Method and apparatus for discontinuous reception for a group of user equipments

1 . A base station (BS) in a wireless communication system, the BS comprising:

a transceiver configured to transmit higher layer parameters; and

a processor operably coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to determine:

discontinuous reception (DRX) ON durations based on the higher layer parameters, and

transmission occasions for physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs) based on the higher layer parameters, wherein a first PDCCH from the PDCCHs provides a downlink control information (DCI) format,

wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit the first PDCCH in at least one transmission occasion from the transmission occasions,

wherein the processor is further configured to determine, based on an indication in the DCI format, whether to instruct the transceiver to transmit a second PDCCH within at least one DRX ON duration from consecutive N DRX DRX ON durations that are after the transmission of the first PDCCH, and

wherein:

the indication in the DCI format is a bitmap of size N DRX , and

N DRX bits in the bitmap are respectively associated with the N DRX DRX ON durations.

2 . The BS of claim 1 , wherein:

the DRX ON durations do not overlap in time domain,

the transceiver is further configured to transmit, via higher layer signaling, an offset for the DRX ON durations and an interval between consecutive DRX ON durations, and

the processor is further configured to determine, based on the offset and the interval, the DRX ON durations.

3 . The BS of claim 1 , wherein:

the DRX ON durations have a common DRX cycle, and

the higher layer parameters include the common DRX cycle.

4 . The BS of claim 1 , wherein:

the processor is further configured to determine, based on a time offset to the DRX ON durations, time domain locations of the transmission occasions, and

the transceiver is further configured to transmit information indicating the time offset via higher layer signaling.

5 . The BS of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit, via higher layer signaling, information indicating at least one transmission occasion from the transmission occasions for the PDCCHs.

6 . The BS of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit, via higher layer signaling, an indication to a user equipment (UE) for a location of the bitmap in the DCI format.

7 . The BS of claim 1 , wherein:

the transmission occasions for the PDCCHs include N 1 ·N 2 transmission occasions, where N 1 is a number of beams and N 2 is a number of transmission occasions corresponding to one beam,

the higher layer parameters include N 1 and N 2 , and

a first reference signal (RS) associated with PDCCH transmissions in a (x·N 1 +k)-th transmission occasion is quasi co-located with a second RS associated with PDCCH transmissions in a k-th transmission occasion, wherein 0≤x≤N 2 −1, and 0≤k≤N 1 −1.

8 . A user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising:

a transceiver configured to receive higher layer parameters; and

a processor operably coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to determine:

discontinuous reception (DRX) ON durations based on the higher layer parameters, and

reception occasions for physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs) based on the higher layer parameters, wherein a first PDCCH from the PDCCHs provides a downlink control information (DCI) format,

wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive the first PDCCH in at least one reception occasion from the reception occasions,

wherein the processor is further configured to determine, based on an indication in the DCI format, whether to instruct the transceiver to receive a second PDCCH within at least one DRX ON duration from consecutive N DRX DRX ON durations that are after the reception of the first PDCCH, and

wherein:

the indication in the DCI format is a bitmap of size N DRX , and

N DRX bits in the bitmap are respectively associated with the N DRX DRX ON durations.

9 . The UE of claim 8 , wherein:

the DRX ON durations do not overlap in time domain,

the transceiver is further configured to receive, via higher layer signaling, an offset for the DRX ON durations and an interval between consecutive DRX ON durations, and

the processor is further configured to determine, based on the offset and the interval, the DRX ON durations.

10 . The UE of claim 8 , wherein:

the DRX ON durations have a common DRX cycle, and

the higher layer parameters include the common DRX cycle.

11 . The UE of claim 8 , wherein:

the transceiver is further configured to receive, via higher layer signaling, information indicating a time offset to the DRX ON durations; and

the processor is further configured to determine, based on the time offset to the DRX ON durations, time domain locations of the reception occasions for the PDCCHs.

12 . The UE of claim 8 , wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive, via higher layer signaling, information indicating at least one transmission occasion from the transmission occasions for the PDCCHs.

13 . The UE of claim 8 , wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive, via higher layer signaling, an indication for a location of the bitmap in the DCI format.

14 . The UE of claim 8 , wherein:

the reception occasions for the PDCCHs include N 1 ·N 2 reception occasions, where Ny is a number of beams and N 2 is a number of transmission occasions corresponding to one beam,

the higher layer parameters include N 1 and N 2 , and

a first reference signal (RS) associated with PDCCH receptions in a (x·N 1 +k)-th reception occasion is quasi co-located with a second RS associated with second PDCCH receptions in a k-th reception occasion, wherein 0≤x≤N 2 −1, and 0≤k≤N 1 −1.

15 . A method of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

receiving higher layer parameters;

determining:

discontinuous reception (DRX) ON durations based on the higher layer parameters, and

reception occasions for physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs) based on the higher layer parameters, wherein a first PDCCH from the PDCCHs provides a downlink control information (DCI) format;

receiving the first PDCCH in at least one reception occasion from the reception occasions; and

determining, based on an indication in the DCI format, whether to receive a second PDCCH in at least one DRX ON duration from consecutive N DRX DRX ON durations that are after the reception of the first PDCCH, wherein:

the indication in the DCI format is a bitmap of size N DRX , and

N DRX bits in the bitmap are respectively associated with the N DRX DRX ON durations.

16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

determining the DRX ON durations do not overlap in time domain;

receiving, via higher layer signaling, an offset for the DRX ON durations and an interval between consecutive DRX ON durations;

determining, based on the offset and the interval, the DRX ON durations; and

determining:

the reception occasions for the PDCCHs include N 1 ·N 2 reception occasions, where N 1 is a number of beams and N 2 is a number of transmission occasions corresponding to one beam,

the higher layer parameters include N 1 and N 2 , and

a first reference signal (RS) associated with PDCCH receptions in a (x·N 1 +k)-th reception occasion is quasi co-located with a second RS associated with PDCCH receptions in a k-th reception occasion, wherein 0≤x≤N 2 −1, and 0≤k≤N 1 −1.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein:

the DRX ON durations have a common DRX cycle, and

the higher layer parameters include the common DRX cycle.

18 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

receiving, via higher layer signaling, information indicating a time offset to the DRX ON durations; and

determining, based on the time offset to the DRX ON durations, time domain locations of the reception occasions for the PDCCHs.

19 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising receiving, via higher layer signaling, information indicating at least one transmission occasion within the reception occasions for the PDCCHs.

20 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising receiving, via higher layer signaling, an indication for a location of the bitmap in the DCI format.