PDCCH monitoring span enhancement in mobile communications

1. A method, comprising:

selecting, by a processor of an apparatus implemented in a user equipment (UE), a maximum number of non-overlapping control channel elements (CCEs) per monitoring span from a set of possible values;

transmitting, by the processor, a report of a per-span based capability of the UE based on the selecting to a network node of a wireless network; and

performing, by the processor, physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring using a configuration that satisfies a requirement for a gap separation with respect to spans for at least one candidate value set in the report in every slot including cross-slot boundaries,

wherein the transmitting of the report comprises reporting a plurality of valid configurations associated with a plurality of candidate value sets each represented as (X, Y), and wherein:

X denotes a minimum number of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols between start symbols of every two adjacent spans, and

Y denotes a length of each span expressed in a number of consecutive OFDM symbols of a slot.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing of the PDCCH monitoring comprises performing the PDCCH monitoring with a monitoring span for a sub-carrier spacing (SCS) of 15 kHz or 30 kHz.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing of the PDCCH monitoring comprises selecting a largest value of M among a set of values of M of the plurality of valid configurations, wherein M denotes the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs per monitoring span defined by (X, Y), and wherein N denotes a maximum number of blind decodes (BDs) per monitoring span defined by (X, Y).

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by the processor, RRC signaling from the network node,

wherein the report further reports a per-slot based capability of the UE, and

wherein the RRC signaling indicates which of the per-slot based capability and the per-span based capability to apply for the PDCCH monitoring.

5. An apparatus implementable in a user equipment (UE), comprising:

a transceiver configured to communicate with a network node of a wireless network; and

a processor coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to perform operations comprising:

selecting a maximum number of non-overlapping control channel elements (CCEs) per monitoring span from a radio resource control (RRC)-configured set of possible values;

transmitting, via the transceiver, a report of a per-span based capability of the UE based on the selecting to the network node; and

performing, via the transceiver, physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring using a configuration that satisfies a requirement for a gap separation with respect to spans for at least one candidate value set in the report in every slot including cross-slot boundaries,

wherein the transmitting of the report comprises reporting a plurality of valid configurations associated with a plurality of candidate value sets each represented as (X, Y), and wherein:

X denotes a minimum number of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols between start symbols of every two adjacent spans, and

Y denotes a length of each span expressed in a number of consecutive OFDM symbols of a slot.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein, in performing the PDCCH monitoring, the processor performs the PDCCH monitoring with a monitoring span for a sub-carrier spacing (SCS) of 15 kHz or 30 kHz.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein, in performing the PDCCH monitoring, the processor selects a largest value of M among a set of values of M of the plurality of valid configurations, and wherein a set of values of N is RRC-configured or dynamically configured by the network node, wherein M denotes the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs per monitoring span defined by (X, Y), and wherein N denotes a maximum number of blind decodes (BDs) per monitoring span defined by (X, Y).

8. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform operations comprising:

receiving, via the transceiver, RRC signaling from the network node,

wherein, in the report, the processor further reports a per-slot based capability of the UE, and

wherein the RRC signaling indicates which of the per-slot based capability and the per-span based capability to apply for the PDCCH monitoring.