Master information block (MIB) type determination

1 . A method performed by a user equipment (UE) for receiving system information (SI) associated with a cell in a wireless network, the method comprising:

receiving, from the wireless network, a master information block (MIB) including SI associated with the cell, wherein the MIB can be applicable to both a first frequency band and a second frequency band that have a common frequency range; and

determining whether the MIB applies to the first frequency band or the second frequency band,

wherein the MIB further includes a first SI field, a second SI field, and a third SI field and the third SI field is related to a physical control channel configuration associated with a system information block (SIB) that includes further SI, and

wherein the MIB further includes a fourth SI field, a fifth SI field, and a sixth SI field related to characteristics other than the frequency band of the cell, the characteristics other than the frequency band of the cell including at least one of: (i) a UE capability constraint for reception of the SIB; (ii) a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (SSB) transmission density; and (iii) a time offset parameter indicating a relative timing relationship between the SIB and the SSB.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first frequency band is a licensed-access band, and the second frequency band is a shared-spectrum channel access or unlicensed-access band.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises, based on determining that the MIB applies to the second frequency band, interpreting the first and second SI fields as a parameter indicating a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship between synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel blocks (SSBs) associated with the cell.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the MIB applies to the first frequency band or the second frequency band comprises:

based on a hypothesis that the MIB applies to one of the first and second frequency bands, attempting to receive the SIB based on a physical control channel configuration corresponding to the one of the first and second frequency bands;

determining that the MIB applies to the one of the first and second frequency bands when the attempt to receive the SIB is successful; and

determining that the MIB applies to the other of the first and second frequency bands when the attempt to receive the SIB is unsuccessful.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, from the wireless network on a first frequency in the common frequency range, a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block, SSB, associated with the cell.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein:

the first frequency is associated with a global synchronization channel number (GSCN); and

determining whether the MIB applies to the first frequency band or the second frequency band comprises:

determining that the MIB applies to the first frequency band when the GSCN is one of a first set of values; and

determining that the MIB applies to the second frequency band when the GSCN is one of a second set of values,

wherein the first set and second set are non-overlapping.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein one of the first and second sets is even-numbered and the other of the first and seconds set is odd-numbered.

8 . The method of claim 5 , wherein:

the SSB comprises a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS);

the PSS is associated with a PSS code and the SSS is associated with an SSS code; and

determining whether the MIB applies to the first frequency band or the second frequency band comprises:

detecting a PSS code and/or an SSS code associated with the received SSB;

determining that the MIB applies to the first frequency band when the detected PSS code and/or the detected SSS code is part of a first set of codes; and

determining that the MIB applies to the second frequency band when the detected PSS code and/or the detected SSS code is part of a second set of codes.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the first and second sets of codes are non-overlapping sets of one of the following:

PSS codes;

SSS codes; or

combinations of PSS codes and SSS codes.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the MIB is received in a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) payload together with a PBCH cyclic redundancy check (CRC) field associated with the PBCH payload.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein determining whether the MIB applies to the first frequency band or the second frequency band comprises:

determining that the MIB applies to the first frequency band when at least one of the PBCH CRC field and the PBCH payload is scrambled according to a first scrambling; and

determining that the MIB applies to the second frequency band when at least one of the PBCH CRC field and the PBCH payload is scrambled according to a second scrambling,

wherein the first scrambling is different from the second scrambling.

12 . A method, performed by a network node in a wireless network, for transmitting system information (SI) associated with a cell in the wireless network, the method comprising:

transmitting a master information block (MIB) including SI associated with the cell, wherein the MIB can be applicable to both a first frequency band and a second frequency band that have a common frequency range, wherein the MIB further includes a first SI field, a second SI field, and a third SI field and wherein the third SI field is related to a physical control channel configuration associated with a system information block (SIB) that includes further SI, and wherein the MIB further includes a fourth SI field, a fifth SI field, and a sixth SI fields related to characteristics other than the frequency band of the cell; and

indicating whether the MIB applies to the first frequency band or the second frequency band based on one or more of the following:

information associated with a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the MIB;

a synchronization signal associated with the cell; and

SI fields, in the MIB, related to characteristics other than the frequency band of the cell, the characteristics other than the frequency band of the cell including at least one of: (i) a UE capability constraint for reception of the SIB; (ii) a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (SSB) transmission density; and (iii) a time offset parameter indicating a relative timing relationship between the SIB and the SSB.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the first frequency band is a licensed-access band, and the second frequency band is a shared-spectrum channel access or unlicensed-access band.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein:

the method further comprises, when indicating that the MIB applies to the second frequency band, encoding in the first and second SI fields a parameter indicating a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship between synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel blocks (SSBs) associated with the cell.

15 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising transmitting, on a first frequency in the common frequency range, a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (SSB) associated with the cell.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein:

the first frequency is associated with a Global Synchronization Channel Number (GSCN); and

indicating whether the MIB applies to the first frequency band or the second frequency band comprises:

indicating that the MIB applies to the first frequency band when the GSCN is one of a first set of values; and

indicating that the MIB applies to the second frequency band when the GSCN is one of a second set of values,

wherein the first set and second set are non-overlapping.

17 . A user equipment (UE) configured to receive system information (SI) associated with a cell of a wireless network, the UE comprising:

radio transceiver circuitry configured to communicate with a network node via the cell; and

processing circuitry operatively coupled to the radio transceiver circuitry, whereby the processing circuitry and the radio transceiver circuitry are configured to:

receive, from the wireless network, a master information block (MIB) including SI associated with the cell, wherein the MIB can be applicable to both a first frequency band and a second frequency band that have a common frequency range; and

determine whether the MIB applies to the first frequency band or the second frequency band, wherein the MIB further includes a first SI field, a second SI field, and a third SI field and the third SI field is related to a physical control channel configuration associated with a system information block (SIB) that includes further SI, and wherein the MIB further includes a fourth SI field, a fifth SI field, and a sixth SI field related to characteristics other than the frequency band of the cell, the characteristics other than the frequency band of the cell including at least one of: (i) a UE capability constraint for reception of the SIB; (ii) a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (SSB) transmission density; and (iii) a time offset parameter indicating a relative timing relationship between the SIB and the SSB.

18 . The UE of claim 17 , wherein:

the first frequency band is a licensed-access band;

the second frequency band is a shared-spectrum channel access or unlicensed-access band; and

the processing circuitry and the radio transceiver circuitry are further configured to, based on determining that the MIB applies to the second frequency band, interpret the first and second SI fields as a parameter indicating a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship between synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel blocks (SSBs) associated with the cell.

19 . A network node configured to transmit system information (SI) associated with a cell of a wireless network, the network node comprising:

radio network interface circuitry configured to communicate with a user equipment (UE); and

processing circuitry operatively coupled to the radio network interface circuitry, whereby the processing circuitry and the radio network interface circuitry are configured to:

transmit a master information block (MIB) including SI associated with the cell, wherein the MIB can be applicable to both a first frequency band and a second frequency band that have a common frequency range, wherein the MIB further includes a first SI field, a second SI field, and a third SI field and wherein the third SI field is related to a physical control channel configuration associated with a system information block (SIB) that includes further SI, and wherein the MIB further includes a fourth SI field, a fifth SI field, and a sixth SI field related to characteristics other than the frequency band of the cell; and

indicate whether the MIB applies to the first frequency band or the second frequency band based on one or more of the following:

information associated with a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the MIB;

a synchronization signal associated with the cell; and

SI fields, in the MIB, related to characteristics other than the frequency band of the cell, the characteristics other than the frequency band of the cell including at least one of: (i) a UE capability constraint for reception of the SIB; (ii) a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (SSB) transmission density; and (iii) a time offset parameter indicating a relative timing relationship between the SIB and the SSB.

20 . The network node of claim 19 , wherein:

the first frequency band is a licensed-access band;

the second frequency band is a shared-spectrum channel access or unlicensed-access band; and

the processing circuitry and the radio network interface circuitry are further configured to, when indicating that the MIB applies to the second frequency band, encode in the first and second SI fields a parameter indicating a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship between synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel blocks (SSBs) associated with the cell.