Physical downlink control channel design

1. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor, and

at least one memory including computer program code;

the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to:

receive at least one downlink control signal from a network device, the downlink control signal comprising a current slot format indicator and a further indicator, the current slot format indicator indicating at least one slot format combination and the further indicator comprising an ending indication indicating where channel occupancy time ends;

determine, based on the current slot format indicator and the further indicator, a first valid slot and an end of the channel occupancy time, and

discontinue monitoring downlink control information from the network device in a slot after the last slot indicated by the ending indication.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the end of the channel occupancy time is different from a last slot indicated by the current slot format indicator.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the further indicator is received in a group-common physical downlink control channel.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the downlink control signal comprises a downlink control information format 2_0.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to:

detect a downlink burst.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the ending indication is associated with a channel occupancy time ending indicator and/or a reserved state of a next slot format indicator.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to:

obtain at least one slot format indication (SFI) configuration.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the at least one SFI configuration indicates one or more of: a RNTI associated with the downlink control signal, a monitoring occasion associated with the downlink control signal, a search-space parameter associated with the downlink control signal, or content of the downlink control signal for one or more serving cells.

9. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor, and

at least one memory including computer program code;

the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to:

transmit at least one downlink control signal to a terminal device, the downlink control signal comprising a current slot format indicator and a further indicator, the current slot format indicator indicate at least one slot format combination and the further indicator comprising an ending indication indicating where channel occupancy time ends,

wherein a combination of a plurality of indications included in the further indicator indicates jointly: 1) a first valid slot or a first slot where the current slot format indicator is configured to be applied, and 2) at least one last valid slot format.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the downlink control signal comprises a downlink control information format 2_0.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to:

transmit at least one slot format indication (SFI) configuration to the terminal device.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the at least one SFI configuration indicates one or more of: a RNTI associated with the downlink control signal, a monitoring occasion associated with the downlink control signal, a search-space parameter associated with the downlink control signal, or content of the downlink control signal for one or more serving cells.

13. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a terminal device, at least one downlink control signal from a network device, the downlink control signal comprising a current slot format indicator and a further indicator, the current slot format indicator indicating at least one slot format combination and the further indicator comprising an ending indication indicating where channel occupancy time ends;

determining, based on the current slot format indicator and the further indicator, a first valid slot and an end of the channel occupancy time; and

discontinuing monitoring downlink control information from the network device in a slot after the last slot indicated by the ending indication.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the end of the channel occupancy time is different from the last slot indicated by the current slot format indicator.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the further indicator is received in a group-common physical downlink control channel.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the downlink control signal comprises a downlink control information format 2_0.

17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

detecting, by the terminal device, a downlink burst.

18. The method of claim 13 , wherein the ending indication is associated with a channel occupancy time ending indicator and/or a reserved state of a next slot format indicator.

19. The method of claim 13 , further comprising obtaining, by the terminal device, at least one slot format indication configuration.

20. A method, comprising:

transmitting, by a network device, at least one downlink control signal to a terminal device, the downlink control signal comprising a current slot format indicator and a further indicator, the current slot format indicator indicate at least one slot format combination and the further indicator comprising an ending indication indicating where channel occupancy time ends,

wherein a combination of a plurality of indications included in the further indicator indicates jointly: 1) a first valid slot or a first slot where the current slot format indicator is configured to be applied, and 2) at least one last valid slot format.