Blind detection and control channel element monitoring limits in carrier aggregation

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a network from a first user equipment (UE), a declaration of capabilities of the first UE;

sending, by the network, to the first UE, a first search space configuration for a first component carrier in a carrier aggregation scheme;

sending, by the network, to the first UE, a second search space configuration for a second component carrier in the carrier aggregation scheme,

wherein:

the first search space configuration comprises a first set of monitoring occasions, and

the second search space configuration comprises a second set of monitoring occasions;

determining an (X, Y) pair that is satisfied by both the first set of monitoring occasions and the second set of monitoring occasions, wherein the (X, Y) pair is a feature 3-5b capability supported by the UE;

determining a union of the first set of monitoring occasions and the second set of monitoring occasions;

determining a span pattern based on the union;

determining whether the (X, Y) pair is satisfied by the span pattern; and

(i) implementing a first control channel elements (CCE) limit if the (X, Y) pair is satisfied by the span pattern; or

(ii) implementing a second CCE limit different from the first CCE limit if the (X, Y) pair is not satisfied by the span pattern.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, by the network from a second user equipment (UE), a declaration of capabilities of the second UE;

sending, by the network, to the second UE, a third search space configuration for the first component carrier; and

sending, by the network, to the second UE, a fourth search space configuration for the second component carrier,

wherein:

the third search space configuration defines a third set of monitoring occasions,

the fourth search space configuration defines a fourth set of monitoring occasions, and

the third set of monitoring occasions is not aligned with the fourth set of monitoring occasions.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the third search space configuration includes at most M PDCCH total,(X,Y),μ physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates, wherein M PDCCH total,(X,Y),μ is based on the declaration of capabilities of the second UE.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the third search space configuration includes at most C PDCCH total,(X,Y),μ control channel elements, wherein C PDCCH total,(X,Y),μ is based on the declaration of capabilities of the second UE.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the declaration of capabilities of the first UE includes:

a first span-gap span-length pair, and

a second span-gap span-length pair; and

the method further comprises:

determining a first span pattern for the first span-gap span-length pair and for the first set of monitoring occasions, the first span pattern being the span pattern assuming the first span-gap span-length pair, that includes a first set of control resource sets and a first set of search spaces;

determining that the first span pattern is valid for the first span-gap span-length pair;

determining a second span pattern for the second span-gap span-length pair and for the first set of monitoring occasions, the second span pattern being the span pattern assuming the second span-gap span-length pair, that includes the first set monitoring occasions; and

determining that the second span pattern is valid for the second span-gap span-length pair.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

determining that the first span-gap span-length pair corresponds to a first specified constant, the first specified constant specifying a maximum number of monitored physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates; and

determining that the second span-gap span-length pair corresponds to a second specified constant, the second specified constant specifying a maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates, the second specified constant being greater than the first specified constant.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining that the first span-gap span-length pair corresponds to a first specified constant, the first specified constant specifying a maximum number of non-overlapping control channel elements; and

determining that the second span-gap span-length pair corresponds to a second specified constant, the first specified constant specifying a maximum number of non-overlapping control channel elements, the second specified constant being greater than the first specified constant.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

instructing, by the network, the UE to transition to a bandwidth part not supporting span-based physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring, and

sending, by the network, to the UE, a third search space configuration,

the third search space configuration being a search space configuration for slot-based PDCCH monitoring.

9. A system comprising a network, the network comprising a processing circuit configured to:

receive, from a first user equipment (UE), a declaration of capabilities of the first UE;

send, to the first UE, a first search space configuration for a first component carrier in a carrier aggregation scheme;

send, to the first UE, a second search space configuration for a second component carrier in the carrier aggregation scheme,

wherein:

the first search space configuration comprises a first set of monitoring occasions, and

the second search space configuration comprises a second set of monitoring occasions;

determine an (X, Y) pair that is satisfied by both the first set of monitoring occasions and the second set of monitoring occasions, wherein the (X, Y) pair is a feature 3-5b capability supported by the first UE;

determine a union of the first set of monitoring occasions and the second set of monitoring occasions;

determine a span pattern based on the union;

determine whether the (X, Y) pair is satisfied by the span pattern; and

(i) implement a first control channel elements (CCE) limit if the (X, Y) pair is satisfied by the span pattern; or

(ii) implement a second CCE limit different from the first CCE limit if the (X, Y) pair is not satisfied by the span pattern.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

receive, from a second user equipment (UE), a declaration of capabilities of the second UE;

send, to the second UE, a third search space configuration for the first component carrier; and

send, to the second UE, a fourth search space configuration for the second component carrier,

wherein:

the third search space configuration defines a third set of monitoring occasions,

the fourth search space configuration defines a fourth set of monitoring occasions, and

the third set of monitoring occasions is not aligned with the fourth set of monitoring occasions.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the third search space configuration includes at most M PDCCH total,(X,Y),μ physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates, wherein M PDCCH total,(X,Y),μ is based on the declaration of capabilities of the second UE.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the third search space configuration includes at most C PDCCH total,(X,Y),μ control channel elements, wherein C PDCCH total,(X,Y),μ is based on the declaration of capabilities of the second UE.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein:

the declaration of capabilities of the first UE includes:

a first span-gap span-length pair, and

a second span-gap span-length pair; and

the processing circuit is further configured to:

determine a first span pattern for the first span-gap span-length pair and for the first set of monitoring occasions, the first span pattern being the span pattern assuming the first span-gap span-length pair, that includes a first set of control resource sets and a first set of search spaces;

determine that the first span pattern is valid for the first span-gap span-length pair;

determine a second span pattern for the second span-gap span-length pair and for the first set of monitoring occasions, the second span pattern being the span pattern assuming the second span-gap span-length pair, that includes the first set monitoring occasions; and

determine that the second span pattern is valid for the second span-gap span-length pair.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

determine that the first span-gap span-length pair corresponds to a first specified constant, the first specified constant specifying a maximum number of monitored physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates; and

determine that the second span-gap span-length pair corresponds to a second specified constant, the second specified constant specifying a maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates, the second specified constant being greater than the first specified constant.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

determine that the first span-gap span-length pair corresponds to a first specified constant, the first specified constant specifying a maximum number of non-overlapping control channel elements; and

determine that the second span-gap span-length pair corresponds to a second specified constant, the first specified constant specifying a maximum number of non-overlapping control channel elements, the second specified constant being greater than the first specified constant.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

instruct the UE to transition to a bandwidth part not supporting span-based physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring, and

send, to the UE, a third search space configuration,

the third search space configuration being a search space configuration for slot-based PDCCH monitoring.