitoring continues even in cases where no data is being sent or received, which can increase the device's power consumption and shorten battery life.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and aims to provide a technique for reducing the frequency of monitoring that a terminal performs to receive signals from a base station.

According to the disclosed technology, a receiving unit that monitors a signal transmitted from a base station;
A terminal including: a transmitter that transmits wake-up information received from a base station to one or more other terminals constituting a group, in order to cause the other terminals to monitor a PDCCH transmitted from the base station;
The wake-up information is an instruction signal to start monitoring a signal from the base station, and the other terminal monitors a PDCCH transmitted from the base station based on the wake-up information received from the terminal using an RFID .

The disclosed technology makes it possible to reduce the frequency of monitoring that a terminal performs to receive signals from a base station.

1 is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an overview of the present embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of Example 1-1. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of Example 1-2. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of Example 1-3. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of Example 3-2. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of Example 3-2. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of Example 3-2. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of Example 4-1. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the fifth embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a base station 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a terminal 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a base station 10 or a terminal 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiment described below is an example, and the embodiment to which the present invention is applicable is not limited to the following embodiment.

The wireless communication system in the embodiment of the present invention is assumed to be an NR system, but the technology related to the present invention is not limited to NR and can be applied to other systems as well.

(System Configuration)
Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the wireless communication system according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a base station 10 and a terminal 20. Although Fig. 1 shows one base station 10 and one terminal 20, this is an example, and there may be a plurality of each.

The base station 10 is a communication device that provides one or more cells and performs wireless communication with the terminal 20. The physical resources of the wireless signal are defined in the time domain and the frequency domain, and the time domain may be defined by the number of OFDM symbols, and the frequency domain may be defined by the number of subcarriers or the number of resource blocks. In addition, the TTI (Transmission Time Interval) in the time domain may be a slot, or the TTI may be a subframe.

The base station 10 is capable of performing carrier aggregation, which bundles multiple cells (multiple CCs (component carriers)) together to communicate with the terminal 20. In carrier aggregation, one PCell (primary cell) and one or more SCells (secondary cells) are used.

The base station 10 transmits a synchronization signal, system information, etc. to the terminal 20. The synchronization signal is, for example, NR-PSS and NR-SSS. The system information is, for example, transmitted on NR-PBCH or PDSCH, and is also called broadcast information. As shown in FIG. 1, the base station 10 transmits a control signal or data to the terminal 20 on DL (downlink) and receives a control signal or data from the terminal 20 on UL (uplink). Note that, here, those transmitted on control channels such as PUCCH and PDCCH are called control signals, and those transmitted on shared channels such as PUSCH and PDSCH are called data, but these names are merely examples.

The terminal 20 is a communication device equipped with a wireless communication function, such as a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet, a wearable terminal, or a communication module for M2M (Machine-to-Machine). The terminal 20 may also be equipped with a passive receiver such as an electronic tag (e.g., an RF tag). The terminal 20 may also be equipped with an active electronic tag that has a built-in power source and can also transmit. As shown in FIG. 1, the terminal 20 uses various communication services provided by the wireless communication system by receiving a control signal or data from the base station 10 in DL and transmitting a control signal or data to the base station 10 in UL. The terminal 20 may be called a UE, and the base station 10 may be called a gNB. The terminal 20 may also perform terminal-to-terminal communication with other terminals 20.

The terminal 20 is capable of performing carrier aggregation, which aggregates multiple cells (multiple CCs (component carriers)) to communicate with the base station 10. In carrier aggregation, one PCell (primary cell) and one or more SCells (secondary cells) are used. A PUCCH-SCell having a PUCCH may also be used.

Figure 2 shows an example of the configuration of a wireless communication system when DC (Dual connectivity) is implemented. As shown in Figure 2, a base station 10A serving as an MN (Master Node) and a base station 10B serving as an SN (Secondary Node) are provided. Base station 10A and base station 10B are each connected to a core network. Terminal 20 can communicate with both base station 10A and base station 10B.

The cell group provided by base station 10A, which is an MN, is called MCG (Master Cell Group), and the cell group provided by base station 10B, which is an SN, is called SCG (Secondary Cell Group). In addition, in DC, the MCG is composed of one PCell and one or more SCells, and the SCG is composed of one PSCell (Primary SCell) and one or more SCells.

The processing operations in this embodiment may be performed in the system configuration shown in Figure 1, in the system configuration shown in Figure 2, or in other system configurations.

(Overview of the embodiment)
As mentioned above, in conventional NR, a terminal needs to periodically monitor scheduling information from a base station in order to transmit and receive data. Therefore, even if no data transmission or reception occurs, the terminal continues to monitor, which consumes a lot of power and has a negative impact on battery life.

Therefore, it is possible to reduce power consumption by using passive receivers such as RFID to exchange simple signals in addition to the signals that actually transmit and receive data between terminals and base stations, etc.

However, since the communication distance using simple signals is expected to be shorter than the communication distance using signals for transmitting and receiving data, it is thought that communication using simple signals cannot be carried out directly between terminals and base stations, etc.

In this embodiment, in order to solve the above problem, a group is formed by one or more terminals 20 in a connected mode (e.g., RRC_connected state), and one or more terminals 20 in the group monitor signals from the base station 10 to transmit and receive information. The terminals 20 that make up the group may be called intermediate nodes.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that each terminal 20 constituting the group is in the connected mode. However, this assumption is an example, and it is also possible that a terminal 20 in the RRC_inactive state or the RRC_idle state may exist in the group.

In this embodiment, among the terminals 20 belonging to a group, a terminal 20 that transmits and receives information based on signal monitoring with the base station 10 is called a "representative terminal." A "representative terminal" may also be called a "representative UE." There may be multiple representative terminals in one group. Also, one representative terminal may belong to multiple groups.

Figure 3 shows an example of a group in this embodiment. In the example of Figure 3, terminals 20A to 20C form one group. In the example of Figure 3, terminal 20A is the representative terminal. In the following explanation, to indicate that a certain terminal is the representative terminal, it may be written as "terminal 20A (representative)".

As shown in FIG. 3, terminal 20A (representative) receives scheduling information or wake-up information within the group from base station 10. Hereinafter, scheduling information or wake-up information will be referred to as scheduling information/wake-up information. Note that receiving "scheduling information or wake-up information" includes receiving both scheduling information and wake-up information.

Here, the wake-up information may be, for example, information instructing a terminal 20 in a power saving state (e.g., sleep state) to start monitoring signals from the base station, or information instructing a terminal 20 that is not monitoring signals from the base station to start monitoring signals from the base station.

Scheduling information is information that notifies resources for transmitting or receiving data. Note that the information that the representative terminal receives from the base station 10 is not limited to scheduling information and wake-up information, and other information may be received.

Also, as shown in FIG. 3, the scheduling information/wake-up information received by terminal 20A (representative) is transmitted to other terminals 20. Information may be transmitted and received between terminals 20 constituting a group.

The communication method between the terminals 20 constituting the group is not limited to a specific communication method, but for example, a short-distance wireless method using an electronic tag (passive type small radio or active type small radio) can be used. The communication method between the terminals 20 constituting the group may be side link communication, Bluetooth (registered trademark), ZigBee (registered trademark), wireless LAN, etc. The signal transmitted and received between the terminals 20 constituting the group may be called a beacon.

With the method shown in Figure 3, terminals in the group other than the representative terminal can determine whether there is information addressed to them from base station 10 (or whether they should monitor signals from base station 10) based on information from the representative terminal, so the frequency of monitoring signals from base station 10 decreases, and as a result, power consumption caused by monitoring signals decreases. This makes it possible to reduce power consumption. Also, by appropriately switching the representative terminal, it is possible to reduce power consumption for all terminals.

Below, examples 1 to 5 are described as more detailed examples of this embodiment. Any or all of examples 1 to 5 may be implemented in combination.

Example 1
In the first embodiment, a method for forming a group consisting of multiple terminals 20 will be described. The formation method described below may be considered as a method for updating a group when the group has already been formed. Note that when updating a group after it has been formed, the formation method and the update method may be different. Below, embodiments 1-1 to 1-3 will be described.

<Example 1-1>
In Example 1-1, the base station 10 determines a group and one or more terminals 20 belonging to the group, and notifies each terminal 20 in the group of group information. The group information includes, for example, a group ID for identifying the group. The group information may include, in addition to the group ID for identifying the group, the IDs of all terminals belonging to the group and the ID of the representative terminal. Furthermore, the group information for the representative terminal may include information instructing the representative terminal to become the "representative".

An example of operation will be described with reference to Figure 4. Figure 4 shows a case where terminals 20A to 20C form one group. In the example of Figure 4, in S101, base station 10 notifies terminal 20A of group information, in S102, base station 10 notifies terminal 20B of group information, and in S103, base station 10 notifies terminal 20C of group information. For example, if terminal 20A is to become the representative, the group information notified to terminal 20A by base station 10 in S101 includes information instructing it to become the representative.

The group information may be transmitted as an individual signal from the base station 10 to each terminal 20, or as a broadcast signal or a groupcast signal.

<Example 1-2>
In Example 1-2, the base station 10 notifies the representative terminal of group information of all terminals belonging to the group, and the representative terminal notifies each terminal in the group of the group information. The group information that the representative terminal receives from the base station 10 includes, for example, a group ID for identifying the group, the IDs of all terminals belonging to the group, and the ID of the representative terminal.

An example of operation will be described with reference to Figure 5. In S511, terminal 20A (representative) receives group information from base station 10. Terminal 20A (representative) transmits the group information received from base station 10 to terminals 20B and 20C.

As described above, in Examples 1-1 and 1-2, each terminal 20 belonging to a group can know that it belongs to a certain group and which are the representative terminal and other terminals belonging to the group by receiving group information. Note that terminals other than the representative terminal do not need to know which are the other terminals belonging to the group.

<Example 1-3>
In the first to third embodiments, the terminals 20 autonomously form groups. For example, the terminals 20 that can receive signals with power equal to or greater than a certain threshold may form one group. In addition, each terminal 20 may acquire location information of each of the other terminals 20, and a plurality of terminals 20 included in an area of a certain size (for example, a circle with a radius of Xm) may form one group.

Each terminal 20 that has become part of a group may notify the base station 10 of group information. This group information includes, for example, the ID of the terminal 20 itself that transmits the group information and the ID of the group to which the terminal 20 belongs.

6, after the group is autonomously formed in S121, the representative terminal may transmit group information to the base station 10. This group information includes, for example, a group ID and the IDs of all terminals 20 belonging to the group.

Note that none of the terminals 20 belonging to an autonomously formed group may notify the base station 10 of group information. In this case, the base station 10 does not know the group information and transmits information to each terminal 20 without being aware of the group. If a representative terminal belonging to a group holds group information (e.g., the IDs of all terminals belonging to its group), the representative terminal can identify whether the information it receives from the base station 10 is intended for its own group by the ID (e.g., RNTI, UE-ID) included in the information.

Example 2
In the second embodiment, a representative terminal of a certain group receives scheduling information/wake-up information for terminals in the group from a base station 10, and transmits the scheduling information/wake-up information to one or more terminals 20 in the group based on the information.

The scheduling information transmitted from the base station 10 may include information indicating which terminal 20 it is addressed to (e.g., C-RNTI, UE ID linked to Sidelink).

In addition, the wake-up information may be terminal-specific wake-up information for each terminal, or may be group-specific wake-up information. In the case of terminal-specific wake-up information, information indicating which terminal 20 the information is addressed to (e.g., C-RNTI, PS-RNTI (Power Saving RNTI), UE ID linked to Sidelink) may be included in the wake-up information.

An example of operation when the scheduling information/wake up information includes information indicating the destination as described above will be described with reference to Figure 7. In this example, the destination is terminal 20B.

In S201, terminal 20A (representative) receives scheduling information/wake-up information from base station 10. Terminal 20A (representative) transmits (transfers) the scheduling information/wake-up information received from base station 10, for example, by a communication method (e.g., short-distance wireless method) for terminals belonging to the group.

Each terminal 20 belonging to the group monitors to receive information from terminal 20A (representative). Here, terminal 20B detects that the destination information included in the scheduling information/wake-up information sent from terminal 20A (representative) is addressed to itself, and receives the scheduling information/wake-up information (S202).

Then, for example, terminal 20B receives data from base station 10 using resources specified in the scheduling information. Also, for example, terminal 20B starts monitoring a signal (e.g., PDCCH) transmitted from base station 10 based on the wake-up information.

<Regarding RNTI for monitoring>
In this embodiment, the representative terminal receives scheduling information/wake-up information for the terminals 20 in the group by monitoring the PDCCH transmitted from the base station 10. The representative terminal can use, for example, any one or more of the following options 1 to 4 as the RNTI for monitoring the PDCCH for receiving the scheduling information/wake-up information.

Option 1: C-RNTI assigned to the representative terminal
Option 2: Group-allocated RNTI
Option 3: One or more C-RNTIs assigned to terminals 20 belonging to a group
Option 4: Other RNTI (e.g., RNTI based on UE ID associated with Sidelink)
For example, when any of the above options 1, 2, and 4 is used, the scheduling information/wake-up information received by the representative terminal may include information indicating which terminal 20 the information is intended for (e.g., UE ID, C-RNTI, UE ID linked to Sidelink). In other words, the base station 10 may include information indicating which terminal 20 in a group the information is intended for (e.g., UE ID, C-RNTI, UE ID linked to Sidelink) in the scheduling information/wake-up information transmitted to a representative terminal of a certain group.

For example, when using option 1, in the example of Figure 7, terminal 20A (representative) receives scheduling information/wake-up information in S201 by monitoring the C-RNTI assigned to it, and transmits the received scheduling information/wake-up information to terminal 20, so that the destination terminal 20 can receive the scheduling information/wake-up information.

In addition, when using any of the above options 1, 2, or 4, if the representative terminal detects that the scheduling information/wake-up information received from the base station 10 does not include information about which terminal 20 in the group the information is intended for, it may transmit the scheduling information to the entire group or wake up the entire group.

From the perspective of base station 10, when base station 10 wants to control the entire group via the representative terminal, it sends scheduling information/wake-up information that does not specify a specific terminal 20 in the group to the representative terminal.

<Regarding information transmission from representative terminal to in-group terminal 20>
When the representative terminal transmits scheduling information/wake-up information to the terminals 20 in the group, the following option 1 or option 2 can be used.

Option 1: Information is transmitted or forwarded only to the terminal 20 that corresponds to the scheduling information/wake-up information. As described above, this may mean that the scheduling information/wake-up information received from the base station 10 contains the ID of the destination terminal 20 (the ID used by the destination terminal 20 for monitoring), and the scheduling information/wake-up information containing this ID is transmitted (forwarded), or the representative terminal may transmit the scheduling information/wake-up information with the destination ID attached.

Option 2: Send or forward scheduling information/wake-up information to the entire group. This may involve sending (forwarding) scheduling information/wake-up information that does not include the ID of any of the terminals 20 (IDs used for monitoring by the destination terminal 20) in the scheduling information/wake-up information received from the base station 10, or the representative terminal may send the scheduling information/wake-up information with an ID indicating that it is addressed to all terminals (or the group).

<Communication between intra-group terminals 20>
As mentioned above, communication between terminals 20 (including the representative terminal) in a group may be carried out by a simple wireless system (different from the wireless system between the base station 10 and the representative terminal), such as a passive RFID receiver.

For example, a simple signal such as a beacon may be transmitted from the representative terminal to terminals 20 in the group to convey wake-up information.

In addition, communication may be performed between terminals 20 in a group other than the representative terminal by using a simple signal such as a beacon. For example, information addressed to terminal 20C received by the representative terminal from base station 10 may be transferred by a simple signal along the route representative terminal -> terminal 20B -> terminal 20C.

<Regarding information monitoring of terminals 20 other than the representative terminal>
The terminals 20 other than the representative terminal in the group may monitor only the signal from the representative terminal without monitoring information (e.g., PDCCH) related to the scheduling information/wake-up information from the base station 10. Then, based on the signal from the monitored representative terminal (i.e., the scheduling information/wake-up information), the terminals 20 may determine whether to wake up (or not) or to receive data from the base station 10 (or not).

An example is shown in Figure 8. In the example of Figure 8, during the "monitoring A" period, terminals 20B and 20C, which are terminals other than the representative terminal, are monitoring information (or signals related to the information) from the representative terminal. As a result of this monitoring, in S212, terminal 20C receives wake-up information addressed to terminal 20C from the representative terminal.

This wake-up information becomes an instruction signal to start monitoring the signal from the base station 10, and in "monitoring B", the terminal 20C monitors the PDCCH from the base station 10. In S213, the terminal 20C receives the PDCCH addressed to itself.

Here, monitoring A can be performed using a passive receiver, etc., so even when monitoring A is performed, it is possible to reduce power consumption.

Example 3
In Example 3, switching of a representative terminal will be described. For example, within a certain group, among all the terminals 20 constituting the group, the representative terminal may be switched from one terminal 20 to another terminal 20. Examples 3-1 to 3-3 will be described as specific examples related to switching.

<Example 3-1>
In Example 3-1, the representative terminal is periodically switched among the terminals 20 in the group. The switching period may be specified in the specifications, or may be notified from the base station 10 to each terminal 20. For example, in a case where the base station 10 notifies each terminal 20 (or only the representative terminal) of group information for group formation (e.g., FIG. 4 and FIG. 5), the switching period may be included in the group information.

The switching order may be specified in the specifications, or may be notified from the base station 10 to each terminal 20. For example, when group information for forming a group is notified from the base station 10 to each terminal 20 (or only the representative terminal) (e.g., FIG. 4, FIG. 5), the switching order may be included in the group information.

For example, if it is specified or notified that the representative terminal will be switched in the order of terminal 20A -> terminal 20B -> terminal 20C at a cycle of X seconds, terminal 20A will become the representative, and X seconds later terminal 20B will become the representative, and this operation will be repeated.

<Example 3-2>
In the embodiment 3-2, the switching of the representative terminal is notified from the base station 10 or the representative terminal. Specific examples will be described below as embodiments 3-2-1 to 3-2-3.

<Example 3-2-1>
In the embodiment 3-2-1, the base station 10 notifies the switching of the representative terminal. The notification may be made at least to the representative terminals before and after the change. An example is shown in Fig. 9. Fig. 9 shows an example of switching the representative terminal from terminal 20A to terminal 20B.

In S301, the base station 10 sends a switching notification to the terminal 20A (representative) to instruct it to switch the representative to the terminal 20B. In S302, the base station 10 sends a switching notification to the terminal 20B to instruct it to become the representative.

<Example 3-2-2>
In Example 3-2-2, the representative terminal autonomously notifies the switching of the representative terminal. For example, the representative terminal itself determines the switching of the representative terminal according to the state (link quality, battery state, etc.) of the representative terminal itself or the peripheral terminals 20, and notifies the switching. For example, when the representative terminal detects that the remaining battery level of the representative terminal falls below a threshold, it switches the representative to a nearby terminal 20 belonging to the same group.

An example is shown in Figure 10. In the example of Figure 10, for example, assume that terminal 20A (representative) decides to switch the representative to terminal 20B at its own discretion. In that case, terminal 20A (representative) notifies base station 10, terminal 20B, and terminal 20C, respectively, that it will switch the representative to terminal 20B (S311, S312, S313). As a result, terminal 20B becomes the next representative. Furthermore, base station 10 and each terminal 20 can understand that terminal 20B will become the representative.

The representative terminal may also decide to switch the representative in response to reports from other terminals 20 belonging to the same group, and issue a notification as shown in FIG. 10. Reports from other terminals 20 include, for example, link quality, etc., as described in Example 3-3 below. For example, when the representative terminal receives a report from another terminal 20 that the link quality between that terminal 20 and the other terminals 20 is good, it decides to switch the representative to the other terminal 20 that sent the report.

<Example 3-2-3>
In Example 3-2-3, the base station 10 notifies the representative terminal of the switching of the representative terminal, and the representative terminal then notifies the other terminals 20 of the switching of the representative terminal. An example is shown in Fig. 11. Fig. 11 shows an example of the case where the representative terminal is switched from terminal 20A to terminal 20B.

In S321, a switching notification is sent from the base station 10 to terminal 20A (representative) to instruct it to switch the representative to terminal 20B. In S322, a switching notification is sent from terminal 20A to terminal 20B to instruct it to become the representative. In S323, a switching notification is sent from terminal 20A to terminal 20C to notify that the representative will be switched to terminal 20B.

<Example 3-3>
Next, an embodiment 3-3 will be described. The embodiment 3-3 is an embodiment related to the criteria for switching judgment, and can be implemented in combination with the embodiment of the notification method described above.

For example, the determination as to whether to switch the representative terminal is made based on the link quality between the terminal 20 and each of the other terminals 20 within the group, or the link quality between the terminal 20 and the base station 10.

The above-mentioned judgment based on the link quality between the terminals 20 may be made by each terminal 20, by a representative terminal which receives reports of link quality from each of the other terminals 20, or by a base station 10 which receives reports of link quality from each terminal 20 in the group.

In addition, the decision based on the link quality between the terminal 20 and the base station 10 may be made by the base station 10, or by a representative terminal that receives a link quality report from another terminal 20 or the base station 10.

The above link quality may be the value (power intensity, power quality, etc.) measured by the terminal 20 or the base station 10 itself, or a value based on the measured value.

In addition, a link quality threshold for switching decisions may be specified in the specifications or may be notified from the base station 10 to each terminal 20.

As an example, when the base station 10 determines whether to switch based on the link quality between the terminal 20 and the base station 10, the base station 10 selects one or more switching candidates from among the terminals 20 whose link quality between the base station 10 and itself is equal to or higher than a threshold, and determines the switching destination from among the switching candidates. For example, when there are multiple switching candidates, the representative may be switched periodically as described above.

Example 4
Next, a fourth embodiment will be described. The fourth embodiment is an embodiment of a method for determining (or switching) a representative terminal. In the fourth embodiment, a representative terminal is determined based on the capabilities of the terminal 20 (e.g., UE capability) or the terminal type.

For example, a terminal 20 with high capabilities or a terminal 20 with a battery that has room to spare may be determined as the representative terminal. A terminal 20 with high capabilities is, for example, a terminal that has the ability to transmit scheduling information/wake-up information on a signal (beacon) that can be received by a passive small radio device.

In addition, the terminal type that can become the representative terminal may be specified in specifications, etc., and the representative terminal may be selected from among the terminals 20 having that terminal type.

In addition, the multiple terminals 20 that constitute a group may be determined based on the capabilities of the terminals 20 (e.g., UE capability) or the terminal type, etc. Below, examples 4-1 and 4-2 are described as more specific examples.

<Example 4-1>
In Example 4-1, the base station 10 determines a representative terminal according to capability information/terminal type of the terminal 20. An example is shown in Fig. 12. As shown in Fig. 12, first, capability information/terminal type is reported from each terminal 20 to the base station 10 in S401 to S403. Note that the terminal type may be information separate from the capability information, may be information included in the capability information, or may be information implicitly determined from the capability information.

The base station 10 determines a representative terminal from among the terminals 20A to 20C based on the capability information/terminal type of each terminal 20. If the terminal 20B is determined to be the representative terminal, in S404, the base station 10 sends a notification to the terminal 20B instructing it to become the representative terminal.

In addition, the terminal 20 may assume that it will not be assigned as a representative terminal due to its own capability information/terminal type. The terminal 20 that assumes that it will not be assigned as a representative terminal may not report its capability information/terminal type to the base station 10.

<Example 4-2>
The terminal 20 itself may recognize that it is the representative terminal according to its own capabilities/terminal type. Furthermore, the terminal 20 that recognizes that it is the representative terminal may transmit a signal to the surroundings notifying that it is the representative terminal.

In addition, when a terminal 20 that recognizes itself as a representative terminal receives the above signal from another terminal 20 that recognizes itself as a representative terminal, it may determine which one will become the representative based on comparable values, such as the size of the UE ID or the quality of the link, or it may be determined according to a procedure specified in the specifications, etc.

Example 5
The fifth embodiment is an embodiment regarding withdrawal from a group. When a terminal 20 in a group can no longer remain in the group (e.g., when it transitions from a connected mode to an idle mode), it may notify one or more of the other terminals 20 in the group, the representative terminal, and the base station 10 of information indicating that it can no longer remain in the group. This notification may be called a group withdrawal notification.

If the representative terminal determines that it can no longer remain in the group, the representative terminal may designate the next representative terminal, or the other terminals 20 in the group that have been notified that the representative terminal will be leaving may exchange information to determine the representative terminal, or the base station 10 that has been notified that the representative terminal will be leaving may designate the next representative terminal.

An example is shown in Figure 13. In the example of Figure 13, assume that terminal 20A (representative) determines that it can no longer remain in the group. Terminal 20A (representative) transmits a group withdrawal notification to each of base station 10, terminal 20B, and terminal 20C in S501 to S503. Here, if terminal 20A (representative) determines that the next representative is terminal 20B, for example, each notification in S501 to S503 may contain information indicating that the next representative is terminal 20B.

Note that Example 5 may be applied only to the representative terminal, or to each terminal 20 in the group.

(Other examples)
Next, other examples applicable to all the embodiments will be described.

In relation to Example 4, the following UE capabilities may be defined:

Whether or not a group can be formed Whether or not scheduling information/wake-up information within the group can be transmitted and received Ability to become a representative terminal For example, when the base station 10 receives the above-mentioned UE capability from the terminal 20, the base station 10 can determine whether the terminal 20 can become a terminal that constitutes a group, whether or not it can be a candidate for the representative terminal, etc.

In relation to the information notification from the representative terminal to the other terminals 20 as described in each embodiment, the following information may be notified from the representative terminal to each terminal 20 within the group.

Measurement result information Positioning information The measurement result may be, for example, link quality/wireless quality with the base station 10, or link quality/wireless quality with another terminal 20.

The positioning information may be, for example, information on the position of the representative terminal, or information on the positions of all terminals 20 in the group. For example, by knowing the position of the representative terminal, each terminal 20 can predict the signal strength, etc., received from the representative terminal and perform appropriate reception operations.

The group may be composed of only connected mode terminals 20, or may be composed of a mixture of connected mode terminals, idle mode terminals, and inactive mode terminals.

(Device configuration)
Next, a functional configuration example of the base station 10 and the terminal 20 that execute the processes and operations described above will be described. The base station 10 and the terminal 20 include functions to implement all of the above-mentioned embodiments. However, the base station 10 and the terminal 20 may each have only the functions of any of the embodiments among all of the embodiments.

<Base station 10>
Fig. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the base station 10. As shown in Fig. 14, the base station 10 has a transmitting unit 110, a receiving unit 120, a setting unit 130, and a control unit 140. The functional configuration shown in Fig. 14 is merely an example. As long as the operation related to the embodiment of the present invention can be executed, the names of the functional divisions and the functional units may be any. The transmitting unit 110 and the receiving unit 120 may be called a communication unit.

The transmitting unit 110 has a function of generating a signal to be transmitted to the terminal 20 and transmitting the signal wirelessly. The receiving unit 120 has a function of receiving various signals transmitted from the terminal 20 and acquiring, for example, information of a higher layer from the received signals. The transmitting unit 110 also has a function of transmitting NR-PSS, NR-SSS, NR-PBCH, DL/UL control signals, DL data, etc. to the terminal 20.

The setting unit 130 stores pre-set setting information and various setting information to be transmitted to the terminal 20 in a storage device, and reads it out from the storage device as necessary. The control unit 140 performs, for example, resource allocation and control of the entire base station 10. Note that the functional unit related to signal transmission in the control unit 140 may be included in the transmitting unit 110, and the functional unit related to signal reception in the control unit 140 may be included in the receiving unit 120. The transmitting unit 110 and the receiving unit 120 may also be referred to as a transmitter and a receiver, respectively. The functions of the setting unit 130 may also be included in the control unit 140.

<Terminal 20>
Fig. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the terminal 20. As shown in Fig. 7, the terminal 20 has a transmitting unit 210, a receiving unit 220, a setting unit 230, and a control unit 240. The functional configuration shown in Fig. 7 is merely an example. As long as the operation related to the embodiment of the present invention can be executed, the names of the functional divisions and functional units may be any. The transmitting unit 210 and the receiving unit 220 may be called a communication unit.

The transmitting unit 210 creates a transmission signal from the transmission data and transmits the transmission signal wirelessly. The receiving unit 220 wirelessly receives various signals and obtains a higher layer signal from the received physical layer signal. The receiver 220 may also include a passive receiver. The transmitting unit 210 may also include a transmitter that transmits a signal that can be received by the passive receiver.

The setting unit 230 stores various setting information received from the base station 10 by the receiving unit 220 in a storage device, and reads it out from the storage device as necessary. The setting unit 230 also stores setting information that is set in advance. The control unit 240 performs control of the entire terminal 20, etc. Note that the functional unit related to signal transmission in the control unit 240 may be included in the transmitting unit 210, and the functional unit related to signal reception in the control unit 240 may be included in the receiving unit 220. The transmitting unit 210 and the receiving unit 220 may also be called a transmitter and a receiver, respectively. The functions of the setting unit 230 may also be included in the control unit 240.

The terminal 20 and the base station 10 may be configured as the terminals and base stations described in the following items, for example. Also, the following wireless communication system may be configured by a plurality of terminals.
(Section 1)
A receiving unit that monitors a signal transmitted from a base station;
A terminal comprising: a transmitting unit that transmits the information received from the base station to one or more other terminals that constitute a group.
(Section 2)
The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the terminal is configured to know other terminals belonging to the group based on group information received from a base station.
(Section 3)
The terminal according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the other terminal receives information transmitted from the base station based on the information received from the terminal.
(Section 4)
A control unit that determines a representative terminal from among a plurality of terminals that constitute a group based on the terminal capability information or the terminal type;
A base station comprising: a transmitter that notifies the representative terminal that it will become the representative.
(Section 5)
A first terminal is a representative terminal in a group, and a second terminal is a terminal belonging to the group,
A wireless communication system, wherein the first terminal transmits information received from a base station to the second terminal, and the second terminal receives information transmitted from the base station based on the information received from the first terminal.
(Section 6)
6. The wireless communication system according to claim 5, wherein the second terminal receives the information transmitted from the first terminal by a passive receiver.

With any of the configurations described in the above paragraphs, it is possible to reduce the frequency of monitoring that a terminal performs to receive signals from a base station. Furthermore, according to paragraph 2, the representative terminal can grasp the group and appropriately forward information received from the base station. According to paragraph 3, other terminals can receive information from the base station without constantly monitoring signals from the base station. According to paragraph 6, the power reduction effect can be further increased.

(Hardware configuration)
The block diagrams (FIGS. 14 and 15) used in the description of the above embodiments show functional blocks. These functional blocks (components) are realized by any combination of at least one of hardware and software. The method of realizing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized using one device that is physically or logically coupled, or may be realized using two or more devices that are physically or logically separated and directly or indirectly connected (for example, using wires, wirelessly, etc.). The functional block may be realized by combining the one device or the multiple devices with software.

Functions include, but are not limited to, judgement, determination, judgment, calculation, computation, processing, derivation, investigation, search, confirmation, reception, transmission, output, access, resolution, selection, selection, establishment, comparison, assumption, expectation, regard, broadcasting, notifying, communicating, forwarding, configuring, reconfiguring, allocating, mapping, and assignment. For example, a functional block (component) that performs the transmission function is called a transmitting unit or transmitter. In either case, as mentioned above, there are no particular limitations on the method of implementation.

For example, the base station 10, terminal 20, etc. in one embodiment of the present disclosure may function as a computer that performs processing of the wireless communication method of the present disclosure. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the base station 10 and terminal 20 in one embodiment of the present disclosure. The above-mentioned base station 10 and terminal 20 may be physically configured as a computer device including a processor 1001, a memory device 1002, an auxiliary memory device 1003, a communication device 1004, an input device 1005, an output device 1006, a bus 1007, etc.

In the following description, the term "apparatus" may be interpreted as a circuit, device, unit, etc. The hardware configuration of the base station 10 and the terminal 20 may be configured to include one or more of the devices shown in the figure, or may be configured to exclude some of the devices.

Each function in the base station 10 and the terminal 20 is realized by loading a specific software (program) onto hardware such as the processor 1001, the memory device 1002, etc., so that the processor 1001 performs calculations, controls communication by the communication device 1004, and controls at least one of the reading and writing of data in the memory device 1002 and the auxiliary memory device 1003.

The processor 1001, for example, operates an operating system to control the entire computer. The processor 1001 may be configured as a central processing unit (CPU) including an interface with peripheral devices, a control device, an arithmetic unit, a register, etc. For example, the above-mentioned control unit 140, control unit 240, etc. may be realized by the processor 1001.

The processor 1001 reads out a program (program code), a software module, or data, etc., from at least one of the auxiliary storage device 1003 and the communication device 1004 to the storage device 1002, and executes various processes according to the program. As the program, a program that causes a computer to execute at least a part of the operations described in the above-mentioned embodiment is used. For example, the control unit 140 of the base station 10 shown in FIG. 14 may be realized by a control program stored in the storage device 1002 and operated by the processor 1001. Also, for example, the control unit 240 of the terminal 20 shown in FIG. 15 may be realized by a control program stored in the storage device 1002 and operated by the processor 1001. Although the above-mentioned various processes have been described as being executed by one processor 1001, they may be executed simultaneously or sequentially by two or more processors 1001. The processor 1001 may be implemented by one or more chips. The program may be transmitted from a network via a telecommunication line.

The storage device 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be composed of at least one of, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory), an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. The storage device 1002 may also be called a register, a cache, a main memory, etc. The storage device 1002 can store executable programs (program codes), software modules, etc. for implementing a communication method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

The auxiliary storage device 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be, for example, at least one of an optical disk such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc ROM), a hard disk drive, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk (e.g., a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disk), a smart card, a flash memory (e.g., a card, a stick, a key drive), a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a magnetic strip, etc. The auxiliary storage device 1003 may also be referred to as an auxiliary storage device. The above-mentioned storage medium may be, for example, a database, a server, or other suitable medium including at least one of the storage device 1002 and the auxiliary storage device 1003.

The communication device 1004 is hardware (transmitting/receiving device) for communicating between computers via at least one of a wired network and a wireless network, and is also called, for example, a network device, a network controller, a network card, a communication module, etc. The communication device 1004 may be configured to include a high-frequency switch, a duplexer, a filter, a frequency synthesizer, etc., to realize at least one of, for example, Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD). For example, a transmitting/receiving antenna, an amplifier unit, a transmitting/receiving unit, a transmission line interface, etc. may be realized by the communication device 1004. The transmitting/receiving unit may be implemented as a transmitting unit and a receiving unit that are physically or logically separated.

The input device 1005 is an input device (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a switch, a button, a sensor, etc.) that accepts input from the outside. The output device 1006 is an output device (e.g., a display, a speaker, an LED lamp, etc.) that performs output to the outside. Note that the input device 1005 and the output device 1006 may be integrated into one configuration (e.g., a touch panel).

In addition, each device such as the processor 1001 and the storage device 1002 is connected by a bus 1007 for communicating information. The bus 1007 may be configured using a single bus, or may be configured using different buses between each device.

In addition, the base station 10 and the terminal 20 may be configured to include hardware such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and some or all of the functional blocks may be realized by the hardware. For example, the processor 1001 may be implemented using at least one of these pieces of hardware.

(Supplementary description of the embodiment)
Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the disclosed invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and those skilled in the art will understand various modifications, modifications, alternatives, replacements, and the like. Although the description has been given using specific numerical examples to facilitate understanding of the invention, unless otherwise specified, those numerical values are merely examples and any appropriate value may be used. The division of items in the above description is not essential to the present invention, and items described in two or more items may be used in combination as necessary, and items described in one item may be applied to items described in another item (as long as there is no contradiction). The boundaries of functional units or processing units in the functional block diagram do not necessarily correspond to the boundaries of physical parts. The operations of multiple functional units may be physically performed by one part, or the operations of one functional unit may be physically performed by multiple parts. The order of the processing procedures described in the embodiment may be changed as long as there is no contradiction. For convenience of processing description, the base station 10 and the terminal 20 have been described using functional block diagrams, but such devices may be realized by hardware, software, or a combination thereof. The software operated by the processor possessed by the base station 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention and the software operated by the processor possessed by the terminal 20 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention may each be stored in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read only memory (ROM), EPROM, EEPROM, register, hard disk (HDD), removable disk, CD-ROM, database, server or any other suitable storage medium.

In addition, the notification of information is not limited to the aspects/embodiments described in the present disclosure, and may be performed using other methods. For example, the notification of information may be performed by physical layer signaling (e.g., DCI (Downlink Control Information), UCI (Uplink Control Information)), higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling, MAC (Medium Access Control) signaling, broadcast information (MIB (Master Information Block), SIB (System Information Block)), other signals, or combinations thereof. In addition, the RRC signaling may be called an RRC message, and may be, for example, an RRC Connection Setup message, an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message, etc.

Each aspect/embodiment described in this disclosure may be applied to at least one of systems utilizing LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4G (4th generation mobile communication system), 5G (5th generation mobile communication system), FRA (Future Radio Access), NR (new Radio), W-CDMA (registered trademark), GSM (registered trademark), CDMA2000, UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.20, UWB (Ultra-WideBand), Bluetooth (registered trademark), or other suitable systems, and next generation systems enhanced based on these. In addition, multiple systems may be applied in combination (for example, a combination of at least one of LTE and LTE-A with 5G, etc.).

The processing steps, sequences, flow charts, etc. of each aspect/embodiment described herein may be reordered unless inconsistent. For example, the methods described in this disclosure present elements of various steps using an example order and are not limited to the particular order presented.

In this specification, a specific operation performed by the base station 10 may be performed by its upper node in some cases. In a network consisting of one or more network nodes having a base station 10, it is clear that various operations performed for communication with the terminal 20 may be performed by at least one of the base station 10 and other network nodes other than the base station 10 (e.g., MME or S-GW, etc., but are not limited to these). Although the above example shows a case where there is one other network node other than the base station 10, the other network node may be a combination of multiple other network nodes (e.g., MME and S-GW).

The information or signals described in this disclosure may be output from a higher layer (or a lower layer) to a lower layer (or a higher layer). They may be input and output via multiple network nodes.

The input and output information, etc. may be stored in a specific location (e.g., memory) or may be managed using a management table. The input and output information, etc. may be overwritten, updated, or added to. The output information, etc. may be deleted. The input information, etc. may be transmitted to another device.

In the present disclosure, the determination may be made based on a value represented by one bit (0 or 1), a Boolean (true or false) value, or a comparison of numerical values (e.g., comparison with a predetermined value).

Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

Additionally, software, instructions, information, etc. may be transmitted and received via a transmission medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using wired technologies (such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)), and/or wireless technologies (such as infrared, microwave), then these wired and/or wireless technologies are included within the definition of a transmission medium.

The information, signals, etc. described in this disclosure may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc. that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or photons, or any combination thereof.

Note that the terms described in this disclosure and the terms necessary for understanding this disclosure may be replaced with terms having the same or similar meanings. For example, at least one of the channel and the symbol may be a signal (signaling). Also, the signal may be a message. Also, a component carrier (CC) may be called a carrier frequency, a cell, a frequency carrier, etc.

As used in this disclosure, the terms "system" and "network" are used interchangeably.

In addition, the information, parameters, etc. described in this disclosure may be represented using absolute values, may be represented using relative values from a predetermined value, or may be represented using other corresponding information. For example, radio resources may be indicated by an index.

The names used for the above-mentioned parameters are not limiting in any way. Moreover, the formulas etc. using these parameters may differ from those explicitly disclosed in this disclosure. The various channels (e.g., PUSCH, PUCCH, PDCCH, etc.) and information elements may be identified by any suitable names, and therefore the various names assigned to these various channels and information elements are not limiting in any way.

In this disclosure, terms such as "base station (BS)", "radio base station", "base station", "fixed station", "NodeB", "eNodeB (eNB)", "gNodeB (gNB)", "access point", "transmission point", "reception point", "transmission/reception point", "cell", "sector", "cell group", "carrier", and "component carrier" may be used interchangeably. A base station may also be referred to by terms such as macrocell, small cell, femtocell, and picocell.

A base station can accommodate one or more (e.g., three) cells. When a base station accommodates multiple cells, the entire coverage area of the base station can be divided into multiple smaller areas, and each smaller area can also provide communication services by a base station subsystem (e.g., a small indoor base station (RRH: Remote Radio Head). The term "cell" or "sector" refers to a part or the entire coverage area of at least one of the base station and base station subsystem that provides communication services in this coverage.

In this disclosure, terms such as "Mobile Station (MS)," "user terminal," "User Equipment (UE)," and "terminal" may be used interchangeably.

A mobile station may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, client, or some other suitable terminology.

At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be called a transmitting device, a receiving device, a communication device, etc. At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be a device mounted on a moving body, the moving body itself, etc. The moving body may be a vehicle (e.g., a car, an airplane, etc.), an unmanned moving body (e.g., a drone, an autonomous vehicle, etc.), or a robot (manned or unmanned). At least one of the base station and the mobile station may include a device that does not necessarily move during communication operation. For example, at least one of the base station and the mobile station may be an IoT (Internet of Things) device such as a sensor.

In addition, the base station in the present disclosure may be read as a terminal. For example, each aspect/embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to a configuration in which communication between a base station and a terminal is replaced with communication between multiple terminals 20 (which may be called, for example, D2D (Device-to-Device), V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything), etc.). In this case, the terminal 20 may be configured to have the functions possessed by the base station 10 described above. Furthermore, terms such as "uplink" and "downlink" may be read as terms corresponding to communication between terminals (for example, "side"). For example, the uplink channel, downlink channel, etc. may be read as a side channel.

Similarly, the terminal in this disclosure may be read as a base station. In this case, the base station may be configured to have the functions of the terminal described above.

As used in this disclosure, the terms "determining" and "determining" may encompass a wide variety of actions. "Determining" and "determining" may include, for example, judging, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up, searching, inquiring (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), ascertaining, and the like. "Determining" and "determining" may also include receiving (e.g., receiving information), transmitting (e.g., sending information), input, output, accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), and the like. In addition, "judgment" and "decision" can include considering resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, comparing, etc., to be a "judgment" or "decision." In other words, "judgment" and "decision" can include considering some action to be a "judgment" or "decision." Furthermore, "judgment (decision)" can be interpreted as "assuming," "expecting," "considering," etc.

The terms "connected" and "coupled", or any variation thereof, refer to any direct or indirect connection or coupling between two or more elements, and may include the presence of one or more intermediate elements between two elements that are "connected" or "coupled" to each other. The coupling or connection between elements may be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. For example, "connected" may be read as "access". As used in this disclosure, two elements may be considered to be "connected" or "coupled" to each other using at least one of one or more wires, cables, and printed electrical connections, as well as electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency range, microwave range, and light (both visible and invisible) range, as some non-limiting and non-exhaustive examples.

The reference signal may also be abbreviated as RS (Reference Signal) or may be called a pilot depending on the applicable standard.

As used in this disclosure, the phrase "based on" does not mean "based only on," unless expressly stated otherwise. In other words, the phrase "based on" means both "based only on" and "based at least on."

Any reference to elements using designations such as "first," "second," etc., used in this disclosure does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. These designations may be used in this disclosure as a convenient way to distinguish between two or more elements. Thus, a reference to a first and a second element does not imply that only two elements may be employed or that the first element must precede the second element in some way.

The "means" in the configuration of each of the above devices may be replaced with "part," "circuit," "device," etc.

When used in this disclosure, the terms "include," "including," and variations thereof are intended to be inclusive, similar to the term "comprising." Additionally, the term "or," as used in this disclosure, is not intended to be an exclusive or.

A radio frame may be composed of one or more frames in the time domain. Each of the one or more frames in the time domain may be called a subframe. A subframe may further be composed of one or more slots in the time domain. A subframe may have a fixed time length (e.g., 1 ms) that is independent of numerology.

The numerology may be a communication parameter that applies to at least one of the transmission and reception of a signal or channel. The numerology may indicate at least one of, for example, the subcarrier spacing (SCS), the bandwidth, the symbol length, the cyclic prefix length, the transmission time interval (TTI), the number of symbols per TTI, the radio frame structure, a particular filtering operation performed by the transceiver in the frequency domain, and a particular windowing operation performed by the transceiver in the time domain.

A slot may consist of one or more symbols in the time domain (such as an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) symbol, etc.). A slot may be a time unit based on numerology.

A slot may include multiple minislots. Each minislot may consist of one or multiple symbols in the time domain. A minislot may also be called a subslot. A minislot may consist of fewer symbols than a slot. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted in a time unit larger than a minislot may be called PDSCH (or PUSCH) mapping type A. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted using a minislot may be called PDSCH (or PUSCH) mapping type B.

Radio frame, subframe, slot, minislot, and symbol all represent time units for transmitting signals. Radio frame, subframe, slot, minislot, and symbol may each be referred to by a different name.

For example, one subframe may be called a Transmission Time Interval (TTI), multiple consecutive subframes may be called a TTI, or one slot or one minislot may be called a TTI. In other words, at least one of the subframe and the TTI may be a subframe (1 ms) in existing LTE, a period shorter than 1 ms (e.g., 1-13 symbols), or a period longer than 1 ms. Note that the unit representing the TTI may be called a slot, minislot, etc., instead of a subframe.

Here, TTI refers to, for example, the smallest time unit for scheduling in wireless communication. For example, in an LTE system, a base station schedules each terminal 20 by allocating wireless resources (such as frequency bandwidth and transmission power that can be used by each terminal 20) in TTI units. Note that the definition of TTI is not limited to this.

A TTI may be a transmission time unit for a channel-coded data packet (transport block), a code block, a code word, etc., or may be a processing unit for scheduling, link adaptation, etc. When a TTI is given, the time interval (e.g., the number of symbols) in which a transport block, a code block, a code word, etc. is actually mapped may be shorter than the TTI.

In addition, when one slot or one minislot is called a TTI, one or more TTIs (i.e., one or more slots or one or more minislots) may be the minimum time unit of scheduling. In addition, the number of slots (minislots) constituting the minimum time unit of scheduling may be controlled.

A TTI having a time length of 1 ms may be called a normal TTI (TTI in LTE Rel. 8-12), normal TTI, long TTI, normal subframe, normal subframe, long subframe, slot, etc. A TTI shorter than a normal TTI may be called a shortened TTI, short TTI, partial or fractional TTI, shortened subframe, short subframe, minislot, subslot, slot, etc.

Note that a long TTI (e.g., a normal TTI, a subframe, etc.) may be interpreted as a TTI having a time length exceeding 1 ms, and a short TTI (e.g., a shortened TTI, etc.) may be interpreted as a TTI having a TTI length less than the TTI length of a long TTI and equal to or greater than 1 ms.

A resource block (RB) is a resource allocation unit in the time domain and frequency domain, and may include one or more consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. The number of subcarriers included in an RB may be the same regardless of the numerology, for example, 12. The number of subcarriers included in an RB may be determined based on the numerology.

In addition, the time domain of an RB may include one or more symbols and may be one slot, one minislot, one subframe, or one TTI in length. Each TTI, subframe, etc. may be composed of one or more resource blocks.

In addition, one or more RBs may be referred to as a physical resource block (PRB), a sub-carrier group (SCG), a resource element group (REG), a PRB pair, an RB pair, etc.

A resource block may also be composed of one or more resource elements (REs). For example, one RE may be a radio resource region of one subcarrier and one symbol.

A Bandwidth Part (BWP), which may also be referred to as a partial bandwidth, may represent a subset of contiguous common resource blocks (RBs) for a given numerology on a given carrier, where the common RBs may be identified by an index of the RB relative to a Common Reference Point of the carrier. PRBs may be defined in a BWP and numbered within the BWP.

The BWP may include a BWP for UL (UL BWP) and a BWP for DL (DL BWP). One or more BWPs may be configured for a UE within one carrier.

At least one of the configured BWPs may be active, and the UE may not expect to transmit or receive a given signal/channel outside the active BWP. Note that the terms "cell", "carrier", etc. in this disclosure may be read as "BWP".

The above-mentioned structures of radio frames, subframes, slots, minislots, and symbols are merely examples. For example, the number of subframes included in a radio frame, the number of slots per subframe or radio frame, the number of minislots included in a slot, the number of symbols and RBs included in a slot or minislot, the number of subcarriers included in an RB, as well as the number of symbols in a TTI, the symbol length, the cyclic prefix (CP) length, and other configurations can be changed in various ways.

In this disclosure, where articles have been added by translation, such as a, an, and the in English, this disclosure may include that the nouns following these articles are in the plural form.

In this disclosure, the term "A and B are different" may mean "A and B are different from each other." In addition, the term may mean "A and B are each different from C." Terms such as "separate" and "combined" may also be interpreted in the same way as "different."

Each aspect/embodiment described in this disclosure may be used alone, in combination, or switched depending on the execution. In addition, notification of specific information (e.g., notification that "X is the case") is not limited to being done explicitly, but may be done implicitly (e.g., not notifying the specific information).

In this disclosure, an SS block or CSI-RS is an example of a synchronization signal or reference signal.

Although the present disclosure has been described in detail above, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described herein. The present disclosure can be implemented in modified and altered forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the claims. Therefore, the description of the present disclosure is intended to be illustrative and does not have any limiting meaning on the present disclosure.

10 Base station 110 Transmitter 120 Receiver 130 Setting unit 140 Control unit 20 Terminal 210 Transmitter 220 Receiver 230 Setting unit 240 Control unit 1001 Processor 1002 Storage device 1003 Auxiliary storage device 1004 Communication device 1005 Input device 1006 Output device

Claims (3)

A receiving unit that monitors a signal transmitted from a base station;
A terminal including: a transmitter that transmits wake-up information received from a base station to one or more other terminals constituting a group, in order to cause the other terminals to monitor a PDCCH transmitted from the base station;
The wake-up information is an instruction signal to start monitoring a signal from the base station, and the other terminal monitors a PDCCH transmitted from the base station based on the wake-up information received from the terminal using an RFID . The terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the terminal is configured to know other terminals belonging to the group based on group information received from a base station. A first terminal is a representative terminal in a group, and a second terminal is a terminal belonging to the group,
The first terminal transmits wake-up information received from a base station, the wake-up information being an instruction signal to start monitoring a signal from the base station, to the second terminal in order to have the second terminal monitor a PDCCH transmitted from the base station, and the second terminal monitors the PDCCH transmitted from the base station based on the wake-up information received from the first terminal using an RFID .

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