CN110574320A

CN110574320A - HARQ feedback method for eMTC and terminal equipment

Info

Publication number: CN110574320A
Application number: CN201780090121.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈冬明; 何朗; 吴环宇; 陈雍珏
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-05-02
Filing date: 2017-05-02
Publication date: 2019-12-13
Also published as: WO2018201294A1

Abstract

A HARQ feedback method and terminal equipment for eMTC are used for solving the problem that when a plurality of HARQ processes are used in the prior art, PUCCH feeds back to each HARQ process respectively, and PUCCH resource overhead is large. The terminal equipment determines the maximum hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number which can be called by the terminal equipment; the terminal equipment combines Acknowledgement (ACK)/Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) of each received HARQ process into a PUCCH with a set format when each received HARQ process reaches the maximum HARQ process number, wherein the ACK/NACK of each received HARQ process is represented by one bit in the PUCCH with the set format; and the terminal equipment sends the combined PUCCH with the set format to a base station.

Description

HARQ feedback method for eMTC and terminal equipment

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of wireless communication technologies, and in particular, to a HARQ feedback method for eMTC and a terminal device.

Background

Machine to Machine (M2M) is a popular form Of application in the Internet Of Things (IOT). The third Generation Partnership Project (3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP) introduced Machine Type Communication (MTC) technology and Enhanced Machine Type communication (eMTC) technology.

The 3GPP R13 protocol specifies that the eMTC coverage enhancement aims to enhance 15dB with respect to Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, and mainly enhances coverage by using a repetition technology, i.e., repeatedly transmitting the same data on the same channel for multiple times. The 3GPP R13 protocol specifies that the maximum number of repetitions of a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) is 32, the maximum number of repetitions of a machine-type communication Physical Downlink Control Channel (MTC Physical Downlink Control Channel, MPDCCH) is 256, and the maximum number of repetitions of a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH)/Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) is 2048.

In the prior art, as an example, in an nth subframe, an evolved Node B (eNB) issues Downlink Control Information (DCI) by using a machine type communication Physical Downlink Control Channel (MPDCCH). And the eNB sends data to the UE by utilizing a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) in the n + k subframe, wherein k is more than or equal to 2. In the (n + k + 4) th subframe, the UE sends an Acknowledgement (ACK)/Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) of the data by using a Physical Uplink Control (PUCCH), and in the prior art, when there is a repetition, the ACK/NACK is not supported to be fed back through the PUSCH, and the PUSCH can only be used for transmitting Uplink data, and if the PUSCH collides with the PUCCH, the PUSCH is discarded, which results in Uplink data loss of PUSCH transmission. Moreover, when the terminal device is in the half-duplex mode, the UE cannot perform uplink and downlink scheduling simultaneously, and when the uplink and downlink scheduling is changed, a Transmission Timing Interval (TTI) is required. For each Hybrid automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) process, the UE feeds back ACK/NACK at the n + k +4 th subframe using the PUCCH, and when multiple HARQ processes are used, feeds back ACK/NACK using multiple subframes in the PUCCH.

In summary, when a plurality of HARQ processes are used, PUCCH is fed back for each HARQ process, which may cause a problem of high PUCCH resource overhead.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a HARQ feedback method and terminal equipment for eMTC, and is used for solving the problem that when a plurality of HARQ processes are used, PUCCH feeds back to each HARQ process respectively, and PUCCH resource overhead is high in the prior art.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a HARQ feedback method for eMTC, including: the terminal equipment determines the maximum hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number which can be called by the terminal equipment; the terminal equipment combines Acknowledgement (ACK)/Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) of each received HARQ process into a PUCCH with a set format when each received HARQ process reaches the maximum HARQ process number, wherein the ACK/NACK of each received HARQ process is represented by one bit in the PUCCH with the set format; and the terminal equipment sends the combined PUCCH with the set format to a base station.

In the embodiment of the application, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback method for eMTC is provided, wherein terminal equipment determines the maximum HARQ process number which can be called by the terminal equipment; and when the HARQ process received by the terminal equipment reaches the maximum HARQ process number, combining the received acknowledgement ACK/negative acknowledgement NACK of the HARQ process by adopting a PUCCH with a set format. And the terminal equipment sends the combined PUCCH with the set format to a base station. The method reduces the resource overhead of PUCCH, reduces the probability of the transmission conflict of PUCCH and PUSCH, reduces the discarding probability of PUSCH, reduces the overhead of guard interval during uplink and downlink switching, and improves the utilization rate of the number of HARQ processes during repeated coverage.

In one possible design, the sending, by the terminal device, the combined PUCCH with the set format to the base station includes:

and the terminal equipment repeatedly sends the combined PUCCH with the set format to the base station according to the preset retransmission times.

In one possible design, in the PUCCH with the set format, bits for feeding back ACK/NACK of each HARQ process are preset.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a HARQ feedback method for eMTC, including: the terminal equipment determines the maximum hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number which can be called by the terminal equipment; if the HARQ process received by the terminal equipment does not reach the maximum HARQ process number and the terminal equipment does not receive the data sent by the base station on the subframes with more than the continuous set number, the terminal equipment combines the received acknowledgement ACK/NACK of the HARQ process into a PUCCH with a set format, wherein the received ACK/NACK of each HARQ process in each HARQ process is represented by one bit in the PUCCH with the set format; and the terminal equipment sends the combined PUCCH with the set format to a base station.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a terminal device, including: the determining module is used for determining the maximum hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number which can be called by the determining module; a receiving module, configured to combine, when each received HARQ process reaches the maximum number of HARQ processes, ACK/NACK of each received HARQ process into a PUCCH in a set format, where the ACK/NACK of each received HARQ process is represented by one bit in the PUCCH in the set format; and the sending module is used for sending the combined PUCCH with the set format to a base station.

In one possible design, the sending module is specifically configured to:

and repeatedly sending the combined PUCCH with the set format to the base station according to the preset retransmission times.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a terminal device, where the terminal device includes: the determining module is used for determining the maximum hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number which can be called by the determining module; a receiving module, configured to, if a received HARQ process does not reach the maximum HARQ process number and the terminal device has not received data sent by the base station on subframes exceeding a consecutive set number, combine received acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) of the HARQ process into a PUCCH with a set format, where the received ACK/NACK of each HARQ process in each HARQ process is represented by one bit in the PUCCH with the set format; and the sending module is used for sending the combined PUCCH with the set format to a base station.

In one possible design, the sending module is specifically configured to:

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a terminal device, where the terminal device includes a memory, a transceiver, and a processor, where the memory is used to store a software program, the transceiver is used to perform wireless data transmission with a base station, and the processor is used to read the software program stored in the memory and implement the method provided by the first aspect or any design of the first aspect above or the method provided by the second aspect or any design of the second aspect above. The electronic device may be a mobile terminal device, a computer, an internet of things device, and the like.

In a sixth aspect, this embodiment of the present application further provides a computer storage medium, where a software program is stored, and when the software program is read and executed by one or more processors, the software program may implement the first aspect or the method provided by any one of the designs of the first aspect, or the second aspect or the method provided by any one of the designs of the second aspect.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating that a full-duplex eMTC UE schedules 8 downlink HARQ processes for feedback according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating scheduling of feedback of 2 downlink HARQ processes in a full-duplex eMTC UE supporting a repeat scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating feedback of scheduling 8 downlink HARQ processes by a half-duplex eMTC UE according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating scheduling of feedback of 2 downlink HARQ processes in a scenario that a half-duplex eMTC UE supports repetition according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a flowchart of a HARQ feedback method for an eMTC according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a flowchart of another HARQ feedback method for eMTC according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating that a full-duplex eMTC UE merges feedback of 8 downlink HARQ processes according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating combining feedback of 2 downlink HARQ processes in a full-duplex eMTC UE scenario that supports repetition according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a half-duplex eMTC UE combining feedback of 8 downlink HARQ processes according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating combining feedback of 2 downlink HARQ processes in a scenario that a half-duplex eMTC UE supports repetition according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present application will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, some terms in the present application are explained to be understood by those skilled in the art.

A terminal device, which may be referred to as a user equipment, a mobile station, a terminal, or a mobile terminal, may communicate with one or more core Network devices through a Radio Access Network (RAN). The terminal equipment may be a mobile telephone (or so-called "cellular" telephone) or a computer with a mobile terminal, etc., for example, the terminal equipment may also be a portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-included or vehicle-mounted mobile equipment. The terminal equipment can also be internet of things equipment, such as a meter terminal, wearable equipment, logistics tracking, elevator pictures or satellite equipment and other internet of things equipment. They exchange voice and/or data with the radio access network.

Plural means two or more.

In the prior art, when a plurality of HARQ processes are used, the PUCCH feeds back to each HARQ process, which may cause high PUCCH resource overhead, and the number of times that the PUCCH feeds back ACK/NACK increases, so that the probability of collision between PUCCH and PUSCH transmission increases. When multiple HARQ processes are used, for half-duplex eMTC, the number of times of uplink and downlink switching increases, overhead of a guard interval increases during uplink and downlink switching, and PDSCH scheduling rate also decreases.

For example, the following steps are carried out: user Equipment (UE) of the eMTC in a connected state (RRC) is divided into two coverage modes, mode a (modea) and mode b (modeb). ModeA refers to a non-repeated or slightly repeated mode, in ModeA, the number of HARQ processes of Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) is at most 8, the number of HARQ processes of Time Division Duplex (TDD) is related according to configuration, and the values of different configurations and the corresponding maximum number of processes are shown in table 1 below:

TABLE 1

TDD UL/DL configuration	Maximum number of HARQ processes
0	6
1	9
2	12
3	11
4	14
5	16
6	8

ModeB refers to a largely repeated mode, and the number of HARQ processes in TDD and FDD is at most 2 in ModeB.

Example 1, in the ModeA mode, a full-duplex eMTC UE schedules 8 Downlink HARQ processes, as shown in fig. 1, where the coverage level is good, and no repeated coverage is needed, and a narrow band (narrow band, NB) of a PDSCH is indicated in Downlink Control Information (DCI) of an MPDCCH; downlink data transmitted by the PDSCH differs from UpLink (UL) feedback (feedback) transmitted by the PUCCH by 4 Transmission Time Intervals (TTIs), and 8 downlink HARQ processes transmit feedback information using 8 PUCCH subframes.

Example 2: in the ModeB mode, the full-duplex eMTC UE schedules 2 downlink HARQ processes, as shown in fig. 2, the coverage level is poor, repeated coverage is required, and for different coverage times of each process, the PUCCH uses a subframe with a preset repetition time to send a feedback message.

Example 3: in the ModeA mode, the half-duplex eMTC UE schedules 8 downlink HARQ processes, as shown in fig. 3, the coverage level is good, repeated coverage is not needed, and 8 downlink HARQ processes use 8 PUCCH subframes to send feedback information. Because of half duplex, a guard interval is generated each time uplink and downlink are switched.

Example 4: in the ModeB mode, the half-duplex eMTC UE schedules 2 downlink HARQ processes, as shown in fig. 4, the coverage level is poor, repeated coverage is required, and for different coverage times of each process, the PUCCH uses a subframe with a preset repetition time to send a feedback message. Because of half duplex, a guard interval is generated each time uplink and downlink are switched.

The embodiment of the application provides a HARQ feedback method and device for eMTC, and aims to solve the problem that when a plurality of HARQ processes are used, PUCCH feeds back to each HARQ process respectively, and PUCCH resource overhead is high in the prior art. The method and the device are based on the same inventive concept, and because the principles of solving the problems of the method and the device are similar, the implementation of the device and the method can be mutually referred, and repeated parts are not repeated.

An embodiment of the present application provides a HARQ feedback method for eMTC, and as shown in fig. 5, the method includes the following processes:

s501, the terminal device determines the maximum HARQ process number which can be called by the terminal device.

Specifically, the terminal device determines the maximum number of HARQ processes that can be invoked according to the standard (FDD/TDD) and the mode (ModeA/ModeB).

For example, the following steps are carried out: when the system of the terminal equipment is FDD and the mode is ModeA, the maximum process number which can be called is 8.

S502, when the received HARQ processes reach the maximum HARQ process number, the terminal equipment combines the received acknowledgement ACK/negative acknowledgement NACK of the HARQ processes into a PUCCH with a set format, wherein the ACK/NACK of each HARQ process in the received HARQ processes is represented by one bit in the PUCCH with the set format.

Specifically, the PUCCH with the set Format is a Format (Format) X, and the function of the Format X is shown in table 2 below:

TABLE 2

Taking the maximum bit number of the PUCCH corresponding to the PUCCH Format X as an example, from the low order to the high order to 16 bits respectively correspond to HARQ processes 1 to 16, when the maximum number of HARQ processes that can be called by the terminal device is less than 16, the remaining bits in the Format X are meaningless and can be complemented by '0', and when the remaining bits are complemented by '1', it is stated that a difference is filled, and no solution or retransmission is sent.

For example, the following steps are carried out: when the maximum number of HARQ processes that can be called by the terminal equipment is 8, and the number of downlink scheduling HARQ processes received by the terminal equipment reaches the maximum number of HARQ processes that can be called 8, the Format X combines ACK/NACK feedback of 8 HARQ processes, fills bits of the Format X from low order to high order according to the sequence of receiving the HARQ processes, fills '0' in corresponding bits when the HARQ process is ACK feedback, and fills '1' in corresponding bits when the HARQ process is NACK feedback.

The PUCCH Format X may be a newly defined Format, or may also multiplex a Format in the prior art, where the Format in the prior art is shown in table 3 below:

TABLE 3

PUCCH format	Carrying information	Modulation system	Number of bits per subframe
1	SRI	N/A	N/A
1a	ACK	BPSK	1
1b	ACK	QPSK	2/4
2	CQI	QPSK	20
2a	CQI+ACK	QPSK+BPSK	21

For example, the following steps are carried out: when PUCCH Format X multiplexes Format 1b, 2 bits are adopted to map the feedback of 2 HARQ processes in a modeB scene, and 4 bits are adopted to map the feedback of 4 HARQ processes in a modeA scene. When PUCCH Format X multiplexes Format 2, in a modeB scene, 2 bits are used for mapping feedback of 2 HARQ processes, in a modeA scene, 8 bits are used for mapping feedback of 8 HARQ processes for an FDD system, and 16 bits or bits with the corresponding maximum process number can be used for mapping feedback of corresponding HARQ processes for a TDD system.

And S503, the terminal equipment sends the combined PUCCH with the set format to a base station.

Specifically, when the coverage of the PUCCH with weak coverage needs to be repeated to enhance the coverage, the terminal device repeatedly sends the combined PUCCH with the set format to the base station according to preset times.

In the embodiment of the invention, the HARQ feedback method for eMTC is provided, and the terminal equipment determines the maximum HARQ process number which can be called by the terminal equipment; and when the HARQ process received by the terminal equipment reaches the maximum HARQ process number, combining the received acknowledgement ACK/negative acknowledgement NACK of the HARQ process by adopting a PUCCH with a set format. And the terminal equipment sends the combined PUCCH with the set format to a base station. The method reduces the resource overhead of PUCCH, reduces the probability of the transmission conflict of PUCCH and PUSCH, reduces the discarding probability of PUSCH, reduces the overhead of guard interval during uplink and downlink switching, and improves the utilization rate of the number of HARQ processes during repeated coverage.

In a possible implementation manner, after the terminal device sends the combined PUCCH with the set format to the base station, the base station demodulates the combined HARQ process feedback, and retransmits the corresponding HARQ process if the HARQ process feedback mapped by the corresponding bit is NACK.

An embodiment of the present application provides another HARQ feedback method for an eMTC, and as shown in fig. 6, the method includes the following processes:

s601, the terminal equipment determines the maximum hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number which can be called by the terminal equipment;

s602, if the HARQ process received by the terminal device does not reach the maximum HARQ process number, but the terminal device has already exceeded the subframe with the set number and has not received the data sent by the base station, the terminal device combines the received ACK/NACK for the HARQ process with a PUCCH with a set format, where the received ACK/NACK for each HARQ process in the HARQ process is represented by one bit in the PUCCH with the set format.

For example, the set number may be 3.

S603, the terminal equipment sends the combined PUCCH with the set format to a base station.

The following describes feedback of HARQ processes in different cases by four specific embodiments.

In the first embodiment, as shown in fig. 7, for a full duplex eMTC UE without repeated coverage in ModeA, the maximum number of HARQ processes that can be invoked is 8, and when receiving downlink scheduling and receiving full 8 HARQ processes, after the UE receives 3 subframes of the last data sent by the terminal device, the UE combines the feedback of the HARQ processes and sends the combined feedback of the HARQ processes to the base station.

In a second embodiment, as shown in fig. 8, for ModeB, the maximum number of the reusable HARQ processes of the repeatedly covered full-duplex eMTC UE is 2, and when receiving downlink scheduling and receiving full 2 HARQ processes, after the UE receives 3 subframes of the last data sent by the terminal device, the feedback of the HARQ processes is merged and the merged feedback of the HARQ processes is sent to the base station. Due to the need of repeated coverage, the PUCCH sends the feedback of the HARQ process after 2 times of combining to the base station, where the sending 2 times is configured in advance.

In a third embodiment, as shown in fig. 9, for a ModeA, the maximum number of the HARQ processes that can be invoked for a non-overlapping half-duplex eMTC UE is 8, and when scheduling uplink or downlink data and receiving full 8 HARQ processes, after the UE receives 3 subframes of the last data sent by the terminal device, the feedback of the HARQ processes is combined, and the combined feedback of the HARQ processes is sent to the base station. The embodiment of the invention reduces the overhead of the guard interval of the uplink and downlink switching.

In a fourth embodiment, as shown in fig. 10, for ModeB, the maximum number of the HARQ processes that can be invoked for a repeatedly covered half-duplex eMTC UE is 2, and when scheduling uplink or downlink data and receiving full 2 HARQ processes, after the UE receives 3 subframes of the last data sent by the terminal device, the feedback of the HARQ processes is combined, and the feedback of the combined HARQ processes is sent to the base station. Due to the need of repeated coverage, the PUCCH transmits the feedback of the combined HARQ process 4 times to the base station, where the transmission 4 times is configured in advance.

Based on the same inventive concept as the method embodiment, the present application further provides a schematic diagram of a terminal device, as shown in fig. 11, the terminal device includes:

a determining module 1101, configured to determine a maximum HARQ process number that can be invoked by itself.

A receiving module 1102, configured to combine the received acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) of each HARQ process into a PUCCH with a set format when each received HARQ process reaches the maximum number of HARQ processes, where the ACK/NACK of each HARQ process in the received HARQ processes is represented by one bit in the PUCCH with the set format.

A sending module 1103, configured to send the combined PUCCH with the set format to a base station.

The embodiment of the invention provides terminal equipment, which determines the maximum hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number which can be called by the terminal equipment; and when the HARQ process received by the terminal equipment reaches the maximum HARQ process number, combining the received acknowledgement ACK/negative acknowledgement NACK of the HARQ process by adopting a PUCCH with a set format. And the terminal equipment sends the combined PUCCH with the set format to a base station. The method reduces the resource overhead of PUCCH, reduces the probability of the transmission conflict of PUCCH and PUSCH, reduces the discarding probability of PUSCH, reduces the overhead of guard interval during uplink and downlink switching, and improves the utilization rate of the number of HARQ processes during repeated coverage.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving module 1102 is further configured to, if the received HARQ process does not reach the maximum number of HARQ processes and the terminal device has not received data sent by the base station on subframes exceeding a consecutive set number, combine the received acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) of the HARQ process into a PUCCH with a set format, where the received ACK/NACK of each HARQ process in each HARQ process is represented by one bit in the PUCCH with the set format.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending module is specifically configured to:

In a possible implementation manner, in the PUCCH with the set format, bits for feeding back ACK/NACK of each HARQ process are preset.

The division of the modules in the embodiments of the present application is schematic, and only one logical function division is provided, and in actual implementation, there may be another division manner, and in addition, each functional module in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated in one processor, may also exist alone physically, or may also be integrated in one module by two or more modules. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode.

When the integrated module may be implemented in the form of hardware, as shown in fig. 12, the terminal device may include a processor 1201, and the hardware of the entity corresponding to the determination module may be the processor 1201. The terminal device may further include a transceiver 1204, and the hardware of the entity corresponding to the receiving module and the sending module may be the transceiver 1204. The processor 1201 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a digital processing module, or the like. The terminal device further includes: a memory 1202 for storing programs executed by the processor 1201. The memory 1202 may be a nonvolatile memory such as a hard disk (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), and may also be a volatile memory such as a random-access memory (RAM). The memory 1202 is any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to such.

The processor 1201 is configured to execute a program code stored in the memory 1202, specifically invoke a program instruction stored in the memory 1202, and determine a maximum HARQ process number that can be invoked by the processor itself; when each HARQ process received by the transceiver 1204 reaches the maximum number of HARQ processes, combining the received ACK/NACK of each HARQ process into a PUCCH with a set format, where the ACK/NACK of each HARQ process in the received HARQ processes is represented by one bit in the PUCCH with the set format, and sending the combined PUCCH with the set format to the base station through the transceiver 1204.

The processor 1201 is further configured to determine a maximum HARQ process number that can be invoked by the terminal, and if the received HARQ process does not reach the maximum HARQ process number and the terminal device has not received data sent by the base station on subframes exceeding a consecutive set number, the terminal device combines acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) of the received HARQ process into a PUCCH with a set format, where the received ACK/NACK of each HARQ process in each HARQ process is represented by one bit in the PUCCH with the set format, and the terminal device sends the combined PUCCH with the set format to the base station.

The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific connection medium between the processor 1201 and the memory 1202. In the embodiment of the present application, the processor 1201 and the memory 1202 are connected by a bus 1203 in fig. 12, the bus is represented by a thick line in fig. 12, and the connection manner between other components is merely illustrative and not limited thereto. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 12, but this is not intended to represent only one bus or type of bus.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the embodiments of the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments of the present application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the embodiments of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to encompass such modifications and variations.

Claims

A HARQ feedback method for eMTC, the method comprising:

the terminal equipment determines the maximum hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number which can be called by the terminal equipment;

the terminal equipment combines Acknowledgement (ACK)/Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) of each received HARQ process into a PUCCH with a set format when each received HARQ process reaches the maximum HARQ process number, wherein the ACK/NACK of each received HARQ process is represented by one bit in the PUCCH with the set format;

and the terminal equipment sends the combined PUCCH with the set format to a base station.
The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal device sends the combined PUCCH with the set format to a base station, and wherein the method comprises:

and the terminal equipment repeatedly sends the combined PUCCH with the set format to the base station according to the preset retransmission times.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein bits for feeding back ACK/NACK of each HARQ process are preset in the PUCCH of the set format.
A HARQ feedback method for eMTC, the method comprising:

the terminal equipment determines the maximum hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number which can be called by the terminal equipment;

if the HARQ process received by the terminal equipment does not reach the maximum HARQ process number and the terminal equipment does not receive the data sent by the base station on the subframes with more than the continuous set number, the terminal equipment combines the received acknowledgement ACK/NACK of the HARQ process into a PUCCH with a set format, wherein the received ACK/NACK of each HARQ process in each HARQ process is represented by one bit in the PUCCH with the set format;

and the terminal equipment sends the combined PUCCH with the set format to a base station.
The method of claim 4, wherein the terminal device sends the combined PUCCH with the set format to a base station, and comprises:

and the terminal equipment repeatedly sends the combined PUCCH with the set format to the base station according to the preset retransmission times.
The method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the bits for feeding back the ACK/NACK for each HARQ process are preset in the PUCCH with the set format.
A terminal device, characterized in that the terminal device comprises:

the determining module is used for determining the maximum hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number which can be called by the determining module;

a receiving module, configured to combine, when each received HARQ process reaches the maximum number of HARQ processes, ACK/NACK of each received HARQ process into a PUCCH in a set format, where the ACK/NACK of each received HARQ process is represented by one bit in the PUCCH in the set format;

and the sending module is used for sending the combined PUCCH with the set format to a base station.
The terminal device of claim 7, wherein the sending module is specifically configured to:

and repeatedly sending the combined PUCCH with the set format to the base station according to the preset retransmission times.
The terminal device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein bits for feeding back ACK/NACK of each HARQ process are preset in the PUCCH of the set format.
A terminal device, characterized in that the terminal device comprises:

the determining module is used for determining the maximum hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number which can be called by the determining module;

a receiving module, configured to, if a received HARQ process does not reach the maximum HARQ process number and the terminal device has not received data sent by the base station on subframes exceeding a consecutive set number, combine received acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) of the HARQ process into a PUCCH with a set format, where the received ACK/NACK of each HARQ process in each HARQ process is represented by one bit in the PUCCH with the set format;

and the sending module is used for sending the combined PUCCH with the set format to a base station.
The terminal device of claim 10, wherein the sending module is specifically configured to:

and repeatedly sending the combined PUCCH with the set format to the base station according to the preset retransmission times.
The terminal device according to claim 10 or 11, wherein bits for feeding back ACK/NACK of each HARQ process are preset in the PUCCH of the set format.
A terminal device, characterized in that the terminal device comprises:

a memory for storing program instructions;

a transceiver for wireless data transmission with a base station;

the processor is used for calling the program instructions stored in the memory and determining the maximum hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number which can be called by the processor; and when each HARQ process received by the transceiver reaches the maximum HARQ process number, combining the received acknowledgement ACK/negative acknowledgement NACK of each HARQ process into a PUCCH with a set format, wherein the ACK/NACK of each HARQ process in the received HARQ processes is represented by one bit in the PUCCH with the set format, and transmitting the combined PUCCH with the set format to a base station through the transceiver.
The terminal device of claim 13, wherein the processor is specifically configured to:

and repeatedly sending the combined PUCCH with the set format to the base station according to the preset retransmission times.
The terminal device according to claim 13 or 14, wherein bits for feeding back ACK/NACK of each HARQ process are preset in the PUCCH of the set format.