Methods and apparatuses for PDCCH reception and transmission. A method for PDCCH reception includes transmitting a capability for receptions of PDCCHs on a downlink (DL) cell. PDCCH receptions on the DL cell are according to (X1, Y1) or (X2, Y2) when any two PDCCH receptions are within Y1 or Y2 symbols or have first symbols separated by at least X1 or X2 symbols, respectively. The method further includes receiving a configuration of search space sets for PDCCH receptions on the DL cell; determining, based on the configuration of the search space sets, whether PDCCH receptions are according to (X2, Y2); and receiving on the DL cell: a maximum number of MPDCCHmax,X1,μ PDCCHs within Y1 symbols when PDCCH receptions are not according to (X2, Y2), and a maximum number of MPDCCHmax,X2,μ PDCCHs within Y2 symbols when PDCCH receptions are according to (X2, Y2).