GB2568486A

GB2568486A - Improvements in or relating to rate de-matching around resources used by control signalling

Info

Publication number: GB2568486A
Application number: GB1718966.3A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Liu Guang; Assouline Benny
Original assignee: TCL Communication Ltd
Current assignee: TCL Communication Ltd
Priority date: 2017-11-16
Filing date: 2017-11-16
Publication date: 2019-05-22
Anticipated expiration: 2037-11-16
Also published as: GB2568486B; GB201718966D0; CN111316738A; WO2019096037A1; CN111316738B

Abstract

A wireless communication device, for instance UE, accesses services provided by a Radio Access Network (RAN), wherein a scheduled resource for data transmission, PDSCH1, overlaps with a resource for a sporadically transmitted control signal, PI1, and wherein the data transmission is subsequently mapped to the scheduled resources. The intermittently transmitted control signal may be a pre-emption indicator (PI). The resources for the sporadically transmitted control signal may be scheduled by Downlink Control Information (DCI). The DCI may schedule a shared channel for a UE, the scheduled shared channel may be within a bandwidth part (BWP) of a UE. A rate de-matching indicator may be included in high layer signalling to indicate if one of more likelihood ratios (LLRs) should be flushed or not from one or more Control Resource Sets (CORESETs) associated with the sporadically transmitted control signal. The RAN may be a New Radio or 5G network.

Description

Improvements in or relating to rate de-matching around resources used by control signalling

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to wireless communication systems and in particular to devices and methods for enabling a wireless communication device, such as a User Equipment (UE) or mobile device to access a Radio Access Technology (RAT) or Radio Access Network (RAN). The invention relates, particularly but nor exclusively, to rate de-matching around resources which could be used by control signalling.

Background

Wireless communication systems, such as the third-generation (3G) of mobile telephone standards and technology are well known. Such 3G standards and technology have been developed by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The 3^rd generation of wireless communications has generally been developed to support macro-cell mobile phone communications. Communication systems and networks have developed towards a broadband and mobile system.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project has developed the so-called Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, namely, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunication System Territorial Radio Access Network, (E-UTRAN), for a mobile access network where one or more macro-cells are supported by a base station known as an eNodeB or eNB (evolved NodeB). More recently, LTE is evolving further towards the so-called 5G or NR (new radio) systems where one or more cells are supported by a base station known as a gNB.

One area of interest, is the support of pre-emption in NR. In 5G, Ultra-Reliable Low latency Communications (URLLC) is defined as one of the key target scenario to be supported. For URLLC, a low latency is required and should be about 0.5ms for UL, and 0.5ms for DL. For URLLC, a high reliability is requires and thus to support URLLC services, pre-emption is required in at least the DL.

In one slot of 14 symbols, the control region is at the beginning of the slot, at most 3 symbols can be configured and the data region is all the remaining symbols. It is assumed in this invention that some resources in both the control region and the data region are used by Reference Signal (RS) for channel estimation or measurement. The data region may be scheduled by the control region and multiple UEs could be multiplexed in both regions. When a URLLC packet is received from an upper layer after the control region, it may not be possible for the gNB to schedule a transmission from the control region. The solution to support URLLC is to pre-empt the ongoing data transmission (typically to eMBB UEs) and one or more symbols in the time domain and a number of Radio Bearers (RBs) in the frequency domain may be punctured and replaced with one or more URLLC transmissions.

It should be noted, that UEs may be indicate that downlink control channel is mapped in the first 1,2 or 3 symbols but it does not mean every Resource Element (RE) i.e., one subcarrier in one OFDM symbol, will be used by control channels. Some REs from the control region may be used by Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) with rate matching if there are not enough control channels.

Resources for URLLC services may be pre-configured to a URLLC UE in the format of a slot or mini-slot (1 or 2 symbols) and also different Subcarrier Spacing (SCS) may be used. A URLLC terminal will monitor the configured resources and a control signalling header in a manner similar to Downlink Control Information (DCI) may be transmitted simultaneously by gNB within the pre-empted area so that the URLLC UE can recognise the transmission is intended for it.

As can be seen in figure 1, some or all resources of eMBB UE’s DL transmission may be punctured. If the pre-emption is not indicated to the eMBB UE, the preempted part is included within the receiving procedure. As a result, in most cases, the decoding will fail. To solve this problem, it has been agreed to introduce a preemption indicator (PI) to indicate to eMBB UE which parts of the original scheduled data region are punctured so that the eMBB UE can nullify these parts in its receiving procedure and accordingly its DL decoding performance can be improved.

The PI should be explicitly transmitted by the gNB after the pre-emption, using a dedicated Group Common (GC) -DCI, and there could be two potential locations: one location is within the last few symbols of the current slot (i.e. the same slot in which pre-emption happens); the other location is within the control region (e.g. the first few symbols) of a later slot. More specifically, it is proposed by some companies that a number of continuous or discontinuous RBs in the last one or two symbols of the current slot may be used as COntrol REcourse SETs (CORESETs) of group common DCIs which carry Pls.

As is shown in figure 2, in New Radio (NR), a UE can be configured with one or multiple Component Carriers (CCs) and a set of Bandwidth Parts (BWPs) can be configured per CC. The motivation of BWP operation (i.e. having multiple configured BWPs) includes the following:

• Enabling reduced UE bandwidth capability within a wideband carrier • Enabling reduced UE power energy consumption by bandwidth adaptation • Enabling UE using different numerologies in FDM within a wideband carrier

Although a number of BWPs can be configured to the UE but at any moment a subset of all configured BPWs may be activated for each UE. The capability details to support multiple CCs and BWP configurations are reported by a UE so the gNB know how to do the configuration accordingly. BWP could be activated/de-activated dynamically by DCI among all the configured BWPs.

PI is carried by a group common DCI and group common Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) is the corresponding channel. The PI will include a bitmap which will indicate which parts of the data region are punctured. Two types of bitmap are defined. One is 14 x 1 which means the time is split into 14 parts (e.g., 1 symbol in each part) and the BWP is split into 1 part (equivalent to no splitting at all). The other is 7 x 2 which means the time is split into 7 parts (e.g., 2 symbols in each part) and the BWP is split into 2 equal size parts. Without considering CRC, at least 14 bits are required for the PI.

Since the bitmap is based on a specific active BWP, it cannot be shared by UEs with different active BWPs but as it is carried by a group common DCI, naturally it is expected to be shared by at least UEs with identical active BWP. The decision as to which PI bitmap type to use is RRC configurable and different UEs could be configured to use different bitmap.

As clarified above, the data region is scheduled by the control region and in each slot the scheduled PDSCH must be within the UE’s active BWP. However, the actual scheduled resources of a UE could be occupying a bandwidth less than its active BWP in frequency domain.

When there are multiple UEs with different active BWPs which may or may not overlap each other, the above example could be updated as is shown in figure 3 below. The resource set which could be used for control signaling transmission is shown in figure 3. The CORESET candidates could be either hard coded by specs or pre-configured to a UE and the UE monitors the control signaling from corresponding CORESET. For each PI, there must be at least one corresponding CORESET. There could be multiple CORESETs in the last 1 or 2 symbols of the slot for multiple UEs and for UEs with wide BWP (e.g., UE1 and maybe other UEs with identical BWP), more than one PI CORESETs could be located within its BWP.

URLLC services’ packets arrive sporadically and if no pre-emption happens in a slot, PI transmission in this slot is not necessary and corresponding resources for PI can be used by PDSCH to improve its reliability, throughput and overall system efficiency. Referring to figure 3, a remaining issue is how can UE1 know when the corresponding resources for PI2 and PI3 are not preempted for Pls and actually used by PDSCH.

The present invention is seeking to solve at least some of the outstanding problems in this domain.

Summary

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

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for enabling a wireless communication device to access services provided by a Radio Access Network, wherein a scheduled resource for data transmission overlaps with a resource for a sporadically transmitted control signal and wherein the data transmission is subsequently mapped to the scheduled resources.

Preferably, the sporadically transmitted control signal is a pre-emption indicator transmission/

Preferably, the resources for the sporadically transmitted control signal is scheduled by Downlink Control Information.

Preferably, the Downlink Control Information also schedules a shared channel for a UE and the scheduled shared channel is within an active bandwidth part of a UE.

Preferably, the shared channel is a Physical Downlink Shared Channel.

Preferably, the resources for the sporadically transmitted control signal which overlap with a bandwidth part of a device are configured to each device via high layer signalling.

Preferably, a rate de-matching indicator is included in the high layer signalling to indicate if one or more likelihood ratios should be flushed or not from one or more CORESETs associated with the sporadically transmitted control signal.

Preferably, the resources for the sporadically transmitted control signal are hard coded in a Standard

Preferably, the sporadically transmitted control signal is transmitted with a scheduled; configured; or hard coded resources if one or more pre-emptions take place.

Preferably, using a rate de-matching indicator made up of a reused or redefined an existing bit of the sporadically transmitted control signal.

Preferably, the UE monitors a sporadically transmitted control signal within its bandwidth part.

Preferably, the sporadically transmitted control signal is a pre-emption indicator.

Preferably, the resources of the sporadically transmitted control signal monitored by the UE are scheduled by the Downlink Control Information, which also schedules a shared channel.

Preferably, performing a cyclic redundancy check to determine if the UE flushes one or more likelihood ratios from a buffer of the device associated with one or more CORESET candidates.

Preferably, the buffer is flushed according to a rate de-matching indicator.

Preferably, the rate de-matching indicator is included in high layer signalling.

Preferably, the rate de-matching indicator is included in a monitored pre-emption Indicator

Preferably, the rate de-matching indicator is included in the pre-emption Indicator by reusing or redefining an existing bit of this pre-emption Indicator.

Preferably, the rate de-matching indicator is hard coded in the standard.

Preferably, an untargeted pre-emption Indicator is not a monitored pre-emption Indicator and its resources overlap with the UE’s active bandwidth part.

Preferably, the Radio Access Network is a New Radio/5G network.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a base station adapted to perform the method of another aspect of the present invention.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a UE adapted to perform the method of another aspect of the present invention.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a nontransitory computer readable medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon for execution by a processor to perform the method of another aspect of the present invention.

The non-transitory computer readable medium may comprise at least one from a group consisting of: a hard disk, a CD-ROM, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, a Read Only Memory, a Programmable Read Only Memory, an Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory, EPROM, an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory and a Flash memory.

Brief description of the drawings

Further details, aspects and embodiments of the invention will be described, by way of example only, with reference to the drawings. Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. Like reference numerals have been included in the respective drawings to ease understanding.

Figure 1 is an example of pre-emption, according to the prior art.

Figure 2 is a diagram showing a bandwidth part, according to the prior art.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing a bandwidth part for multiple UEs, according to the prior art.

Figure 4 is a diagram showing a separate PI scheduling message to be included in the UE-specific DCI, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5 is a diagram showing scheduled PDSCH2 that may not overlap with the preempted resources (Case A in figure 5) or that may overlap with the pre-empted resources (Case B in figure 5, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 6 is a diagram showing two types of bitmap, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiments

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

The present invention is related to wireless communication and more specifically, to rate de-matching around resources which may be used by control signalling.

A man skilled in the art may configure a number of PI CORESET candidates in the whole system bandwidth and this configuration could be done via system information and broadcasted to all UEs. Then in each UE’s specific Radio Resource Control (RRC) signalling, an index of the configured PI CORESET candidates can be included for each BWP so that the UE know which PI CORESET candidate to monitor when a BWP is activated. Resources of all configured PI CORESET candidates are precluded from PDSCH mapping.

In this invention, it is assumed the PI is located within the last symbol of the current slot but it does not impact this invention to be used if the PI is located elsewhere.

Without this invention, these resources cannot be used even when corresponding Pls are not transmitted and it equivalently increases the control signalling overhead. At least one PI is required for each BWP, there could be multiple BWPs in a cell and the wasted resources could be significant. This is based on an estimation having the following assumptions:

1. The PI payload size is around 30 bits including CRC;

2. After 1/3 channel coding, the encoded block is 90 bits;

3. 45 QPSK symbols;

4. 4 PRBs are required;

5. Considering a cell has to support at least 5 different BWPs, 20 PRBs need to be reserved which is 20% of the last symbol.

Based on the assumption that PI CORESET is semi-static and PDSCH is dynamically scheduled, it is unpredictable which one from PDSCH and PI will use the resources and there is no straightforward solution based on existing mechanisms to solve the problem. This invention introduces a new indicator to help the UE to make the decision as to whether the resources are used by PDSCH.

The present invention introduces a set of options to support dynamic sharing of resources that have been configured for control signalling that are transmitted in a sporadic manner. Potential resources for control signalling are pre-configured to each UE first and by default, the gNB will assume the pre-configured resources will not be used by said control signalling and map the PDSCH to these resources. Once pre-emption happens during the transmission, the gNB can insert the control signalling by puncturing the ongoing PDSCH transmission and at the same time, it further includes introducing a new indicator in the control signalling (including by reusing an existing control signalling bit) to indicate whether the resources are used by PDSCH. In a worst case, the indicator can be included in the RRC signalling to indicate a slow changing choice or hard coded by the specs to indicate one fixed choice but both may cause the pre-configured resources used less efficiently and/or introduce retrains to the gNB scheduler.

A number of options will now be discussed in more details. A first option (Option 1) is to dynamically schedule the PI CORESET instead of pre-configure it in advance with high layer signalling. For this option, both PI resources and PDSCH resources are dynamic and it will be relatively easy for the gNB scheduler to avoid overlapping a UE’s PDSCH with a PI which the UE will not receive. This thus further avoids the aforementioned problem occurring. A possible drawback of this option is the increased control signalling overhead to the DCI.

The basic idea is to use the scheduled PI resources for PDSCH if the PI is not actually transmitted otherwise the UE will preclude the PI resources when processing the PDSCH. This step is implemented in the terminal when rate de-matching is performed. Normally, the received transmission is saved in the buffer in the format of likelihood ratios (LLRs) which are input to the channel decoder. If the LLRs are polluted (pre-empted by either URLLC or PI), the performance of channel decoder decreases dramatically and that is why the polluted LLRs should be flushed from the buffer.

To do this, the resources for Pl(s) need to be known by the terminal. PI resources are scheduled to each UE. A separate PI scheduling message needs to be included in the UE-specific DCI. An example can be found below in figure 4. UE1-specific DCI schedules PDSCH1 to UE1 and at the same time, the included PH scheduling message schedules resources for PH. Resources of PH could be a sub-set of the scheduled PDSCH1 resources or a sub-set of scheduled PDSCH resources of another UE who also needs to receive PH. Resources of PH should not overlap with PDSCH resources of another UE who does not receive this PI, for instance, PH should not overlap with PDSCH2. Similarly, UE2-specific DCI schedules PDSCH2 to UE2 and at the same time, the included PI2 scheduling message schedules resources for PI2.

Since PI is scheduled by DCI, its position is dynamic. When two or more UEs have identical BWP, the gNB can schedule the same PI resources to all of them for sharing. The gNB maps PDSCH to all scheduled resources including those for a PI. When pre-emption happens during the transmission, the gNB transmits the PI by puncturing the corresponding resources scheduled for PI. If a PI is scheduled, the UE tries to decode the PI and if it is detected (CRC check pass), the terminal flushes those LLRs from the resources scheduled for this PI, otherwise (CRC check fail) the terminal does not flush LLRs from the PI resources. If pre-emption does not happen in the slot, the gNB will not insert PI and the scheduled resources for PI will be used for PDSCH transmission. In that case, the UE for sure cannot detect the PI and will not flush LLRs from the scheduled PI resources.

A benefit of this option is that the gNB scheduler can avoid overlapping the PI resources with another UE’s PDSCH that is not supposed to receive this PI. The terminal only needs to do the rate de-matching based on the CRC check result. A possible drawback is that a separate PI scheduling message needs to be included in the UE-specific DCI and the DL control signalling overhead is increased.

A second option has a number of alternatives: Options 2/2a/2b. PI resources are semi-statically configured to all UE or hard coded by specs. The second option introduces a separate indicator to indicate if the pre-configured resources for control signalling are used by PDSCH or not. Since the pre-configured resources are only used sporadically and when there is no URLLC transmission, this second option can enable the gNB to improve the DL transmission reliability by using pre-configured resources to increase the redundancy of PDSCH so that a better reliability can be achieved for the corresponding PDSCH transmission. This option reduces the control signalling overhead. A possible drawback of this option is that it may not be able to indicate all overlapping PI CORESETs when they require different indications but it is manageable for the gNB with reasonable scheduler restraints. PI resources in Option 2 are semi-statically configured by RRC signalling, for instance, CORESETs of PI1/PI2/PI3 in figure 3 are indicated to UE1 as they are all in UE1’s BWP, and CORESETs of PI1/PI2 are indicated to UE2 as PI3 is not in UE2’s BWP and so does PI1/PI3 for UE3. As discussed above, a number of BWPs could be configured to a UE via RRC but a subset of BWPs can be activated in each slot. Each BWP is identified by a starting position and a width in the frequency domain. There may be two ways for the PI resource indication. A first way is to indicate all PI resources of each BWP explicitly, e.g., a starting position and a width in the frequency domain for each Pl’s resources. A second way is to indicate all Pls’ resources independently (without considering any specific BWP) and let the UE determine which Pls are in which BWP according to each BWP’s relative position and width to each PI. For the second way, all Pls’ resources can be hard coded in specs if no configuration flexibility is required.

Since Pls’ resources are RRC configurable, its position changes much less frequently than PDSCH, as PDSCH is scheduled dynamically by DCI. It may happen that the scheduled PDSCH2 may not overlap with the pre-empted resources (Case A in Figure 5) or may overlap with the pre-empted resources (Case B in Figure 5). For Case A, UE1 can ignore the PI2 as it is not transmitted and the rate de-matching is only based on PH, which is also this terminal’s target PI. For Case B, UE1 should do the rate de-matching around resources of both PH and PI2. To determine the existence of PI2 by checking its CRC may increase the complexity of the terminal.

One possible solution is to indicate if PI2 (or any other) is transmitted or not. The gNB thus has the full picture which Pls are transmitted. 1-bit indicator can be introduced in the PI to indicate either ignore all configured Pls within the BWP (Case A) or flush all LLRs from other Pls’ resources within the BWP (Case B).

The procedure of UE1 could be summarized as below:

1) Receive PDSCH from all scheduled resources, including those also configured to Pls, and save LLRs of PDSCH in buffer;

2) Receive PH from the configured CORESET candidate, check the CRC and for the received LLRs of PDSCH,

a. If CRC check fails, ignore all Pls within its BWP (nothing is flushed = assume PI resources are used by PDSCH);

b. If CRC check passes, flush all LLRs which come from PH CORESET candidate from its PDSCH buffer and

i. Flush all received LLRs from all other Pls’ CORESET candidates if the indicator indicates so;

ii. Ignore all other Pls if the indicator indicates so

3) Process the PDSCH with the obtained LLRs.

Alternatively, the 1-bit indicator can be introduced to the RRC signalling instead of DCI. This may place restraints on the gNB scheduler, for instance, if “ignore all other Pls” is indicated by the RRC, the gNB should avoid overlapping of PDSCH1 with PI2 or avoid overlapping pre-empted resources with PDSCH2 (so no need to transmit PI2) in all slots until “flush all LLRs from all other Pls” is indicated by another RRC.

A variation on Option 2 above is Option 2a. An indicator bit is introduced to either DCI or RRC in Option 2. Alternatively this indicator can be represented by reusing an existing bit in the PI.

As previously mentioned, a bitmap is transmitted in the PI, and each bit in the bitmap indicates if a frequency by time block is pre-empted or not. If it is pre-empted, all received LLRs from this block should be flushed from the buffer otherwise there is no need to do so. The meaning of the last 1 or 2 bits of this bitmap can be redefined so that it can indicate if pre-emption or PI happens or not in the corresponding frequency by time block(s). So the existence of an untargeted PI in the BWP of a UE, i.e., PI2 for UE 1 in the above example, is also indicated by the received PI bitmap. The existence of an untargeted PI is equivalent to a pre-emption for URLLC services.

Obviously, this option can save 1 signalling bit from either RRC or DCI, but the granularity of bitmap indication is normally much bigger than the CORESET candidate size of a PI so much more necessary LLRs may be flushed from the buffer when an untargeted PI exists and it will result in a worse downlink performance than that of Option 2.

Additionally, both bitmaps may have 1 or 2 bits may not be used, for instance, when the control region is configured to have 2 symbols, 2 top bits of both bitmaps (highlighted in grey in figure 6) will not be used as possibly no pre-emption is permitted in the control region. In that case, it is possible to redefine these bits as rate de-matching indication of PI CORESET candidate. This additional design has no drawback as over flushing pointed out above for Option 2.

In a further variation, Option 2b it is also possible for the specs to hard code a default action as for example to “flush all received LLRs from all other Pls’ CORESET candidates” with or without a target PI detected. All Pls’ CORESETs will still need to be indicated to each UE via a high layer signalling, e.g., RRC.

The procedure of this option could be summarized as below:

1) The UE knows how many PI CORESETs are in its BWP by either

a. RRC configuration, or

b. Hard code in the specs

2) The UE knows from hard code in the specs that all LLRs from all Pls’ CORESETs need to be flushed from its buffer once its target PI is detected

3) The UE monitors the configured PI for its BWP and check CRC

a. If passes, flush all LLRs from all Pls’ CORESETs

b. If fails, no need to flush

Compared with Option 2 or Option 2a, Option 2b has the least impacts on the specs but its performance is relatively worse, its scheduling restrains are relatively more than the other 2 options.

The invention has been described with respect to the examples and scenarios mentioned above. However, the invention may also apply to other situations and scenarios, such as for example, indication existence of very small packets of, e.g., gaming or remote control, services transmitted in similar way as pre-empting ongoing transmissions.

Although not shown in detail any of the devices or apparatus that form part of the network may include at least a processor, a storage unit and a communications interface, wherein the processor unit, storage unit, and communications interface are configured to perform the method of any aspect of the present invention. Further options and choices are described below.

The signal processing functionality of the embodiments of the invention especially the gNB and the UE may be achieved using computing systems or architectures known to those who are skilled in the relevant art. Computing systems such as, a desktop, laptop or notebook computer, hand-held computing device (PDA, cell phone, palmtop, etc.), mainframe, server, client, or any other type of special or general purpose computing device as may be desirable or appropriate for a given application or environment can be used. The computing system can include one or more processors which can be implemented using a general or special-purpose processing engine such as, for example, a microprocessor, microcontroller or other control module.

The computing system can also include a main memory, such as random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic memory, for storing information and instructions to be executed by a processor. Such a main memory also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by the processor. The computing system may likewise include a read only memory (ROM) or other static storage device for storing static information and instructions for a processor.

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

In alternative embodiments, an information storage system may include other similar components for allowing computer programs or other instructions or data to be loaded into the computing system. Such components may include, for example, a removable storage unit and an interface , such as a program cartridge and cartridge interface, a removable memory (for example, a flash memory or other removable memory module) and memory slot, and other removable storage units and interfaces that allow software and data to be transferred from the removable storage unit to computing system.

The computing system can also include a communications interface. Such a communications interface can be used to allow software and data to be transferred between a computing system and external devices. Examples of communications interfaces can include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet or other NIC card), a communications port (such as for example, a universal serial bus (USB) port), a PCMCIA slot and card, etc. Software and data transferred via a communications interface are in the form of signals which can be electronic, electromagnetic, and optical or other signals capable of being received by a communications interface medium.

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

The non-transitory computer readable medium may comprise at least one from a group consisting of: a hard disk, a CD-ROM, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, a Read Only Memory, a Programmable Read Only Memory, an Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory, EPROM, an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory and a Flash memory

In an embodiment where the elements are implemented using software, the software may be stored in a computer-readable medium and loaded into computing system using, for example, removable storage drive. A control module (in this example, software instructions or executable computer program code), when executed by the processor in the computer system, causes a processor to perform the functions of the invention as described herein.

Furthermore, the inventive concept can be applied to any circuit for performing signal processing functionality within a network element. It is further envisaged that, for example, a semiconductor manufacturer may employ the inventive concept in a design of a stand-alone device, such as a microcontroller of a digital signal processor (DSP), or application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and/or any other sub-system element.

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

Aspects of the invention may be implemented in any suitable form including hardware, software, firmware or any combination of these. The invention may optionally be implemented, at least partly, as computer software running on one or more data processors and/or digital signal processors or configurable module components such as FPGA devices. Thus, the elements and components of an embodiment of the invention may be physically, functionally and logically implemented in any suitable way. Indeed, the functionality may be implemented in a single unit, in a plurality of units or as part of other functional units.

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

Furthermore, although individually listed, a plurality of means, elements or method steps may be implemented by, for example, a single unit or processor. Additionally, although individual features may be included in different claims, these may possibly be advantageously combined, and the inclusion in different claims does not imply that a combination of features is not feasible and/or advantageous. Also, the inclusion of a feature in one category of claims does not imply a limitation to this category, but rather indicates that the feature is equally applicable to other claim categories, as appropriate.

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

Although the present invention has been described in connection with some embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. Rather, the scope of the present invention is limited only by the accompanying claims. Additionally, although a feature may appear to be described in connection with particular embodiments, one skilled in the art would recognise that various features of the described embodiments may be combined in accordance with the invention. In the claims, the term ‘comprising’ or “including” does not exclude the presence of other elements.

Claims

1. A method for enabling a wireless communication device to access services provided by a Radio Access Network, wherein a scheduled resource for data transmission overlaps with a resource for a sporadically transmitted control signal and wherein the data transmission is subsequently mapped to the scheduled resources.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sporadically transmitted control signal is a pre-emption indicator transmission/

3. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the resources for the sporadically transmitted control signal is scheduled by Downlink Control Information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the Downlink Control Information also schedules a shared channel for a UE and the scheduled shared channel is within an active bandwidth part of a UE.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the shared channel is a Physical Downlink Shared Channel.

6. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the resources for the sporadically transmitted control signal which overlap with a bandwidth part of a device are configured to each device via high layer signalling.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising a rate de-matching indicator included in the high layer signalling to indicate if one or more likelihood ratios should be flushed or not from one or more CORESETs associated with the sporadically transmitted control signal.

8. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the resources for the sporadically transmitted control signal are hard coded in a Standard

9. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the sporadically transmitted control signal is transmitted with a scheduled; configured; or hard coded resources if one or more pre-emptions take place.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising a rate de-matching indicator made up of a reused or redefined an existing bit of the sporadically transmitted control signal.

11. A method of operating a UE in the method of any preceding claim, wherein the UE monitors a sporadically transmitted control signal within its bandwidth part.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the sporadically transmitted control signal is a pre-emption indicator.

13. The method of claim 11 or claim 12, wherein the resources of the sporadically transmitted control signal monitored by the UE are scheduled by the Downlink Control Information, which also schedules a shared channel.

14. The method of any one of claims 11 to 13, further comprising preforming a cyclic redundancy check to determine if the UE flushes one or more likelihood ratios from a buffer of the device associated with one or more CORESET candidates.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the buffer is flushed according to a rate de-matching indicator.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the rate de-matching indicator is included in high layer signalling.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the rate de-matching indicator is included in a monitored pre-emption Indicator

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, the rate de-matching indicator is included in the pre-emption Indicator by reusing or redefining an existing bit of this pre-emption Indicator.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the rate de-matching indicator is hard coded in the standard.

20. The method of any of claims 11 to 19, wherein an untargeted pre-emption Indicator is not a monitored pre-emption Indicator and its resources overlap with the UE’s active bandwidth part.

21. The method of any one of the preceding claim wherein the Radio Access Network is a New Radio/5G network.

22. A user equipment, UE, apparatus comprising a processor, a storage unit and a communications interface, wherein the processor unit, storage unit, and communications interface are configured to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 -21.

23. A base station, BS, apparatus comprising a processor, a storage unit and a communications interface, wherein the processor unit, storage unit, and

5 communications interface are configured to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 21.

24. A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon for execution by a processor to perform the method according to any of claims 1 to 21.