Determining and communicating control information in wireless telecommunication networks

1. An apparatus comprising one or more processors that are configured to:

cause UE capability information to be communicated, to a radio access network (RAN) node, regarding a maximum number of blind decode attempts (BDAs) supported by a User Equipment (UE);

determine, based on the maximum number of BDAs, shortened channel control elements (sCCEs) to be used, by the RAN node, to transmit shortened downlink control information (sDCI) via a shortened physical downlink control channel (sPDCCH); and

obtain the sDCI by monitoring the sPDCCH in accordance with the determined sCCEs.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to

cause communication with the RAN node in accordance with the sDCI.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the maximum number of BDAs corresponds to a UE-specific search space of a subframe.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the maximum number of BDAs is provided via a field of a radio resource control (RRC) information element (IE) in a reference window.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sDCI indicates at least one sCCE, of a sPDCCH physical resource block (PRB) set corresponding to the determined sCCEs, that is to be used to transmit information via a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein sCCEs of the sPDCCH are determined based, at least in part, on determining sCCEs of a sPDCCH candidate, of a plurality of sPDCCH candidates, at an aggregation level (AL).

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of sPDCCH candidates at the AL correspond to a particular DCI format.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of sPDCCH candidates is provided to the UE via high layer signaling.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the particular DCI format is provided via high layer signaling.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a search space for the sDCI in the sPDCCH includes a subset of a search space of a PDCCH for DCI format monitoring.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the search space of the PDCCH for DCI format monitoring includes a portion for sDCI monitoring and another portion for DCI format monitoring.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein

sCCEs of a sPDCCH physical resource block (PRB) set are arranged in a set of sCCE groups (sCCEG); and

resource block sharing information, in the sDCI, includes a bitmap indicating an unused sCCEG, in the sPDCCH PRB set, for sPDSCH transmission.

13. A method for a User Equipment (UE), comprising:

causing UE capability information to be communicated to a radio access network (RAN) node, regarding a maximum number of blind decode attempts (BDAs) supported by the UE;

determining, based on the maximum number of BDAs, shortened channel control elements (sCCEs) to be used, by the RAN node, to transmit shortened downlink control information (sDCI) via a shortened physical downlink control channel (sPDCCH); and

obtaining the sDCI by monitoring the sPDCCH in accordance with the determined sCCEs.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising

communicating with the RAN node in accordance with the sDCI.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the maximum number of BDAs corresponds to a UE-specific search space of a subframe.

16. A method for a base station (BS), comprising:

receiving, from a user equipment (UE), capability information regarding a maximum number of blind decode attempts (BDAs) supported by the UE;

determining, based on the maximum number of BDAs, shortened channel control elements (sCCEs) to be used to transmit shortened downlink control information (sDCI) via a shortened physical downlink control channel (sPDCCH); and

transmitting sDCI via the sPDCCH in accordance with the determined sCCEs without identifying the determined sCCEs to the UE.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the maximum number of BDAs corresponds to a UE-specific search space of a subframe.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein sCCEs of the sPDCCH are determined based, at least in part, on determining sCCEs of a sPDCCH candidate, of a plurality of sPDCCH candidates, at an aggregation level (AL) of the UE.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein a search space for the sDCI in the sPDCCH includes a subset of a search space of a PDCCH for DCI format monitoring.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein

sCCEs of a sPDCCH physical resource block (PRB) set are arranged in a set of sCCE groups (sCCEG); and

resource block sharing information, in the sDCI, includes a bitmap indicating an unused sCCEG, in the sPDCCH PRB set, for sPDSCH transmission.