GB2570899A

GB2570899A - Grant-based uplink transmission

Info

Publication number: GB2570899A
Application number: GB1802058.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Liu Guang
Original assignee: TCL Communication Ltd
Current assignee: TCL Communication Ltd
Priority date: 2018-02-08
Filing date: 2018-02-08
Publication date: 2019-08-14
Anticipated expiration: 2038-02-08
Also published as: GB201802058D0; GB2570899B; CN111801975B; WO2019154106A1; CN111801975A

Abstract

A scheduling request is transmitted from a UE to a base station via a wireless link. The base station allocates uplink resources for the transmission wherein the allocated uplink resources overlap with resources utilised by other UEs. The base station transmits a downlink indication which has: at least one resource indication field, each of which includes an indication of the resource used by the received scheduling request and/or at least one suspension indication field each of which includes an indication for UEs utilising the overlapping resources to suspend transmissions. The base station may allocate at least one scheduling request resource to the UE, each resource having a corresponding resource index. The scheduling request resource may comprise a unique combination of time, frequency and sequence resources. The suspension indication field may comprise a suspension ID. The suspension indicator may comprise a no suspension indicator. One aspect of the invention intends to provide a suspension ID in DCI transmissions so that a eMBB UE suspends its transmissions in order to allow a URLLC UE to transmit.

Description

The following disclosure relates to systems for grant-based uplink transmission in cellular wireless systems, and in particular to resource sharing in such systems.

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.

In cellular wireless communication systems User Equipment (UE) is connected by a wireless link to a Radio Access Network (RAN). The RAN comprises a set of base stations which provide wireless links to the UEs located in cells covered by the base station, and an interface to a Core Network (CN) which provides overall network control. As will be appreciated the RAN and CN each conduct respective functions in relation to the overall network. For convenience the term cellular network will be used to refer to the combined RAN & CN, and it will be understood that the term is used to refer to the respective system for performing the disclosed function.

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 macrocells 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. NR is proposed to utilise an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed (OFDM) physical transmission format.

Cellular wireless networks may provide a range of services to UEs such that a service suitable for the type of data being transmitted can be selected. For example, Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) and some Machine Type Communication (MTC) services may require very short latency (less than 1 ms) and high reliability (packet loss rate of less than 10^-5). Data transmitted over such services is typically characterised by small data packets which arrive in an infrequent and sporadic manner.

Figure 1 shows example communications between a UE and base station (gNB) for (a) grant-based, and (b) grant-free uplink transmissions. In a grant-based system when a UE wishes to transmit data a Scheduling Request (SR) message is transmitted (step 100). The base station allocates uplink resources for the data and transmits an indication of those resources at step 101. The UE then utilises those resources at step 102 to transmit the data to the base station. Inerrant in such systems is a latency of at least one Round Trip Time (RTT) before transmission can be started.

The round-trip latency can be avoided by using a grant-free system as shown in Figure 1(b). In such a system uplink resources are pre-allocated such that when a packet arrives at step 103 it can be transmitted using the next available resources at step 104.

Although grant-free transmission reduces latency, resource requirements may be increased. Resources are allocated to each UE, but since there is only infrequently data for transmission the allocated resources are likely to be unused. Resource efficiency is thus poor as reserved resources are not utilised. Resources can be allocated on a shared basis, but this unavoidably leads to potential collisions between the UEs sharing the resources. The greater the degree of sharing (giving higher efficiency) the higher the probability of a collision. A collision probability of 10^-3 corresponds to channel usage of 4.5%, meaning 95.5% of resources are unused.

There is therefore a requirement for a system in which latency can be lowered while ensuring high reliability and efficient resource usage.

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.

There is provided a method of uplink data transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station in a cellular wireless network, the method comprising the steps of transmitting via a wireless link a scheduling request from a UE to a base station to transmit data; receiving at the base station the request and allocating uplink resources for the transmission, wherein the allocated uplink resources overlap with resources utilised by other UEs; and transmitting via a wireless link from the base station a downlink indication, the downlink indication comprising at least one resource indication field, each of which includes an indication of the resource used by the received scheduling request; and/or at least one suspension indication field each of which includes an indication for UEs utilising the overlapping resources to suspend transmissions.

The resource indication field may further comprise an indication of the allocated uplink resources.

The method may further comprise a configuration phase comprising the step of the base station allocating at least one scheduling request resource to the UE, each scheduling request resource having a corresponding resource index; and/or at least one uplink resource to the UE for data transmission.

The method may further comprise transmitting from the base station to the UE an indication of the scheduling request resource and/or uplink resource allocated to that UE.

Each allocated scheduling request resource may be allocated a scheduling request resource index, and the indications of scheduling request resources comprises the scheduling request resource index.

Each scheduling request resource may comprise a unique combination of time, frequency, and sequence resources.

At least one allocated scheduling request resource may be also allocated to a further UE which is in communication with the base station.

At least one allocated scheduling resource may be allocated only to the UE.

The indication of the allocated uplink resources may comprise an offset prior to the UE commencing uplink data transmission using the allocated resources for data transmission.

The indication of the allocated resources may comprise a number of repetitions of the data to be transmitted.

The downlink indication may comprise a plurality of resource or suspension fields, each resource or suspension field relating to a different UE.

The method may further comprise prior to transmitting the downlink indication, the step of the base station allocating a suspension indicator to at least one UE in communication with the base station, and transmitting that suspension indicator to the at least one UE.

The suspension indicator may comprise a suspension ID, wherein the suspension indication field for UEs utilising the overlapping resources comprises the suspension ID.

The suspension indicator may comprise a no suspension indicator.

The suspension indicator may be selected from a set comprising at least one suspension ID and a no suspension indicator, and wherein the suspension indication field for UEs utilising the overlapping resources comprises a suspension ID.

Each suspension ID may be allocated for a UE utilising overlapping resources.

Each resource indication field may be for a UE transmitting URLLC/MTC channels.

Each suspension indication field may be for one or more UEs transmitting eMBB channels.

The method may further comprise at the base station identifying existing resource allocations that overlap with the allocated uplink resources.

There is also provided a method of uplink data transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station in a cellular wireless network, the method performed by a UE and comprising the steps of transmitting via a wireless link a scheduling request from the UE to a base station to transmit data; receiving at the UE a downlink indication, the downlink indication comprising at least one resource indication field, each of which includes an indication of the resource used by the received scheduling request; and/or at least one suspension indication field each of which includes an indication for UEs utilising the overlapping resources to suspend transmissions

The resource indication field may further comprise an indication of allocated uplink resources.

The method may further comprise, during a configuration phase, the step of receiving an indication of at least one scheduling request resource available to the UE for transmitting scheduling requests, each scheduling request resource having a corresponding resource index, and/or an indication of at least one uplink resource allocated to the UE for data transmission.

At least one allocated scheduling resource may also be allocated to a further UE which is in communication with the base station.

At least one allocated scheduling resource may be allocated only to the UE.

The indication of allocated uplink resources may comprise an indication of an offset prior to the UE commencing uplink data transmission using the allocated resources.

The indication of allocated uplink resources may comprise an indication of the number of repetitions of the data to be transmitted.

The downlink indication may comprise a plurality of downlink indication fields, each downlink indication field relating to a different UE and comprising an indication of allocated resources, and an indication of UEs to suspend transmissions.

The method may further comprise the step of receiving a suspension indicator from the base station.

The suspension indicator may comprise a suspension ID, and wherein the indication for UEs utilising the overlapping resources comprises the suspension ID.

The suspension indicator may comprise a no suspension indicator.

The suspension indicator may be selected from a set comprising at least one suspension ID and a no suspension indicator, and wherein the suspension indication field comprises a suspension ID.

The suspension indication field may comprise at least one suspension ID allocated to UEs utilising overlapping resources.

The UEs utilising overlapping resources may be UEs transmitting eMBB channels.

There is also provided a method of uplink data transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station in a cellular wireless network, the method performed by a UE and comprising the steps of receiving a suspension indicator from a base station via a wireless link, wherein the suspension indicator is selected from a set comprising at least one suspension ID and a no suspension indicator; if the suspension indicator is a suspension ID, monitoring for downlink indication transmissions from the base station, and if a downlink indication is received comprising that suspension ID suspending uplink transmissions during resources indicated in the downlink indication; and if the suspension indicator is a no suspension indicator configuring the UE to not listen for downlink indications.

There is also provided a UE configured to perform the methods described above.

There is also provided a method of uplink data transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station in a cellular wireless network, the method performed at a base station and comprising the steps of receiving at the base station a request from a UE to transmit data and allocating uplink resources for the transmission, wherein the allocated uplink resources overlap with resources utilised by other UEs; and transmitting via a wireless link from the base station a downlink indication, the downlink indication comprising at least one resource indication field, each of which includes an indication of the resource used by the received scheduling request; and/or at least one suspension indication field each of which includes an indication for UEs utilising the overlapping resources to suspend transmissions.

At least one allocated scheduling resource may be allocated only to the UE.

The suspension indicator may comprise a suspension ID, and wherein the suspension indication field for UEs utilising the overlapping resources comprises the suspension ID.

The suspension indicator may comprise a no suspension indicator.

Each suspension ID may be allocated for a UE utilising overlapping resources.

Each resource indication field may be for a UE transmitting URLLC/MTC channels.

There is also provided a base station for performing the methods described above.

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 shows grant-based and grant-free communication processes;

Figure 2 shows a grant-based protocol;

Figure 3 shows an example of SR resource allocations;

Figure 4 shows an example of downlink indication transmission;

Figure 5 shows an example format for a downlink indication;

Figure 6 shows transmissions from UEs;

Figure 7 shows an example format for suspension IDs; and

Figure 8 shows an example communication exchange utilizing suspension IDs.

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.

Figure 2 shows grant-based communication system intended to provide efficient use of resources while managing system latency. The following description is given specifically in the context of low latency (specifically URLLC) data and services, but as will be appreciated the principles, methods, and systems apply to any type of data and service in the same way.

At step 200 a UE is configured with at least one set of defined resources to be utilised for transmission of SR messages relating to low latency data transmission. The resources may be time, frequency, and/or sequence resources which are available to the UE for transmission of SR messages. Each unique combination of time, frequency, and/or sequence is allocated an SR resource index. A cyclic shift of a sequence is considered to be a different sequence to other cyclic shifts.

At step 201 the UE is also configured with resources for transmission of the low latency data, which configuration may include, for example, details of time & frequency resources, redundancy versions, coding & modulation schemes, periodicity and DMRS. The configuration information at steps 200 and 201 may be considered pre-configuration information because the configuration is set prior to knowledge of a requirement for services using the resources.

When a data packet is received at step 202 for transmission (for example from an upper layer of the UE), the UE selects resources for transmission of an SR message from the allocated SR resources and transmits an SR message at step 203 using those resources. The SR resources may be selected at random, or according to a pre-defined method. The SR message may include the SR resource index, or another indication of the SR resources utilised.

Upon receipt of the SR message the base station allocates appropriate uplink resources for the uplink data transmission and at step 204 transmits a downlink indication. The downlink indication addresses the specific UE using the SR resource index, or the SR resource index may be indicated implicitly, for example by indicated the time, frequency, RB, or sequence. The downlink indication may also include a description of the resources to be used for the uplink transmission, which indicated resources may be a subset of the resources allocated for the UE.

The downlink indication may also include an indication to the UE, and/or other UEs, to suspend transmissions on the resources to be used for the low latency data transmission to which the SR message relates. The inclusion of suspension information allows the resources allocated to the UE to be re-used for other transmissions, which other transmissions are interrupted in the event the resources are required for low latency data. As set out above low latency data is typically characterised by infrequent transmissions of small data packets, and hence the resources will only be utilised for the low-latency data transmissions on an infrequent basis. The inclusion of suspension information thus allows use of the resources for the majority of the time when the resources are not used for lowlatency data transmission. A typical use of such resources is for transmission of eMBB data over PDSCH. Such transmissions may use the whole time duration of a slot and hence will likely have started prior to the resources being allocated for use for the low-latency data.

At step 205 the UE transmits the uplink data using the indicated resources. Although the resources may have been intended to be utilised by another UE, or a different service, those other UEs or services are suspended and hence the UE has access to the resources without any risk of conflict.

Specific aspects of the process of Figure 2 are described in more detail below. As will be appreciated the aspects are described in turn for convenience, but are disclosed equally for use in combination with each other in their entirety or as subsets, or individually.

As described above a UE is assigned a set, or pool, of SR resources. Each SR resource may be allocated an index from #0 to #K-1. Each resource is a unique combination of time, frequency, and/or sequence resources. The number of resources #K is selected by the system (in particular the base station (gNB)) according to a target collision rate for SR messages. The collision rate is also dependent on the number of UEs utilising the pool of resources, and the rate at which packets arrive at the UE uplink for transmission.

By way of example a system may utilise 14 OFDM symbols per ms, with a mini slot defined as 2 OFDM symbols. If both SR and data resources are allocated in every mini slot there are 7,000 SR and data transmission opportunities per second. If 100 UEs utilise such a pool of resources and each has a packet arrival rate of 0.001 (7 packets per second per UE ready for transmission) a target collision rate of 10^-5 gives a corresponding channel usage of 0.43%. From this it can be calculated, as shown in Table 1 below, that K >= 23.

(1-0.001)	For a specific UE, this is the probability of no packet arrival
0.001*(23-l)/23	For a specific UE, this is the probability that at least one packet arrives but this UE does not choose this resource (or channel)
(1-0.001) + 0.001*(23-l)/23	This is the probability that a specific UE does not transmit on this resource (or channel)
((1-0.001) + 0.001*(23-1)/23)^Λ100	This is the probability that all 100 UEs do not transmit on this resource (or channel)
1- ((1-0.001) + 0.001*(23-1)/23)^Λ100	This is the probability that at least one UE transmits on this resource which is called channel usage [%]

Table 1

The required collision rate can thus be achieved with 23 resources per 100 UEs, which is a significant improvement compared to the 100 resources required for a dedicated allocation for each UE.

However, if the packet arrival rate increases to 0.01 (70 packets per second per UE), with all other assumptions as noted above, 223 SR resources are required and hence dedicated allocation is more efficient.

The system may thus allocate resources differently for each UE depending on the anticipated behaviour of the UEs. Resources may be shared between fewer UEs which have a higher packet rate, and between more UEs with a lower packet rate, or UEs with a higher packet rate may be allocated dedicated resources.

Figure 3 shows an example allocation of resources to a set of 20 UEs. 5 sequences are available across 2 RBs, providing 10 unique resources, each of which is allocated a unique SR Resource index. UEs #0 - #3 are determined to have a higher packet arrival rate and are thus allocated dedicated SR Resources (SR Resource Indexes #0 - #3). UEs #4 - #19 have a lower packet arrival rate and hence share a pool of SR Resources (SR Resource Indexes #4-#19).

Higher or lower packet arrival rates are related to a target collision rate, and a high target collision rate can accept a high packet arrival rate so the threshold between higher and lower packet arrival rate is also relatively high. Knowledge of a UE’s packet arrival rate may be derived form a subscribed UE’s profile which is reported to the gNB when a connection is setup, or based on a UE’s past behaviour. For example a gNB may be configure dot monitor packet arrival rates to determine likely future rates. This is reasonable as URLLC is mainly for factory control and its service model is nearly static.

Figure 4 shows an example timing diagram for the downlink indication.

In order to address a specific UE (or group of UEs) a downlink indication may include one or more SR Resource Indices, or a combination of parameters that map to the required UEs, for example a combination of RB index and sequence number. The downlink indication may also include a resource description indicating the resources, typically a subset of the resources allocated at step 201 of Figure 2 above. The downlink indication may also include offset and repetition parameters.

In Figure 4 an SR message is transmitted at 400 and a corresponding downlink indication transmitted at 401. In this example, the downlink indication includes an offset 402 of 2 and a repetition of 2. The uplink data is thus first sent at the second opportunity, 403, and repeated once at 404. The minimum or default offset is 1 and the use of higher values enables flexibility in scheduling. The number of repetitions can be set for the particular reliability requirements of the data.

The downlink indication message may be structured as a set of downlink indication fields such that one message can address more than one UE, as shown in Figure 5. Each downlink indication field corresponds to one UE and includes an SR resource index and optionally a data resource description. A UE identifying an SR resource index in a downlink indication field used for an SR message the UE utilises the corresponding resources for its uplink transmission.

As set out above the downlink indication may be utilised to suspend transmissions by other UEs (or the same UE) to allow the UE with low latency data to utilise resources. In particular, on-going eMBB transmissions may be interrupted.

Figure 6 is utilised in the following description to assist explanation. In the example of Figure 6, 5 PDSCHs 600-604 are scheduled by 5 DCIs 610-614 to 5 eMBB UEs. At step 201 of Figure 2, four low latency data transmission resources 620-623 are allocated to one or more UEs for low latency data transmission. As set out above, the low latency resources 620-623 will only be used occasionally, and therefore those resources can often be utilised for PDSCH transmissions 601,602, 603 which overlap with them.

The gNB is aware of which PDSCHs 600-604 overlap with a low latency data transmission resource 620-623 and hence which PDSCHs may be interrupted. The DCI transmitted to each UE includes a suspension indication which indicates how the UE should behave. The suspension indication may be either a suspension ID or a “no suspension” indication.

A “no suspension” indication is transmitted to UEs with a PDSCHs which does not overlap with the low latency data transmission resources since even if the low latency resources are utilised there is no need for those UEs to interrupt transmissions. In the example of Figure 6 this applies to UEs 0 and 4. UEs 0 and 4 thus do not need to monitor downlink indications in the relevant slot and can thus avoid wasting power by monitoring such indications.

If the low latency resources do overlap with a PDSCH the relevant UE is allocated a suspension ID. As shown in Figure 7 for the example of Figure 6, each of UEs 1 - 3 are allocated a unique suspension ID. UEs which have been assigned a suspension ID are configured to monitor downlink indications in the relevant slot as it is possible they will receive an indication to suspend transmission of their PDSCH. In the example of Figures 6 and 7 each UE is allocated a unique Suspension ID. However, depending on the relative arrangement of the PDSCH and low latency resources a common Suspension ID may be utilised for two or more UEs. For example, if the only low latency resource was 620, UEs 0, 3 and 4 would be set to no suspension, and a single Suspension ID could be allocated to UEs 1 and 2 since they will only be suspended together.

When transmitting a downlink indication a gNB includes the suspension ID corresponding to any UEs utilising resources which overlap with low latency resources indicated for use in the downlink indication. UEs receiving their Suspension ID are configured to extract the resource details from the downlink indication and suspend transmission during the period the resources which will be used for transmission of low latency data. The low latency resources may not occupy all frequency resources being used by a UE for PDSCH, but a UE may suspend all transmissions of the relevant channel since reprocessing the signals according to newly available resources may be difficult and would have to be done quickly. However, if such reprocessing can be performed in the available time then partial transmission may continue on frequency resources not allocated for low latency transmission. In the example of Figure 6 some data transmission from UEs 1 and 3 could continue around the low latency resources.

Figure 8 shows example messages for the UEs and configuration of Figures 6 and 7. At steps 800 the DCI for each UE is utilised to indicate either non suspension or a suspension ID for the corresponding UE. At Step 801 the gNB receives an SR message for a short duration (low latency) transmission, and allocates resources 621. A downlink indication is transmitted at step 802 including the resource allocation for the UE which transmitted the SR message, and also including Suspension IDs 1 and 2.

Since UEs 1-3 have been configured in step 800 with a Suspension ID each of them listens for downlink indications and thus receives message 802. UETs suspension ID is not included and accordingly that UE continues transmission on PDSCH. However, UEs 2 and 3 receive their Suspension ID and hence retrieve the resource details included in the downlink indication. UEs 2 and 3 then suspend transmission on PDSCH for the duration of the resources indicated in the downlink indication message, resuming transmission once the allocated time period has passed.

The above disclosure thus provides a system in which collisions in low latency data are avoided, but efficiency losses are mitigated by allowing use of low latency resources for other channels when they are not utilised for low latency data. Messages to suspend transmissions on UEs sharing resources are transmitted in an efficient process by utilising Suspension IDs. In the example of Figures 6 to 8, 2 bits are sufficient to indicate the Suspension ID, which compares favourably with an alternative method of utilising a UE’s RNTI which is 16 bits long.

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 specialpurpose 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 of uplink data transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station in a cellular wireless network, the method comprising the steps of transmitting via a wireless link a scheduling request from a UE to a base station to transmit data;

receiving at the base station the request and allocating uplink resources for the transmission, wherein the allocated uplink resources overlap with resources utilised by other UEs; and transmitting via a wireless link from the base station a downlink indication, the downlink indication comprising at least one resource indication field, each of which includes an indication of the resource used by the received scheduling request; and/or at least one suspension indication field each of which includes an indication for UEs utilising the overlapping resources to suspend transmissions.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the resource indication field further comprises an indication of the allocated uplink resources.

3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2, further comprising a configuration phase comprising the step of the base station allocating at least one scheduling request resource to the UE, each scheduling request resource having a corresponding resource index; and/or at least one uplink resource to the UE for data transmission.

4. A method according to claim 3, further comprising transmitting from the base station to the UE an indication of the scheduling request resource and/or uplink resource allocated to that UE.

5. A method according to claim 3 or claim 4, wherein each allocated scheduling request resource is allocated a scheduling request resource index, and the indications of scheduling request resources comprises the scheduling request resource index.

6. A method according to any of claims 3 to 5, wherein each scheduling request resource comprises a unique combination of time, frequency, and sequence resources.

7. A method according to any of claims 3 to 6, wherein at least one allocated scheduling request resource is also allocated to a further UE which is in communication with the base station.

8. A method according to any of claims 3 to 6, wherein at least one allocated scheduling resource is allocated only to the UE.

9. A method according to claim 4, wherein the indication of the allocated uplink resources comprises an offset prior to the UE commencing uplink data transmission using the allocated resources for data transmission.

10. A method according to any of claims 4, wherein the indication of the allocated resources comprises a number of repetitions of the data to be transmitted.

11. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the downlink indication comprises a plurality of resource or suspension fields, each resource or suspension field relating to a different UE.

12. A method according to any preceding claim, further comprising prior to transmitting the downlink indication, the step of the base station allocating a suspension indicator to at least one UE in communication with the base station, and transmitting that suspension indicator to the at least one UE.

13. A method according to claim 12, wherein the suspension indicator comprises a suspension ID, and wherein the suspension indication field for UEs utilising the overlapping resources comprises the suspension ID.

14. A method according to claim 11, wherein the suspension indicator comprises a no suspension indicator.

15. A method according to claim 12, wherein the suspension indicator is selected from a set comprising at least one suspension ID and a no suspension indicator, and wherein the suspension indication field for UEs utilising the overlapping resources comprises a suspension ID.

16. A method according to claim 12, wherein each suspension ID is allocated for a UE utilising overlapping resources.

17. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein each resource indication field is for a UE transmitting URLLC/MTC channels.

18. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein each suspension indication field is for one or more UEs transmitting eMBB channels.

19. A method according to claim 1, further comprising at the base station identifying existing resource allocations that overlap with the allocated uplink resources.

20. A method of uplink data transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station in a cellular wireless network, the method performed by a UE and comprising the steps of transmitting via a wireless link a scheduling request from the UE to a base station to transmit data;

receiving at the UE a downlink indication, the downlink indication comprising at least one resource indication field, each of which includes an indication of the resource used by the received scheduling request; and/or at least one suspension indication field each of which includes an indication for UEs utilising the overlapping resources to suspend transmissions

21. A method according to claim 20, wherein the resource indication field further comprises an indication of allocated uplink resources.

22. A method according to claim 20 or claim 21, further comprising, during a configuration phase, the step of receiving an indication of at least one scheduling request resource available to the UE for transmitting scheduling requests, each scheduling request resource having a corresponding resource index, and/or an indication of at least one uplink resource allocated to the UE for data transmission.

23. A method according to claim 22, wherein each scheduling request resource comprises a unique combination of time, frequency, and sequence resources.

24. A method according to claim 22 or claim 23, wherein at least one allocated scheduling resource is also allocated to a further UE which is in communication with the base station.

25. A method according to claim 22 or claim 23, wherein at least one allocated scheduling resource is allocated only to the UE.

26. A method according to any of claims 21, wherein the indication of allocated uplink resources comprises an indication of an offset prior to the UE commencing uplink data transmission using the allocated resources.

27. A method according to any of claims 21, wherein the indication of allocated uplink resources comprises an indication of the number of repetitions of the data to be transmitted.

28. A method according to claim 21, wherein the downlink indication comprises a plurality of downlink indication fields, each downlink indication field relating to a different UE and comprising an indication of allocated resources, and an indication of UEs to suspend transmissions.

29. A method according to any of claims 20 to 28, further comprising the step of receiving a suspension indicator from the base station.

30. A method according to claim 29, wherein the suspension indicator comprises a suspension ID, and wherein the indication for UEs utilising the overlapping resources comprises the suspension ID.

31. A method according to claim 29 or claim 30, wherein the suspension indicator comprises a no suspension indicator.

32. A method according to claim 23, wherein the suspension indicator is selected from a set comprising at least one suspension ID and a no suspension indicator, and wherein the suspension indication field comprises a suspension ID.

33. A method according to claim 20, wherein the suspension indication field comprises at least one suspension ID allocated to UEs utilising overlapping resources.

34. A method according to any of claims 20 to 33, wherein the UEs utilising overlapping resources are UEs transmitting eMBB channels.

35. A method of uplink data transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station in a cellular wireless network, the method performed by a UE and comprising the steps of receiving a suspension indicator from a base station via a wireless link, wherein the suspension indicator is selected from a set comprising at least one suspension ID and a no suspension indicator;

if the suspension indicator is a suspension ID, monitoring for downlink indication transmissions from the base station, and if a downlink indication is received comprising that suspension ID suspending uplink transmissions during resources indicated in the downlink indication; and if the suspension indicator is a no suspension indicator configuring the UE to not listen for downlink indications.

36. A UE configured to perform the method of any of claims 20 to 35.

37. A method of uplink data transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station in a cellular wireless network, the method performed at a base station and comprising the steps of receiving at the base station a request from a UE to transmit data and allocating uplink resources for the transmission, wherein the allocated uplink resources overlap with resources utilised by other UEs; and transmitting via a wireless link from the base station a downlink indication, the downlink indication comprising at least one resource indication field, each of which includes an indication of the resource used by the received scheduling request; and/or at least one suspension indication field each of which includes an indication for UEs utilising the overlapping resources to suspend transmissions.

38. A method according to claim 37, wherein the resource indication field further comprises an indication of the allocated uplink resources.

39. A method according to claim 37 or claim 38, further comprising a configuration phase comprising the step of the base station allocating at least one scheduling request resource to the UE, each scheduling request resource having a corresponding resource index; and/or at least one uplink resource to the UE for data transmission.

40. A method according to claim 39, further comprising transmitting from the base station to the UE an indication of the scheduling request resource and/or uplink resource allocated to that UE.

41. A method according to claim 39 or claim 40, wherein each allocated scheduling request resource is allocated a scheduling request resource index, and the indications of scheduling request resources comprises the scheduling request resource index.

42. A method according to any of claims 39 to 41, wherein each scheduling request resource comprises a unique combination of time, frequency, and sequence resources.

43. A method according to any of claims 39 to 42, wherein at least one allocated scheduling request resource is also allocated to a further UE which is in communication with the base station.

44. A method according to any of claims 39 to 42, wherein at least one allocated scheduling resource is allocated only to the UE.

45. A method according to claim 40, wherein the indication of the allocated uplink resources comprises an offset prior to the UE commencing uplink data transmission using the allocated resources for data transmission.

46. A method according to any of claims 40, wherein the indication of the allocated resources comprises a number of repetitions of the data to be transmitted.

47. A method according to any of claims 37 to 46, wherein the downlink indication comprises a plurality of resource or suspension fields, each resource or suspension field relating to a different UE.

48. A method according to any of claims 37 to 47, further comprising prior to transmitting the downlink indication, the step of the base station allocating a suspension indicator to at least one UE in communication with the base station, and transmitting that suspension indicator to the at least one UE.

49. A method according to claim 48, wherein the suspension indicator comprises a suspension ID, and wherein the suspension indication field for UEs utilising the overlapping resources comprises the suspension ID.

50. A method according to claim 47, wherein the suspension indicator comprises a no suspension indicator.

51. A method according to claim 48, wherein the suspension indicator is selected from a set comprising at least one suspension ID and a no suspension indicator, and wherein the suspension indication field for UEs utilising the overlapping resources comprises a suspension ID.

52. A method according to claim 48, wherein each suspension ID is allocated for a UE utilising overlapping resources.

53. A method according to any of claims 37 to 52, wherein each resource indication field is for a UE transmitting URLLC/MTC channels.

54. A method according to any of claims 37 to 53, wherein each suspension indication field is for one or more UEs transmitting eMBB channels.

55. A method according to claim 37, further comprising at the base station identifying existing resource allocations that overlap with the allocated uplink resources.

56. A base station configured to perform the method of any of claims 37 to 55.