Method and base station for configuring non-anchor physical resource block, and method and user equipment for determining location of non-anchor physical resource block

A method performed by a user equipment (UE) comprising:

• receiving indication information indicating whether a non-anchor physical resource block (PRB) is in in-band of an LTE carrier or in a guard band of the LTE carrier,
• receiving, in a case that (a) an anchor PRB is in the guard band of the LTE carrier, and (b) the indication information indicates that the non-anchor PRB is in in-band of the LTE carrier, a non-anchor PRB configuration which indicates that the non-anchor PRB is in in-band of the LTE carrier and indicates a first offset from a middle PRB in a set of LTE in-band PRBs;
• determining, based on the non-anchor PRB configuration, a location of the non-anchor PRB in the set of LTE in-band PRBs;
• and
• receiving an anchor PRB configuration in a case that the anchor PRB is in in-band of the LTE carrier, the anchor PRB configuration being a configuration which indicates that the anchor PRB is in in-band of the LTE carrier and indicates a second offset from the middle PRB in the set of LTE in-band PRBs,
• wherein
• the first offset is an integer number selected from a first range,
• the second offset is an integer number selected from a second range different from the first range, and
• the non-anchor PRB is different from the anchor PRB in that:
• the non-anchor PRB is a PRB used by the UE for receiving a unicast transmission related to NarrowBand IOT (NB-IoT) but not used by the UE for receiving a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a master system information block (MIB), and a system information block (SIB), each of which is related to the NB-IoT;
• and
• the anchor PRB is a PRB used by the UE for receiving the PSS, the SSS, the MIB, and/or the SIB.

A base station comprising:

• generating circuitry configured to generate indication information indicating whether a non-anchor physical resource block (PRB) is in in-band of an LTE carrier or in a guard band of the LTE carrier;
• and
• transmitting circuitry configured to transmit the indication information to a user equipment (UE), wherein
• in a case that (a) an anchor PRB is in the guard band of the LTE carrier, and (b) the indication information indicates that the non-anchor PRB is in in-band of the LTE carrier,
• the generating circuitry is configured to generate a non-anchor PRB configuration which indicates that the non-anchor PRB is in in-band of the LTE carrier and indicates a first offset from a middle PRB in a set of LTE in-band PRBs, and
• the transmitting circuitry is configured to transmit the non-anchor PRB configuration to the UE,
• in a case that the anchor PRB is in in-band of the LTE carrier,
• the generating circuitry is configured to generate an anchor PRB configuration which indicates that the anchor PRB is in in-band of the LTE carrier and indicates a second offset from the middle PRB in the set of LTE in-band PRBs, and
• the transmitting circuitry is configured to transmit the anchor PRB configuration to the UE,
• the first offset is an integer number selected from a first range,
• the second offset is an integer number selected from a second range different from the first range, and
• the non-anchor PRB is different from the anchor PRB in that:
• the non-anchor PRB is a PRB used by the UE for receiving a unicast transmission related to NarrowBand IOT (NB-IoT) but not used by the UE for receiving a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a master system information block (MIB), and a system information block (SIB), each of which is related to the NB-IoT;
• and
• the anchor PRB is a PRB used by the UE for receiving the PSS, the SSS, the MIB, and/or the SIB.

A method performed by a base station comprising:

• generating indication information indicating whether a non-anchor physical resource block (PRB) is in in-band of an LTE carrier or in a guard band of the LTE carrier;
• transmitting the indication information to a user equipment (UE);
• in a case that (a) an anchor PRB is in the guard band of the LTE carrier, and (b) the indication information indicates that the non-anchor PRB is in in-band of the LTE carrier,
• generating a non-anchor PRB configuration which indicates that the non-anchor PRB is in in-band of the LTE carrier and indicates a first offset from a middle PRB in a set of LTE in-band PRBs, and
• transmitting the non-anchor PRB configuration to the UE;
• and
• in a case that the anchor PRB is in in-band of the LTE carrier,
• generating an anchor PRB configuration which indicates that the anchor PRB is in in-band of the LTE carrier and indicates a second offset from the middle PRB in the set of LTE in-band PRBs, and
• transmitting the anchor PRB configuration to the UE, wherein
• the first offset is an integer number selected from a first range,
• the second offset is an integer number selected from a second range different from the first range, and
• the non-anchor PRB is different from the anchor PRB in that:
• the non-anchor PRB is a PRB used by the UE for receiving a unicast transmission related to NarrowBand IOT (NB-IoT) but not used by the UE for receiving a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a master system information block (MIB), and a system information block (SIB), each of which is related to the NB-IoT;
• and
• the anchor PRB is a PRB used by the UE for receiving the PSS, the SSS, the MIB, and/or the SIB.