WO2017105538A1

WO2017105538A1 - System and methods for mtc ues with scalable bandwidth support

Info

Publication number: WO2017105538A1
Application number: PCT/US2016/025658
Authority: WO
Inventors: Debdeep CHATTERJEE; Sven Dortmund; Christian Drewes; Seunghee Han; Tobias Scholand
Original assignee: Intel IP Corporation
Priority date: 2015-12-17
Filing date: 2016-04-01
Publication date: 2017-06-22
Also published as: TW201731323A; TWI747853B

Abstract

The present disclosure includes systems and methods that enable support of MTC UEs that can benefit from the device complexity and power complexity reductions of 3GPP Release 13 LC UEs but at the same time support higher data rates. An apparatus operates in a single narrowband (NB) mode where the apparatus supports communication over only a single NB. The single NB is included in a plurality of NBs within a system bandwidth (BW). A determination is made to switch from the single NB mode to an aggregated BW mode. The apparatus switches from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode. The apparatus supports communication over more than the single NB in the aggregated BW mode. The apparatus communicates with an evolved Node B (eNB) using an aggregated BW that includes the single NB and at least a portion of a second NB of the plurality of NBs.

Description

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MTC UES WITH SCALABLE BANDWIDTH

SUPPORT

Related Application

[0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/268,861 filed December 17, 2015, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure relates to low complexity (LC) user equipments (UEs) suited for Machine Type Communication (MTC) or Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0003] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an environment in which the present systems and methods may be implemented.

[0004] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of a long term evolution (LTE) communication frame.

[0005] FIG. 3 illustrates one example of how narrowbands (NBs) may be defined for a given system bandwidth (BW).

[0006] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of DL resource assignment and M-PDCCH to PDSCH timing for UEs with scalable BW support (e.g., Cat Mplus UEs) with dynamic indication of the PDSCH BW and resources.

[0007] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of DL resource assignment and M-PDCCH to PDSCH timing relationship for UEs with scalable BW support (e.g., Cat Mplus UEs) for semi-static RRC configuration of the max PDSCH BW within which the actual PDSCH resources are assigned.

[0008] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method for wireless communication by a UE that supports scalable bandwidth.

[0009] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a method for wireless communication by a UE that supports scalable bandwidth.

[0010] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a method for wireless communication by an eNB.

[0011] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a method for wireless communication by a UE that supports scalable bandwidth. [0012] FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating electronic device circuitry that may be e B circuitry, UE circuitry, network node circuitry, or some other type of circuitry in accordance with various embodiments.

[0013] FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating, for one embodiment, example components of a user equipment (UE) or mobile station (MS) device.

Detailed Description

[0014] A detailed description of systems and methods consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure is provided below. While several embodiments are described, it should be understood that the disclosure is not limited to any one embodiment, but instead encompasses numerous alternatives, modifications, and equivalents. In addition, while numerous specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments disclosed herein, some embodiments can be practiced without some or all of these details. Moreover, for the purpose of clarity, certain technical material that is known in the related art has not been described in detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the disclosure.

[0015] Wireless mobile communication technology uses various standards and protocols to transmit data between a base station and a wireless mobile device. Wireless

communication system standards and protocols can include the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP) long term evolution (LTE); the Institute of Electrical and Electronics

Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard, which is commonly known to industry groups as worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX); and the IEEE 802.11 standard, which is commonly known to industry groups as Wi-Fi. In 3GPP radio access networks (RANs) in LTE systems, the base station can include Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node Bs (also commonly denoted as evolved Node Bs, enhanced Node Bs, eNodeBs, or eNBs) and/or Radio Network Controllers (RNCs) in an E- UTRAN, which communicate with a wireless communication device, known as a user equipment (UE).

[0016] The present systems and methods enable support of MTC UEs that can benefit from the device complexity and power complexity reductions of 3GPP Release 13 LC UEs but at the same time support higher data rates like 10 Mbps on the downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) or lower physical layer transmission or reception latency for real-time or near-real-time traffic by means of scalable bandwidth support. Specifically, the present systems and methods support devices that can nominally operate similar to 3 GPP Rel-13 LC MTC devices but can also support larger bandwidth reception or transmission to receive or transmit larger transport block sizes (TBSs) that are using a wider bandwidth than 1.4 megahertz (MHz) (i.e., six Long-Term Evolution (LTE) Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs), depending on data rate or latency requirements from the application layer.

[0017] LC UEs (e.g., 3 GPP Release 13 LTE LC UEs) are characterized by their low complexity, low demands on data rate, higher tolerance to latency, higher sensitivity to power consumption, and support of enhanced coverage operation. LC UEs are typically configured to support only a limited bandwidth. For example, LC UEs may support a limited bandwidth of 1.4 MHz in both radio frequency (RF) and baseband. As used herein, LC UEs that support a limited bandwidth of 1.4 MHz in both RF and baseband are identified as "Category Ml" (Cat Ml) UEs.

[0018] The peak data rate supported by LC UEs (e.g., Cat Ml UEs) is limited by a maximum Transport Block Size (TBS) of 1000 bits and a maximum bandwidth limit of 6 PRBs. Additionally, the use of cross-subframe scheduling, where the scheduled physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) starts in the second valid LC/EC downlink (DL) subframe after the last subframe of the MTC physical downlink control channel (M-PDCCH), implies that a maximum data rate of about 800 kilobits per second (kbps) can be supported for full duplex frequency division duplex (FD-FDD) UEs, and a maximum data rate of about 300 kbps for half duplex FDD (HD-FDD) UEs.

[0019] Such restrictions on the peak data rates can limit the applicability of these LC UEs to a wide variety of IoT/MTC applications. Therefore, it is desirable to support MTC/IoT devices that can benefit from low power consumption characteristics of 3GPP Rel-13 LC UEs (that are facilitated by narrowband support, do not need to support reception of wideband transmissions like LTE Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), for example), but at the same time are capable of supporting higher DL and uplink (UL) data rates to be useful for a wider variety of applications that may require higher data rates at the cost of slight increase in device complexity. Such a feature enhancements can help extend the scope of MTC/IoT towards certain wearable applications with demands for higher data rates.

[0020] Techniques, apparatus, and methods are disclosed for support of MTC UEs that can benefit from the device complexity and power complexity reductions of 3GPP Rel-13 LC UEs while, at the same time, support higher data rates or lower latency performance on the DL and UL by means of scalable bandwidth support (e.g. -10 Mbps for 10 MHz of bandwidth, -20 Mbps for 20 MHz of bandwidth). In particular, details are disclosed for supporting devices that can nominally operate similar to 3 GPP Rel-13 LC MTC devices but can also support larger bandwidth reception or transmission to receive or transmit larger transport block sizes (TBSs) that are using a wider bandwidth than 1.4 MHz (i.e., six LTE Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs), depending on data rate requirements from the application layer. As used herein, these UEs are referred to as Category Mplus (Cat Mplus) UEs. These UEs may also be referred to as Cat M2 devices or as High Performance enhanced Machine Type Communication (HeMTC) UEs. However, it is noted that the use of UE category in this work does not imply introduction or not of any new UE category. For instance, instead of defining a new UE category Cat Mplus, Cat Ml UEs with support of scalable BW for PDSCH and PUSCH could be identified via capability signaling.

[0021] Turning now to the Figures, FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an environment 100 in which the present systems and methods may be implemented. The environment 100 includes a portion of a radio access network (RAN) system that includes a cellular air interface (such as an LTE/LTE- Advanced access link) being provided between the eNB 110 and the UE 105 (i.e. on narrowband access link 120). The UE 105 is located in within macro cell coverage 115 provided by the eNB 110.

[0022] The eNB 110 may specify a set of non-overlapping DL and/or UL narrowbands (NBs) for an LTE system BW. In some cases, the eNB 110 may specify a set of non- overlapping DL and/or UL NBs for each LTE system BW. Each NB may be six PRBs in size. The communication of the UE 105 with the eNB 110 over the narrowband access link 120 may normally be limited a maximum bandwidth of one NB (e.g., six PRBs).

Accordingly, the UE 105 can benefit from the device complexity and power complexity reductions of 3GPP Release 13 LC UEs. The UE 105 however, may also be configured for scalable bandwidth support. In other words, the UE 105 may selectively support communication with the eNB 110 using more than a single NB (e.g., more than six PRBs). Accordingly, the UE 105 can benefit from the device complexity and power complexity reductions of 3 GPP Release 13 LC UEs while still being able to support higher data rates, as needed.

[0023] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram 200 illustrating the structure of a long term evolution (LTE) communication frame 205. A frame 205 has a duration of 10 milliseconds (ms). The frame 205 includes ten subframes 210, each having a duration of 1 ms. Each subframe 210 includes two slots 215, each having a duration of 0.5 ms. Therefore, the frame 205 includes 20 slots 215. [0024] Each slot 215 includes six or seven orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols 220. The number of OFDM symbols 220 in each slot 215 is based on the size of the cyclic prefixes (CP) 225. For example, the number of OFDM symbols 220 in the slot 215 is seven while in normal mode CP and six in extended mode CP.

[0025] The smallest allocable unit for transmission is a resource block 230 (i.e., physical resource block (PRB) 230). Transmissions are scheduled by PRB 230. A PRB 230 consists of 12 consecutive subcarriers 235, or 180 kHz, for the duration of one slot 215 (0.5 ms). A resource element 240, which is the smallest defined unit, consists of one OFDM subcarrier during one OFDM symbol interval. In the case of normal mode CP, each PRB 230 consists of 12 x 7 = 84 resource elements 240. Each PRB 230 consists of 72 resource elements 240 in the case of extended mode CP.

[0026] FIG. 3 illustrates one example 300 of how narrowbands (NBs) may be defined for a given system bandwidth (BW). In the case of 3GPP Rel-13 LC UEs, each NB 305 has a defined size of six PRBs 230. Based on this defined size of an NB 305, a set of non- overlapping DL and/or UL NBs 305 is specified for each LTE system BW.

[0027] The system BW of 3 MHz includes 15 usable PRBs 230. Therefore, a set of two non-overlapping NBs 305A1-A2, which constitute 12 PRBs 230, can be specified for the 3 MHz system BW. The three remaining PRBs 230 can be divided within the 3 MHz system BW with two of the remaining PRBs 230 divided evenly at both ends of the 3 MHz system BW and the extra odd PRB 230 located at the center of the 3 MHz system BW.

[0028] The system BW of 5 MHz includes 25 usable PRBs 230. Therefore, a set of four non-overlapping NBs 305B1-B4, which constitute 24 PRBs 230, can be specified for the 5 MHz system BW. The extra odd remaining PRB 230 can be located at the center of the 5 MHz system BW.

[0029] The system BW of 10 MHz includes 50 usable PRBs 230. Therefore, a set of eight non-overlapping NBs 305C1-C8, which constitute 48 PRBs 230, can be specified for the 10 MHz system BW. The two remaining PRBs 230 can be divided evenly at both ends of the 10 MHz system BW.

[0030] The system BW of 15 MHz includes 75 usable PRBs 230. Therefore, a set of twelve non-overlapping NBs 305D1-D12, which constitute 72 PRBs 230, can be specified for the 15 MHz system BW. The three remaining PRBs 230 can be divided within the 15 MHz system BW with two of the remaining PRBs 230 divided evenly at both ends of the 15 MHz system BW and the extra odd PRB 230 located at the center of the 15 MHz system BW. [0031] The system BW of 20 MHz includes 100 usable PRBs 230. Therefore, a set of sixteen non-overlapping NBs 305E1-E16, which constitute 96 PRBs 230, can be specified for the 20 MHz system BW. The four remaining PRBs 230 can be divided evenly at both ends of the 20 MHz system BW.

[0032] The indexing of the NBs 305 may follow the indexing order of the PRBs 230. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the total number of DL and/or UL NBs in a particular system BW are given by N_NB ^DL = floor (N_RB ^DL/6) and N_NB^ = floor (N_RB ^UL/6) respectively, with the remaining PRBs divided evenly at both ends of the system bandwidth, with the extra odd PRB for the system BW (e.g. 3, 5, and 15 MHz) located at the center of the system BW (where NN_B°^L = number of DL NBs and N_NB ^UL = number of UL NBs).

[0033] Although not shown, it is noted that a system BW of 1.4 MHz includes 6 usable PRBs 230 (e.g., a single NB 305). As used herein, a NB may be referred to as a 1.4 MHz NB. A 3 GPP Rel-13 LC UE may only support 1.4 MHz of bandwidth at the RF and baseband. Accordingly, a 3GPP Rel-13 LC UE supports reception/transmission over a single NB 305 (e.g., six PRBs 230, 1.4 MHz bandwidth) at a time with possible retuning from one NB 305 to another NB 305 within the larger system BW (e.g., 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz).

[0034] As introduced above, Cat Mplus UEs (e.g., UE 105) are envisioned as enhanced versions of Cat Ml UEs (i.e., 3GPP Rel-13 LC UEs) that can support much higher data rates on the DL and UL and/or less relaxed latency performance than is typically expected for 3 GPP Rel-13 LC UEs, like that could be demanded by voice over LTE (VoLTE) or video traffic, while realizing most of the benefits from complexity and power consumption reduction, and enhanced coverage features of 3 GPP Rel-13 LC UEs. Cat Mplus UEs can achieve much higher data rates by supporting a wider bandwidth at the RF and baseband. Since support of a wider bandwidth incurs additional power consumption, the

reception/transmission over a wider than 1.4 MHz bandwidth can be enabled or disabled depending on the data rate requirements (from the application layer, for example).

[0035] Therefore, unlike LTE UE Categories 0 and above, a Cat Mplus UE does not need to support all LTE system bandwidth values and is not expected to receive legacy wideband transmissions like PDCCH, physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), and physical hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) indicator channel (PHICH) for any LTE system BW. Instead, under normal conditions (i.e., when there is no high data rate or stricter latency requirement), a Cat Mplus UE behaves like a 3 GPP Rel-13 LC UE. However, a Cat Mplus UE can adapt to support reception/transmission over wider than 1.4 MHz BW by aggregating one or more PRBs 230 across multiple 1.4 MHz NBs 305 within the LTE system BW depending on the data rate requirements.

[0036] For example, when in Radio Resource Control (RRC) IDLE mode, the Cat Mplus UE behaves like a 3 GPP Rel-13 LC UE that can receive or transmit over no more than six PRBs 230 of bandwidth with the ability to retune from one NB 305 to another NB 305 within the larger system BW. This mode of operation is referred to herein as "Single NB Mode."

[0037] Single Narrowband Mode enables the realization of maximal benefits of reduced power consumption features defined for 3 GPP Rel-13 LC UEs. For example, the UE does not monitor the entire system BW for PDCCH monitoring, etc.

[0038] For reception of broadcast data, the Cat Mplus UE behaves like a 3 GPP Rel-13 LC UE that can receive or transmit over no more than six PRBs 230 of bandwidth with the ability to retune from one NB 305 to another NB 305 within the larger system BW. Thus, for reception of system information (SI), paging, and RAR messages, the Cat Mplus UE only supports a maximum of a single 1.4 MHz BW and follows the behavior defined for 3GPP Rel-13 LC UEs.

[0039] Similar to the RRC IDLE mode case, for RRC CONNECTED mode and/or RRC CONNECTED mode Discontinuous Reception (C-DRX), the Cat Mplus UE behaves like a 3 GPP Rel-13 LC UE that can receive or transmit over no more than six PRBs 230 of bandwidth with the ability to retune from one NB 305 to another NB 305 within the larger system BW. Alternatively, during certain times of the C-DRX period depending on the need for high data rates for dynamically scheduled traffic or SPS traffic (e.g., Voice over LTE (VoLTE), the Cat Mplus UE may support operation in an "Aggregated BW Mode." Note that this may also be referred to as "High performance mode" or "Higher data rate mode".

[0040] In one embodiment, operation in the Aggregated BW Mode is supported in certain subframes during C-DRX. For example, the Cat Mplus UE would support Aggregated BW Mode during the subframes within the "onDuration" of C-DRX and would fallback to the Single NB Mode after the expiration of a timer (drxlnactivity Timer, for example).

[0041] In another embodiment, the Cat Mplus UE operates in the Single NB Mode until receiving an M-PDCCH indicating dynamic switching to the Aggregated BW Mode. Upon the reception of M-PDCCH indicating dynamic switching to the Aggregated BW Mode, the Cat Mplus UE switches to the Aggregated BW Mode. Subsequently, the Cat Mplus UE monitors for downlink control information (DCI) as when operating in the Aggregated BW Mode such that it may be scheduled with frequency resources spanning more than a single six-PRB NB 305. In one example, the Cat Mplus UE falls-back to the Single NB Mode after expiry of a certain newly-defined timer or after expiry of an existing timer (e.g.,

onDuration/ drxlnactivity Timer) .

[0042] When there are no high data rate requirements for DL or UL, for unicast reception or transmission respectively, the Cat Mplus UE follows 3GPP Rel-13 LC UE behavior of narrowband support, limited to 1.4 MHz bandwidth, with possible retuning from one NB 305 to another NB 305 within the larger system BW (e.g., 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz).

[0043] Selective switching to the Aggregated BW Mode enables the realization of maximal benefits of reduced power consumption features defined for 3 GPP Rel-13 LC UEs, where the Cat Mplus UE does not need to monitor the entire system BW for PDCCH monitoring, etc. The Cat Mplus UE normally operates in Single NB mode. However, when a high data rate requirement is triggered for DL or UL, for unicast reception or transmission respectively, the Cat Mplus UE supports reception/transmission (respectively) over frequency resources that span more than a single 1.4 MHz NB 305 with six PRBs 230 (operation in Aggregated BW Mode, for example), subject to a maximum supported BW.

[0044] Aggregated BW Mode is realized by aggregating the PRBs 230 belonging to one or more 1.4 MHz NBs 305 that may or may not be contiguous to each other, but such that these PRBs 230 occur in frequency domain within the maximum supported BW for BW aggregation. Note that the maximum supported BW for aggregation is separate from the maximum LTE system BW (e.g., 20 MHz) or the deployed LTE system BW.

[0045] In some cases, the maximum supported BW may be defined in terms of absolute BW (e.g., 7.5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, etc.). In other cases, the maximum supported BW may be defined in terms of the number of contiguous NBs 305 (e.g., the maximum supported BW is given by the frequency spanned by 4, 6, 8, etc. contiguous NBs 305, each 1.4 MHz (six PRBs 230) wide). In yet other cases, the maximum supported BW can be defined in terms of the number of contiguous PRBs 230 (e.g., the maximum supported BW is given by the frequency spanned by "N" contiguous PRBs 230 where N = 25, 40, 50, etc.).

[0046] FIG. 4 illustrates an example 400 of DL resource assignment and M-PDCCH to PDSCH timing for UEs with scalable BW support (e.g., Cat Mplus UEs) with dynamic indication of the PDSCH BW and resources. An M-PDCCH 405 is received in an NB 305F- 6 being used by a UE in Single NB mode. In one example, the single NB 305F-6 being used by the UE is the sixth NB 305F-6 of a set of NBs 305 specified by the eNB for a system BW. Since the system BW includes at least six NBs, it is presumed that the system BW is 10 MHz or larger. [0047] The M-PDCCH 405 includes dynamic in-band signaling (e.g., DCI) that indicates the amount and location of aggregated BW allocated to the UE for a subsequent PDSCH 410. As with the case of cross-subframe scheduling, the scheduled PDSCH starts in the second valid LC/EC downlink (DL) subframe after the last subframe of the M-PDCCH. This timing enables the UE to decode the M-PDCCH (in the M-PDCCH decoding time, for example) prior to receiving the schedule PDSCH 410. The UE may determine to switch from the Single B Mode to the Aggregated BW Mode based on the information (e.g., DCI) received in the M-PDCCH 405. While operating in the Aggregated BW Mode, the UE may receive a DL transmission via PDSCH 410 using an aggregated BW of 20 PRBs 230, which includes six PRBs 230 from each of NBs 305F-4, 305F-5, and 305F-6, and two PRBs 230 f NB 305F- 7. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the BW may be allocated by PRB 230 (allocating only a portion of one or more NBs 230, for example). The max PDSCH BW may be configured via RRC message.

[0048] 3 GPP Rel-13 LC UEs are not expected to support simultaneous reception of multiple transport blocks (TBs) that may be unicast, broadcast, or a mix of the two. For a Cat Mplus UE, when operating in Aggregated BW Mode, it is possible that two TBs are mapped to PRBs 230 that fall within the maximum supported BW by the Cat Mplus UE in

Aggregated BW Mode. However, in order to not increase device complexity and buffer management, in one embodiment, the Cat Mplus UE is not expected to support simultaneous reception of multiple TBs, even when operating in Aggregated BW Mode.

[0049] Alternatively, in another embodiment, the Cat Mplus UE is not expected to support reception of multiple broadcast TBs or a mix of broadcast and unicast TBs, but is expected to support up to two unicast PDSCH TBs that may be transmitted using PRBs 230 within the maximum supported BW when operating in Aggregated BW Mode. In this case, when scheduled to receive multiple unicast PDSCH TBs, the Cat Mplus UE generates the HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to each PDSCH TB that are transmitted using PUCCH format lb, wherein the derivation of the PUCCH resources and the mapping to physical resources, including support of repeated transmissions and frequency hopping can follow the behavior defined for 3 GPP Rel-13 LC MTC UEs in CE Mode A.

[0050] For scheduling of PDSCH with multiple unicast TBs, the modulation and coding scheme (MCS), redundancy version (RV) index, and new data indicator (NDI) bits are separately indicated for each TB similar to legacy LTE DCI formats 2/2A/2B/2C/2D. This option may be best suited if new DCI formats are introduced for DL scheduling in

Aggregated BW Mode (described as Option C, below). However, the changes to the DCI design to support scheduling of up to two transport blocks can be combined with Option A class of DCI design as well. In one embodiment, the frequency domain resource allocation given by existing DCI format 6-1 A corresponds to the resources for the first TB and the second TB is mapped to the additionally indicated NB(s) 305. This approach may be more suitable for the case wherein up to two TBs are scheduled for PDSCH following Option A for scheduling of PDSCH in Aggregated BW Mode.

[0051] For UL transmissions, even when operating in Aggregated BW Mode, the Cat Mplus UE only transmits a single PUSCH TB using one or multiple contiguous PRBs 230 such that, for the latter case, the PRBs span more than a single 1.4 MHz BW. Moreover, similar to 3GPP Rel-13 LC UEs, simultaneous transmission of PUSCH and PUCCH are not supported by Cat Mplus UEs.

[0052] Currently, a maximum transport block size (TBS) of 1000 bits is supported by 3GPP Rel-13 LC UEs for both broadcast and unicast DL and unicast UL. However, to fully realize the high data rates possible via the support of scalable BW, the TBS limitation may be removed for Cat Mplus UEs, at least for DL and UL unicast reception/transmission.

[0053] For modulation order, in order to realize a tradeoff between achievable maximum data rates and maximum BW support, in one embodiment, higher order modulations like 64 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) for DL and 16 QAM for UL can be supported.

[0054] The number of Hybrid ARQ (HARQ) processes for Cat Mplus UEs may be the same as defined for 3GPP Rel-13 LC UEs (i.e., the soft buffer requirements can be defined assuming eight HARQ process for DL and UL in FDD systems. For Cat Mplus UEs, the number of HARQ process may be fixed to 8 for DL and UL in FDD systems irrespective of coverage conditions (i.e., irrespective of coverage extension (CE) mode A or CE mode B) while the number of HARQ processes for DL and UL in TDD systems can be given by Table 1 below, irrespective of coverage conditions.

Table 1

[0055] Note that for HD-FDD operation, due to the cross-subframe scheduling and switching subframes considerations, only a maximum of 3 HARQ processes may be used, unless the timing between the last subframe of the M-PDCCH and the first subframe of the scheduled PDSCH is reduced.

[0056] On the other hand, for TDD systems, the number of HARQ process would be higher than 8 processes for DL and UL depending on the TDD DL-UL configuration as defined for 3GPP Rel-13 LC UEs. However, again, the soft buffer requirements would still be determined assuming a maximum of 8 HARQ process similar to LTE specifications.

[0057] For reference, the supported number of HARQ processes for 3 GPP Rel-13 LC UEs are provided. For FDD, if the UE is operating in CE Mode A, the same max number of DL and UL HARQ processes as for Cat-0 UE in 3 GPP Rel-12. For TDD, if the UE is operating in CE Mode A, the same max number of UL HARQ processes as for Cat-0 UE in 3GPP Rel-12 and the maximum number of DL HARQ processes is as in Table 1. For HD- FDD, FD-FDD, and TDD, if the UE is operating with medium-to-large coverage

enhancement, the UE is expected to support no more than N=2 DL HARQ processes to receive unicast PDSCH and the UE is expected to support no more than M=2 UL HARQ processes to transmit PUSCH.

[0058] The scalable BW feature can be supported by Cat Mplus UEs that support either of: full duplex FDD (FD-FDD), half duplex FDD (HD-FDD), and TDD systems. Further, other enhancements that can help increase the achievable maximum data rates can be specified for these UEs. For instance, for HD-FDD UEs, support of HARQ-ACK bundling, whereby a UE reports a bundled HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to multiple PDSCH transport blocks (TBs) on different DL subframes in a single PUCCH transmission, can be supported in order to maximize the scheduling opportunities within the round trip time (RTT) by avoiding an excessive number of guard subframes that are required for DL-to-UL or UL- to-DL retuning.

[0059] For 3GPP Rel-13 LC UEs, two Coverage Enhancement (CE) modes are defined: CE Modes A and B, where CE Mode A corresponds to UE behaviors corresponding to the use of none to a small number of repetitions of the various physical channels for

transmission/reception, while CE Mode B corresponds to UE behaviors corresponding to the use of medium-to-large number of repetitions of the various physical channels for

transmission/reception. A 3GPP Rel-13 LC UE can be configured via dedicated RRC signaling with one of the CE Modes depending on its coverage condition.

[0060] Devices with applications requiring higher data rates can be expected to typically only require a limited amount of coverage enhancement and rarely be in deep coverage holes. Hence, in one embodiment, operation in Aggregated BW Mode may be restricted to CE Mode A only. Thus, in CE Mode B, the UE may always operate in the Single NB Mode and may not expect to be configured for Aggregated BW Mode.

[0061] In one embodiment, multiple categories of UEs may be defined depending on the maximum data rate and/or maximum BW supported by the UE. In another embodiment, support of different values of maximum data rate and/or maximum BW may be indicated to the network via capability signaling. Such capability indication may be defined to be transmitted as part of the RRCConnectionRequest messages (this could be indicated in the Message3 transmission during the random access procedure, for example). Alternatively, such information may be indicated to the network as an RRC message in response to a capability indication request from the eNB.

[0062] As described above, the UE (e.g., Cat Mplus UE) operates in Aggregated BW Mode only when higher data rates are required. Therefore, the higher data rates necessitate the use of reception/transmission over a BW larger than six PRBs 230. In one embodiment, the UE may switch between Single NB Mode and Aggregated BW Mode based on configuration received from the eNB. The switching between the two modes may be signaled by the eNB upon triggering at the eNB or based on a request from the UE. In some cases, the mode switching is separately configured for DL and UL.

[0063] FIG. 5 illustrates an example 500 of DL resource assignment and M-PDCCH to PDSCH timing relationship for UEs with scalable BW support (e.g., Cat Mplus UEs) for semi-static RRC configuration of the max PDSCH BW within which the actual PDSCH resources are assigned. An M-PDCCH 405 is received in an NB 305F-6 being used by a UE in Single NB mode. In one example, the single NB 305F-6 being used by the UE is the sixth NB 305F-6 of a set of NBs 305 specified by the eNB for a system BW. Since the system BW includes at least six NBs, it is presumed that the system BW is 10 MHz or larger.

[0064] For a UE with scalable BW support (e.g., Cat Mplus UE), the eNB may configure the UE in Aggregated BW Mode when the eNB determines the need for support of larger TBSs and larger number of PRBs for PDSCH or PUSCH scheduling depending on the quality of service (QoS) requirements for Mobile Terminated (MT) or Mobile Originated (MO) traffic respectively. Once in Aggregated BW Mode, the UE may be switched back to Single NB Mode depending on scheduling decision or termination of the need for higher data rates. The configuration to/from Aggregated BW Mode may be indicated either via dedicated RRC or medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) messaging, or even via DCI.

[0065] For the option of RRC or MAC CE based configuration of the Aggregated BW Mode, the maximum aggregated BW over which PDSCH may be scheduled is indicated in the RRC or MAC CE message, and for this case, once the UE is configured with the aggregated BW configuration, it is already aware of the bandwidth and the frequency resources within which the PDSCH may be scheduled. Hence, the timing between M- PDCCH 405 and the scheduled PDSCH 410 (the first subframe of the scheduled PDSCH 410, defined for 3 GPP Rel-13 LC UEs) may be reduced from the second valid subframe after the last M-PDCCH 405 subframe to the first valid subframe after the last M-PDCCH 405 subframe (as illustrated in FIG. 5). This is because, contrary to the case wherein the UE obtains the narrowband information for receiving PDSCH from the scheduling DCI containing the DL assignment (for the case of dynamic cross-narrowband scheduling), in this case, due to the semi-static nature of configuration (against dynamic scheduling) the UE does not need to be able to decode the M-PDCCH to know the frequency resources or the narrowband(s) it should monitor to receive the scheduled PDSCH. Thus, the UE can buffer the M-PDCCH in subframe 'n' and be able to retune to a different set of narrowbands (spanning the aggregated BW) during the first two symbols of the next valid DL subframe that fall within the LTE wideband PDCCH region.

[0066] The UE may determine to switch from the Single NB Mode to the Aggregated BW Mode based on the RRC or MAC CE message. While operating in the Aggregated BW Mode, the UE may receive a DL transmission via PDSCH 410 using an aggregated BW of 20 PRBs 230, which includes six PRBs 230 from each of NBs 305F-4, 305F-5, and 305F-6, and two PRBs 230 f NB 305F-7. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the BW may be allocated by PRB 230 (allocating only a portion of one or more NBs 230, for example).

[0067] For the option of DCI-based signaling for configuration to/from Aggregated BW Mode, the mechanism can be similar to semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) activation and release indication, where the DL assignment or UL grant DCI is used (i.e., in this case, the DCI can reuse DCI format 6-1 A or format 6-0 A respectively) along with scrambling of the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) with a new radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) (by defining a new Scalable BW-RNTI (SB-RNTI), for example). If DCI format 6-1A or 6-OA are reused, in one embodiment, the frequency hopping (FH) flag and the resource allocation field can be reinterpreted to indicate the configuration to/from Aggregated BW Mode. In another embodiment, the DCI is used not only to configure the mode switch for the UE but also to provide the UE with the actual DL assignment or UL grant. In this case, FH flag may be used to toggle the mode between Aggregated BW Mode and Single B Mode; the application of FH is disabled and the UE interprets the FH flag as the toggling bit when the CRC of the DCI is scrambled with the SB-RNTI.

[0068] Alternatively, the configuration to Aggregated BW Mode can be performed via dedicated RRC message or via MAC CE message, while the configuration from Aggregated BW Mode to Single NB Mode can be via MAC CE message or even indicated by a DCI. In general, the configuration and de-configuration can be signaled to the UE via different signaling paths.

[0069] Additionally or alternatively, the switching between the two modes can be configured by the eNB upon reception of a request from the UE. Specifically, depending on application requirements, the UE may send a request to configure it in the Aggregated BW Mode either via explicit signaling or via a request for larger BW or higher data rate.

Similarly, the UE may also send a request to fall back to Single NB Mode in order to optimize power consumption when the data rate requirements are reduced. The request messages from the UE can either be defined as RRC messages or as MAC Control Element (CE) messages, with the option to indicate the switch to/from Aggregated BW Mode for either DL only, or UL only, or both.

[0070] For UL, the switch between the two modes can be triggered implicitly (i.e., without an explicit request from the UE) based on the Buffer Status Report (BSR) indication. Thus, in one embodiment, a UE with scalable BW support can expect to be configured by the eNB to operate in Aggregated BW Mode when the buffer size(s) reported in the BSR or in a number of consecutive BSRs exceed a certain threshold, and similarly, switch back to Single NB Mode when the aggregate buffer size is below a certain threshold.

[0071] In one embodiment, the choice of the thresholds can be up to eNB implementation and thus, transparent to the UE. However, in another embodiment, the exact rules for mode switching can be defined in the specifications and the thresholds for the mode switch in each direction can be indicated by the eNB via common or dedicated RRC signaling. Thus, the UE can autonomously switch between Aggregated BW Mode and Single NB Mode for the UL depending on UL buffer status, while the eNB would also be able to know of the mode switch based on the reported buffer size(s), thereby avoiding a separate configuration message from the eNB. [0072] In one embodiment, for both DL and UL, the e B can also reconfigure the UE from Aggregated BW Mode with a certain total BW to Aggregated BW Mode with a different total BW value so as to enable finer adjustment of the BW supported by the UE (at least at the baseband) to further optimize UE power consumption. For instance, the total BW to be supported when in Aggregated BW Mode can be indicated in terms of the number of 1.4 MHz Bs 305 or in terms of the number of PRBs 230, and the number of Bs 305 or PRBs 230 can be increased (subject to the maximum aggregated BW supported by the UE, for example) or decreased depending on changes in the application QoS requirements, based on request from the UE, or depending on scheduling decisions and resource availability at the eNB. For example, if the eNB determines that it would not be able to allocate a UE with resources spanning more than a certain number of contiguous NBs for either DL or UL, it may reconfigure the UE to a smaller aggregated BW value so as to help optimize the device power consumption.

[0073] As noted above, it is assumed that support of Aggregated BW Mode may be limited to CE Mode A. However, if Aggregated BW Mode is supported for CE Mode B, the solutions described herein can be applied to the corresponding DCI formats as well (i.e., based on DCI formats 6-OB and 6- IB).

[0074] For 3 GPP Rel-13 LC MTC UEs, DCI formats 6-OA and 6-1 A are used for UL scheduling (UL grants) and DL scheduling (DL assignments) respectively. For frequency domain resource allocation using DCI formats 6-OA and 6-1 A, it is possible to support cross- narrowband (cross-NB) scheduling by indicating the index of a NB 305 and the allocated PRBs 230 within a NB 305 separately. However, the existing mechanism only supports scheduling of resources spanning no more than a single six-PRB NB 305.

[0075] As used herein,

is defined as the maximum number of NBs supported for NB aggregation in DL or UL (here, XL = DL or UL). The value

may be fixed and specified as a function of the system BW or may be indicated via MTC SIB (System Information Blocks for 3GPP Rel-13 LC UEs, for example).

[0076] As specific examples of the first option above, NNB ^" = floor(NRB /6), or, ABM XL · _{( a ΛΤ} ABM XL UE_{T T} ABM XL UE ·

NNB ^" = min{floor

N_NB ^{_ _} }, where N_NB ^{_ _} is the maximum number of contiguous NBs 305 supported by the UE. Either (i) all UEs supporting

Aggregated BW Mode support BW spanning

contiguous Narrowbands when in

ARAf XL UE

Aggregated BW Mode in DL or UL respectively, (i.e., NNB - - is same for all UEs) or, (ii) different UEs may support different maximum BWs in Aggregated BW Mode, and in this case, _NNBABM_XL _{WOU BE INTERPRETED} as a UE-specific parameter if it is defined as

[0077] Although the maximum BW is indicated in terms of the six-PRB NBs 305 in the above two paragraphs, the BW may also be indicated in terms of the PRBs 230 (i.e.,

can also be defined to only be a multiple of p wherein a narrowband is defined using p contiguous PRBs 230, where p = 6 for 3 GPP Rel-13 LC UEs.

[0078] It is noted, that for all of the signaling mechanisms described below where the additional NBs 305 are indicated with respect to the NB 305 indicated by the

ceil(log2(floor(NRB^XL/6))) most significant bits (MSB) of the resource block assignment field, the UE shall consider the DCI to have inconsistent information (and hence, shall discard it) if the indicated index for the additional NB 305 falls outside of the range given by [max(0, NB₀ -

- 1)], where NB₀ corresponds to the "reference NB" indicated by the ceil(log2(floor(N_RB ^XL/6))) MSB of the resource block assignment field.

[0079] In one embodiment, the NB 305 monitored for M-PDCCH is always included within the set

NBS 305 used for receiving PDSCH. In this case, the UE can always monitor M- PDCCH allocation irrespective of the allocated PDSCH BW and hence, unlike 3GPP Rel-13 LC UEs, no prioritization is applied by the UE to receive PDSCH in case the scheduled PDSCH NB(s) 305 don't include/coincide with the NB 305 monitored for M- PDCCH. Alternatively, in another embodiment, no such restriction on NBs 305 that may be used for PDSCH scheduling is applied. In this case, in case the set

NBS 305 used for receiving PDSCH do not include the NB 305 for M-PDCCH monitoring in a subframe, the UE prioritizes reception of the scheduled PDSCH over monitoring for M- PDCCH reception.

[0080] Various embodiments to provide support of DL and UL scheduling so as to allocate resources spanning beyond a six-PRB NB 305 are described next. For convenience, these solutions are categorized into three classes of options depending on how the new scheduling information is signaled to the UE with respect to the introduction of DCI sizes, new fields, or new DCI formats, etc.

[0081] Option A introduces new resource assignment field(s) in the existing DCI formats 6-0 A, 6-1 A with possible new DCI sizes. In one embodiment, new resource assignment field(s) is/are introduced to DCI formats 6-OA, 6-1 A and the UE would be required to monitor for DCI formats 6-0 A or 6-1 A with the new size corresponding to the additional fields when the UE is configured in Aggregated BW Mode, and assume that the DCI format size corresponds to the case without the new fields otherwise. Accordingly, the new field(s) is/are located at fixed locations within the DCI (as the first or the last field(s) in the DCI, for example). Moreover, in order to avoid increasing DCI blind decoding efforts, padding bits may be added to the DL and UL DCI formats 6-1 A and 6-0 A in case the addition of the new field(s) may cause a size difference between the DL and UL DCI formats.

[0082] The new field may indicate one or more NB 305 indices in addition to the NB 305 that is indicated via the ceil(log2(floor(N_RB ^XL/6))) (with XL = DL and UL for DCI 6-1 A and 6-OA respectively) most significant bits (MSB) of the existing resource block assignment field. Further signaling options are detailed next.

[0083] One option is for when a single additional NB 305 needs to be indicated and where the aggregated NBs 305 may not be contiguous-in-frequency. In one embodiment, the new field is of length ceil(log2(floor(NRB^XL/6))) and indicates one NB 305 in addition to the NB 305 indicated via the ceil(log2(floor(N_RB^XL/6))) MSBs of the resource block assignment field. Such a resource assignment indication can provide maximal flexibility in allocating any two NBs 305 to a UE within the maximum supported BW for NB aggregation

and can be beneficial for DL scheduling flexibility.

[0084] Another option is for when multiple additional NBs need to be indicated and where the aggregated NBs 305 may not be contiguous-in-frequency. In one embodiment, the assigned NBs 305 can be indicated using a new

-bit long bitmap for maximum flexibility. In this case, the NB 305 indicated by the ceil(log2(floor(N_RB ^XL/6))) MSB of the resource block assignment field in the DCI may be ignored and only the new bitmap used. Alternatively, the resource block assignment field can be adjusted in length to

+ 5) bits such that now the

bits indicate the NB-allocation bitmap and the remaining 5 bits are used to indicate the PRB 230 position within the NB 305. As yet another option, the resource block assignment field can be adjusted in length to

bits to indicate the assigned NBs 305 and all PRBs 230 within an indicated NB 305 are assumed to be allocated.

[0085] Another option is for when a single NB 305 or multiple additional NBs 305 need to be indicated and where the aggregated NBs 305 are contiguous-in-frequency. In general, as indicated above, the resource allocation options can be used for both DL and UL.

Alternatively, for UL resource allocation, considering the single-carrier constraint, the additional one or more NBs 305 can be such that the entire allocation spans a set of contiguous frequency resources. Thus, the resource allocation indication mechanism can be adapted accordingly. Further, the following options for UL scheduling may also be applied to DL scheduling at the cost of some loss in the scheduling flexibility in not being able to schedule any dis-contiguous NBs 305 for DL.

[0086] Assuming only a maximum of one additional NB 305 is to be indicated, a single bit field could indicate whether the additional NB is the prior or later NB 305 with respect to the NB 305 allocated using the ceil(log2(flooi NRB^XL/6))) MSB of the resource block assignment field of DCI 6-OA. As an alternative, the existing ceil(log2(floor(N_RB ^XL/6))) MSB of the resource block assignment field of DCI 6-OA can be interpreted to be the first (lowest) or last (highest) NB 305 with a new field of length ceil(log2(N_NB^ABM-^XL)) indicating a certain number of contiguous-in-frequency NBs 305 (<

- 1) that follow or precede the "reference NB" 305.

[0087] In some options, the PRBs 230 within each NB 305 are indicated. In one embodiment, the PRBs 230 indicated using 5 bits of the resource block assignment field of DCI format 6-0 A/6-1 A are assigned in all of the assigned NBs 305. In another embodiment, all the PRBs 230 in each indicated NB 305 are assumed to be allocated. Accordingly, for the latter option, the 5 last bits in the resource block assignment field in the DCI can also be used to partly convey the information about the NB 305 scheduling by jointly coding with the new field(s).

[0088] In one embodiment, frequency hopping (FH) application is limited to only M- PDCCH when the UE is scheduled for PDSCH or PUSCH using Aggregated BW Mode. In this case, the FH flag in the DCI can be fixed to indicate that FH is disabled for scheduling UEs in Aggregated BW Mode, or, the FH flag can be used to partly convey the information about the NB 305 scheduling by jointly coding with the new or the existing resource block assignment field. In another embodiment, the same FH pattern (i.e., the frequency hopping granularity in number of subframes and the frequency hopping offset in frequency) is applied to all allocated NBs 305 when FH is enabled.

[0089] Option B re-interprets existing resource assignment field(s) in existing DCI formats 6-OA, 6-1 A without changing the DCI size. In one option, the PRB indication bits in the resource block assignment field are reinterpreted. In one embodiment, all six PRBs 230 in the assigned NBs 305 are assumed to be allocated and the trailing 5 bits of the resource block assignment field in the DCI formats 6-0 A/6-1 A are used to convey one additional NB 305. In another embodiment, all six PRBs 230 in the assigned NBs 305 are assumed to be allocated and the (ceil(log2(floor(NRB^XL/6))) + 5) bit-long resource block assignment field is used to convey the assigned NB 305 indices using a

-bit long bitmap. This approach can be used

+ 5) > _NNBABM_XL _{The application} of FH can follow similar solutions as described for Option A above.

[0090] Another option is to re-interpret the NB indication bits in the resource block assignment field. In one embodiment, for DL scheduling, the existing resource block assignment field in the DCI formats 6-0 A/6-1 A are reinterpreted to support allocation of up to two NBs 305. Specifically, one NB 305 of the assigned PDSCH is the same as the NB 305 used for scheduling M-PDCCH and the NB 305 that is indicated using the

MSB of the resource block assignment field can be interpreted as the additional NB.

[0091] In case M-PDCCH is transmitted with frequency hopping, then the same NB allocation and frequency hopping pattern is assumed for the first PDSCH NB 305 while the second PDSCH NB 305 also follows the same frequency hopping pattern as for M-PDCCH (i.e., the frequency hopping granularity in number of subframes and the frequency hopping offset in frequency) to avoid any possible collisions between the first and second PDSCH NBs 305.

[0092] For this case, as for Option A, the PRB indices within the assigned NBs 305 can either follow the allocation indicated by the 5 trailing bits of the resource block assignment field or all six PRBs 230 may be allocated to the UE in Aggregated BW Mode.

[0093] Option C introduces new DCI formats. According to this class of option, new DCI formats are introduced that are different from and may have different sizes compared to DCI formats 6-OA and 6-1 A. For this option, the new DCI formats can be designed using the solutions described for Option A above. Additionally or alternatively, new fields for resource allocation can be introduced to signal the PRBs 230 used in each NB 305 separately - this option may only be feasible if the number of aggregated NBs 305 for which PRB allocation is separately provided is limited to a small number (e.g., 2).

[0094] As another option, only contiguous-in-frequency NBs 305 are indicated and the resource allocation in terms of the PRBs 230 are indicated by using PDSCH resource allocation Type 2 or PUSCH resource allocation Type 0 over the set of PRBs 230 spanning the assigned NBs 305. Such an option may provide additional flexibility in resource allocation when the maximum BW supported for Aggregated BW Mode is given in terms of PRBs 230 and the mapping to number of maximum NBs 305 supported is given by

[0095] Currently, the size of the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field in each of the DCI formats 6-1A and 6-OA is limited to 4 bits in consideration of a limited set of MCS supported (i.e., limited to 16 QAM for DL and to quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) for UL). If higher order modulation are supported for UEs with support of Aggregated BW Mode (e.g., Cat Mplus UEs), then the MCS field can be extended to 5 bits and the usual (non- LC/EC UE) MCS/TBS tables can be used. Alternatively, the MCS field size can still be maintained at 4 bits; however, the 16 code-points could now be remapped to include certain MCS and TBS values corresponding to higher order modulation schemes like 16 QAM (for UL) and 64 QAM (for DL) in place of some of the lowest MCS/TBS values currently specified for LC/EC UEs.

[0096] Certain enhancements to channel state information (CSI) measurements and feedback are also envisioned when operating in Aggregated BW Mode for DL reception. Currently, for 3 GPP Rel-13 LC UEs in CE Mode A, the following CSI reporting modes are supported: Aperiodic CSI: Mode 2-0 (TM1, 2, and 9), and Periodic CSI: Mode 1-0 (TM1, 2 and 9) and Mode 1-1 (TM6 and 9).

[0097] For sub-band CSI feedback (Mode 2-0), for 3 GPP Rel-13 LC UEs, sub-band channel quality indicator (CQI) is replaced by narrow band CQI. Also, for UE-selected sub- band CSI feedback, the UE selects M preferred Bs 305 from within the set of Bs 305 monitored for M-PDCCH. For wideband CSI feedback (Modes 1-0 and 1-1), for 3 GPP Rel- 13 LC UEs, wideband CQI is obtained using all the NBs 305 used for M-PDCCH

monitoring. Further, wideband CQI is the same as NB CQI when the M-PDCCH is not configured with frequency hopping.

[0098] However, for Cat Mplus UEs, they can be capable of performing measurement over multiple NBs 305 within the maximum aggregated BW (i.e., Ν _Β^⁰¹). Hence, in one embodiment, for UE-selected sub-band CSI feedback, the UE selects M preferred NBs 305 from within the union set of NBs 305 monitored for M-PDCCH and the N_NB^-^ NBS 305 that span the range of frequency monitored for PDSCH reception. Similarly, in an embodiment, for wideband CSI feedback, the wideband CQI is obtained using all the NBs 305 in the union set of those NBs 305 used for M-PDCCH monitoring and the N_HB^-⁰¹ NBs 305 that span the range of frequency monitored for PDSCH reception.

[0099] In some cases, the configuration of the UE in Aggregated BW Mode for PUSCH transmissions is subject to the Power Headroom Report (PHR) provided by the UE.

Specifically, considering the importance of available transmission power at the UE to realize the benefits of larger PUSCH allocations, if the Power Headroom (PH) value reported in the PHR is small (i.e., if the PH value is lower than a threshold), then the UE is not configured in Aggregated BW Mode for PUSCH or if the UE is already in Aggregated BW Mode, then it is indicated to fallback to the Single B Mode of operation for PUSCH transmissions.

Alternatively, the eNB could also reconfigure the UE with a smaller maximum BW for Aggregated BW Mode operation for PUSCH.

[0100] In some cases, the fallback to Single NB Mode of operation for a UE is performed autonomously by the UE when it calculates the PH value to be lower than a threshold, where the threshold is either specified or signaled by the eNB via common or dedicated (i.e., UE- specific RRC signaling). Thus, no deconfiguration from the eNB from Aggregated BW Mode to Single NB Mode is needed, and the UE applies the deconfiguration autonomously upon receiving positive ACK from the eNB indicating successful reception of the MAC Control Element (CE) carrying the PHR at the eNB.

[0101] Currently, semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) is supported for 3GPP Rel-13 LC UEs when in CE Mode A. The support of SPS for both DL and UL can be maintained when in Aggregated BW Mode as well. Similar to CE Mode A operation, the DCI-based activation/deactivation of SPS is used and the number of repetitions for the SPS

PDSCH/PUSCH is indicated in the DCI carrying the activation command. Further, the DCI carrying the activation command also provides the frequency domain resource allocation information as for the case of dynamically scheduled PDSCH or PUSCH. Alternatively, the frequency resource allocation could be indicated via dedicated RRC signaling. The enhancements needed to the DCI formats to support the frequency resource allocation in Aggregated BW Mode are detailed above.

[0102] Up until now, the described systems and methods have considered the case of realizing higher data rates via aggregation of frequency resources spanning multiple narrowbands as defined for 3 GPP Rel-13 LC UEs while allowing for lower power consumption by limiting the amount of BW monitored when high data rates are not needed. However, similar techniques can also be used with relation to "Category 0" (Cat. 0) UEs. Therefore, it can also be possible to achieve such goals by considering a Cat. 0 UE and specify enhancements necessary for higher data rate support.

[0103] In one embodiment, the existing Cat 0 UE (that supports up to 20 MHz system BW) is defined to not monitor legacy wideband DL control channels including PDCCH, PCFICH, and PHICH. Instead, an EPDCCH-based DL control channel is defined that is transmitted in the DL in a narrowband manner. Similar to the behavior described for Cat Mplus UEs, the "Cat Oplus" UEs (e.g., UE 105) (as for the case of Cat Mplus, the definition of new UE category is not implied here; such differentiation may also be indicated via capability signaling) monitors no more than a limited set of PRBs (e.g., six PRBs) when operating in RRC IDLE Mode or in CONNECTED mode when not in need of higher data rates. Such a UE supports wideband operation spanning a larger than six-PRB BW as configured by the eNB or even the same as the DL/UL system BW when it is configured in "high data rate mode" or "wider BW mode." Additionally, the limitation on the maximum TBS of 1000 bits that is currently defined for Cat 0 UEs for unicast transmissions is also removed.

[0104] Similar to 3 GPP Rel-13 LC UEs ("Cat Ml" UEs), these UEs (e.g., Cat Oplus UEs) can also support enhancements to common control message reception (e.g., system information, paging, random access response (RAR)) and enhanced procedures to support narrowband operations and lack of legacy PDCCH monitoring for other UE procedures. For the UL, modifications to PUCCH could be defined with or without support of intra-subframe frequency hopping. However, compared to 3 GPP Rel-13 LC UEs, support of repetitions to compensate for the reduced reception/transmission capabilities compared to Cat 1 UEs may not be supported for the Cat Oplus UEs. Thus, in one embodiment, all the enhancements to the physical channels and procedures defined for 3GPP Rel-13 LC UEs can be adapted without support of repetitions. This can help simplify the physical layer procedures at the cost of some degradation in the DL and UL coverage level compared to Cat 1 or even Cat 0 UEs (the latter due to reduced BW operation).

[0105] The possible solutions to switch to/from the "high data rate/wider BW" mode can be realized by adaptations of the solutions described for Cat Mplus UEs with support of Aggregated BW and Single NB modes.

[0106] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method 600 for wireless communication by a UE that supports scalable bandwidth. The method 600 is performed by the UE 105 illustrated in FIG. 1. Although the operations of method 600 are illustrated as being performed in a particular order, it is understood that the operations of method 600 may be reordered without departing from the scope of the method.

[0107] At 605, a UE operates in a single NB mode where the apparatus supports communication over only a single NB. The single NB is included in a plurality of NBs within a system BW. At 610, the UE determines to switch from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode. At 615, the UE switches from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode, wherein the apparatus supports communication over more than the single NB in the aggregated BW mode. At 620, the UE communicates with an eNB using an aggregated BW that includes the single NB and at least a portion of a second NB of the plurality of NBs.

[0108] The operations of method 600 may be performed by an application specific processor, programmable application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate array (FPGA), or the like.

[0109] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a method 700 for wireless communication by a UE that supports scalable bandwidth. The method 700 is performed by the UE 105 illustrated in FIG. 1. Although the operations of method 700 are illustrated as being performed in a particular order, it is understood that the operations of method 700 may be reordered without departing from the scope of the method.

[0110] At 705, a UE operates in a single NB mode where the apparatus supports communication over only a single NB. The single NB is included in a plurality of NBs within a system BW. At 710, the UE obtains configuration information received from an eNB. The configuration information is received in at least one of a RRC message, a MAC CE, and a DCI message. At 715, the UE determines to switch from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode based on the obtained configuration information. At 720, the UE switches from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode, wherein the apparatus supports communication over more than the single NB in the aggregated BW mode. At 725, the UE communicates with the eNB using an aggregated BW that includes the single NB and at least a portion of a second NB of the plurality of NBs. At 730, the UE obtains two or more unicast PDSCH TBs when operating in the aggregated BW mode.

[0111] The operations of method 700 may be performed by an application specific processor, programmable application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate array (FPGA), or the like.

[0112] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a method 800 for wireless communication by an eNB. The method 800 is performed by the eNB 110 illustrated in FIG. 1. Although the operations of method 800 are illustrated as being performed in a particular order, it is understood that the operations of method 800 may be reordered without departing from the scope of the method.

[0113] At 805, the eNB communicates with a UE using a first NB. The first NB is one of a plurality of NBs within a system BW. At 810, the eNB determines that the UE should operate in an aggregated BW mode. At 815, the eNB generates configuration information instructing the UE to operate in the aggregated BW mode. At 820, the eNB communicates with the UE using an aggregated BW that includes the first NB and at least a portion of a second NB of the plurality of NBs. [0114] The operations of method 800 may be performed by an application specific processor, programmable application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate array (FPGA), or the like.

[0115] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a method 900 for wireless communication by a UE that supports scalable bandwidth. The method 900 is performed by the UE 105 illustrated in FIG. 1. Although the operations of method 900 are illustrated as being performed in a particular order, it is understood that the operations of method 900 may be reordered without departing from the scope of the method.

[0116] At 905, the UE communicates with a base station using a single B. The single NB is included in a plurality of Bs within a system BW. At 910, DCI is obtained on a M- PDCCH. At 915, scheduling information is determined based on information included in one or more fields of the DCI. The scheduling information identifies one or more additional NBs of the plurality of NBs that is allocated to the UE. At 920, the UE communicates with the base station using an aggregated BW that includes the single NB and the one or more additional NBs identified in the scheduling information.

[0117] The operations of method 900 may be performed by an application specific processor, programmable application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate array (FPGA), or the like.

[0118] FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating electronic device circuitry 1000 that may be eNB circuitry, UE circuitry, network node circuitry, or some other type of circuitry in accordance with various embodiments. In embodiments, the electronic device circuitry 1000 may be, or may be incorporated into or otherwise a part of, an eNB (e.g., eNB 110), a UE (e.g., UE 105), a mobile station (MS), a BTS, a network node, or some other type of electronic device. In embodiments, the electronic device circuitry 1000 may include radio transmit circuitry 1010 and receive circuitry 1015 coupled to control circuitry 1020 (e.g., baseband processor(s)). In embodiments, the transmit circuitry 1010 and/or receive circuitry 1015 may be elements or modules of transceiver circuitry, as shown. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 1020 can be in a device separate from the transmit circuitry 1010 and the receive circuitry 1015 (baseband processors shared by multiple antenna devices, as in cloud- RAN (C-RAN) implementations, for example).

[0119] The electronic device circuitry 1000 may be coupled with one or more plurality of antenna elements 1025 of one or more antennas. The electronic device circuitry 1000 and/or the components of the electronic device circuitry 1000 may be configured to perform operations similar to those described elsewhere in this disclosure. [0120] In embodiments where the electronic device circuitry 1000 is or is incorporated into or otherwise part of a UE, the transmit circuitry 1010 can transmit the various described information (e.g., request to switch to/from Aggregated BW Mode, BSR, CQI, etc.) to the eNB. The receive circuitry 1015 can receive the various described information (e.g., RRC messages, MAC CE messages, DCI, configuration information, etc.) from the eNB.

[0121] In embodiments where the electronic device circuitry 1000 is an eNB, BTS and/or a network node, or is incorporated into or is otherwise part of an eNB, BTS and/or a network node, the transmit circuitry 1010 can transmit the various described information (e.g., RRC messages, MAC CE messages, DCI, configuration information, etc.) to the UE. The receive circuitry 1015 can receive the various described information (e.g., request to switch to/from Aggregated BW Mode, BSR, CQI, etc.) from the UE. In certain embodiments, the electronic device circuitry 1000 shown in FIG. 10 is operable to perform one or more methods, such as the methods shown in FIGS. 6-9.

[0122] As used herein, the term "circuitry" may refer to, be part of, or include an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor

(shared, dedicated, or group), and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be implemented in, or functions associated with the circuitry may be implemented by, one or more software or firmware modules. In some embodiments, circuitry may include logic, at least partially operable in hardware.

[0123] Embodiments described herein may be implemented into a system using any suitably configured hardware and/or software. FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating, for one embodiment, example components of a user equipment (UE) or mobile station (MS) device 1100. In some embodiments, the UE device 1100 may include application circuitry 1102, baseband circuitry 1104, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 1106, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 1108, and one or more antennas 1110, coupled together at least as shown in FIG. 11.

[0124] The application circuitry 1105 may include one or more application processors. By way of non-limiting example, the application circuitry 1105 may include one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processor(s) may be operably coupled and/or include memory/storage, and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the mem ory /storage to enable various applications and/or operating systems to run on the system.

[0125] By way of non-limiting example, the baseband circuitry 1110 may include one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry 1110 may include one or more baseband processors and/or control logic. The baseband circuitry 1110 may be configured to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1115. The baseband 1110 may also be configured to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 1106. The baseband processing circuitry 1110 may interface with the application circuitry 1105 for generation and processing of the baseband signals, and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 1115.

[0126] By way of non-limiting example, the baseband circuitry 1110 may include at least one of a second generation (2G) baseband processor 1110A, a third generation (3G) baseband processor 1 HOB, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 11 IOC, other baseband processor(s) 1110D for other existing generations, and generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., fifth generation (5G), 6G, etc.). The baseband circuitry 1110 (e.g., at least one of baseband processors 11 lOA-1110D) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 1115. By way of non-limiting example, the radio control functions may include signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, other functions, and combinations thereof. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 1110 may be programmed to perform Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, constellation mapping/demapping functions, other functions, and combinations thereof. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 1110 may be programmed to perform convolutions, tail-biting convolutions, turbo, Viterbi, Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functions, other functions, and combinations thereof. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functions are not limited to these examples, and may include other suitable functions.

[0127] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1110 may include elements of a protocol stack. By way of non-limiting example, elements of an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) protocol including, for example, physical (PHY), media access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and/or radio resource control (RRC) elements. A central processing unit (CPU) 1110E of the baseband circuitry 1110 may be programmed to run elements of the protocol stack for signaling of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP and/or RRC layers. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1110 may include one or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 1110F. The audio DSP(s) 11 10F may include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation. The audio DSP(s) 1110F may also include other suitable processing elements.

[0128] The baseband circuitry 1110 may further include memory/storage 1 HOG. The memory/storage 1110G may include data and/or instructions for operations performed by the processors of the baseband circuitry 1110 stored thereon. In some embodiments, the memory/storage 1 HOG may include any combination of suitable volatile memory and/or non-volatile memory. The memory/storage 1 HOG may also include any combination of various levels of memory/storage including, but not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) having embedded software instructions (e.g., firmware), random access memory (e.g., dynamic random access memory (DRAM)), cache, buffers, etc. In some embodiments, the memory/storage 1110G may be shared among the various processors or dedicated to particular processors.

[0129] Components of the baseband circuitry 1110 may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 1110 and the application circuitry 1105 may be implemented together, such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

[0130] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1110 may provide for

communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1110 may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) and/or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 1110 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

[0131] The RF circuitry 1115 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 1115 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. The RF circuitry 1115 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1120, and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry 1110. The RF circuitry 1115 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up- convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 1110, and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1120 for transmission.

[0132] In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 1115 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1115 may include mixer circuitry 1115 A, amplifier circuitry 1115B, and filter circuitry 1 115C. The transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 1115 may include filter circuitry 1115C and mixer circuitry 1115 A. The RF circuitry 1115 may further include synthesizer circuitry 1115D configured to synthesize a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1115A of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1115A of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1120 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 1115D. The amplifier circuitry 1115B may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals.

[0133] The filter circuitry 1115C may include a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the baseband circuitry 1110 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may include zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1115A of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0134] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1115A of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 1115D to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 1120. The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 1110 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 1115C. The filter circuitry 1115C may include a low-pass filter (LPF), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1115A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1115A of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers, and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and/or upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1115A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1115A of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1115A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1115A may be arranged for direct

downconversion and/or direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1115A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1115A of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.

[0135] In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be digital baseband signals. In such embodiments, the RF circuitry 1115 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, and the baseband circuitry 1110 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry 1115.

[0136] In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0137] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 11 15D may include one or more of a fractional -N synthesizer and a fractional N/N+l synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 1115D may include a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider, other synthesizers, and combinations thereof.

[0138] The synthesizer circuitry 1115D may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1115A of the RF circuitry 1115 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1115D may be a fractional N/N+l synthesizer.

[0139] In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Divider control input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 1110 or the applications processor 1105 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by the applications processor 1105.

[0140] The synthesizer circuitry 1115D of the RF circuitry 1 115 may include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may include a dual modulus divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may include a digital phase accumulator (DP A). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+l (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In such embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL may provide negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0141] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1115D may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency, etc.) and used in conjunction with a quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 1115 may include an IQ/polar converter.

[0142] The FEM circuitry 1120 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 1125, amplify the received signals, and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 1115 for further processing. The FEM circuitry 1120 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry 11 15 for transmission by at least one of the one or more antennas 1125.

[0143] In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 1120 may include a TX/RX switch configured to switch between a transmit mode and a receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry 1120 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 1120 may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 1115). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 1120 may include a power amplifier (PA) configured to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 1115), and one or more filters configured to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 1125.

[0144] In some embodiments, the MS device 1100 may include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, a display, a camera, one of more sensors, an input/output (I/O) interface, other elements, and combinations thereof.

[0145] In some embodiments, the MS device 1100 may be configured to perform one or more processes, techniques, and/or methods as described herein, or portions thereof. Examples

[0146] The following examples pertain to further embodiments.

[0147] Example 1 is an apparatus of a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication. The apparatus includes one or more processors. The one or more processors operate in a single narrowband (NB) mode where the apparatus supports communication over only a single NB, wherein the single NB is included in a plurality of NBs within a system bandwidth (BW), determine to switch from the single NB mode to an aggregated BW mode, switch from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode, wherein the apparatus supports

communication over more than the single NB in the aggregated BW mode, and communicate with an evolved Node B (eNB) using an aggregated BW that includes the single NB and at least a portion of a second NB of the plurality of NBs.

[0148] In Example 2, the apparatus of Example 1 or any of the Examples described herein can optionally determine to switch from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode when a data rate requirement satisfies a threshold.

[0149] Example 3 is the apparatus of Example 2 or any of the Examples described herein where the data rate requirement satisfies the threshold when the data rate requirement of unicast traffic is greater than a supported data rate of the single NB.

[0150] Example 4 is the apparatus of Example 2 or any of the Examples described herein where the data rate requirement does not satisfy the threshold when at least one of the UE is in radio resource control (RRC) IDLE mode, the UE is receiving broadcast data including common control messages, and the UE is in RRC CONNECTED mode and the data rate requirement of unicast traffic is less than or equal to a supported data rate of the single NB.

[0151] Example 5 is the apparatus of Example 4 or any of the Examples described herein where RRC CONNECTED mode optionally includes connected mode discontinuous reception (C-DRX).

[0152] In Example 6, the apparatus of Example 1 or any of the Examples described herein can optionally receive configuration information from the eNB, where the

determination to switch from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode is based at least in part on the configuration information received from the eNB.

[0153] Example 7 is the apparatus of Example 6 or any of the Examples described herein where the configuration information is received in at least one of a RRC message, a media access control (MAC) control element (CE), and a downlink control information (DCI) message. [0154] Example 8 is the apparatus of Example 7 or any of the Examples described herein where the DCI message is received on a machine-type communication (MTC) physical downlink control channel (M-PDCCH).

[0155] In Example 9, the apparatus of Examples 1, 2, or 6, or any of the Examples described herein can optionally determine to switch from the aggregated BW mode to the single NB mode based on at least one of a schedule, an expiration of a timer, configuration information from the eNB, an uplink buffer status, and a switch from an RRC Connected mode to an RRC Idle mode, and switch from the aggregated BW mode to the single NB mode.

[0156] In Example 10, the apparatus of Examples 1, 2, or 6, or any of the Examples described herein can optionally generate an aggregated BW configuration request for the eNB, the aggregated BW configuration request requesting that the eNB configure the apparatus to switch to the aggregated BW mode.

[0157] Example 11 is the apparatus of Example 1 or any of the Examples described herein where the communication comprises uplink (UL) communication.

[0158] In Example 12, the apparatus of Example 11 or any of the Examples described herein can optionally generate an indication of an uplink buffer status for the eNB, wherein the determination to switch from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode is based at least in part on the uplink buffer status.

[0159] Example 13 is the apparatus of Example 12 or any of the Examples described herein where the indication of the uplink buffer status comprises a buffer status report (BSR).

[0160] Example 14 is the apparatus of Example 1 or any of the Examples described herein where the communication comprises downlink (DL) communication.

[0161] In Example 15, the apparatus of Example 14 or any of the Examples described herein can optionally obtain two or more unicast physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transport blocks (TBs) when operating in the aggregated BW mode.

[0162] Example 16 is the apparatus of Examples 1, 11, or 14, or any of the Examples described herein where the communication with the eNB using the aggregated BW uses a transport block size (TBS) that exceeds 1000 bits.

[0163] Example 17 is the apparatus of Example 1 or any of the Examples described herein where each NB in the plurality of NBs spans 1.4 megahertz (MHz) of BW across six physical resource blocks (PRBs).

[0164] Example 18 is the apparatus of Example 1 or any of the Examples described herein where the system BW is 3 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, or 20MHz. [0165] Example 19 is the apparatus of Example 1 or any of the Examples described herein where one or more Bs are aggregated up to a maximum supported BW, wherein the maximum supported BW is different than the system BW.

[0166] Example 20 is the apparatus of Example 1 or any of the Examples described herein where the maximum supported BW is defined as an absolute BW, a number of contiguous NBs, or a number of contiguous PRBs.

[0167] Example 21 is the apparatus of Example 1 or any of the Examples described herein where the apparatus switches from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode for particular subframes during C-DRX, wherein the particular subframes are those that occur within an "onDuration" of the C-DRX cycle and the apparatus falls-back to the single NB mode after expiration of drx-Inactivity Timer.

[0168] Example 22 is the apparatus of Example 1 or any of the Examples described herein where the UE is a low complexity (LC) UE, a category Ml UE, or a category 0 UE.

[0169] Example 23 is an apparatus of an evolved Node B (eNB) for wireless

communication. The apparatus includes one or more processors. The one or more processors communicate with a user equipment (UE) using a first narrowband (NB), where the first NB is one of a plurality of NBs within a system bandwidth (BW), determine that the UE should operate in an aggregated BW mode, generate configuration information for the UE, the configuration information instructing the UE to operate in the aggregated BW mode, and communicate with the UE using an aggregated BW that includes the first NB and at least a portion of a second NB of the plurality of NBs.

[0170] Example 24 is the apparatus of Example 23 or any of the Examples described herein where the determination that the UE should operate in the aggregated BW mode is based at least in part on a need for higher data rates.

[0171] In Example 25, the apparatus of Examples 23 or 24, or any of the Examples described herein can optionally obtain an aggregated BW configuration request from the UE, the aggregated BW configuration request requesting that the apparatus configure the UE in the aggregated BW mode, where the determination that the UE should operate in the aggregated BW mode is based at least in part on the obtained aggregated BW configuration request.

[0172] In Example 26, the apparatus of Example 23 or any of the Examples described herein can optionally obtain an indication of an uplink buffer status from the UE, where the determination that the UE should operate in the aggregated BW mode is based at least in part on the obtained indication of the uplink buffer status. [0173] Example 27 is the apparatus of Example 26 or any of the other Examples described herein where the indication of the uplink buffer status comprises a buffer status report (BSR).

[0174] Example 28 is the apparatus of Example 23 or any of the other Examples described herein where the configuration information is sent in at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message, a media access control (MAC) control element (CE), and a downlink control information (DCI) message.

[0175] Example 29 is the apparatus of Example 28 or any of the other Examples described herein where the DCI message is sent on a machine-type communication (MTC) physical downlink control channel (M-PDCCH).

[0176] Example 30 is the apparatus of Example 23 or any of the other Examples described herein where the communication with the UE comprises downlink (DL) communication.

[0177] In Example 31, the apparatus of Example 30 or any of the other Examples described herein can optionally provide two or more unicast physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transport blocks (TBs) to the UE over the aggregated BW.

[0178] Example 32 is the apparatus of Example 23 or any of the other Examples described herein where the communication comprises uplink (UL) communication.

[0179] Example 33 is the apparatus of Example 23 or any of the other Examples described herein where the apparatus communicates with the UE over the aggregated BW using a transport block size (TBS) that exceeds 1000 bits.

[0180] Example 34 is the apparatus of Example 23 or any of the other Examples described herein where each B in the plurality of Bs spans 1.4 megahertz (MHz) of BW across six physical resource blocks (PRBs).

[0181] Example 35 is the apparatus of Example 23 or any of the other Examples described herein where the system BW is 3 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, or 20MHz.

[0182] Example 36 is the apparatus of Example 23 or any of the other Examples described herein where the UE is a low complexity (LC) UE, a category Ml UE, or a category 0 UE.

[0183] Example 37 is an apparatus of a user equipment (UE). The apparatus includes one or more processors. The one or more processors communicate with a base station using a single NB, where the single NB is included in a plurality of NBs within a system bandwidth (BW), obtain downlink control information (DCI) on a machine-type communication (MTC) physical downlink control channel (M-PDCCH), determine scheduling information based on information included in one or more fields of the DCI, the scheduling information identifying one or more additional NBs of the plurality of NBs that is allocated to the UE, and communicate with the base station using an aggregated BW that includes the single NB and the one or more additional NBs identified in the scheduling information.

[0184] Example 38 is the apparatus of Example 37 or any of the other Examples described herein where the scheduling information enables the UE to operate in an aggregated BW mode.

[0185] Example 39 is the apparatus of Example 37 or any of the other Examples described herein where the DCI uses at least one of DCI format 6-0 A and DCI format 6-1 A.

[0186] Example 40 is the apparatus of Example 39 or any of the other Examples described herein where the scheduling information is included in one or more new resource assignment fields of the DCI, the one more new resource assignment fields in addition to any existing DCI field.

[0187] Example 41 is the apparatus of Example 39 or any of the other Examples described herein where the scheduling information is included in one or more existing DCI fields that have been reformatted to be one or more resource assignment fields.

[0188] Example 42 is the apparatus of Example 37 or any of the other Examples described herein where the DCI uses a new DCI format that indicates operation in an aggregated BW mode.

[0189] Example 43 is a method for wireless communication, comprising. The method includes operating in a single narrowband (NB) mode where the apparatus supports communication over only a single NB, where the single NB is included in a plurality of NBs within a system bandwidth (BW), determining to switch from the single NB mode to an aggregated BW mode, switching from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode, where the apparatus supports communication over more than the single NB in the aggregated BW mode, and communicating with an evolved Node B (eNB) using an aggregated BW that includes the single NB and at least a portion of a second NB of the plurality of NBs.

[0190] In Example 44, the method of Example 43 or any of the other Examples described herein may optionally include determining to switch from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode when a data rate requirement satisfies a threshold.

[0191] Example 45 is the method of Example 44 or any of the other Examples described herein where the data rate requirement satisfies the threshold when the data rate requirement of unicast traffic is greater than a supported data rate of the single NB. [0192] Example 46 is the method of Example 44 or any of the other Examples described herein where the data rate requirement does not satisfy the threshold when at least one of the UE is in radio resource control (RRC) IDLE mode, the UE is receiving broadcast data including common control messages, and the UE is in RRC CONNECTED mode and the data rate requirement of unicast traffic is less than or equal to a supported data rate of the single NB, wherein the RRC CONNECTED mode comprises connected mode discontinuous reception (C-DRX).

[0193] In Example 47, the method of Example 43 or any of the other Examples described herein may optionally include receiving configuration information from the eNB, where the determination to switch from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode is based at least in part on the configuration information received from the eNB, where the configuration information is received in at least one of a RRC message, a media access control (MAC) control element (CE), and a downlink control information (DCI) message, and where the DCI message is received on a machine-type communication (MTC) physical downlink control channel (M-PDCCH).

[0194] In Example 48, the method of Example 43 or any of the other Examples described herein may optionally include determining to switch from the aggregated BW mode to the single NB mode based on at least one of a schedule, an expiration of a timer, configuration information from the eNB, an uplink buffer status, and a switch from an RRC Connected mode to an RRC Idle mode, and switching from the aggregated BW mode to the single NB mode.

[0195] In Example 49, the method of Example 43 or any of the other Examples described herein may optionally include generating an aggregated BW configuration request for the eNB, the aggregated BW configuration request requesting that the eNB configure the apparatus to switch to the aggregated BW mode.

[0196] In Example 50, the method of Example 43 or any of the other Examples described herein may optionally include generating an indication of an uplink buffer status for the eNB, where the determination to switch from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode is based at least in part on the uplink buffer status, where the indication of the uplink buffer status comprises a buffer status report (BSR).

[0197] In Example 51, the method of Example 43 or any of the other Examples described herein may optionally include obtaining two or more unicast physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transport blocks (TBs) when operating in the aggregated BW mode. [0198] Example 52 is the method of Example 43 or any of the other Examples described herein where the apparatus switches from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode for particular subframes during C-DRX, where the particular subframes are those that occur within an "onDuration" of the C-DRX cycle and the apparatus falls-back to the single NB mode after expiration of drx-Inactivity Timer.

[0199] Example 53 is a method for wireless communication. The method includes communicating with a user equipment (UE) using a first narrowband (NB), where the first NB is one of a plurality of NBs within a system bandwidth (BW), determining that the UE should operate in an aggregated BW mode, generating configuration information for the UE, the configuration information instructing the UE to operate in the aggregated BW mode, and communicating with the UE using an aggregated BW that includes the first NB and at least a portion of a second NB of the plurality of NBs.

[0200] Example 54 is the method of Example 53 or any of the other Examples described herein where the determination that the UE should operate in the aggregated BW mode is based at least in part on a need for higher data rates.

[0201] In Example 55, the method of Example 53 or any of the other Examples described herein may optionally include obtaining an aggregated BW configuration request from the UE, the aggregated BW configuration request requesting that the apparatus configure the UE in the aggregated BW mode, where the determination that the UE should operate in the aggregated BW mode is based at least in part on the obtained aggregated BW configuration request.

[0202] In Example 56, the method of Example 53 or any of the other Examples described herein may optionally include obtaining an indication of an uplink buffer status from the UE, where the determination that the UE should operate in the aggregated BW mode is based at least in part on the obtained indication of the uplink buffer status, where the indication of the uplink buffer status comprises a buffer status report (BSR).

[0203] Example 57 is the method of Example 53 or any of the other Examples described herein where the configuration information is sent in at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message, a media access control (MAC) control element (CE), and a downlink control information (DCI) message, wherein the DCI message is sent on a machine-type

communication (MTC) physical downlink control channel (M-PDCCH).

[0204] In Example 58, the method of Example 53 or any of the other Examples described herein may optionally include providing two or more unicast physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transport blocks (TBs) to the UE over the aggregated BW. [0205] Example 59 is a method for scheduling wireless communication. The method includes communicating with a base station using a single NB, where the single NB is included in a plurality of NBs within a system bandwidth (BW), obtaining downlink control information (DCI) on a machine-type communication (MTC) physical downlink control channel (M-PDCCH), determining scheduling information based on information included in one or more fields of the DCI, the scheduling information identifying one or more additional NBs of the plurality of NBs that is allocated to the UE, and communicating with the base station using an aggregated BW that includes the single NB and the one or more additional NBs identified in the scheduling information.

[0206] Example 60 is the method of Example 59 or any of the other Examples described herein where the scheduling information enables the UE to operate in an aggregated BW mode.

[0207] Example 61 is the method of Example 59 or any of the other Examples described herein where the DCI uses at least one of DCI format 6-0 A and DCI format 6-1 A.

[0208] Example 62 is the method of Example 61 or any of the other Examples described herein where the scheduling information is included in one or more new resource assignment fields of the DCI, the one more new resource assignment fields in addition to any existing DCI field.

[0209] Example 63 is the method of Example 61 or any of the other Examples described herein where the scheduling information is included in one or more existing DCI fields that have been reformatted to be one or more resource assignment fields.

[0210] Example 64 is the method of Example 59 or any of the other Examples described herein where the DCI uses a new DCI format that indicates operation in an aggregated BW mode.

[0211] Example 65 is a system and method of supporting User Equipment supporting scalable bandwidth for reception or transmission depending on the need for higher data rates compared to Category 0 or Rel-13 LC UEs, where the UE supports narrowband reception and transmission when high data rates for DL or UL are not required and supports wider than a single narrowband for DL reception or UL transmission when higher data rates are required.

[0212] Example 66 is the UE of Example 65 or any of the other Examples described herein, where a single Narrowband (NB) spans 1.4 MHz bandwidth across 6 PRBs.

[0213] Example 67 is the UE of Example 66 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the UE operates in Single Narrowband Mode similar to a 3 GPP Rel-13 LC UE supporting no more than a single NB, with the ability to retune from one narrowband to another within the larger system BW, during times when high data rate requirements do not exist.

[0214] Example 68 is the UE of Example 67 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the times when high data rate requirements do not exist correspond to when the UE is in RRC IDLE mode, or when it is receiving broadcast data including common control messages, or when it is in CONNECTED mode in C-DRX or non-DRX CONNECTED mode having unicast traffic without high data requirements.

[0215] Example 69 is the UE of Example 66 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the UE operates in Aggregated BW Mode, where the UE supports

reception/transmission (respectively) over frequency resources that span more than a single 1.4 MHz NB with 6 PRBs, subject to a maximum supported BW for BW aggregation, when a high data rate requirement is triggered for DL or UL, for unicast reception or transmission respectively.

[0216] Example 70 is the UE of Example 69 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the Aggregated BW Mode is realized by aggregating the PRBs belonging to one or more 1.4 MHz NBs that may or may not be contiguous to each other, but such that these PRBs occur in frequency domain within the maximum supported BW for BW aggregation.

[0217] Example 71 is the UE of Examples 69 or 70 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the maximum supported BW for BW aggregation is separate from the maximum LTE system BW (e.g., 20 MHz) or the deployed LTE system BW.

[0218] Example 72 is the UE of Example 68 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the UE supports Aggregated BW Mode within Connected-DRX (C-DRX) during certain times of the C-DRX period depending on the need for high data rates for dynamically scheduled traffic or SPS traffic.

[0219] Example 73 is the UE of Example 72 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the UE supports Aggregated BW Mode in certain subframes during C-DRX that could be the subframes within the "onDuration" and the UE falls-back to the Single NB Mode after drxlnactivity Timer expiry.

[0220] Example 74 is the UE of Example 72 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the UE uses Single NB Mode until receiving an Physical DL Control Channel for MTC (MPDCCH) indicating dynamic switching to Aggregated BW Mode when it switches to the Aggregated BW Mode, and subsequently falls-back to the Single NB Mode after expiry of a certain newly-defined timer or after expiry of an existing timer (e.g., onDuration/ drxlnactivity Timer) .

[0221] Example 75 is the UE of Example 71 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the maximum supported BW for BW aggregation is defined either in terms of absolute BW, e.g., 7.5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, etc., or is defined in terms of the number of contiguous narrowbands (NBs), e.g., the maximum supported BW is given by the frequency spanned by 4, 6, 8, etc. contiguous NBs, each 1.4 MHz (6 PRBs) wide, or is defined in terms of the number of contiguous PRBs, e.g., the maximum supported BW is given by the frequency spanned by 'Ν' contiguous PRBs where N = 25, 40, 50, etc.

[0222] Example 76 is the UE of Example 66 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the UE is not expected to support simultaneous reception of multiple transport blocks, even when operating in Aggregated BW Mode.

[0223] Example 77 is the UE of Example 66 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the UE is not expected to support reception of multiple broadcast TBs or a mix of broadcast and unicast TBs, but is expected to support up to two unicast PDSCH TBs that may be transmitted using PRBs within the maximum supported BW when operating in Aggregated BW Mode.

[0224] Example 78 is the UE of Example 77 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the UE generates the HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to each PDSCH Transport Block (TB) that are transmitted using PUCCH format lb, wherein the derivation of the PUCCH resources and the mapping to physical resources, including support of repeated transmissions and frequency hopping can follow the behavior defined for 3GPP Rel-13 LC MTC UEs in Coverage Enhancement (CE) Mode A.

[0225] Example 79 is the UE of Example 77 or any of the other Examples described herein, where for the scheduling of PDSCH with multiple unicast TBs, the MCS, RV index, and NDI bits are separately indicated for each TB similar to legacy LTE DCI formats 2/2A/2B/2C/2D.

[0226] Example 80 is the UE of Example 77 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the frequency domain resource allocation given by existing DCI format 6-1 A corresponds to the resources for the first TB and the second TB is mapped to the additionally indicated NB(s).

[0227] Example 81 is the UE of Example 66 or any of the other Examples described herein, where for UL transmissions, the UE only transmits a single PUSCH TB using one or multiple contiguous PRBs such that, for the latter case, the PRBs span more than a single 1.4 MHz BW when operating in Aggregated BW Mode.

[0228] Example 82 is the UE of Example 81 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the UE does not support simultaneous transmission of PUSCH and PUCCH.

[0229] Example 83 is the UE of Example 66 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the UE supports transport block size (TBS) values larger than 1000 bits for unicast reception or transmission in the DL or UL respectively.

[0230] Example 84 is the UE of Example 66 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the UE supports a modulation order higher than 16 QAM for DL and higher than QPSK for UL that are used for reception and transmission respectively when the UE is operating in Aggregated BW Mode.

[0231] Example 85 is the UE of Example 66 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the UE supports Half Duplex-FDD (HD-FDD) mode of operation with support of HARQ-ACK bundling in response to PDSCH reception, whereby the UE reports a bundled HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to multiple PDSCH transport blocks (TBs) on different DL subframes in a single PUCCH transmission.

[0232] Example 86 is the UE of Example 66 or any of the other Examples described herein, where operation in Aggregated BW Mode is restricted to CE Mode A only.

[0233] Example 87 is the UE of Example 66 or any of the other Examples described herein, where different categories of UEs are defined depending on the maximum data rate supported by the UE or the maximum BW for BW aggregation supported by the UE.

[0234] Example 88 is the UE of Example 66 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the maximum data rate supported or the maximum BW for BW aggregation supported is indicated to the eNodeB via capability signaling.

[0235] Example 89 is the UE of Example 88 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the capability signaling is carried as part of the RRCConnectionRequest message, i.e., indicated in the Message3 transmission during the random access procedure, or, be indicated to the eNodeB as an RRC message in response to a capability indication request from the eNodeB.

[0236] Example 90 is the UE of Example 66 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the UE switches between Single NB Mode and Aggregated BW Mode based on configuration received from the eNodeB. [0237] Example 91 is the UE of Example 90 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the switching between the two modes is signaled by the eNodeB upon triggering at the eNodeB or based on request from the UE.

[0238] Example 92 is the UE of Example 90 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the switching between the two modes is separately configured for DL and UL.

[0239] Example 93 is the UE of Example 90 or any of the other Examples described herein, where it is configured in Aggregated BW Mode when the eNodeB determines the need for support of larger TBSs and larger number of PRBs for PDSCH or PUSCH scheduling depending on the QoS requirements for Mobile Terminated (MT) or Mobile Originated (MO) traffic respectively.

[0240] Example 94 is the UE of Example 90 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the UE is switched back to Single NB Mode depending on scheduling decision or termination of the need for higher data rates.

[0241] Example 95 is the UE of Example 90 or any of the other Examples described herein, where configuration to/from Aggregated BW Mode is indicated either via dedicated RRC or MAC CE messaging or via DCI.

[0242] Example 96 is the UE of Example 95 or any of the other Examples described herein, where for RRC or MAC CE based configuration of the Aggregated BW Mode, the maximum aggregated BW over which PDSCH may be scheduled is indicated in the RRC or MAC CE message.

[0243] Example 97 is the UE of Example 96 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the timing between MPDCCH and the scheduled PDSCH is reduced from the second valid subframe (to carry the first subframe of the scheduled PDSCH, defined for Rel- 13 LC UEs) after the last MPDCCH subframe to the first valid subframe after the last MPDCCH subframe.

[0244] Example 98 is the UE of Example 95 or any of the other Examples described herein, where for the option of DCI-based signaling, the mechanism is similar to SPS activation and release indication, wherein the DL assignment or UL grant DCI is used (i.e., in this case, DCI format 6-1 A or format 6-OA respectively) along with scrambling of the CRC with a new RNTI, e.g., by defining a new Scalable BW-RNTI (SB-RNTI).

[0245] Example 99 is the UE of Example 95 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the configuration and de-configuration of Aggregated BW Mode can be signaled to the UE via different signaling paths. [0246] Example 100 is the UE of Example 90 or any of the other Examples described herein, where depending on application requirements, the UE sends a request to configure it in the Aggregated BW Mode either via explicit signaling or via a request for larger BW or higher data rate.

[0247] Example 101 is the UE of Example 90 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the UE sends a request to eNodeB to fall back to Single NB Mode in order to optimize power consumption when the data rate requirements are reduced.

[0248] Example 102 is the UE of Examples 100 or 101 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the request messages from the UE is defined as RRC messages or as MAC Control Element (CE) messages, with the option to indicate the switch to/from

Aggregated BW Mode for either DL only, or UL only, or both.

[0249] Example 103 is the UE of Example 90 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the switch between the two modes can be triggered implicitly based on the Buffer Status Report (BSR) indication.

[0250] Example 104 is the UE of Example 103 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the UE is configured by the eNodeB to operate in Aggregated BW Mode when the buffer size(s) reported in the BSR or in a number of consecutive BSRs exceed a certain threshold, and switched back to Single NB Mode when the aggregate buffer size is below a certain threshold.

[0251] Example 105 is the UE of Example 104 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the rules for mode switching are defined in the specifications and the thresholds for the mode switch in each direction are indicated by the eNodeB via common or dedicated RRC signaling, and wherein the UE autonomously switches between Aggregated BW Mode and Single NB Mode for the UL depending on UL buffer status.

[0252] Example 106 is the UE of Example 90 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the UE is reconfigured from Aggregated BW Mode with a certain total BW to Aggregated BW Mode with a different total BW value.

[0253] Example 107 is the UE of Example 66 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the maximum number of NBs supported for NB aggregation in DL or UL (here, XL = DL or UL), given by N_NB^¹^^, is fixed and specified as function of the system BW or could even be indicated via MTC SIB (System Information Blocks for 3 GPP Rel-13 LC UEs).

[0254] Example 108 is the UE of Example 107 or any of the other Examples described herein, where

AR A f XL UE AR A f XL UE

NN_B ^{" "} }, where NN_B ^{" "} is the maximum number of contiguous Bs supported by the UE.

[0255] Example 109 is the UE of Example 108 or any of the other Examples described

AR A f XL UE

herein, where N_NB ^{~ ~} is a c for all UEs supporting scalable BW and Aggregated BW Mode or wherein

is UE-specific.

[0256] Example 110 is the UE of Example 107 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the maximum BW, N_NB^¹^ ^, is indicated in terms of the 6-PRB narrowbands or in terms of number of PRBs.

[0257] Example 111 is the UE of Example 107 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the NB monitored for MPDCCH is always included within the set of

N_NBABM_DL _{NBs used for receiving} pDSCH.

[0258] Example 112 is the UE of Example 107 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the set of Ν _Β^^111, NBS used for receiving PDSCH need not include the NB for MPDCCH monitoring in a subframe, and where the UE prioritizes reception of the scheduled PDSCH over monitoring for MPDCCH reception if the set of N_NB ^{ABM DL} NBs used for receiving PDSCH do not include the NB for MPDCCH monitoring in a subframe.

[0259] Example 113 is the UE of Example 66 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the resource allocation for DL and UL in Aggregated BW Mode is performed by introducing new resource assignment field(s) in the existing DCI formats 6-OA, 6-1 A with possibly new DCI sizes, wherein the presence of the new fields is dependent on the operation Mode (being Aggregated BW Mode or Single NB Mode).

[0260] Example 114 is the UE of Example 113 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the new fields are placed at known positions in the DCI, where the known position is at the beginning or at the end of the DCI.

[0261] Example 115 is the UE of Example 66 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the existing resource assignment field in existing DCI formats 6-OA, 6-1 A are re-interpreted when the UE is in Aggregated BW Mode without changing the DCI size.

[0262] Example 116 is the UE of Example 67 or any of the other Examples described herein, where new DCI formats are introduced that are monitored when the UE is in

Aggregated BW Mode.

[0263] Example 117 is the UE of Example 84 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the MCS field is extended to 5 bits and the usual (non-LC/EC UE) MCS/TBS tables are used. [0264] Example 118 is the UE of Example 84 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the MCS field size is 4 bits; and the 16 code-points are remapped to include certain MCS and TBS values corresponding to higher order modulation schemes like 16QAM (for UL) and 64QAM (for DL) in place of some of the lowest MCS/TBS values currently specified for LC/EC UEs.

[0265] Example 119 is the UE of Example 66 or any of the other Examples described herein, where for UE-selected sub-band CSI feedback, the UE selects M preferred NBs from within the union set of NBs monitored for MPDCCH and the N_HB^-⁰¹ NBS that span the range of frequency monitored for PDSCH reception.

[0266] Example 120 is the UE of Example 66 or any of the other Examples described herein, where, for wideband CSI feedback, the wideband CQI is obtained using all the NBs in the union set of those NBs used for MPDCCH monitoring and the N_NB^-^01, NBS that span the range of frequency monitored for PDSCH reception.

[0267] Example 121 is the UE of Example 66 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the configuration of the UE in Aggregated BW Mode for PUSCH

transmissions is subject to the Power Headroom Report (PHR) provided by the UE.

[0268] Example 122 is the UE of Example 121 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the fall-back to Single NB Mode of operation for a UE is performed autonomously by the UE when it calculates the Power Headroom (PH) value to be lower than a threshold, where the threshold is either specified or signaled by the eNodeB via common or dedicated (i.e., UE-specific RRC signaling).

[0269] Example 123 is the UE of Example 122 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the UE applies the deconfiguration autonomously upon receiving postive ACK from the eNodeB indicating successful reception of the MAC Control Element (CE) carrying the PHR at the eNodeB.

[0270] Example 124 is the UE of Example 66 or any of the other Examples described herein, where UE supports SPS for DL and UL when in Aggregated BW Mode, wherein DCI-based activation/deactivation of SPS is used, the number of repetitions for the SPS PDSCH/PUSCH is indicated in the DCI carrying the activation command, and the frequency domain resource allocation information is indicated either in the activation DCI or via dedicated RRC signaling.

[0271] Example 125 is the UE of Example 66 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the UE is based on Cat 0 UE such that it is not expected to monitor legacy wideband DL control channels including PDCCH, PCFICH, and PHICH. [0272] Example 126 is the UE of Example 125 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the UE receives or transmits using a wider BW only when high data rates are required.

[0273] Example 127 is the UE of Example 126 or any of the other Examples described herein, where the TBS restriction of 1000 bits for unicast traffic for Cat 0 UEs is removed for the UE.

[0274] Example 128 is an apparatus for a UE including means for executing any of the operations, methods, or processes described herein.

[0275] Example 129 is an apparatus for an e B including means for executing any of the operations, methods, or processes described herein.

[0276] Example 130 is a machine-readable storage medium including machine-readable instructions, that when executed, cause one or more processors to implement any one of the operations, methods, or processes, or realize an apparatus described herein.

[0277] Embodiments and implementations of the systems and methods described herein may include various operations, which may be embodied in machine-executable instructions to be executed by a computer system. A computer system may include one or more general- purpose or special-purpose computers (or other electronic devices). The computer system may include hardware components that include specific logic for performing the operations or may include a combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware.

[0278] Computer systems and the computers in a computer system may be connected via a network. Suitable networks for configuration and/or use as described herein include one or more local area networks, wide area networks, metropolitan area networks, and/or Internet or IP networks, such as the World Wide Web, a private Internet, a secure Internet, a value-added network, a virtual private network, an extranet, an intranet, or even stand-alone machines which communicate with other machines by physical transport of media. In particular, a suitable network may be formed from parts or entireties of two or more other networks, including networks using disparate hardware and network communication technologies.

[0279] One suitable network includes a server and one or more clients; other suitable networks may contain other combinations of servers, clients, and/or peer-to-peer nodes, and a given computer system may function both as a client and as a server. Each network includes at least two computers or computer systems, such as the server and/or clients. A computer system may include a workstation, laptop computer, disconnectable mobile computer, server, mainframe, cluster, so-called "network computer" or "thin client," tablet, smart phone, personal digital assistant or other hand-held computing device, "smart" consumer electronics device or appliance, medical device, or a combination thereof.

[0280] Suitable networks may include communications or networking software, such as the software available from Novell®, Microsoft®, and other vendors, and may operate using TCP/IP, SPX, IPX, and other protocols over twisted pair, coaxial, or optical fiber cables, telephone lines, radio waves, satellites, microwave relays, modulated AC power lines, physical media transfer, and/or other data transmission "wires" known to those of skill in the art. The network may encompass smaller networks and/or be connectable to other networks through a gateway or similar mechanism.

[0281] Various techniques, or certain aspects or portions thereof, may take the form of program code (i.e., instructions) embodied in tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, CD- ROMs, hard drives, magnetic or optical cards, solid-state memory devices, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, or any other machine-readable storage medium wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the various techniques. In the case of program code execution on programmable computers, the computing device may include a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile and nonvolatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input device, and at least one output device. The volatile and nonvolatile memory and/or storage elements may be a RAM, an EPROM, a flash drive, an optical drive, a magnetic hard drive, or other medium for storing electronic data. The eNB (or other base station) and UE (or other mobile station) may also include a transceiver component, a counter component, a processing component, and/or a clock component or timer component. One or more programs that may implement or utilize the various techniques described herein may use an application programming interface (API), reusable controls, and the like. Such programs may be implemented in a high-level procedural or an object-oriented programming language to communicate with a computer system. However, the program(s) may be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language, and combined with hardware implementations.

[0282] Each computer system includes one or more processors and/or memory; computer systems may also include various input devices and/or output devices. The processor may include a general purpose device, such as an Intel®, AMD®, or other "off-the-shelf microprocessor. The processor may include a special purpose processing device, such as ASIC, SoC, SiP, FPGA, PAL, PLA, FPLA, PLD, or other customized or programmable device. The memory may include static RAM, dynamic RAM, flash memory, one or more flip-flops, ROM, CD-ROM, DVD, disk, tape, or magnetic, optical, or other computer storage medium. The input device(s) may include a keyboard, mouse, touch screen, light pen, tablet, microphone, sensor, or other hardware with accompanying firmware and/or software. The output device(s) may include a monitor or other display, printer, speech or text synthesizer, switch, signal line, or other hardware with accompanying firmware and/or software.

[0283] It should be understood that many of the functional units described in this specification may be implemented as one or more components, which is a term used to more particularly emphasize their implementation independence. For example, a component may be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom very large scale integration (VLSI) circuits or gate arrays, or off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or other discrete components. A component may also be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices, or the like.

[0284] Components may also be implemented in software for execution by various types of processors. An identified component of executable code may, for instance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions, which may, for instance, be organized as an object, a procedure, or a function. Nevertheless, the executables of an identified component need not be physically located together, but may comprise disparate instructions stored in different locations that, when joined logically together, comprise the component and achieve the stated purpose for the component.

[0285] Indeed, a component of executable code may be a single instruction, or many instructions, and may even be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several memory devices. Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustrated herein within components, and may be embodied in any suitable form and organized within any suitable type of data structure. The operational data may be collected as a single data set, or may be distributed over different locations including over different storage devices, and may exist, at least partially, merely as electronic signals on a system or network. The components may be passive or active, including agents operable to perform desired functions.

[0286] Several aspects of the embodiments described will be illustrated as software modules or components. As used herein, a software module or component may include any type of computer instruction or computer-executable code located within a memory device. A software module may, for instance, include one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions, which may be organized as a routine, program, object, component, data structure, etc., that perform one or more tasks or implement particular data types. It is appreciated that a software module may be implemented in hardware and/or firmware instead of or in addition to software. One or more of the functional modules described herein may be separated into sub-modules and/or combined into a single or smaller number of modules.

[0287] In certain embodiments, a particular software module may include disparate instructions stored in different locations of a memory device, different memory devices, or different computers, which together implement the described functionality of the module. Indeed, a module may include a single instruction or many instructions, and may be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several memory devices. Some embodiments may be practiced in a distributed computing environment where tasks are performed by a remote processing device linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, software modules may be located in local and/or remote memory storage devices. In addition, data being tied or rendered together in a database record may be resident in the same memory device, or across several memory devices, and may be linked together in fields of a record in a database across a network.

[0288] Reference throughout this specification to "an example" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the example is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, appearances of the phrase "in an example" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

[0289] As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositional elements, and/or materials may be presented in a common list for convenience. However, these lists should be construed as though each member of the list is individually identified as a separate and unique member. Thus, no individual member of such list should be construed as a de facto equivalent of any other member of the same list solely based on its presentation in a common group without indications to the contrary. In addition, various embodiments and examples of the present disclosure may be referred to herein along with alternatives for the various components thereof. It is understood that such embodiments, examples, and alternatives are not to be construed as de facto equivalents of one another, but are to be considered as separate and autonomous representations of the present disclosure.

[0290] Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided, such as examples of materials, frequencies, sizes, lengths, widths, shapes, etc., to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the disclosure. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the disclosure may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the disclosure.

[0291] It should be recognized that the systems described herein include descriptions of specific embodiments. These embodiments can be combined into single systems, partially combined into other systems, split into multiple systems or divided or combined in other ways. In addition, it is contemplated that parameters/attributes/aspects/etc. of one embodiment can be used in another embodiment. The parameters/attributes/aspects /etc. are merely described in one or more embodiments for clarity, and it is recognized that the parameters/attributes/aspects /etc. can be combined with or substituted for

parameters/attributes/etc. of another embodiment unless specifically disclaimed herein.

[0292] Although the foregoing has been described in some detail for purposes of clarity, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be made without departing from the principles thereof. It should be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing both the processes and apparatuses described herein. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to be considered illustrative and not restrictive, and the disclosure is not to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

[0293] Those having skill in the art will appreciate that many changes may be made to the details of the above-described embodiments without departing from the underlying principles of the disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure should, therefore, be determined only by the following claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus of a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising:

one or more processors to:

operate in a single narrowband (NB) mode where the apparatus supports communication over only a single NB, wherein the single NB is included in a plurality of NBs within a system bandwidth (BW);

determine to switch from the single NB mode to an aggregated BW mode; switch from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode, wherein the apparatus supports communication over more than the single NB in the aggregated BW mode; and

communicate with an evolved Node B (eNB) using an aggregated BW that includes the single NB and at least a portion of a second NB of the plurality of NBs.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors determine to switch from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode when a data rate requirement satisfies a threshold.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the data rate requirement satisfies the threshold when the data rate requirement of unicast traffic is greater than a supported data rate of the single NB.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the data rate requirement does not satisfy the threshold when at least one of the UE is in radio resource control (RRC) IDLE mode, the UE is receiving broadcast data including common control messages, and the UE is in RRC CONNECTED mode and the data rate requirement of unicast traffic is less than or equal to a supported data rate of the single NB, and wherein the RRC CONNECTED mode comprises connected mode discontinuous reception (C-DRX).

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further to: receive configuration information from the eNB, wherein the determination to switch from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode is based at least in part on the configuration information received from the eNB, wherein the configuration information is received in at least one of a RRC message, a media access control (MAC) control element (CE), and a downlink control information (DCI) message, and wherein the DCI message is received on a machine-type communication (MTC) physical downlink control channel (M- PDCCH).

6. The apparatus of claims 1, 2, or 5, wherein the one or more processors are further to:

determine to switch from the aggregated BW mode to the single NB mode based on at least one of a schedule, an expiration of a timer, configuration information from the eNB, an uplink buffer status, and a switch from an RRC Connected mode to an RRC Idle mode; and switch from the aggregated BW mode to the single NB mode.

7. The apparatus of claims 1, 2, or 5, wherein the one or more processors are further to:

generate an aggregated BW configuration request for the eNB, the aggregated BW configuration request requesting that the eNB configure the apparatus to switch to the aggregated BW mode.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further to: generate an indication of an uplink buffer status for the eNB, wherein the

determination to switch from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode is based at least in part on the uplink buffer status, and wherein the indication of the uplink buffer status comprises a buffer status report (BSR).

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further to: obtain two or more unicast physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transport blocks (TBs) when operating in the aggregated BW mode.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein one or more NBs are aggregated up to a maximum supported BW, wherein the maximum supported BW is different than the system BW.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus switches from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode for particular subframes during C-DRX, wherein the particular subframes are those that occur within an "onDuration" of the C-DRX cycle and the apparatus falls-back to the single NB mode after expiration of drx-Inactivity Timer.

12. An apparatus of an evolved Node B (eNB) for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising:

one or more processors to:

communicate with a user equipment (UE) using a first narrowband (NB), wherein the first NB is one of a plurality of NBs within a system bandwidth (BW);

determine that the UE should operate in an aggregated BW mode;

generate configuration information for the UE, the configuration information instructing the UE to operate in the aggregated BW mode; and communicate with the UE using an aggregated BW that includes the first NB and at least a portion of a second NB of the plurality of NBs.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the determination that the UE should operate in the aggregated BW mode is based at least in part on a need for higher data rates.

14. The apparatus of claims 12 or 13, wherein the one or more processors are further to:

obtain an aggregated BW configuration request from the UE, the aggregated BW configuration request requesting that the apparatus configure the UE in the aggregated BW mode, wherein the determination to configure the UE to operate in the aggregated BW mode is based at least in part on the obtained aggregated BW configuration request.

15. An apparatus of a user equipment (UE), comprising:

one or more processors to:

communicate with a base station using a single NB, wherein the single NB is included in a plurality of NBs within a system bandwidth (BW);

obtain downlink control information (DCI) on a machine-type communication (MTC) physical downlink control channel (M-PDCCH);

determine scheduling information based on information included in one or more fields of the DCI, the scheduling information identifying one or more additional NBs of the plurality of NBs that is allocated to the UE; and

communicate with the base station using an aggregated BW that includes the single NB and the one or more additional NBs identified in the scheduling information.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the scheduling information enables the UE to operate in an aggregated BW mode.

17. A method by a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: operating in a single narrowband (NB) mode where the apparatus supports communication over only a single NB, wherein the single NB is included in a plurality of NBs within a system bandwidth (BW);

determining to switch from the single NB mode to an aggregated BW mode;

switching from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode, wherein the apparatus supports communication over more than the single NB in the aggregated BW mode; and

communicating with an evolved Node B (eNB) using an aggregated BW that includes the single NB and at least a portion of a second NB of the plurality of NBs.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving configuration information from the eNB, wherein the determination to switch from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode is based at least in part on the configuration information received from the eNB, wherein the configuration information is received in at least one of a RRC message, a media access control (MAC) control element (CE), and a downlink control information (DCI) message, and wherein the DCI message is received on a machine-type communication (MTC) physical downlink control channel (M- PDCCH).

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

determining to switch from the aggregated BW mode to the single NB mode based on at least one of a schedule, an expiration of a timer, configuration information from the eNB, an uplink buffer status, and a switch from an RRC Connected mode to an RRC Idle mode; and

switching from the aggregated BW mode to the single NB mode.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

generating an aggregated BW configuration request for the eNB, the aggregated BW configuration request requesting that the eNB configure the apparatus to switch to the aggregated BW mode.

21. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

generating an indication of an uplink buffer status for the eNB, wherein the determination to switch from the single NB mode to the aggregated BW mode is based at least in part on the uplink buffer status, wherein the indication of the uplink buffer status comprises a buffer status report (BSR).

22. A method by an evolved Node B (eNB) for wireless communication, comprising:

communicating with a user equipment (UE) using a first narrowband (NB), wherein the first NB is one of a plurality of NBs within a system bandwidth (BW);

determining that the UE should operate in an aggregated BW mode;

generating configuration information for the UE, the configuration information instructing the UE to operate in the aggregated BW mode; and

communicating with the UE using an aggregated BW that includes the first NB and at least a portion of a second NB of the plurality of NBs.

23. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

obtaining an aggregated BW configuration request from the UE, the aggregated BW configuration request requesting that the apparatus configure the UE in the aggregated BW mode, wherein the determination that the UE should operate in the aggregated BW mode is based at least in part on the obtained aggregated BW configuration request.

24. An apparatus comprising means to perform the method of any of claims 17-

23.

25. Machine-readable storage including machine-readable instructions, when executed, to implement a method or realize an apparatus as claimed in any of claims 17-23.