CN112352392A

CN112352392A - Enhancement of automatic repetition in wireless communication network

Info

Publication number: CN112352392A
Application number: CN201980040530.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 柳光; 埃夫斯塔西奥斯·格德拉纳若斯
Original assignee: Jiekai Communications Shenzhen Co Ltd
Current assignee: JRD Communication Shenzhen Ltd; Jiekai Communications Shenzhen Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-08-10
Filing date: 2019-08-08
Publication date: 2021-02-09
Also published as: GB201813109D0; WO2020030029A1

Abstract

The present application provides an enhancement of automatic repeat in a wireless communication network as a method of managing allocation of transmission time resources during automatic repeat of data transmission from a wireless base station to a wireless device in a wireless communication network, comprising the steps of: generating, at the radio base station, control information that controls data transmission from the radio base station to the radio device; modifying the control information to include at least a first transmission time resource allocation field defining a first transmission time mode for data transmission and a second transmission time resource allocation field defining a second transmission time mode for data transmission; and transmitting the modified control information from the radio base station to the wireless device and transmitting data from the radio base station to the wireless device according to at least the first and second transmission time patterns of the modified control information. Further, in aspects of indicating control information repetition and data transmission during automatic repetition of control information from a radio base station to a radio device in a radio communication network, the present application provides enhancements for controlling automatic repetition of data transmission from a radio base station to a radio device in a radio communication network. The application also provides a wireless base station and a wireless device configured to perform the above method.

Description

Enhancement of automatic repetition in wireless communication network

Technical Field

The present application relates to data communication in wireless networks, and more particularly to enhancing automatic repeat data transmission and/or control information to improve data reliability and reduce latency.

Background

In the field of wireless communication systems, standards and techniques for third Generation (3G,3rd Generation) mobile communication, for example, are well known. Such 3G standards and technologies have been developed by 3GPP (third generation partnership project), third generation wireless communication has been able to support macrocell mobile phone communication, and communication systems and networks have evolved towards broadband and mobile systems.

In a cellular mobile communication system, a UE (User Equipment) is connected to a Radio Access Network (RAN) through a Radio link. The radio access Network comprises a set of base stations providing radio links to user equipment of cells covered by the base stations, and an interface to a Core Network (CN) providing overall Network control. It will be appreciated that the radio access network and the core network each perform corresponding functions with respect to the overall network. For convenience, the term cellular network may be used to refer to both the combined radio access network and core network, as well as to the various systems that perform the functions described above.

The third generation partnership project has developed a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, i.e., an Evolved Universal mobile telecommunications system Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), which may be used in a mobile Access Network in which one or more macro cells are supported by an Evolved base station (eNodeB). Currently, LTE is further evolving towards 5G (5th-Generation, fifth Generation mobile communication technology) or NR (New Radio, New air interface) systems, where one or more cells are supported by a 5G base station (gNb). NR is implemented by using an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) physical transmission format.

The trend in wireless communications is toward providing lower latency and higher reliability services. For example, NRs may support Ultra-reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) and Massive machine type Communications (mtc), both of which are intended to provide Low Latency and high reliability for small packet sizes (typically 32 bytes). A user plane delay of 1ms and a reliability of 99.99999% have been achieved, and at the physical layer, 10 has been achieved^-5Or 10^-6The packet loss rate of (1).

For URLLC, the higher the data reliability (10 max)^-6Level), the higher the availability, the time synchronization is of the order of a few microseconds, where the value may be 1 or a few microseconds, depending on the frequency range, a shorter delay of the order of 0.5ms to 1ms, depending on the desired usage scenario (industrial automation, transportation and power distribution).

There are basically two types of scheduling schemes in order to achieve the required reliability and latency. One is data retransmission based on Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ), and the other is Automatic Repeat of data transmission. The consensus of these two solutions is that HARQ based retransmissions are more resource efficient but with longer delays, whereas automatic repetition has the opposite characteristics.

Fig. 1 illustrates data retransmission between a Next Generation Node B (gNB) and a UE (User Equipment). After Downlink Control Information (DCI) is received by a user equipment through a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and data is received by a UE through a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), there is a processing gap on the UE side, which is at least one Transmission Time Interval (TTI). If the DCI is correctly received by the UE but the data is not correctly received, the UE sends a Negative-acknowledgement (NACK) to the gNB through a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH). Upon receiving the NACK, the base station will schedule the DCI and data to the UE in the manner of the initial transmission, and the UE combines the two data receptions before decoding.

Fig. 2 illustrates automatic repetition of data transmission between a gNB and a UE. The DCI is transmitted from the gNB to the UE through the PDCCH. After data on the first PDSCH is transmitted to the UE, the gNB will automatically repeat data transmission on at least the second PDSCH. The UE attempts to decode the data received on the first PDSCH and, if not successful, decodes the combination of the data received on both PDSCHs. The number of automatic repetitions is configured in the upper layer message of the gNB. During or after the repetition, there will be/no feedback of ACK/NACK.

If the data is correctly acquired, it is transmitted to an upper layer of the UE. The delay of the Downlink (DL) is defined as the time between receiving a data packet from an upper layer of the gNB and transmitting the data packet to an upper layer of the UE.

Assuming a SCS (Sub-Carrier Space, subcarrier spacing) of 30kHz and a TTI of 4 OFDM Symbols (OS), the maximum delay of a HARQ based retransmission after one retransmission is 0.93ms, whereas an automatic repeat only needs 0.64 ms. The number of resources used for automatic repetition is almost twice that of HARQ based retransmissions, which occur only when data on the first PDSCH is not successfully received. This example demonstrates the advantages and disadvantages of both of the above-described schemes. Therefore, there is a need for an automatic repeat enhanced scheduling scheme to improve efficiency, reliability and latency.

Disclosure of Invention

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

The present application provides a method of managing transmission time resource allocation during automatic repeat of data transmissions from a radio base station to a radio device in a wireless communication network, comprising: at the radio base station, generating control information controlling data transmission from the radio base station to the radio device, modifying the control information to include at least a first transmission time resource allocation field defining a first transmission time mode for data transmission and a second transmission time resource allocation field defining a second transmission time mode for data transmission, transmitting the modified control information from the radio base station to the radio device, and transmitting data from the radio base station to the radio device according to at least the first transmission time mode and the second transmission time mode of the modified control information.

Each of the first transmission time pattern and the second transmission time pattern comprises a position, a length and a repetition value of at least one transmission time of the data transmission.

The location of the transmission time is described by: the offset value defines the number of time transmission intervals between the start position of the data transmission time and the start position of the control information transmission time and the position value defines the number of OFDM symbols between the start OFDM symbol of the time transmission interval and the start OFDM symbol of the data transmission time.

The length of the transmission time comprises at least one OFDM symbol of the time transmission interval.

The repetition value of the transmission time is contained in an automatic repetition parameter of the control information.

The auto-repeat parameter is aggregationfactory dl.

The present application provides a method of managing transmission time resource allocation during automatic repeat of data transmissions from a wireless base station to a wireless device, comprising: at the radio base station, an indication is generated indicating whether an existing time transmission resource allocation for the radio device can be extended to include the time transmission resource allocation for the control information when no control information is transmitted to the radio device, an indication is transmitted from the radio base station to the radio device, and data is transmitted from the radio base station to the radio device in accordance with the indication.

The indication is configured by an upper layer message of the radio base station.

The indication being included in the control information

The indication comprises an on or off flag.

The indication comprises a starting position in the TTI from which the extension is to be applied.

The present application provides a method of indicating control information repetition during automatic repetition of control information and data transmission from a radio base station to a radio device in a wireless communication network, comprising: at the radio base station, generating control information including a control information repetition index having a value indicating a transmission of the first control information, transmitting the control information from the radio base station to the radio device, at the radio base station, generating the control information including a control information repetition index having a value indicating a transmission of the second control information, transmitting the control information from the radio base station to the radio device, repeating the generating step of the control information and the transmitting step of the control information for a predefined number of transmissions of the control information.

The control information repetition index has a value of 0 for a first control information transmission, 1 for a second control information transmission, up to a predefined number of times-1 for a control information transmission for a last creep control information transmission.

The method also includes, at the wireless device: repeating the index using the control information to determine the number of remaining data transmissions: receiving a control information transmission, determining a current value of a control information repetition index from the control information transmission, determining a value of a data transmission repetition number from the control information transmission, determining a number of remaining data transmissions by subtracting the current value of the control information repetition index from the value of the data transmission repetition number.

The application provides a method of controlling automatic repeat of data transmission from a radio base station to a radio device in a radio communications network, comprising: at the wireless device, decoding of transport blocks of the data transmission is started before receiving the entire transport block, decoding of transport blocks of data is continued until all transport blocks are correctly received, an acknowledgement of the reception of the transport blocks is sent from the wireless device to the wireless base station, and the reception of the acknowledgement in the wireless base station is detected and automatic repetition of the data transmission from the wireless base station to the wireless device is terminated.

At the wireless device, prior to receiving the entire transport block, starting decoding the transport block for the data transmission comprises: the wireless device maps the resource elements in frequency first and time second order.

Transmitting an acknowledgement of transmission block reception from a wireless device to a wireless base station comprises: at least one physical uplink control channel pre-configured with a sequence indicating acknowledgement is used.

Transmitting an acknowledgement of transmission block reception from a wireless device to a wireless base station comprises: the resources using the at least one physical uplink control channel overlap with the resources of the at least one physical uplink shared channel of the another wireless device.

Detecting receipt of the wireless base station acknowledgment comprises: and monitoring at least a physical uplink control channel which is pre-configured, and monitoring blind detection of an indication confirmation sequence.

The present application provides a method of controlling automatic repetition of data transmissions from a radio base station to a radio device in a wireless communication network, comprising: at the radio base station, generating control information, the control information controlling data transmission from the radio base station to the radio device, modifying the control information to include an automatic repeat field, the automatic repeat field having at least one value defining a number of repetitions of data transmission, transmitting the modified control information from the radio base station to the radio device and transmitting data from the radio base station to the radio device in accordance with the modified control information.

The automatic repeat field includes at least one repeat flag bit, the at least one repeat flag bit having a value of one of: a first value, equal to 1, deactivating data transmission repetition; a second value, greater than 1, activates data transmission repetition and indicates the number of data transmission repetitions.

The automatic repeat field includes a repeat parameter having a value of one of: a first value, equal to 1, deactivating data transmission repetition; a second value, greater than 1, activates data transmission repetition and indicates the number of data transmission repetitions.

The repetition parameter is the repetition parameter aggregationfactory rdl.

The method also includes configuring the automatic repeat field to have two or more values, each value defining a number of data transmission repetitions, modifying a repetition parameter of an upper layer message of the wireless base station to select one of a plurality of values of the automatic repeat field.

The value selected for the automatic repeat field is one of: a first value, equal to 1, deactivating data transmission repetition; a second value, greater than 1, activates data transmission repetition and indicates the number of data transmission repetitions.

In the above method, the control information generated by the base station is in the form of downlink control information.

In the above method, the modified control information is transmitted from the radio base station to the radio device on a physical downlink control channel.

In the above method, data is transmitted from the radio base station to the radio device on at least one physical downlink shared channel.

In the above method, the wireless communication network is a new air interface network supporting ultra-reliable and low-delay communication, the wireless base station is a next generation node B base station, and the wireless device is a user equipment.

The present application provides a radio base station configured to perform the method of any of the above.

The present application provides a wireless device configured to perform the method of any of the above.

Drawings

The details, aspects and embodiments of the present application will be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. Similar reference numerals have been included in the various drawings to facilitate understanding.

Fig. 1 shows HARQ based data retransmission;

FIG. 2 illustrates automatic repetition of data transmission;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a cellular network;

FIG. 4 illustrates a conventional transmission time resource allocation during automatic repetition of data transmission;

fig. 5 shows two examples of a first transmission time pattern and a second transmission time pattern used in transmission time resource allocation during automatic repetition of data transmission;

fig. 6 illustrates a conventional automatic repeat of control information transmission with/without automatic repeat of data transmission;

FIG. 7 shows control of automatic repetition of data transmission, an

Fig. 8 shows control information and data transmission using HARQ based retransmission for initial transmission of control information and automatic repetition for other data transmission.

Detailed Description

Those skilled in the art will recognize and appreciate that the specifics of the described examples are merely illustrative of some embodiments and that the teachings described herein are applicable in a variety of alternative settings.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram of three base stations (e.g., eNBs or gNBs according to particular cellular standards and terminology) that make up a cellular network. Typically, each base station will be deployed by one cellular network operator to provide geographic coverage for UEs within its area. These base stations form a Radio Access Network (RAN). Each base station provides radio coverage for the UE within its area or cell. The base stations are interconnected by an X2 interface and connected to the core network by an S1 interface. It will be appreciated that only the basic details are shown in order to illustrate key features of the cellular network.

Each base station includes hardware and software to implement the functions of the RAN, including communication with the core network and other base stations, the carrying of control signals and data signals between the core network and the UEs, and the maintenance of wireless communication by the UEs associated with each base station. The core network includes hardware and software to perform the functions of the network, such as overall network management and control, and routing of calls and data.

Although not shown in detail, any device or apparatus forming part of a network may include at least a processor, a memory unit, and a communication interface, where the processor unit, the memory unit, and the communication interface are configured to perform the methods of any aspect of the present application. Further options and choices are set forth below.

In a network, such as the one shown in fig. 3, the standard currently provides that each automatic repetition of data transmission has the same transmission time resource allocation. An example of this is shown in fig. 4, in a 2OFDM symbol TTI network, in a conventional automatic repeat transmission time resource allocation, the first OFDM symbol of the first TTI is used for DCI by the PDCCH, and the second OFDM symbol of the first TTI is used for data transmission by the PDSCH. The automatic repeat parameter aggregationfactor dl in the DCI is equal to 3, so the second OFDM symbol of the second TTI is used by the PDSCH for the first automatic repeat of data transmission and the second OFDM symbol of the third TTI is used by the PDSCH for the second automatic repeat of data transmission, for a total of 3 transmissions. Since the same time transmission allocation is used for all automatic repetitions, the first OFDM in each TTI is not used, it is difficult to schedule this resource to another UE.

The present application provides a method of managing transmission time resource allocation during automatic repetition of data transmissions from a gNB to a UE in a wireless communication network, e.g. an NR network supporting URLLC. The method includes generating DCI in the gNB for controlling data transmission from the gNB to the UE and modifying the DCI to include at least a first transmission time resource allocation field defining a first transmission time pattern for the data transmission and a second transmission time resource allocation field defining a second transmission time pattern for the data transmission. The modified DCI is then transmitted from the gNB to the UE on the PDCCH, and data is transmitted from the gNB to the UE on the PDSCH according to at least the first and second transmission time patterns of the modified DCI.

Each of the first transmission time pattern and the second transmission time pattern comprises a position, a length and a repetition value of at least one transmission time for data transmission. The position of the Transmission Time is described by an offset value defining the number of Time Transmission intervals (Time Transmission intervals) between the start position of the data Transmission Time and the start position of the DCI Transmission Time, and a position value defining the number of OFDM symbols between the start OFDM symbol of the TTI and the start OFDM symbol of the data Transmission Time.

The length of the transmission time comprises at least one OFDM symbol of the time transmission interval. The repetition value of the transmission time is contained in an automatic repetition parameter aggregationfactory dl received from DCI or an upper layer message.

Referring to fig. 5, two examples of a first transmission time mode and a second transmission time mode are shown. In each example, the first pattern is shown in dark gray and the second pattern is shown in light gray. Each example illustrates the use of all second OFDM symbols in each TTI.

In a first example, the first transmission time pattern has a value defined by an offset value K₀The position of each transmission time of data transmission described by 0 (i.e., in the same TTI as DCI) and the position value including OFDM symbol S1. Each transmission time of the data transmission has a length of one OFDM symbol L of the time transmission interval equal to 1. The repetition value of the transmission time received from the DCI or the upper layer message of the gNB is 2. The second transmission time pattern has a value of K₀A position per transmission time of data transmission described by 1 (i.e., in the same TTI as DCI) and a position value including OFDM symbol S0. The length of each transmission time of the data transmission is one OFDM symbol L of the time transmission interval 1, and the repetition value of the transmission time received from the upper layer message of the DCI or the gNB is 1. It can be seen that the use of these two modes together results in the use of all of the second OFDM symbols in each TTI.

In a second example, the first transmission time pattern has a value of K offset₀The position of each transmission time of data transmission described by 0 (i.e., in the same TTI as DCI) and the position value including OFDM symbol S1. The length of each transmission time of the data transmission is one OFDM symbol L ═ 1 of the time transmission interval. The repetition value of the transmission time received from the DCI or the upper layer message of the gNB is 1. The second transmission time pattern has a value of K₀Each transmission time of a data transmission described by 1 (i.e., in the same TTI as DCI)And a position value including an OFDM symbol S ═ 0. The length of each transmission time of the data transmission is one OFDM symbol L of the time transmission interval 2, and the repetition value of the transmission time received from the upper layer message of the DCI or the gNB is 1. It can be seen that these two modes together also result in the use of all second OFDM symbols in each TTI.

The present application provides an alternative method of managing transmission time resource allocation during automatic repetition of data transmissions from a gNB to a UE. The method comprises, in the gNB, when no DCI is transmitted to the UE, generating an indication whether an existing temporal transmission resource allocation of the UE can be extended to a temporal transmission resource allocation comprising DCI. The indication is sent from the gNB to the UE, and data is transmitted from the gNB to the UE in accordance with the indication.

The existing time transmission Resource allocation for the UE is a Resource Block (RB) allocation for the UE specified by one or more OFDM symbols in the PDSCH. The temporal transmission resource allocation of DCI is a Transport Block (TB) allocation of DCI specified by one or more OFDM symbols in the PDCCH.

The indication may be configured by an upper layer message of the gNB or included in the DCI. In a TTI, the indication may include an on/off flag and/or a starting position where the above extension should be started to be applied.

Simply, but less flexibly, when it can be confirmed that there is no DCI for a UE in a TTI, the UE can be configured to automatically extend its RB allocation into a DCI OFDM symbol allocation. Furthermore, a starting position may be indicated in the DCI to indicate which TTI the extension should start from.

In a network, such as the one shown in fig. 3, in some conventional transmission protocols, DCI is sent from the gNB to the UE only once on the PDCCH (see fig. 6). Since DCI contains information needed by the UE to decode data received from the gNB, when DCI is lost, all repetitions of data and data cannot be decoded.

In other conventional transmission protocols, DCI is repeatedly transmitted from the gNB to the UE on a repeated PDCCH (see fig. 6). When the first DCI is lost and the second DCI is received, the UE does not know whether the received DCI is the first DCI or the repeated DCI. Thus, the UE does not know whether there is a previous data transmission and whether it is able to soft combine the current data transmission with the previous data transmission. One option for the UE is to attempt to decode the current data transmission, assuming that the current data transmission is the first transmission. If not successful, the UE attempts to decode the current data transmission by assuming that the current data transmission is a second transmission. If successful, soft combining of the first and second data transmissions may occur. The disadvantage of this option is that it increases the number of blind decodes and increases the complexity of the UE. Another problem when the first DCI or DCIs are lost is that by including data transmissions of other UEs, the UE may perform incorrect soft combining, which will pollute the soft buffer and lead to data packet loss in the UE.

The present application provides a method of indicating DCI repetition during automatic repetition of DCI and data transmission from a gNB to a UE in a wireless communication network, e.g. an NR network supporting URLLC. The method includes generating, in a gNB, a DCI including a control information repetition index whose value indicates a first DCI transmission, transmitting the DCI from the gNB to a UE, generating, in the gNB, a DCI including a control information repetition index whose value indicates a second DCI transmission, transmitting the DCI from the gNB to the UE, and repeatedly generating and transmitting the DCI for a predefined number of DCI transmissions.

The control information repetition index may include at least one flag bit and has a value of 0 for a first control information transmission and a value of 1 for a second control information transmission until its value is a predefined number of control information transmissions minus 1 for a last control information transmission.

The method further comprises the following steps: in the UE, determining a number of remaining data transmissions by receiving the DCI transmission, using the control information repetition index, determining a current value of the control information repetition index from the DCI transmission, and determining a number of remaining data transmissions by subtracting the current value of the control information repetition index from the value of the number of data transmission repetitions.

Control information is transmitted from the gNB to the UE on the PDCCH, and data is transmitted from the gNB to the UE on the at least one PDSCH.

The use of a control information repetition index in the DCI allows the UE to know, upon receipt of the DCI, whether the DCI is a first DCI transmission or a second DCI transmission, and so on. The UE may then know whether there is a previous data transmission and whether the current data transmission may be soft combined with the previous data transmission. The use of control information repetition index in DCI enables early blind detection by soft combining, thereby improving reliability and latency, and furthermore, can help reduce standardization effort when using the LTE URLLC scheme of DCI repetition on PDSCH in NR.

The use of control information repetition indices in DCI to determine the number of remaining data transmissions so that the UE avoids incorrect soft combining of data transmissions by other UEs.

For LTE URLLC, a parameter repetition number contained in DCI indicates the number of data transmissions in the current transmission bundle (bundle). In LTE DCI format 7-1A, 2 bits (bit) are used for this parameter to indicate the value out of {1, 2, 3, configurable values } from the number of data transmission repetitions (including initial transmission), with the last value being upper layer configurable. In the case where DCI repetition is supported, it may be considered to use this parameter to indicate the number of "remaining repetitions" for the data transmission in the bundle. In the example of FIG. 6, error! No reference source can be found. The first DCI would indicate 3 remaining data transmission repetitions, while the second DCI would indicate 2 remaining data transmission repetitions. When only the second DCI (first missing) is received, the UE knows that 2 data transmissions should be combined. This avoids the UE combining the third data transmissions from different UEs.

This option presents problems. When the data transmission amounts to 5 transmissions and the DCI transmission amounts to 2 transmissions, the parameter repetition number in the first DCI has a value of 5, and thus the parameter repetition number in the second DCI should be 4. However, 4 is not a usable value in this parameter list, and thus 4 cannot be indicated. To address this problem, the parameter list is extended to include each value between the minimum number and the maximum number of data transfers. This extended parameter would require more than 2 bits in DCI. The proposed DCI repetition index may avoid a list of extended parameter repetition times.

A well-known problem with communication networks that operate automatic repetition of data transmissions from the gNB to the UE is that all configured repetitions of data are sent to the UE even if the UE successfully receives the data in the first transmission. Early termination may be applied in cases where the number of repetitions is large. When the number of repetitions is small, early termination cannot improve resource efficiency due to the long delay of feedback. The present application proposes a solution to reduce early termination delay so that it can be used with a small number of automatic repetitions.

A method of controlling automatic repetition of data transmission from a gNB to a UE in a wireless communication network is provided. The method includes, in the UE, beginning decoding of a transport block of the data transmission prior to receiving the entire transport block, continuing decoding of the transport block of the data until the entire transport block is received, sending an acknowledgement of receipt of the transport block from the UE to the gNB, and detecting receipt of the acknowledgement in the gNB and terminating automatic repetition of the data transmission from the gNB to the UE.

In the UE, starting decoding a transport block for a data transmission before receiving the entire transport block includes: the UE maps the resource elements in order of frequency first and time second.

Sending an acknowledgement of receipt of the transport block from the UE to the gNB comprises: at least one PUCCH is used, which is pre-configured with a sequence indicating the acknowledgement. Detecting receipt of the acknowledgement in the gNB includes monitoring at least one preconfigured PUCCH and monitoring for blind detection of a sequence indicating the acknowledgement. The resources of the at least one PUCCH may overlap with the resources of the at least one PUSCH of another UE.

This method is illustrated in fig. 7, and fig. 7 illustrates automatic repetition of data transmission from a gNB to a UE in a wireless communication network, where each TTI has 7 OFDM symbols, where 1 is used for DCI and 6 are used for data transmission on one or more PDSCHs. The data is configured to be transmitted 3 times in total. It is possible for the UE to start decoding the TB before the reception of the TB ends, i.e., before the TTI ends. Theoretically, the TB is decodable after the first OFDM symbol of the data is used for a code rate less than 1/18, or after the second OFDM symbol of the data is used for a code rate less than 1/9. The number of selected PUCCH resources may be configured as shown.

Enabling early decoding before the end of TB reception reduces the feedback delay of early termination. Configuring multiple PUCCH resources per TTI increases the number of PUCCH ACK transmission opportunities, reduces ACK false alarm rate, and avoids adding excessive complexity to the gNB. Thus, feedback with only one ACK may be used. The overlapping of the resources of the different PUSCHs and the resources of the PUCCH will greatly simplify the scheduling of the PUSCH resources.

In a network, such as that shown in fig. 3, the standard currently provides that the number of automatic repetitions of data transmission from the gNB to the UE is contained in the upper layer message of the gNB and cannot be dynamically changed once it is configured. Each time the UE receives data on the scheduled PDSCH, the UE assumes that the data will be followed a fixed number of automatic repeats configured in the gNB upper layer message, and it is not possible for the gNB to dynamically schedule data transmissions with or without automatic repeats.

The gNB may wish to use HARQ based retransmissions for initial data transmissions to the UE for higher efficiency, while using an automatic repeat function for other data transmissions to the UE for shorter latency. Under existing standards, the gNB cannot support this operation because once the number of data transmission automatic repetitions in the gNB upper layer message is configured, the number of repetitions of the data transmission will have to be sent to the UE.

The present application provides a method of controlling automatic repetition of data transmission from a gNB to a UE in a wireless communication network, such as an NR network supporting URLLC. This includes generating, in the gNB, DCI that controls data transmission from the gNB to the UE and modifying the DCI to include an automatic repeat field having at least one value that defines a number of repetitions of data transmission. The modified DCI is transmitted on the PDCCH to the UE, and data is transmitted on the PDSCH from the gNB to the UE according to the modified DCI. If the number of data transmission repetitions is equal to 1, the automatic repetition is inactive and no further repetitions of data will be transmitted after the first data transmission. If the data transmission repetition number is greater than 1, the automatic repetition is active and the configured automatic repetition number of data is transmitted.

The automatic repeat field may include at least one repeat flag bit having a value of one of: the first value is equal to 1, deactivating data transmission repetition; the second value is greater than 1, activating a data transmission repetition and indicating a number of data transmission repetitions. For example, the value of the repetition flag bit may be 0, deactivating the data transmission repetition, or 1, activating the data transmission repetition.

The automatic repeat field may include a repeat parameter, e.g., AggregationFactorDL. The value of the parameter may be a first value equal to 1 deactivating the data transmission repetition or a second value greater than 1 activating the data transmission repetition and indicating the number of automatic repetitions.

A modified DCI containing an automatic repeat field including a repeat parameter aggregationfactory dl is received by the UE. When the repetition parameter aggregationfactory dl is 1, this informs the UE that there are no further automatic repetitions after the first data transmission. When the repetition parameter aggregationfactory dl >1, this informs the UE that there are aggregationfactory dl-1 auto-repeats after the first data transmission.

The method may further comprise: the automatic repeat field is configured to have two or more values, each value defining a number of data transmission repetitions, and a repetition parameter of an upper layer message of the radio base station is modified to select one of the values of the automatic repeat field.

The selected value may be equal to 1 to deactivate the automatic repeat of the data transmission, or greater than 1 to activate the automatic repeat of the data transmission and indicate the number of automatic repeats. If more than two values of the automatic repeat field are added to the DCI, the gNB will have more flexibility in scheduling data transmissions to the UE.

The method of controlling automatic repetition of data transmission from the gNB to the UE allows the network to employ a combined solution of HARQ-based retransmission and automatic repetition to achieve advantages in terms of efficiency and latency. Fig. 8 shows transmission from the gNB to the UE using HARQ based retransmission for initial transmission of DCI and data to improve efficiency and retransmission for automatic repetition to reduce latency.

Any two or more of the above-described enhancements of automatic repetition in a communication network may be combined. For example, these enhancements may be combined as follows.

Parameter N of data transmission repetition times_dConfigured by upper layer messages of the gNB and a flag bit is included in the DCI to indicate whether the parameter has been activated. If not, there is only one transmission of data scheduled by the DCI on the PDSCH, otherwise the transmission is repeated on the PDSCH as defined by the parameter. (alternatively, this parameter may be included in the DCI, just like the LTE URLLC, in which case the enhancement would be bypassed, but the following combination is still applicable.) while the DCI transmission is repeated a number of times N_cAlso configured by upper layer messages of the gNB. This indicates to the UE how many times the DCI transmission will be repeated in total. Including DCI repetition index in DCI, I_c＝0、1…N_c-1。

In this example, where N_d5 and N_cIc in the first DCI is 0, and Ic in the second DCI is 1. If the first DCI is lost and the second DCI is received, the UE knows:

1) from N_cAs known in 1, this is the second repetition of DCI, and there is an old transmission in the last TTI, which can be used for soft combining of PDSCH;

2) from N _d1, there are still 4 remaining data transmissions (including the current transmission) on the PDSCH, so transmissions from up to 4 later TTIs can be combined;

3) from N _c1, from the next TTI, all remaining TTIs have no DCI, and if DCI is configured, the UE transmission time resource allocation can be automatically extended to DCI transmission time resource allocation with the same transmission frequency resource allocation in all TTIs;

4) multiple PUCCH resources are configured for repeating transmission bundles, and these resources overlap PUSCH resources of one or more other UEs. Once the data on PDSCH is successfully decoded before the end of the bundle, the PUCCH is indicated to the gNB.

The signal processing and transmission functions of the gNB and the UE of the embodiments of the present application may be implemented using computing systems or architectures that are well known to those skilled in the relevant art. A computing system such as a desktop computer, laptop computer, handheld computing device (PDA, cell phone, palmtop, etc.), mainframe, server, client, or any other type of special or general purpose computing device as may be necessary or appropriate for a given application or environment may be used, as may be suitable or appropriate for a particular application or environment. A computing system may include one or more processors, where a processor may be implemented using a general or special purpose processing engine such as, for example, a microprocessor, microcontroller or other control module.

The computing system may also include a main Memory, such as a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other dynamic Memory, for storing information and instructions to be executed by the processor. Such main memory may also be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by the processor. Computing systems may also include Read Only Memories (ROMs) or other static storage devices for storing static information and instructions for the processors.

The computing system may also include an information storage system, which may include, for example, a media drive and a removable storage interface. The media drive may include a drive or other mechanism to support fixed or removable storage media, such as a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, a Compact Disc (CD), a Digital Video Drive (DVD), a read or write drive (R or RW), or other removable or fixed media drive. For example, the storage media may include, for example, a hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, CD or DVD, or other fixed or removable medium that is read by and written to by the media drive. The storage media may include a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein particular computer software or data.

In alternative embodiments, the information storage system may include other similar components for allowing computer programs or other instructions or data to be loaded into the computing system. For example, these components may include removable storage units and interfaces, such as program cartridges and cartridge interfaces, removable memory (e.g., flash memory or other removable memory modules) and memory slots, and other removable storage units and interfaces that allow software and data to be transferred from the removable storage unit to the computing system.

The computing system may also include a communications interface. Such computing systems may be used to allow software and data to be transferred between the computing system and external devices. In this embodiment, the communication interface may include a modem, a network interface (e.g., an ethernet or NIC card), a communication port (e.g., a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port), a PCMCIA slot and card, etc. Software and data transferred via the communications interface are in the form of signals which may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical or other signals capable of being received by the communications interface medium.

In this document, the terms "computer program product," "computer-readable medium" and the like may be used generally to refer to a tangible medium, such as a memory, a storage device, or a storage unit. These and other forms of computer-readable media may store one or more instructions for use by a processor, including a computer system, to cause the processor to perform specified operations. These instructions, generally referred to as "computer program code" (which may be combined in the form of a computer program or other combinations) when executed, cause the computing system to perform the functions of embodiments of the present application. Note that the code may directly cause the processor to perform certain operations, be compiled to do so, and/or be combined with other software, hardware, and/or firmware (e.g., libraries that perform standard functions) to do so.

The non-transitory computer readable medium may include at least one of: hard disks, CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, read-only memories, programmable read-only memories, erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasable and programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), and flash memories. In embodiments where these elements are implemented using software, the software may be stored in a computer-readable medium and loaded into the computing system using, for example, a removable storage drive. When executed by a processor in a computing system, the control module (in this example, software instructions or executable computer program code) causes the processor to perform the functions described herein.

Furthermore, the present concepts may be applied to any circuit for performing signal processing functions within a network element. It is further contemplated that, for example, a semiconductor manufacturer may use the concepts of the present application in the design of a stand-alone device, such as a microcontroller and/or any other subsystem elements of a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) or application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

It will be appreciated that for clarity purposes embodiments of the application have been described above with reference to a single processing logic. However, the inventive concept may equally be implemented by a plurality of different functional units and processors to provide the signal processing functions. Thus, references to specific functional units are only to be seen as references to suitable means for providing the described functionality rather than indicative of a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

Aspects of the present application may be implemented in any suitable form including hardware, software, firmware or any combination of these. Alternatively, the present application may be implemented at least partly as computer software running on one or more data processors and/or digital signal processors or configurable modular components (e.g. FPGA devices).

Thus, the elements and components of an embodiment of the application may be physically, functionally and logically implemented in any suitable way. Indeed the functionality may be implemented in a single unit, in a plurality of units or as part of other functional units. Although the present application has been described in connection with some embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. Rather, the scope of the present application is limited only by the accompanying claims. In addition, although a feature may appear to be described in connection with particular embodiments, one skilled in the art would recognize that various features of the described embodiments may be combined. In the claims, the term "comprising" does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps.

Furthermore, although individually listed, a plurality of means, elements or method steps may be implemented by e.g. a single unit or processor. Furthermore, although individual functions may be included in different claims, which may possibly be advantageously combined, the inclusion in different claims does not imply that a combination of functions is not feasible and/or advantageous. Likewise, the inclusion of a feature in one set of claims does not imply a limitation to this set, but rather indicates that the feature is equally applicable to other claim sets, as appropriate.

Furthermore, the order of features in the claims does not imply any specific order in which the features must be performed and in particular the order of individual steps in a method claim does not imply that the parts must be performed in this order. Rather, the steps may be performed in any suitable order. In addition, singular references do not exclude a plurality. Thus, references to "a", "an", "first", "second", etc. do not preclude a plurality.

Although the present application has been described in connection with some embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. Rather, the scope of the present application is limited only by the accompanying claims. Furthermore, although a feature may appear to be described in connection with particular embodiments, one skilled in the art would understand that different features of the described embodiments may be combined in accordance with the application. In the claims, the term "comprising" or "comprises" does not exclude the presence of other elements.

Claims

1. A method of managing transmission time resource allocation during automatic repetition of data transmissions from a wireless base station to a wireless device in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

generating, at the wireless base station, control information that controls data transmission from the wireless base station to the wireless device;

modifying the control information to include at least a first transmission time resource allocation field defining a first transmission time mode for the data transmission and a second transmission time resource allocation field defining a second transmission time mode for the data transmission;

transmitting the modified control information from the wireless base station to the wireless device, and transmitting data from the wireless base station to the wireless device according to at least the first and second transmission time patterns of the modified control information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the first transmission time pattern and the second transmission time pattern comprises a position, a length, and a repetition value of at least one transmission time of the data transmission.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the location of the transmission time is described by:

an offset value defining a number of time transmission intervals between a start position of a data transmission time and a start position of a control information transmission time; and

a position value defining a number of OFDM symbols between a starting OFDM symbol of the time transmission interval and a starting OFDM symbol of the data transmission time.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the length of the transmission time comprises at least one OFDM symbol of a time transmission interval.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the repetition value of the transmission time is included in an automatic repeat parameter in the control information.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the automatic repeat parameter is aggregatitionFactorDL.

7. A method of managing transmission time resource allocation during automatic repetition of data transmissions from a wireless base station to a wireless device, comprising:

generating, at the wireless base station, an indication of whether an existing time transmission resource allocation for the wireless device can be extended to include a time transmission resource allocation for control information when no control information is transmitted to the wireless device;

transmitting the indication from the wireless base station to the wireless device, and transmitting data from the wireless base station to the wireless device according to the indication.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the indication is configured by an upper layer message of the radio base station.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the indication is included in the control information.

10. The method of any of claims 7-9, wherein the indication comprises an on or off flag.

11. The method according to any of claims 7-10, wherein the indication comprises a starting position in a TTI from which the extension is to be applied.

12. A method of indicating repetition of control information during automatic repetition of control information and data transmissions from a wireless base station to a wireless device in a wireless communication network, comprising:

generating, at the radio base station, control information including a control information repetition index having a value indicating a first control information transmission;

transmitting the control information from the radio base station to the radio device;

generating, at the radio base station, control information including a control information repetition index having a value indicating a second control information transmission;

transmitting the control information from the radio base station to the radio device; and

repeating the generating of the control information and the sending of the control information for a predefined number of control information transmissions.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the control information repetition index has a value of 0 for a first control information transmission and 1 for a second control information transmission until the predefined number of control information transmissions is reduced by 1 for a last control information transmission.

14. The method according to any one of claims 12-13, further comprising:

at the wireless device, repeating indexing using the control information to determine a number of remaining data transmissions by:

receiving a control information transmission;

determining a current value of the control information repetition index from the control information transmission; determining a value of a data transmission repetition number from the control information transmission; and

and determining the number of the residual data transmission by subtracting the current value of the control information repetition index from the value of the data transmission repetition number.

15. A method of controlling automatic repetition of data transmissions from a wireless base station to a wireless device in a wireless communication network, comprising:

starting, at the wireless device, decoding a transport block of a data transmission prior to receiving the entire transport block;

continuing to decode the transport block of data until the entire transport block is correctly received;

transmitting an acknowledgement of receipt of the transport block from the wireless device to the wireless base station; and

detecting receipt of the acknowledgement in the radio base station and terminating automatic repetition of data transmission from the radio base station to the wireless device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein starting decoding, at the wireless device, a transport block of a data transmission before receiving an entire transport block comprises:

the wireless device maps a plurality of resource elements in a frequency-first, time-second order.

17. The method of any of claims 15-16, wherein sending an acknowledgement of receipt of the transport block from the wireless device to the wireless base station comprises:

using at least one physical uplink control channel preconfigured with a sequence indicating the acknowledgement.

18. The method of any of claims 17, wherein sending an acknowledgement of receipt of the transport block from the wireless device to the wireless base station comprises:

using the resources of the at least one physical uplink control channel, which overlap with the resources of the at least one physical uplink shared channel of another wireless device.

19. The method according to any of claims 17-18, wherein detecting the reception of the acknowledgement in the radio base station comprises:

monitoring at least one pre-configured physical uplink control channel and monitoring for blind detection of the sequence indicating the acknowledgement.

20. A method of controlling automatic repetition of data transmission from a wireless base station to a wireless device in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

modifying the control information to include an automatic repeat field having at least one value defining a number of repetitions of data transmission;

transmitting the modified control information from the wireless base station to the wireless device, and transmitting data from the wireless base station to the wireless device according to the modified control information.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the automatic repeat field comprises at least one repeat flag bit, and wherein the at least one repeat flag bit has a value of one of:

a first value, equal to 1, deactivating data transmission repetition;

a second value, greater than 1, activates data transmission repetition and indicates the number of data transmission repetitions.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the automatic repeat field comprises a repeat parameter having a value of one of:

a first value, equal to 1, deactivating data transmission repetition;

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the repetition parameter is an aggregatitionFactorDL.

24. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

configuring the automatic repeat field to have two or more values, each value defining a data transmission repetition number; and

modifying a repetition parameter of an upper layer message of the wireless base station to select one of a plurality of values of the automatic repeat field.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the selected value of the automatic repeat field is one of:

a first value, equal to 1, deactivating data transmission repetition;

26. The method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control information generated by the base station is in the form of downlink control information.

27. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the modified control information is transmitted from the radio base station to the radio device on a physical downlink control channel.

28. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the data is transmitted from the radio base station to the wireless device on at least one physical downlink shared channel.

29. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the wireless communication network is a new air interface network supporting ultra-reliable and low-latency communication, the wireless base station is a next generation node B base station, and the wireless device is a user equipment.

30. A radio base station, characterized in that the radio base station is configured to perform the method of any of claims 1-29.

31. A wireless device, characterized in that the wireless device is configured to perform the method of any of claims 1-29.