CN112369089B

CN112369089B - HARQ solution supporting multiple active bandwidth parts

Info

Publication number: CN112369089B
Application number: CN201880094661.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 杨涛; K·肖伯; 徐夏刚; 熊芝兰
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Priority date: 2018-07-09
Filing date: 2018-07-09
Publication date: 2024-02-06
Anticipated expiration: 2038-07-09
Also published as: CN112369089A; WO2020010493A1

Abstract

According to example embodiments of the present invention, there is at least one method and apparatus for performing: receiving, by a user equipment, signaling associated with at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process for the user equipment, the signaling comprising at least one set of process indicator bits; and applying, by the user equipment, signaling comprising at least one set of process indicator bits to identify at least one bandwidth part start point of at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and at least one bandwidth part start point at which the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled for data communication by the user equipment. Further, determining, by a network node of the communication network, signaling associated with at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process for a user equipment of the communication network, the signaling comprising at least one set of process indicator bits; and transmitting signaling including at least one set of process indicator bits to the user equipment for identifying at least one bandwidth part start point of at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and at least one bandwidth part start point at which the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled for data communication by the user equipment.

Description

HARQ solution supporting multiple active bandwidth parts

Technical Field

The teachings according to the exemplary embodiments of this invention relate generally to a hybrid automatic repeat request signaling design to improve hybrid automatic repeat request signaling operation and, more particularly, to a hybrid automatic repeat request signaling design to reduce L1 signaling overhead while ensuring adequate retransmission flexibility between active bandwidth portions and reuse UL/DL scheduling downlink control information formats without requiring new downlink control information format definitions.

Background

This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention that is recited in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Accordingly, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

Some abbreviations that may be found in the specification and/or drawings are defined as follows:

ARQ automatic repeat request

BWP bandwidth part

bWPI BWP index

CRC cyclic redundancy check

DCI downlink control information

DL downlink

DL-SCH downlink shared channel

ED error detection

FEC forward error correction

gNB next generation node B

HARQ hybrid automatic repeat request

ID identification

IE information element

MS Mobile station (e.g. UE)

NB-IoT narrowband Internet of things

NDI new data indicator

PDSCH physical downlink shared channel

PUSCH physical uplink shared channel

PxSCH physical DL/UL shared channel

RA resource allocation

RAR random access response

RE-TX retransmission

RRH remote radio head

TB transport block

TTI transmission time interval

UE user equipment

UL uplink

UL-SCH uplink shared channel

Hybrid automatic repeat request (hybrid ARQ or HARQ) is a combination of high rate forward error correction coding and ARQ error control. In standard ARQ, redundancy bits are added to data to be transmitted using an Error Detection (ED) code such as a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC). The receiver that detected the corrupted message will request a new message from the sender. In hybrid ARQ, the original data is encoded with a Forward Error Correction (FEC) code and parity bits are either sent immediately with the message or only upon request after the receiver detects an error message. As a result, hybrid ARQ performs better than normal ARQ under poor signal conditions, but in its currently introduced form, HARQ processes increase signaling overhead and result in lower throughput even under good signal conditions.

Example embodiments of the present invention are directed towards providing improved configurations to at least reduce HARQ signaling overhead and extend the available usage of HARQ operations.

Disclosure of Invention

In one example aspect of the invention there is an apparatus, such as a user equipment side apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receiving, by a user equipment, signaling associated with at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process for the user equipment, the signaling comprising at least one set of process indicator bits; and applying, by the user equipment, signaling comprising at least one set of process indicator bits to identify at least one bandwidth part origin (origin) of at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and at least one bandwidth part origin at which the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled for data communication by the user equipment.

Another example aspect is an apparatus comprising the preceding paragraph, wherein the at least one set of process indicator bits comprises a set of new data indicator bits associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, wherein identifying comprises: identifying, based at least on the new set of data indicator bits experiencing a change in value relative to the last received new set of data indicator bits, that at least one bandwidth part starting point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is a corresponding bandwidth part associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process and a data location, and that new data is transmitted on the corresponding bandwidth part, wherein the signaling includes downlink control information associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, wherein the downlink control information includes bandwidth part identification bits identifying at least one bandwidth part starting point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process and identifying bandwidth parts in which shared channels for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process are scheduled, and wherein each active bandwidth part is associated with a different set of hybrid automatic repeat request processes, wherein the identifying includes: identifying a bandwidth part start point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process and a data location associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process being indicated in downlink control information transmitted to the user equipment based at least on a set of new data indicator bits not changed since a last received set of new data indicator bits, wherein the downlink control information comprises a bandwidth part identification bit identifying a start point of the bandwidth part, and wherein a shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled on the bandwidth part in which the downlink control information is received, wherein the downlink control information comprises a bandwidth part identification bit identifying a bandwidth part in which the shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled, and the at least one bandwidth part start point of the identified at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process comprises a bandwidth part in which the downlink control information is received, wherein the downlink control information comprises an additional 2-bit bandwidth part identification bit added to the bandwidth part identification bit, and a bandwidth part identification bit identifying the start point for the signaling, and wherein the additional 2-bit identification bit is used with another bandwidth part for the downlink control information identified by another bandwidth part: the beginning of the bandwidth portion of each of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and the scheduled bandwidth portion for the data location.

In another example aspect of the invention, there is a method comprising: receiving, by a user equipment, signaling associated with at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process for the user equipment, the signaling comprising at least one set of process indicator bits; and applying, by the user equipment, signaling comprising at least one set of process indicator bits to identify at least one bandwidth part start of at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and at least one bandwidth part start at which the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled for data communication by the user equipment.

Another example aspect is a method comprising the method of the preceding paragraph, wherein the at least one set of process indicator bits comprises a set of new data indicator bits associated with at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, wherein identifying comprises: identifying, based at least on the new set of data indicator bits experiencing a change in value relative to the last received new set of data indicator bits, that at least one bandwidth part starting point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is a corresponding bandwidth part associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process and a data location, and that new data is transmitted on the corresponding bandwidth part, wherein the signaling includes downlink control information associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, wherein the downlink control information includes bandwidth part identification bits identifying at least one bandwidth part starting point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process and identifying bandwidth parts in which shared channels for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process are scheduled, and wherein each active bandwidth part is associated with a different set of hybrid automatic repeat request processes, wherein the identifying includes: identifying a bandwidth part start point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process and a data location associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process being indicated in downlink control information transmitted to the user equipment based at least on a set of new data indicator bits not changed since a last received set of new data indicator bits, wherein the downlink control information comprises a bandwidth part identification bit identifying a start point of the bandwidth part, and wherein a shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled on the bandwidth part in which the downlink control information is received, wherein the downlink control information comprises a bandwidth part identification bit identifying a bandwidth part in which the shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled, and the at least one bandwidth part start point of the identified at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process comprises a bandwidth part in which the downlink control information is received, wherein the downlink control information comprises an additional 2-bit bandwidth part identification bit added to the bandwidth part identification bit, and a bandwidth part identification bit identifying the start point for the signaling, and wherein the additional 2-bit identification bit is used with another bandwidth part for the downlink control information identified by another bandwidth part: the beginning of the bandwidth portion of each of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and the scheduled bandwidth portion for the data location.

In another example aspect of the invention there is a computer readable medium embodying computer program code executable by at least one processor to perform a method according to the preceding paragraph.

In another example aspect of the invention there is an apparatus, such as a user equipment side apparatus, comprising: means for receiving, by a user equipment, signaling associated with at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process for the user equipment, the signaling comprising at least one set of process indicator bits; a component for: signaling comprising at least one set of process indicator bits is applied by the user equipment to identify at least one bandwidth part start point of at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and at least one bandwidth part start point at which the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled for data communication by the user equipment.

In one example aspect of the invention there is an apparatus, such as a network side apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determining, by a network node of the communication network, signaling associated with at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process for a user equipment of the communication network, the signaling comprising at least one set of process indicator bits; and transmitting signaling including at least one set of process indicator bits to the user equipment for identifying at least one bandwidth part start point of at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and at least one bandwidth part start point at which the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled for data communication by the user equipment.

Another example aspect is an apparatus comprising the apparatus of the preceding paragraph, wherein the at least one set of process indicator bits comprises a set of new data indicator bits associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, wherein the signaling indicates that a bandwidth part starting point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is a corresponding bandwidth part and a data location associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process based on at least a change in value of the set of new data indicator bits relative to a last transmitted set of new data indicator bits, and indicates that new data is transmitted on the corresponding bandwidth part, wherein the signaling comprises downlink control information associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, wherein the downlink control information comprises a bandwidth part identification bit identifying at least one bandwidth part starting point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and identifying a bandwidth part in which a shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled, and wherein each active bandwidth part is associated with a different set of hybrid automatic repeat request process, wherein the signaling indicates that the at least one set of data part is not allocated to the user equipment based on the uplink data indicator bits transmitted to the at least one part in the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and wherein the shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled on a bandwidth portion in which downlink control information is transmitted, wherein the downlink control information includes a bandwidth portion identification bit identifying a bandwidth portion in which the shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled, and the identified bandwidth portion starting point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process includes a bandwidth portion in which the downlink control information is transmitted, wherein the downlink control information includes: an additional 2-bit bandwidth part identification added to the bandwidth part identification bits and an indication of at least one bandwidth part start point for the signaling, and wherein the additional 2-bit bandwidth part identification is used with another bandwidth part identification of the downlink control information to identify a bandwidth part start point for each of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process and a scheduled bandwidth part for the data location.

In another example aspect of the invention, there is a method comprising: determining, by a network node of the communication network, signaling associated with at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process for a user equipment of the communication network, the signaling comprising at least one set of process indicator bits; and transmitting signaling including at least one set of process indicator bits to the user equipment for identifying at least one bandwidth part start point of at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and at least one bandwidth part start point at which the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled for data communication by the user equipment.

Another example aspect is a method comprising the preceding paragraph, wherein the at least one set of process indicator bits comprises a set of new data indicator bits associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, wherein the signaling indicates that a bandwidth part starting point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is a corresponding bandwidth part and a data location associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process and indicates that new data is transmitted on the corresponding bandwidth part, wherein the signaling comprises downlink control information associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, wherein the downlink control information comprises a bandwidth part identification bit that identifies at least one bandwidth part starting point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process and identifies a bandwidth part in which a shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled, based on at least one set of new data indicator bits sent to a device in the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and wherein the signaling indicates that the at least one part of the data is not to be transmitted in the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, wherein the signaling comprises at least one bandwidth part identification bit that indicates that is not changed in value from the at least one starting point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and wherein the shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled on a bandwidth portion in which downlink control information is transmitted, wherein the downlink control information includes a bandwidth portion identification bit identifying a bandwidth portion in which the shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled, and the identified bandwidth portion starting point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process includes a bandwidth portion in which the downlink control information is transmitted, wherein the downlink control information includes: an additional 2-bit bandwidth part identification added to the bandwidth part identification bits, and an indication of at least one bandwidth part start point for the signaling, and wherein the additional 2-bit bandwidth part identification is used with another bandwidth part identification of the downlink control information to identify: the beginning of the bandwidth portion of each of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and the scheduled bandwidth portion for the data location.

In another example aspect of the invention there is a computer readable medium embodying computer program code executable by at least one processor to perform a method according to at least the preceding paragraph.

In one example aspect of the invention there is an apparatus, such as a network side apparatus, comprising: means for determining, by a network node of a communication network, signaling associated with at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process for a user equipment of the communication network, the signaling comprising at least one set of process indicator bits; a component for: signaling comprising at least one set of process indicator bits is sent to the user equipment for identifying at least one bandwidth part start point of at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and at least one bandwidth part start point at which the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled for data communication by the user equipment.

Another example aspect is an apparatus comprising the apparatus of the preceding paragraph, wherein the at least one set of process indicator bits comprises a set of new data indicator bits associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, wherein the signaling indicates that a bandwidth part starting point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is a corresponding bandwidth part and a data location associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process based on at least a change in value of the set of new data indicator bits relative to a last transmitted set of new data indicator bits, and indicates that new data is transmitted on the corresponding bandwidth part, wherein the signaling comprises downlink control information associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, wherein the downlink control information comprises a bandwidth part identification bit identifying at least one bandwidth part starting point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and identifying a bandwidth part in which a shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled, and wherein each active bandwidth part is associated with a different set of hybrid automatic repeat request process, wherein the signaling indicates that the at least one set of data part is not allocated to the user equipment based on the uplink data indicator bits transmitted to the at least one part in the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and wherein the shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled on a bandwidth portion in which downlink control information is transmitted, wherein the downlink control information includes a bandwidth portion identification bit identifying a bandwidth portion in which the shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled, and the identified bandwidth portion starting point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process includes a bandwidth portion in which the downlink control information is transmitted, wherein the downlink control information includes: an additional 2-bit bandwidth part identification added to the bandwidth part identification bits, and an indication of at least one bandwidth part start point for the signaling, and wherein the additional 2-bit bandwidth part identification is used with another bandwidth part identification of the downlink control information to identify: the beginning of the bandwidth portion of each of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and the scheduled bandwidth portion for the data location.

Drawings

The foregoing and other aspects of embodiments of the invention will become more apparent in the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a high-level block diagram of various devices that may be used to implement aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a diagram of scheduling constraints utilizing variant 1, according to an example embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 shows a diagram of scheduling constraints utilizing variant 2, according to an example embodiment of the invention; and

fig. 4A and 4B each illustrate a method according to an example embodiment of the invention that may be performed by an apparatus.

Detailed Description

Example embodiments of the present invention provide HARQ signaling improvements including HARQ signaling designs to reduce L1 signaling overhead while ensuring sufficient retransmission flexibility between active BWP and reusing UL/DL scheduling DCI formats without new DCI format definitions.

One version of HARQ-type I HARQ adds both ED and FEC information to each message prior to transmission. When an encoded data block is received, the receiver first decodes the error correction code. Based on good channel quality, all transmission errors should be correctable and the receiver can acquire the correct data block. However, if the channel quality is poor and/or not all transmission errors can be corrected, the receiver will use the error detection code to detect this, so the receiver rejects the received encoded data block and requests retransmission. However, in the type II HARQ version, the message originator alternates between message bits and error detection parity bits and FEC parity bits only. Then, if the first transmission is received without error, the FEC parity bits are not sent. In addition, if both consecutive transmissions are error free, the two consecutive transmissions may be combined for error correction.

According to 3GPP TS 36.321 V15.1.0 (2018-03), the HARQ information for DL-SCH or for UL-SCH transmission includes a New Data Indicator (NDI), a Transport Block (TB) size. For DL-SCH transmission and for asynchronous UL HARQ, the HARQ information also includes a HARQ process ID, except that the UE in the NB-IoT is configured with a single HARQ process where this information is not present. For UL-SCH transmission, the HARQ information also includes Redundancy Version (RV). In the case of two codeword transmission on the DL-SCH, the HARQ information includes a set of NDI and TB sizes for each transport block. HARQ information for SL-SCH and SL-DCH transmissions includes only TB size

Furthermore, according to 3GPP TS 36.321 V15.1.0 (2018-03), there is one HARQ entity at the MAC entity of each serving cell maintaining multiple parallel HARQ processes. Each HARQ process is associated with a HARQ process identifier. The HARQ entity directs the HARQ information received on the DL-SCH and the associated TB to the corresponding HARQ process. In addition, in asynchronous HARQ operation, the HARQ process is associated with the TTI based on the received UL grant in addition to the UL grant in the RAR. Each asynchronous HARQ process is associated with a HARQ process identifier, except for NB-IoT UEs configured with a single HARQ process. For UL transmissions with UL grant in RAR, HARQ process identifier 0 is used.

In addition, according to 3gpp TS 36.321, for each TTI in which transmissions are made for a HARQ process, one or two (in the case of downlink spatial multiplexing) TBs and associated HARQ information are received from the HARQ entity. For each received TB and associated HARQ information, the HARQ process should:

-if NDI (when provided) has been transformed (toggle) compared to the value of the previously received transmission corresponding to the TB; or alternatively

-if the HARQ process is equal to the broadcast process, and if this is the first received transmission for the TB according to the system information schedule indicated by RRC;

or alternatively

-if this is the first received transmission for the TB (i.e. there is no previous NDI for the TB):

-treating the transmission as a new transmission.

Otherwise:

-treating the transmission as a retransmission.

In NR R15, only one active BWP is supported for UL/DL data transmission, and up to 16 HARQ processes per cell can be configured. This means that the HARQ configuration in R15 is independent of BWP, and each BWP can use all configured HARQ processes. The scheduling DCI contains up to 4-bit HARQ process ID fields, which is sufficient to identify each HARQ process without ambiguity. Further, a cross BWP HARQ retransmission function is supported in R15. Therefore, the HARQ soft buffer is not flushed at the time of the BWP handover, but each HARQ process may be retransmitted in the new active BWP after the BWP handover. This feature makes it possible to initiate RE-TX of TB on BWP a after a handoff on BWP B, thereby improving the speed at which BWP handoff can be performed.

In one possible scenario, there are "multiple active" BWP's in a single serving cell as part of the NR spectrum enhancement [ nr_spectrum_enh ] RAN email discussion. In an alternative scenario, multi-active BWP is implemented by multiple serving cells, with a single active BWP per cell, to implement RE-TX for cross-serving cell handling HARQ.

At the time of this application, one straightforward approach is to reuse the R15 concept, i.e. to employ per-cell HARQ configurations. Considering up to 4 active BWP (R15) and 16 processes per BWP, the gNB may configure up to 64 HARQ processes per cell. This results in up to 6 bits of HARQ process ID to distinguish the 64 HARQ processes, resulting in an increase in L1 signaling overhead. The potential enhancement of R15 HARQ operation should be considered to achieve efficient utilization of BWP on Scell.

It may be assumed that if multiple active BWP are supported within the serving cell, the configuration of the HARQ process may be per BWP instead of per cell. The exemplary embodiments of the present invention as described below provide a solution for reducing L1 signaling overhead while ensuring adequate RE-TX flexibility between active BWPs and RE-use of R15UL/DL scheduling DCI formats without new DCI format definitions.

Before describing an example embodiment of the invention in more detail, reference is made to fig. 1. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of one possible and non-limiting exemplary system in which an exemplary embodiment of the invention may be practiced. In fig. 6, a Mobile Station (MS) 110 is in wireless communication with a wireless network 100. The MS 110 or UE is wireless or wired, typically a mobile device that can access a wireless network. MS 110 includes one or more processors 120, one or more memories 125, and one or more transceivers 130 interconnected by one or more buses 127. Each of the one or more transceivers 130 includes a receiver Rx 132 and a transmitter Tx 133. One or more of buses 127 may be an address, data, or control bus, and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of lines on a motherboard or integrated circuit, optical fibers, or other optical communication device, etc. One or more transceivers 130 are connected to one or more antennas 128. The one or more memories 125 include computer program code 123.MS 110 may include a HARQ processing unit (HPu) module 140, e.g., a HARQ processor unit (HPu) for a UE such as MS 110, HPu module 140 configured to perform at least HARQ related signal detection and processing of example embodiments of the present invention as described herein. HPu module 140 includes one or both of portions 140-1 and/or 140-2, which may be implemented in a variety of ways. HPu module 140 may be implemented in hardware as HPu module 140-1, such as being implemented as part of one or more processors 120. HPu module 140-1 may also be implemented as an integrated circuit or by other hardware, such as a programmable gate array. In another example, HPu module 140 can be implemented as HPu module 140-2 and hpu module 140-2 implemented as computer program code 123 and executed by one or more processors 120. For example, the one or more memories 125 and the computer program code 123 may be configured, with the one or more processors 120, to cause the user equipment 110 to perform one or more of the HARQ-related operations described herein. MS 110 communicates with gNB 170 via wireless link 111. Further, it should be noted that the labeling of MS 110 as in fig. 1 is non-limiting, and that the operations of MS 110 may similarly be performed by a device labeled as a user equipment or UE, or a user equipment or UE device or network device, a mobile device (MS), a wireless device, and/or an IoT device.

The gNB 170 (NR/5G node B or possibly an evolved NB) is a base station providing access to the wireless network 100 by wireless devices such as the MS 110 (e.g., for LTE long term evolution, GSM, and other communication technologies, including legacy communication technologies). The gNB 170 includes one or more processors 152, one or more memories 155, one or more network interfaces (N/W I/F) 161, and one or more transceivers 160 interconnected by one or more buses 157. Each of the one or more transceivers 160 includes a receiver Rx 162 and a transmitter Tx 163. One or more transceivers 160 are connected to one or more antennas 158. The one or more memories 155 include computer program code 153. The gNB 170 includes a HARQ processor unit module (HPu module 150) for the gNB that is configured to perform at least HARQ-related signaling and processing of example embodiments of the invention as described herein. HPu modules 150 include one or both of HPu modules 150-1 and/or HPu modules 150-2, which may be implemented in a variety of ways. HPu module 150 can be implemented in hardware as HPu module 150-1, such as being implemented as part of one or more processors 152. HPu module 150-1 may also be implemented as an integrated circuit or by other hardware, such as a programmable gate array.

In another example, the HPu module 150 can be implemented as HPu module 150-2 and the hpu module 150-2 implemented as computer program code 153 and executed by one or more processors 152. For example, the one or more memories 155 and 150 computer program code 153 are configured, with the one or more processors 152, to cause the gNB 170 to perform at least one or more of HARQ related signaling and processing operations as described herein. One or more network interfaces 161 communicate over the network, such as via links 176 and 131. Two or more gnbs 170 may communicate using, for example, links 176. The link 176 may be wired or wireless or both, and may implement, for example, an X2 interface.

The one or more buses 157 may be address, data, or control buses, and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of lines on a motherboard or integrated circuit, fiber optic or other optical communication devices, wireless channels, etc. For example, one or more transceivers 160 may be implemented as a Remote Radio Head (RRH) 195, while other elements of the gNB 170 are physically located in different locations than the RRH. The RRH may be part of a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) that communicates with devices including the gNB 170 as in fig. 1. The RRH may have one or more buses 157, which may be implemented in part as fiber optic cables to connect other elements of the gNB 170 to a Remote Radio Head (RRH) 195.

Note that the description herein indicates that "cell" performs a function, but it should be clear that the gcb forming the cell may perform a function. The cell forms part of a gNB or eNB. That is, there may be multiple cells per gNB or eNB.

The wireless network 100 may include a Base Station Controller (BSC) 190, the BSC 190 may include HARQ control functionality and provide connectivity to another network, such as a telephone network and/or a data communication network (e.g., the internet). gNB 170 is coupled to BSC 190 via link 131. Link 131 may be implemented as, for example, an S1 interface. The BSC 190 includes one or more processors 175, one or more memories 171, and one or more network interfaces (N/W I/F) 180 interconnected by one or more buses 185. The one or more memories 171 include computer program code 173. The one or more memories 171 and the computer program code 173 are configured, with the one or more processors 175, to cause the BSC 190 to perform one or more operations.

Wireless network 100 may implement network virtualization, a process that combines hardware and software network resources and network functionality into a single software-based management entity (i.e., a virtual network). Network virtualization involves platform virtualization, which is typically combined with resource virtualization. Network virtualization may be categorized as external (combining many networks or portions of networks into virtual units) or internal (providing network-like functionality to software containers on a single system). Note that the virtualized entity resulting from network virtualization is still implemented to some extent using hardware such as processors 152 or 175 and memories 155 and 171, and that such virtualized entity also produces technical effects.

Computer readable memories 125, 155, and 171 may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory, and removable memory. The computer readable memories 125, 155, and 171 may be means for performing a memory function. Processors 120, 152, and 175 may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may include, as non-limiting examples, one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital Signal Processors (DSPs), and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture. Processors 120, 152, and 175 may be components for performing functions, such as controlling MS 110, gNB 170, and other functions described herein.

It should be noted that any reference to the terminology used in this specification or the tags shown in the figures in association with a particular communication technology is not limiting (e.g., a gNB or eNB). Example embodiments of the invention as described herein may be performed using devices operating in GSM/EDGE, LTE, and/or 5G, as well as any devices operating in any other communication technology (e.g., gNB, eNB, BTS, BSC, UE and/or MS). Furthermore, fig. 1 may be used for operation according to an example embodiment of the invention, as for example in an MS-BTS-BSC for GSM; UE-gNB for 5G; and such devices for UE-enbs for LTE. Note that this example is non-limiting, and operations according to example embodiments of the invention may be performed using different devices and/or different examples than the examples.

In general, various embodiments of mobile station 110 may include, but are not limited to, cellular telephones (such as smartphones), tablet computers, personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) having wireless communication capabilities, portable computers having wireless communication capabilities, image capture devices such as digital cameras having wireless communication capabilities, gaming devices having wireless communication capabilities, music storage and playback appliances having wireless communication capabilities, and/or internet appliances having wireless internet appliances permitting wireless internet access and browsing, as well as portable devices or terminals that incorporate combinations of such functions.

Embodiments herein may be implemented in software (executed by one or more processors), hardware (e.g., application specific integrated circuits), or a combination of software and hardware. In an example of an embodiment, software (e.g., application logic, instruction set) is maintained on any one of various conventional computer-readable media. In the context of this document, a "computer-readable medium" can be any medium or means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the instructions for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device (such as a computer), an example of which is described and depicted, for example, in fig. 1. A computer-readable medium may include a computer-readable storage medium or other device that can be any medium or means that can contain or store the instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer.

Similarly, as described above, in R16, in order to support up to 4 active BWP, the per-cell HARQ configuration like the R15 concept must configure up to 64 HARQ processes, regardless of the active BWP number variations of different application scenarios. Then the 6-bit HARQ process must be designed in R16 to support this strategy instead of 4 bits in R15. These cases result in higher L1 signaling overhead. Furthermore, this new requirement for HARQ process ID extension will result in defining a new DCI format, which means that R15 DCI for UL/DL scheduling cannot be reused directly in R16.

At the time of this application, in R15, there has not been any discussion on how to operate HARQ processes in R16 to schedule multiple active BWP in a single serving cell or how to implement HARQ process sharing/retransmission between active BWP in different serving cells. As described above, a direct extension of the R15 solution will result in an increase in DCI overhead. Other straightforward solutions are to support per BWP configuration, which may reduce DCI overhead, but not allow retransmission between BWPs (RE-TX).

According to an example embodiment of the present invention, a HARQ signaling solution is provided that may enable cross BWP HARQ retransmissions on a per (active) BWP HARQ configuration basis.

This example embodiment may be described using at least the following steps:

I. examples of the invention performed at a network node (such as, but not limited to, a gNB, such as gNB170 in FIG. 1) Operation related to the embodiment:

● The gNB configures up to 16 HARQ processes for BWP; and

● The gNB transmits scheduling DCI, which contains the following fields: up to 4 bits of HARQ process ID, BWP ID and NDI value(s),

the NDI (new data indicator) value identifies the HARQ process of which BWP (given BWP ID and BWP in which the scheduling DCI has been sent) will be (re) transmitted on which active BWP.

Example of the invention performed at a network device such as, but not limited to, a UE such as MS 110 in FIG. 1 Signal interpretation operations and/or rules related to the embodiments, as described in the following paragraphs：

If the new data transmission DCI (identified by NDI value change) is decoded by a UE such as MS 110 in fig. 1, then in the scheduling DCI:

● The BWP ID identifies the BWP to which the HARQ process belongs and the BWP in which the PxSCH is scheduled,

■ In this case, the gNB may send scheduling DCI (new-tx) on any active BWP.

If the HARQ retransmission scheduling DCI (NDI value is unchanged) is decoded by the UE of the MS 110 as in fig. 1, in the scheduling DCI (variant 1):

● The BWP ID identifies only the BWP to which the HARQ process having the HARQ process ID belongs, and does not identify the BWP in which the PxSCH is scheduled; and

● The PxSCH is scheduled on BWP in which the scheduling DCI is received;

and/or

If the HARQ retransmission scheduling DCI is decoded by a UE such as MS 110 in fig. 1 (no NDI value change), then in the scheduling DCI (variant 2):

● The BWP ID identifies only the BWP in which the PxSCH is scheduled, and does not identify the BWP to which the HARQ process belongs; and

● The HARQ process ID identifies a HARQ process of BWP in which the scheduling DCI is received.

In R16, multiple active BWP (per serving cell) concepts are derived to enhance the R15 design. An important issue in supporting this enhancement is how to design HARQ process management taking into account the signaling load as well as the cross BWP retransmission functionality. In R15, there are two main principles related to BWP-based HARQ operation as indicated below:

● HARQ configuration with up to 16 HARQ processes per cell; and

● Retransmission across BWP HARQ processes.

According to these principles, in R15, each HARQ process belongs to a serving cell/carrier, and these HARQ processes may be identified in any active BWP configured on the serving cell. Also, during BWP handover, there is no HARQ buffer flushing operation, and any HARQ process may be retransmitted on any active BWP until the maximum number of HARQ retransmissions is reached. This behavior helps to achieve faster BWP switching/activation or more frequency diversity gain to improve HARQ retransmission performance. And it is expected that cross BWP HARQ retransmissions will be supported in R16 for this purpose.

In fact, in R15, there is no cross BWP HARQ retransmission, since the configured HARQ process belongs to the serving cell and is independent of the active BWP. Thus, it is simple that each involved HARQ process can be transmitted or retransmitted on any BWP in the serving cell that happens to be active at a given time.

Another problem related to HARQ operation is the BWP-based scheduling DCI defined in R15, which includes, among other fields, four key IEs:

● BWP ID: up to 2 bits to support up to 4 BWP configurations;

● HARQ process ID: up to 4 bits to support up to 16 HARQ process configurations;

● RA: a frequency resource allocation field; and

● NDI: the new data refers to the indicator.

These parameters inform the UE that the HARQ process indicated at the HARQ process ID is to be (re) transmitted using the frequency resources identified by the RA IE on the BWP indicated by the BWP ID.

Note that in HARQ soft combining operations, a transport block received by the receiver but not decoded is typically stored at the receiver instead of discarded, and when a retransmission block is received, the two received versions of the transport block are combined. However, in R16, due to the multiple active BWP operations, up to 4 PDSCH/PUSCH may be simultaneously transmitted, considering that up to 4 BWP may be configured in R16. Thus, a straightforward solution is to reuse the R15 principle to employ per-cell HARQ configurations. If so, up to 64 HARQ processes should be configured per cell/carrier, since each BWP should support up to 16 HARQ process transmissions as R15. Then in R16, up to 6-bit HARQ process IDs are used to distinguish the 64 HARQ processes to ensure that the UE can locate (BWP related) the soft buffer of each HARQ process without any ambiguity for the correct HARQ combining behavior. Thus, the R16 scheduling DCI will have the following format:

● BWP ID:2 bits to support up to 4 BWP configurations, identical to R15;

● HARQ process ID:6 bits to support 64 HARQ process configurations, requiring enhanced R15 definition;

● RA: resource allocation, same as R15; and

● NDI: new data indicator.

That is, the R15 scheduling DCI should be enhanced to support 6-bit HARQ process IDs, which means that the R15 scheduling DCI cannot be directly reused. Another disadvantage of this solution is that the L1 signaling overhead is more due to the 2 extra bits that should be used for the HARQ process ID IE.

To address these drawbacks with respect to DCI signaling overhead and reuse of R15 format, another solution is to employ per BWP HARQ configuration principles. That is, a set of HARQ processes is exclusively associated with each configured BWP. In other words, any configured HARQ process belongs to one and only one BWP, which may be identified by the HARQ process ID and BWP ID, respectively. Thus, in R16 HARQ (re) transmission, the scheduling DCI must clearly indicate two things for the correct UE HARQ combining operation:

● BWP for the start of HARQ process, i.e. BWP to which HARQ process ID belongs; and

● BWP for data (re) transmission, i.e. BWP on which PxSCH is scheduled.

The first BWP information is mandatory to help the UE (such as MS 110 in fig. 1) locate the corresponding HARQ soft buffer for correct HARQ combining. The second BWP information is also critical to indicate on which BWP the associated PxSCH is to be (re) transmitted for the UE to correctly receive the data. However, if it is desired to reuse the R15 scheduling DCI format, only one BWP ID is included. Thus, example embodiments of the present invention identify BWP at the beginning of the HARQ process and BWP in which the PxSCH is scheduled using a 2-bit BWP ID, a 1-bit NDI (as conventional), and implicit information about where the DCI is transmitted.

The basic solution uses the following basic principle to distinguish between two types of BWP according to NDI:

● For new transmissions, the HARQ process always belongs to BWP in which the PxSCH is scheduled; and

● For retransmission, the HARQ process starting point is determined based on a set of rules, which enables retransmission of the HARQ process of BWP a on BWP B.

Note that the new data scheduling DCI or HARQ retransmission scheduling DCI may be identified by NDI update case, which is a legacy behavior defined in the previous release(s). For example:

● For NDI changes from 1- >0 or from 0- >1, this means that new data is sent on the corresponding BWP; and

● For the case where there is no NDI value change, this means that NDI remains 1 or 0 as in the previous transmission of the HARQ process, HARQ retransmissions will occur on the scheduled radio resources.

In more detail, for a new transmission in an associated scheduling DCI, the BWP ID included in the scheduling DCI plays two roles:

● Identifying BWP corresponding to the start point of the HARQ process;

● Indicating the BWP on which new data (HARQ process) is to be transmitted.

Note that the operations mentioned in the two sub-items above are efficient and reasonable for new data transfer.

The reason is that for any new data transmission, the scheduler will select one active BWP to send a TB on one of its available HARQ processes. Obviously, the HARQ process used to transmit the packet should belong to the selected BWP. Also, when scheduling DCI, the BWP ID in the DCI will undoubtedly refer to the selected BWP since data will be transmitted on the selected BWP. That is, BWP IDs will refer to the same BWP, which is the owner of the HARQ process and BWP for the packet transmission.

Furthermore, the gNB may be free to select one of the active BWPs of the UE to carry the scheduling DCI. That is, the principles in the above two sub-items tend to support cross BWP scheduling.

Further, after decoding the scheduling DCI, at the UE side, the BWP ID included in the scheduling DCI will take on the two roles described above when the UE interprets that the NDI bit indicates a new transmission.

For retransmissions in the associated scheduling DCI. To ensure correct UE HARQ process behavior, the following problems should be solved:

● Problem 1: how to determine the BWP of the origin for the HARQ process with a given ID; and

● Problem 2: how to determine BWP in which to schedule data (PxSCH)

Although the DCI format is scheduled according to R15, only one BWP ID is included in the DL scheduling DCI, and thus it is not known how this IE solves the two problems described above.

Although only one BWP ID exists in the scheduling DCI defined in R15, in practice, the UE has one useful information in addition to BWPI. It knows on which BWP the scheduling DCI is received.

Based on these two information, example embodiments of the present invention provide at least the following variants to solve the problems 1 and 2 described above:

● Variant 1: BWP ID in the scheduling DCI solves problem 1 and BWP carrying the scheduling DCI solves problem 2; and

● Variant 2: BWP ID in the scheduling DCI solves problem 2 and BWP carrying the scheduling DCI solves problem 1.

In variant 1, as shown in fig. 2, the gNB must send scheduling DCI for retransmission (as in slot # 3) on the BWP in which the PxSCH is scheduled. Also, the BWP ID included in the DCI refers to BWP of the start point of the HARQ process. On the other hand, the scheduling shown in slot #2 is not possible because the PDCCH carrying the scheduling DCI implicitly always schedules the PxSCH on the same BWP. Thus, when the UE receives the scheduling DCI and interprets that the NDI bit indicates retransmission, the UE knows that the experienced HARQ process will be retransmitted on the BWP in which the DCI is received. Further, the UE will identify the relevant HARQ soft buffer based on the BWP ID and HARQ process ID included in the scheduling DCI. The HARQ process belongs to the BWP identified by the BWP ID.

Advantages/disadvantages of variant 1

With variant 1, cross BWP HARQ retransmissions can be easily supported. The only limitation is that the gNB has to send the scheduling DCI on the scheduled BWPs, which is not a critical issue if all BWPs are monitored for scheduling DCI or only self-scheduling is configured for BWPs.

In variant 2, as shown in fig. 3, the gNB must send scheduling DCI for retransmission on BWP at the start of the scheduled HARQ process (as in slot # 3). The BWP carrying the PxSCH is explicitly identified by the BWP ID included in the DCI. On the other hand, scheduling is not allowed in slot #2 because "HARQ-ID" is implicitly given by BWP in which the scheduling DCI has been received. Note that when PDCCH carrying scheduling DCI is transmitted on bwpi=1, HARQ-ID (BWP 0) =1 may not be possible. On the UE side, after interpreting NDI bits as retransmissions, the UE knows that HARQ retransmissions will occur in BWP identified by the BWP ID included in the DCI. The UE will also accurately locate the corresponding HARQ soft buffer based on the BWP in which the DCI has been received and the HARQ process ID included in the DCI. The HARQ process belongs to BWP in which the scheduling DCI has been received.

Advantages/disadvantages of variant 2

With variant 2, cross BWP HARQ retransmissions can be easily supported. The only limitation is that the gNB has to send the scheduling DCI on BWP at the beginning of the HARQ process, which is not a critical issue if all BWPs are monitored for the scheduling DCI or only cross-scheduling is configured for BWP.

Thus, in summary, based on retransmissions being scheduled, the above two alternatives utilize the R15DCI format to support cross BWP HARQ retransmissions and ensure correct HARQ combining behavior without any ambiguity at the UE side. Another benefit is to keep the scheduling DCI overhead at a low level.

In addition to the above embodiments for implementing a solution for the HARQ aspect of R16, the following are also possible options to support per BWP HARQ operations for multiple active BWP scenarios in R16, according to example embodiments of the invention:

option a: the value range of HARQ process ID extends from 16 to 64;

option b: an additional 2-bit BWP ID is included in the scheduling DCI; and

option c: the BWP ID is ignored. This means that the BWP ID may be ignored if the UE supports multiple active BWP, otherwise the BWP ID indicates the BWP for the current data transmission

For option a, the HARQ process ID is extended from 4 bits to 6 bits to distinguish all 64 HARQ processes. In view of this, there is no need to configure per BWP HARQ operation, and per-cell HARQ configuration is sufficient. Then, the belonging BWP of the HARQ process can be identified to locate the HARQ soft buffer without an additional BWP ID. However, the 6-bit HARQ process ID may identify each HARQ soft buffer without causing any confusion.

For option b, an additional BWP ID field (2 bits) is added in the DCI, which is used together with the legacy BWP ID (2 bits) defined in the R15 DCI format to achieve two tasks:

● Identifying to which BWP the experienced HARQ process belongs; and

● A scheduled BWP for data transmission is identified.

These two options or tasks above are valid, e.g. using additive signaling in R16 DCI to introduce 2 extra bits.

For option c, how the UE explicitly BWP ID depends on whether multiple active BWP functions are configured. If configured, the UE will not pay attention to the BWP ID IE included in the DCI, but simply assume that the data is transmitted in the BWP with the received DCI and that the HARQ process being undergone belongs to the BWP with the received DCI. Also, for this solution, no cross BWP scheduling and cross HARQ retransmission will be done, with the benefit of saving 2 bit signalling, since the HARQ process ID is only 4 bits. And for the latter, the UE should act as an R15-defined behavior, where the BWP for data transmission is identified by the BWP ID IE presented in the DCI.

To implement option c, example embodiments of the present invention provide that BWP activation/deactivation in R16 may be performed through RRC, MAC CE (L2 signaling) or new L1 signaling. For solutions based on previous higher layer signaling (RRC/L2 signaling), according to example embodiments of the present invention, BWP IDs may be explicitly included or only bitmap-based solutions may be included to identify which BWP(s) are to be activated (deactivated) by the higher layer signaling. Also, for the BWP active/inactive operation based on L1 signaling, a bitmap-based solution should be adopted to avoid an explicit BWP ID in the DCI. From this point of view, the scheduling DCI is only used for scheduling data transmission. Therefore, the UE may ignore the included BWP ID or may not depend on multiple BWP configuration cases.

Fig. 4A illustrates operations that may be performed by a network device, such as but not limited to MS 110, or a Mobile Station (MS), or a User Equipment (UE) in fig. 1. As shown in step 410 of fig. 4A, signaling associated with at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process for a user equipment is received by the user equipment, the signaling including at least one set of process indicator bits. Then, as shown in step 420 of fig. 4A, signaling comprising at least one set of procedure indicator bits is applied by the user equipment to identify at least one bandwidth part start point of at least one hybrid automatic repeat request procedure, and at least one bandwidth part start point at which the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request procedure is scheduled for data communication by the user equipment.

According to an example embodiment described in the preceding paragraph, the at least one set of process indicator bits comprises a set of new data indicator bits associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process.

According to an example embodiment described in the preceding paragraph, identifying comprises: at least one bandwidth portion starting point identifying at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is a corresponding bandwidth portion and a data location associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process based at least on the set of new data indicator bits experiencing a change in value relative to the last received set of new data indicator bits, and identifying new data is transmitted on the corresponding bandwidth portion.

According to an example embodiment described in the preceding paragraph, the signaling comprises downlink control information associated with at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, wherein the downlink control information comprises bandwidth part identification bits identifying at least one bandwidth part start point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process and identifying a bandwidth part in which a shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled, and wherein each active bandwidth part is associated with a different set of hybrid automatic repeat request processes.

According to an example embodiment described in the preceding paragraph, identifying comprises: the method further includes identifying a beginning of a bandwidth portion of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process and a data location associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is indicated in downlink control information transmitted to the user equipment based at least on a set of new data indicator bits having not changed since a last received set of new data indicator bits.

According to an example embodiment described in the preceding paragraph, the downlink control information comprises a bandwidth part identification bit identifying a start of a bandwidth part, and wherein the shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled on the bandwidth part in which the downlink control information is received.

According to an example embodiment described in the preceding paragraph, wherein the downlink control information comprises a bandwidth part identification bit identifying a bandwidth part in which a shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled and the at least one bandwidth part starting point of the identified at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process comprises a bandwidth part in which the downlink control information is received.

According to an example embodiment described in the preceding paragraph, the downlink control information includes an additional 2-bit bandwidth part identification added to the bandwidth part identification bits, and an indication of the start of the bandwidth part for the signaling.

According to an example embodiment described in the preceding paragraph, an additional 2-bit bandwidth part identification is used to identify together with another bandwidth part identification of the downlink control information: the beginning of the bandwidth portion of each of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and the scheduled bandwidth portion for the data location.

A non-transitory computer readable medium (memory(s) 125 of fig. 1) storing program code (computer program code 123 and/or HPu module 140-2 of fig. 1) for execution by at least one processor(s) 120 and/or HPu module 140-1 of fig. 1) to perform operations described at least in the preceding paragraphs.

According to an example embodiment of the invention as described above, there is an apparatus comprising: the components used for: receiving (transceiver 130, computer program code 123, and/or HPu module 140-2 of fig. 1; and processor(s) 120 and/or HPu module 140-1) signaling associated with at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process for a user equipment, the signaling including at least one set of process indicator bits; a component for: the signaling comprising at least one set of process indicator bits by the user equipment application (computer program code 123 and/or HPu module 140-2 of fig. 1; and processor(s) 120 and/or HPu module 140-1) to identify at least one bandwidth part start point of at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process at which at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled for data communication by the user equipment.

In an example aspect of the invention according to the above paragraph, wherein the means for at least receiving and applying comprises a non-transitory computer readable medium [ memory(s) 125 and/or HPu module 140-2 of fig. 1] encoded with a computer program [ e.g., computer program code 123 and/or HPu module 140-2 of fig. 1] executable by at least one processor [ e.g., processor(s) 120 and/or HPu module 140-1 of fig. 1 ].

Fig. 4B illustrates operations that may be performed by a network node, such as, but not limited to, network node gNB 170 or a base station or eNB in fig. 1. As shown in step 450 of fig. 4, in fig. 4B, signaling associated with at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process for a user equipment of the communication network is determined by a network node of the communication network, the signaling comprising at least one set of process indicator bits. Then, as shown in step 460 of fig. 4B, signaling comprising at least one set of procedure indicator bits is sent to the user equipment for identifying at least one bandwidth part start point of at least one hybrid automatic repeat request procedure, and at least one bandwidth part start point at which at least one hybrid automatic repeat request procedure is scheduled for data communication by the user equipment.

According to an example embodiment described in the preceding paragraph, the signaling indicates that the bandwidth part starting point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is a corresponding bandwidth part and a data location associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process and that new data is transmitted on the corresponding bandwidth part, based at least on the new set of data indicator bits undergoing a change in value relative to the last transmitted new set of data indicator bits.

According to an example embodiment described in the preceding paragraph, the signaling indicates that the identified bandwidth part start of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process and the data location associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process are indicated in the downlink control information transmitted to the user equipment based on the value of the at least one set of data indicator bits not changing since the last set of new data indicator bits was transmitted to the user equipment.

According to an example embodiment described in the preceding paragraph, the downlink control information comprises a bandwidth part identification bit identifying a start of a bandwidth part, and wherein the shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled on the bandwidth part in which the downlink control information is transmitted.

According to an example embodiment described in the preceding paragraph, the downlink control information comprises a bandwidth part identification bit identifying a bandwidth part in which a shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled, and the identified bandwidth part starting point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process comprises a bandwidth part in which the downlink control information is transmitted.

According to an example embodiment described in the preceding paragraph, the downlink control information includes: an additional 2-bit bandwidth part identification added to the bandwidth part identification bits, and an indication of at least one bandwidth part start point for the signaling.

A non-transitory computer readable medium (e.g., memory(s) 155 in fig. 1) storing program code (e.g., computer program code 153 and/or HPu module 150-2 in fig. 1) for execution by at least one processor (e.g., processor(s) 152 and/or HPu module 150-1 in fig. 1) to perform at least the operations described in the preceding paragraphs.

According to an example embodiment of the invention as described above, there is an apparatus comprising: the components used for: determining (e.g., computer program code 153 and/or HPu module 150-2 in fig. 1) by a network node (e.g., gNB 170 in fig. 1) of a communication network (e.g., network 100 in fig. 1), and processor(s) 152 and/or HPu module 150-1) signaling associated with at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process for a user equipment of the communication network, the signaling including at least one set of process indicator bits; a component for: signaling (e.g., transceiver 160, computer program code 153, and/or HPu module 150-2 in fig. 1; and processor(s) 152 and/or HPu module 150-1) including at least one set of process indicator bits for identifying at least one bandwidth part start point of at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and at least one bandwidth part start point at which at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled for data communication by the user equipment.

In an example aspect of the invention according to the preceding paragraph, wherein the means for at least determining and transmitting comprises a non-transitory computer readable medium [ e.g., memory(s) 155 and/or HPu module 50-2 in fig. 1] encoded with a computer program [ e.g., computer program code 153 and/or HPu module 150-2 in fig. 1] executable by at least one processor [ e.g., processor(s) 152 and/or HPu module 150-1 in fig. 1 ].

In general, the various embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. For example, some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device, although the invention is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the invention may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well known that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

Embodiments of the invention may be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit modules. The design of integrated circuits is generally a highly automated process. Complex and powerful software tools are available for converting a logic level design into a semiconductor circuit design ready to be etched and formed on a semiconductor substrate.

The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. All of the embodiments described in this detailed description are exemplary embodiments provided to enable persons skilled in the art to make or use the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention which is defined by the claims.

The foregoing description has provided by way of exemplary and non-limiting examples a full and enabling description of the best method and apparatus presently contemplated by the inventors for carrying out the invention. However, various modifications and variations will become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. However, all such and similar modifications of the teachings of this invention will still fall within the scope of this invention.

It should be noted that the terms "connected," "coupled," or any variant thereof refer to any direct or indirect connection or coupling between two or more elements, and may encompass the presence of one or more intervening elements between two elements "connected" or "coupled" together. The coupling or connection between the elements may be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. As employed herein, two elements may be considered to be "connected" or "coupled" together through the use of one or more wires, cables, and/or printed electrical connections, and through the use of electromagnetic energy, such as electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency region, the microwave region, and the optical (visible and invisible) regions (as a few non-limiting and non-exhaustive examples).

Furthermore, some of the features of the preferred embodiments of this invention could be used with or without the corresponding other features. As such, the foregoing description should be considered as merely illustrative of the principles of the present invention, and not in limitation thereof.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

receiving, by a user equipment, signaling associated with at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process for the user equipment, the signaling comprising at least one set of process indicator bits; and

the signaling comprising the at least one set of procedure indicator bits is applied by the user equipment to identify at least one bandwidth part start of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request procedure, and at least one bandwidth part start at which a physical uplink/downlink shared channel is scheduled for data communication by the user equipment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one set of process indicator bits comprises a set of new data indicator bits associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the identifying comprises: based at least on the set of new data indicator bits experiencing a change in value relative to a last received set of new data indicator bits, identifying that the at least one bandwidth portion starting point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is a corresponding bandwidth portion and a data location associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and identifying that new data is transmitted on the corresponding bandwidth portion.

4. A method according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the signalling comprises downlink control information associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, wherein the downlink control information comprises bandwidth part identification bits identifying at least one bandwidth part start point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process and identifying bandwidth parts in which shared channels for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process are scheduled, and wherein each active bandwidth part is associated with a different set of hybrid automatic repeat request processes.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the identifying comprises: the bandwidth part start point identifying the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process and a data location associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process are indicated in downlink control information transmitted to the user equipment based at least on the set of new data indicator bits not changing since the last received set of new data indicator bits.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the downlink control information includes a bandwidth portion identification bit identifying a start of the bandwidth portion, and wherein a shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled on a bandwidth portion in which the downlink control information is received.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the downlink control information includes a bandwidth portion identification bit identifying a bandwidth portion in which a shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled and the at least one bandwidth portion starting point of the identified at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process includes a bandwidth portion in which the downlink control information is received.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein the downlink control information includes an additional 2-bit bandwidth part identification added to the bandwidth part identification bit, and an indication of a bandwidth part start point for the signaling.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the additional 2-bit bandwidth part identification is used with another bandwidth part identification of the downlink control information to identify: a bandwidth part start point of each of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and a scheduled bandwidth part for the data location.

10. A computer readable medium embodying computer program code executable by at least one processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 9.

11. A method of communication, comprising:

determining, by a network node of a communication network, signaling associated with at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process for user equipment of the communication network, the signaling comprising at least one set of process indicator bits; and

the method further comprises transmitting the signaling comprising the at least one set of procedure indicator bits to the user equipment for identifying at least one bandwidth part start of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request procedure, and at least one bandwidth part start at which a physical uplink/downlink shared channel is scheduled for data communication by the user equipment.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one set of process indicator bits comprises a set of new data indicator bits associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the signaling indicates that the bandwidth portion starting point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is a corresponding bandwidth portion and a data location associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process and indicates that new data is transmitted on the corresponding bandwidth portion based at least on the set of new data indicator bits undergoing a change in value relative to a last transmitted set of new data indicator bits.

14. The method of any of claims 11 to 13, wherein the signaling includes downlink control information associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, wherein the downlink control information includes bandwidth part identification bits that identify at least one bandwidth part start point of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process and identify bandwidth parts in which a shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled, and wherein each active bandwidth part is associated with a different set of hybrid automatic repeat request processes.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the signaling indicates that the bandwidth part starting point of the identified at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process and a data location associated with the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process are indicated in downlink control information transmitted to the user equipment based on at least a value of a new set of data indicator bits not changing since a last set of data indicator bits was transmitted to the user equipment.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the downlink control information includes a bandwidth portion identification bit that identifies a start of the bandwidth portion, and wherein a shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled in a bandwidth portion in which the downlink control information is transmitted.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the downlink control information includes a bandwidth portion identification bit identifying a bandwidth portion in which a shared channel for the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process is scheduled, and the bandwidth portion start point of the identified at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process includes a bandwidth portion in which the downlink control information is transmitted.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the downlink control information comprises: an additional 2-bit bandwidth part identification added to the bandwidth part identification bit, and an indication of the start of the at least one bandwidth part for the signaling.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the additional 2-bit bandwidth part identification is used with another bandwidth part identification of the downlink control information to identify: a bandwidth part start point of each of the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process, and a scheduled bandwidth part for the data location.

20. A computer readable medium embodying computer program code executable by at least one processor to perform the method of any one of claims 11 to 19.

21. An apparatus for communication, comprising: means for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 or any one of claims 11 to 19.

22. An apparatus for communication, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 or any one of claims 11 to 19.