CN116601898A

CN116601898A - Enhanced inter-slot frequency hopping for uplink coverage in 5G systems

Info

Publication number: CN116601898A
Application number: CN202280008165.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 熊岗; 谢尔盖·索斯宁; 格雷戈里·埃尔莫拉耶夫; 祝捷
Original assignee: Intel Corp
Current assignee: Intel Corp
Priority date: 2021-01-14
Filing date: 2022-01-11
Publication date: 2023-08-15

Abstract

Various embodiments herein provide a technique that involves: a pattern of inter-slot frequency hopping with inter-slot bonding is determined by one or more processors of an electronic device for multiple repeated transmissions of an uplink signal, wherein the uplink signal is a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) signal or a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) signal. The technique can also include facilitating, by the one or more processors, a first repetition of the plurality of repetitions of transmitting the uplink signal on the first frequency resource according to the pattern. The techniques may also include facilitating, by the one or more processors, transmission, by the one or more processors, of a second repetition of the plurality of repetitions of the uplink signal on a second frequency resource different from the first frequency resource, according to the pattern. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

Description

Enhanced inter-slot frequency hopping for uplink coverage in 5G systems

Cross Reference to Related Applications

The present application claims the priority benefits of the following patent applications: U.S. provisional patent application serial No. 63/137,417 filed on day 1 and 14 of 2021; and U.S. provisional patent application serial No. 63/253,346 filed on 7 of 10 th 2021.

Technical Field

Various embodiments may generally relate to the field of wireless communications. For example, some embodiments may involve inter-slot frequency hopping.

Background

Various embodiments may generally relate to the field of wireless communications.

Drawings

Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. For convenience of description, like reference numerals denote like structural elements. The embodiments are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 depicts an example of inter-slot hopping with inter-slot bonding for a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) or a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) in accordance with various embodiments.

Fig. 2 depicts an example of inter-slot frequency hopping with inter-slot bundling based on transmission opportunity index in accordance with various embodiments.

Fig. 3 depicts an example of inter-slot frequency hopping with inter-slot bundling based on actual repetition index in accordance with various embodiments.

Fig. 4 illustrates an example of inter-repetition hopping with inter-repetition bundling for PUSCH repetition type B, in accordance with various embodiments.

Fig. 5 illustrates an example of inter-slot frequency hopping with inter-slot bonding aligned with a time domain window boundary, in accordance with various embodiments.

Fig. 6 illustrates an example of inter-slot hopping with inter-slot bundling for PUCCH repetition, in accordance with various embodiments.

Fig. 7 illustrates an example technique for identifying and using inter-slot frequency hopping with inter-slot bonding patterns, in accordance with various embodiments.

Fig. 8 illustrates elements of a network in accordance with various embodiments.

Fig. 9 schematically illustrates elements of a wireless network in accordance with various embodiments.

Fig. 10 schematically illustrates components of a wireless network.

Detailed Description

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of the various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure that the various aspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examples that depart from these specific details. In certain instances, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary detail. For the purposes of this document, the phrases "A or B" and "A/B" mean (A), (B) or (A and B).

Mobile communications have evolved significantly from early voice systems to current highly complex integrated communication platforms. The next generation wireless communication system, fifth generation (5G) or New Radio (NR), will allow various users and applications to access information and share data anywhere and anytime. NR is expected to become a unified network/system that can meet distinct and sometimes conflicting performance dimensions and services. Such diverse multi-dimensional requirements may be driven by factors such as different services and applications. In general, NR may evolve based on the third generation partnership project (3 GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE), leveraging additional potential new Radio Access Technologies (RATs) to enrich people's lives through better, simple and seamless wireless connectivity solutions. NR can realize wireless connection between various devices and provide fast, rich contents and services.

For cellular systems, coverage may be considered an important factor for successful operation. Compared to LTE, NR can be deployed at a relatively high carrier frequency in frequency range 1 (FR 1), for example at 3.5 gigahertz (GHz). In this case, coverage loss may be caused by a large path loss, which may make it more challenging to maintain sufficient quality of service. In general, uplink coverage may be a bottleneck for system operation in view of low transmission power at a User Equipment (UE).

In NR, multiple repetitions may be configured for PUSCH and PUCCH transmissions to help improve coverage performance. When repetition is employed for transmission of PUCCH and PUSCH with repetition type a, the same Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) may be used in each slot. Furthermore, inter-slot frequency hopping may be configured to improve performance by exploiting frequency diversity. Further, for PUSCH with repetition type B, inter-repetition frequency hopping may be applied, where frequency hopping is performed on a nominal repetition basis. As used herein, "repetition" of PUSCH or PUCCH transmissions may include data (e.g., may be in the case of PUSCH) or control information (e.g., may be in the case of PUCCH), respectively, that are identical to each other.

Advanced receivers capable of joint channel estimation algorithms may help improve channel estimation performance for PUSCH and PUCCH coverage enhancement, thereby increasing the overall link budget for uplink transmissions. Such improvement may be important because coverage enhancement solutions may be primarily directed to low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) situations where channel estimation may become a performance bottleneck.

To facilitate joint channel estimation, the frequency resources used for uplink transmission during the repetition may remain the same for a certain number of slots/repetitions in order to allow for improved inter-slot/inter-repetition interpolation for channel estimation.

Fig. 1 illustrates one example 100 of inter-slot frequency hopping with inter-slot bundling for repetition type a PUSCH or PUCCH. In an example, PUSCH or PUCCH transmissions occupy the same frequency resource for two slots before they switch to other frequency resources. Specifically, example 100 depicts four time slots 105a, 105b, 105c, and 105d (collectively, "time slots 105"). Each slot 105 is made up of 14 symbols 115. It can be seen that PUSCH or PUCCH transmissions in slots 105a and 105b may be transmitted at a first frequency resource, while PUSCH or PUCCH transmissions in slots 105c and 105d may be transmitted at a second frequency resource.

It will be appreciated that one of the PUSCH or PUCCH transmissions during repetition may be cancelled due to collisions with semi-static Downlink (DL) symbols, synchronization Signal Block (SSB) transmissions, transmissions with higher priority, etc. In this case, it may be necessary to align an inter-slot hopping pattern with inter-slot bundling between the 5G node B (gNB) and the UE to allow the gNB to decode correctly. Thus, it may be desirable to define certain mechanisms for enhanced inter-slot frequency hopping patterns.

Various embodiments herein relate to systems and methods for enhancing inter-slot frequency hopping for uplink coverage enhancement, thereby solving one or more of the above-described problems. For example, some embodiments may include:

Enhanced inter-slot frequency hopping pattern for PUSCH; and/or

Enhanced inter-slot hopping pattern for PUCCH.

Thus, embodiments may improve the coverage of the NR PUSCH and/or PUCCH.

Enhanced inter-slot frequency hopping pattern for PUSCH

In one embodiment, for PUSCH repetition types a and B, the inter-slot hopping pattern with inter-slot bundling may be determined based on the physical slot index in the frame, regardless of whether PUSCH repetition is cancelled.

In another option, an inter-slot hopping pattern with inter-slot bundling may be determined based on a relative slot index, where the slots indicated to the UE for the first PUSCH transmission have a number of 0, and each subsequent slot is counted in the PUSCH repetition.

In one example, for both PUSCH repetition types a and B, the following text for inter-slot frequency hopping with inter-slot bundling may be included in sections 6.3.1 and 6.3.2 of third generation partnership project (3 GPP) Technical Specification (TS) 38.214. It is noted that in this text, a reference to "inter-slot hopping type 2" or some other similar phrase may indicate inter-slot hopping with inter-slot bonding:

in case of inter-slot hopping type 2, slots The initial RB of the period is given by:

wherein the method comprises the steps ofIs the current slot number within the radio frame in which multislot PUSCH transmissions can be made, N _bundle Is the bundling size (RB) of inter-slot hopping type 2 _start Is the starting RB within UL BWP (calculated from resource block allocation information of resource allocation type 1 (described in 6.1.2.2.2)), and RB _offset Is the frequency offset in the RB between two hops.

In another example, for both PUSCH repetition types a and B, the following text for inter-slot hopping with inter-slot bundling may be included in sections 6.3.1 and 6.3.2 of 3gpp TS 38.214. Note that in this text, a reference to "inter-slot hopping type 2" or similar phrases may indicate inter-slot hopping with inter-slot bonding:

in the case of inter-slot hopping type 2,time slotsThe initial RB of the period is given by:

wherein the method comprises the steps ofIs the current slot number within the radio frame in which multislot PUSCH transmissions can be made, N _bundle Is the binding size, RB, of inter-slot hopping type 2 _start Is the starting RB within UL BWP (calculated from resource block allocation information of resource allocation type 1 (described in 6.1.2.2.2)), and RB _offset Is the frequency offset in the RB between two hops.

In another embodiment, for PUSCH repetition types a and B, the inter-slot hopping pattern with inter-slot bundling may be determined based on the index of the transmission opportunity, regardless of whether PUSCH repetition is cancelled. This may indicate that the enhanced inter-slot frequency hopping pattern is determined prior to any potential dropping or cancellation of PUSCH repetition due to collisions with semi-static DL symbols, SSB transmissions, invalid Uplink (UL) symbols, and/or other conditions.

Fig. 2 illustrates one example 200 of an enhanced inter-slot frequency hopping pattern based on transmission opportunity index. Specifically, example 200 depicts four time slots 205a, 205b, 205c, and 205d (collectively, "time slots 205"). Each slot 205 consists of 14 symbols 215. It can be seen that PUSCH transmissions in slots 205a and 205b may be transmitted at a first frequency, while PUSCH transmissions in slots 205c and 205d may be transmitted at a second frequency.

In this example, it will be appreciated that four repetitions are configured for PUSCH transmissions, one in each slot 205. Each slot 205 may be referred to as a "transmission occasion" and may have a transmission occasion index. It can also be appreciated that in the second slot 205b, PUSCH repetition is cancelled (e.g., due to collision with semi-static DL symbols 210). In this case, the enhanced inter-slot frequency hopping boundary may be located after the second slot 205 b.

More generally, the term "transmission occasion" may refer to a repeated index. For example, in fig. 2, a first PUSCH repetition (e.g., PUSCH transmission in slot 205 a) is a first transmission occasion, a second PUSCH repetition (e.g., in slot 205 b) is a second transmission occasion, and so on. This can be contrasted with the above-described first embodiment, which can be based on physical slot index, for example. For example, if PUSCH repetition is transmitted in physical slot 2, a pattern is determined based on physical slot index 2.

Note that for both PUSCH repetition types a and B, the following text for inter-slot frequency hopping with inter-slot bundling may be included in sections 6.3.1 and 6.3.2 in 3gpp TS 38.214. In this text, a reference to "inter-slot frequency hopping type 2" or some other similar phrase may indicate inter-slot frequency hopping with inter-slot bonding.

In the case of inter-slot hopping type 2, the starting RB during the nth transmission occasion is given by:

wherein N is _bundle Is the binding size, RB, of inter-slot hopping type 2 _start Is the starting RB within UL BWP (calculated from resource block allocation information of resource allocation type 1 (described in 6.1.2.2.2)), and RB _offset Is the frequency offset in the RB between two hops.

In another embodiment, for PUSCH repetition types a and B, the inter-slot hopping pattern with inter-slot bundling may be determined based on the index of the actual repetition. This may indicate that the enhanced inter-slot frequency hopping pattern is determined after canceling PUSCH repetition.

Note that for PUSCH repetition type a based on available slots, a two-step procedure may be employed to transmit PUSCH: in a first step, K repeated available slots for PUSCH are determined based on Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration(s) in addition to scheduling TDRA in Downlink Control Information (DCI) of PUSCH, configuring Grant (CG) configuration, or activating DCI. Further, in the second step, the UE may determine whether to discard PUSCH repetition according to release 15 (Rel-15) and/or release 16 (Rel-16) PUSCH discard rules, but the PUSCH repetition is still counted into K repetitions. Thus, the procedure may indicate that the enhanced inter-slot hopping pattern is determined after canceling PUSCH repetition in the second step.

Note that this procedure can also be applied to the case of PUSCH with transport block over multi-slot (TB) processing (TBoMS).

Fig. 3 illustrates one example 300 of an enhanced inter-slot frequency hopping pattern based on transmission opportunity index. In particular, example 300 depicts four time slots 305a, 305b, 305c, and 305d (collectively, "time slots 305"), which may also be referred to as "transmission occasions" and may be associated with actual transmission occasions of the time slots in which PUSCH is transmitted. Each slot 305 is comprised of 14 symbols 315. It can be seen that PUSCH transmissions in slots 305a, 305b, and 305c may be transmitted at a first frequency, while PUSCH transmissions in slot 305d may be transmitted at a second frequency.

In this example 300, four repetitions are configured for PUSCH transmission. Further, in the second transmission occasion (e.g., PUSCH transmission at slot 305 b), PUSCH repetition is cancelled due to collision with semi-static DL symbols 310. In this case, the enhanced inter-slot frequency hopping boundary is located after the third transmission opportunity (e.g., after slot 305 c).

For both PUSCH repetition types a and B, the following text for inter-slot frequency hopping with inter-slot bundling may be included in sections 6.3.1 and 6.3.2 in 3gpp TS 38.214. In this text, reference to "inter-slot frequency hopping type 2" or similar phrases may refer to inter-slot frequency hopping with inter-slot bonding.

In the case of inter-slot hopping type 2, the starting RB for the nth actual repetition period is given by:

In another embodiment, the above embodiments may be applied or combined for use cases where PUSCH is used to carry TBs spanning multiple slots (e.g., TBoMS as described above). In this case, the inter-slot frequency hopping pattern with inter-slot bonding may be determined based on actual transmission opportunities, indexes of transmission opportunities, or physical slot indexes in PUSCH transmissions spanning multiple slots. Note that the slot index may be a physical slot index in the frame, or the slot indicated to the UE for the first PUSCH transmission has a number of 0, and each subsequent slot is counted in the PUSCH repetition.

In another embodiment, the above embodiment can also be applied to inter-repetition frequency hopping with inter-repetition bundling for PUSCH repetition type B. More specifically, for PUSCH repetition type B, the inter-repetition frequency hopping pattern with inter-repetition bundling may be determined based on the slot index in the frame, the transmission occasion, or the index of the nominal repetition or the actual repetition.

In one option, the inter-repetition frequency hopping pattern with inter-repetition bundling may be determined based on a nominal repetition index. In this case, the actual repetition within the nominal repetition may use the same frequency resources.

Fig. 4 illustrates one example of inter-repetition frequency hopping with inter-repetition bundling for PUSCH repetition type B. Specifically, example 400 depicts three time slots 405a, 405b, and 405c (collectively, "time slots 405"). Each slot 405 is made up of 14 symbols 415.

In an example, 4 repetitions are used for PUSCH repetition type B, namely a first nominal repetition 420a, a second nominal repetition 420B, a third nominal repetition 420c, and a fourth nominal repetition 420d. The first and second nominal repetitions 420a and 420b are transmitted at a first frequency, while the third and fourth nominal repetitions 420c and 420d are transmitted at a second frequency.

As can be seen in example 400, it is assumed that the second and fourth nominal repetitions 420b and 420d cross slot boundaries, which are separated into two actual repetitions, respectively. Specifically, the second nominal repetition 420b is divided into actual repetitions 1 and 2, i.e., 425a and 425b. The fourth nominal repetition 420d is divided into actual repetitions 1 and 2, i.e., 425c and 425d. In this example, the enhanced inter-repetition frequency hopping boundary is located after the second nominal repetition.

For PUSCH repetition type B, the following text for inter-repetition frequency hopping with inter-repetition bundling may be included in section 6.3.2 of 3gpp TS 38.214. In this text, "inter-slot frequency hopping type 2" may refer to inter-repetition frequency hopping with inter-repetition bundling.

In the case of inter-repetition frequency hopping type 2, the starting RB of the actual repetition within the nth nominal repetition (as defined in clause 6.1.2.1) is given by:

wherein N is _bundle Is the binding size of inter-repetition frequency hopping type 2, and RB _start Is the starting RB within UL BWP (calculated from resource block allocation information of resource allocation type 1 (described in 6.1.2.2.2)), and RB _offset Is the frequency offset in the RB between two hops.

In another embodiment, for PUSCH repetition type a based on the available slot count, the inter-slot hopping pattern with inter-slot bundling may be determined based on the index of the available slots. Note that in the first element of PUSCH repetition type a based on the available slots, K repetition of the available slots for PUSCH may be determined based on RRC configuration(s) in addition to TDRA, CG configuration or active DCI in DCI scheduling PUSCH. Further, in the second element, the UE may determine whether to discard PUSCH repetitions according to the PUSCH discard rules of Rel-15 and/or Rel-16, but the PUSCH repetition may still account for K repetitions.

Thus, the technique may indicate that the enhanced inter-slot hopping pattern for PUSCH repetition type a based on the available slots is determined based on the available slot index, which occurs before canceling PUSCH repetition in the second element as described above.

In one example, the following text for inter-slot hopping with inter-slot bonding may be included in section 6.3.1 of 3gpp TS 38.214 for PUSCH repetition type a based on available slots. In this text, "inter-slot frequency hopping type 2" or some similar phrase may indicate inter-slot frequency hopping with inter-slot bonding.

In the case of inter-slot hopping type 2, the starting RB during the nth available slot is given by:

For PUSCH with TBoMS, transmission may be based on available time slots. In this case, the inter-slot frequency hopping pattern with inter-slot bonding may be determined based on the index of the available slots.

In another embodiment, for PUSCH repetition types a and B, PUCCH repetition and/or for PUSCH with TBoMS, the inter-slot frequency hopping pattern with inter-slot bundling may be determined based on a nominal or actual time domain window for joint channel estimation. In particular, the boundaries of inter-slot frequency hopping patterns with inter-slot bonding may be aligned with the boundaries of the nominal or actual time domain window for joint channel estimation.

As a further extension, the boundaries of inter-slot frequency hopping patterns with inter-slot bonding may be aligned with half of the nominal or actual time domain window used for joint channel estimation.

Fig. 5 illustrates one example 500 of inter-slot frequency hopping with inter-slot bonding aligned with a time domain window boundary. Specifically, example 500 depicts four time slots 505a, 505b, 505c, and 505d (collectively, "time slots 505"). Each slot 505 is made up of 14 symbols 515. It can be seen that PUSCH transmissions in slots 505a and 505b may be transmitted at a first frequency, while PUSCH transmissions in slots 505c and 505d may be transmitted at a second frequency.

In example 500, four repetitions are configured for PUSCH repetition (e.g., PUSCH transmission in each slot 505). Further, the time domain window duration is configured as two time slots. In particular, a first nominal or actual time domain window 530a may be configured as time slots 505a and 505b, and a second nominal or actual time domain window 530b may be configured as time slots 505c and 505d. In this case, the inter-slot frequency hopping boundaries are aligned with the boundaries of the nominal or actual time domain window used for joint channel estimation.

Enhanced inter-slot frequency hopping pattern for PUCCH

In one embodiment, the above-described embodiments for inter-slot hopping with inter-slot bonding described with respect to PUSCH repetition may also be applied to PUCCH repetition. More specifically, an inter-slot frequency hopping pattern with inter-slot bundling for PUCCH repetition may be determined based on a physical slot index, an index of a transmission occasion, or an actual transmission occasion. Note that the slot index may be a physical slot index in the frame, or the slot indicated to the UE for the first PUCCH transmission has a number of 0, and each subsequent slot is counted in PUCCH repetition.

In one option, an inter-slot hopping pattern with inter-slot bundling may be determined based on a slot index, where a slot indicated to the UE for a first PUCCH transmission has a number of 0 and each subsequent slot is counted in PUCCH repetition.

Fig. 6 illustrates one example 600 of inter-slot hopping with inter-slot bundling for PUCCH repetition. Specifically, example 600 depicts four time slots 605a, 605b, 605c, and 605d (collectively, "time slots 605"). Each slot 605 is comprised of 14 symbols 615. It can be seen that PUCCH transmissions in slots 605a and 605b may be transmitted at a first frequency, while PUSCH transmissions in slots 605c and 605d may be transmitted at a second frequency.

In example 600, four repetitions are configured for PUCCH transmission (e.g., one PUCCH transmission in each slot 605). Note that the first slot 605a is indicated for the first PUCCH repetition. Further, in the second slot 605b for PUCCH repetition, PUCCH repetition is cancelled due to collision with the semi-static DL symbol 610. In this case, the inter-slot frequency hopping boundary with inter-slot bonding is located after slot 605 b.

For PUCCH repetition, the following text for inter-slot frequency hopping with inter-slot bundling may be included in section 9.2.6 of 3gpp TS 38.213. In this text, "inter-slot frequency hopping type 2" or similar phrases may indicate inter-slot frequency hopping with inter-slot bonding.

If the UE is configured to perform hopping type 2 for PUCCH transmissions across different slots, then:

the UE starts from the first PRB (provided by startingPRB) Transmits PUCCH in slots of (a) and starts from the second PRB (provided by second hopprb) at +.>Wherein N is the slot index and N is _bundle Is the binding size of the inter-repetition hopping type 2. The slot indicated to the UE for the first PUCCH transmission has a number of 0 and regardless of whether the UE transmits PUCCH in the slot until the UE is in Each subsequent slot before transmitting PUCCH in the slot is counted.

The UE is not expected to be configured to perform frequency hopping for PUCCH transmissions within slot bundling.

Fig. 7 illustrates an example technique 700 for identifying and using inter-slot frequency hopping patterns with inter-slot bonding, in accordance with various embodiments. The technique 700 may be performed by one or more processors of an electronic device, such as a User Equipment (UE).

Technique 700 may include: at 705, a pattern of inter-slot hopping with inter-slot bonding is determined for multiple repeated transmissions of an uplink signal. The uplink signal may be, for example, a PUSCH signal or a PUCCH signal as described above, and the pattern may be similar to any of the patterns described above with respect to any of fig. 1-6 or some other embodiment described herein.

Technique 700 may also include: at 710, a first repetition of a plurality of repetitions of transmitting an uplink signal on a first frequency resource is facilitated according to the pattern. Technique 700 may also include: at 715, a second repetition of the plurality of repetitions of transmitting the uplink signal on a second frequency resource different from the first frequency resource is facilitated according to the pattern. It will be appreciated that the phrases "first repetition" and "second repetition" as used herein are intended to be used as distinguishing identifiers, rather than sequence indicators. In other words, the first repetition and the second repetition may or may not occur sequentially, and another repetition may or may not occur on the first or second frequency resources between the first repetition and the second repetition.

It should be understood that this technique is intended as an example technique according to embodiments herein, and that other embodiments may vary. For example, other embodiments may have more or fewer elements, elements executing in another order than depicted, elements executing concurrently, etc.

System and implementation

Fig. 8-10 illustrate various systems, devices, and components capable of implementing aspects of the disclosed embodiments.

Fig. 8 illustrates a network 800 in accordance with various embodiments. The network 800 may operate in a manner consistent with 3GPP technical specifications for LTE or 5G/NR systems. However, the example embodiments are not limited in this respect and the described embodiments may be applied to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems, and the like.

The network 800 may include UEs 802, which may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device designed to communicate with the RAN 804 via an over-the-air connection. The UE 802 may be communicatively coupled with the RAN 804 over a Uu interface. The UE 802 may be, but is not limited to, a smart phone, tablet, wearable computer device, desktop computer, laptop computer, in-vehicle infotainment device, in-vehicle entertainment device, instrument cluster, heads-up display device, on-vehicle diagnostic device, dashboard mobile device, mobile data terminal, electronic engine management system, electronic/engine control unit, electronic/engine control module, embedded system, sensor, microcontroller, control module, engine management system, networking appliance, machine-type communication device, M2M or D2D device, ioT device, etc.

In some embodiments, the network 800 may include multiple UEs directly coupled to each other via a side link interface. The UE may be an M2M/D2D device that communicates using a physical side link channel (e.g., without limitation, PSBCH, PSDCH, PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH, etc.).

In some embodiments, the UE 802 may also communicate with the AP 806 via an over-the-air connection. The AP 806 may manage WLAN connections that may be used to offload some/all network traffic from the RAN 804. The connection between the UE 802 and the AP 806 may conform to any IEEE 802.11 protocol, where the AP 806 may be wireless fidelityAnd a router. In some embodiments, the UE 802, RAN 804, and AP 806 may utilize cellular WLAN aggregation (e.g., LWA/LWIP). Cellular WLAN aggregation may involve the RAN 804 configuring the UE 802 to utilize both cellular radio resources and WLAN resources.

RAN 804 may include one or more access nodes, such as AN 808. The AN 808 may terminate the air interface protocol of the UE 802 by providing access layer protocols including RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC and L1 protocols. In this way, the AN 808 may enable data/voice connectivity between the CN 820 and the UE 802. In some embodiments, the AN 808 may be implemented in a separate device or as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as a CRAN or virtual baseband unit pool, for example. AN 808 is referred to as BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, ng-eNB, nodeB, RSU, TRxP, TRP, etc. AN 808 may be a macrocell base station or a low power base station for providing a femtocell, picocell, or other similar cell with a smaller coverage area, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth than a macrocell.

In embodiments where the RAN 804 includes multiple ANs, they may be coupled to each other via AN X2 interface (in the case where the RAN 804 is AN LTE RAN) or AN Xn interface (in the case where the RAN 804 is a 5G RAN). The X2/Xn interface, which in some embodiments may be separated into control/user plane interfaces, may allow the AN to communicate information related to handoff, data/context transfer, mobility, load management, interference coordination, etc.

The ANs of the RAN 804 may each manage one or more cells, groups of cells, component carriers, etc. to provide the UE 802 with AN air interface for network access. The UE 802 may be connected simultaneously with multiple cells provided by the same or different ANs of the RAN 804. For example, the UE 802 and the RAN 804 may use carrier aggregation to allow the UE 802 to connect with multiple component carriers, each component carrier corresponding to a Pcell or Scell. In a dual connectivity scenario, the first AN may be a primary node providing AN MCG and the second AN may be a secondary node providing AN SCG. The first/second AN may be any combination of eNB, gNB, ng-enbs, etc.

RAN 804 may provide the air interface over licensed spectrum or unlicensed spectrum. To operate in unlicensed spectrum, a node may use LAA, eLAA, and/or feLAA mechanisms based on CA technology with PCell/Scell. Prior to accessing the unlicensed spectrum, the node may perform medium/carrier sense operations based on, for example, a Listen Before Talk (LBT) protocol.

In a V2X scenario, the UE 802 or AN 808 may be or act as AN RSU, which may refer to any transport infrastructure entity for V2X communications. The RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable AN or stationary (or relatively stationary) UE. An RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referred to as a "UE-type RSU"; an RSU implemented in or by an eNB may be referred to as an "eNB-type RSU"; an RSU implemented in or by a gNB may be referred to as a "gNB-type RSU"; and so on. In one example, an RSU is a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located at the roadside (which may provide connectivity support for passing vehicle UEs). The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry for storing intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, and applications/software for sensing and controlling ongoing vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may provide very low latency communications required for high speed events (e.g., collision avoidance, traffic alerts, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may provide other cellular/WLAN communication services. The components of the RSU may be enclosed in a weather-proof enclosure suitable for outdoor installation, and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., ethernet) to a traffic signal controller or backhaul network.

In some embodiments, RAN 804 may be an LTE RAN 810 including an eNB (e.g., eNB 812). LTE RAN 810 may provide an LTE air interface with the following characteristics: SCS of 15 kHz; a CP-OFDM waveform for DL and an SC-FDMA waveform for UL; turbo codes for data and TBCCs for control; etc. The LTE air interface can rely on the CSI-RS to carry out CSI acquisition and beam management; PDSCH/PDCCH demodulation is dependent on PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS; and relying on CRS for cell search and initial acquisition, channel quality measurements, and channel estimation for coherent demodulation/detection at the UE. The LTE air interface may operate on the sub-6 GHz band.

In some embodiments, RAN 804 may be NG-RAN 814 including a gNB (e.g., gNB 816) or a NG-eNB (e.g., NG-eNB 818). The gNB 816 may connect with 5G enabled UEs using a 5G NR interface. The gNB 816 may connect with the 5G core through a NG interface, which may include an N2 interface or an N3 interface. The NG-eNB 818 may also connect with the 5G core over the NG interface, but may connect with the UE via the LTE air interface. The gNB 816 and the ng-eNB 818 may be connected to each other via an Xn interface.

In some embodiments, the NG interface may be divided into two parts, a NG user plane (NG-U) interface that carries traffic data between the NG-RAN 814 and the node of the UPF 848, and a NG control plane (NG-C) interface that is a signaling interface (e.g., an N2 interface) between the NG-RAN 814 and the node of the AMF 844.

NG-RAN 814 may provide a 5G-NR air interface with the following characteristics: a variable SCS; CP-OFDM for DL, CP-OFDM for UL, and DFT-s-OFDM; polarity for control, repetition, simplex and Reed-Muller (Reed-Muller) codes, and LDPC for data. The 5G-NR air interface may rely on CSI-RS, PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS similar to the LTE air interface. The 5G-NR air interface may not use CRS but may use PBCH DMRS for PBCH demodulation; PDSCH phase tracking using PTRS; and time tracking using the tracking reference signal. The 5G-NR air interface may operate on an FR1 band including a sub-6 GHz band or an FR2 band including a 24.25GHz to 52.6GHz band. The 5G-NR air interface may comprise an SSB, which is an area of the downlink resource grid comprising PSS/SSS/PBCH.

In some embodiments, the 5G-NR air interface may use BWP for various purposes. For example, BWP may be used for dynamic adaptation of SCS. For example, the UE 802 may be configured with multiple BWP, where each BWP configuration has a different SCS. When the BWP change is indicated to the UE 802, the SCS of the transmission also changes. Another example of use of BWP relates to power saving. In particular, the UE 802 may be configured with multiple BWPs having different numbers of frequency resources (e.g., PRBs) to support data transmission in different traffic load scenarios. BWP containing a smaller number of PRBs may be used for data transmission with smaller traffic load while allowing power saving at the UE 802 and in some cases at the gNB 816. BWP comprising a large number of PRBs may be used for scenarios with higher traffic load.

The RAN 804 is communicatively coupled to a CN 820 that includes network elements to provide various functions to support data and telecommunications services to clients/subscribers (e.g., users of the UE 802). The components of the CN 820 may be implemented in one entity node or in a different entity node. In some embodiments, NFV may be used to virtualize any or all of the functionality provided by the network elements of CN 820 onto the entity computing/storage resources in servers, switches, etc. The logical instance of the CN 820 may be referred to as a network slice, and the logical instance of a portion of the CN 820 may be referred to as a network sub-slice.

In some embodiments, the CN 820 may be an LTE CN 822, which LTE CN 822 may also be referred to as EPC. As shown, LTE CN 822 may include MME 824, SGW 826, SGSN 828, HSS 830, PGW 832, and PCRF 834 coupled to each other by interfaces (or "reference points"). The function of the elements of LTE CN 822 may be briefly described as follows.

The MME 824 may implement mobility management functions to track the current location of the UE 802 to facilitate paging, bearer activation/deactivation, handover, gateway selection, authentication, and the like.

SGW 826 may terminate the S1 interface to the RAN and route data packets between the RAN and LTE CN 822. SGW 826 may be a local mobility anchor for inter-RAN node handover and may also provide an anchor for inter-3 GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful interception, billing, and some policy enforcement.

SGSN 828 may track the location of UE 802 and perform security functions and access control. Furthermore, SGSN 828 may perform EPC inter-node signaling for mobility between different RAT networks; performs PDN and S-GW selection as specified by MME 824; performing MME selection to perform handover; etc. The S3 reference point between MME 824 and SGSN 828 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3 GPP network mobility in the idle/active state.

HSS 830 may include a database for network users that includes subscription-related information to support the processing of communication sessions by network entities. HSS 830 may provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, and so on. The S6a reference point between HSS 830 and MME 824 may enable the transmission of subscription and authentication data for authenticating/authorizing a user to access LTE CN 822.

PGW 832 may terminate the SGi interface to Data Network (DN) 836, which may include application/content server 838. PGW 832 may route data packets between LTE CN 822 and data network 836. PGW 832 may be coupled to SGW 826 via S5 reference points to facilitate user plane tunneling and tunnel management. PGW 832 may also include nodes (e.g., PCEFs) for policy enforcement and charging data collection. Furthermore, the SGi reference point between PGW 832 and data network 836 may be, for example, an operator external public, private PDN or an operator internal packet data network for provisioning IMS services. PGW 832 may be coupled with PCRF 834 via a Gx reference point.

PCRF 834 is a policy and charging control element of LTE CN 822. PCRF 834 may be communicatively coupled to application/content server 838 to determine appropriate QoS and charging parameters for service flows. PCRF 834 may provision (via Gx reference point) the associated rules to the PCEF with appropriate TFTs and QCIs.

In some embodiments, CN 820 may be 5gc 840. As shown, the 5gc 840 may include an AUSF 842, an AMF 844, an SMF 846, a UPF 848, a NSSF 850, a NEF 852, an NRF 854, a PCF 856, a UDM 858, and an AF 860 coupled to each other through interfaces (or "reference points"). The function of the elements of the 5gc 840 may be briefly described as follows.

The AUSF 842 may store data for authentication of the UE 802 and process authentication-related functions. The AUSF 842 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. In addition to communicating with other elements of the 5gc 840 through reference points as shown, the AUSF 842 may also present an interface based on the Nausf service.

The AMF 844 may allow other functions of the 5gc 840 to communicate with the UE 802 and RAN 804 and subscribe to notifications about mobility events of the UE 802. The AMF 844 may be responsible for registration management (e.g., for registering the UE 802), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful intercept AMF related events, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 844 may provide transmission of SM messages between the UE 802 and the SMF 846 and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. AMF 844 may also provide for transmission of SMS messages between UE 802 and SMSF. The AMF 844 may interact with the AUSF 842 and the UE 802 to perform various security anchoring and context management functions. Furthermore, the AMF 844 may be an end point of the RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between the RAN 804 and the AMF 844; and the AMF 844 may act as an endpoint for NAS (N1) signaling and perform NAS ciphering and integrity protection. The AMF 844 may also support NAS signaling with the UE 802 over the N3 IWF interface.

SMF 846 may be responsible for: SM (e.g., session establishment, tunnel management between UPF 848 and AN 808); UE IP address assignment and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of the UP function; configuring traffic manipulation at UPF 848 to route traffic to the correct destination; terminating the interface to the policy control function; control policy enforcement, charging, and a portion of QoS; lawful interception (for SM events and interfaces to LI systems); terminating the SM portion of the NAS message; downlink data notification; initiating AN-specific SM information, which is sent to AN 808 via N2 through AMF 844; and determines the SSC pattern of the session. SM may refer to the management of PDU sessions, and PDU sessions or "sessions" may refer to PDU connectivity services that provide or enable PDU exchanges between UE 802 and data network 836.

The UPF 848 may serve as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point interconnected with the data network 836, and a branching point to support multi-homing PDU sessions. The UPF 848 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, enforce user plane portions of policy rules, lawful intercept packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS processing for the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rate enforcement), perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. The UPF 848 may include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to the data network.

NSSF 850 may select a set of network slice instances to serve UE 802. NSSF 850 may also determine the allowed NSSAI and mapping to subscribed S-NSSAI, if desired. NSSF 850 may also determine the set of AMFs to use for serving UE 802, or a list of candidate AMFs, based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying NRF 854. The selection of a set of network slice instances for UE 802 may be triggered by AMF 844 (with which UE 802 registers by interacting with NSSF 850), which may result in a change in AMF. NSSF 850 may interact with AMF 844 via the N22 reference point; and may communicate with another NSSF in the visited network via an N31 reference point (not shown). In addition, NSSF 850 may expose an interface based on the Nnssf service.

The NEF 852 may securely expose services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third parties, internal exposure/re-exposure, AF (e.g., AF 860), edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, NEF 852 can authenticate, authorize, or throttle AF. NEF 852 can also translate information exchanged with AF 860 as well as with internal network functions. For example, the NEF 852 may translate between an AF service identifier and internal 5GC information. The NEF 852 can also receive information from other NF based on the other NF's exposure capabilities. This information may be stored as structured data in NEF 852 or stored in data storage device NF using a standardized interface. The NEF 852 can then re-expose the stored information to other NF and AF, or for other purposes such as analysis. Furthermore, NEF 852 may expose an interface based on Nnef services.

NRF 854 may support a service discovery function, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide information of discovered NF instances to NF instances. NRF 854 also maintains information about the services that can be supported by NF instances. As used herein, the terms "instantiate" … …, "instantiating" and the like may refer to the creation of an instance, while "instance" may refer to a specific occurrence of an object, e.g., an object may occur during execution of program code. In addition, NRF 854 may expose an interface based on Nnrf services.

PCF 856 may provide policy rules to control plane functions to enforce these rules and may also support a unified policy framework to manage network behavior. PCF 856 may also implement a front end to access subscription information related to policy decisions in the UDR of UDM 858. In addition to communicating with functions through reference points as shown, PCF 856 also presents an interface based on an Npcf service.

The UDM 858 may process subscription related information to support the processing of communication sessions by network entities and may store subscription data for the UE 802. For example, subscription data may be transferred via an N8 reference point between UDM 858 and AMF 844. UDM 858 may include two parts: application front-end and UDR. The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for UDM 858 and PCF 856, and/or store structured data and application data for NEF 852 (including PFD for application detection, application request information for multiple UEs 802) for exposure. The UDR may expose an interface based on the Nudr service to allow the UDM 858, PCF 856, and NEF 852 to access specific sets of stored data, as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to notifications of related data changes in the UDR. The UDM may include a UDM-FE responsible for handling credentials, location management, subscription management, etc. Several different front ends may serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication credential processing, user identification processing, access authorization, registration/mobility management, and subscription management. In addition to communicating with other NFs through reference points as shown, the UDM 858 may also expose a Nudm service based interface.

AF 860 may provide application impact on traffic routing, provide access to the NEF, and interact with the policy framework for policy control.

In some embodiments, the 5gc 840 may implement edge computation by selecting an operator/third party service that is geographically close to the point where the UE 802 attaches to the network. This may reduce latency and load on the network. To provide edge computing implementations, the 5gc 840 may select a UPF 848 near the UE 802 and perform traffic manipulation from the UPF 848 to the data network 836 via the N6 interface. This may be based on UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by AF 860. In this way, AF 860 may affect UPF (re) selection and traffic routing. Based on the operator deployment, the network operator may permit the AF 860 to interact directly with the associated NF when the AF 860 is considered a trusted entity. In addition, AF 860 may expose Naf service-based interfaces.

The data network 836 may represent various network operator services, internet access, or third party services that may be provided by one or more servers, including, for example, application/content servers 838.

Fig. 9 schematically illustrates a wireless network 900 in accordance with various embodiments. The wireless network 900 may include a UE 902 in wireless communication with AN 904. The UE 902 and the AN 904 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with the same name components described elsewhere herein.

The UE 902 may be communicatively coupled with the AN 904 via a connection 906. Connection 906 is shown as an air interface to enable communicative coupling and may conform to a cellular communication protocol such as the LTE protocol or the 5G NR protocol operating at millimeter wave or sub-6 GHz frequencies.

The UE 902 may include a host platform 908 coupled to a modem platform 910. Host platform 908 may include application processing circuitry 912, which may be coupled with protocol processing circuitry 914 of modem platform 910. The application processing circuitry 912 may run various applications that source/merge application data for the UE 902. The application processing circuitry 912 may also implement one or more layers of operations to transmit and receive application data to and from a data network. These layer operations may include transport (e.g., UDP) and internet (e.g., IP) operations.

Protocol processing circuit 914 may implement one or more layers of operations to facilitate the transmission or reception of data over connection 906. Layer operations implemented by the protocol processing circuit 914 may include, for example, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC and NAS operations.

Modem platform 910 may also include digital baseband circuitry 916, which may implement one or more layer operations "below" the layer operations performed by protocol processing circuitry 914 in the network protocol stack. These operations may include, for example, PHY operations including one or more of HARQ-ACK functions, scrambling/descrambling, encoding/decoding, layer mapping/demapping, modulation symbol mapping, received symbol/bit metric determination, multi-antenna port precoding/decoding, which may include one or more of: space-time, space-frequency, or spatial coding, reference signal generation/detection, preamble sequence generation and/or decoding, synchronization sequence generation/detection, control channel signal blind decoding, and other related functions.

Modem platform 910 may also include transmit circuitry 918, receive circuitry 920, RF circuitry 922, and an RF front end (RFFE) 924, which may include or be connected to one or more antenna panels 926. Briefly, transmit circuit 918 may include a digital-to-analog converter, a mixer, an Intermediate Frequency (IF) component, and the like; the receive circuitry 920 may include analog-to-digital converters, mixers, IF components, etc.; RF circuitry 922 may include low noise amplifiers, power tracking components, and the like; RFFE 924 may include filters (e.g., surface/bulk acoustic wave filters), switches, antenna tuners, beam forming components (e.g., phased array antenna components), and so forth. The selection and arrangement of the components of transmit circuitry 918, receive circuitry 920, RF circuitry 922, RFFE 924, and antenna panel 926 (collectively "transmit/receive components") may be specific to the specifics of a particular implementation, such as whether the communication is TDM or FDM, at millimeter wave or sub-6 GHz frequencies, and so forth. In some embodiments, the transmit/receive components may be arranged in a plurality of parallel transmit/receive chains, may be arranged in the same or different chips/modules, and so on.

In some embodiments, the protocol processing circuit 914 may include one or more control circuit instances (not shown) to provide control functions for the transmit/receive components.

UE reception may be established through and via antenna panel 926, RFFE 924, RF circuitry 922, receive circuitry 920, digital baseband circuitry 916, and protocol processing circuitry 914. In some embodiments, antenna panel 926 may receive transmissions from AN 904 through receive beamformed signals received by multiple antennas/antenna elements of one or more antenna panels 926.

UE transmissions may be established by and via protocol processing circuitry 914, digital baseband circuitry 916, transmit circuitry 918, RF circuitry 922, RFFE 924, and antenna panel 926. In some embodiments, the transmit component of the UE 902 may apply spatial filters to data to be transmitted to form transmit beams that are transmitted by the antenna elements of the antenna panel 926.

Similar to the UE 902, the an 904 may include a host platform 928 coupled to a modem platform 930. Host platform 928 may include application processing circuitry 932 coupled to protocol processing circuitry 934 of modem platform 930. The modem platform may also include digital baseband circuitry 936, transmit circuitry 938, receive circuitry 940, RF circuitry 942, RFFE circuitry 944, and an antenna panel 946. The components of the AN 904 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with the same name components of the UE 902. In addition to performing data transmission/reception as described above, the components of the AN 904 may perform various logical functions including, for example, RNC functions (e.g., radio bearer management), uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management, and data packet scheduling.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram illustrating components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and executing instructions of any one or more of the methods discussed herein, according to some example embodiments. In particular, FIG. 10 shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 1000, including one or more processors (or processor cores) 1010, one or more memory/storage devices 1020, and one or more communication resources 1030, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1040 or other interface circuitry. For embodiments that utilize node virtualization (e.g., NFV), the hypervisor 1002 can be executed to provide an execution environment that utilizes hardware resources 1000 to one or more network slices/sub-slices.

Processor 1010 may include, for example, a processor 1012 and a processor 1014. The processor 1010 may be, for example, a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a DSP, ASIC, FPGA such as a baseband processor, a Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof.

Memory/storage 1020 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. Memory/storage 1020 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile, nonvolatile, or semi-volatile memory such as Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), static Random Access Memory (SRAM), erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid state storage, and the like.

The communication resources 1030 may include interconnection or network interface controllers, components, or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1004 or one or more databases 1006 or other network elements via the network 1008. For example, the communication resources 1030 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB, ethernet, etc.), cellular communication components, NFC components, bluetooth(or Bluetooth->Low power consumption) component->Components, and other communication components.

The instructions 1050 may include software, programs, applications, applets, apps, or other executable code for at least causing any processor 1010 to perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein. The instructions 1050 may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the following: processor 1010 (e.g., within a cache memory of a processor), memory/storage 1020, or any suitable combination thereof. Further, any portion of instructions 1050 may be transferred from any combination of peripherals 1004 or databases 1006 to hardware resource 1000. Thus, the memory of the processor 1010, the memory/storage 1020, the peripherals 1004, and the database 1006 are examples of computer readable and machine readable media.

For one or more embodiments, at least one component set forth in one or more previous figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, procedures, and/or methods set forth in the examples section below. For example, baseband circuitry as described above in connection with one or more previous figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more examples set forth below. As another example, circuitry associated with a UE, base station, network element, etc., as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures, may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth in the examples section below.

Example

Example 1 may include a method for wireless communication of a fifth generation (5G) or New Radio (NR) system:

determining, by the UE, an index of inter-slot hopping with inter-slot bonding for transmission of a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) or a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH); and

the PUSCH or PUCCH is transmitted by the UE based on the determined index.

Example 2 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein for PUSCH repetition types a and B, the inter-slot frequency hopping pattern with inter-slot bundling may be determined based on a slot index in the frame, regardless of whether one of the PUSCH repetitions is cancelled.

Example 3 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the inter-slot hopping pattern with inter-slot bundling may be determined based on a slot index, wherein a slot indicated to the UE for the first PUSCH transmission has a number of 0 and each subsequent slot is counted in a PUSCH repetition.

Example 4 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein for PUSCH repetition types a and B, the inter-slot hopping pattern with inter-slot bundling may be determined based on an index of transmission occasions, regardless of whether one of the PUSCH repetitions is cancelled.

Example 5 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein for PUSCH repetition types a and B, the inter-slot frequency hopping pattern with inter-slot bundling may be determined based on an index of actual repetition.

Example 6 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the inter-slot frequency hopping pattern with inter-slot bundling may be determined based on an index of actual transmission occasions or transmission occasions in PUSCH transmissions carrying Transport Blocks (TBs) spanning multiple slots, or a slot index.

Example 7 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the inter-repetition frequency hopping pattern with inter-repetition bundling for PUSCH repetition type B may be determined based on an index of a nominal repetition or actual repetition or transmission occasion in PUSCH transmission across multiple slots, a slot index in a frame.

Example 8 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the inter-repetition frequency hopping pattern with inter-repetition bundling may be determined based on a nominal repetition index.

Example 9 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the inter-slot frequency hopping pattern with inter-slot bundling may be determined based on an index of actual transmission occasions or transmission occasions in PUSCH transmissions across the plurality of slots, the slot index.

Example 10 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the slot index may be a slot index in a frame, or the slot indicated to the UE for the first PUCCH transmission has a number of 0 and each subsequent slot is counted in a PUCCH repetition.

Example 11 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein for PUSCH repetition type a based on the available slot count, the inter-slot hopping pattern with inter-slot bundling may be determined based on an index of the available slots.

Example 12 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein for PUSCH with TB-over-multi-slot processing (tbomins), the inter-slot hopping pattern with inter-slot bonding may be determined based on an index of available slots.

Example 13 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the inter-slot hopping pattern with inter-slot bundling may be determined based on a nominal or actual time domain window for joint channel estimation for PUSCH repetition types a and B, PUCCH repetition, and/or for PUSCH with TB-over-multi-slot processing (tbomins).

Example 14 may include the method of example 13 or some other example herein, wherein boundaries of inter-slot hopping patterns with inter-slot bonding may be aligned with boundaries of nominal or actual time domain windows for joint channel estimation.

Example 15 may include a method comprising:

determining a pattern of inter-slot hopping with inter-slot bonding for transmission of uplink signals; and

an uplink signal for transmission is encoded based on the determined mode.

Example 16 may include the method of example 15 or some other example herein, wherein the pattern is determined based on the index.

Example 17 may include the methods of examples 15-16 or some other example herein, wherein the uplink signal is PUSCH or PUCCH.

Example 18 may include the methods of examples 15-17 or some other example herein, wherein for PUSCH repetition types a and B, the pattern of inter-slot hopping with inter-slot bundling is determined based on a slot index in the frame, regardless of whether one or more PUSCH repetitions are cancelled.

Example 19 may include the methods of examples 15-18 or some other example herein, wherein the pattern of inter-slot hopping with inter-slot bundling is determined based on a slot index, wherein a slot indicated to the UE for the first PUSCH transmission has a number of 0 and each subsequent slot is counted in a PUSCH repetition.

Example 20 may include the methods of examples 15-18 or some other example herein, wherein for PUSCH repetition type a and/or type B, the pattern of inter-slot hopping with inter-slot bundling is determined based on an index of transmission occasions, regardless of whether one or more PUSCH repetitions are cancelled.

Example 21 may include the methods of examples 15-18 or some other example herein, wherein for PUSCH repetition type a and/or type B, the pattern of inter-slot hopping with inter-slot bundling is determined based on an index of actual repetition.

Example 22 may include the methods of examples 15-18 or some other example herein, wherein the pattern of inter-slot hopping with inter-slot bundling is determined based on an index of actual transmission occasions, an index of transmission occasions, a slot index in a PUSCH transmission carrying a Transport Block (TB) spanning multiple slots.

Example 23 may include the methods of examples 15-22 or some other example herein, wherein the method is performed by a UE or a portion thereof.

Example 24 includes the method of example 15 or some other example herein, wherein for PUSCH repetition type a based on the available slot count, the inter-slot hopping pattern with inter-slot bundling is determined based on an index of the available slots.

Example 25 includes the method of example 15 or some other example herein, wherein for PUSCH with TB-over-multi-slot processing (TBoMS), the inter-slot frequency hopping pattern with inter-slot bonding is determined based on an index of available slots.

Example 26 includes the method of example 15 or some other example herein, wherein the inter-slot hopping pattern with inter-slot bundling is determined based on a configured or actual time domain window for joint channel estimation for PUSCH repetition types a and B, PUCCH repetition, or for PUSCH with TB-over-multi-slot processing (TBoMS).

Example 27 includes the method of example 26 or some other example herein, wherein boundaries of inter-slot hopping patterns with inter-slot bonding are aligned with boundaries of nominal or actual time domain windows for joint channel estimation.

Example 28 includes a method comprising: determining, by one or more processors of the electronic device, a pattern of inter-slot hopping with inter-slot bonding for multiple repeated transmissions of an uplink signal, wherein the uplink signal is a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) signal or a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) signal; facilitating, by the one or more processors, a first repetition of the plurality of repetitions of transmitting the uplink signal on the first frequency resource according to the pattern; and facilitating, by the one or more processors, a second repetition of the plurality of repetitions of transmitting the uplink signal on a second frequency resource different from the first frequency resource according to the pattern.

Example 29 includes the method of example 28 or some other example herein, wherein the pattern is determined based on an index.

Example 30 includes the method of example 28 or some other example herein, wherein a first repetition of the plurality of repetitions includes the same data or control information as a second repetition of the plurality of repetitions.

Example 31 includes the method of any of examples 28-30 or some other example herein, wherein the uplink signal is a PUSCH signal with repetition type a or type B, and the pattern is based on a physical slot index of a slot in a frame in which the plurality of repetitions is to be transmitted, and the pattern is independent of cancellation of the repetition of the plurality of repetitions.

Example 32 includes the method of example 31 or some other example herein, wherein the slot in which the first repetition is to be transmitted has a slot index value of 0 and the subsequent slot has an increased slot index value.

Example 33 includes the method of any of examples 28-30 or some other example herein, wherein the uplink signal is a PUSCH signal with a repetition type a or type B, and the pattern is based on an index of transmission occasions related to repeated transmissions of the uplink signal, and wherein the pattern is independent of cancellation of repetitions of the plurality of repetitions.

Example 34 includes the method of any of examples 28-30 or some other example herein, wherein the uplink signal is a PUSCH signal with repetition type a or type B, and the pattern is based on an index of actual repetitions related to transmission of the uplink signal.

Example 35 includes the method of any one of examples 28-30 or some other example herein, wherein the uplink signal is a PUSCH transmission carrying a Transport Block (TB) over multiple slots (TBoMS).

Example 36 includes the method of any of examples 28-30 or some other example herein, wherein the electronic device is a User Equipment (UE) or a portion thereof.

Example 37 includes the method of any of examples 28-30 or some other example herein, wherein the uplink signal is a PUSCH signal with repetition type a based on an available slot count, and wherein the pattern is based on an index of one or more available slots for multiple repeated transmissions.

Example 38 includes the method of example 37 or some other example herein, wherein the PUSCH signal is a PUSCH with a Transport Block (TB) over multiple slots (TBoMS).

Example 39 includes the method of any of examples 28-30 or some other example herein, wherein the pattern is based on a nominal or actual time domain window associated with the joint channel estimation.

Example 40 includes the method of example 41 or some other example herein, wherein each repetition of the plurality of repetitions is aligned with a nominal or actual time domain window.

Example 41 may include an apparatus comprising means for performing one or more elements of the methods described in or associated with any of examples 1-40 or any other method or process described herein.

Example 42 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of the methods described in or related to any one of examples 1-40 or any other method or process described herein.

Example 43 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, or circuitry to perform one or more elements of the methods described in or associated with any of examples 1-40 or any other method or process described herein.

Example 44 may include a method, technique, or process as described in or associated with any of examples 1-40 or portions or components thereof.

Example 45 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the methods, techniques, or processes described in or related to any one of examples 1-40 or portions thereof.

Example 46 may include a signal as described in or associated with any of examples 1-40 or portions or components thereof.

Example 47 may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol Data Unit (PDU), or message, as described in or associated with any one of examples 1-40, or portions or components thereof, or otherwise described in this disclosure.

Example 48 may include a signal encoded with data, as described in or associated with any of examples 1-40 or portions or components thereof, or otherwise described in this disclosure.

Example 49 may include a signal encoded with a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol Data Unit (PDU), or message, as described in or associated with any one of examples 1-40, or a portion or component thereof, or otherwise described in this disclosure.

Example 50 may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions for causing one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process described in or related to any one or part of examples 1-40.

Example 51 may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element is to cause the processing element to perform a method, technique, or process described in or related to any one of examples 1-40, or portions thereof.

Example 52 may include signals in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

Example 53 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

Example 54 may include a system for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

Example 55 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

Any of the above examples may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples) unless explicitly stated otherwise. The foregoing description of one or more implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

Terminology

For purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply to the examples and embodiments discussed herein.

The term "circuitry" as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes hardware components configured to provide the described functionality, such as, for example: electronic circuitry, logic circuitry, processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group), application specific integrated circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), field-programmable device (field-programmable device, FPD) (e.g., field-programmable gate array (field-programmable gate array, FPGA), programmable logic device (programmable logic device, PLD), complex PLD (CPLD), high-capacity PLD (hcpll), structured ASIC, or programmable SoC), digital signal processor (digital signal processor, DSP), and the like. In some embodiments, circuitry may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the described functions. The term "circuitry" may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements (or a combination of circuitry for use in an electrical or electronic system) and program code for performing the functions of the program code. In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuit.

The term "processor circuit" as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes the following circuitry: the circuitry is capable of sequentially and automatically performing a sequence of operations or logic operations, or recording, storing, and/or transmitting digital data. The processing circuitry may include one or more processing cores for executing instructions and one or more memory structures for storing program and data information. The term "processor circuit" may refer to one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, a physical Central Processing Unit (CPU), a single core processor, a dual core processor, a tri-core processor, a quad-core processor, and/or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer executable instructions such as program code, software modules, and/or functional processes. The processing circuitry may include one or more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors, programmable processing devices, or the like. The one or more hardware accelerators may include, for example, computer Vision (CV) and/or Deep Learning (DL) accelerators. The terms "application circuitry" and/or "baseband circuitry" may be considered synonymous with "processor circuitry" and may be referred to as "processor circuitry.

The term "interface circuit" as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes circuitry that enables the exchange of information between two or more components or devices. The term "interface circuitry" may refer to one or more hardware interfaces, e.g., a bus, an I/O interface, a peripheral component interface, a network interface card, etc.

The term "user equipment" or "UE" as used herein refers to a device that has radio communication capabilities and may describe a remote user of network resources in a communication network. The term "user equipment" or "UE" may be considered synonymous with and may be referred to as the following terms: a client, mobile phone, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Furthermore, the term "user equipment" or "UE" may include any type of wireless/wired device or any computing device that includes a wireless communication interface.

The term "network element" as used herein refers to an entity or virtualized device and/or infrastructure for providing wired or wireless communication network services. The term "network element" may be considered synonymous with and/or referred to by the following terms: networked computers, networking hardware, network devices, network nodes, routers, switches, hubs, bridges, radio network controllers, RAN devices, RAN nodes, gateways, servers, virtualized VNFs, NFVI, etc.

The term "computer system" as used herein refers to any type of interconnected electronic device, computer device, or component thereof. Furthermore, the terms "computer system" and/or "system" may refer to components of a computer that are communicatively coupled to each other. Furthermore, the terms "computer system" and/or "system" may refer to a plurality of computer devices and/or a plurality of computing systems communicatively coupled to each other and configured to share computing and/or networking resources.

The terms "appliance," "computer appliance," and the like as used herein refer to a computer device or computer system having program code (e.g., software or firmware) specifically designed to provide a particular computing resource. A "virtual appliance" is a virtual machine image implemented by a hypervisor-equipped device that virtualizes or emulates a computer appliance or is otherwise dedicated to providing specific computing resources.

The term "resource" as used herein refers to an entity or virtual device, an entity or virtual component within a computing environment, and/or an entity or virtual component within a particular device, e.g., a computer device, a mechanical device, a memory space, processor/CPU time, processor/CPU usage, processor and accelerator load, hardware time or usage, power, input/output operations, ports or network sockets, channel/link assignments, throughput, memory usage, storage, networks, databases and applications, workload units, and the like. "hardware resources" may refer to computing, storage, and/or network resources provided by the physical hardware element(s). "virtualized resources" may refer to computing, storage, and/or network resources provided by a virtualization infrastructure to applications, devices, systems, etc. The term "network resource" or "communication resource" may refer to a resource that is accessible by a computer device/system via a communication network. The term "system resource" may refer to any kind of shared entity for providing services and may include computing and/or network resources. A system resource may be considered to be a collection of coherent functions, network data objects, or services accessible through a server, where such system resource resides on a single host or multiple hosts and is clearly identifiable.

The term "channel" as used herein refers to any transmission medium, whether tangible or intangible, used to convey data or data streams. The term "channel" may be synonymous with and/or identical to the following terms: "communication channel," "data communication channel," "transmission channel," "data transmission channel," "access channel," "data access channel," "link," "data link," "carrier," "radio frequency carrier," and/or any other similar term that refers to a channel or medium through which data is conveyed. Furthermore, the term "link" as used herein refers to a connection that occurs between two devices over a RAT for the purpose of transmitting and receiving information.

The term "instantiate" and the like as used herein refers to creating an instance. "instance" also refers to a specific occurrence of an object, e.g., an object may occur during execution of program code.

The terms "coupled," "communicatively coupled," and their derivatives are used herein. The term "coupled" may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other, may mean that two or more elements are in indirect contact with each other but still cooperate or interact with each other, and/or may mean that one or more other elements are coupled or connected between the elements coupled with each other. The term "directly coupled" may mean that two or more elements are in direct contact with each other. The term "communicatively coupled" may mean that two or more elements may be in contact with each other through communication means, including by wire or other interconnection connection, by a wireless communication channel or link, etc.

The term "information element" refers to a structural element that contains one or more fields. The term "field" refers to the individual content of an information element, or a data element containing content.

The term "SMTC" refers to an SSB-based measurement timing configuration configured by SSB-measurementtiming configuration.

The term "SSB" refers to an SS/PBCH block.

The term "primary cell" refers to an MCG cell operating on a primary frequency in which a UE either performs an initial connection establishment procedure or initiates a connection re-establishment procedure.

The term "primary SCG cell" refers to an SCG cell in which a UE performs random access when performing a reconfiguration procedure with synchronization for DC operation.

The term "secondary cell" refers to a cell that provides additional radio resources for a CA-configured UE over a special cell.

The term "secondary cell group" refers to a subset of serving cells for a DC-configured UE that includes PSCell and zero or more secondary cells.

The term "serving cell" refers to a primary cell for a UE under rrc_connected that is not configured with CA/DC, and there is only one serving cell including the primary cell.

The term "serving cell" or "plurality of serving cells" refers to a set of cells including special cell(s) and all secondary cells for a UE under rrc_connected configured with CA.

The term "special cell" refers to a PCell of an MCG or a PSCell of an SCG for DC operation; otherwise, the term "special cell" refers to a Pcell.

Claims

1. A User Equipment (UE) for use in a wireless network, wherein the UE comprises:

one or more processors; and

one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

determining a pattern of inter-slot hopping with inter-slot bonding for transmitting a plurality of repetitions of an uplink signal, wherein the uplink signal is a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) signal or a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) signal;

facilitating a first repetition of a plurality of repetitions of transmitting the uplink signal on a first frequency resource according to the pattern; and

a second repetition of the plurality of repetitions of the uplink signal is facilitated to be transmitted on a second frequency resource different from the first frequency resource according to the pattern.

2. The UE of claim 1, wherein the pattern is determined based on an index.

3. The UE of claim 1, wherein a first repetition of the plurality of repetitions comprises the same data or control information as a second repetition of the plurality of repetitions.

4. The UE of any of claims 1-3, wherein the uplink signal is a PUSCH signal with repetition type a or type B, and the pattern is based on a physical slot index of a slot in a frame in which the plurality of repetitions is to be transmitted, and the pattern is independent of cancellation of a repetition of the plurality of repetitions.

5. The UE of claim 4, wherein the slot in which the first repetition is to be transmitted has a slot index value of 0 and subsequent slots have increasing slot index values.

6. The UE of any of claims 1-3, wherein the uplink signal is a PUSCH signal with repetition type a or type B, and the pattern is based on an index of transmission occasions related to the transmission of repetitions of the uplink signal, and wherein the pattern is independent of cancellation of repetitions of the plurality of repetitions.

7. The UE of any of claims 1-3, wherein the uplink signal is a PUSCH signal with repetition type a or type B, and the pattern is based on an index of actual repetitions related to transmission of the uplink signal.

8. The UE of any of claims 1-3, wherein the uplink signal is a PUSCH transmission carrying a multi-slot on Transport Block (TB) (TBoMS).

9. The UE of any of claims 1-3, wherein the uplink signal is a PUSCH signal with repetition type a based on an available slot count, and wherein the pattern is based on an index of one or more available slots for the multiple repeated transmissions.

10. The UE of claim 9, wherein the PUSCH signal is a PUSCH with a Transport Block (TB) over multiple slots (TBoMS).

11. The UE of any of claims 1-3, wherein the pattern is based on a nominal or actual time domain window associated with joint channel estimation.

12. The UE of claim 11, wherein each repetition of the plurality of repetitions is aligned with the nominal or actual time domain window.

13. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions for, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device in a cellular network, causing the one or more processors to:

14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the pattern is determined based on an index.

15. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein a first repetition of the plurality of repetitions comprises the same data or control information as a second repetition of the plurality of repetitions.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of any of claims 13-15, wherein the electronic device is a User Equipment (UE).

17. A method, comprising:

determining, by one or more processors of an electronic device, a pattern of inter-slot hopping with inter-slot bonding for transmitting a plurality of repetitions of an uplink signal, wherein the uplink signal is a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) signal or a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) signal;

Facilitating, by the one or more processors, a first repetition of a plurality of repetitions of transmitting the uplink signal on a first frequency resource according to the pattern; and

facilitating, by the one or more processors, transmission of a second repetition of the plurality of repetitions of the uplink signal on a second frequency resource different from the first frequency resource according to the pattern.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the pattern is determined based on an index.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein a first repetition of the plurality of repetitions comprises the same data or control information as a second repetition of the plurality of repetitions.

20. The method of any of claims 17-19, wherein the electronic device is a User Equipment (UE).