CN117322085A

CN117322085A - Apparatus and method for transmitting a plurality of control information using a single transmission chain

Info

Publication number: CN117322085A
Application number: CN202180097785.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吕永霞; 马江镭; 张立清
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-05-20
Filing date: 2021-05-20
Publication date: 2023-12-29
Also published as: EP4338510A1; WO2022241706A1

Abstract

In some wireless communication scenarios, a User Equipment (UE) is configured to transmit control information on a plurality of carriers, wherein each carrier carries corresponding control information associated with a respective different TRP and/or cell group. The UE may implement multiple transmit chains, but the cost of providing multiple transmit chains is high. Embodiments are disclosed in which a UE instead implements a single transmit chain for transmitting control information associated with two different TRPs, cells, and/or cell groups. The control information is time division multiplexed, and various rules are realized under different scenes such as time overlapping of the control information.

Description

Apparatus and method for transmitting a plurality of control information using a single transmission chain

Technical Field

The present application relates to wireless communications, and more particularly to transmission of control information such as HARQ feedback.

Background

In some wireless communication systems, an electronic device such as a User Equipment (UE) communicates wirelessly with a network through one or more transmission-and-reception points (TRPs). The TRP may be a terrestrial TRP (T-TRP) or a non-terrestrial TRP (NT-TRP). One example of T-TRP is a fixed base station or NodeB. One example of NT-TRP is a TRP that can be moved in space to be relocated, e.g., a TRP installed on an unmanned aerial vehicle, an aircraft, and/or a satellite, etc.

The wireless communication from the UE to the TRP is called uplink communication. The wireless communication from the TRP to the UE is called downlink communication. Resources are required to perform the upstream communication and the downstream communication. For example, the UE may wirelessly transmit information to the TRP in uplink communication over a particular frequency (or frequency range) over a particular period of time. The frequency and time period are examples of resources, commonly referred to as time-frequency resources. In some scenarios, the UE may transmit uplink control information (uplink control information, UCI) in uplink communications. One example of UCI is hybrid automatic repeat request (hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ) feedback, but UCI is not limited to HARQ feedback and may include other information or different information, e.g., channel measurement reports.

The wireless communication may be transmitted on a carrier frequency. The carrier frequency may also be referred to as a carrier. The carrier may also be referred to as a component carrier (component carrier, CC). The characteristics of a carrier may include its bandwidth and a reference frequency, e.g., the center frequency or lowest frequency or highest frequency of the carrier. Sometimes, the reference frequency of the carrier is referred to as the carrier frequency.

The UE uses a Radio Frequency (RF) component to enable wireless communication. Some RF components may also be referred to as analog components. One or more RF components used to receive wireless communications are referred to as a receive chain. One or more RF components used to transmit wireless communications are referred to as a transmit chain. The transmit chain typically includes at least an antenna port or transmit antenna. However, the transmit chain may also include other RF components, such as power amplifiers, up-converters, and the like.

Different mechanisms are implemented to attempt to increase the bandwidth of wireless communications, e.g., to increase throughput. For example, carrier aggregation (carrier aggregation, CA) may be implemented, wherein multiple carriers are allocated to the same UE. Time-frequency resources may be allocated for communication on the carrier. The carrier used for transmitting information in the downlink is referred to as a downlink carrier, and the carrier used for transmitting information in the uplink is referred to as an uplink carrier. In some cases, dual connectivity (dual connectivity, DC) may be implemented, where the UE is likely to transmit and receive simultaneously with two serving nodes on multiple carriers and/or on two cell groups using different radio access technologies (radio access technology, RATs).

For example, in CA and/or DC, the use of multiple carriers may result in a UE needing to implement multiple receive chains and/or transmit chains. The cost of providing multiple receive chains and transmit chains is high. In particular, multiple transmit chains are undesirable, possibly because of the need to implement and provide multiple power amplifiers, and so on.

Disclosure of Invention

In some wireless communication scenarios, a UE is configured to transmit UCI on multiple uplink carriers, where each uplink carrier carries a corresponding UCI associated with a respective different cell, TRP (e.g., nodeB), and/or cell group. A cell may refer to a carrier. One example scenario is in the context of multiple connections, such as DC. For example, the UE may communicate with two TRPs simultaneously using two different RATs, e.g., the UE may communicate with a first TRP and a second TRP simultaneously using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and a New Radio (NR), respectively. UCI associated with LTE wireless communication may be transmitted in LTE to a first TRP on a first uplink carrier at a first carrier frequency, while a different UCI associated with NR wireless communication may be transmitted in NR to a second TRP on a second uplink carrier at a second carrier frequency. Another example scenario is that a UE communicates with the same TRP (or different TRPs) on two different cell groups simultaneously, which may or may not implement different RATs. A cell group may be a group of carriers. A first uplink carrier at a first carrier frequency may be used to transmit UCI associated with a first cell group and a second uplink carrier at a second carrier frequency may be used to transmit UCI associated with a second cell group. Another example scenario is that there are multiple physical uplink control channel (physical uplink control channel, PUCCH) cell groups, where each PUCCH cell group has a corresponding uplink carrier for transmitting UCI related to the PUCCH cell group. A first uplink carrier at a first carrier frequency may be used to transmit UCI related to a first PUCCH cell group and a second uplink carrier at a second carrier frequency may be used to transmit UCI related to a second PUCCH cell group. Another example scenario is when implementing future 6G systems, e.g., MIMO technology in the high frequency band, using multiple cell groups and/or uplink carriers for UCI.

When the UE is used to transmit different UCI on multiple uplink carriers in the above example scenario, the UE may implement multiple transmit chains. Each transmit chain corresponds to a respective different uplink carrier to carry a corresponding UCI. However, the cost of providing multiple transmit chains may be high, for example, in terms of power consumption and/or more physical space (e.g., for heat dissipation) occupied by the UE. Thus, some UEs may have only a single transmit chain. When the UE does not have enough transmit chains, e.g., the UE has only a single transmit chain, the default approach is simply not to implement a wireless communication scheme that includes transmitting multiple different UCI on different carriers, which may result in reduced throughput and/or reduced functionality, which is undesirable.

Furthermore, there may be non-ideal backhaul connections between the multiple TRPs and/or cell groups, e.g., the delay of the multiple TRPs and/or cell groups to exchange information in the backhaul is 20ms. For this reason, in the case where the network forwards UCI in a backhaul, it may not be feasible to send only UCI intended for one TRP/cell group to another TRP/cell group. Such delay in backhaul may be unacceptable, failing to support the network to forward UCI received at one TRP/one cell group to another TRP/another cell group. In these cases, the UE needs to wirelessly transmit UCI associated with each TRP/cell group to the TRP/cell group, which indicates that the solution should be to implement multiple transmit chains at the UE, one for each TRP/cell group. However, the UE may not have multiple transmit chains, or it may be undesirable to implement multiple transmit chains on the UE.

In an attempt to alleviate at least one of the above-mentioned technical problems, embodiments are disclosed in which a UE implements a single transmit chain for transmitting control information associated with two different cells, TRPs, and/or groups of cells. The control information related to two cells, TRP and/or cell groups is time division multiplexed while the various rules are enforced in different scenarios where the control information is present in time overlapping etc. Different variants of a single transmit chain are described herein, e.g., a single transmit chain that transmits information on only a single uplink carrier frequency or a single transmit chain that can be switched between multiple uplink carrier frequencies.

As described above, the control information transmitted by the UE does not necessarily have to be UCI. For example, the transmission may be control information sent on the side-uplink, e.g., control information sent from the UE to another UE.

In some embodiments, a method performed by an apparatus (e.g., UE) may include: and transmitting part or all of the first uplink control information using a transmission chain, wherein the first uplink control information is associated with at least one of a first TRP, a first cell group, or a first PUCCH cell group. The method may further comprise: and transmitting a part or all of second uplink control information using the same transmission chain as the transmission chain for transmitting the part or all of first uplink control information, wherein the second uplink control information is associated with at least one of a different second TRP, a different second cell group, or a different second PUCCH cell group. In some embodiments, the transmitted first uplink control information is time division multiplexed with the transmitted second uplink control information.

In some embodiments, in response to a time interval of a predetermined length between an end of the first upstream control information and a beginning of the second upstream control information, the method may include: and transmitting all the first uplink control information and all the second uplink control information by using the transmission chain. In some embodiments, in response to a temporal overlap between the first portion of the first uplink control information and the second portion of the second uplink control information, the method may include: the first portion of the first uplink control information is transmitted using the transmit chain and the second portion of the second uplink control information is not transmitted.

In some embodiments, a method performed by a device (e.g., a network device) may include: an indication is received from a device (e.g., a UE) that the device has a single transmit chain to support transmission of first uplink control information and second uplink control information. The first uplink control information may be associated with at least one of a first TRP, a first cell group, or a first PUCCH cell group. The second uplink control information may be associated with at least one of a different second TRP, a different second cell group, or a different second PUCCH cell group. The method may further comprise: in response to receiving the indication, a message is sent for the device. The message may configure the apparatus to perform time division multiplexing on the first uplink control information and the second uplink control information to transmit a part or all of the first uplink control information and a part or all of the second uplink control information using the single transmission chain. The method may further comprise: and then receiving the part or all of the first uplink control information and the part or all of the second uplink control information from the device.

Technical advantages of some embodiments include the ability of a UE to support wireless communication scenarios that typically use multiple transmit chains, e.g., DC or CA where multiple PUCCH cell groups exist, using a single transmit chain.

Corresponding apparatus for performing the above method are disclosed.

Drawings

Embodiments are described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a simplified schematic diagram of a communication system provided by one example;

fig. 2 shows another example of a communication system;

fig. 3 shows one example of an electronic device (electronic device, ED), terrestrial transmission and reception points (terrestrial transmit and receive point, T-TRP), and non-terrestrial transmission and reception points (non-terrestrial transmit and receive point, NT-TRP);

FIG. 4 illustrates example units or modules in a device;

FIG. 5 illustrates a UE in communication with a TRP provided by one embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates a UE provided by one embodiment in communication with two TRPs;

fig. 7 and 8 illustrate that various embodiments provide a UE with two separate transmit chains;

fig. 9-11 illustrate that the various embodiments provide UEs with only a single transmit chain;

fig. 12 shows an example of a case where there is a time interval (time gap) between the end of one uplink control channel and the start of another uplink control channel;

Fig. 13 shows examples of time overlap (time overlap) and different rules that may be implemented by a UE in various scenarios;

FIG. 14 illustrates an example provided by an embodiment in which the time interval between the end of one uplink control channel and the start of another uplink control channel is greater than or equal to the handoff time;

fig. 15 and 16 show a scenario in which the time interval between the end of one uplink control channel and the start of another uplink control channel is smaller than the switching time;

FIG. 17 illustrates a method performed by an apparatus and device provided by one embodiment.

Detailed Description

For illustrative purposes, specific example embodiments are explained in detail below with reference to the drawings.

Example communication System and apparatus

Referring to fig. 1, a simplified schematic diagram of a communication system 100 is provided as a non-limiting illustrative example. Communication system 100 includes a radio access network 120. Radio access network 120 may be a next generation (e.g., sixth generation (6G) or offspring) radio access network or a legacy (e.g., 5G, 4G, 3G, or 2G) radio access network. One or more communication electronics (electronic device, ED) 110 a-120 j (generally referred to as 110) may be interconnected with each other or connected to one or more network nodes (170 a, 170b, generally referred to as 170) in the radio access network 120. The core network 130 may be part of a communication system and may be dependent on or independent of the radio access technology used in the communication system 100. In addition, the communication system 100 includes a public switched telephone network (public switched telephone network, PSTN) 140, the internet 150, and other networks 160.

Fig. 2 illustrates an example communication system 100. In general, communication system 100 enables a plurality of wireless or wireline units to transmit data and other content. The purpose of communication system 100 may be to provide content such as voice, data, video, and/or text via broadcast, multicast, unicast, and the like. The communication system 100 may operate by sharing resources such as carrier spectrum bandwidth among its constituent elements. Communication system 100 may include a terrestrial communication system and/or a non-terrestrial communication system. Communication system 100 may provide a wide variety of communication services and applications (e.g., earth monitoring, remote sensing, passive sensing and positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility, etc.). The communication system 100 may provide a high degree of usability and robustness through joint operation of terrestrial and non-terrestrial communication systems. For example, integrating a non-terrestrial communication system (or components thereof) into a terrestrial communication system may result in a heterogeneous network that includes multiple layers. Heterogeneous networks may achieve better overall performance than traditional communication networks through efficient multi-link joint operation, more flexible function sharing, and faster physical layer link switching between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks.

The terrestrial communication system and the non-terrestrial communication system may be subsystems in a communication system. In the illustrated example, the communication system 100 includes electronic devices (electronic device, ED) 110 a-110 d (generally referred to as ED 110), radio access networks (radio access network, RAN) 120a and 120b, a non-terrestrial communication network 120c, a core network 130, a public switched telephone network (public switched telephone network, PSTN) 140, the internet 150, and other networks 160. RANs 120a and 120b include respective Base Stations (BSs) 170a and 170b, and bsss 170a and 170b may be generally referred to as terrestrial transmission and reception points (terrestrial transmit and receive point, T-TRPs) 170a and 170b. Non-terrestrial communication network 120c includes access node 120c, and access node 120c may be generally referred to as a non-terrestrial transmission and reception point (NT-TRP) 172.

Any ED 110 may alternatively or additionally be used to connect, access, or communicate with any other T-TRP 170a and 170b, NT-TRP 172, the Internet 150, the core network 130, PSTN 140, other networks 160, or any combination of the preceding. In some examples, ED 110a may transmit uplink and/or downlink with T-TRP 170a via interface 190 a. In some examples, EDs 110a, 110b, and 110d may also communicate directly with each other through one or more side-link air interfaces 190 b. In some examples, ED 110d may transmit uplink and/or downlink with NT-TRP 172 via interface 190 c.

Air interfaces 190a and 190b may use similar communication techniques, such as any suitable radio access technology. For example, communication system 100 may implement one or more channel access methods in air interfaces 190a and 190b, such as code division multiple access (code division multiple access, CDMA), time division multiple access (time division multiple access, TDMA), frequency division multiple access (frequency division multiple access, FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), or single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA). Air interfaces 190a and 190b may use other high-dimensional signal spaces that may include a combination of orthogonal and/or non-orthogonal dimensions.

Air interface 190c enables communication between ED 110d and one or more NT-TRPs 172 via a wireless link or a simple link. In some examples, the link is a dedicated connection for unicast transmissions, a connection for broadcast transmissions, or a connection between a set of EDs and one or more NT-TRPs for multicast transmissions.

RANs 120a and 120b communicate with core network 130 to provide various services, such as voice, data, and other services, to EDs 110a, 110b, and 110 c. The RANs 120a and 120b and/or the core network 130 may communicate directly or indirectly with one or more other RANs (not shown) that may or may not be served directly by the core network 130, and may or may not employ the same radio access technology as the RANs 120a, 120b, or both. Core network 130 may also serve as gateway access between (i) RANs 120a and 120b or EDs 110a, 110b, and 110c, or both, and (ii) other networks (e.g., PSTN 140, internet 150, and other network 160). In addition, some or all of ED 110a, 110b, and 110c may include functionality to communicate with different wireless networks over different wireless links using different wireless technologies and/or protocols. Instead of (or in addition to) wireless communication, ED 110a, 110b, and 110c may communicate with a service provider or switch (not shown) and with Internet 150 via a wired communication channel. PSTN 140 may include circuit-switched telephone networks used to provide conventional telephone services (plain old telephone service, POTS). The internet 150 may include a computer network and/or a subnet (intranet), and includes internet protocol (Internet Protocol, IP), transmission control protocol (Transmission Control Protocol, TCP), user datagram protocol (User Datagram Protocol, UDP), and the like. ED 110a, 110b, and 110c may be multimode devices capable of operating in accordance with multiple radio access technologies and include multiple transceivers required to support those technologies.

FIG. 3 shows another example of ED 110, base station 170 (e.g., 170a and/or 170 b), hereinafter T-TRP 170 and NT-TRP 172.ED 110 is used to connect people, objects, machines, etc. The ED 110 may be widely used in a variety of scenarios, such as cellular communications, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (vehicle to everything, V2X), peer-to-peer (P2P), machine-to-machine (M2M), machine-to-type communication, MTC, internet of things (internet of things, ioT), virtual Reality (VR), augmented reality (augmented reality, AR), industrial control, autopilot, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, drone, robot, remote sensing, passive sensing, positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility, and the like.

Each ED 110 represents any suitable end-user device for wireless operation and may include the following devices (or may be referred to as): a User Equipment (UE), a wireless transmit/receive unit (wireless transmit/receive unit, WTRU), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a cellular telephone, a station, a STA, a machine type communication (machine type communication, MTC) device, a personal digital assistant (personal digital assistant, PDA), a smart phone, a notebook, a computer, a tablet, a wireless sensor, a consumer electronics device, a smart book, a vehicle, an automobile, a truck, a bus, a train or IoT device, an industrial device, or an apparatus (e.g., a communication module, a modem or a chip) in the above devices, and so forth. The next generation ED 110 may be referred to using other terms. Each ED 110 connected to a T-TRP 170 and/or NT-TRP 172 may be dynamically or semi-statically activated (i.e., established, activated, or enabled), deactivated (i.e., released, deactivated, or disabled), and/or configured in response to one or more of connection availability and connection necessity.

ED 110 includes a transmitter 201 and a receiver 203 coupled to one or more antennas 204. Only one antenna 204 is shown. One, some or all of the antennas may also be panels. The transmitter 201 and the receiver 203 may be integrated as a transceiver or the like. The transmitter (or transceiver) is used to modulate data or other content for transmission via at least one antenna 204 or a network interface controller (network interface controller, NIC). The receiver (or transceiver) is used to demodulate data or other content received via the at least one antenna 204. Each transceiver includes any suitable structure for generating signals for wireless transmission or wired transmission and/or for processing signals received wirelessly or by wire. Each antenna 204 includes any suitable structure for transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals or wired signals.

ED 110 includes at least one memory 208. Memory 208 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by ED 110. For example, the memory 208 may store software instructions or modules for implementing some or all of the functions and/or embodiments described herein and executed by the one or more processing units 210. Each memory 208 includes any suitable volatile and/or nonvolatile storage and retrieval device or devices. Any suitable type of memory may be used, such as random access memory (random access memory, RAM), read Only Memory (ROM), hard disk, optical disk, subscriber identity module (subscriber identity module, SIM) card, memory stick, secure Digital (SD) memory card, processor cache, etc.

ED 110 may also include one or more input/output devices (not shown) or interfaces (e.g., a wired interface to Internet 150 in FIG. 1). Input/output devices support interactions with users or other devices in the network. Each input/output device includes any suitable structure for providing information to or receiving information from a user, such as a speaker, microphone, keypad, keyboard, display, or touch screen, including network interface communications.

ED 110 also includes a processor 210 for performing the following operations: operations related to preparing an uplink transmission to send to NT-TRP 172 and/or T-TRP 170, operations related to processing a downlink transmission received from NT-TRP 172 and/or T-TRP 170, and operations related to processing a side-downlink transmission sent to and from another ED 110. Processing operations related to preparing to transmit an uplink transmission may include encoding, modulation, transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations associated with processing downlink transmissions may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulating, and decoding received symbols. According to an embodiment, the downlink transmission may be received by receiver 203 using receive beamforming, and processor 210 may extract signaling from the downlink transmission (e.g., by detecting and/or decoding the signaling). One example of signaling may be a reference signal transmitted by NT-TRP 172 and/or T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, processor 276 implements transmit beamforming and/or receive beamforming based on beam direction indications (e.g., beam angle information (beam angle information, BAI)) received from T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, the processor 210 may perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and/or downlink synchronization, e.g., operations related to detecting synchronization sequences, decoding, and acquiring system information, etc. In some embodiments, processor 210 may perform channel estimation using reference signals received from NT-TRP 172 and/or T-TRP 170, and the like.

Although not shown, the processor 210 may be part of the transmitter 201 and/or the receiver 203. Although not shown, the memory 208 may be part of the processor 210.

The processor 210 and one or more processing components in the transmitter 201 and/or receiver 203 may each be implemented by the same or different one or more processors for executing instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 208). Alternatively, some or all of the processor 210 and processing components in the transmitter 201 and/or receiver 203 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry, such as a programmed field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a graphics processing unit (graphical processing unit, GPU), or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

The T-TRP 170 may be expressed in some implementations using other names such as base station, base transceiver station (base transceiver station, BTS), radio base station, network node, network device, network side device, transmit/receive node, nodeB, evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), home eNodeB, next generation NodeB (gNB), transmission point (transmission Point, TP), site controller, access Point (AP) or radio router, relay station, remote radio head, terrestrial node, terrestrial network device, or terrestrial base station, baseband unit (BBU), radio remote unit (remote radio unit, RRU), active antenna processing unit (active antenna unit, AAU), remote radio head (remote radio head, RRH), centralized unit (c), distributed Unit (DU), positioning node, etc. The T-TRP 170 may be a macro BS, a pico BS, a relay node, a donor node, etc., or a combination thereof. T-TRP 170 may refer to the above-described device or to a device (e.g., a communication module, modem, or chip) in the above-described device.

In some embodiments, various portions of the T-TRP 170 may be distributed. For example, some of the modules of the T-TRP 170 may be remote from the device housing the antenna of the T-TRP 170 and may be coupled to the device housing the antenna by a communication link (not shown) (e.g., common public radio interface (common public radio interface, CPRI)) sometimes referred to as a preamble. Thus, in some embodiments, the term "T-TRP 170" may also refer to a network-side module that performs the following processing operations: for example, determining the location of ED 110, resource allocation (scheduling), message generation, and encoding/decoding, these modules are not necessarily part of the device housing the antennas of T-TRP 170. These modules may also be coupled to other T-TRPs. In some embodiments, the T-TRP 170 may actually be a plurality of T-TRPs that operate together to serve the ED 110 by coordinated multipoint transmission or the like.

The T-TRP 170 includes at least one transmitter 252 and at least one receiver 254 coupled to one or more antennas 256. Only one antenna 256 is shown. One, some or all of the antennas may also be panels. The transmitter 252 and the receiver 254 may be integrated as a transceiver. The T-TRP 170 also includes a processor 260 for performing operations related to: a downlink transmission ready to be sent to ED 110, an uplink transmission received from ED 110, a backhaul transmission ready to be sent to NT-TRP 172, and a transmission received from NT-TRP 172 over the backhaul. Processing operations related to preparing to send a downlink or backhaul transmission may include encoding, modulation, precoding (e.g., MIMO precoding), transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing a received transmission in the uplink or on the backhaul may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulating, and decoding received symbols. The processor 260 may also perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and/or downlink synchronization, such as generating the content of the synchronization signal block (synchronization signal block, SSB), generating system information, and so forth. In some embodiments, the processor 260 also generates a beam direction indication, e.g., BAI, that can be scheduled for transmission by the scheduler 253. Processor 260 may perform other network-side processing operations described herein, such as determining the location of ED 110, determining the location where NT-TRP 172 is deployed, and so forth. In some embodiments, processor 260 may generate signaling to configure one or more parameters of ED 110 and/or one or more parameters of NT-TRP 172, and so forth. Any signaling generated by processor 260 is sent by transmitter 252. Note that "signaling" as used herein may alternatively be referred to as control signaling. Dynamic signaling may be sent in a control channel such as a physical downlink control channel (physical downlink control channel, PDCCH) and static or semi-static higher layer signaling may be included in packets sent in a data channel such as a physical downlink shared channel (physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH).

The scheduler 253 may be coupled to the processor 260. The scheduler 253 may be included in the T-TRP 170 or operate separately from the T-TRP 170. The scheduler 253 may schedule uplink, downlink, and/or backhaul transmissions, including issuing scheduling grants and/or configuring non-scheduling ("configured grant") resources. The T-TRP 170 also includes a memory 258 for storing information and data. Memory 258 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by T-TRP 170. For example, the memory 258 may store software instructions or modules for implementing some or all of the functions and/or embodiments described herein and executed by the processor 260.

Although not shown, the processor 260 may be part of the transmitter 252 and/or the receiver 254. Further, although not shown, the processor 260 may implement the scheduler 253. Although not shown, the memory 258 may be part of the processor 260.

One or more of the processor 260, the scheduler 253, and the transmitter 252 and/or the receiver 254 may each be implemented by the same or different one or more processors for executing instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 258). Alternatively, some or all of the processor 260, the scheduler 253, and one or more of the processing components of the transmitter 252 and/or the receiver 254 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry, such as an FPGA, GPU, or ASIC.

Although NT-TRP 172 is shown as a drone, this is by way of example only. NT-TRP 172 may be implemented using any suitable non-terrestrial form. Further, NT-TRP 172 may use other names of non-terrestrial nodes, non-terrestrial network devices, or non-terrestrial base stations in some implementations. NT-TRP 172 includes a transmitter 272 and a receiver 274 coupled to one or more antennas 280. Only one antenna 280 is shown. One, some or all of the antennas may also be panels. The transmitter 272 and the receiver 274 may be integrated as a transceiver. NT-TRP 172 also includes a processor 276 for performing operations related to: a downlink transmission ready to be sent to ED 110, a processing of an uplink transmission received from ED 110, a backhaul transmission ready to be sent to T-TRP 170, and a processing of a transmission received from T-TRP 170 over a backhaul. Processing operations related to preparing to send a downlink or backhaul transmission may include encoding, modulation, precoding (e.g., MIMO precoding), transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing a received transmission in the uplink or on the backhaul may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulating, and decoding received symbols. In some embodiments, processor 276 implements transmit beamforming and/or receive beamforming based on beam direction information (e.g., BAI) received from T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, processor 276 may generate signaling to configure one or more parameters of ED 110, and so forth. In some embodiments, NT-TRP 172 implements physical layer processing but does not implement higher layer functions such as the functions of the medium access control (medium access control, MAC) or radio link control (radio link control, RLC) layers. Since this is just one example, NT-TRP 172 may generally implement higher layer functions in addition to physical layer processing.

NT-TRP 172 also includes a memory 278 for storing information and data. Although not shown, the processor 276 may be part of the transmitter 272 and/or the receiver 274. Although not shown, memory 278 may be part of processor 276.

The processor 276 and one or more processing components in the transmitter 272 and/or receiver 274 may each be implemented by the same or different one or more processors for executing instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 278). Optionally, processor 276 and some or all of one or more of the processing components in transmitter 272 and/or receiver 274 may be implemented using programmed special purpose circuits, such as an FPGA, GPU, or ASIC. In some embodiments, NT-TRP 172 may actually be a plurality of NT-TRPs that operate together to serve ED 110 by way of coordinated multipoint transmission or the like.

Note that "TRP" as used herein may refer to T-TRP or NT-TRP.

T-TRP 170, NT-TRP 172, and/or ED 110 may include other components, but these components have been omitted for clarity.

One or more steps of the embodiment methods provided herein may be performed by corresponding units or modules provided in fig. 4, etc. FIG. 4 shows example units or modules in a device (e.g., in ED 110, in T-TRP 170, or in NT-TRP 172). For example, the operations may be controlled by an operating system module. As another example, the signal may be transmitted by a transmitting unit or a transmitting module. The signal may be received by a receiving unit or a receiving module. The signals may be processed by a processing unit or processing module. Some of the operations/steps may be performed by an artificial intelligence (artificial intelligence, AI) or Machine Learning (ML) module. The respective units or modules may be implemented using hardware, one or more components or devices executing software, or a combination thereof. For example, one or more of the units or modules may be an integrated circuit, such as a programmed FPGA, GPU, or ASIC. It will be appreciated that if the modules are implemented using software for execution by a processor or the like, the modules may be retrieved by the processor, in whole or in part, for processing, individually or collectively, as needed, retrieved in one or more instances, and the modules themselves may include instructions for further deployment and instantiation.

Other details regarding ED 110, T-TRP 170 and NT-TRP 172 are known to those skilled in the art. Therefore, these details are omitted here.

Control information is discussed herein. Sometimes, the control information may be referred to as control signaling or signaling. In some cases, the control information may be dynamically indicated, for example, in a physical layer control channel such as a physical uplink control channel (physical uplink control channel, PUCCH), as described in some embodiments herein. One example of the dynamically indicated control information is information transmitted in physical layer control signaling, e.g., uplink control information (uplink control information, UCI) transmitted in PUCCH. The dynamic indication may be an indication in a lower layer, e.g., an indication in physical layer/layer 1 signaling, rather than an indication in a higher layer (e.g., an indication in RRC signaling or in MAC CE). The semi-static indication may be an indication in semi-static signaling. Semi-static signaling, as used herein, may refer to non-dynamic signaling, e.g., higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling) and/or MAC CE. Dynamic signaling as used herein may refer to dynamic signaling, e.g., physical layer control signaling transmitted in the physical layer, e.g., DCI transmitted in a physical downlink control channel (physical downlink control channel, PDCCH) or UCI transmitted in PUCCH.

Fig. 5 illustrates an ED as provided by one embodiment in communication with TRP 352 in communication system 100. ED is shown as UE, referred to as UE 110. However, ED does not have to be a UE.

TRP 352 can be T-TRP 170 or NT-TRP 172. In some embodiments, various portions of TRP 352 may be distributed. For example, some of the modules of TRP 352 may be remote from the device housing the antenna of TRP 352 and may be coupled to the device housing the antenna by a communication link (not shown). Thus, in some embodiments, the term "TRP 352" may also refer to network-side modules that perform processing operations such as resource allocation (scheduling), message generation, encoding/decoding, etc., which modules are not necessarily part of the device housing the antennas and/or panels of TRP 352. For example, these modules, which are not necessarily part of the device housing the antenna/panel of TRP 352, may include one or more modules that perform the following operations: processing (e.g., decoding) UCI issued from UE 110; generating a message to be transmitted to the UE 110, for example, a message configuring the UE 110 to time-division multiplex the first control information and the second control information; generating a downlink transmission (e.g., SSB) for initial access; generating scheduled downlink transmission; processing upstream transmissions, and so on. These modules may also be coupled to other TRPs. In some embodiments, TRP 352 may actually be multiple TRPs that operate together to serve UE 110 by coordinated multipoint transmission or the like.

TRP 352 includes a transmitter 354 and a receiver 356, both of which may be integrated as transceivers. The transmitter 354 and the receiver 356 are coupled to one or more antennas 358. Only one antenna 358 is shown, but if TRP 352 is used to receive different carrier frequencies f ₁ And f ₂ More antennas may be present for the transmission. One, some or all of the antennas may also be panels. Processor 360 in TRP 352 performs (or controls TRP 352 to perform) operations described herein as being performed by TRP 352, e.g., processes (e.g., decodes) transmissions of the first UCI and the second UCI received from UE 110, generates a message configuring UE 110 (e.g., configuring UE 110 to time division multiplex control information), and so forth. Generating a message for downlink transmission may include arranging the information in a message format, encoding the message, modulating, performing beamforming (as needed), and so forth. Processing the uplink transmission may include performing beamforming (as needed), demodulating and decoding the received message, and so on. Although not shown, the processor 360 may form part of the transmitter 354 and/or the receiver 356. TRP 352 also includes a memory 362 for storing information (e.g., control information and/or data).

The processor 360 and the processing components in the transmitter 354 and receiver 356 may be implemented by the same or different one or more processors for executing instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 362). Alternatively, some or all of the processor 360 and/or processing components in the transmitter 354 and/or receiver 356 may be implemented using programmed special purpose circuitry, such as an FPGA, GPU, or ASIC.

If TRP 352 is T-TRP 170, transmitter 354 may be or include transmitter 252, receiver 356 may be or include receiver 254, processor 360 may be or include processor 260 and may implement scheduler 253, and memory 362 may be or include memory 258. If TRP 352 is NT-TRP 172, then transmitter 354 may be or include transmitter 272, receiver 356 may be or include receiver 274, processor 360 may be or include processor 276, and memory 362 may be or include memory 278.

UE 110 includes processor 210, memory 208, transmitter 201, and receiver 203, as described above. Processor 210 performs (or controls UE 110 to perform) most of the operations described herein as being performed by UE 110, such as: performing time division multiplexing on first control information and second control information associated with different TRPs, cells, cell groups, or PUCCH cell groups; determining that there is a time interval or overlap between the first control information and the second control information and implementing the different rules discussed herein, e.g., avoiding sending part or all of the first control information or the second control information if there is an overlap; switching multiple carrier frequencies on a single transmit chain, and so on.

The processor 210 generates a message (e.g., a message carrying control information such as UCI) for uplink transmission, and the processor 210 processes the received downlink transmission. Generating a message for uplink transmission may include arranging information in a message format, encoding the message, modulating, performing beamforming (as needed), and so forth. Processing the received downlink transmission may include performing beamforming (as needed), demodulating and decoding the received message, and so forth. Although not shown, the processor 210 may form part of the transmitter 201 and/or the receiver 203.

Fig. 5 shows that UE 110 transmits two uplink transmissions, one at a first carrier frequency f ₁ On a different second carrier frequency f ₂ And (3) upper part. For example, a first carrier frequency f ₁ The uplink transmission on the uplink may transmit a first UCI, a second carrier frequency f ₂ The uplink transmission on the first ue may transmit a different second UCI.

In some embodiments, the first UCI and the second UCI may be associated with respective different cells. A cell may refer to a carrier. In some embodiments, the first UCI and the second UCI may be combined withEach of the different cell groups is associated. A cell group may refer to a group of carriers. In one example, UE 110 may communicate on a primary cell group and a secondary cell group. The master cell group may be used to establish a connection with the network and communicate on the user (data) plane and the control plane. The primary cell group may include a primary cell, which is a carrier for initial access. The secondary cell group may be used to communicate on the user (data) plane, but may not be in the control plane. The first UCI related to the primary cell group may be at carrier frequency f ₁ On a first uplink carrier of (a), a different second UCI related to a secondary cell group may be transmitted on a second uplink carrier having a carrier frequency f ₂ Is transmitted on the second uplink carrier of (c). As another example, the two cell groups may not necessarily be a primary cell group and a secondary cell group, e.g., the two cell groups may be respectively different secondary cell groups. In either case, in some embodiments, a cell group may have multiple downlink carriers, where a single uplink carrier is used to transmit any UCI (e.g., HARQ feedback) associated with the downlink carrier of the cell group. For example, a single uplink carrier may send HARQ feedback for a downlink transmission received on a downlink carrier associated with the cell group. A single uplink carrier for transmitting UCI associated with one cell group may be transmitted on the first uplink carrier at carrier frequency f ₁ Transmitting, on a second uplink carrier, a single uplink carrier for transmitting UCI associated with another cell group may be at carrier frequency f ₂ And (5) transmitting. In some embodiments, the first UCI and the second UCI may be associated with respectively different PUCCH cell groups. A PUCCH cell group is a cell group in which there is a single uplink carrier for transmitting UCI (e.g., HARQ feedback) associated with any carrier in the PUCCH cell group. For example, a single uplink carrier may send HARQ feedback for downlink transmissions received on downlink carriers in a PUCCH cell group. The first PUCCH cell group may have a carrier frequency f ₁ An uplink carrier for transmitting a first UCI associated with the first PUCCH cell group, the second PUCCH cell group may have a carrier frequency f ₂ Uplink for transmitting a second UCI associated with the second PUCCH cell groupAnd (3) a carrier wave.

Fig. 5 shows that two uplink transmissions are received at the same TRP 352. Although not shown, there may be a non-ideal backhaul connection such that even the carrier frequency f ₁ UCI and carrier frequency f on ₂ There is also a relatively long delay in forwarding UCI sent on one carrier in one cell group to another cell group, with the same UCI sent to the same TRP 352. Although not shown, each cell or group of cells at TRP 352 may have its own receive chain and associated baseband processing.

Fig. 6 shows an alternative to fig. 5, wherein there are two TRPs: TRP 352 and another TRP 372. Components in TRP 372 are omitted for clarity, but TRP 372 may be implemented in the same manner as TRP 352, e.g., including a processor, transmitter, receiver, and memory. In fig. 6, UE 110 sends two uplink transmissions, one at a first carrier frequency f ₁ On the other at a different second carrier frequency f ₂ And (3) upper part. First carrier frequency f ₁ Uplink transmission on the carrier frequency f sends UCI intended for TRP 352, the second carrier frequency f ₂ The uplink transmission on the transmit UCI intended for TRP 372. A backhaul connection 388 may be established between the two TRPs 352 and 372. The backhaul connection 388 may be a non-ideal connection such that there is a relatively long delay in forwarding UCI sent to one TRP to another TRP. In one example, communication with TRP 352 may be on a first cell group (e.g., a primary cell group) and communication with TRP 372 may be on a second cell group (e.g., a secondary cell group). The cell group may be a PUCCH cell group.

In the examples herein, the first carrier frequency f ₁ And a second carrier frequency f ₂ May be relatively close, e.g., different carriers in the same frequency band; may also be remote, e.g. the first carrier frequency f ₁ The second carrier frequency f can be in the sub-6GHz frequency band ₂ May be in the mmWave band and vice versa.

One or more RF components used to transmit wireless communications are referred to as a "transmit chain". The transmit chain typically includes at least an antenna port or transmit antenna. Thus, the transmit chain may alternatively or sometimes interchangeably be referred to as an "antenna port" or "transmit antenna". However, the transmit chain may also include other RF components, such as power amplifiers, up-converters, and the like. In one example, a transmit chain refers to a series of RF components for transmitting a transmission, including at least a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), an up-converter (to a carrier frequency), a power amplifier, and one or more antennas (or antenna ports or panels). In another example, the transmit chain refers to only an antenna port or transmit antenna.

To send respective transmissions of different control information on different uplink carriers, UE 110 may implement multiple transmit chains. Fig. 7 illustrates that one embodiment provides UE 110 with two separate transmit chains 404 and 424. The transmitter 201 includes a baseband processor 402 for preparing respective transmissions on two transmit chains 404 and 424. In some embodiments, baseband processor 402 is implemented by processor 210. In some embodiments, baseband processor 402 may be implemented using one or more processors executing instructions stored in memory, while in other embodiments some or all of the components in baseband processor 402 may be implemented using programmed special purpose circuits such as FPGAs, GPUs, or ASICs. Depending on the implementation, baseband processor 402 may implement modulation, coding, scrambling, etc. The baseband processor 402 generates a signal to be transmitted at a carrier frequency f via a first transmit chain 404 ₁ First UCI to be transmitted on and at carrier frequency f via second transmit chain 424 ₂ And a second UCI transmitted on the upper part. Although a single baseband processor 402 is shown, there may be multiple baseband processors, e.g., one for generating a first UCI and another for generating a second UCI.

The transmit chain 404 includes a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 408, an up-converter 410, a power amplifier 412, and one or more antennas 414 (which may also be one or more panels). Up-converter 410 up-converts the transmission to carrier frequency f using an RF oscillator or the like ₁ . The transmit chain 424 includes a DAC 428, an up-converter 430, a power amplifier 432, and one or more antennas 434 (which may also be one or more panels). Up-converter 430 uses an RF oscillatorEtc. up-convert the transmission to carrier frequency f ₂ . Both transmit chains 404 and 424 may include other components, which are omitted for clarity. Further, in some embodiments, transmit chains 404 and 424 may include different components than shown, or the components shown may occur in a different order.

In operation, baseband processor 402 outputs a signal for use on a first uplink carrier at carrier frequency f ₁ A transmitted first UCI associated with a first cell, TRP, and/or cell group. The first UCI is sent to the transmit chain 404 for transmission. The transmit chain 404 performs digital-to-analog conversion using a DAC 408, up-conversion to a carrier frequency f using an up-converter 410 ₁ Power amplification is performed using a power amplifier 412, the first UCI being at carrier frequency f ₁ And (5) up-transmitting. The first UCI is shown to be transmitted in a first PUCCH labeled PUCCH 1. PUCCH 1 has a specific bandwidth (BW 1) shown as carrier frequency f ₁ Is central but this is just one example. The transmission of the first UCI is in a specific time period t that may be scheduled _d1 The inner PUCCH 1. The time period is from the start time t _s1 Start to end time t _e1 And (5) ending.

The baseband processor 402 also outputs a signal for use on a second uplink carrier at carrier frequency f ₂ A second UCI associated with a second cell, TRP, and/or cell group is transmitted. The second UCI is sent to the transmit chain 424 for transmission. Transmit chain 424 performs digital-to-analog conversion using DAC 428 and up-converts to carrier frequency f using up-converter 430 ₂ Power amplification is performed using power amplifier 432, with the second UCI at carrier frequency f ₂ And (5) up-transmitting. The second UCI is shown to be transmitted in a second PUCCH labeled PUCCH 2. PUCCH 2 has a specific bandwidth (BW 2), which is shown as carrier frequency f ₂ Is central but this is just one example. The transmission of the second UCI is in a specific time period t that may be scheduled _d2 And is performed in PUCCH 2. The time period is from the start time t _s2 Start to end time t _e2 And (5) ending.

PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 are shown to occupy similar amounts of time-frequency resources, e.g., BW 1 and BW 2 are shown to be the same Bandwidth (centered on different frequencies), time period t _d1 Is shown as being equal to time period t _d2 (but with different start and end times). This is just one example. PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 may occupy different amounts of resources in the time and/or frequency domain.

Fig. 7 shows the time between the end of PUCCH 1 and the start of PUCCH 2 (i.e. t _e1 And t _s2 Between) a time interval t _gap Is an example of the above. The network may even intentionally schedule such time intervals. However, since the transmissions of PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 are at different carrier frequencies f on non-overlapping frequency resources ₁ And f ₂ Proceeding, and because there are two separate transmit chains 404 and 424, PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 may be transmitted by UE 110 on partially or fully overlapping time resources. For example, fig. 8 shows the variant of fig. 7, where there is a time overlap t between the beginning of PUCCH 2 and the end of PUCCH 1 _overlap . The overlap may occur for different reasons, e.g. the overlap may be scheduled by the network, and/or may be two different carrier frequencies f ₁ And f ₂ And (3) uplink transmission is asynchronous.

As described above, the cost of providing multiple transmit chains at UE 110 may be high, for example, in terms of power consumption and/or more physical space (e.g., for heat dissipation) occupied by UE 110. For example, the cost of implementing two separate transmit chains 404 and 424 may be high, in part because of the provision of two separate power amplifiers 412 and 432, and so on. Accordingly, an alternative embodiment is disclosed below in which a single transmit chain is used to transmit a first UCI on PUCCH 1 and a second UCI on PUCCH 2 by time division multiplexing. This may enable UE 110 with fewer transmit chains (e.g., only a single transmit chain) to operate in the following scenario: there are a plurality of different UCI associated with different cells, TRPs, and/or cell groups to transmit.

Fig. 9 illustrates that one embodiment provides for UE 110 with only a single transmit chain 504. The transmit chain 504 includes a DAC 508, an up-converter 510, a power amplifier 512, and one or more antennas 514 (which may also be panels). Unlike the transmit chains 404 and 424 shown in fig. 7 and 8, the transmit chain 504 canMultiple RF oscillators or the like can be used at two carrier frequencies f ₁ And f ₂ Switching between. Such switching may be accomplished by switch 520. The handoff process requires a handoff time t associated with reconfiguring the transmit chain 504 _switch To be able to at the carrier frequency f ₂ Over, but not at, carrier frequency f ₁ And vice versa. Switching time t _switch May also be referred to as a "handoff duration (switching duration)". In operation, baseband processor 404 time multiplexes the first UCI and the second UCI in the manner described herein. The first UCI is on PUCCH 1 with carrier frequency f through transmit chain 504 ₁ The second UCI is transmitted on PUCCH 2 at carrier frequency f through transmit chain 504 ₂ And (5) transmitting. At carrier frequency f ₁ Up-transmitting the first UCI and at carrier frequency f ₂ There must be equal to or greater than the switching time t between the upper transmissions of the second UCI (and vice versa) _switch Is a constant value, and is a constant value.

Fig. 9 shows one example of a first UCI transmission on PUCCH 1 to TRP 352 and a second UCI transmission on PUCCH 2 to TRP 372. TRP 352 implementation at carrier frequency f ₁ On-going receive chain, TRP 372 is implemented at carrier frequency f ₂ A receiving chain running on the upper part. Alternatively, the first UCI and the second UCI may be sent to the same TRP, in which case the TRP would be able to transmit at carrier frequency f ₁ And carrier frequency f ₂ The upper receive transmission, most likely by implementing two different receive chains (one for carrier frequency f ₁ Another is used for carrier frequency f ₂ ) Or by implementation to be able to be at the carrier frequency f ₁ And carrier frequency f ₂ And a receive chain switched between.

In fig. 9, there is a time interval t between the end of PUCCH 1 and the start of PUCCH 2 _gap . Let it be assumed that the time interval t _gap Equal to or greater than the switching time t _switch . For example, the network may schedule PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 in the time domain with time interval t _gap . However, in general, this may not be the case, with example scenarios discussed later, in which there is an overlap, no time interval, or no sufficiently large time between the end of PUCCH 1 and the beginning of PUCCH 2At intervals, UE 110 takes different actions.

In some embodiments, the first UCI and the second UCI transmitted on the single transmit chain 504 of fig. 9 may be associated with respective different cells. A cell may refer to a carrier. In some embodiments, the first UCI and the second UCI transmitted on the single transmit chain 504 of fig. 9 may be associated with respectively different cell groups. A cell group may refer to a group of carriers. In one example, UE 110 may communicate on a primary cell group and a secondary cell group. The master cell group may be used to establish a connection with the network and communicate on the user (data) plane and the control plane. The primary cell group may include a primary cell, which is a carrier for initial access. The secondary cell group may be used to communicate on the user (data) plane, but may not be in the control plane. The first UCI related to the primary cell group may be at carrier frequency f ₁ On a first uplink carrier of (a), a different second UCI related to a secondary cell group may be transmitted on a second uplink carrier having a carrier frequency f ₂ Is transmitted on the second uplink carrier of (c). As another example, the two cell groups may not necessarily be a primary cell group and a secondary cell group, e.g., the two cell groups may be respectively different secondary cell groups. In either case, in some embodiments, a cell group may have multiple downlink carriers, where a single uplink carrier is used to transmit any UCI (e.g., HARQ feedback) associated with the downlink carrier of the cell group. For example, a single uplink carrier may send HARQ feedback for a downlink transmission received on a downlink carrier associated with the cell group. A single uplink carrier for transmitting UCI associated with one cell group may be transmitted on the first uplink carrier at carrier frequency f ₁ Transmitting, on a second uplink carrier, a single uplink carrier for transmitting UCI associated with another cell group may be at carrier frequency f ₂ And (5) transmitting.

In some embodiments, the first UCI and the second UCI transmitted on the single transmit chain 504 of fig. 9 may be associated with respectively different PUCCH cell groups. A PUCCH cell group is a cell group in which there is a single uplink carrier for transmitting UCI associated with any carrier in the PUCCH cell group (e.g. HARQ inverse Feed). For example, a single uplink carrier may send HARQ feedback for downlink transmissions received on downlink carriers in a PUCCH cell group. The first PUCCH cell group may have a carrier frequency f ₁ An uplink carrier for transmitting a first UCI associated with the first PUCCH cell group, the second PUCCH cell group may have a carrier frequency f ₂ An uplink carrier for transmitting a second UCI associated with the second PUCCH cell group.

Fig. 10 shows a variant of fig. 9, in which a single transmit chain 504 can only be used at the carrier frequency f ₁ Up-transmit but not at carrier frequency f ₂ And (5) up-transmitting. Therefore, the second UCI transmitted on PUCCH 2 is not at carrier frequency f ₂ On, but at carrier frequency f ₁ And (5) up-transmitting. TRP 372 must be used at carrier frequency f ₁ And receiving PUCCH 2. In one example, in response to UE 110 transmitting a signal indicating that UE 110 is only at carrier frequency f ₁ A single transmit chain message running on (e.g., during initial access), TRP 372 may be used to use the information at carrier frequency f ₁ On (instead of at carrier frequency f ₂ Upper) operating receive a second UCI on PUCCH 2.

Fig. 10 shows one example of a first UCI transmission on PUCCH 1 to TRP 352 and a second UCI transmission on PUCCH 2 to TRP 372. TRP 352 implementation at carrier frequency f ₁ The upper run of the receive chain, TRP 372 is also implemented at carrier frequency f ₁ A receiving chain running on the upper part. Alternatively, the first UCI and the second UCI may be sent to the same TRP, in which case the TRP would be at carrier frequency f ₁ The first UCI on PUCCH 1 and the second UCI on PUCCH 2 are received on.

In some embodiments, the first UCI and the second UCI transmitted on the single transmit chain 504 of fig. 10 may be associated with respective different cells. A cell may refer to a carrier. In some embodiments, the first UCI and the second UCI transmitted on the single transmit chain 504 of fig. 10 may be associated with respectively different cell groups. A cell group may refer to a group of carriers. In one example, UE 110 may communicate on a primary cell group and a secondary cell group. The master cell group may be used to establish a connection with the network andand communicates on a user (data) plane and a control plane. The primary cell group may include a primary cell, which is a carrier for initial access. The secondary cell group may be used to communicate on the user (data) plane, but may not be in the control plane. The first UCI related to the primary cell group and the second UCI related to the secondary cell group are both in the carrier frequency f ₁ Is transmitted on the same uplink carrier as the uplink carrier. As another example, the two cell groups may not necessarily be a primary cell group and a secondary cell group, e.g., the two cell groups may be respectively different secondary cell groups. In either case, in some embodiments, a cell group may have multiple downlink carriers, where a single uplink carrier is used to transmit any UCI (e.g., HARQ feedback) associated with the downlink carrier of the cell group. For example, a single uplink carrier may send HARQ feedback for a downlink transmission received on a downlink carrier associated with the cell group. A single uplink carrier for transmitting a first UCI associated with one cell group may be transmitted on the first uplink carrier at carrier frequency f ₁ A single uplink carrier for transmitting a second UCI associated with another cell group may also be transmitted on the first uplink carrier at carrier frequency f ₁ And (5) transmitting. In some embodiments, the first UCI and the second UCI transmitted on the single transmit chain 504 of fig. 10 may be associated with respectively different PUCCH cell groups. A PUCCH cell group is a cell group in which there is a single uplink carrier for transmitting UCI (e.g., HARQ feedback) associated with any carrier in the PUCCH cell group. For example, a single uplink carrier may send HARQ feedback for downlink transmissions received on downlink carriers in a PUCCH cell group. The first PUCCH cell group may have a carrier frequency f ₁ An uplink carrier for transmitting a first UCI associated with the first PUCCH cell group, the second PUCCH cell group may have a carrier frequency also f ₁ An uplink carrier for transmitting a second UCI associated with the second PUCCH cell group.

Fig. 11 shows another variant of fig. 9, in which a single transmit chain 504 can only be used at the carrier frequency f ₂ Up-transmit but not at carrier frequency f ₁ And (5) up-transmitting. Thus, in PUCCThe first UCI sent on H1 is not at carrier frequency f ₁ On, but at carrier frequency f ₂ And (5) up-transmitting. TRP 352 must be used at carrier frequency f ₂ And receiving PUCCH 1. In one example, in response to UE 110 transmitting a signal indicating that UE 110 is only at carrier frequency f ₂ A single transmit chain message running on (e.g., during initial access), TRP 352 may be used to use the information at carrier frequency f ₂ On (instead of at carrier frequency f ₁ Upper) operating receive the first UCI on PUCCH 1.

Fig. 11 shows one example of a first UCI transmission on PUCCH 1 to TRP 352 and a second UCI transmission on PUCCH 2 to TRP 372. TRP 352 implementation at carrier frequency f ₂ The upper run of the receive chain, TRP 372 is also implemented at carrier frequency f ₂ A receiving chain running on the upper part. Alternatively, the first UCI and the second UCI may be sent to the same TRP, in which case the TRP would be at carrier frequency f ₂ The first UCI on PUCCH 1 and the second UCI on PUCCH 2 are received on.

In some embodiments, the first UCI and the second UCI transmitted on the single transmit chain 504 of fig. 11 may be associated with respective different cells. A cell may refer to a carrier. In some embodiments, the first UCI and the second UCI transmitted on the single transmit chain 504 of fig. 11 may be associated with respectively different cell groups. A cell group may refer to a group of carriers. In one example, UE 110 may communicate on a primary cell group and a secondary cell group. The master cell group may be used to establish a connection with the network and communicate on the user (data) plane and the control plane. The primary cell group may include a primary cell, which is a carrier for initial access. The secondary cell group may be used to communicate on the user (data) plane, but may not be in the control plane. The first UCI related to the primary cell group and the second UCI related to the secondary cell group are both in the carrier frequency f ₂ Is transmitted on the same uplink carrier as the uplink carrier. As another example, the two cell groups may not necessarily be a primary cell group and a secondary cell group, e.g., the two cell groups may be respectively different secondary cell groups. In either case, in some embodiments, a cell group may have multiple downlink carriers Wherein a single uplink carrier is used to transmit any UCI (e.g., HARQ feedback) associated with the downlink carrier for that cell group. For example, a single uplink carrier may send HARQ feedback for a downlink transmission received on a downlink carrier associated with the cell group. A single uplink carrier for transmitting a first UCI associated with one cell group may be on a second uplink carrier at carrier frequency f ₂ A single uplink carrier for transmitting a second UCI associated with another cell group may also be transmitted on the second uplink carrier at carrier frequency f ₂ And (5) transmitting. In some embodiments, the first UCI and the second UCI transmitted on the single transmit chain 504 of fig. 11 may be associated with respectively different PUCCH cell groups. A PUCCH cell group is a cell group in which there is a single uplink carrier for transmitting UCI (e.g., HARQ feedback) associated with any carrier in the PUCCH cell group. For example, a single uplink carrier may send HARQ feedback for downlink transmissions received on downlink carriers in a PUCCH cell group. The first PUCCH cell group may have a carrier frequency f ₂ An uplink carrier for transmitting a first UCI associated with the first PUCCH cell group, the second PUCCH cell group may have a carrier frequency also f ₂ An uplink carrier for transmitting a second UCI associated with the second PUCCH cell group.

The embodiments in fig. 9 to 11 all assume that there is a time interval t between the end of PUCCH 1 and the start of PUCCH 2 _gap Also in fig. 9, it is assumed that the time interval t _gap Equal to or greater than the transmit chain 504 at carrier frequency f ₁ And carrier frequency f ₂ Time t required for switching between upper runs _switch 。

Fig. 12 more generally shows that there is a time interval t between the end of PUCCH 1 and the start of PUCCH 2 _gap Is an example of the case of (a). Scheduling UE 110 transmits a first UCI on a first set of time-frequency resources of PUCCH 1 and scheduling UE 110 transmits a second UCI on a second set of time-frequency resources of PUCCH 2. The frequency resources of PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 may or may not overlap, depending on whether a single transmit chain 504 is on the same carrier frequency (e.g., as shown in fig. 10 and 11) or on two different carrier frequenciesPUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 are sent in rate (e.g., as shown in fig. 9), and so on. In either case, the time resources of PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 do not overlap, so transmit chain 504 may transmit all PUCCH 1 and then all PUCCH 2 by time multiplexing without any overlap of symbols in PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2. For example, in fig. 12, PUCCH 1 is first transmitted and then PUCCH 2 is transmitted through transmit chain 504. Time interval t _gap May be equal to or greater than 0 and it is assumed in fig. 12 that if the transmit chain 504 is capable of transmitting PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 on different carrier frequencies (as shown in fig. 9), then the time interval t _gap At least with the switching time t _switch As long.

In some embodiments, for example, uplink transmissions of a first UCI on PUCCH 1 and a second UCI on PUCCH 2 may be synchronized on respective radio frames with time-aligned radio frame boundaries. In this case, the network may be able to intentionally schedule the time interval t between the end of UE 110 transmitting PUCCH 1 and the beginning of UE 110 transmitting PUCCH 2 _gap This is because the network knows the transmission time of PUCCH 1 with respect to PUCCH 2 due to synchronization. For example, the downlink carrier on the primary cell may carry one or more messages with scheduling information indicating to UE 110 when UE 110 transmits PUCCH 1 and when UE 110 transmits PUCCH 2. The scheduling information may provide a suitable time interval t between the end of PUCCH 1 and the start of PUCCH 2 _gap And due to the synchronization of the uplink transmission, this time interval may exist in the actual uplink transmission sent by UE 110. If PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 are transmitted on the same carrier frequency (as shown in fig. 10 and 11), then time interval t _gap May be equal to or greater than 0, if PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 are transmitted on different carrier frequencies (as shown in fig. 9), then time interval t _gap May be equal to or greater than the switching time t _switch . In some embodiments, one or more messages from the network may explicitly indicate a time interval, or conversely, a time interval may be indirectly indicated by indicating when PUCCH 2 starts versus when PUCCH 1 ends. In some embodiments, time interval t _gap May be in higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling) or in a MAC control element(control element, CE). In some embodiments, time interval t _gap May be specified in an information element (information element, IE) (e.g., cellGroupConfig IE).

However, the following may be present: there is a time overlap between scheduling UE 110 to transmit a first UCI on PUCCH 1 and a second UCI on PUCCH 2. The time overlap may be due to a number of factors. Example factors may include one or both of the following:

(1) The network may not be able to coordinate the transmission of PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 in time during scheduling because the network considers PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 to be transmitted on separate transmit chains, e.g., in parallel on non-overlapping frequency resources. For example, scheduling information, higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling), MAC CE, or IE (e.g., one or more CellGroupConfig IE) may indicate that there is a time overlap. The time overlap may be represented as a time interval between the end of PUCCH 1 and the start of PUCCH 2 that is less than 0. In some examples, the network may schedule a time interval equal to or greater than 0 between the end of PUCCH 1 and the beginning of PUCCH 2, but the transmit chain 504 may need to switch carrier frequencies between transmissions of PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 (as shown in fig. 9), and the time interval may be less than the switching time, i.e. t _gap <t _switch So that there is a temporal overlap.

(2) The network may schedule a time interval equal to or greater than 0 between the end of PUCCH 1 and the beginning of PUCCH 2, but lack of synchronization in different uplink transmission frames at UE 110 may result in PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 sometimes overlapping partially or completely in time. In some examples, there may be a time interval between the end of PUCCH 1 and the beginning of PUCCH 2, but transmit chain 504 may need to switch the carrier frequency between transmissions of PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 (as shown in fig. 9), and the time interval may be less than the switching time, i.e. t _gap <t _switch So that there is a temporal overlap.

Depending on the local time when UE 110 transmits PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2, UE 110 may determine if there would be a time overlap between transmissions of PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 when the transmissions are time multiplexed on a single transmit chain 504, as the case may be. In some embodiments, for a given transmission of PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2, a processor in UE 110 (e.g., baseband processor 402 or processor 210) determines whether there is a time overlap based on the local clock of UE 110 as to when PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 are transmitted. If the time interval between the end of transmission of one and the start of transmission of the other is less than 0, then there is overlap. In general, there may be some cases where there is overlap, and sometimes where there is no overlap.

Fig. 13 illustrates examples of time overlaps and different rules that may be implemented by UE 110 in various scenarios. In fig. 13, it is assumed that UE 110 encounters the following: the first UCI on PUCCH 1 overlaps in time with the second UCI on PUCCH 2. In this example, the time overlap is a period t in which the end portion of PUCCH 1 overlaps the start portion of PUCCH 2 _overlap . Even though PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 are transmitted on non-overlapping frequency resources (as shown in fig. 9), PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 need to be transmitted by time multiplexing over a single transmit chain 504, indicating that PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 are at t _overlap The inner symbols cannot be transmitted simultaneously. This overlap in time indicates that UE 110 needs to implement rules on how to handle this situation. Various rules are possible that are known to both UE 110 and the receiving device (e.g., one or more TRPs). For example, the rules may be preconfigured by the network, e.g., in higher layer control signaling (e.g., RRC signaling) or in MAC CEs sent from TRP. A non-exhaustive list of possible rules that may be implemented are as follows:

rule 1: the PUCCH having the first symbol later in time than the first symbol of another PUCCH is not completely transmitted. This is shown in scenario a of fig. 13: PUCCH 1 starts first, and thus all PUCCH 1 is transmitted. Symbols in PUCCH 2 that overlap PUCCH 1 in time are not transmitted (i.e., PUCCH 2 is at time length t _overlap Inner symbol). Thus, in this scenario, only the second UCI in PUCCH 2 is partially transmitted. The device (e.g., TRP) receiving PUCCH 2 may still attempt to decode the second UCI, which may be successful, depending on the validity of the forward error correction, the amount of second UCI lost, and so on.

Rule 2: completely transmitting the first symbolPUCCH that is later in time than the first symbol of another PUCCH. This is shown in scenario B of fig. 13: PUCCH 2 starts later, so all PUCCH 2 is transmitted. Symbols in PUCCH 1 that overlap PUCCH 2 in time are not transmitted (i.e., PUCCH 1 is at time length t _overlap Inner symbol). Thus, in this scenario, only the first UCI in PUCCH 1 is partially transmitted. The device (e.g., TRP) receiving PUCCH 1 may still attempt to decode the first UCI, which may be successful, depending on the validity of the forward error correction, the amount of first UCI lost, etc.

For rule 1 and/or rule 2: in some embodiments, if the first symbol in PUCCH 1 and the first symbol in PUCCH 2 are aligned in time, UE 110 is to transmit the PUCCH corresponding to the primary cell group. The primary cell group may be configured in higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling) or in MAC CE. An IE (e.g., pCellConfig) may be used to indicate the master cell group. A master cell group may sometimes be referred to as a master cell group.

Rule 3: if there is a time overlap of PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2, the PUCCH associated with the primary cell group may be completely transmitted without transmitting the overlapping symbol in the other PUCCH. Scenario a of fig. 13 is implemented in the case where PUCCH 1 is associated with a primary cell group, and scenario B of fig. 13 is implemented in the case where PUCCH 2 is associated with a primary cell group.

Rule 4: if there is a time overlap between PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2, the PUCCH associated with the lower transmission power may be completely transmitted without transmitting the overlapped symbol in the other PUCCH. Scenario a of fig. 13 is implemented in the case where PUCCH 1 is associated with lower transmission power, and scenario B of fig. 13 is implemented in the case where PUCCH 2 is associated with lower transmission power. The idea behind rule 4 is that a PUCCH configured with lower transmission power may indicate that the channel condition of the PUCCH is better (e.g., higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)), so that the PUCCH is likely to be decoded and therefore should be transmitted completely. A lower transmission power may also indicate that the transmission is less likely to interfere with transmissions of other UEs. The opposite rule may be implemented: the PUCCH associated with higher transmission power is transmitted entirely because it may carry more important information, or the channel condition of the PUCCH is not so good, etc., so omitting part of the PUCCH may result in the receiver failing to decode the PUCCH. In some embodiments, rule 3 may be implemented if the transmission power of PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 are the same.

Rule 5: the time overlap between PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 results in only one of PUCCH 1 or PUCCH 2 being transmitted, and the other not being transmitted at all. This is the case in scenes C and D of fig. 13. The PUCCH transmitted may depend on: which PUCCH starts earlier (e.g., the first PUCCH to start is transmitted, and the other PUCCH is not transmitted); and/or which PUCCH starts late (e.g., transmit a PUCCH that starts later, and not transmit another PUCCH); and/or which PUCCH is associated with the primary cell group (e.g., the PUCCH associated with the primary cell group is transmitted, and the PUCCH associated with the secondary cell group is not transmitted). In some embodiments, if the temporal overlap is less than a predetermined threshold (e.g., t _overlap Smaller duration) then rule 1, 2, 3 or 4 is followed, but once the time overlap is greater than a predetermined threshold (e.g., t _overlap Longer duration of (c) is greater), rule 5 is followed. This is because if the overlap is too large, it may not be worth transmitting a partial PUCCH because the partial PUCCH may not be decodable.

In some embodiments, network configures UE 110 to transmit only the first UCI or the second UCI when there is a time overlap.

In some embodiments, the network may configure UE 110 to transmit only a single PUCCH (rather than simultaneously transmitting PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2). A single PUCCH may be used to carry both the first UCI and the second UCI, or the network may configure UE 110 to carry only the first UCI or the second UCI, e.g., the network may configure UE 110 to carry only UCI associated with the primary cell group (e.g., via a message sent from TRP). Configuring a single PUCCH to carry both the first UCI and the second UCI, or to carry only the first UCI, or to carry only the second UCI, may be performed semi-statically or dynamically. For example, such a configuration may be indicated in RRC signaling from the TRP, or in a MAC CE from the TRP, or in DCI from the TRP, and such a configuration may vary over time. In such an implementation, transmit chain 504 may not switch Carrier frequency, but only at carrier frequency f ₁ Up (as shown in fig. 10) or only at carrier frequency f ₂ A single PUCCH is transmitted up (as shown in fig. 11). In other implementations, the transmit chain 504 may be capable of switching carrier frequencies (as shown in fig. 9), and the network may configure the UE 110 to use carrier frequency f (e.g., via a message sent from TRP) ₁ Or carrier frequency f ₂ To transmit a single PUCCH. Such configuration may be semi-static (e.g., in RRC signaling or MAC CE) or dynamic (e.g., in DCI).

Consider the following scenario: PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 are both transmitted over a single transmit chain 504, with transmit chain 504 being used at carrier frequency f ₁ Uplink PUCCH 1 and at carrier frequency f ₂ PUCCH 2 is transmitted upward as shown in fig. 9. The switching time t must be taken into account _switch Thus, even if there is a time interval between the end of PUCCH 1 and the start of PUCCH 2, part of PUCCH 1 or PUCCH 2 may not be transmitted. Fig. 14 illustrates an example provided by an embodiment in which the time interval between the end of PUCCH 1 and the start of PUCCH 2 is greater than or equal to the switching time. That is, t _switch ≤t _gap . In this example, transmit chain 504 has time at t _gap Inner slave carrier frequency f ₁ Switching to carrier frequency f ₂ Thus all the first UCI on PUCCH 1 and all the second UCI on PUCCH 2 may be transmitted through time multiplexing while there is no overlap in the time domain, as shown in scenario a of fig. 14.

Fig. 15 and 16 show that the time interval between the end of PUCCH 1 and the start of PUCCH 2 is less than the switching time (i.e. t _switch >t _gap ) Is a scene of (a). For the period of time between the end of the time interval and the end of the switching duration (instant length t _switch -t _gap ) Corresponding overlapping portions, one of the above-described rules 1 to 5 is implemented.

Scenario B of fig. 15 corresponds to the case where all PUCCH 1 is transmitted without transmitting the overlapping part of PUCCH 2 (shown by cross hatched block 602). For example, scenario B of fig. 15 may correspond to rule 1, rule 3 (where PUCCH 1 is associated with a primary cell group), or rule 4 (where PUCCH 1 is associated with a lower transmission power).

Scenario C of fig. 15 corresponds to the case where all PUCCH 2 is transmitted without transmitting the overlapping part of PUCCH 1 (shown by cross hatched block 604). For example, scenario C of fig. 15 may correspond to rule 2, rule 3 (where PUCCH 2 is associated with a primary cell group), or rule 4 (where PUCCH 2 is associated with a lower transmission power).

Scenes D and E of fig. 16 correspond to a case where the time overlap between PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 results in transmitting only one of PUCCH 1 or PUCCH 2 without transmitting the other at all. For example, scenes D and E of fig. 16 may correspond to rule 5.

In all of the embodiments described above in connection with fig. 9 to 16, it may be the case that: PUCCH 1 carries UCI related to a primary TRP and/or a primary cell group (which may also be referred to as a primary TRP/primary cell group). It is also possible that: PUCCH 2 carries UCI related to the secondary TRP and/or secondary cell group. In some embodiments, "cell" refers to a "carrier" with a cell group having one or more carriers, and communication between UE 110 and the network may occur on a primary cell group (with user/data plane and control plane) and a secondary cell group (with user/data plane only). In the primary cell group, there may be one primary cell, which is the cell used for initial access. The PUCCH cell group means that there is one PUCCH carrier for transmitting UCI associated with all downlink transmissions associated with the PUCCH cell group. In some embodiments, for example, in the first PUCCH cell group, PUCCH 1 carries UCI related to the primary cell group such that UCI on PUCCH 1 relates to all downlink transmissions received in the cell group, e.g., HARQ feedback for these downlink transmissions. In some embodiments, for example, in the second PUCCH cell group, PUCCH 2 carries UCI related to the secondary cell group such that UCI on PUCCH 2 relates to all downlink transmissions received in the cell group, e.g., HARQ feedback for these downlink transmissions.

In any of the embodiments described above in connection with fig. 9-16, it may be the case that: one, part or all of physical layer parameters of PUCCH 1 and PUCCH2 may be configured separately. For example, messages from the TRP may configure power control parameters and/or PUCCH formats and/or PUCCH time resources and/or PUCCH frequency resources for PUCCH 1 and PUCCH2, respectively.

Any of the embodiments described above in connection with fig. 9-16 may be modified such that the control information is not necessarily UCI transmitted on PUCCH. Instead, control information may be sent to another UE, for example, on a side-uplink channel. For example, PUCCH 1 may be replaced with a first control channel carrying first control information that may be intended for another UE. As another example, PUCCH2 may additionally or alternatively be replaced with a second control channel carrying second control information that may be intended for another UE (if the first control information is also sent to the UE, the other UE may be the same as the UE to which the first control information is sent).

In some embodiments, UE 110 indicates to the network the transmit chain capabilities of UE 110, e.g., whether UE 110 has two separate transmit chains 404 and 424 (as shown in fig. 7 and 8) or whether UE 110 has a single transmit chain 504. If UE 110 has a single transmit chain 504, UE 110 may indicate whether UE 110 may transmit information on multiple uplink carrier frequencies (as shown in fig. 9) or may only transmit information on a single uplink carrier frequency (as shown in fig. 10 and 11). For example, the transmit chain capability of UE 110 may be indicated in a capability report, e.g., in a message sent to the TRP during initial access. The network may configure UE 110 appropriately based on the reporting capabilities of UE 110. For example, if UE 110 indicates that UE 110 has two transmit chains 404 and 424, the network may not configure time multiplexing rules for UE 110 and the network may not consider whether there is time overlap of scheduled PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2. However, if UE 110 indicates that UE 110 has only a single transmit chain 504, the network may instruct the TRP to transmit a configuration message to UE 110, where the configuration message configures a time division multiplexing rule, e.g., any of rules 1 through 5 described above, if there is an overlap. The network may also intentionally schedule a time interval equal to or greater than 0 between the end of one PUCCH and the start of the next PUCCH.

FIG. 17 illustrates a method performed by an apparatus and device provided by one embodiment. The apparatus may be, but is not necessarily, an ED 110, e.g., a UE. The device may be, but is not necessarily, a network device, e.g., a TRP.

Optionally, in step 702, the apparatus transmits an indication to the device that the apparatus has a single transmit chain to support transmission of the first control information and the second control information. The first control information may be associated with at least one of a first TRP, a first cell group, or a first PUCCH cell group. The second control information may be associated with at least one of a different second TRP, a different second cell group, or a different second PUCCH cell group. In optional step 704, the apparatus receives the indication from the device.

Optionally, in step 706, in response to receiving the indication in step 704, the apparatus sends a message to the device. The message configures the apparatus to perform time division multiplexing of the first control information and the second control information to transmit a part or all of the first control information and a part or all of the second control information using the single transmission chain. In optional step 708, the device receives the message.

In step 710, the apparatus transmits part or all of the first control information using the transmit chain. The first control information may be associated with at least one of a first TRP, a first cell group, or a first PUCCH cell group. In step 712, the apparatus transmits a portion or all of the second control information using the same transmit chain as the transmit chain used to transmit the portion or all of the first control information. The second control information may be associated with at least one of a different second TRP, a different second cell group, or a different second PUCCH cell group.

The transmitted first control information is time division multiplexed with the transmitted second control information. For example, if the device is a network device configuring the apparatus, the first control information and the second control information do not necessarily need to be sent to the device, but the control information is sent to another UE.

In some embodiments of the method of fig. 17, the first control information is first uplink control information, i.e., first UCI, may be transmitted on a first physical layer control channel (e.g., first PUCCH). In some embodiments of the method of fig. 17, the second control information is second uplink control information, i.e., second UCI, may be transmitted on a second physical layer control channel (e.g., second PUCCH). This is the case in the example explained above in connection with fig. 9 to 16, and any of the implementations and variants discussed in connection with any of the fig. 9 to 16 may be incorporated into the method of fig. 17. Note that the uplink is sometimes referred to as a "transmission link". Thus, herein, "uplink" may be interchangeably referred to as "transmission link", e.g., uplink control information may be referred to as transmission link control information and/or uplink carriers may be referred to as transmission link carriers.

In some embodiments of the method of fig. 17, the transmit chain of the apparatus includes an antenna port or transmit antenna.

In some embodiments, the first TRP and/or the second TRP mentioned above in fig. 17 may be a T-TRP, e.g., a NodeB. For example, the first TRP may be a first NodeB and the second TRP may be a second NodeB. In some embodiments, a NodeB may refer to a wireless network node that communicates with a wireless device or user equipment. For example, the NodeB may be a base station or an eNB/gNB.

From the perspective of the device, the following is a further embodiment described in connection with fig. 17. The following other embodiments assume that the first control information is first uplink control information and the second control information is second uplink control information. However, this is not necessary. The following embodiments apply even if the first control information and/or the second control information is not uplink control information.

In some embodiments, the apparatus transmits all first uplink control information and all second uplink control information using the transmit chain in response to a time interval of a predetermined length between an end of the first uplink control information and a start of the second uplink control information. Described above in connection with fig. 9 through 12 and 14 Examples are given. Any of the implementations and variations previously described in connection with fig. 9-12 and 14 may be incorporated into the method of fig. 17. In some embodiments, the first uplink control information and the second uplink control information are transmitted at the same carrier frequency (e.g., as shown in fig. 10 and 11), the predetermined time period is equal to or greater than 0 (e.g., the predetermined time period may be the time interval t discussed above in connection with fig. 10 and 11, etc.) _gap ). In some embodiments, the first uplink control information and the second uplink control information are transmitted at different carrier frequencies (e.g., as shown in fig. 9 and 14), the predetermined duration is equal to or greater than a carrier frequency switching duration (e.g., the predetermined duration may be the switching time t discussed above in connection with fig. 9 and 14, etc.) _switch )。

In some embodiments, the apparatus transmits the first portion of the first uplink control information using the transmit chain without transmitting the second portion of the second uplink control information in response to a time overlap between the first portion of the first uplink control information and the second portion of the second uplink control information. Examples were described above in connection with fig. 13, 15, and 16. Any of the implementations and variations previously described in connection with fig. 13, 15, and 16 may be incorporated into the method of fig. 17. In some embodiments, the first uplink control information is sent earlier in time than the second uplink control information is sent, for example, as shown in scenario a of fig. 13. In some embodiments, the first uplink control information is sent later in time than the second uplink control information is sent, for example, as shown in scenario B of fig. 13 (assuming that in this scenario the "first uplink control information" is the second UCI sent in PUCCH 2 in fig. 13). In some embodiments, the first uplink control information is associated with a primary cell group. In some embodiments, the first uplink control information is associated with a lower transmit power. In some embodiments, the apparatus may receive a message, wherein the message configures the apparatus to transmit the first portion without transmitting the second portion in response to a temporal overlap between the first portion and the second portion.

In some embodiments, the message in step 706 is sent from the first TRP. In some embodiments, some or all of the first uplink control information is received at the first TRP. In some embodiments, some or all of the second uplink control information is received at the second TRP.

In some embodiments, the message sent at step 706 configures the apparatus to send the first portion of the first uplink control information without sending the second portion of the second uplink control information in response to a temporal overlap between the first portion of the first uplink control information and the second portion of the second uplink control information. Examples were described above in connection with fig. 13, 15, and 16. Any of the implementations and variations previously described in connection with fig. 13, 15, and 16 may be incorporated into the method of fig. 17. In some embodiments, the first uplink control information may be associated with a primary cell group. In some embodiments, the first uplink control information may be associated with a lower transmit power.

In some embodiments, the method of fig. 17 may include: the device sends at least one message, wherein the message configures a first physical layer parameter to send the first uplink control information and configures a different second physical layer parameter to send the second uplink control information.

In some embodiments, some or all of the first uplink control information is received on a first carrier and some or all of the second uplink control information is received on a different second carrier. In other embodiments, some or all of the first uplink control information and some or all of the second uplink control information are received on the same carrier.

Examples of apparatuses (e.g., ED or UE) and devices (e.g., TRP) that perform the various methods described herein are also disclosed.

The apparatus may include a memory to store processor-executable instructions and at least one processor to execute the processor-executable instructions. The processor-executable instructions, when executed by the processor, may cause the processor to perform the method steps of the apparatus described herein in connection with fig. 17, etc. For example, the at least one processor may output part or all of the first control information for transmission on a transmission chain, and output part or all of the second control information for transmission on the same transmission chain, wherein the first control information to be transmitted is time division multiplexed with the second control information to be transmitted.

The apparatus may include a memory to store processor-executable instructions and at least one processor to execute the processor-executable instructions. The processor-executable instructions, when executed by the processor, may cause the processor to perform the method steps of the apparatus described above in connection with fig. 17 and the like. For example, the processor may receive an indication that the device has a single transmit chain to support transmission of the first control information and the second control information. The indication may be received by receiving the indication at an input of the processor, e.g. the indication may be received in a signal at TRP, which signal (or a version after processing the signal) may be forwarded to the processor to obtain the indication. The indication may be derived by the processor decoding the signal. As another example, the processor may output a message for transmission to the apparatus, wherein the message configures the apparatus to perform time division multiplexing of the first control information and the second control information. For another example, the processor may then receive some or all of the first control information and some or all of the second control information from the device. The first control information and the second control information may be received at an input of the processor. For example, the first control information and the second control information may be time multiplexed on one or more signals transmitted from the apparatus and received at one or more TRPs. The received one or more signals are then forwarded to the processor, possibly after processing the one or more signals. The one or more signals are then used to obtain control information in the processor. The acquiring may include decoding one or more signals to obtain the control information.

Technical advantages of some embodiments herein include that an apparatus (e.g., UE 110) need not implement two transmit chains to support DC and CA with two PUCCH groups. In commercial wireless networks, the potential benefits of having two cell groups of DC and CA can still be realized because the UE can still use a single transmit chain to support DC and CA with two PUCCH cell groups.

Note that the expression "at least one of a or B" as used herein can be interchanged with the expression "a and/or B". The expression refers to a list of which a or B or a and B can be selected. Similarly, at least one of "A, B or C" as used herein is interchangeable with "a and/or B and/or C" or "A, B and/or C". The expression refers to a list of which the following can be selected: all of A or B or C, or A and B, or A and C, or B and C, or A, B and C. The same principle applies to longer lists with the same format.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specific features and embodiments thereof, various modifications and combinations can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The specification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded only as illustrative of some embodiments of the invention as defined in the appended claims, and any and all modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents that come within the scope of the invention are considered. Although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail, various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the invention as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. It will be readily understood by those of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure that processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according to the present invention. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.

Furthermore, any of the modules, components, or devices illustrated herein that execute instructions may include or otherwise access one or more non-transitory computer/processor-readable storage media to store information, such as computer/processor-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and/or other data. A non-exhaustive list of examples of non-transitory computer/processor readable storage media include magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, compact disk read-only (compact disc read-only memory, CD-ROM), digital video disk or digital versatile disk (digital video disc/digital versatile disc, DVD), blu-ray disk ^TM Such as optical disks, or other optical storage, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory), flash memory, or other storage technology. Any of these non-transitory computer/processor storage media may be part of, or accessed or connected by, a device. Any of the applications or modules described herein may be implemented using computer/processor readable/executable instructions that may be stored or otherwise maintained by the non-transitory computer/processor readable storage media.

Claims

1. A method performed by an apparatus, the method comprising:

transmitting part or all of first uplink control information using a transmission chain, wherein the first uplink control information is associated with at least one of a first Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), a first cell group, or a first Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) cell group;

transmitting a part or all of second uplink control information using the same transmission chain as the transmission chain for transmitting the part or all of first uplink control information, wherein the second uplink control information is associated with at least one of a different second TRP, a different second cell group, or a different second PUCCH cell group;

and the transmitted first uplink control information and the transmitted second uplink control information are subjected to time division multiplexing.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

and transmitting all the first uplink control information and all the second uplink control information by using the transmission chain in response to a time interval with a preset duration between the end of the first uplink control information and the start of the second uplink control information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first uplink control information and the second uplink control information are transmitted at the same carrier frequency, and wherein the predetermined time period is equal to or greater than 0.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the first uplink control information and the second uplink control information are transmitted at different carrier frequencies, and wherein the predetermined duration is equal to or greater than a carrier frequency switching duration.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising:

the first portion of the first uplink control information is transmitted using the transmit chain without transmitting the second portion of the second uplink control information in response to a temporal overlap between the first portion of the first uplink control information and the second portion of the second uplink control information.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the method further comprises:

a message is received, wherein the message configures the apparatus to transmit the first portion without transmitting the second portion in response to the temporal overlap between the first portion and the second portion.

7. The method of claim 5 or 6, wherein the first uplink control information is transmitted earlier in time than the second uplink control information.

8. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the transmission of the first uplink control information starts later in time than the transmission of the second uplink control information.

9. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the first uplink control information is associated with a primary cell group.

10. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the first uplink control information is associated with a lower transmission power.

11. The method according to any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the transmit chain comprises an antenna port or a transmit antenna.

12. The method according to any of claims 1 to 11, wherein the first TRP is a first NodeB and the second TRP is a second NodeB.

13. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first uplink control information transmitted using the transmit chain is transmitted on a first carrier frequency and the second uplink control information transmitted using the transmit chain is transmitted on a second carrier frequency, the method further comprising:

The transmission chain is switched from the first carrier frequency to the second carrier frequency after the first uplink control information is transmitted and before the second uplink control information is transmitted.

14. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first uplink control information and the second uplink control information are transmitted on the same carrier frequency.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, further comprising:

receiving at least one message, wherein the at least one message configures a first physical layer parameter to send a first physical layer parameter of the first uplink control information and configures a different second physical layer parameter to send the second uplink control information;

and the sent first uplink control information is sent by using the first physical layer parameter, and the sent second uplink control information is sent by using the second physical layer parameter.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, further comprising:

acquiring third uplink control information associated with at least one of the first TRP, the first cell group, or the first PUCCH cell group;

Acquiring fourth uplink control information associated with at least one of the different second TRP, the different second cell group, or the different second PUCCH cell group;

and transmitting the third uplink control information using the transmission chain without transmitting the fourth uplink control information in response to a time overlap between a part or all of the third uplink control information and a part or all of the fourth uplink control information.

17. An apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory storing processor-executable instructions, wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed, cause the at least one processor to:

outputting part or all of first uplink control information for transmission on a transmission chain, wherein the first uplink control information is associated with at least one of a first Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), a first cell group, or a first Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) cell group;

outputting a part or all of second uplink control information for transmission on the same transmission chain as the transmission chain for transmitting the part or all of first uplink control information, wherein the second uplink control information is associated with at least one of a different second TRP, a different second cell group, or a different second PUCCH cell group;

And the first uplink control information to be sent and the second uplink control information to be sent are subjected to time division multiplexing.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the at least one processor is configured to output all first uplink control information and all second uplink control information for transmission on the transmit chain in response to a predetermined time interval between an end of the first uplink control information and a beginning of the second uplink control information.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the first uplink control information and the second uplink control information are for transmission on a same carrier frequency, the predetermined duration being equal to or greater than 0.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the first uplink control information and the second uplink control information are for transmission on different carrier frequencies, and wherein the predetermined duration is equal to or greater than a carrier frequency switching duration.

21. The apparatus of any of claims 17-20, wherein the at least one processor, in response to a temporal overlap between the first portion of the first uplink control information and the second portion of the second uplink control information, is to: (i) Outputting a first portion of the first uplink control information for transmission on the transmit chain, (ii) not outputting a second portion of the second uplink control information for transmission on the transmit chain.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive a message, wherein the message configures the apparatus to transmit the first portion and not the second portion in response to the temporal overlap between the first portion and the second portion.

23. The apparatus of claim 21 or 22, wherein the first uplink control information is transmitted earlier in time than the second uplink control information.

24. The apparatus of claim 21 or 22, wherein the first uplink control information is transmitted later in time than the second uplink control information is transmitted.

25. The apparatus according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the first uplink control information is associated with a primary cell group.

26. The apparatus according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the first uplink control information is associated with a lower transmission power.

27. The apparatus of any one of claims 17 to 26, wherein the transmit chain comprises an antenna port or a transmit antenna.

28. The apparatus according to any of claims 17 to 27, wherein the first TRP is a first NodeB and the second TRP is a second NodeB.

29. The apparatus according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the first uplink control information is for transmission on a first carrier frequency and the second uplink control information is for transmission on a second carrier frequency, the apparatus being configured to: the transmission chain is switched from the first carrier frequency to the second carrier frequency after the first uplink control information is transmitted and before the second uplink control information is transmitted.

30. The apparatus of claim 17 or 18, wherein the first uplink control information and the second uplink control information are for transmission on a same carrier frequency.

31. The apparatus of any of claims 17-30, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive at least one message, wherein the at least one message configures a first physical layer parameter to send the first uplink control information and configures a different second physical layer parameter to send the second uplink control information; the first uplink control information is used for sending by using the first physical layer parameter, and the second uplink control information is used for sending by using the second physical layer parameter.

32. The apparatus of any one of claims 17 to 31, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

in response to a time overlap between a part or all of third uplink control information and a part or all of fourth uplink control information, outputting the third uplink control information for transmission on the transmission chain, without outputting the fourth uplink control information for transmission on the transmission chain.

33. A method performed by a device, the method comprising:

receiving, from an apparatus, an indication that the apparatus has a single transmit chain to support transmission of first uplink control information associated with at least one of a first Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), a first cell group, or a first Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) cell group and second uplink control information associated with at least one of a different second TRP, a different second cell group, or a different second PUCCH cell group;

In response to receiving the indication, sending a message for the apparatus, wherein the message configures the apparatus to perform time division multiplexing on the first uplink control information and the second uplink control information to send part or all of the first uplink control information and part or all of the second uplink control information using the single transmission chain;

and then receiving the part or all of the first uplink control information and the part or all of the second uplink control information from the device.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the message is transmitted from the first TRP, wherein the portion or all of the first uplink control information is received at the first TRP, and wherein the portion or all of the second uplink control information is received at the second TRP.

35. The method of claim 33 or 34, wherein the message configures the apparatus to transmit the first portion of the first uplink control information and not the second portion of the second uplink control information in response to a temporal overlap between the first portion of the first uplink control information and the second portion of the second uplink control information.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the first uplink control information is associated with a primary cell group.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein the first uplink control information is associated with a lower transmit power.

38. The method according to any one of claims 33 to 37, further comprising: and transmitting at least one message, wherein the at least one message configures a first physical layer parameter to transmit the first uplink control information and configures a different second physical layer parameter to transmit the second uplink control information.

39. The method according to any of claims 33 to 38, wherein part or all of the first uplink control information is received on a first carrier and part or all of the second uplink control information is received on a second, different carrier.

40. The method according to any of claims 33 to 38, wherein the part or all of the first uplink control information and the part or all of the second uplink control information are received on the same carrier.

41. The method of any one of claims 33 to 40, wherein the single transmit chain comprises an antenna port or a transmit antenna.

42. The method according to any one of claims 33 to 41, wherein the first TRP is a first NodeB and the second TRP is a second NodeB.

43. An apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

the receiving apparatus has a single transmit chain to support transmission of an indication of first uplink control information associated with at least one of a first Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), a first cell group, or a first Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) cell group and second uplink control information associated with at least one of a different second TRP, a different second cell group, or a different second PUCCH cell group;

in response to receiving the indication, outputting a message for transmission to the apparatus, wherein the message configures the apparatus to perform time division multiplexing on the first uplink control information and the second uplink control information to transmit a portion or all of the first uplink control information and a portion or all of the second uplink control information using the single transmission chain;

44. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the message is transmitted by the first TRP, the portion or all of the first uplink control information is to be received at the first TRP, and the portion or all of the second uplink control information is to be received at the second TRP.

45. The apparatus of claim 43 or 44, wherein the message configures the device to transmit the first portion of the first uplink control information and not the second portion of the second uplink control information in response to a temporal overlap between the first portion of the first uplink control information and the second portion of the second uplink control information.

46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the first uplink control information is associated with a primary cell group.

47. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the first uplink control information is associated with a lower transmission power.

48. The apparatus of any of claims 43-47, wherein the at least one processor is configured to output at least one message for transmission, wherein the at least one message configures a first physical layer parameter to transmit the first uplink control information and configures a different second physical layer parameter to transmit the second uplink control information.

49. An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 43 to 48, wherein part or all of the first uplink control information is to be received on a first carrier and part or all of the second uplink control information is to be received on a second, different carrier.

50. The apparatus according to any one of claims 43 to 48, wherein the part or all of the first uplink control information and the part or all of the second uplink control information are to be received on the same carrier.

51. The apparatus of any one of claims 43 to 50, wherein the single transmit chain comprises an antenna port or a transmit antenna.

52. The apparatus of any one of claims 43 to 51, wherein the first TRP is a first NodeB and the second TRP is a second NodeB.