WO2026000650A1

WO2026000650A1 - Method and apparatus on unified carrier operation

Info

Publication number: WO2026000650A1
Application number: PCT/CN2024/119620
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hua Xu; Jianglei Ma; Liqing Zhang; Qianli Ma; Huilian YANG; Wen Tong; Peiying Zhu
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2024-06-28
Filing date: 2024-09-19
Publication date: 2026-01-02
Anticipated expiration: 2026-12-28

Abstract

The present application relates to communication methods and communication apparatuses. An example method includes receiving a first union carrier (Uni-C) assignment, wherein the first Uni-C assignment indicates a first Uni-C, wherein the first Uni-C is shared among more than one operator, and wherein the first Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs).

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS ON UNIFIED CARRIER OPERATION

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 63/665,844 filed on June 28, 2024, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications. Particularly, it relates to methods and apparatuses on unified carrier operation.

BACKGROUND

In a wireless system, a user equipment (UE) gets access to the network by searching for downlink (DL) synchronization channel first. After it is synchronized on downlink, it can get system information from master information block (MIB) and system information block (SIB) . It can also get synchronized with network on uplink by going through the random access channel (RACH) procedure. After synchronization on both links are completed, it can set up connection with the network at different levels and start to communicate with the network.

To enhance both capacity and coverage, one possible solution is to utilize more frequency resources. In 4th generation (4G) LTE, more frequency resources are introduced/utilized in the form of carrier aggregation (CA) in the same or neighbor frequency band (s) . In 5th generation (5G) NR, more frequency resources in different frequency range (FR) are also exploited including FR1 (sub-6G Hz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz to 71.0 GHz) .

SUMMARY

One or more implementations of the present application provide communication methods and communication apparatuses. The techniques described in the application can improve the utilization of communication resources and make the utilization of these communication resources more feasible with minimal overhead or effort. Additionally, the techniques described herein can reduce the impact of cell layout and improve the performance of mobility, capacity, and coverage.

According to a first aspect, a method is provided. The method includes receiving a first union carrier (Uni-C) assignment, wherein the first Uni-C assignment indicates a first Uni-C, wherein the first Uni-C is shared among more than one operator, and wherein the first Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations, the first Uni-C assignment indicates that the first Uni-C is an inter-operator Uni-C.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations, the method includes transmitting a capability report comprising Uni-C support capability, wherein the Uni-C support capability indicates that an inter-operator operation is supported.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations, the method includes receiving, via the first Uni-C, downlink data from a first network node, wherein the first network node is shared among the more than one operator.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations, the method includes transmitting, via the first Uni-C, uplink data to a first network node, wherein the first network node is shared among the more than one operator.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations, the method includes receiving a second Uni-C assignment, wherein the second Uni-C assignment indicates a second Uni-C, wherein the second Uni-C is dedicated to one operator, and wherein the second Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations, wherein the first Uni-C is used for capacity.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations, wherein the second Uni-C is used for coverage.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations, wherein a first shared random access channel (RACH) preamble resource pool is assigned for accessing the first Uni-C.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations, wherein a second dedicated RACH preamble resource pool is assigned for accessing the second Uni-C.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations, the method includes transmitting feedback for the downlink data to a second network node; or receiving scheduling information for the downlink data from the second network node.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations, the method includes receiving scheduling information for the uplink data from a second network node.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations, the second network node is specific to a first operator, wherein the first operator belongs to the more than one operator.

According to a second aspect, a method is provided. The method includes transmitting a first union carrier (Uni-C) assignment to a user equipment (UE) , wherein the first Uni-C assignment indicates a first Uni-C assigned to the UE, wherein the first Uni-C is shared among more than one operator, and wherein the first Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations, the first Uni-C assignment indicates that the first Uni-C is an inter-operator Uni-C.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations, the method includes receiving a capability report comprising Uni-C support capability from the UE, wherein the Uni-C support capability indicates that an inter-operator operation is supported.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations, the method includes transmitting, via the first Uni-C, downlink data to the UE from a first network mode, wherein the first network node is shared among the more than one operator.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations, the method includes transmitting, from a second network node, data to the first network node, wherein the first network node and the second network node are associated with different operators.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations, the method includes receiving, by a first network node via the first Uni-C, uplink data from the UE, wherein the first network node is shared among the more than one operator.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations, the method includes transmitting a second Uni-C assignment, wherein the second Uni-C assignment indicates a second Uni-C, wherein the second Uni-C is dedicated to one operator, and wherein the second Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations, wherein a first shared random access channel (RACH) preamble resource pool is assigned for accessing the second Uni-C by the UE.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations, wherein a second dedicated RACH preamble resource pool is assigned for accessing the second Uni-C by the UE.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations, the method includes obtaining information of the first Uni-C.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations, the method includes receiving feedback of the downlink data from the UE.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations, the method includes transmitting, from a second network node to a first network node, scheduling information of uplink data, wherein the first network node and the second network node are associated with different operators; and receiving, from the first network node, the uplink data.

According to a third aspect, a method is provided. The method includes transmitting, from a first network node, information of a first union carrier (Uni-C) to a second network node, wherein the first network node and the second network node are associated with different operators, and wherein the first Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations, the method includes receiving data from the second network node; and transmitting, via the first Uni-C, the data to a user equipment (UE) . Please note that the data sent to the UE are the same as the data received from the second network node in the information point of view. The form the two may be different, for example, the header of the data sent to the UE are different from the data received from the second network node. For another example, the data received from the second network node may be segmented to multiple data sent to the UE, or multiple data received from the second network node may be concatenated to one data sent to the UE.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations, the method includes receiving, via the first Uni-C, data from a UE; and sending the received data to the second network node. Please note that the data from the UE are the same as the data sent to the second network node in the information point of view. The form the two may be different, for example, the header of the data from the UE are different from the data sent to the second network node. For another example, multiple data from the UE may be segmented to data sent to the second network node, or one data from the UE may be concatenated to data sent to the second network node.

According to a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus is configured to perform the method according to the first aspect or one or more implementations of the first aspect, the second aspect or one or more implementations of the second aspect, or the third aspect or one or more implementations of the third aspect.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations, the communication apparatus includes a receiving unit configured to receive a first union carrier (Uni-C) assignment, wherein the first Uni-C assignment indicates a first Uni-C, wherein the first Uni-C is shared among more than one operator, and wherein the first Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations, the communication apparatus includes a transmitting unit configured to transmit a first union carrier (Uni-C) assignment to a user equipment (UE) , wherein the first Uni-C assignment indicates a first Uni-C assigned to the UE, wherein the first Uni-C is shared among more than one operator, and wherein the first Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations, the communication apparatus includes a transmitting unit configured to transmit, from a first network node, information of a first union carrier (Uni-C) to a second network node, wherein the first network node and the second network node are associated with different operators, and wherein the first Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations, the communication apparatus includes an interface unit configured to receive a first union carrier (Uni-C) assignment, wherein the first Uni-C assignment indicates a first Uni-C, wherein the first Uni-C is shared among more than one operator, and wherein the first Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations, the communication apparatus includes an interface circuit configured to transmit a first union carrier (Uni-C) assignment to a user equipment (UE) , wherein the first Uni-C assignment indicates a first Uni-C assigned to the UE, wherein the first Uni-C is shared among more than one operator, and wherein the first Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations, the communication apparatus includes an interface circuit configured to transmit, from a first network node, information of a first union carrier (Uni-C) to a second network node, wherein the first network node and the second network node are associated with different operators, and wherein the first Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations, the interface circuit includes one or more transceivers.

According to a fifth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes one or more processors coupled with one or more memories. The one or more memories store instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to perform the method according to the first aspect or one or more implementations of the first aspect, the second aspect or one or more implementations of the second aspect, or the third aspect or one or more implementations of the third aspect.

According to a sixth aspect, a communication system is provided. The communication system includes a first communication apparatus configured to perform the method according to the first aspect or one or more implementations of the first aspect. The communication system further includes a second communication apparatus configured to perform the method according to the second aspect or one or more implementations of the second aspect. The communication system further includes a third communication apparatus configured to perform the method according to the third aspect or one or more implementations of the third aspect.

According to a seventh aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is provided. The non-transitory computer-readable storage has instructions stored thereon which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method according to the first aspect or one or more implementations of the first aspect, the second aspect or one or more implementations of the second aspect, or the third aspect or one or more implementations of the third aspect.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic illustration of an example communication system, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates another example communication system, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of an apparatus wirelessly communicating with another apparatus in a communication system, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example apparatus, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates another example apparatus, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic illustration of example union carriers (Uni-Cs) , according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic illustration of example multi-operator uni-carrier assignment/configuration, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates a schematic illustration of a first example of inter-operator resource sharing operations, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates a schematic illustration of a second example of inter-operator resource sharing operations, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates a schematic illustration of a third example of inter-operator resource sharing operations, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates a schematic illustration of a fourth example of inter-operator resource sharing operations, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 illustrates a schematic illustration of a fifth example of inter-operator resource sharing operations, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for Uni-C based inter-operator operations, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 illustrates a schematic illustration of a first example of RAN sharing, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 illustrates a schematic illustration of a second example of RAN sharing, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 illustrates a schematic illustration of a third example of RAN sharing, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 illustrates a schematic illustration of a fourth example of RAN sharing, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 18 illustrates a schematic illustration of a fifth example of RAN sharing, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 19 illustrates a schematic illustration of an example of using shared inter-operator resources based on Uni-C (s) .

FIG. 20 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for DL data communication based on shared Uni-C, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 21 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for UL data communication based on shared Uni-C, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In future wireless system, the trend of utilizing more frequency resources can continue. With more frequency resources available to be exploited and utilized, how to manage them become an issue. The CA scheme may not go beyond different frequency band. Furthermore, large number of frequency bands in different FRs would also need a more union way to manage.

In 5G NR and earlier wireless system, an area covered by a base station is denoted as a cell and has a cell identifier (ID) associated with it, and if multiple carriers are used, each carrier can be denoted as a separate cell as well and have separate cell ID associated with each of the carrier (as each carrier is separate in frequency domain) . A cellular system provides good solution for wireless communication, such that frequency reuse and interference mitigation can be utilized. However, it has some drawbacks. One of them is the handover (HO) , namely, when UE moves from one cell to the other, it needs HO procedure to hand over the UE from one cell to the other, which may take longer time and incur more latency. Low-layer trigger mobility (LTM) is introduced for node switch at lower layer which will reduce the HO latency. However, overall cell concept is still used.

In future wireless system, the system can be more hybrid and include different types of TP nodes including both base station and TRP. Also, the function of each TP can be different, some for coverage enhancement and some for capacity enhancement. The coverage of each TP can be overlapped as well. More component carriers (CC) can also be used to expand the frequency bandwidth. From the energy saving perspective, certain TP can be turn on/off and such behaviors can be quite dynamic to save both network and UE energy without sacrificing the performance. More latency sensitive application also requires more smooth and continuous service even when UE moves around in the system, which makes the conventional HO difficult to handle. In some cases, terms “TP” and “TRP” can be used interchangeably.

In addition, inter-operator frequency resource sharing is an effective way to save the cost and improve the mutual performance. This can become more and more a trend in the future when large number of frequency bands are available ranging from lower frequency to medium frequency to higher frequency to super higher frequency. That can also add more difficulties and challenges in managing the frequency resource across operators.

Given all the requirement and challenges, method and apparatus on union carrier (Uni-C) operation are proposed in this disclosure. In some cases, a Uni-C consists of or includes a set (group) of component carriers (CCs) , and may be formed from one or more CCs from one or more spectrum ranges, e.g., frequency range (FR) 1, FR2, FR3, etc.

An example method may include at least one of: having different union-carrier (Uni-C) categories for each operator, designing procedures of assigning/configurating Uni-C for inter-operator joint data transmission, specifying assigning/configurating information of Uni-C for inter-operator joint data transmission, and providing transmission/feedback for inter-operator joint data transmission based on Uni-C.

That can facilitate the utilization of these resources in more effective manners and make the support of them more feasible without too much overhead/efforts. It can also facilitate the efforts to reduce the impact of cell layout and benefit the performance of mobility/capacity/coverage.

Each Uni-C may be associated/assigned with a unique index or Uni-C identity (Uni-C ID) , and each of CCs within one Uni-C is also associated/assigned with a unique index or CC identity (CC ID) , thus any component carrier (CC) in network can be indicated uniquely by Uni-C ID and CC ID. Moreover, an indication on one frequency resource may include information of Uni-C ID, one or more CC IDs, bandwidth part (BWP) , and (optionally) a number of resource block groups (RBGs) or resource blocks (RBs) , defined or configured as a frequency domain identity, or frequency identity (Freq-ID) .

In some cases, one Freq-ID can indicate a combination of frequency resource (s) that can include one or more types of frequency resources. For example, the combination of frequency resource (s) indicated by one Freq-ID can include any combination of one or more Uni-Cs, one or more CCs, one or more BWPs, one or more RBGs, and one or more RBs. Accordingly, the Freq-ID can be associated with one or more IDs indicating the frequency resource (s) included in the combination of frequency resource (s) indicated by the Freq-ID. For example, the Freq-ID can be associated with any combination of one or more Uni-C IDs, one or more CC IDs, one or more BWP IDs, one or more RBG IDs, and one or more RB IDs.

In some cases, configurations of one or more Freq-IDs and associated frequency resource (s) can be obtained from system information such as master information block (MIB) /system information block (SIB) after initial access/entry to network. In some cases, one or more Freq-IDs and associated frequency resource (s) can be scheduled dynamically or semi-statically.

CCs in one Uni-C may be used for at least one of shared carriers or dedicated carriers (e.g., operator specific) .

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an example communication system 100 according to an implementation of the present disclosure. There is shown a communication system 100 that includes a radio access network (RAN) 120, one or more communication electronic devices (EDs) 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e, 110f, 110g, 110h, 110i, 110j (collectively referred to as 110) , a core network 130, a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160. The RAN 120 may include, but is not limited to, a future generation RAN, or a legacy RAN such as, but not limited to, 5th generation (5G) , 4th generation (4G) , 3rd generation (3G) or 2nd generation (2G) radio access network. The RAN 120 may be, for example, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) , a NextGen RAN (NG RAN) , or some other type of RAN. Examples of RAN 120 based on the evolution of telecommunications standards include, but is not limited to, GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) for 2G, UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) based on WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) and CDMA2000 for 3G, LTE (Long-Term Evolution) and WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) for 4G, and NR (New Radio) for 5G. In some implementations, The RAN 120 may use any radio access technology (RAT) in the wireless interface between the one or more EDs 110 and the RAN 120. In some implementations, the term “radio access” may refer to the future generation air interface standards which may include both terrestrial networks (TNs) and non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) . These networks will be described in greater detail below in conjunction with various implementations. The one or more communication EDs 110 (also referred to as “user equipment” ) are configured to connect (e.g., communicatively couple) with each other or to one or more network nodes 170a, 170b (collectively referred to as 170) in the RAN 120. The core network (CN) 130 is a part of the communication system 100 and consists of network nodes (e.g., 170a, 170b) which provide support for the network features and telecommunication services. In some implementations, the CN 130 may be dependent on the RAT used in the communication system 100. In other implementations, the CN 130 may be access-agnostic, i.e., the CN 130 may be independent of the RAT used in the communication system 100. There are different types of CN 130, for different 3GPP system generations. For example, the CN 130 is the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) in 4G, also known as the Evolved Packet System (EPS) . In another example, the CN 130 is the 5G Core (5GC) which was developed as part of the 5G System (5GS) . The CN 130 also enables integration of different 3GPP and non-3GPP access types. In some implementations and referring to FIG. 1, the CN 130 also provides the interface towards external networks that may include the PSTN 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160 in the communication system 100.

In general, the communication system 100 facilitates interaction between multiple wireless or wired elements. The communication system 100 may transmit different types of content, such as voice, data, video, and/or text, through different transmission methods such as, but not limited to, broadcast, multicast, groupcast, and unicast. Additionally, the communication system 100 operates by allocating and/or sharing resources, such as carrier spectrum bandwidth, among its constituent elements.

The communication system 100 may provide a wide range of communication services and applications including, but not limited to, Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services, Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) services, Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) services, Integrated Sensing And Communication (ISAC) , immersive communication, Ultra-massive Machine-Type Communication (uMTC) , hyper reliable and low-latency communication, ubiquitous connectivity, integrated AI and communication, and other services that can be provided by a future generation communication system. The communication system 100 may provide other services and applications such as, but not limited to, earth monitoring, remote sensing, passive sensing and positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility and the like.

The communication system 100 may include a terrestrial communication system (or network) and/or a non-terrestrial communication system (or network) . The communication system 100 may provide a high degree of availability and robustness through a joint operation of the terrestrial communication system and the non-terrestrial communication system. For example, integrating a non-terrestrial communication system (or components thereof) into a terrestrial communication system can result in a heterogeneous network including multiple layers. The heterogeneous network may achieve better overall performance through efficient multi-link joint operation, more flexible functionality sharing, and faster physical layer link switching between terrestrial networks and non-terrestrial networks. The terrestrial communication system and the non-terrestrial communication system can be considered as sub-systems of the communication system 100.

FIG. 2 illustrates another example communication system 100 according to an implementation of the present disclosure. As shown, the communication system 100 includes EDs 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d (collectively referred to as ED 110) , RANs 120a, 120b, one or more CNs 130, a PSTN 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160. Additionally, the communication system 100 may also include a non-terrestrial network (NTN) 120c. The RANs 120a and120b may include network nodes 170a and 170b respectively. Examples of network nodes 170a, 170b include base stations, which can be generally referred to as terrestrial network (TN) devices or terrestrial transmit and receive points (T-TRPs) 170a and 170b (collectively referred to as 170) . In this context, the terms "TRP" and "base station" are used interchangeably unless otherwise specified. For simplicity, this disclosure primarily refers to network nodes as base stations; however, unless explicitly stated otherwise, references to TRP are considered non-limiting and interchangeable. The T-TRPs 170a, 170b may be base stations mounted on a building or tower. In one implementation, the NTN 120c includes a RAN node such as a base station 172, which may be generally referred to as an NTN device, a non-terrestrial node, a non-terrestrial network device, a non-terrestrial base station, or a non-terrestrial transmit and receive point (NT-TRP) 172.

In some implementations, the NT-TRP 172 is not attached to the ground, for example, as in the case of an airborne base station. An airborne base station may be implemented using communication equipment supported or carried by a flying device. For example, a flying device may include, but is not limited to, an airborne platform (such as a blimp or an airship) , balloon, drone (such as quadcopter) , and other types of aerial vehicles. In some implementations, an airborne base station may be supported or carried by an unmanned aerial system (UAS) or an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) , such as a drone. An airborne base station may be a moveable or mobile base station that can be flexibly deployed in different locations to meet network demand. A satellite base station is another example of a non-terrestrial base station. A satellite base station may be implemented using communication equipment supported or carried by a satellite. A satellite base station may also be referred to as an orbiting base station. High altitude platforms are yet another example of non-terrestrial base stations, including international mobile telecommunication base stations.

As referred to herein, and unless specified otherwise, a “TRP” may also refer to a T-TRP or an NT-TRP, a “T-TRP” may also refer to a “TN TRP” , and an “NT-TRP” may also refer to an “NTN TRP” . The NTN 120c may be considered a RAN, sharing operational aspects with RANs 120a, 120b. The NTN 120c may include at least one NTN device and at least one corresponding terrestrial network device. The at least one NTN device may function as a transport layer device and the at least one corresponding terrestrial network device may function as a RAN node, communicating with the ED 110 via the NTN device. Additionally, there may be an NTN gateway on the ground (referred to as a terrestrial network device) that also functions as a transport layer device facilitating communication with both the NTN device and the RAN node. The RAN node may communicate with the ED 110 via the NTN device and the NTN gateway. In some implementations, the NTN gateway and the RAN node may be located within the same device.

A base station 170 (also referred to as a TRP as stated above) is a network element within a radio access network responsible for radio transmission and reception in one or more cells to or from the ED (such as a user equipment) . In different implementations, the base station 170 may also be known as a base transceiver station (BTS) , a radio base station, a network node, a network device, a device on the network side, a transmit/receive node, a Node B, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a Home eNodeB, a next Generation NodeB (gNB) , a transmission point (TP) , a site controller, an access point (AP) , a wireless router, a relay station, a terrestrial node, a terrestrial network device, a terrestrial base station, a non-terrestrial node, a non-terrestrial network device, a non-terrestrial base station, and a positioning node, among other possibilities. The base station 170 may be a macro base station (BS) , a pico BS, a relay node, a donor node, or combinations thereof. When the base station 170 performs (or is configured to perform) a method described herein, it may be interpreted as the base station itself, one or more modules (or units) in the base station, a circuit or chip, or a combination thereof, performing the method. For example, the circuit or chip may include a modem chip, also referred to as a baseband chip, a system on chip (SoC) including a modem core, system in package (SIP) ) , and the like, and may be responsible for one or more communication functions within the base station.

The EDs 110a-110d and TRPs 170a-170b, 172 are examples of communication equipment configured to implement some or all of the operations and/or implementations described herein. The T-TRP 170a forms part of the RAN 120a, which may include other TRPs, and/or other devices. Also, the TRP 170b forms part of the RAN 120b, which may include other TRPs, and/or devices. Each TRP 170a, 170b may transmit and/or receive wireless signals within a particular geographic region or area, sometimes referred to as a “cell” or a “coverage area” . The TRPs 170a-170b may be responsible for allocating and/or configuring resources and transmission and/or reception in a set of cell (s) . A cell is a radio network object that can be uniquely identified by a cell identification that is broadcasted over a geographical region or area from base stations associated with the cell. A cell can work in either FDD or TDD mode. A cell may be further divided into cell sectors, and a base station 170a-170b may, for example, employ one or more transceivers to provide services to one or more sectors. Some implementations may include pico or femto cells if supported by the radio access technology. In some implementations, one or more transceivers can be used for each cell, such as with Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology. The number of RANs 120a-120b shown is merely an example. Any number of RANs may be contemplated when designing the communication system 100.

A base station may be a single element, as shown in the figures, or multiple elements distributed throughout the corresponding RAN, or otherwise configured. In some implementations, a plurality of RAN nodes coordinate to assist the ED 110 in implementing radio access, and different RAN nodes separately implement and handle different functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node may be a central unit (CU) , a distributed unit (DU) , a CU-control plane (CP) , a CU-user plane (UP) , or a radio unit (RU) etc. The CU and the DU may be separately deployed, or included within the same element (i.e., a baseband unit (BBU) ) . The RU may be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit (i.e., a remote radio unit (RRU) , an active antenna unit (AAU) , or a remote radio head (RRH) ) . In different systems, the CU (or the CU-CP and the CU-UP) , the DU, or the RU may be known by different names, but their functions are understood by person skilled in the art. For example, in an open radio access network (ORAN) system, a CU may be referred to as an open CU (O-CU) , a DU may be referred to as an open DU (O-DU) , and a CU-CP may be referred to as an open CU-CP (O-CU-CP) . The CU-UP may also be referred to as an open CU-UP (O-CU-UP) , and the RU may also be referred to as an open RU (O-RU) . Any one of the CU (or the CU-CP, the CU-UP) , the DU, and the RU may be implemented using a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

Furthermore, communication between different devices/apparatuses in various implementations of this disclosure may refer to direct communication (that is, without the need of forwarding by another device/apparatus) , or may refer to communication (s) between different devices/apparatuses via another device/apparatus (that is, requiring forwarding by another device/apparatus) . Alternatively, such communication (s) may involve one functional unit inside a device/apparatus using another functional unit within the device/apparatus to communicate with another device/apparatus. In other words, phrases such as "sending (or transmitting) information to. . . (an ED or a base station) " in this disclosure may be understood as a destination endpoint of the information being an ED or a base station, including, sending/transmitting information directly or indirectly to an ED or a base station. Similarly, phrases like "receiving information from. . . (an ED or a base station) " may be understood as a source endpoint of the information being an ED or a base station, including directly or indirectly receiving information from an ED or a base station. Between the source endpoint that sends the information and the destination endpoint, necessary processing such as, but not limited to, format conversion, digital-to-analog conversion, amplification, and filtering may be performed on the information. However, the destination endpoint may understand valid information from the source endpoint. A similar understanding applies to other descriptions in this disclosure without reiterating details already described. In the present disclosure, the terms "send" and "transmit" may be used interchangeably in different implementations of this disclosure.

The ED 110 is used to connect people, objects, machines, and other entities. The ED 110 may be widely used in various scenarios including, but not limited to, cellular communications, device-to-device (D2D) , vehicle to everything (V2X) , peer-to-peer (P2P) , machine-to-machine (M2M) , MTC, internet of things (IoT) , virtual reality (VR) , augmented reality (AR) , mixed reality (MR) , metaverse, digital twin, industrial control, self-driving, remote medical, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, drones, robots, remote sensing, passive sensing, positioning, navigation and tracking, and autonomous delivery and mobility.

Each ED 110 represents any suitable end user device for wireless operation and may include such devices (or may be referred to as, but not limited to) a user equipment (UE) or a user device or a terminal device, a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) , a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a cellular telephone, a station (STA) , an MTC device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a smartphone, a laptop, a computer, a tablet, a wireless sensor, a consumer electronics device, a smart book, a vehicle, a car, a truck, a bus, a train, or an IoT device, wearable devices (such as a watch, a pair of glasses, head mounted equipment, etc. ) , an industrial device, or an apparatus (such as a module, modem, or chip) in the forgoing devices, among other possibilities. Future generation EDs 110 may be referred to by other terms. When an ED 110 performs (or is configured to perform) a method described herein, it may be interpreted as the ED itself, one or more modules (or units) in the ED, a circuit or chip, or a combination thereof, performing the method. For example, the circuit or chip may include a modem chip, also referred to as a baseband chip, a system on chip (SoC) including a modem core, or system in package (SIP) ) , and the like, and may be responsible for one or more communication functions in the ED.

Each ED 110 connected to TRPs 170a-170b, and/or TRPs 172 can be dynamically or semi-statically turned-on (i.e., established, activated, or enabled) , turned-off (i.e., released, deactivated, or disabled) and/or configured in response to one of more of: connection availability and connection necessity.

Any ED 110 may be alternatively or additionally configured to interface, access, or communicate with any of the TRPs 170a, 170b and 172, the Internet 150, the CN 130, the PSTN 140, the other networks 160, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the ED 110a may communicate an uplink (UL) and/or downlink (DL) transmission over a terrestrial air interface 190a with station-TRP 170a. In some examples, the EDs 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d may also communicate directly with one another via one or more sidelink (SL) air interfaces 190b. In some examples, the EDs 110a, 110d may communicate using an UL and/or DL transmission over a non-terrestrial air interface 190c with NT-TRP 172.

An air interface (such as, for example, 190a, 190b, 190c) generally includes a number of components and associated parameters that collectively specify how a transmission is to be sent and/or received over a wireless communications link between two or more communicating devices such as EDs and base station (s) . For example, an air interface may include one or more components defining the waveform (s) , frame structure (s) , multiple access scheme (s) , protocol (s) , coding scheme (s) and/or modulation scheme (s) for conveying information (such as, data) over a wireless communications link. The air interfaces 190a and 190b may use similar communication technology, that may include any suitable radio access technology.

The non-terrestrial air interface 190c can enable communication between the EDs 110a, 110d and one or more NT-TRPs 172 via a wireless link or simply a link. For some examples, the link is a dedicated connection for unicast transmission, a connection for broadcast transmission, or a connection between a group of EDs 110 and one or more NT-TRPs 172 for multicast transmission.

The TRPs 170a-170b, 172 may communicate with one another over one or more air interfaces 190e, 190f using wireless communication links (such as radio frequency (RF) , microwave, infrared (IR) , etc. ) or wired communication links. The air interfaces 190e, 190f may utilize any suitable radio access technology, and may be substantially similar to the air interfaces 190a, 190c over which the EDs 110a-110d communicate with one or more of the TRP 170a-170b, 172 or they may be substantially different. For example, the communication system 100 may implement one or more channel access methods, such as Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) , Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) , Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) , Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) , Low Density Signature Multicarrier Code Division Multiple Access (LDS-MC-CDMA) , Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) , Pattern Division Multiple Access (PDMA) , Lattice Partition Multiple Access (LPMA) , Resource Spread Multiple Access (RSMA) , and Sparse Code Multiple Access (SCMA) .

The RANs 120a and 120b are in communication with the CN 130 to provide the EDs 110a 110b, and 110c with various services such as voice, data, multimedia, and other services. The RANs 120a and 120b and/or the CN 130 may be in direct or indirect communication with one or more other RANs (not shown) , which may or may not be directly served by the CN 130, and may employ different radio access technologies from RAN 120a and/or RAN 120b. The CN 130 may also serve as a gateway access between (i) the RANs 120a and 120b and/or the EDs 110a 110b, and 110c, and (ii) other networks (such as the PSTN 140, the Internet 150, and the other networks 160) . In addition, some or all of the EDs 110a 110b, and 110c may include functionality for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links using different wireless technologies and/or protocols. For example, the EDs 110a 110b, and 110c communicate using different cellular communications protocols, such as, but not limited to, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular (POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth generation (5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like. Instead of wireless communication (or in addition thereto) , the EDs 110a 110b, and 110c may communicate using wired communication channels to a service provider or switch (not shown) , and/or to the Internet 150. The PSTN 140 may include circuit switched telephone networks for providing plain old telephone service (POTS) . The Internet 150 may include a network of computers and subnets (intranets) or both, and incorporate protocols, such as internet protocol (IP) , transmission control protocol (TCP) , user datagram protocol (UDP) . EDs 110a 110b, and 110c may be multimode devices capable of operation according to multiple radio access technologies, and may incorporate one or multiple transceivers necessary to support such.

In addition, the communication system 100 may include a sensing agent (not shown) to manage the sensed data from ED 110 and/or any one of TRPs 170a, 170b, 172. In one implementation, the sensing agent may be part of any one of TRPs 170a, 170b, 172. In another implementation, the sensing agent is a separate node that can communicate with the CN 130 and/or the RAN 120 (such as any one of TRPs 170a, 170b, 172) .

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration showing an apparatus 310 wirelessly communicating with another apparatus 320 within a communication system (e.g., the communication system 100) according to an implementation of the present disclosure. The apparatus 310 may be an electronic device (such as ED 110) . The apparatus 320 may be a network node (e.g., the network node 170) such as T-TRP 170 or an NT-TRP 172. Although only one apparatus 310, and one apparatus 320 are shown in the figure, the number of apparatus 310 and/or number of apparatus 320 can vary, potentially including one or more of each. For example, a single ED 110 may be served by a single T-TRP 170 (or a single NT-TRP 172) , or by multiple T-TRPs 170 (or multiple NT-TRPs 172) . Similarly, a single ED 110 may be served by one or more T-TRPs 170 and one or more NT-TRPs 172. Similarly, a single T-TRP 170 (or a single NT-TRP 172) may serve one or more EDs 110.

The apparatus 310 may include one or more processors 210. For clarity and to avoid overcrowding the illustration, only a single processor 210 is illustrated. The apparatus 310 may further include a transmitter 201 and a receiver 203 coupled to one or more antennas 204. For clarity, only a single antenna 204 is illustrated. One, some, or all of the antennas 204 may alternatively be panels. In some implementations, the transmitter 201 and the receiver 203 are separate from each other. In other implementations, the transmitter 201 and the receiver 203 may be integrated into a single unit, for example, as a transceiver. The transceiver is configured to modulate data or other content for transmission by the one or more antennas 204 or a network interface controller (NIC) . The transceiver may also be configured to demodulate data or other content received by the one or more antennas 204. A transceiver may include any suitable structure for generating signals for wireless or wired transmission and/or for processing signals received through wireless or wired communication. Each antenna 204 includes any suitable structure for transmitting and/or receiving wireless or wired signals. The apparatus 310 may include a memory 208. In some implementations, the apparatus 310 may include multiple memories 208. Only a single transmitter 201, receiver 203, processor 210, memory 208, and antenna 204 is illustrated for simplicity, but the apparatus 310 may include one or more other components. In some implementations of the present disclosure, the transceiver (or transmitter 201 and/or receiver 203) may be viewed as an interface circuit.

The memory 208 is configured to store instructions used to perform operations described herein. The memory 208 may also be configured to store data that is used, generated, or collected by the apparatus 310. For example, the memory 208 can store software instructions or modules configured to implement some or all of the functionalities and/or operations described herein and that which are executed by the one or more processors 210.

The apparatus 310 may further include one or more input/output devices (not shown) or interfaces. The input/output devices or interfaces facilitate interaction with a user or other devices in the network. Each input/output device or interface includes suitable components for facilitating transmission of information to a user and reception of information from a user, and for various network interface communications. Such components may include, but are not limited to, a speaker, microphone, keypad, keyboard, display, touch screen, and the like.

The processor 210 may be configured to perform (or control the apparatus 310 to perform) operations (or methods) described herein as being performed by the apparatus 310. For example, the processor 210 performs or controls the apparatus 310 to perform the operations of: a) receiving one or more transport blocks (TBs) , b) using a resource for decoding at least one of the received TBs, c) releasing the resource for decoding another of the received TBs, and/or d) receiving configuration information configuring a resource. Specifically, the operations may include tasks related to: preparing a transmission for UL transmission to the apparatus 320, processing DL transmissions received from the apparatus 320, and handling SL transmission to and from another apparatus 310. Processing operations related to preparing a transmission for UL transmission may include operations such as, but not limited to, encoding, modulating, transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing DL transmissions may include operations such as, but not limited to, receive beamforming, demodulating and decoding received symbols. Processing operations related to processing SL transmissions may include operations such as, but not limited to, transmit/receive beamforming, modulating/demodulating and encoding/decoding symbols. Depending upon the implementation, a DL transmission may be received by the receiver 203, possibly using receive beamforming, and the processor 210 may extract signaling from the DL transmission (such as by detecting and/or decoding the signaling) . An example of signaling may be a reference signal transmitted by the apparatus 320. In some implementations, the processor 210 implements the transmit beamforming and/or the receive beamforming based on the indication of beam direction, such as beam angle information (BAI) , received from the apparatus 320. In some implementations, the processor 210 may be configured to perform operations relating to network access (such as initial access) and/or downlink synchronization, which includes operations for detecting a synchronization sequence, decoding and obtaining the system information, and the like. In some implementations, the processor 210 may perform channel estimation, such as using a reference signal received from the apparatus 320.

Although not illustrated, in some implementations, the processor 210 may either be a part of the transmitter 201 or a part of the receiver 203 or a part of both the transmitter 201 and the receiver 203. Although not illustrated, in some implementations, the memory 208 may be a part of the processor 210.

The processor 210, along with the processing components of the transmitter 201 and the receiver 203 may each be implemented by one or more processors that may the same or different. These processors are configured to execute instructions stored in a memory (such as in the memory 208) .

The apparatus 320 includes one or more processors 260 (only one processor 260 is illustrated) . The apparatus 320 may further include one or more transmitters 252 and one or more receivers 254 coupled to one or more antennas 256. Only a single antenna 256 is illustrated to avoid clutter in the illustration. One, some, or all of the antennas 256 may alternatively be panels. In some implementations, the transmitter 252 and the receiver 254 are separate from each other. In other implementations, the transmitter 252 and the receiver 254 may be integrated into a single unit such as, for example, as a transceiver. The apparatus 320 may further include a memory 258. In some implementations, the apparatus 320 may include multiple memories 258. The apparatus 320 may further include a scheduler 253. Only a single transmitter 252, receiver 254, processor 260, memory 258, antenna 256 and scheduler 253 are illustrated for simplicity, however the apparatus 320 may include one or more other components. In the present disclosure, in some implementations, the transceiver (or transmitter 252 and/or receiver 254) may be viewed as an interface circuit.

In some implementations, various components of the apparatus 320 may be distributed. For example, some of the modules of the apparatus 320 may be located remotely from the equipment housing the antennas 256 for the apparatus 320 (and therefore also can be viewed as one or more nodes) . These modules, which can be considered as one or more nodes, may be coupled to the equipment that houses the antennas 256 over a communication link (not shown) , sometimes referred to as front haul, such as the Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) . Therefore, in some implementations, the term apparatus 320 may also refer to network-side nodes that perform processing operations such as, but not limited to, determining the location of the apparatus 310, resource allocation (scheduling) , message generation, and encoding/decoding, and that which are not necessarily part of the equipment that houses the antennas 256 of the apparatus 320. The nodes may also be coupled to other apparatuses 320. In some implementations, the apparatus 320 may actually be a plurality of nodes that are operating together to serve the apparatus 310, such as through the use of coordinated multipoint transmissions, or through the use of ORAN system as described above in the disclosure.

The processor 260 is configured to perform operations including those related to: preparing a transmission for DL transmission to the apparatus 310, processing an UL transmission received from the apparatus 310, preparing a transmission for backhaul transmission to another apparatus 320, and processing a transmission received over backhaul from another apparatus 320. Processing operations related to preparing a transmission for DL or backhaul transmission may include operations such as, but not limited to, encoding, modulating, precoding (such as MIMO precoding) , transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing received transmissions in the UL or over backhaul may include operations such as, but not limited to, receive beamforming, demodulating received symbols, and decoding received symbols. The processor 260 may also be configured to perform operations relating to network access (such as initial access) and/or DL synchronization, such as generating the content of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) , generating the system information, and the like. In some implementations, the processor 260 is further configured to generate an indication of beam direction, such as BAI, which may be scheduled for transmission by the scheduler 253 which will be described below. In some implementations, the processor 260 implements the transmit beamforming and/or receive beamforming based on beam direction information (such as BAI) received from another apparatus 320. The processor 260 is configured to perform other network side processing operations described herein, such as, but not limited to, determining the location of the apparatus 310, determining where to deploy another apparatus 320, and the like. In some implementations, the processor 260 may generate signaling data, to configure one or more parameters of the apparatus 310 and/or one or more parameters of another apparatus 320. Any signaling data generated by the processor 260 is sent by the transmitter 252. In some implementations, the apparatus 320 implements physical layer processing. In some implementations, the apparatus 320 may perform higher layer functions such as those at the Medium Access Control (MAC) or Radio Link Control (RLC) layers in addition to physical layer processing. In the apparatus 320, the scheduler 253 may be coupled to the processor 260 or integrated within the processor 260. In some implementations, the scheduler 253 may be integrated within the apparatus 320 or may be operated separately from the apparatus 320. The scheduler 253 may schedule UL, DL, SL, and/or backhaul transmissions, including issuing scheduling grants and/or configuring scheduling-free (such as “configured grant” ) resources.

The apparatus 320 may further include a memory 258 that is configured to store instructions for performing the operations described herein. The memory 258 may also store data that is used, generated, or collected by the apparatus 320. For example, the memory 258 can store software instructions or modules configured to implement some or all of the functionalities and/or implementations described herein and that which are executed by the processor 260.

Although not illustrated, the processor 260 may be implemented as part of the transmitter 252 and/or a part of the receiver 254. Although not illustrated, in some implementations, the processor 260 may implement the scheduler 253 and the memory 258 may be implemented as part of the processor 260.

The processor 260, the scheduler 253, the processing components of the transmitter 252, and the processing components of the receiver 254 may each be implemented by the same or different processors that are configured to execute instructions stored in a memory, such as in the memory 258.

The apparatus 320 and/or the apparatus 310 may include other components, not shown or described herein for the sake of clarity.

Note that the term “signaling” , as used herein, may alternatively be referred to as control signaling, control message, control information, or message for simplicity. Signaling between a base station (such as the TRP 170a. 170b, 172) and a UE or sensing device (such as ED 110) , or signaling between a different UE or sensing device (such as between ED 110a and ED 110b) may be carried in physical layer signaling (also called as dynamic signaling) , which is transmitted in a physical layer control channel. For DL, the physical layer signaling may be known as downlink control information (DCI) which is transmitted in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) . For UL, the physical layer signaling may be known as uplink control information (UCI) which is transmitted in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) . For SL, signaling between different UEs or sensing devices (such as between ED 110a and ED 110b) may be known as SL control information (SCI) which is transmitted in a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) . Signaling may be carried in a higher layer (such as higher than physical layer) signaling, which is transmitted in a physical layer data channel, such as in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) for downlink signaling, in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for uplink signaling, and in a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) for SL signaling. Higher layer signaling may also be called static signaling, or semi-static signaling. The higher layer signaling may include radio resource control (RRC) protocol signaling or media access control -control element (MAC-CE) signaling. Signaling may be included in a combination of physical layer signaling and higher layer signaling.

It should be noted that in the present disclosure, “information” , when different from “message” , may be carried within a single message, or may be carried in multiple separate messages.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example apparatus 410 according to an implementation of the present disclosure. The apparatus 410 may be a communication device or an apparatus implemented in a communication device such as the ED 110 or the TRPs 170a, 170b, 172. For example, the apparatus 410 implemented in an ED may be an integrated circuit, which in some instances may be referred to as a chip, a modem, a modem chip, a baseband chip, or a baseband processor. In some implementations, one or more integrated circuits can be packaged into a system-on-chip, a system-in-package, or a multi-chip module. The apparatus 410 can include one or more integrated circuits and other discrete components. In some implementations, the apparatus 410 may be a module within the ED 110, or within the apparatus 310. In some implementations, the apparatus 410 may be a module within one of the TRPs 170a, 170b, 172, or the apparatus 320.

In an example, the apparatus 410 may include one or more processors 411, and an interface circuit 412. The apparatus 410 may further include a memory 413. The one or more processors 411 are configured to process signals and execute one or more communication protocols. The memory 413 is configured to store at least a part of corresponding computer program instructions and/or data. In an example, the one or more processors 411 execute the computer program instructions stored in the memory 413 to implement related operations (for example, inputting, outputting, receiving, and transmitting) in the method embodiments disclosed herein. In some implementations, the memory 413 being configured to store the corresponding computer program instructions and/or data may mean that the memory 413 is configured to store all of the corresponding computer program instructions and/or data for execution by the one or more processors 411. In some implementations, the memory 413 being configured to store the corresponding computer program instructions and/or data may mean that the memory 413 is configured to store a part of the corresponding computer program instructions and/or data. For example, the part of the corresponding computer program instructions and/or data may include computer program instructions and/or data that need to be currently executed by the one or more processors 411. Thus, the memory 413 may store different parts of computer program instructions and/or data for a plurality of times for the one or more processors 411 to perform related operations in the method embodiments disclosed herein. As a communication interface, the interface circuit 412 is configured to implement communication with another component. For example, the interface circuit 412 may communicate a signal with another apparatus or system, such as a radio frequency processing apparatus or another processor. The signal may include or carry information intended as a payload, such as user data, control information, etc. The signal may also include or carry information useful to a receiver, but not necessarily as a payload, such as a pilot signal or reference signal. Communicating the signal may include transmitting the signal to another component or device. Communicating the signal may additionally or alternatively include receiving the signal from another component or device. Transmitting the signal may include outputting the signal to a component or device that is directly or indirectly coupled to the interface circuit 412. Receiving the signal may include inputting or obtaining the signal from a component or device that is directly or indirectly couped to the interface circuit 412. Optionally, to reduce a load of the one or more processors, a baseband signal processing circuit 414 may be also disposed to implement processing of at least a part of baseband signals, including signal demodulation, modulation, encoding, decoding, or the like.

The apparatus 410 may be the processor 210 (or 260) within the apparatus 310 (or 320) , in some scenarios, or may be included within the processor 210 (or 260) within the apparatus 310 (or 320) in some scenarios. The apparatus 410 may be a baseband chip or may include a baseband chip. In some implementations, the apparatus 410 may be independently packaged into a chip. In some implementations, the apparatus 310 (or 320) includes different types of chips. The apparatus 410 may be packaged into a processor chip (for example, an SoC chip or an SIP chip) with the different types of chips. In some implementations, the apparatus 410 may be packaged into a chip with some or all of circuits of a radio frequency processing system that may further be included in the apparatus 310 (or 320) .

FIG. 5 illustrates example apparatus 510 according to an implementation of the present disclosure. The apparatus 510 may include corresponding modules or units configured to implement methods and/or implementations described herein. In some implementations, the apparatus 510 includes a processing unit 512 and a communication unit 513. Optionally, the apparatus 510 may further include a storage unit 511 configured to store apparatus program code (or instructions) and/or data.

The apparatus 510 may be an ED side apparatus, for example, an ED or a module in an ED, or a circuit or a chip responsible for a communication function in an ED. In some implementations, apparatus 510 may be the apparatus 310. The processing unit 512 may be the processor 210. The communication unit 513 may include a receiving unit and/or a transmitting unit. The receiving unit and/or the transmitting unit may be the transmitter 201 and/or the receiver 203 respectively. The storage unit 511 may be the memory 208.

The apparatus 510 may be a base station side apparatus, for example, a base station or a module in a base station, or a circuit or a chip responsible for a communication function in a base station. In some implementations, apparatus 510 may be apparatus 320. The processing unit 512 may be the processor 260 (the scheduler 253 may also be included) . The communication unit 513 may include a receiving unit and/or a transmitting unit. The receiving unit and/or the transmitting unit may be the transmitter 252 and/or the receiver 254 respectively. The storage unit 511 may be the memory 258.

In some implementations, when the apparatus 510 is an ED 110 or a module in an ED 110, a function of the apparatus 510 may be implemented by one or more processors. Specifically, the processor may include a modem chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or an SIP chip that includes a modem core. A function of the communication unit 513 may be implemented by a transceiver circuit.

In some implementations, when the apparatus 510 is a circuit or a chip that is responsible for a communication function in an ED 110, such as a modem chip, a system on chip (SoC) chip or an SIP chip that includes a modem core -a function of the processing unit 512 may be implemented by a circuit system within the chip which includes one or more processors. A function of the communication unit 513 may be implemented by an interface circuit or a data transceiver circuit on the chip.

It may be understood that the units in the apparatus 510 may be logical or functional. Each function may correspond to one functional unit, or two or more functions may be integrated into a single functional unit. In actual implementation, all or some of the units may be integrated into a single physical entity, or may be distributed across different physical entities. In addition, the functional units may be implemented in the form of hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. Whether a function is implemented in the form of hardware or software depends on particular applications and design constraint conditions of the technical solutions. A person skilled in the art may use different methods to implement the described functions for specific applications, but it should not be considered that the implementation goes beyond the scope of this disclosure.

In an example, a functional unit in any one of the apparatuses may be configured as one or more integrated circuits for implementing the methods disclosed herein, for example, as one or more application-specific integrated circuits (application-specific integrated circuits, ASICs) , one or more central processing units (CPUs) , one or more microprocessors or microprocessor units (MPUs) , one or more microcontrollers or microcontroller units (MCUs) , one or more digital signal processors (DSPs) , one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) , or a combination of these.

In an example, the storage unit 511 may include a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasable programmable memory, and/or a register.

A processor may be referred to as a processor system, an application processor, a baseband processor, a processor circuit, or a processor core. The processor may include one or a combination of one or more central processing units (CPUs) , one or more digital signal processors (DSPs) , one or more microprocessors (microprocessor units, MPUs) , one or more microcontrollers (microcontroller units, MCUs) , one or more graphics processing units (GPUs) , one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) , one or more artificial intelligence processors (AI processors) , or one or more neural network processing units (NPUs) .

Memory or a storage unit may include one or more of the following storage media: a random access memory (RAM) , a static random access memory (static RAM, SRAM) , a dynamic random access memory (dynamic RAM, DRAM) , a phase-change memory (PCM) , a resistive random access memory (resistive RAM, ReRAM) , a magnetoresistive random access memory (magnetoresistive RAM, MRAM) , a ferroelectric random access memory (ferroelectric RAM, FRAM) , a cache, a register, a read-only memory (ROM) , a flash memory (flash memory) , an erasable programmable read-only memory (erasable programmable ROM, EPROM) , a hard disk, and the like. In an example, computer program instructions used to execute embodiments may be stored in a non-volatile memory, for example, at least a part of a memory or storage unit (for example, one or more of a ROM, a flash memory, an EPROM, or a hard disk) . When a terminal runs, a part or all of corresponding computer program instructions may be loaded to a memory that has a higher transmission speed with the processor, for example, at least a part of a memory or a storage unit (for example, one or more of a RAM, an SRAM, a DRAM, a PCM, a RERAM, an MRAM, a FRAM, a cache, or a register) , so that the processor executes the computer program instructions to perform the steps in the method embodiments disclosed herein.

A device, such as a base station, may provide coverage over a cell. Wireless communication with the device may occur over one or more carrier frequencies, referred to as carriers. A carrier, also known as a component carrier (CC) , may be characterized by its bandwidth and a reference frequency, such as the center, lowest or highest frequency of the carrier. A carrier may be on licensed or unlicensed spectrum. Wireless communication with the device may also occur over one or more bandwidth parts (BWPs) . For example, a carrier may have one or more BWPs. More generally, wireless communication with the device may occur over a spectrum. The spectrum may include one or more carriers and/or one or more BWPs.

A cell may include one or more downlink resources and optionally one or more uplink resources, or a cell may include one or more uplink resources and optionally one or more downlink resources. Alternatively, a cell may include both one or more downlink resources and one or more uplink resources. For example, a cell may include one downlink carrier/BWP, one uplink carrier/BWP, multiple downlink carriers/BWPs, multiple uplink carriers/BWPs, one downlink carrier/BWP and one uplink carrier/BWP, one downlink carrier/BWP and multiple uplink carriers/BWPs, multiple downlink carriers/BWPs and one uplink carrier/BWP, multiple downlink carriers/BWPs and multiple uplink carriers/BWPs. In some implementations, a cell may also include one or more sidelink resources, including sidelink transmitting and receiving resources.

A BWP is a set of contiguous or non-contiguous frequency subcarriers on a carrier, a set of contiguous or non-contiguous frequency subcarriers on multiple carriers, or a set of non-contiguous or contiguous frequency subcarriers, which may have (e.g., be on) one or more carriers.

In some implementations, a carrier may have one or more BWPs. For example, a carrier may have a bandwidth of 20 MHz and consist of one BWP, or a carrier may have a bandwidth of 80 MHz and consist of two adjacent contiguous BWPs. In other implementations, a BWP may have one or more carriers. For example, a BWP may have a bandwidth of 40 MHz and consists of two adjacent contiguous carriers, where each carrier has a bandwidth of 20 MHz. In some implementations, a BWP may include non-contiguous spectrum resources across non-contiguous multiple carriers, where a first carrier of the non-contiguous multiple carriers may be in mmWave band, a second carrier may be in a low band (such as a 2GHz band) , the third carrier (if it exists) may be in the THz band, and the fourth carrier (if it exists) may be in a visible light band. Resources within a BWP on a single carrier may be contiguous or non-contiguous.

Wireless communication may occur over an occupied bandwidth, which may be defined as the width of a frequency band where, beyond the lower and the upper frequency limits, the mean emitted powers are each equal to a specified percentage (β/2) of the total mean transmitted power. (e.g., β/2 = 0.5%) .

The carrier, BWP, or the occupied bandwidth may be signaled by a network device (such as a base station) dynamically, such as via physical layer control signaling (e.g., DCI) , or semi-statically, such as via radio resource control (RRC) signaling or via the medium access control (MAC) layer, or be predefined based on the application scenario, determined by the UE as a function of known parameters, or fixed by a standard.

Even though CA was introduced and supported since 4G LTE, it is limited by frequency band (s) as only carries in the same or neighboring frequency bands can be aggregated. In 5G, the LTM is introduced and specified. However, the overall cell layout is still in the specification and early UE still needs to be bounded by cell layout and not get benefits from this mobility triggered by the lower layer. In future wireless system, with more and more frequency resources to be exploited and supported together, with more hybrid systems deployed, and with more stringent requirement on power saving to be met, a more unified solution needs to be introduced for carrier management and TP resource managements.

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic illustration of example Uni-Cs, according to some implementations of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6, in some cases, a uni-carrier or Uni-C (union-carrier) is a group of component carriers that can be assigned/configured for a UE. It can be a more generalized/extended carrier aggregation (CA) in next generation wireless system. A uni-carrier can comprise a number of component carries in the same or nearby frequency band (s) , in different frequency bands, or even in different frequency ranges. Different uni-carriers can be assigned/configured in the same or different frequency range (FR) . For example, as shown in FIG. 6, uni-carrier #1 can be assigned/configured in FR1, uni-carrier #2 can be assigned/configured in FR3 (7GHz-15GHz) , and uni-carrier #N can be assigned/configured in FR2. That can extend the CA scheme mentioned above and provide flexibility in exploiting all supported frequency ranges for enhanced coverage and capacity. In general, a UE can first access to the network via a pre-defined carrier, such as the initial access carrier 610 as shown in FIG. 6. After the UE obtains synchronization with the network, it can read MIB and SIB information, which can direct the UE to camp on the same or another carrier. This carrier, as denoted in FIG. 6 as an anchor carrier 620, is the carrier that UE normally connects, camps on, and gets paging information if it is in inactive/idle state. The UE can further read assignment/configuration information of uni-carrier from the anchor carrier 620. For example, the UE can obtain assignment/configuration of one or more uni-carriers from the anchor carrier 620. The initial access carrier 610 and anchor carrier 620 can be the same or different carriers and they can be part of one or more uni-carrier but not always necessary. In some cases, the assignment/configuration information of uni-carrier is also referred to as “Uni-C assignment. ”

For different operators, the assignment/configuration can be different. FIG. 7 shows a schematic illustration of example multi-operator uni-carrier assignment/configuration, according to some implementations of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 7, operator A can assign/configure two uni-carriers, uni-carrier#1710 and uni-carrier#2 720 for the UE, while for operator B, it can assign/configure three uni-carriers, uni-carrier#1 730, uni-carrier#2 740, and uni-carrier#3 750 for the UE. All the assignment/configuration of uni-carrier can be UE specific or TP specific.

With the introduction of uni-carrier, it can facilitate the inter-operator sharing of the spectrum, which can provide benefits to each operator. In general, two types of uni-carriers can be defined/configured for an operator:

1^st type: operator-specific non-shared uni-carrier. For example, in FIG. 7, Uni-carrier #1 710 for operator A and uni-carrier#1 730 and #2 740 for operator B are operator-specific non-shared uni-carrier, which means the operator can use these uni-carriers to maintain its essential operations for its customers (users) . For example, the initial access CC (e.g., the initial access CC 760 or the initial access CC 780) and anchor CC (e.g., the anchor CC 770 or the anchor CC 790) can be part of such uni-carriers. 2^nd type: operator-shared uni-carrier. For example, in FIG. 7, Uni-carrier #2 720 for operator A and uni-carrier#3 750 for operator B are operator-shared uni-carriers, which means the operators can share these uni-carriers with other non-serving operators to support their customers for data transmission. Alternatively, a shared uni-carrier can be owned by a group of operators or it is in an open/free spectrum (e.g., unlicensed spectrum) , such that all operators can all transmit/receive data on such shared uni-carriers.

Different inter-operator resource sharing operations can be assigned/configured. FIG. 8, FIG. 9, and FIG. 10 show three examples respectively.

FIG. 8 illustrates a schematic illustration of a first example of inter-operator resource sharing operations, according to some implementations of the present disclosure. In the 1^st example shown in FIG. 8, the operator B can assign/configure its own uni-carrier #1 840 and uni-carrier #2 850 to its serving UE. The operator B can also assign/configure uni-carrier #3 830 to its serving UE. The operator A can assign/configure its own uni-carrier #1 810 and uni-carrier #2 820 to its serving UE. The operator A can also assign/configure uni-carrier #3 830 to its serving UE. Among these uni-carriers, uni-carrier #1 (e.g., uni-carrier #1 840 or uni-carrier #1 810) and uni-carrier #2 (e.g., uni-carrier #2 850 or uni-carrier #2 820) are each operator’s operator-specific non- shared uni-carriers respectively. uni-carrier #3 830 is a common shared uni-carrier for both operators A and B.

FIG. 9 illustrates a schematic illustration of a second example of inter-operator resource sharing operations, according to some implementations of the present disclosure. In the 2^nd example shown in FIG. 9, the operator B can assign/configure its own uni-carrier #1 920, uni-carrier #2 930 and uni-carrier #3 940 to its serving UE and also assign/configure uni-carrier #4 910 from operator A (other carriers for operator A are not shown here) for its serving UE. Among these uni-carriers, uni-carrier #1 920 and uni-carrier #2 930 are operator B’s operator-specific non-shared uni-carriers and uni-carrier #3 940 is operator B’s operator-shared uni-carriers. uni-carrier #4 910 is operator A’s operator-shared uni-carrier.

FIG. 10 illustrates a schematic illustration of a third example of inter-operator resource sharing operations, according to some implementations of the present disclosure. In the 3^rd example shown in FIG. 10, the operator B can assign/configure its own uni-carrier #1 1020 and uni-carrier #2 1030 to its serving UE and also assign/configure uni-carrier #3 1010 from operator A (other carriers for operator A are not shown here) for its serving UE. Among these uni-carriers, uni-carrier #1 1020 and uni-carrier #2 1030 are operator B’s operator-specific non-shared uni-carriers, and uni-carrier #3 1010 is operator A’s operator-shared uni-carrier. In this case, operator B does not assign/configure any of its own shared uni-carrier for its UE.

There are other manners to assign/configure Uni-C for inter-operator operation of joint transmission.

FIG. 11 illustrates a schematic illustration of a fourth example of inter-operator resource sharing operations, according to some implementations of the present disclosure. In some cases, the inter-operator can share only DL or UL uni-carriers for joint transmission. In the example as shown in FIG. 11, the operator B can assign/configure its own uni-carrier #1 1120, uni-carrier #2 1130 and uni-carrier #3 1140 to its serving UE and also assign/configure uni-carrier #4 1110 from operator A for its serving UE. Among these uni-carriers, uni-carrier #1 1120 and uni-carrier #2 1130 are operator B’s operator-specific non-shared uni-carriers and uni-carrier #3 1140 is operator B’s operator-shared uni-carriers. uni-carrier #4 1110 is operator A’s operator-shared uni-carrier and all CCs of this uni-carrier can be all DL or all UL or all TDD CCs. The scenario can be that a large operator may have abundant resources in DL, UL, or TDD and can share/lend them to small operator to boost their capacity/coverage while also generate revenues for itself.

FIG. 12 illustrates a schematic illustration of a fifth example of inter-operator resource sharing operations, according to some implementations of the present disclosure. In some cases, the inter-operator only shares uni-carriers in certain FR or frequency bands. In the example as shown in FIG. 12, the operator B can assign/configure its own uni-carrier #1 1220 and uni-carrier #2 1230 to its serving UE and also assign/configure uni-carrier #3 1210 from operator A for its serving UE. Among these uni-carriers, uni-carrier #1 1220 and uni-carrier #2 1230 are operator B’s operator-specific non-shared uni-carrier. uni-carrier #3 1210 is operator A’s operator-shared uni-carrier and the CCs of uni-carrier #3 1210 are all in FR 2 only. In some cases, uni-carrier #3 1210 can include other CC (s) in another FR different from FR 2, but only the CCs in FR 2 are shared with other operator (s) . In other words, in some cases, only a part of a Uni-C, instead of all of it, is shared among operators. The scenario can be that an operator may have more resources in certain FR or frequency bands and can share/lend them to other operators which may lack frequency resources in certain FR or frequency bands.

FIG. 13 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 1300 for Uni-C based inter-operator operations, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

At 1310, the UE gets access to a pre-defined CC from its own serving operator and can be assigned an anchor CC for it to camp on.

At 1320, the UE reports its capability of supporting Uni-carrier feature and the frequency range/band it can support including those from other non-serving operator commonly shared uni-carriers. In some cases, the UE can transmit a capability report including Uni-C support capability. The Uni-C support capability can indicate that the UE supports an inter-operator operation. In some examples, the UE can transmit the capability report to a network node associated with a serving operator which serves the UE.

At 1330, the UE’s serving operator exchanges information on resource sharing with other non-serving operator (s) (in some cases, this step can be done earlier and is not UE specific) and gets assignment/configuration information on shared Uni-carrier from other non-serving operator (s) . The commonly shared uni-carriers can be pre-defined or commissioned for a group of operators.

In some cases, the UE’s serving operator (e.g., a network node of the UE’s serving operator) may transmit a request for information of the shared Uni-C (s) to the UE’s non-serving operator (e.g., a network node of the UE’s non-serving operator) . The UE’s non-serving operator can respond to the request by transmitting information of the shared Uni-C (s) to the UE’s serving operator.

In some examples, the UE’s serving operator may obtain information of the shared Uni-C (s) using operations different from those in step 1330. For example, in some examples, the UE’s serving operator does not obtain information of the shared Uni-C(s) from UE’s non-serving operator. Instead, the UE’s serving operator can obtain the information of the shared Uni-C (s) from a storage device, such as a local storage device, a cloud device, or both. In some examples, after the UE’s serving operator obtains information of the shared Uni-C (s) , the UE’s serving operator can store the information of the shared Uni-C (s) in a storage device. The UE’s serving operator can then obtain the information of the shared Uni-C (s) from the storage device for subsequent requests and operations.

At 1340, the UE can obtain assignment/configuration of Uni-carriers from its serving operator and shared Uni-carriers from other non-serving operator (s) . The commonly shared uni-carriers can be announced/broadcast by each operator to its customer (e.g., user) .

In some cases, the shared Uni-C can be commonly shared by more than one operator. In such case, the shared Uni-C can be owned by the more than one operator, operated by the more than one operator, or both.

In some cases, the shared Uni-C can be owned by one operator and shared with other operator (s) . In such case, the shared Uni-C can be owned by the one operator, operated by the one operator, or both.

In some cases, the UE can obtain system information that includes a configuration of spectrum/frequency resources (also referred to as “Uni-C configuration” in some cases) in terms of Uni-C (s) and associated CCs, and common control channels with one or more of Uni-C IDs, CC IDs or Freq-IDs. For example, the common control channels may include at least one of RACH, paging, or low power -wake up signal (LP-WuS) .

In some cases, a Uni-C configuration can indicate one or more Uni-Cs, for example, by including one or more Uni-C IDs associated with the one or more Uni-Cs in the Uni-C configuration. Each of the one or more Uni-C IDs can be associated with a respective Uni-C of the one or more Uni-Cs. In some examples, a Uni-C may not be configured any Uni-C ID. In some implementations, the Uni-C configuration can indicate more than one Uni-Cs. The more than one Uni-Cs can belong to the same FR or different FRs.

The UE can obtain the Uni-C configuration from, for example, the UE’s serving operator or the UE’s non-serving operator. In some cases, the Uni-C configuration can be sent to a UE in a cell common signal, a group common signal, a UE specific signal, or any combinations thereof. The Uni-C configuration can be sent in RRC, MAC-CE, or other signals. For example, the Uni-C configuration can be included in system information such as MIB, or SIB1, or other SIBs.

In some cases, for a Uni-C including one or more CCs, the Uni-C configuration can indicate (e.g., include) a CC ID for at least one CC in the one or more CCs. In some cases, the Uni-C configuration does not indicate (e.g., include) any CC ID for a Uni-C. In some examples, the Uni-C configuration can indicate (e.g., include) other ID (s) associated with a Uni-C, such as BWP ID(s) , RBG ID (s) , RB ID (s) , and/or Freq-ID (s) .

In some examples, the UE’s serving operator (e.g., a network node of the UE’s serving operator) can transmit a Uni-C assignment to the UE. The Uni-C assignment can indicate a Uni-C that is shared among more than one operator, where the Uni-C can include one or more CCs. In some examples, in addition to the shared Uni-C (s) , the Uni-C assignment can indicate one or more operator-specific Uni-Cs.

In some cases, the Uni-C assignment is specific to the UE. For example, the Uni-C assignment can indicate one or more Uni-Cs assigned to the UE. Accordingly, the Uni-C assignment can indicate (e.g., include) at least one Uni-C ID of the one or more Uni-Cs. In some cases, the UE can receive the Uni-C configuration before receiving the Uni-C assignment, and the at least one Uni-C ID can be those included in a Uni-C configuration that the UE receives before receiving the Uni-C assignment. In some cases, the Uni-C assignment can be received by more than one UEs.

Additionally or alternatively, the Uni-C assignment can indicate other resources assigned to the UE, and these resources can, for example, be associated with (e.g., included in) the one or more Uni-Cs assigned to the UE. For example, the Uni-C assignment can indicate any combination of one or more CCs, one or more BWPs, one or more RBGs, and one or more RBs assigned to the UE. Accordingly, the Uni-C assignment can indicate (e.g., include) at least one ID indicating the other resources. For example, the at least one ID can include any combination of one or more CC IDs, one or more BWP IDs, one or more RBG IDs, one or more RB IDs, and one or more Freq-IDs.

In some examples, the Uni-C configuration indicates at least one CC in a Uni-C as a common control CC. The UE can receive the Uni-C assignment via the common control CC.

At 1350, the UE can perform data communication between UE and operator (s) following inter-operator operation. More details are described with respect to FIGS. 20-21.

In some cases, the steps 1330 and 1340 can be repeated (but may not be in sequential) if operator (s) need to change/update the shared Uni-carrier and corresponding assignment/configuration.

Optionally, the UE may obtain assignment/configuration of another Uni-carriers. Then the assignment/configuration in above step may be referred as a first Uni-C assignment, and the one in this step may be referred as a first Uni-C assignment. Accordingly, the Uni-C in above step may be referred as a first Uni-C, and the Uni-C in this step may be referred as a second Uni-C The second Uni-C assignment indicates a second Uni-C, wherein the second Uni-C is dedicated to one operator, and wherein the second Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .

In some cases, the first Uni-C assignment and the second Uni-C assignment may be carried in the same information or message.

In some cases, the first Uni-C and the second Uni-C are for different purpose. For example, the first Uni-C is used for capacity and the second Uni-C is used for coverage, or vice versa. For any other example, the first Uni-C is used for capacity and coverage, and the second Uni-C is used for coverage or capacity, or vice versa.

In some cases, the UE may be configured with a first shared random access channel (RACH) preamble resource pool, which is assigned for accessing the first Uni-C.

In some cases, the UE may be configured with a second dedicated RACH preamble resource pool, which is assigned for accessing the second Uni-C.

Please note that one or more of the above operations may be optional, or can be combined into one operation. And the order of the above operations can be changed. The present disclosure does not limit this.

In another implementation, the uni-carrier information can be assigned or configured to the UE. The information of each uni-carrier can include one or more of the following:

1. The uni-carrier ID (also referred to as “Uni-C ID” in some cases) , for example, uni-C_1, uni-C_2, …, uni-C_k.

2. The component carriers (CC) of the uni-carrier and their corresponding carrier ID (s) or indices, for example, cc_1, cc_2, …, cc_n.

3. Indication of inter-operator Uni-C. In some examples, the Uni-C assignment can indicate that the Uni-C is an inter-operator Uni-C. For example, indication of inter-operator Uni-C can include a 1-bit indicator with value of 1 indicating it is an inter-operator uni-carrier and 0 indicating it is an operator-specific uni-carrier from its serving operator. Alternatively, this indication can be a bit string or bit-map to indicate a specific operator ID or index of an operator who owns the uni-C or a common shared uni-carrier. For example, if a bit string is used, common shared uni-carrier can be indicated by 000, operator A can be indicated by 001, and operator B can be indicated by 010. If a bit-map is used, common shared uni-carrier can be indicated by 000, operator A can be indicated by 001, operator B can be indicated by 010, and operator C can be indicated by 100.

4. FR and BWP information. In some examples, the BWP information can include start of the BWP, bandwidth of BWP or the end of the BWP. FR can be one or more of the FR1, FR2, FR3, …FR k. For shared uni-carrier from non-serving operator, the start of BWP can be an absolute frequency value (or an offset relative to an absolute frequency value) . The offset relative to the start of the frequency for non-serving operators may not be enough as the start of the frequency for non-serving operators may not be known to the serving operator.

5. Sub-carrier spacing (SRS) .

6. Transmission format on each CC such as TDD/FDD configuration.

7. SSB information for the uni-carrier including where (which CC) SSB is transmitted and configuration of SSB.

8. TA offset for uni-carrier relative to a reference carrier.

Some information may not be needed all the time (e.g., those for DL and UL synchronization) .

The above-mentioned uni-carrier information can be configured using higher layer signaling such as RRC. They can also be activated/deactivated by more dynamic signaling such as DCI or MAC CE. For example, a set of 8 uni-carrier information is configured to the UE including some from its own serving operator and some from other non-serving operators. The DCI or MAC CE can be used to activate one or more of them more dynamically. In this case, 8-bit bitmap can be used to activate one or more of the 8 configured uni-carriers. For example, a bit map of “11000000” indicates that uni-C #0 and uni-C#1 are activated assuming starting uni-C index is 0 and is indicated by the leftmost bit in the bit-map with a value of “1” indicating it is activated and a value of “0” indicating it is not activated.

FIG. 14 illustrates a schematic illustration of a first example of RAN sharing, according to some implementations of the present disclosure. In some implementations, for commonly shared spectrums (i.e., Uni-C) among multiple operators, the RAN or part of the RAN can be shared as well among these operators to support the transmission/reception on commonly shared Uni-C (s) . Here, the RAN can refer to the hardware and software implementing RAN functions, which can include any combination of TP (s) or TRP (s) with its antennas, PA, base station, DU, etc. As shown in FIG. 14 as an example, TP#1 1410 is from operator A, which can be a serving operator of the UE. Uni-C#1 is configured for the UE 1420 to communicate with the network (via TP#1 1410 as example) , which can be an operator-specific non-shared Uni-C. TP#2 1430 is a common TP shared by operators A and B, and Uni-C#2 and Uni-C#3 are configured for UE 1420 to communicate with the network via the common shared TP#2 1430. The coverage of TP#1 1410 and coverage of TP#2 1430 can be different but can overlap, and they can serve different purposes in the network. For example, the TP#1 1410 can provide larger coverage and serve as coverage TP (and its associated Uni-C as coverage Uni-C) for the UE (s) served by operator A. While for TP#2 1430, it can have limited coverage as compared with TP#1 1410 and serves more as a capacity TP (and its associated Uni-C as capacity Uni-C) for the UE (s) served by either operator A or operator B, respectively.

FIG. 15 illustrates a schematic illustration of a second example of RAN sharing, according to some implementations of the present disclosure. In some implementations, TP (s) can be shared between one or more operators and provide both operator-specific communication and operator-shared communication with UE (s) . As shown in FIG. 15 as an example, TP#1 1510 can be configured to communicate with UE (s) using both Uni-C#1, Uni-C#2 and Uni-C#3, where Uni-C#1 is an operator-specific Uni-C from operator A and Uni-C#2 and Uni-C#3 are operator-shared Uni-C (s) shared between operators A and B. For example, Uni-C#1 can have larger coverage and serves as a coverage Uni-C, while Uni-C#2 and Uni-C#3 can have smaller coverage but higher capacity and can serve as capacity Uni-C (s) . As shown in FIG. 15, the TP#1 1510 communicates with UE#1 1520, which is at the cell edge using Uni-C#1, and UE#1 1520 is a UE served by operator A. The TP#1 1510 can communicate with UE#2 1530, which is at the cell center using Uni-C#2 and/or Uni-C#3, and UE#2 1530 can be a UE belonging to operator A or a UE belonging to operator B. With such deployment, the TP (s) can be shared with different operators and can provide both operator-specific communication and operator-shared communication with UE (s) , and thus provide enough flexibility to support both coverage and capacity communication with the UE (s) .

FIG. 16 illustrates a schematic illustration of a third example of RAN sharing, according to some implementations of the present disclosure. The operator-shared TP (s) (and corresponding Uni-C (s) ) or network part can form its own network as a standalone network. Alternatively, the operator-shared TP (s) (and corresponding Uni-C (s) ) or network part can be part of an operator-specific network, or a subset or network part of one or more operator-specific networks. For example, a group of shared TP(s) (and shared Uni-C (s) ) can form a self-contained network shared among a number of operators, such as operators A and B, which is shown in FIG. 16 as shared network C. When a UE belonging to either operator A or operator B gets access to the network C directly, as shown in FIG. 16 as UE#1 1610, it can identify such shared network from system information such as public land mobile network (PLMN) of sharing operators and/or relevant information, and an anchor carrier as one of the CCs can then be indicated for the UE to connect or camp on. Alternatively, the group of shared TP (s) (and shared Uni-C (s) ) or shared network can be the network part of one or more operator specific networks. For example, as shown in FIG. 16, the shared network C can be a network part of operator-specific networks from operators such as A and/or B as example. Such shared part of network can be used to improve the performance of operator-specific networks such as capacity. For example, a shared subset or network part can be built in hot spots, such as stadiums or downtown areas, to accommodate higher data volume from a number of operators, and thus save the building cost and operation expenses from the sharing operators. For this case, exemplified as UE#2 1620 shown in FIG. 16, the UE can get access to its operator-specific network first and obtain an anchor carrier, and then get shared subset or network part information/configuration including one or more of shared TP (s) and associated shared Uni-C (s) , etc., from its own operator- specific network before it connects to the shared network part for communication.

FIG. 17 illustrates a schematic illustration of a fourth example of RAN sharing, according to some implementations of the present disclosure. In some examples, when UE (s) gets access to the network, they may not be aware of whether the network, namely the corresponding spectrum, radio and TP, are shared or not. Network can identify the UE’s belonging based on a UE ID obtained from UE’s initial system entry. In this case, SSB can be shared but preamble resource can be either shared or dedicatedly configured. For example, as shown in FIG. 17, when UE#1 1710 or UE#2 1720 gets access to the system, the SSB (s) transmitted by the network can be shared and are known to all the UE (s) (whether they access to the operator-specific network or operator-shared network) . Therefore, both UE#1 1710 or UE#2 1720 can complete synchnization process on DL based on SSB and get access to the system information. However, the preambles for RACH process can be different, either from a shared pool for UE (s) to access shared network or from a dedicated pool configured/indicated for UE (s) to access an operator-specific network. Therefore, depending on a UE’s capability or needs, the UE can get access to network using different RACH preamble resources. As shown in FIG. 17, UE#1 1710 can use dedicated preamble resource pool to get access to operator-specific network by operator A, and UE#2 1720 can use shared preamble resource pool to get access to operator-shared network. After getting access to the system, network can assign UE (s) with different UE ID (s) to indicate their belongings, whether they belong to a particular operator-specific network or belong to an operator-shared network.

To share the common spectrum via the shared TP (s) , one or more type of resource divisions can be configured to the UE including TDM, FDM, or SDM. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, for TDM manner, operators A and B can be configured to use Uni-C #2 and/or Uni-C#3 in different orthogonal time durations and thus avoid the interference between them. Alternatively, for FDM manner, the Uni-C#2 can be configured to communicate between the UE 1420 served by operator A and TP#2 1430, and Uni-C#3 can be configured to communicate between the UE 1420 served by operator B and TP#2 1430, respectively. The FDM manner can be configured further at CC level, meaning some CC (s) in a Uni-C can be configured for a UE served by operator A and other CC (s) in the same Uni-C can be configured for a UE served by operator B. The spectrum division configuration can make the allocation of shared common spectrum more flexible.

In some cases, each TP (s) as shown in FIG. 14 can have connection with core network and there can also exist connections between TP (s) .

FIG. 18 illustrates a schematic illustration of a fifth example of RAN sharing, according to some implementations of the present disclosure. In addition to resource division (multiplexing) at shared TP (s) , other operations at shared TP (s) can be different from those at the TP (s) not shared by operators. As shown in FIG. 18, for example, if scheduling for UE (s) served by operator A and operator B are all done in shared TP (s) , two sets of MAC layer functions (and corresponding RLC and PDCP layer functions) can be configured on TP#2 1820, one for scheduling UE (s) from operator A and one for scheduling for UE (s) from operator B. Alternatively, the shared TP can be used as a TP for data transmission only (for UE (s) from different operators) and all the control mechanisms can be moved to those corresponding non-shared TP (s) from their operators. For example, as shown in FIG. 18, the scheduling for the UE served by operator A can be done in TP#1 1810 from operator A and the PDCCH carrying scheduling information can be transmitted from TP#1 1810 as well. The scheduled data communication carried by corresponding PDSCH or PUSCH can be transmitted between TP#2 1820 and the UE 1830. To support this, connection between TP#1 1810 and TP#2 1820 can carry additional information such as scheduling information and data to be communicated between TP#2 1820 and the UE 1830, such as TB (s) of information bits from MAC layer. In this way, a single set of protocol stacks can be enough for TP#2 1820 as shown in FIG. 18.

FIG. 19 illustrates a schematic illustration of an example of using shared inter-operator resources based on Uni-C (s) . In some cases, the inter-operator shared resource is used for capacity or coverage enhancement. In addition to the shared uni-carrier assignment/configuration information as described earlier, the scheduling/transmission/feedback operation using shared inter-operator resources can be different from the conventional manner and thus needs to be designed. As shown in FIG. 19 as an example of using shared inter-operator resources based on uni-carrier, a UE 1910 is served by operator A after getting access to TP#1 of operator A 1920. As operator A and operator B support shared inter-operator resource, the UE 1910 can be configured with two uni-carriers (as an example) : Uni-C#1 from its own serving operator A, and Uni-C#2 from non-serving operator B.

After UE obtains the Uni-C assignment/configuration from its serving operator (operator A) , the operator can start to schedule/transmit/receive on the configured Uni-C (s) . For Uni-C (s) configured from its own serving operator or common shared Uni-C, the conventional operation can be followed.

For inter-operator Uni-C (from operator B) , there are different ways to achieve the inter-operator joint transmission. One method is that the serving operator tunes to the inter-operator shared Uni-C and directly transmits/receives data on the inter-operator shared Uni-C like it transmits/receives on its own uni-carrier. For achieving this, the operator may need to adjust its hardware (such as RF or PA) to support the communication on a particular shared uni-carrier.

Alternatively, the serving operator may utilize the TP (s) of the non-serving operators which provide the shared uni-carriers to complete the transmission/receiving task for its data communication. In this case, as shown in FIG. 20 and FIG. 21 as examples for DL and UL respectively, the following steps can be used for scheduling, transmission/reception and feedback.

FIG. 20 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 2000 for DL data communication based on shared Uni-C, according to some implementations of the present disclosure. At 2010, the serving operator (e.g., TP#1 of operator A 1920 as shown in FIG. 19) can transmit the scheduling information to the UE. Correspondingly, the UE can receive the scheduling information from its serving operator (e.g., TP#1 of operator A 1920 as shown in FIG. 19) for DL and UL transmission on inter-operator Uni-C (from operator B in this example) . In some cases, even though the non-serving operators may be willing to share the resources for data transmission, it may not like to disclose more information for accessing its network such as accessing/decoding the control channel, etc.

The DCI scheduling data transmission can include the Uni-C index (or ID) , corresponding CC index (or ID) , and optionally operator index (or ID) , such as the Uni-C#2 of operator B as shown in FIG. 19 and one or more of its associated CC (s) .

At 2020, the serving operator transmits scheduling information to the UE. In this case, the serving operator (e.g., operator A in the present disclosure) may need to transfer data and scheduling information to non-serving operator (e.g., operator B in the present disclosure) via an inter-operator connection (link) for DL transmission. For UL transmission, the serving operator (e.g., operator A in the present disclosure) may need to transfer the scheduling information to non-serving operator (e.g., operator B in the present disclosure) for it to receive data from the UE. To maintain the security, the DL data can be passed over in MAC layer or below from serving operator (e.g., operator A in the present disclosure) to non-serving operator (e.g., operator B in the present disclosure) , for example data in TB format.

The PDCCH carrying corresponding DCI can be transmitted in UE-specific searching space (SS) and its CRC can be scrambled by an assigned new RNTI. This new RNTI can be denoted as ITO-RNTI to indicate inter-operator scheduling.

At 2030, the non-serving operator transmits DL data to the UE. For data transmission on DL, the non-serving operator (e.g., the TP#2 from non-serving operator (operator B) ) can follow the scheduling information passed from the serving operator (e.g., operator A in the present disclosure) to process/prepare and transmit the data passed over from the serving operator (e.g., operator A in the present disclosure) via inter-operator connection (or link) . In some examples, a network node of the non-serving operator transmits DL data to the UE via a shared Uni-C. In some cases, the network node of the non-serving operator can be shared among more than one operator.

At 2040, the UE transmits feedback for DL transmission to the serving operator. For HARQ-ACK feedback on DL transmission, the UE can transmit them directly to serving operator (e.g., operator A in the present disclosure) instead of non-serving operator (e.g., operator B in the present disclosure) to reduce overhead and inter-operator communication. In some examples, the UE can transmit the feedback for DL transmission to a network node of the non-serving operator (e.g., the TP#2 from the non-serving operator B 1930 as shown in FIG. 19) and/or a network node of the serving operator (e.g., the TP#1 from the serving operator A 1920 as shown in FIG. 19) .

FIG. 21 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 2100 for UL data communication based on shared Uni-C, according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

At 2110, the serving operator transmits scheduling information to the non-serving operator.

At 2120, the serving operator transmits scheduling information to the UE. For data transmission on UL, the UE can receive the scheduling information from TP#1 of serving operator (e.g., operator A in the present disclosure) .

At 2130, the UE can transmit its data to TP#2 of non-serving operator (e.g., operator A in the present disclosure) according to the scheduling information. In some cases, the UE can transmit the UL data to a network node of the non-serving operator via a shared Uni-C. After TP#2 of non-serving operator (e.g., operator B in the present disclosure) receives the data, it can try to decode data in PHY.

At 2140, the non-serving operator can transmit decoded UL data to the serving operator. If decoding is successful, the non-serving operator (e.g., operator B in the present disclosure) can pass the decoded data in TB format to serving operator (e.g., operator A in the present disclosure) via inter-operator connection (link) .

If decoding is not successful, the non-serving operator (e.g., operator B in the present disclosure) can pass a NACK indication to serving operator (e.g., operator A in the present disclosure) via inter-operator connection (link) and store soft samples of received data in its HARQ buffer waiting for the re-transmission.

In some cases, the operations of the non-serving operator in the present disclosure (e.g., in the example methods 1300, 2000, and 2100) can be performed by one or more network nodes associated with the non-serving operator (also referred to as “first network node” in some cases) . In some cases, the operations of the serving operator in the present disclosure (e.g., in the example methods 1300, 2000, and 2100) can be performed by one or more network nodes associated with the serving operator (also referred to as “second network node” in some cases) .

In some cases, a network node can be owned by an operator (e.g., the serving operator or the non-serving operator) , operated by the operator, or both. In some cases, a network node (e.g., the network node associated with the serving operator and/or the network node associated with the non-serving operator) can be owned by more than one operator, operated by more than one operator, or both. In some examples, the network node can include at least one of a TP, a base station, a TRP, or a core network node.

In some implementations, network nodes associated with different operators can have different PLMN IDs. Typically, different operators have different PLMN IDs. However, in some cases, an operator can have different PLMN IDs.

In present disclosure, the terms of “unified carrier” , “union carrier” and “Uni-C” are equivalent meaning, and exchangeable in usage; “anchor carrier” , “camp carrier” , “anchored carrier” and “camped carrier” are equivalent meaning, and exchangeable in usage.

In the present disclosure, the terms “a” or “an” are defined to mean “at least one” , that is, these terms do not exclude a plural number of items, unless stated otherwise.

In the present disclosure, terms such as “substantially” , “generally” and “about” , which modify a value, condition or characteristic of a feature of an example embodiment, should be understood to mean that the value, condition or characteristic is defined within tolerances that are acceptable for the proper operation of the example embodiment for its intended application.

In the present disclosure, unless stated otherwise, the terms “connected” and “coupled” , and derivatives and variants thereof, refer herein to any structural or functional connection or coupling, either direct or indirect, between two or more elements. For example, the connection or coupling between the elements can be acoustical, mechanical, optical, electrical, thermal, logical, or any combinations thereof.

In the present disclosure, expressions such as “match” , “matching” and “matched” , including variants and derivatives thereof, are intended to refer herein to a condition in which two or more elements are either the same or within some predetermined tolerance of each other. That is, these terms are meant to encompass not only “exactly” or “identically” matching the two elements but also “substantially” , “approximately” or “subjectively” matching the two or more elements, as well as providing a higher or best match among a plurality of matching possibilities.

In the present disclosure, the expression “based on” is intended to mean “based at least partly on” , that is, this expression can mean “based solely on” or “based partially on” , and so should not be interpreted in a limited manner. More particularly, the expression “based on” can also be understood as meaning “depending on” , “representative of” , “indicative of” , “associated with” or similar expressions.

In the present disclosure, the terms "system" and "network" may be used interchangeably in different embodiments of this application. "At least one" means one or more, and "a plurality of" means two or more. The term "and/or" describes an association relationship of associated objects, and indicates that three relationships may exist. For example, A and/or B may indicate the following three cases: Only A exists, both A and B exist, and only B exists, where A and B may be singular or plural. The character "/" indicates an "or" relationship between associated objects. "At least one of the following items (pieces) " or a similar expression thereof indicates any combination of these items, including a single item (piece) or any combination of a plurality of items (pieces) . For example, "at least one of A, B, or C" includes: only A; only B; only C; A and B; A and C; B and C; or A, B, and C, and "at least one of A, B, and C" may also be understood as including: only A; only B; only C; A and B; A and C; B and C; or A, B, and C. In addition, unless otherwise specified, ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" in embodiments of this application are used to distinguish between a plurality of objects, and are not used to limit a sequence, a time sequence, priorities, or importance of the plurality of objects.

A person skilled in the art should understand that embodiments of this application may be provided as a method, an apparatus (or system) , computer-readable storage medium, or a computer program product. Therefore, this application may use a form of a hardware-only embodiment, a software-only embodiment, or an embodiment with a combination of software and hardware. Moreover, this application may use a form of a computer program product that is implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to a disk memory, an optical memory, and the like) that include computer-usable program code.

This application is described with reference to the flowcharts and/or block diagrams of the method, the device (system) , and the computer program product according to this application. It should be understood that computer program instructions may be used to implement each process and/or each block in the flowcharts and/or the block diagrams and a combination of a process and/or a block in the flowcharts and/or the block diagrams. The computer program instructions may be provided for a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, an embedded processor, or a processor of another programmable data processing device and enable a machine to execute the instructions. When executed by any computer or the processor of a programmable data processing device, the instructions cause the apparatus to implement specific functions as described in one or more procedures in the flowcharts and/or one or more blocks in the block diagrams. The computer program instructions may alternatively be stored in a computer-readable memory that can indicate a computer or another programmable data processing device to work in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory generate an artifact that includes an instruction apparatus. The instruction apparatus implements a specific function in one or more procedures in the flowcharts and/or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

The computer program instructions may alternatively be loaded onto a computer or another programmable data processing device, so that a series of operations and steps are performed on the computer or the another programmable device, so that computer-implemented processing is generated. Therefore, the instructions executed on the computer or on another programmable device provide steps for implementing specific functions as described in one or more procedures in the flowcharts and/or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

It is clear that a person skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to this application without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This disclosure is intended to cover these modifications and variations of this application provided that they fall within the scope of protection defined by the following claims and their equivalent technologies.

Claims

A method comprising:

receiving a first union carrier (Uni-C) assignment, wherein the Uni-C assignment indicates a first Uni-C, wherein the first Uni-C is shared among more than one operator, and wherein the first Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .
The method of claim 1, wherein the first Uni-C assignment indicates that the first Uni-C is an inter-operator Uni-C.
The method of claim 1 or 2, comprising:

transmitting a capability report comprising Uni-C support capability, wherein the Uni-C support capability indicates that an inter-operator operation is supported.
The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

receiving, via the first Uni-C, downlink data from a first network node, wherein the first network node is shared among the more than one operator.
The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising:

transmitting, via the first Uni-C, uplink data to a first network node, wherein the first network node is shared among the more than one operator.
The method of any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising

receiving a second Uni-C assignment, wherein the second Uni-C assignment indicates a second Uni-C, wherein the second Uni-C is dedicated to one operator, and wherein the second Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .
The method of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first Uni-C is used for capacity.
The method of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the second Uni-C is used for coverage.
The method of any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein a first shared random access channel (RACH) preamble resource pool is assigned for accessing the first Uni-C.
The method of any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein a second dedicated RACH preamble resource pool is assigned for accessing the second Uni-C.
The method of claim 4, comprising at least one of:

transmitting feedback for the downlink data to a second network node; or

receiving scheduling information for the downlink data from the second network node.
The method of claim 5, comprising:

receiving scheduling information for the uplink data from a second network node.
The method of claim 11 or 12, wherein the second network node is specific to a first operator, wherein the first operator belongs to the more than one operator.
A method comprising:

transmitting a first union carrier (Uni-C) assignment to a user equipment (UE) , wherein the first Uni-C assignment indicates a first Uni-C assigned to the UE, wherein the first Uni-C is shared among more than one operator, and wherein the first Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .
The method of claim 14 wherein the first Uni-C assignment indicates that the first Uni-C is an inter-operator Uni-C.
The method of claim 14 or 15, comprising:

receiving a capability report comprising Uni-C support capability from the UE, wherein the Uni-C support capability indicates that an inter-operator operation is supported.
The method of any one of claims 14 to 16, wherein the method comprises:

transmitting, via the first Uni-C, downlink data to the UE from a first network mode, wherein the first network node is shared among the more than one operator.
The method of claim 17, further comprising:

transmitting, from a second network node, data to the first network node, wherein the first network node and the second network node are associated with different operators.
The method of any one of claims 14 to 18, further comprising:

receiving, by a first network node via the first Uni-C, uplink data from the UE, wherein the first network node is shared among the more than one operator.
The method of any one of claims 14 to 19, further comprising

transmitting a second Uni-C assignment, wherein the second Uni-C assignment indicates a second Uni-C, wherein the second Uni-C is dedicated to one operator, and wherein the second Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .
The method of any one of claims 14 to 20, wherein a first shared random access channel (RACH) preamble resource pool is assigned for accessing the second Uni-C by the UE.
The method of any one of claims 20 to 21, wherein a second dedicated RACH preamble resource pool is assigned for accessing the second Uni-C by the UE.
The method of any one of claims 14 to 22, further comprising:

obtaining information of the first Uni-C.
The method of claim 17, comprising:

receiving feedback of the downlink data from the UE.
The method of any one of claims 14 to 24, wherein the method comprises:

transmitting, from a second network node to a first network node, scheduling information of uplink data, wherein the first network node and the second network node are associated with different operators; and

receiving, from the first network node, the uplink data.
A method comprising:

transmitting, from a first network node, information of a first union carrier (Uni-C) to a second network node, wherein the first network node and the second network node are associated with different operators, and wherein the first Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .
The method of claim 26, comprising:

receiving data from the second network node; and

transmitting, via the first Uni-C, the data to a user equipment (UE) .
The method of claim 26 or 27, comprising:

receiving, via the first Uni-C, data from a UE; and

sending the received data to the second network node.
A communication apparatus, configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-12, 13-25, or 26-28.
The communication apparatus of claim 29, comprising:

a receiving unit configured to receive a first union carrier (Uni-C) assignment, wherein the first Uni-C assignment indicates a first Uni-C, wherein the first Uni-C is shared among more than one operator, and wherein the first Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .
The communication apparatus of claim 29, comprising:

a transmitting unit configured to transmit a first union carrier (Uni-C) assignment to a user equipment (UE) , wherein the first Uni-C assignment indicates a first Uni-C assigned to the UE, wherein the first Uni-C is shared among more than one operator, and wherein the first Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .
The communication apparatus of claim 29, comprising:

a transmitting unit configured to transmit, from a first network node, information of a first union carrier (Uni-C) to a second network node, wherein the first network node and the second network node are associated with different operators, and wherein the first Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .
The communication apparatus of claim 29, comprising:

an interface unit configured to receive a first union carrier (Uni-C) assignment, wherein the first Uni-C assignment indicates a first Uni-C, wherein the first Uni-C is shared among more than one operator, and wherein the first Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .
The communication apparatus of claim 29, comprising:

an interface circuit configured to transmit a first union carrier (Uni-C) assignment to a user equipment (UE) , wherein the first Uni-C assignment indicates a first Uni-C assigned to the UE, wherein the first Uni-C is shared among more than one operator, and wherein the first Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .
The communication apparatus of claim 29, comprising:

an interface circuit configured to transmit, from a first network node, information of a first union carrier (Uni-C) to a second network node, wherein the first network node and the second network node are associated with different operators, and wherein the first Uni-C comprises one or more component carriers (CCs) .
The communication apparatus of any one of claims 33-35, wherein the interface circuit comprises one or more transceivers.
An apparatus comprising:

one or more processors coupled with one or more memories storing instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1-12, 13-25, or 26-28.
A communication system, wherein the communication system comprises a first communication apparatus configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1-12, a second communication apparatus configured to perform the method of any one of claims 13-25, and a third communication apparatus configured to perform the method of any one of claims 26-28.
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1-12, 13-25, or 26-28.