CN111587600B

CN111587600B - Method, apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium for communicating over multiple bandwidth portions

Info

Publication number: CN111587600B
Application number: CN201880086252.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 徐夏刚; 杨涛
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-01-12
Filing date: 2018-01-12
Publication date: 2022-11-04
Anticipated expiration: 2038-01-12
Also published as: CN111587600A; WO2019136684A1

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods, devices, and computer-readable storage media for communication over a multi-bandwidth part (BWP). According to embodiments herein, the terminal device switches from the at least one default BWP to the at least one regular BWP from the plurality of regular BWPs upon receiving the switch indication. The at least one default BWP and the at least one regular BWP are available for wireless communication by the end device. The terminal device starts at least one timer associated with the at least one conventional BWP. The terminal device switches back from the at least one conventional BWP to the at least one default BWP on a condition that at least one timer associated with the at least one conventional BWP has expired. By the method in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal device may configure multiple timers for multiple conventional BWPs in an active state at the same time, and thus may achieve more flexible configuration of activation and deactivation operations for multiple conventional BWPs, thereby obtaining better performance in terms of data transmission and power consumption.

Description

Method, apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium for communicating over multiple bandwidth portions

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication technology and, more particularly, relate to a method, apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium for wireless communication over a frequency band including a default bandwidth part (BWP) and a conventional BWP.

Background

In next generation wireless communications, such as 5G New Radio (NR), the system operates over a very large frequency band, e.g., up to 1 GHZ. For a terminal device, a Radio Frequency (RF) device thereof may be required to listen and receive a radio frequency signal from a network device over a very large frequency band, which poses challenges to the implementation complexity of the RF device of the terminal device and the RF power consumption. In response to the problem of radio frequency power consumption, BWP is proposed by standardization organizations such as 3GPP to realize more flexible operating band configuration for terminal devices. In particular, the active bandwidth for one BWP may be configured to be small compared to the overall system bandwidth, so on one active BWP, the radio frequency device of the terminal device may listen to radio signals only on a relatively small frequency band, which is advantageous for reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

One bandwidth part may be a contiguous set of physical resource blocks, e.g. selected from a subset of common resource blocks for a given digital structure (numerology) on a given carrier, e.g. according to the specification of 3gpp TS 38.211. In one system, the terminal device may be configured to support up to 4 BWPs, and only one BWP is active at a given time. For the downlink, the terminal device may not expect to receive a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) outside of the activated BWP. For the uplink, the terminal device does not transmit signals of a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) and a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) outside the currently active BWP.

Disclosure of Invention

In a first aspect of the disclosure, a communication method implemented at a terminal device is provided. The method comprises the following steps: in response to receiving a handover indication, switching from at least one default BWP associated with the handover indication to at least one regular BWP from a plurality of regular BWPs, the at least one default BWP and the at least one regular BWP being available for the terminal device to communicate; starting at least one timer associated with the at least one conventional BWP, one timer associated with a time at which the terminal device uses the conventional BWP associated therewith; and in response to the at least one timer associated with the at least one conventional BWP both expiring, switching back from the at least one conventional BWP to the at least one default BWP.

In a second aspect of the disclosure, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device includes: a processor, and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the terminal device to: in response to receiving a handover indication, switching from at least one default BWP associated with the handover indication to at least one regular BWP from a plurality of regular BWPs, the at least one default BWP and the at least one regular BWP being available for the terminal device to communicate; starting at least one timer associated with the at least one conventional BWP, one timer associated with a time when the terminal device uses the conventional BWP associated therewith; and in response to the at least one timer associated with the at least one conventional BWP all expiring, switching back from the at least one conventional BWP to the at least one default BWP.

In a third aspect of the disclosure, embodiments of the disclosure provide a computer-readable storage medium. The computer readable storage medium comprises program code stored thereon, which when executed by an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the method according to the first aspect.

It should be understood that the statements herein reciting aspects are not intended to limit the critical or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor are they intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description.

Drawings

The objects, advantages and other features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the ensuing disclosure and appended claims. A non-limiting description of the preferred embodiments is given herein, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an example communication system supporting BWP;

fig. 2 illustrates a flow chart of an example method implemented at a terminal device, in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of an example communication process implemented at a terminal device, in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates yet another schematic diagram of an example communication process implemented at a terminal device, in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 illustrates yet another schematic diagram of an example communication process implemented at a terminal device, in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure; and

fig. 6 shows a block diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the various drawings, like or corresponding reference numbers indicate like or corresponding elements.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While certain embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure may be embodied in various forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein, but rather are provided for a more complete and thorough understanding of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the drawings and embodiments of the disclosure are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.

The term "terminal device" or "user equipment" (UE) as used herein refers to any entity or device capable of wireless communication with network devices or with each other. As an example, the terminal device may include a Mobile Terminal (MT), a Subscriber Station (SS), a Portable Subscriber Station (PSS), a Mobile Station (MS) or an Access Terminal (AT), the above-mentioned device mounted in a vehicle, and a machine or an appliance having a communication function, and the like.

The term "network device" as used herein refers to any suitable entity or device capable of providing a cell or coverage such that a terminal device may access a network through or receive services from it. Examples of network devices include, for example, base stations. The term "base station" (BS) as used herein may refer to a NodeB (NodeB or NB), a 5G new radio node (gNB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a Radio Head (RH), a Remote Radio Head (RRH), a relay, or a low power node such as a pico base station, a femto base station, or the like.

The term "including" and variations thereof as used herein is intended to be open-ended, i.e., "including but not limited to". The term "based on" is "based, at least in part, on". The term "one embodiment" means "at least one embodiment"; the term "another embodiment" means "at least one additional embodiment". The terms "first," "second," and the like are used solely to distinguish one element from another. And in fact, a first element can also be referred to as a second element and vice versa. Relevant definitions for other terms will be given in the following description.

For ease of explanation, some embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein in the context of wireless communications (e.g., cellular communications), and employ terminology in LTE/LTE-advanced (LTE/LTE-a) or 5G, as specified by, for example, 3 GPP. However, as can be understood by those skilled in the art, the embodiments of the present disclosure are by no means limited to wireless communication systems following the wireless communication protocols established by the 3GPP, but can be applied to any communication system having similar problems, such as WLAN, wired communication systems, or other communication systems developed in the future, and the like.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an example communication system 100 supporting BWP communication. In this example, the BWP communication system 100 may include a network device 110 and a terminal device 120. In the BWP communication system 100, the network device 110 provides wireless connection to the terminal device 120 within its coverage through an uplink and a downlink including a plurality of BWPs. It should be understood that the number of network devices, terminal devices shown in fig. 1 is for illustration purposes only and is not intended to be limiting. BWP communication system 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and end devices.

Without loss of generality, the communication in the BWP communication system 100 may conform to any suitable wireless communication technology and corresponding communication standard. Examples of communication technologies include, but are not limited to, 5G NR, LTE-a, LTE, orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), global system for mobile communications (GSM), wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), bluetooth, zigbee technologies, machine Type Communication (MTC), D2D, or M2M, among others. Moreover, the communication may be performed according to any suitable communication protocol, including, but not limited to, transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/Internet Protocol (IP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), user Datagram Protocol (UDP), session Description Protocol (SDP), and the like.

In general, a BWP refers to a portion of the spectrum on a carrier bandwidth of a cell, and further, during the communication between the terminal device 120 and the network device 110 via the BWP, the terminal device 120 only needs to detect the radio signal received on the BWP. As an example, in communication supporting BWP, the band of the communication system 100 may be divided into two types, default BWP and regular BWP. The number of default BWPs as well as the number of regular BWPs may be configured according to the actual needs of the system. In the default BWP, the terminal device 120 may receive only a small amount of necessary system signaling such as a synchronization signal, and thus the terminal device 120 may mute a part of the radio units, so that power consumption of the terminal device 120 may be reduced. The end device 120 may listen to a larger system bandwidth and thus consume more radio frequency power in a conventional BWP than in a default BWP.

In case that the terminal device 120 intends to perform normal traffic data transmission, the terminal device 120 will switch from the default BWP to the normal BWP according to the instruction or signaling of the network device 110, so that the terminal device 120 can receive the configuration and scheduling information about the traffic data from the network device 110 and perform normal traffic data transmission according to the configuration and scheduling information. In case there is no data transmission for a certain time by the end device 120, the end device 120 will return from the regular BWP into the default BWP if certain system configured timers expire, to save power consumption of the end device 120, in particular of the radio frequency devices.

In a conventional BWP communication system, the terminal device has only one active conventional BWP, and the network device may configure a timer for the one active conventional BWP. In case the timer expires, the terminal device will return from the active regular BWP to the default BWP in order to save the terminal device power consumption. However, in such a scheme, the flexibility of the terminal device in terms of data transmission, power consumption reduction, and the like is limited, and thus the requirements of some specific application scenarios, such as high-rate communication, cannot be met.

To address at least in part the above and other potential problems, embodiments of the present disclosure describe communication transmission schemes in which multiple default BWPs and multiple activatable conventional BWPs may be configured for the terminal device 120. According to embodiments described herein, in BWP enabled transmissions, the end device 120 switches from one or more default BWPs to one or more conventional BWPs, i.e. the one or more conventional BWPs will be in an active state, upon receiving a switch indication from the network device 110. Terminal device 120 may also start one or more timers for the one or more active regular BWPs. In case the one or more timers all expire, this means that the end device 120 may not have a need for data communication on the active BWP for a while, so the end device 120 may return from the one or more active regular BWPs back into the one or more default BWPs according to the system configuration to save power consumption of the end device 120.

Unlike the conventional communication system in which only one active BWP is configured, according to the communication scheme of the embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal device 120 may be configured with at least one active conventional BWP, and the at least one active conventional BWP may be configured with a corresponding at least one timer. For example, in case the at least one timer expires, the terminal device 120 may return from the at least one regular BWP to the default BWP. In some implementations, if a certain timer expires, the conventional BWP associated with that timer will be deactivated in order to further reduce the power consumption of terminal device 120. Accordingly, the BWP communication system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure may achieve more flexible BWP and timer configuration and may achieve better system performance in terms of data transmission, power saving, and the like according to actual needs.

Fig. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 200 implemented at a terminal device, in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure. In the following description, the method 200 shown in fig. 3 is described with the terminal device 120 as an example. It should be understood that method 300 may also be performed, for example, at other suitable terminal devices. Without loss of generality, it is assumed that the BWP communication system to which the terminal device 120 corresponds includes at least one default BWP and a plurality of regular BWPs.

At block 210, terminal device 120 determines whether it received a handover indication from network device 110. In the present disclosure, the handover indication refers to an indication that triggers the terminal device 120 to perform handover from the default BWP to the normal BWP. For example, the handover indication may be at least one of: downlink Control Information (DCI) transmitted through a PDCCH of network device 110, a Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), and higher layer signaling such as Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. In some embodiments, network device 110 may determine that end device 120 is to begin performing data transport services, so network device 110 sends a handover indication to end device 120 to cause activation of one or more conventional BWPs. Accordingly, the terminal device 120 may listen for downlink control information or uplink grant from the network device 110 on the one or more active conventional BWPs in order to start data transmission traffic for the uplink and downlink.

At block 220, the terminal device 120 switches from the at least one default BWP associated with the switch indication to at least one conventional BWP from the plurality of conventional BWPs. For example, the end device 120 may be in the default BWP operating band to reduce power consumption of the rf devices prior to receiving the handover indication from the network device 110. After the terminal device 120 switches to the conventional BWP, it listens to the bandwidth corresponding to the conventional BWP for data transmission service.

At block 230, the end device 120 starts at least one timer associated with at least one conventional BWP. In one embodiment, each of the at least one conventional BWP may correspond to a different timer. In another embodiment, the at least one regular BWP may correspond to the same timer. In yet another embodiment, certain BWPs of the at least one conventional BWP may correspond to the same timer. It should be understood that there may be different correspondences between the at least one conventional BWP and the at least one timer, and that the correspondences are preconfigured for network device 110 and terminal device 120. Alternatively or additionally, the correspondence may be changed periodically by system signaling.

In some embodiments, in the event that the end device 120 switches from at least one default BWP to at least one conventional BWP, the end device 120 may start at least one timer associated with the at least one conventional BWP. It will be appreciated that this situation corresponds to a situation in which the radio frequency components of the terminal device 120 are very sensitive to power consumption. In this case, the terminal device 120 starts the at least one timer regardless of whether or not data transmission of the uplink and downlink is currently performed, so as to return to the default BWP as soon as possible if the timer expires.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the terminal device 120 may start at least one timer associated with the at least one conventional BWP only if the terminal device 120 switches to the at least one conventional BWP and it receives a scheduling indication for the at least one conventional BWP. In this case, the terminal device 120 will extend the time it communicates on the regular BWP. This would be advantageous for terminal device 120 with large data rate requirements, since delaying the start of the at least one timer may avoid that terminal device 120 returns to the default BWP early and may avoid the ping-pong effect of terminal device 120 switching between the default BWP and the conventional BWP. As an example, the scheduling indication may be at least one of an uplink grant from the network device 110 to the terminal device 120 and downlink control information for a transmission from the network device 110 to the terminal device 120.

Additionally, in some embodiments, in case the terminal device 120 receives a data scheduling indication for a regular BWP of the at least one regular BWP, the terminal device 120 may reset the timer associated with the regular BWP, i.e. the duration that the regular BWP is at the regular BWP before returning to the default BWP will be longer. That is, in this case, the terminal device 120 may remain on the conventional BWP for a longer time in order to reduce the number of times the terminal device 120 switches between the default BWP and the conventional BWP.

Additionally, in some embodiments, if network device 110 determines that there is no data transmission need for terminal device 120 for a period of time, network device 110 may signal, in DCI, MAC CE, or RRC signaling, that terminal device 120 may abort the corresponding timer to avoid terminal device 120 returning to the default BWP prematurely. In this case, the terminal device 120 will stop monitoring the DCI indication on the PDCCH in order to reduce the complexity of blind detection of the PDCCH by the terminal device 120. Thereafter, the terminal device 120 may receive another indication indicating that data transmission is to occur, and the terminal device 120 may continue to detect the PDCCH.

With continued reference to fig. 1, at block 240, terminal device 120 determines whether the at least one timer has all expired. A timer is associated with the time the terminal device uses the conventional BWP with which it is associated. With a timer, the terminal device 120 may determine when to switch back from the regular BWP to the default BWP so that the terminal device 120 may return to the default BWP as soon as possible without a need for data transmission to reduce the bandwidth to listen to and reduce power consumption. If each of the at least one timer expires, it means that the terminal device 120 may have no uplink and downlink traffic to transmit for a future period of time, and thus the terminal device 120 may return to the default BWP.

In some embodiments, a certain timer of the at least one timer expires, the terminal device 120 deactivates the conventional BWP associated with the timer to further save power consumption of the radio frequency appliance, and the terminal device 120 will wait until all timers for the plurality of conventional BWPs expire before the terminal device 120 can return from the conventional BWP to the default BWP.

In block 250, in the event that the end device 120 determines whether the at least one timer has both expired, the end device 120 switches back from the at least one regular BWP to the at least one default BWP to reduce power consumption of the radio frequency.

As mentioned above, the above-mentioned at least one timer may be the same timer, i.e. all activated at least one regular BWP may correspond to the same timer. In this case, upon expiration of this timer, the terminal device 120 returns from the normal BWP to the default BWP. Alternatively, the at least one timer described above may be different timers from each other, i.e. an independent timer may be configured for each conventional BWP. In this case, the terminal device 120 returns to the default BWP only if all of these timers expire. Alternatively, only a part of the at least one timer may be the same timer. In particular, the invention is not limited in this respect.

It should be understood that the handover indication, the at least one regular BWP and the at least one default BWP described above may all be associated with or may all be defined for one group. The group indicates a time and frequency configuration of the terminal device 120. As an example, the group may be associated with a digital structure configuration of a physical layer communication frame structure of the BWP communication system. In an NR communication system, a number structure corresponds to a system configuration of time slots and subcarriers of a frame structure of the communication system. It should be appreciated that the method of the above-described embodiments may be performed for at least one regular BWP and at least one default BWP corresponding to a group. For the case of multiple groups, the method described above may be performed for each group. As an example, in response to receiving a handover indication for a group, the terminal device 120 may switch from a plurality of default BWPs associated with the group to a plurality of regular BWPs. Further, in case that the timers associated with the regular BWPs for the group all expire, the terminal device 120 may return to the default BWPs from the regular BWPs for the group. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto.

Through the above discussion, the terminal device 120 may configure one or more timers for a plurality of active regular BWPs, and may return the terminal device 120 to the default BWP in case the timers for the regular BWPs for one packet all expire. In some embodiments, terminal device 120, upon receiving the data scheduling indication, may reset its associated timer in order to extend its time on regular BWP to better serve data transmission traffic. Therefore, by the method of the embodiment of the present disclosure, the network device 110 and the terminal device 120 may implement more flexible system performance in terms of power saving and data transmission by configuring multiple conventional BWPs and multiple timers, thereby meeting the requirements of different application scenarios.

Fig. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example communication process implemented at a terminal device, in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure. The example communication process illustrated in fig. 3 may be performed, for example, at terminal device 120 or other suitable device. Without loss of generality, it is assumed that there is a default BWP, i.e. BWP0, and 4 regular BWPs, i.e. BWP1, BWP2, BWP3 and BWP4, in the BWP communication system. Further, it is assumed that 4 conventional BWPs in the BWP communication system correspond to the same Timer, i.e., timer0 shown in fig. 3.

Assume that end device 120 is on BWP0 to save radio frequency power consumption. In this case, the radio frequency bandwidth to be listened to by the terminal device 120 is small, i.e., RF0 as shown in the figure. In case a handover indication is received, for example, the terminal device 120 switches 311 from BWP0 to BWP1. Terminal device 120 may start 321 Timer0 in response to switching to BWP1 or in response to receiving DCI. In the event that end device 120 receives an indication on BWP1 to activate BWP2, end device 120 may activate 312 BWP2 and reset 322 the Timer0. In this case, the radio frequency bandwidth to be listened to by the terminal device 120 is RF2. Similarly, when terminal device 120 receives an indication to activate BWP3 on BWP2, terminal device 120 may activate 313 BWP3 and again reset 323 the Timer0. In this case, the radio frequency bandwidth to be listened to by the terminal device 120 is RF3. When end device 120 receives an indication on BWP3 to activate BWP4, end device 120 may activate 314 BWP4 and again reset 324 the Timer0. In this case, the radio frequency bandwidth to be listened to by the terminal device 120 is RF4.

As illustrated, the common Timer0 expires 325 after the terminal device 120 has last reset 324 the Timer0, in the event that no more DCI is received on each conventional BWP. In response to the same Timer0 expiring, terminal device 120 returns 315, 316, 317, 318 from each of the regular BWPs 1-BWP4 to the default BWP0.

Fig. 4 illustrates yet another schematic diagram of an example communication process implemented at a terminal device, in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure. The example communication process illustrated in fig. 4 may be performed, for example, at terminal device 120 or other suitable device. Without loss of generality, it is assumed that there is a default BWP, i.e. BWP0, and 4 regular BWPs, i.e. BWP1, BWP2, BWP3 and BWP4, in the BWP communication system. Further, it is assumed that BWP1 to BWP3 in the BWP communication system correspond to one group and BWP4 corresponds to another group. The Timer for the group of BWP1 to BWP3 is the first Timer1, and the Timer for the group of BWP4 is the second Timer2.

Assume that terminal device 120 is on BWP0. Accordingly, the radio frequency bandwidth that terminal device 120 needs to listen to is shown by RF0. In case a handover indication is received, for example, the terminal device 120 switches 411 from BWP0 to BWP1. Terminal device 120 may start 421 a first Timer1 in response to switching to BWP1 or in response to receiving DCI. When end device 120 receives an indication to activate BWP2 on BWP1, end device 120 may activate 412 BWP2 and reset 422 first Timer1. In this case, the radio frequency bandwidth to be listened to by the terminal device 120 is RF2. Similarly, in case the end device 120 receives an indication to activate BWP3 on BWP2, the end device 120 may activate 413 BWP3 and reset 423 the first Timer1 again. When the end device 120 receives an indication on BWP3 to activate BWP4 of another group, the end device 120 may activate 414 BWP and start 431 a second Timer2 associated with the other group.

As shown, assuming that no new DCI is received on the regular BWP for the first group after the terminal device last resets 424 the first Timer1, the first Timer1 then expires 425 as the first Timer1 time elapses. For the second group, the second Timer2 for BWP4 also subsequently expires 432 if terminal device 120 does not receive new DCI. In response to both the first Timer1 and the second Timer2 expiring, the terminal device 120 returns 415 to the default BWP0.

In some implementations of BWP handover as shown in fig. 4, the BWP corresponding to a specific group can serve the traffic with strict requirements on latency, such as ultra-high reliability and ultra-low latency communication (URLLC). In this case, when the URLLC service comes, the terminal device 120 will activate BWP corresponding to the specific group. In order to enable the terminal device 120 to perform data transmission quickly in the case that the URLLC service comes next time, a new flag may be defined for the terminal device 120. The flag indicates whether the terminal device 120 is to shrink (shrink) the radio frequency if the timer associated with the particular group expires. If the flag indicates "yes", the terminal device 120 will deactivate the BWP associated with the ad-hoc group if the timer associated with the ad-hoc group expires, and further shrink the rf device corresponding to the BWP associated with the ad-hoc group to reduce power consumption for listening for rf signals. If the flag indicates "no", the terminal device 120 will only deactivate the BWP associated with the particular group if the timer associated with the particular group expires without shrinking the radio frequency devices corresponding to the BWP associated with the particular group, in which case the terminal device 120 may provide communication services for URLLC traffic with lower latency if the terminal device 120 and the network device 110 are to perform URLLC communication again later.

Fig. 5 illustrates yet another schematic diagram of an example communication process implemented at a terminal device, in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure. The example communication process illustrated in fig. 5 may be performed, for example, at terminal device 120 or other suitable device. Without loss of generality, it is assumed that there is a default BWP, i.e. BWP0, and 4 regular BWPs, i.e. BWP1, BWP2, BWP3 and BWP4, in the BWP communication system. Further, it is assumed that 4 conventional BWPs in the BWP communication system correspond to 4 timers different from each other, i.e., a first Timer1, a second Timer2, a third Timer3, and a fourth Timer4.

Similarly, assume that end device 120 is on BWP0. In case a handover indication is received, for example, the terminal device 120 switches 511 from BWP0 to BWP1. Terminal device 120 may start 521 a first Timer1 in response to switching to BWP1 or in response to receiving DCI. Assume that the first Timer1 subsequently expires 522. In the event that end device 120 receives an indication on BWP1 to activate BWP2, end device 120 may activate 512 BWP2 and start 523 a second Timer2. Assume that the second Timer2 subsequently expires 524. Similarly, in the event that end device 120 receives an indication on BWP2 to activate BWP3, end device 120 may activate 513 BWP3 and start 525 a third Timer3. Assume that the third Timer3 subsequently expires 526. When end device 120 receives an indication to activate BWP4 on BWP3, end device 120 may activate 514 BWP4 and start 527 a fourth Timer4. Assume that the fourth Timer4 subsequently expires 528. As illustrated, in the case where all four timers Timer1-Timer4 of the terminal device 120 have expired, the terminal device 120 returns 515 to the default BWP0.

Fig. 6 shows a block diagram of a terminal device 600 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The terminal device 600 may be used to implement the terminal device 120 in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown in the example in fig. 6, the terminal device 600 includes a processor 610. The processor 610 controls the operation and functions of the device 600. For example, in some embodiments, the processor 610 may perform various operations by way of instructions 630 stored in a memory 620 coupled thereto. The memory 620 may be of any suitable type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, including but not limited to semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems. Although only one memory unit is shown in fig. 6, there may be a plurality of physically distinct memory units in the terminal device 600.

The processor 610 may be of any suitable type suitable to the local technical environment and may include, but is not limited to, general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microcontrollers, digital signal controllers (DSPs), and one or more cores in a controller-based multi-core controller architecture. The terminal device 600 may also include a plurality of processors 610. The processor 610 may also be coupled with a transceiver 640, which transceiver 640 may enable the reception and transmission of information by way of one or more antennas 650 and/or other components.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the processor 610 and the memory 620 may operate in cooperation to implement the method 200 described above with reference to fig. 2. In particular, when the terminal device 600 is acting as the terminal device 120, the instructions 630 in the memory 620, when executed by the processor 610, may cause the terminal device 600 to perform the method 200. It will be understood that all of the features described above apply to the terminal device 600 and are not described in detail herein.

In general, the various example embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Certain aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While aspects of embodiments of the disclosure have been illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

By way of example, embodiments of the disclosure may also be described in the context of machine-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in devices on target real or virtual processors. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or divided between program modules as described. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within local or distributed devices. In a distributed implementation, program modules may be located in both local and storage media.

Computer program code for implementing the methods of the present disclosure may be written in one or more programming languages. These computer program code may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program code, when executed by the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, causes the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram to be performed. The program code may execute entirely on the computer, partly on the computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the computer and partly on the computer or entirely on the computer or server.

In the context of this disclosure, a machine-readable medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. A machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination thereof. More detailed examples of a machine-readable storage medium include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof.

Additionally, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In some cases, multitasking or parallel processing may be beneficial. Similarly, while the above discussion contains certain specific implementation details, this should not be construed as limiting the scope of any invention or claims, but rather as a description of specific embodiments that may be directed to a particular invention. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

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

Claims

1. A method implemented at a terminal device, comprising:

in response to receiving a handover indication, handing over from at least one default bandwidth portion BWP associated with the handover indication to a plurality of conventional BWPs, the at least one default BWP and the plurality of conventional BWPs being available for communication by the terminal device;

starting a plurality of timers respectively associated with the plurality of conventional BWPs, wherein each timer is associated with a time at which the terminal device uses the conventional BWP associated therewith; and

switching back from the plurality of conventional BWPs to the at least one default BWP in response to expiration of each of the plurality of timers respectively associated with the plurality of conventional BWPs.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the handover indication is associated with a group, the at least one default BWP and the plurality of regular BWPs are associated with the group, and the group indicates a time and frequency configuration of the terminal device BWPs.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein starting a plurality of timers respectively associated with the plurality of conventional BWPs comprises:

in response to switching from the at least one default BWP to the plurality of conventional BWPs, starting the plurality of timers respectively associated with the plurality of conventional BWPs.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein initiating a plurality of timers respectively associated with the plurality of conventional BWPs comprises:

in response to switching to the plurality of regular BWPs and receiving a scheduling indication for the plurality of regular BWPs, starting the plurality of timers respectively associated with the plurality of regular BWPs.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the scheduling indication is at least one of:

an uplink grant from a network device to the terminal device, an

Downlink control information for transmission from the network device to the terminal device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

deactivating a first conventional BWP associated with the timer in response to expiration of one of the plurality of timers respectively associated with the plurality of conventional BWPs, such that the terminal device stops detecting wireless signals on the first conventional BWP.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the plurality of regular BWPs are associated with a group indicating a time and frequency configuration of the terminal device BWPs.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to receiving a scheduling indication for a second conventional BWP of the plurality of conventional BWPs, resetting a timer associated with the second conventional BWP.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the plurality of regular BWPs are associated with a group indicating a time and frequency configuration of the terminal device BWPs.

10. A terminal device, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the terminal device to perform acts comprising:

in response to receiving a handover indication, switching from at least one default BWP associated with the handover indication to a plurality of regular BWPs, the at least one default BWP and the plurality of regular BWPs available for communication by the terminal device;

starting a plurality of timers respectively associated with the plurality of conventional BWPs, one timer being associated with a time at which the terminal device uses the conventional BWP associated therewith; and

11. The terminal device of claim 10, wherein the handover indication is associated with a group, the at least one default BWP and the plurality of regular BWPs are associated with the group, and the group indicates a time and frequency configuration of the terminal device BWPs.

12. The terminal device of claim 10, wherein the starting a plurality of timers respectively associated with the plurality of regular BWPs comprises:

13. The terminal device of claim 10, wherein the starting a plurality of timers respectively associated with the plurality of regular BWPs comprises:

14. The terminal device of claim 13, wherein the scheduling indication is at least one of:

an uplink grant from a network device to said terminal device, an

15. The terminal device of claim 10, the actions comprising:

in response to expiration of one of the plurality of timers respectively associated with the plurality of conventional BWPs, deactivating a first conventional BWP associated with the timer to cause the terminal device to cease detecting wireless signals on the first conventional BWP.

16. The terminal device according to claim 15, wherein the plurality of regular BWPs are associated with a group indicating a time and frequency configuration of the terminal device BWPs.

17. The terminal device of claim 10, the acts further comprising:

18. The terminal device according to claim 17, wherein the plurality of regular BWPs are associated with a group indicating a time and frequency configuration of the terminal device BWPs.

19. A computer-readable storage medium comprising program code stored thereon, which when executed by an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1-9.