CN111357347A

CN111357347A - System and method for multiplexing communication resources

Info

Publication number: CN111357347A
Application number: CN201780096879.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 苟伟; 郝鹏; 赵宝
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2017-11-17
Filing date: 2017-11-17
Publication date: 2020-06-30
Anticipated expiration: 2037-11-17
Also published as: WO2019095312A1; CN111357347B

Abstract

A system and method for allocating network resources is disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the system and method are configured to be performed by a first wireless communication node: the method comprises transmitting resource allocation signals to the first and second wireless communication devices, respectively, wherein the resource allocation signals indicate a plurality of first communication resources allocated to the first wireless communication device for transmitting signals to the first wireless communication node and a plurality of second communication resources allocated to the second wireless communication device for transmitting signals to the first wireless communication node, respectively, and wherein at least a first one of the plurality of first communication resources and at least a first one of the plurality of second communication resources share a same time-frequency location and are used by the first and second wireless communication devices, respectively, to transmit a first reference signal and by the second wireless communication device to transmit a first signal carrying control information.

Description

System and method for multiplexing communication resources

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to systems and methods for multiplexing communication resources.

Background

In a wireless communication network, a wireless communication node (e.g., a Base Station (BS)) and a wireless communication device (e.g., a user equipment device (UE)) may exchange signals over a Downlink (DL) and an Uplink (UL), respectively. In general, a BS transmits a plurality of DL signals including control and/or data signals to a UE through a corresponding DL channel (e.g., a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), etc.) for scheduling. In response to the scheduling, the UE transmits a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) control signal including UL Control Information (UCI) to the BS through the corresponding PUCCH.

The UCI includes various information, such as Acknowledgement (ACK) information, which is typically associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process (HARQ-ACK), Channel State Information (CSI), Channel Quality Information (CQI), a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), a Rank Indicator (RI), and the like. For example, such HARQ-ACK information is typically transmitted by the UE in response to the reception of a data Transport Block (TB) transmitted via the PDSCH. The UE may transmit multiple HARQ-ACK information bits corresponding to positive Acknowledgement (ACK), Negative Acknowledgement (NACK), or absence of reception, i.e., Discontinuous Transmission (DTX), in response to correct reception, incorrect reception, or no reception, respectively, of the TB by the UE.

When a BS serves a plurality of UEs, the BS typically allocates some communication resources (e.g., Resource Blocks (RBs), Resource Elements (REs), etc.) to be multiplexed (e.g., used) by such a plurality of UEs to transmit corresponding PUCCH signals including UCI. In the related art, a BS allocates communication resources that can be multiplexed by a plurality of UEs to transmit corresponding PUCCH signals under various restrictions. For example, in the related art, respective lengths of communication resources (e.g., respective numbers of REs) required to be multiplexed by different UEs to transmit PUCCH signals are the same, each UE is required to alternately transmit UCI signals and corresponding reference signals (e.g., demodulation reference signals (DMRSs), etc.) using two adjacent REs, and the REs multiplexed by the different UEs are required to carry the same type of signals (e.g., any one of the respective DMRSs or UCI signals), which will be discussed in detail below with respect to fig. 1A and 1B.

Fig. 1A and 1B illustrate exemplary formats (hereinafter, referred to as "PUCCH

formats

102, 112, 122, and 132") in the related art in which a BS allocates to a plurality of UEs to transmit corresponding PUCCH signals. Each of the

PUCCH formats

102, 112, 122 and 132 is represented as a continuous or discontinuous sequence of resource particles arranged in the frequency domain, commonly referred to as a resource grid extending across the time domain (X-axis) and the frequency domain (Y-axis). In fig. 1A, PUCCH format 102 with frequency hopping from f1 to f2 is allocated to a first UE (1)^stUE) to transmit a corresponding UCI signal and a corresponding DMRS. And, a PUCCH format 112 also having frequency hopping from f1 to f2 is allocated to the second UE (2)^ndUE) transmits a corresponding UCI signal and a corresponding DMRS. In fig. 1B, a PUCCH format 122 without any frequency hopping is allocated to the first UE to transmit a corresponding UCI signal and a corresponding DMRS; and, the PUCCH format 132, which also does not have any frequency hopping, is allocated to the second UE to transmit the corresponding UCI signal and the corresponding DMRS.

Specifically, in fig. 1A, a first portion 102-1 of PUCCH format 102 (used by the first UE) is spread across a first set of symbols (e.g., OFDM symbols) 113a, 113b, 113c, and 113d at frequency f1, and a second portion 102-2 of PUCCH format 102 is spread across a second set of symbols (e.g., OFDM symbols) 113e, 113f, 113g, and 113h at frequency f 2. Still referring to fig. 1A, the first portion 112-1 of the PUCCH format 112 (used by the second UE) also extends across the first symbol set 113a, 113b, 113c and 113d at frequency f1, and a portion of the second partial PUCCH format 112-2 also extends across the second symbol set 113e, 113f, 113g and 113h at frequency f 2. In fig. 1B, the PUCCH format 122 (used by the first UE) extends across multiple consecutive symbols (e.g., OFDM symbols) 133a, 133B, 133c, 133d, 133e, 133f, 133g, and 133h at frequency f 2. And the PUCCH format 132 (used by the second UE) is also spread across the same consecutive symbols at frequency f2 as the PUCCH format 122(133a-133 h).

As described above, the related art requires various limitations when multiplexing communication resources of different UEs to transmit a PUCCH signal, which can be further illustrated in fig. 1A and 1B. For example, according to PUCCH

formats

102 and 112 of fig. 1A, the BS allocates REs including symbol 113a to the first UE and the second UE to transmit the respective first DMRS; allocating REs including a symbol 113b to the first UE and the second UE to transmit respective first UCI signals; allocating REs including a symbol 113c to the first UE and the second UE to transmit the respective second DMRSs; allocating REs including a symbol 113d to the first UE and the second UE to transmit respective second UCI signals; allocating REs including symbol 113e to the first UE and the second UE to transmit respective third DMRSs; allocating REs including a symbol 113f to the first UE and the second UE to transmit respective third UCI signals; allocating REs including a symbol 113g to the first UE and the second UE to transmit respective fourth DMRSs; and, REs including a symbol 113h are allocated to the first UE and the second UE to transmit the corresponding fourth UCI signals. Similarly, in fig. 1B, the BS allocates REs including the same symbol to the first UE and the second UE to transmit either of the corresponding DMRS or UCI signals, and thus a discussion about allocation of REs in the

PUCCH formats

122 and 132 is not repeated here. As can be seen from fig. 1A and 1B,

PUCCH formats

102 and 112 are required to have the same number of REs, both UEs are required to transmit the same type of signals by multiplexing the same REs, and each UE is required to alternately transmit UCI signals and DMRSs using adjacent REs.

For clarity of illustration, REs for transmitting DMRSs (e.g., REs including symbols 113a and 113c, and

REs including symbols

113e and 113 g) are filled with a dotted pattern, and REs for transmitting UCI signals (e.g., REs including symbols 113b and 113d, and

REs including symbols

113f and 113 h) are filled with a diagonal stripe pattern, as shown in fig. 1A and the following drawings. Although the REs of PUCCH format 112 (enclosed by a dotted line) and the REs of PUCCH format 102 (enclosed by a solid line) including the same symbol are respectively offset from each other, it is to be noted that such corresponding REs of

PUCCH formats

102 and 112 respectively overlap with each other.

Such limitations in the prior art may disadvantageously reduce the efficiency of using communication resources. For example, since each RE multiplexed by different UEs to transmit a corresponding PUCCH signal can only carry any one of a corresponding UCI signal or DMRS, the BS may erroneously distinguish the corresponding cyclic shift values. More specifically, UCI includes various information such as ACK, NACK, etc., and as described above, the UCI signal of each UE can be further distinguished into at least two respectively different signals-an ACK signal carrying ACK information and a NACK signal carrying NACK information, and each of the ACK and NACK signals is associated with a corresponding cyclic shift value. For example, when 2 UEs transmit respective UCI signals (each including an ACK signal and a NACK signal, and thus there are 4 ACK/NACK signals in total) using the same RE and select respective cyclic shift values associated with the 4 ACK/NACK signals from the same sequence having 12 different cyclic shift values, the same RE "occupies" at least 4 different cyclic shift values. In this way, the cyclic shift value difference between the two UEs may be limited to 3 (since 12/4 ═ 3), or even smaller. Such cyclic shift value difference may only become small as the number of UEs multiplexing the same RE to transmit the corresponding PUCCH signal increases, which may cause the BS to erroneously distinguish (e.g., demodulate) different PUCCH signals transmitted from different UEs. Therefore, the prior art for allocating communication resources to be multiplexed by a plurality of UEs to transmit respective PUCCH signals is not entirely satisfactory.

Disclosure of Invention

The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein are intended to solve the problems associated with one or more of the problems presented in the prior art, as well as to provide additional features that will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In accordance with various embodiments, exemplary systems, methods, devices, and computer program products are disclosed herein. It is to be understood, however, that these embodiments are given by way of illustration and not of limitation, and that various modifications to the disclosed embodiments may be apparent to those skilled in the art having read this disclosure, while remaining within the scope of the invention.

In one embodiment, a method performed by a first wireless communication node comprises: the method comprises transmitting a resource allocation signal to the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device, respectively, wherein the resource allocation signal indicates a plurality of first communication resources allocated to the first wireless communication device for transmitting signals to the first wireless communication node and a plurality of second communication resources allocated to the second wireless communication device for transmitting signals to the first wireless communication node, respectively, and wherein at least a first one of the plurality of first communication resources and at least a first one of the plurality of second communication resources share a same time-frequency location and are used by the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device, respectively, to transmit a first reference signal and to transmit a first signal carrying control information by the second wireless communication device.

In another embodiment, a method performed by a first wireless communication device includes: the method comprises receiving a resource allocation signal from a first wireless communication node, wherein the resource allocation signal indicates a plurality of communication resources allocated to a first wireless communication device for transmitting signals to the first wireless communication node, and wherein at least a first one of the plurality of communication resources is used by the first wireless communication device to transmit a first reference signal and is simultaneously used by a second wireless communication device, different from the first wireless communication device, to transmit a first signal carrying control information.

Drawings

Various exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the following drawings. The drawings are provided for purposes of illustration only and merely depict exemplary embodiments of the invention to facilitate the reader's understanding of the invention. Accordingly, the drawings are not to be considered limiting of the breadth, scope, or applicability of the present invention. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of illustration, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Fig. 1A and 1B illustrate exemplary formats in the prior art in which a BS is allocated to a plurality of UEs to transmit respective PUCCH signals according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 illustrates an example cellular communication network in which the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example base station and user equipment device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4A and 4B illustrate exemplary novel PUCCH formats respectively allocated by a BS to two UEs to transmit respective PUCCH signals according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5A and 5B illustrate exemplary novel PUCCH formats respectively allocated by a BS to two UEs to transmit respective PUCCH signals according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6A and 6B illustrate exemplary novel PUCCH formats respectively allocated by a BS to two UEs to transmit respective PUCCH signals according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7A and 7B illustrate exemplary novel PUCCH formats respectively allocated by a BS to two UEs to transmit respective PUCCH signals according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8A, 8B, and 8C illustrate exemplary novel PUCCH formats respectively allocated by a BS to three UEs for transmitting respective PUCCH signals according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Various exemplary embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to the drawings to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading this disclosure that various changes or modifications can be made to the examples described herein without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments and applications described and illustrated herein. Additionally, the particular order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein is merely exemplary. Based upon design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods or processes disclosed may be rearranged while remaining within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present the various steps or actions in a sample order, and the invention is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless otherwise specifically indicated.

Fig. 2 illustrates an example wireless communication network 200 in which techniques disclosed herein may be implemented, according to various embodiments of the disclosure. The exemplary communication network 200 includes a base station 202 (hereinafter "BS 202") and a user equipment device 204 (hereinafter "UE 204") that can communicate with each other via a communication link 210 (e.g., a wireless communication channel), and a set of

conceptual cells

226, 230, 232, 234, 236, 238, and 240 covering a geographic area 201. In fig. 2, the BS202 and the UE204 are included within the geographic boundaries of the cell 226. Each of the

other cells

230, 232, 234, 236, 238 and 240 may include at least one base station operating at its allocated bandwidth to provide sufficient wireless coverage to its intended users. For example, the BS202 may operate at the allocated channel transmission bandwidth to provide sufficient coverage to the UE 204. The BS202 and the UE204 may communicate via a Downlink (DL) radio frame 218 and an Uplink (UL) radio frame 224, respectively. Each radio frame 218/224 may also be divided into subframes 220/227, which may include data symbols 222/228. In the present disclosure, the BS202 and the UE204 are generally described herein as non-limiting examples of "wireless communication nodes" and "wireless communication devices," respectively, that may practice the methods disclosed herein. Such wireless communication nodes/devices may be capable of wireless and/or even wired communication according to various embodiments of the present invention.

Fig. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary wireless communication system 300 for transmitting and receiving wireless communication signals (e.g., OFDM/OFDMA signals) in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. System 300 may include components and elements configured to support known or conventional operating features, which need not be described in detail herein. As described above, in one exemplary embodiment, system 300 can be employed for transmitting and receiving data symbols in a wireless communication environment, such as wireless communication environment 200 of FIG. 2.

The system 300 generally includes a base station 302 (hereinafter "BS 302") and a user equipment device 304 (hereinafter "UE 304"). The BS 302 includes a BS (base station) transceiver module 310, a BS antenna 312, a BS processor module 314, a BS memory module 316, and a network communication module 318, each coupled and interconnected with each other as needed via a data communication bus 320. The UE304 includes a UE (user equipment) transceiver module 330, a UE antenna 332, a UE memory module 334, and a UE processor module 336, each coupled and interconnected with each other as needed via a data communication bus 340. The BS 302 communicates with the UE304 via a communication channel 350, which communication channel 350 may be any wireless channel as described herein or other medium known in the art suitable for data transmission.

As one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, the system 300 may also include any number of modules other than those shown in fig. 3. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative blocks, modules, circuits, and processing logic described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware, computer readable software, firmware, or any practical combination thereof. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability and compatibility of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans who are familiar with the concepts described herein may implement this functionality in a suitable manner for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present invention.

According to some embodiments, the UE transceiver 330 may be referred to herein as an "uplink" transceiver 330, which includes RF transmitter and receiver circuits that are each coupled to an antenna 332. A duplex switch (not shown) may alternatively couple the uplink transmitter or receiver to the uplink antenna in a time-duplex manner. Similarly, BS transceiver 310 may be referred to herein as a "downlink" transceiver 310, according to some embodiments, which includes RF transmitter and receiver circuits that are each coupled to an antenna 312. A downlink duplex switch (not shown) may alternatively couple a downlink transmitter or receiver to the downlink antenna 312 in a time-duplex manner. The operation of the two

transceivers

310 and 330 are coordinated in time so that while the downlink transmitter is coupled to the downlink antenna 312, the uplink receiver is coupled to the uplink antenna 332 to receive transmissions over the wireless transmission link 350. Preferably, the switch-off time synchronization with only a minimum guard time between changes in the duplex direction.

The UE transceiver 330 and the BS transceiver 310 are configured to communicate via a wireless data communication link 350 and cooperate with a suitably configured RF antenna arrangement 312/332 that may support particular wireless communication protocols and modulation schemes. In some demonstrative embodiments, UE transceiver 330 and BS transceiver 310 are configured to support industry standards, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and emerging 5G standards. It should be understood, however, that the present invention is not necessarily limited in application to a particular standard and associated protocol. Rather, the UE transceiver 330 and the base station transceiver 310 may be configured to support alternative or additional wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variants thereof.

According to various embodiments, the BS 302 may be, for example, an evolved node b (eNB), a serving eNB, a target eNB, a femto station, or a pico station. In some embodiments, the UE304 may be embodied in various types of user equipment, such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a wearable computing device, and so forth. The

processor modules

314 and 336 may be implemented or realized with a general purpose processor, a content addressable memory, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, any suitable programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof, designed to perform the functions described herein. In this manner, a processor may be implemented as a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, state machine, or the like. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a digital signal processor core, or any other such configuration.

Further, the steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in firmware, in a software module executed by the

processor modules

314 and 336, or in any practical combination thereof.

Memory modules

316 and 334 may be implemented as RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In this regard, the

memory modules

316 and 334 may be coupled to the

processor modules

310 and 330, respectively, such that the

processor modules

310 and 330 may read information from the

memory modules

316 and 334 and write information to the memory modules 216 and 234, respectively. The

memory modules

316 and 334 may also be integrated into their

respective processor modules

310 and 330. In some embodiments, the

memory modules

316 and 334 may each include cache memory for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by the

processor modules

310 and 330, respectively. The

memory modules

316 and 334 may also each include non-volatile memory for storing instructions that are executed by the

processor modules

310 and 330, respectively.

Network communication module 318 generally represents the hardware, software, firmware, processing logic, and/or other components of base station 302 that enable bidirectional communication between BS transceiver 310 and other network components and communication devices configured to communicate with base station 302. For example, the network communication module 318 may be configured to support internet or WiMAX services. In a typical deployment, the network communication module 318 provides an 802.3 ethernet interface so that the BS transceiver 310 can communicate with a conventional ethernet-based computer network, but is not so limited. In this manner, the network communication module 318 may include a physical interface for connecting to a computer network (e.g., a Mobile Switching Center (MSC)).

Referring again to fig. 2, in some embodiments, when UE204 wants to transmit a PUCCH signal to BS202, UE204 follows the new PUCCH format allocated by BS 102 to transmit the corresponding UCI signal and DMRS. Further, according to some embodiments, when multiple UEs (each of which may be substantially similar to UE 204) desire to transmit a respective PUCCH signal to BS202, the multiple UEs may follow the novel PUCCH format allocated by BS 102 to transmit the respective UCI signal and DMRS using the same Resource Elements (REs) or the same symbols (e.g., OFDM symbols). In other words, each RE multiplexed by a different UE to transmit a corresponding PUCCH signal may simultaneously carry at least one of the corresponding UCI signals of the plurality of UEs and at least another one of the DMRSs of the plurality of UEs. Various embodiments of this new PUCCH format will be discussed below.

Fig. 4A and 4B illustrate exemplary new PUCCH formats (402 and 412) and (422 and 432), respectively, allocated by a BS to two UEs to transmit corresponding PUCCH signals. Each of the PUCCH formats 402, 412, 422, and 432 is represented as a continuous or discontinuous sequence of resource elements arranged in the frequency domain, generally referred to as a resource grid extending across the time domain (X-axis) and the frequency domain (Y-axis). In fig. 4A, a PUCCH format 402 with frequency hopping from f1 to f2 is allocated to a first UE (1)^stUE) to transmit a corresponding UCI signal and a corresponding DMRS. And, the PUCCH format 412 also having frequency hopping from f1 to f2 is allocated to the second UE (2)^ndUE) to transmit a corresponding UCI signal and a corresponding DMRS. In fig. 4B, a PUCCH format 422 without any frequency hopping is allocated to the first UE to transmit a corresponding UCI signal and corresponding DMRS; and, a PUCCH format 432, also without any frequency hopping, is allocated to the second UE to transmit the corresponding UCI signal and the corresponding DMRS.

Specifically, in fig. 4A, a first portion 402-1 of the PUCCH format 402 used by the first UE extends across a first set of

symbols

413a, 413b, 413c and 413d at frequency f1, and a second portion 402-2 of the PUCCH format 402 used by the first UE extends across a second set of

symbols

413e, 413f, 413g and 413h at frequency f 2. Still referring to fig. 4A, the first part 412-1 of the PUCCH format 412 used by the second UE extends across a first set of

symbols

413a, 413b, 413c and 413d at frequency f1, and the second part 412-2 of the PUCCH format 412 used by the second UE extends across a second set of

symbols

413e, 413f, 413g and 413h at frequency f 2. In fig. 4B, the PUCCH format 122 used by the first UE extends across multiple

consecutive symbols

433a, 433B, 433c, 433d, 433e, 433f, 433g and 433h at frequency f 2. And the PUCCH format 432 used by the second UE is also spread across the same consecutive symbols at frequency f2 as PUCCH format 422(433a-133 h).

As described above, according to some embodiments, when communication resources of different UEs are multiplexed to transmit corresponding PUCCH signals, the different UEs may transmit different types of PUCCH signals using the same REs, which may be further illustrated in fig. 4A and 4B. For example, according to PUCCH formats 402 and 412 of fig. 4A, the BS allocates REs including symbol 413a for the first UE and the second UE to transmit the first DMRS by the first UE (filled with a dotted pattern) and the first UCI signal by the second UE (filled with a striped pattern), the REs being shown as two respective squares (a square surrounded by a solid line for the first UE and a square surrounded by a dotted line for the second UE). Although the squares enclosed by the solid lines (i.e., REs used by the first UE) and the squares enclosed by the dashed lines (i.e., REs used by the second UE) are offset from each other, this is for clarity of illustration only. Therefore, it should be understood that the two squares corresponding to the REs multiplexed by the first UE and the second UE should overlap each other. For consistency, in the following figures, squares enclosed by solid and dashed lines are referred to herein as REs used by the first UE and the second UE, respectively.

According to the PUSCCH formats 402 and 412, the BS202 allocates REs including a symbol 413b to the first UE to transmit a corresponding first UCI signal (filled with a slanted striping pattern) and to the second UE to transmit a corresponding first DMRS (filled with a dotted line pattern); allocating REs comprising symbol 413c to the first UE to transmit a corresponding second DMRS (filled with a dashed pattern), and to the second UE to transmit a corresponding second UCI signal (filled with a striped pattern); allocating REs comprising symbol 413d to the first UE to transmit a corresponding second UCI signal (filled with a slanted striping pattern) and to the second UE to transmit a corresponding second DMRS (filled with a dashed line pattern); allocating REs comprising symbol 413e to the first UE to transmit a corresponding third DMRS (filled with a dashed pattern), and to the second UE to transmit a corresponding third UCI signal (filled with a striped pattern); allocating REs comprising symbol 413f to the first UE to transmit a corresponding fourth UCI signal (filled with a slanted striping pattern) and to the second UE to transmit a corresponding fourth DMRS (filled with a dashed-line pattern); allocating REs comprising symbol 413g to the first UE to transmit a corresponding third DMRS (filled with a dashed pattern), and to the second UE to transmit a corresponding third UCI signal (filled with a striped pattern); REs comprising symbol 413h are allocated to the first UE to transmit a corresponding fourth UCI signal (filled with a slanted striping pattern) and to the second UE to transmit a corresponding fourth DMRS (filled with a dashed line pattern). Note that the reference terms "first," "second," "third," and the like as used herein are not used to illustrate a sequential or numerical limitation, but rather to distinguish or identify individual members of a group.

Similarly, in fig. 4B, the BS allocates REs including the same symbol to the first UE and the second UE to transmit corresponding DMRS or UCI signals, except that the PUCCH formats 422 and 432 do not include frequency hopping, and thus a discussion about allocation of REs in the PUCCH formats 422 and 432 is not repeated here. Allowing different UEs (e.g., the first UE and the second UE described above) to transmit different types of PUCCH signals using the same RE (or the same symbol) (e.g., the first UE transmits a DMRS, and the second UE transmits a UCI signal)) provides various advantages. For example, as described above, the UCI signal of each UE may be distinguished into at least two respectively different signals-ACK and NACK signals, and each of the ACK and NACK signals is associated with a corresponding cyclic shift value. Continuing with the above example in discussing the cyclic shift value difference, when one of the two UEs transmits a corresponding UCI signal (which is either an ACK or NACK signal) using an RE, and the other of the two UEs transmits one DMRS using (multiplexes) the same RE, only 3 different cyclic shift values will "occupy" the same RE because the RE can only be used to transmit a total of 3 different signals. In this way, the cyclic shift value difference between two UEs may be extended to 4 (since 12/3 ═ 4), or even larger, which may help the BS to more accurately distinguish (e.g., demodulate) different PUCCH signals transmitted from different UEs.

Fig. 5A and 5B illustrate exemplary new PUCCH formats (502 and 512) and (522 and 532), respectively, allocated by a BS to two UEs to transmit corresponding PUCCH signals. Unlike PUCCH formats 402, 412, 422, and 432 shown in fig. 4A-4B, PUCCH formats 502 and 512 allocated for use by the first UE and the second UE, respectively, have different numbers of REs (i.e., the number of symbols spanned by

PUCCH formats

502 and 512 is different); and similarly, PUCCH formats 522 and 532 allocated for use by the first and second UEs, respectively, have different numbers of REs (the number of symbols spanned by the PUCCH formats 522 and 532 is different). Further, the number of REs of PUCCH format 512 is equal to the number of REs of the portion of PUCCH format 502, and the number of REs of PUCCH format 532 is equal to the number of REs of the portion of PUCCH format 522, which will be discussed in further detail below, respectively.

Each of the PUCCH formats 502, 512, 522, and 532 is represented as a continuous or discontinuous sequence of resource particles arranged in the frequency domain, generally referred to as a resource grid extending across the time domain (X-axis) and the frequency domain (Y-axis). In fig. 5A, a PUCCH format 502 having frequency hopping from f1 to f2 is allocated to a first UE to transmit a corresponding UCI signal and a corresponding DMRS. And, a PUCCH format 512 without any frequency hopping is allocated to the second UE to transmit a corresponding UCI signal and a corresponding DMRS. In fig. 5B, a PUCCH format 522 with frequency hopping from f1 to f2 is allocated to the first UE to transmit a corresponding UCI signal and a corresponding DMRS; and, a PUCCH format 532 without any frequency hopping is allocated to the second UE to transmit a corresponding UCI signal and a corresponding DMRS.

Specifically, in fig. 5A, the first part 502-1 of the PUCCH format 502 used by the first UE extends across a first set of symbols 513a, 513b, 513c and 513d at frequency f1, and the second part 502-2 of the PUCCH format 502 used by the first UE extends across a second set of

symbols

513e, 513f, 513g and 513h at frequency f 2. Further, as with the second part 502-2 of the PUCCH format 502, the PUCCH format 512 used by the second UE extends across a second set of

symbols

513f, 513g, 513h, 513i, 513j and 513k at frequency f 2. In fig. 5A, the first part 502-1 of the PUCCH format 502 used by the first UE extends across a first set of symbols 513a, 513b, 513c, 513d and 513e at frequency f1, and the second part 502-2 of the PUCCH format 502 used by the first UE extends across a second set of

symbols

513f, 513g, 513h, 513i, 513j and 513k at frequency f 2. Further, as with the second part 532-2 of the PUCCH format 532, the PUCCH format 512 used by the second UE extends across a second set of

symbols

513f, 513g, 513h, 513i, 513j and 513k at frequency f 2.

In some embodiments, the PUCCH formats used by different UEs may have different numbers of REs when multiplexing communication resources for the different UEs to transmit the corresponding PUCCH signals, according to some embodiments, which may be further illustrated in fig. 5A and 5B. For example, according to PUCCH formats 502 and 512 of fig. 5A, the BS allocates REs including symbols 513f to the first and second UEs to transmit respective first UCI signals (each filled with a slanted striped pattern), the REs being shown as two respective squares (a square surrounded by a solid line for the first UE and a square surrounded by a dashed line for the second UE). Although the squares enclosed by the solid lines (i.e., REs used by the first UE) and the squares enclosed by the dashed lines (i.e., REs used by the second UE) are offset from each other, this is for clarity of illustration only. Therefore, it should be understood that the two squares corresponding to the REs multiplexed by the first UE and the second UE should overlap each other.

Further, according to the PUSCCH formats 502 and 512, the BS202 allocates REs including a symbol 513g to the first UE and the second UE to transmit respective first DMRSs (each filled with a dotted pattern); allocating REs including symbol 513h to the first UE and the second UE to transmit respective second UCI signals (each filled with a slanted striped pattern); allocating REs including symbols 513i to the first UE and the second UE to transmit respective second DMRSs (each filled with a dotted pattern); assigning REs comprising symbols 513j to the first UE and the second UE to transmit respective third UCI signals (each filled with a slanted striped pattern); REs including symbol 413k are allocated to the first UE and the second UE to transmit respective third DMRSs (each filled with a dotted pattern).

In fig. 5B, BS202 allocates REs comprising symbol 533f to a first UE to transmit a corresponding first UCI signal (filled with a slanted striped pattern) and to a second UE to transmit a corresponding first DMRS (filled with a dashed-line pattern) according to PUSCCH formats 522 and 532; allocating REs comprising symbols 513g to a first UE to transmit a corresponding first DMRS (filled with a dashed pattern) and to a second UE to transmit a corresponding first UCI signal (filled with a striped pattern); allocating REs including symbol 513h to the first UE to transmit a corresponding second UCI signal (filled with a slanted striped pattern) and to the second UE to transmit a corresponding second DMRS (filled with a dashed line pattern); allocating REs comprising symbols 513i to the first UE to transmit respective second DMRSs (filled with a dotted pattern) and to the second UE to transmit respective second UCI signals (filled with a striped pattern); allocating REs comprising symbol 513j to the first UE to transmit a corresponding third UCI signal (filled with a slanted striped pattern) and to the second UE to transmit a corresponding third DMRS (filled with a dashed line pattern); and allocating REs including symbol 513h to the first UE to transmit a corresponding third DMRS (filled with a dotted pattern) and to the second UE to transmit a corresponding third UCI signal (filled with a striped pattern).

Fig. 6A and 6B illustrate exemplary new PUCCH formats (602 and 612) and (622 and 632), respectively, allocated by a BS to two UEs to transmit respective PUCCH signals. PUCCH formats 602, 612, 622, and 632 are substantially similar to PUCCH formats 502, 512, 522, and 532 shown in fig. 5A-5B, respectively, discussed in further detail below, except that the number of REs for PUCCH format 612 is not equal to the number of REs for any portion of PUCCH format 602, and the number of REs for PUCCH format 632 is not equal to the number of REs for any portion of PUCCH format 622.

Each of the PUCCH formats 602, 612, 622, and 632 is represented as a continuous or discontinuous sequence of resource elements arranged in the frequency domain, generally referred to as a resource grid extending across the time domain (X-axis) and the frequency domain (Y-axis). In fig. 6A, a PUCCH format 602 having frequency hopping from f1 to f2 is allocated to a first UE to transmit a corresponding UCI signal and a corresponding DMRS. And, a PUCCH format 612 without any frequency hopping is allocated to the second UE to transmit a corresponding UCI signal and a corresponding DMRS. In fig. 6B, a PUCCH format 622 with frequency hopping from f1 to f2 is allocated to the first UE to transmit a corresponding UCI signal and a corresponding DMRS; and, the PUCCH format 632 without any frequency hopping is allocated to the second UE to transmit the corresponding UCI signal and the corresponding DMRS.

Specifically, in fig. 6A, the first part 602-1 of the PUCCH format 602 used by the first UE extends across the first set of symbols 613a, 613b, 613c, 613d and 613e at frequency f1, and the second part 602-2 of the PUCCH format 602 used by the first UE extends across the second set of

symbols

613f, 613g, 613h, 613i, 613j and 613k at frequency f 2. Further, the PUCCH format 612 used by the second UE extends across a portion of the second symbol set 613g, 613h, 613i, 613j and 613k at frequency f 2. In fig. 6B, the first part 622-1 of the PUCCH format 622 used by the first UE extends across the first set of symbols 633a, 633B, 633c, 633d, and 633e at frequency f1, and the second part 632-2 of the PUCCH format 632 used by the first UE extends across the second set of

symbols

633f, 633g, 633h, 633i, 633j, and 633k at frequency f 2. Further, the PUCCH format 632 used by the second UE extends across a portion of the second symbol set 633g, 633h, 633i, 633j, and 633k at frequency f 2.

In some embodiments, the PUCCH formats used by different UEs may have different numbers of REs when multiplexing communication resources for the different UEs to transmit the corresponding PUCCH signals, according to some embodiments, which may be further illustrated in fig. 6A and 6B. For example, according to PUCCH formats 602 and 612 of fig. 6A, the BS allocates REs including symbols 513g for the first and second UEs to transmit respective first DMRSs (each filled with a dotted pattern), the REs being shown as two respective squares (a square surrounded by a solid line for the first UE and a square surrounded by a dotted line for the second UE). Although the squares enclosed by the solid lines (i.e., REs used by the first UE) and the squares enclosed by the dashed lines (i.e., REs used by the second UE) are offset from each other, this is for clarity of illustration only. Therefore, it should be understood that the two squares corresponding to the REs multiplexed by the first UE and the second UE should overlap each other.

Further, BS202 allocates REs including symbol 613h for the first UE and the second UE to transmit respective first UCI signals (each filled with a slanted striped pattern) according to the PUSCCH formats 602 and 612; allocating REs including symbol 613i to the first UE and the second UE to transmit respective second DMRSs (each filled with a dotted pattern); allocating REs comprising symbol 613j to the first UE and the second UE to transmit respective third UCI signals (each filled with a slanted striped pattern); and allocates REs including symbol 613k to the first UE and the second UE to transmit respective third DMRSs (each filled with a dotted pattern).

In fig. 6B, BS202 allocates REs including symbol 633g to a first UE to transmit a corresponding first DMRS (filled with a dashed pattern) and to a second UE to transmit a corresponding first UCI signal (filled with a slanted striped pattern) according to PUSCCH formats 622 and 632; allocating REs comprising symbol 613h to a first UE to transmit a corresponding first UCI (filled with a slanted striped pattern) and to a second UE to transmit a corresponding first DMRS (filled with a dashed-line pattern); allocating REs comprising symbols 613i to the first UE to transmit a corresponding second DMRS (filled with a dotted pattern) and to the second UE to transmit a corresponding second UCI signal (filled with a striped pattern); allocating REs comprising symbols 513j to the first UE to transmit respective second UCI signals (filled with a slanted striped pattern) and to the second UE to transmit respective second DMRSs (filled with a dashed line pattern); REs comprising symbol 513k are allocated to the first UE to transmit a corresponding third DMRS (filled with a dashed pattern) and to the second UE to transmit a corresponding third UCI signal (filled with a striped pattern).

Fig. 7A and 7B illustrate exemplary novel PUCCH formats (702 and 712) and (722 and 732), respectively, allocated by a BS to two UEs to transmit corresponding PUCCH signals. Unlike the PUCCH formats discussed above with respect to fig. 4A-6B, PUCCH formats 702 and 712 respectively allocated for use by the first and second UEs each have at least two adjacent REs for transmitting the same type of PUCCH signal; and similarly, PUCCH formats 722 and 732 respectively allocated to the first and second UEs to use each have at least two adjacent REs for transmitting the same type of PUCCH signal.

Each of the PUCCH formats 702, 712, 722, and 732 is represented as a continuous or discontinuous sequence of resource elements arranged in the frequency domain, commonly referred to as a resource grid extending across the time domain (X-axis) and the frequency domain (Y-axis). In fig. 7A, a PUCCH format 702 having frequency hopping from f1 to f2 is allocated to a first UE to transmit a corresponding UCI signal and a corresponding DMRS. And, a PUCCH format 712, also having frequency hopping from f1 to f2, is allocated to the second UE to transmit a corresponding UCI signal and a corresponding DMRS. In fig. 7B, a PUCCH format 722 without any frequency hopping is allocated to the first UE to transmit a corresponding UCI signal and corresponding DMRS; and, a PUCCH format 732, also without any frequency hopping, is allocated to the second UE to transmit the corresponding UCI signal and the corresponding DMRS.

Specifically, in fig. 7A, a first portion 702-1 of the PUCCH format 702 used by the first UE is spread across a first set of

symbols

713a, 713b, 713c, 713d, 713e, 713f, and 713g at frequency f1, and a second portion 702-2 of the PUCCH format 702 used by the first UE is spread across a second set of

symbols

713h, 713i, 713j, 713k, 713l, 713m, and 713n at frequency f 2. Still referring to fig. 7A, the first portion 712-1 of the PUCCH format 712 used by the second UE is spread across a first set of

symbols

713a, 713b, 713c, 713d, 713e, 713f, and 713g at frequency f1, and the second portion 712-2 of the PUCCH format 412 used by the second UE is spread across a second set of

symbols

713h, 713i, 713j, 713k, 713l, 713m, and 713n at frequency f 2. In fig. 7B, the PUCCH format 422 used by the first UE extends across a number of

consecutive symbols

733a, 733B, 733c, 733d, 733e, 733f, 733g, 733h, 733i, 733j, 733k, 733l, 733m, and 733n at frequency f 1. And the PUCCH format 432 used by the second UE is also spread across the same consecutive symbols at frequency f2 as the PUCCH format 722(733a-733 h).

As described above, according to some embodiments, when communication resources of different UEs are multiplexed to transmit corresponding PUCCH signals, the different UEs may transmit different types of PUCCH signals using the same RE, and furthermore, each UE may transmit the same type of PUCCH signals using at least two adjacent REs, which may be further illustrated in fig. 7A and 7B. For example, according to PUCCH formats 702 and 712 of fig. 7A, the BS allocates REs including symbol 713a to the first UE to transmit a corresponding first UCI signal (filled with a slanted-striped pattern), and allocates REs including symbol 713a for the second UE to transmit the corresponding first DMRS (filled with the dashed-line pattern), the REs being shown as two corresponding squares (a square surrounded by a solid line for the first UE and a square surrounded by a dashed line for the second UE), and allocates REs including symbol 713b for the first UE to transmit a corresponding second UCI signal (filled with a slanted striped pattern), and allocates REs including symbol 713b for the second UE to transmit a corresponding second DMRS (filled with a dashed pattern), the REs being shown as two corresponding squares (a square surrounded by a solid line for the first UE and a square surrounded by a dashed line for the second UE).

Although the squares enclosed by the solid lines (i.e., REs used by the first UE) and the squares enclosed by the dashed lines (i.e., REs used by the second UE) are offset from each other, this is for clarity of illustration only. Therefore, it should be understood that the two squares corresponding to the REs multiplexed by the first UE and the second UE should overlap each other. For consistency, in the following figures, squares enclosed by solid and dashed lines are referred to herein as REs used by the first UE and the second UE, respectively.

Further, according to the PUSCCH formats 702 and 712, the BS202 allocates REs including symbols 713c-713e, respectively, to the first UE to transmit respective first, second, and third DMRSs (each filled with a dotted pattern), and to the second UE to transmit respective first, second, and third UCI signals (each filled with a striped pattern); allocating REs, each comprising symbols 713f-713g, to a first UE for transmitting respective third and fourth UCI signals (each filled with a slanted striping pattern), and to a second UE for transmitting respective third and fourth DMRS (each filled with a dashed-line pattern); allocating REs, each comprising symbols 713h-713i, to the first UE for transmitting respective fifth and sixth UCI signals (each filled with a slanted striping pattern), and to the second UE for transmitting respective fifth and sixth DMRS (each filled with a dashed-line pattern); allocating REs, each comprising symbols 713j-713l, to the first UE to transmit respective fourth, fifth, and sixth UCI signals (each filled with a slanted striping pattern), and to the second UE to transmit respective fourth, fifth, and sixth DMRSs (each filled with a dashed-line pattern); REs, each comprising symbols 713m-713n of frequency f2, are allocated to a first UE for transmission of respective fifth and sixth DMRSs (each filled with a slanted striping pattern), and to a second UE for transmission of respective fifth and sixth UCI signals (each filled with a dashed-line pattern). Similarly, in fig. 7B, the BS allocates REs spanning at least two adjacent symbols for the first UE and the second UE to transmit different types of PUCCH signals, and allows each of the first UE and the second UE to use the at least two adjacent symbols to transmit the same type of PUCCH signals, except that PUCCH formats 722 and 732 do not include frequency hopping, and thus the discussion regarding allocation of REs in PUCCH formats 722 and 732 is not repeated here.

Although the PUCCH formats shown with respect to fig. 3A-7B are for REs (symbols) multiplexed by two UEs (a first UE and a second UE), it should be understood that REs allocated according to the above PUCCH formats may also be multiplexed by two or more UEs while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure. Fig. 8A, 8B, and 8C illustrate exemplary novel PUCCH formats (802, 812, and 822), (832, 842, and 852), and (862, 872, 882) respectively, which the BS allocates to three UEs to transmit corresponding PUCCH signals. Since the principle used by each new set of PUCCH formats in fig. 8A/8B/8C is substantially similar to that used by the PUCCH formats discussed in fig. 3A-7B, the PUCCH formats (802, 812 and 822), (832, 842 and 852) and (862, 872, 882) in fig. 8A, 8B and 8C, respectively, will be briefly discussed herein.

In fig. 8A, the BS allocates REs of the PUCCH format 802 (each square surrounded by a solid line) to be used by the first UE to transmit respective UCI signals (each filled with a striped pattern) and DMRSs (each filled with a dotted pattern), wherein a first subset of the REs of the PUCCH format 802 is located at frequency f1, and a second subset of the REs of the PUCCH format 802 is located at frequency f 2. In order for the REs of the PUCCH format 802 to be multiplexed by the second UE and the third UE, the BS further allocates a first subset of the REs of the PUCCH format 802 as REs of a PUCCH format 812 (each square surrounded by a dotted line at frequency f 1) that can be used by the second UE, and allocates a second subset of the REs of the PUCCH format 802 as REs of a PUCCH format 822 (each square surrounded by a dotted line at frequency f 2) that can be used by the third UE. In other words, the second UE may use REs of the PUCCH format 812 to transmit respective UCI signals (each filled with a slanted stripe pattern) and DMRSs (each filled with a dotted line pattern), and the third UE may use REs of the PUCCH format 822 to transmit respective UCI signals (each filled with a slanted stripe pattern) and DMRSs (each filled with a dotted line pattern).

In fig. 8B, the BS allocates REs of the PUCCH format 832 (each square surrounded by a solid line) to be used by the first UE to transmit respective UCI signals (each filled with a striped pattern) and DMRSs (each filled with a dotted pattern), wherein a first subset of the REs of the PUCCH format 832 is located at frequency f1 and a second subset of the REs of the PUCCH format 832 is located at frequency f 2. In order for the REs of the PUCCH format 832 to be multiplexed by the second UE and the third UE, the BS also allocates a first subset of the REs of the PUCCH format 832 as REs of a PUCCH format 842 (each square surrounded by a dotted line at frequency f 1) that can be used by the second UE, and allocates a second subset of the REs of the PUCCH format 832 as REs of a PUCCH format 852 (each square surrounded by a dotted line at frequency f 2) that can be used by the third UE. In other words, the second UE may use REs of PUCCH format 842 to transmit respective UCI signals (each filled with a slanted fringe pattern) and DMRSs (each filled with a dashed line pattern), and the third UE may use REs of PUCCH format 852 to transmit respective UCI signals (each filled with a slanted fringe pattern) and DMRSs (each filled with a dashed line pattern).

In fig. 8C, the BS allocates REs of PUCCH format 802 (each square surrounded by a solid line) to be used by the first UE to transmit respective UCI signals (each filled with a striped pattern) and DMRSs (each filled with a dotted pattern), wherein a first subset of REs of PUCCH format 862 is located at frequency f1 and a second subset of REs of PUCCH format 862 is located at frequency f 2. In order for the REs of PUCCH format 802 to be multiplexed by the second and third UEs, the BS also allocates a first subset of the REs of PUCCH format 862 as REs of PUCCH format 872 that can be used by the second UE (each square surrounded by a dashed line at frequency f 1), and allocates a second subset of the REs of PUCCH format 862 as REs of PUCCH format 862 that can be used by the third UE (each square surrounded by a dashed line at frequency f 2). In other words, the second UE may use REs of PUCCH format 872 to transmit respective UCI signals (each filled with a slanted stripe pattern) and DMRSs (each filled with a dashed line pattern), and the third UE may use REs of PUCCH format 882 to transmit respective UCI signals (each filled with a slanted stripe pattern) and DMRSs (each filled with a dashed line pattern).

As described above, each type of PUCCH signal (DMRS, ACK signal, and NACK signal) transmitted by the UE is associated with a corresponding cyclic shift value, which may be allocated by the BS or predefined in a protocol. Specifically, the DMRS is associated with a first cyclic shift value, the ACK signal is associated with a second cyclic shift value, and the NACK signal is associated with a third cyclic shift value, wherein the first, second, and third cyclic shift values may be respectively selected from a set of cyclic shift values of a sequence (e.g., a Chu sequence, a Frank-Zadoff sequence, a Zadoff-Chu sequence, a generalized Chirp-Like sequence, or any computer-generated CAZAC sequence).

For example, when providing a length-12 sequence, the set of cyclic shift values may have 12 different numbers, e.g., 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11. For a first UE, its DMRS, ACK signal, and NACK signal may be associated with respective cyclic shift values, which may be selected from: {0,4,8},{1,5,9},{2,6, 10},{3,7, 11}. Further, for the second UE, its DMRS, ACK signal and NACK signal may be associated with respective cyclic shift values, which may also be selected from: {0,4,8},{1,5,9},{2,6, 10},{3,7, 11}. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, when the same RE (symbol) is multiplexed by the first UE and the second UE, the first UE and the second UE may transmit different types of PUCCH signals using the same RE. In this way, the difference between different cyclic shift values occupying the same RE can be maximized. For example, when an RE is multiplexed by an ACK (associated with a cyclic shift value of 0) or a NACK signal (associated with a cyclic shift value of 4) of a first UE and a DMRS (associated with a cyclic shift value of 8) of a second UE, a difference between different cyclic shift values occupying the same RE may be maximized to 4.

In one embodiment, as shown in the above example, PUCCH signals of different UEs occupying the same RE (symbol) may have different respective cyclic shift values. To further improve multiplexing efficiency, Orthogonal Cover Codes (OCC) may be selectively used by each UE depending on whether PUCCH signals of different UEs have respectively different cyclic shift values. Taking the PUCCH formats (402 and 412) of fig. 4A as an example, REs including symbol 413a are used by a first UE to transmit DMRSs, and REs including symbol 413a are used by a second UE to transmit UCI signals that may be associated with the same cyclic shift value of the same sequence. As such, the REs including symbol 413a are used by the first UE to transmit DMRSs that may be associated with the first OCC signal, and the REs including symbol 413a are used by the second UE to transmit DMRSs that may be associated with the second OCC signal. Further, the first OCC signal may have a length of 2 (since the first portion 402-1 of the PUCCH format 402 has 2 REs (symbols) allocated for transmission of the corresponding DMRS), and the second OCC signal may have a length of 2 (since the first portion 412-1 of the PUCCH format 412 has 2 REs (symbols) allocated for transmission of the corresponding UCI signal). Similarly, REs comprising symbol 413f are used by a first UE to transmit DMRSs, and REs comprising symbol 413f are used by a second UE to transmit UCI signals that may be associated with the same cyclic shift value of the same sequence. As such, the REs including symbol 413f are used by the first UE to transmit UCI signals that may be associated with the third OCC signal, and the REs including symbol 413f are used by the second UE to transmit UCI signals that may be associated with the fourth OCC signal. Further, the third OCC signal may have a length of 2 (since the second portion 402-2 of the PUCCH format 402 has 2 REs (symbols) allocated for transmission of the corresponding UCI signal), and the second OCC signal may have a length of 2 (since the second portion 412-2 of the PUCCH format 412 has 2 REs (symbols) allocated for transmission of the corresponding DMRS). In some embodiments, the first, second, third, and fourth OCC signals may be independently determined by the BS.

While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. Likewise, the various figures may depict example architectures or configurations provided to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to understand the example features and functionality of the present invention. However, such persons will appreciate that the invention is not limited to the example architectures or configurations shown, but can be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. Furthermore, as one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, one or more features of one embodiment may be combined with one or more features of another embodiment described herein. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.

It will also be understood that any reference herein to an element using a name such as "first," "second," etc., does not generally limit the number or order of such elements. Rather, these names may be used herein as a convenient means of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, reference to a first element and a second element does not imply that only two elements may be employed or that the first element must somehow precede the second element.

Further, those of ordinary skill in the art would understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, and symbols that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

Those of ordinary skill would further appreciate that any of the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, devices, circuits, methods, and functions described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware (e.g., a digital implementation, an analog implementation, or a combination of the two), firmware, various forms of program or design code incorporating instructions (which may be referred to herein, for convenience, as "software" or a "software module"), or any combination of these technologies. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software, or combinations of these techniques, depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions do not depart from the scope of the present disclosure.

Furthermore, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, devices, components, and circuits described herein may be implemented or performed with Integrated Circuits (ICs) that may include a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof. The logic blocks, modules, and circuits may also include antennas and/or transceivers to communicate with various components within the network or within the device. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suitable configuration for performing the functions described herein.

If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Thus, the steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein may be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that can communicate a computer program or code from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

The term "module" as used herein refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements for performing the associated functions described herein. Further, for purposes of discussion, the various modules are described as discrete modules; however, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that two or more modules may be combined to form a single module that performs the associated functions according to embodiments of the present invention.

Further, memory or other memory and communication components may be employed in embodiments of the invention. It will be appreciated that the above description for clarity has described embodiments of the invention with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains may be used without detracting from the invention. For example, functionality illustrated to be performed by separate processing logic elements or controllers may be performed by the same processing logic elements or controllers. Thus, references to specific functional units are only to references to suitable means for providing the described functionality rather than indicative of a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

Various modifications to the embodiments described in this disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed herein as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A method performed by a first wireless communication node, comprising:

transmitting resource allocation signals to the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device respectively,

wherein the resource allocation signal indicates a plurality of first communication resources allocated to the first wireless communication device for transmitting signals to the first wireless communication node and a plurality of second communication resources allocated to the second wireless communication device for transmitting signals to the first wireless communication node, respectively, and

wherein at least a first one of the first communication resources shares a same time-frequency position with at least a first one of the second communication resources, and is respectively used by the first wireless communication device to transmit a first reference signal and the second wireless communication device to transmit a first signal carrying control information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first reference signal comprises a demodulation reference signal.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the control information carried by the first signal comprises uplink control information of the second wireless communication device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of first communication resources comprises a first subset and a second subset spaced apart from each other in a frequency domain.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of second communication resources and any of the first or second subsets of the plurality of first communication resources share a same time-frequency location.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a second one of the plurality of first communication resources and at least a second one of the plurality of second communication resources share a same time-frequency location and are used by the first wireless communication device to transmit a second signal corresponding to the first reference signal carrying control information of the first wireless communication device and by the second wireless communication device to transmit a second reference signal corresponding to the first signal, respectively.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein a first one and a second one of the plurality of first communication resources are at different respective time-frequency locations but are in close proximity to each other in a time domain, and wherein a first one and a second one of the plurality of second communication resources are at different respective time-frequency locations but are in close proximity to each other in a time domain.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein a first one and a second one of the plurality of first communication resources are at respective different time-frequency locations and have at least a third one of the plurality of first communication resources located therebetween in the time domain, and a first one and a second one of the plurality of second communication resources are at respective different time-frequency locations and have at least a third one of the plurality of second communication resources located therebetween in the time domain.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein a third one of the plurality of first communication resources is used by the first wireless communication device to transmit the first reference signal and a third one of the plurality of second communication resources is used by the second wireless communication device to transmit the first signal carrying control information.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein a third one of the plurality of first communication resources is used by the first wireless communication device to transmit the second signal carrying a control signal, and a third one of the plurality of second communication resources is used by the second wireless communication device to transmit the second reference signal.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a first one of the plurality of first communication resources and at least a first one of the plurality of second communication resources are associated with different respective cyclic shift values.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a first one of the plurality of first communication resources and at least a first one of the plurality of second communication resources are associated with a same cyclic shift value but with different respective orthogonal cover code signals.

13. A computing device configured to perform the method of any of claims 1-12.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 12.

15. A method performed by a first wireless communication device, comprising:

receiving a resource allocation signal from a first wireless communication node;

wherein the resource allocation signal indicates a plurality of communication resources allocated to the first wireless communication device for transmitting signals to the first wireless communication node, and

wherein at least a first one of the plurality of communication resources is used by the first wireless communication device to transmit a first reference signal and is used simultaneously by a second wireless communication device, different from the first wireless communication device, to transmit a first signal carrying control information.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the first reference signal comprises a demodulation reference signal.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the control information carried by the first signal comprises uplink control information of the second wireless communication device.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of communication resources comprises a first subset and a second subset spaced apart from each other in a frequency domain.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein at least a first one of the plurality of communication resources is included in the first subset, and wherein in the first subset at least a second one of the plurality of communication resources is used by the first wireless communication device to transmit a second signal corresponding to the first reference signal carrying control information of the first wireless communication device and is used simultaneously by the second wireless communication device to transmit a second reference signal corresponding to the first signal carrying control information.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the first and second ones of the plurality of communication resources are at different respective time-frequency locations but are immediately adjacent to each other in a time domain.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the first and second ones of the plurality of communication resources are at different respective time-frequency locations and have at least a third one of the plurality of communication resources located therebetween in a time domain.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the third one of the plurality of communication resources is used by the first wireless communication device to transmit to the first wireless communication node either one of the first reference signal and the second signal carrying control information for the first wireless communication device.

23. A computing device configured to perform the method of any of claims 15 to 22.

24. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions for performing the method of any one of claims 15 to 22.