Signalling of frequency-domain resource assignment

A communication system including:

• a host computer comprising:
• processing circuitry configured to provide user data, and
• a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a base station of a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE);
• and
• the base station, comprising a radio interface, memory operable to store instructions, and processing circuitry operable to execute the instructions, whereby the base station is operable to:
• send, to the UE, an indication of an active bandwidth part (BWP), wherein the active BWP is of a size NBWP,1size in number of frequency-domain resource blocks (RBs);
• select frequency-domain RBs, within the active BWP, to be assigned for carrying the user data to the UE;
• encode an indication of the selected frequency-domain RBs represented by a starting virtual RB, RBstart, and a length of contiguously allocated RBs, LRBs, using a number of bits, wherein the number of bits is greater than one and is related to a size NBWP,2size of another BWP than the active BWP, wherein the size NBWP,2size is smaller than the size NBWP,1size, and wherein the starting virtual RB is encoded with a resolution of K RBs, wherein K is determined based on a ratio of the size NBWP,1size and the size NBWP,2size;
• send the encoded indication to the UE via a downlink control channel;
• and
• transmit the user data to the UE utilizing the active BWP.

A host computer configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host computer comprising:

• processing circuitry configured to provide user data;
• and
• a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a network node in a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein:
• the network node comprises a communication interface and processing circuitry that are operably coupled,
• the network node's processing circuitry and communication interface are configured to:
• send, to the UE, an indication of an active bandwidth part, BWP, wherein the active BWP is of a size NBWP,1size in number of frequency-domain resource blocks (RBs);
• select frequency-domain RBs, within the active BWP, to be assigned for carrying the user data to the UE;
• encode an indication of the selected frequency-domain RBs represented by a starting virtual RB, RBstart, and a length of contiguously allocated RBs, LRBs, using a number of bits, wherein the number of bits is greater than one and is related to a size NBWP,2size of another BWP than the active BWP, wherein the size NBWP,2size is smaller than the size NBWP,1size, and wherein the starting virtual RB is encoded with a resolution of K RBs, wherein K is determined based on a ratio of the size NBWP,1size and the size NBWP,2size;
• send the encoded indication to the UE via a downlink control channel;
• and
• transmit the user data to the UE utilizing the active BWP.