Method and apparatus for PDCCH monitoring enhancement for carrier aggregation in mobile communications

1. A method, comprising:

transmitting, by a processor of an apparatus, a capability report to indicate a supported physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring capability to a network node of a wireless network;

receiving, by the processor, a PDCCH monitoring configuration compliant with the supported PDCCH monitoring capability from the network node;

determining, by the processor, a monitoring budget based on the PDCCH monitoring configuration and the supported PDCCH monitoring capability;

performing, by the processor, a PDCCH monitoring according to the monitoring budget; and

splitting, by the processor, a plurality of configured cells of the wireless network into multiple groups such that a subset of the plurality of configured cells in each group of the multiple groups share a same span pattern,

wherein the supported PDCCH monitoring capability comprises a supported span arrangement.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the supported span arrangement comprises only aligned spans across component carriers.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the determining comprises determining the monitoring budget according to a first approach in an event that the aligned spans are configured.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the supported span arrangement comprises both aligned spans and non-aligned spans across component carriers.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the determining comprises determining the monitoring budget according to a second approach in an event that the non-aligned spans are configured.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

splitting, by the processor, the monitoring budget among a plurality of component carriers with aligned spans.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, by the processor, whether a PDCCH monitoring configuration is compliant with the supported PDCCH monitoring capability; and

considering, by the processor, the PDCCH monitoring configuration as an error case in an event that the PDCCH monitoring configuration is different from the supported PDCCH monitoring capability.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, by the processor, whether a PDCCH monitoring configuration is compliant with the supported PDCCH monitoring capability; and

ignoring, by the processor, the PDCCH monitoring configuration in an event that the PDCCH monitoring configuration is different from the supported PDCCH monitoring capability.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the capability report comprises an indication indicating whether only aligned spans is supported across carrier components.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the capability report comprises an indication indicating whether both aligned and non-aligned spans are supported across carrier components.

11. An apparatus, comprising:

a transceiver which, during operation, wirelessly communicates with a network node of a wireless network; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver such that, during operation, the processor performs operations comprising:

transmitting, via the transceiver, a capability report to indicate a supported physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring capability to a network node;

receiving, via the transceiver, a PDCCH monitoring configuration compliant with the supported PDCCH monitoring capability from the network node;

determining a monitoring budget based on the PDCCH monitoring configuration and the supported PDCCH monitoring capability;

performing a PDCCH monitoring according to the monitoring budget; and

splitting a plurality of configured cells of the wireless network into multiple groups such that a subset of the plurality of configured cells in each group of the multiple groups share a same span pattern,

wherein the supported PDCCH monitoring capability comprises a supported span arrangement.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the supported span arrangement comprises only aligned spans across component carriers.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein, in determining the monitoring budget, the processor determines the monitoring budget according to a first approach in an event that the aligned spans are configured.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the supported span arrangement comprises both aligned spans and non-aligned spans across component carriers.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein, in determining the monitoring budget, the processor determines the monitoring budget according to a second approach in an event that the non-aligned spans are configured.

16. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein, during operation, the processor further performs operations comprising:

splitting the monitoring budget among a plurality of component carriers with aligned spans.

17. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein, during operation, the processor further performs operations comprising:

determining whether a PDCCH monitoring configuration is compliant with the supported PDCCH monitoring capability; and

considering the PDCCH monitoring configuration as an error case in an event that the PDCCH monitoring configuration is different from the supported PDCCH monitoring capability.

18. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein, during operation, the processor further performs operations comprising:

determining whether a PDCCH monitoring configuration is compliant with the supported PDCCH monitoring capability; and

ignoring the PDCCH monitoring configuration in an event that the PDCCH monitoring configuration is different from the supported PDCCH monitoring capability.

19. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the capability report comprises an indication indicating whether only aligned spans is supported across carrier components.

20. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the capability report comprises an indication indicating whether both aligned and non-aligned spans are supported across carrier components.