Apparatus and method of wireless communication

1 . A wireless communication method by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

determining a first subframe; and/or determining a second subframe according to the first subframe; and

performing a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring according to the first subframe and/or the second subframe, wherein the UE is not required to monitor a narrowband physical downlink control channel (NPDCCH) in a subframe after the first subframe and before the second subframe.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the UE is configured to receive a first transmission, and the first transmission ends in the first subframe.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the first transmission comprises a narrowband physical downlink shared channel (NPDSCH) transmission or an NPDCCH transmission,

wherein the NPDSCH transmission is scheduled by a downlink control information (DCI) format,

wherein the DCI format comprises a DCI format N1 and/or a DCI format N2,

wherein the NPDCCH is configured with a PDCCH order, and

wherein the PDCCH order initiates a random access channel (RACH) procedure.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the UE is configured to perform a second transmission starting in the second subframe or starting later than the second subframe,

wherein the second transmission comprises a narrowband physical uplink shared channel (NPUSCH) transmission or a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission,

wherein the NPUSCH transmission comprises an acknowledgement (ACK)/non-acknowledgement (NACK) information corresponding to the reception of the first transmission,

wherein the PRACH transmission is requested by the PDCCH order.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the UE determining the second subframe according to the first subframe comprises that the second subframe is a number of subframes after the first subframe, where the number comprises a first amount and/or a second amount and/or a third amount,

wherein the first amount is determined at least from a first information, and the DCI format provides the first information,

wherein the second amount is determined at least from a second information, and the second information is provided in a system information and/or a UE-specific radio resource control (RRC).

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the second amount is relevant to a timing advance,

wherein the second information comprises a first time duration or a second number of subframes,

wherein the second amount is greater than or equal to the second number; and/or

the second amount comprises a first integer, and the first integer is a smallest integer such that the first integer times a subframe duration is greater than or equal to the first time duration.

7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the third amount is a pre-defined or pre-configured value,

wherein the third amount is greater than or equal to 8.

8 . A wireless communication method by a base station comprising:

controlling a user equipment (UE) to determine a first subframe; and/or determine a second subframe according to the first subframe; and

controlling the UE to perform a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring according to the first subframe and/or the second subframe, wherein the base station controls the UE in a way that the UE is not required to monitor a narrowband physical downlink control channel (NPDCCH) in a subframe after the first subframe and before the second subframe.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the base station controls the UE to receive a first transmission, and the first transmission ends in the first subframe,

wherein the first transmission comprises a narrowband physical downlink shared channel (NPDSCH) transmission or an NPDCCH transmission,

wherein the NPDSCH transmission is scheduled by a downlink control information (DCI) format, and

wherein the DCI format comprises a DCI format N1 and/or a DCI format N2.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the first subframe comprises a first subframe index, and the second subframe comprises a second subframe index,

the base station further controls the UE in a way that the UE is not required to monitor an NPDCCH in a subframe after a subframe corresponding to the first subframe index and before a subframe corresponding to the second subframe index.

11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the base station controls the UE to transmit a first transmission, and the first transmission ends in the first subframe,

wherein the first transmission comprises a narrowband physical uplink shared channel (NPUSCH) transmission, and the NPUSCH is associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process identifier (ID),

wherein the second subframe is a number of subframes after the first subframe, where the number comprises a third amount, and

wherein the third amount is relevant to a time offset between a downlink timing and an uplink timing.

12 . A user equipment (UE), comprising:

a memory;

a transceiver; and

a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver;

wherein the processor is configured to perform operations of:

determining a first subframe; and/or determining a second subframe according to the first subframe; and

performing a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring according to the first subframe and/or the second subframe, wherein the UE is not required to monitor a narrowband physical downlink control channel (NPDCCH) in a subframe after the first subframe and before the second subframe.

13 . The UE of claim 12 , wherein the UE is configured to receive a first transmission, and the first transmission ends in the first subframe.

14 . The UE of claim 13 , wherein the first transmission comprises a narrowband physical downlink shared channel (NPDSCH) transmission or an NPDCCH transmission,

wherein the NPDSCH transmission is scheduled by a downlink control information (DCI) format,

wherein the DCI format comprises a DCI format N1 and/or a DCI format N2,

wherein the NPDCCH is configured with a PDCCH order, and

wherein the PDCCH order initiates a random access channel (RACH) procedure.

15 . The UE of claim 12 , wherein the UE is configured to perform a second transmission starting in the second subframe or starting later than the second subframe,

wherein the second transmission comprises a narrowband physical uplink shared channel (NPUSCH) transmission or a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission,

wherein the NPUSCH transmission comprises an acknowledgement (ACK)/non-acknowledgement (NACK) information corresponding to the reception of the first transmission,

wherein the PRACH transmission is requested by the PDCCH order.

16 . The UE of claim 12 , wherein the UE determining the second subframe according to the first subframe comprises that the second subframe is a number of subframes after the first subframe, where the number comprises a first amount and/or a second amount and/or a third amount,

wherein the first amount is determined at least from a first information, and the DCI format provides the first information,

wherein the second amount is determined at least from a second information, and the second information is provided in a system information and/or a UE-specific radio resource control (RRC).

17 . A base station, comprising:

a memory;

a transceiver; and

a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver;

wherein the processor is configured to perform operations of:

controlling a user equipment (UE) to determine a first subframe; and/or determine a second subframe according to the first subframe; and

controlling the UE to perform a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring according to the first subframe and/or the second subframe, wherein the base station controls the UE in a way that the UE is not required to monitor a narrowband physical downlink control channel (NPDCCH) in a subframe after the first subframe and before the second subframe.

18 . The base station of claim 17 , wherein the base station controls the UE to transmit a first transmission, and the first transmission ends in the first subframe,

wherein the first transmission comprises a narrowband physical uplink shared channel (NPUSCH) transmission, and the NPUSCH is associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process identifier (ID),

wherein the second subframe is a number of subframes after the first subframe, where the number comprises a third amount, and

wherein the third amount is relevant to a time offset between a downlink timing and an uplink timing.

19 . The base station of claim 18 , wherein the third amount is determined at least from a third information, and the third information is provided in a system information and/or a UE-specific RRC,

wherein the third information comprises a second time duration or a third number of subframes,

wherein the third amount is greater than or equal to the third number.

20 . The base station of claim 18 , wherein the third amount comprises a second integer, and the second integer is a smallest integer such that the second integer times a subframe duration is greater than or equal to the second time duration.