TWI727385B - Harq feedback transmission - Google Patents

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method, device and computer readable medium for HARQ feedback transmission. In example embodiments, the method comprises grouping, at a network device, a plurality of HARQ processes for a terminal device into at least one HARQ group; and in response to a failure of reception of a HARQ feedback for a HARQ process in the at least one HARQ group, transmitting to the terminal device a first signaling for triggering transmission of the HARQ feedback, the first signaling comprising an indication for the at least one HARQ group.

Description

Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback transmission technology

Invention field

The embodiments of the present invention generally relate to the field of telecommunications, and in particular, relate to a method, device, and computer readable medium for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback transmission.

Background of the invention

In telecommunication networks such as those based on the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specifications, a HARQ mechanism is adopted. In the HARQ mechanism, a receiver detects whether there is an error in a packet received from a transmitter. If no error is detected in the received packet, the receiver will send a positive acknowledgement (ACK) to the transmitter. On the other hand, if an uncorrectable error is detected in the received packet, the receiver will send a negative acknowledgement (NACK) to the transmitter. In response to the NACK, the transmitter resends the discarded packet. These ACKs and NACKs can be collectively referred to as HARQ feedback.

On a new radio (NR) access network (also known as NR-U) running on unlicensed spectrum, a terminal device will start transmitting a HARQ feedback to a network device in a time slot. It first detects whether the time slot is free or busy. This process is called a listen before talk (LBT) process. If the LBT process fails, the terminal device may not be able to send the HARQ feedback to the network device in the time slot. Therefore, due to the failure of the LBT process, the HARQ feedback transmission opportunity is reduced.

Summary of Invention

Generally speaking, the exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a method, device, and computer readable medium for HARQ feedback transmission.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method includes clustering a plurality of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes for a terminal device into at least one HARQ group at a network device. The method further includes responding to the failure of receiving a HARQ feedback for one of the HARQ processes in the at least one HARQ group, sending a first signaling for triggering transmission of the HARQ feedback to the terminal device, the first signal Let it contain an indication for the at least one HARQ group.

In some embodiments, clustering the plurality of HARQ processes includes: determining a first timing indicator for a first HARQ process of the plurality of HARQ processes and a second timing indicator for a first HARQ process of the plurality of HARQ processes A second timing indicator of the HARQ process; based on the first and second timing indicators, determining whether the first and second HARQ processes share an initial HARQ feedback transmission timing; and in response to determining the first and second HARQ processes The second HARQ process shares the initial HARQ feedback transmission opportunity, and clusters the first and second HARQ processes into a first HARQ group.

In some embodiments, clustering the plurality of HARQ processes includes: determining a first downlink grant associated with a third HARQ process of one of the plurality of HARQ processes and one of the plurality of HARQ processes Whether a second downlink grant associated with the fourth HARQ process is sent in a single control resource set; and in response to determining that the first and second downlink grants are sent in a single control resource set, Cluster the third HARQ process and the fourth HARQ process into a second HARQ group of the at least one HARQ group.

In some embodiments, the indication for the at least one HARQ group includes at least one of the following: an identification code of the at least one HARQ group; and a bit map, the bit in the bit map and the at least one One HARQ group is associated.

In some embodiments, the method further includes: sending a second signaling for scheduling downlink transmission to the terminal device, and the second signaling includes: a fifth one of the plurality of HARQ processes An identification code of the HARQ process, the fifth HARQ process is associated with the downlink transmission; and an indication that the fifth HARQ process is clustered in one of the HARQ groups.

In some embodiments, the method further includes: sending a third signaling for scheduling another downlink transmission to the terminal device, the third signaling including: one of the plurality of HARQ processes An identification code of the six HARQ process, the sixth HARQ process is associated with the other downlink transmission; and an index of the sixth HARQ process in one of the other HARQ groups where the sixth HARQ process is clustered.

In some embodiments, sending the first signaling includes: in response to the failure to receive a HARQ feedback for the sixth HARQ process, sending the first signaling, which includes an indication for the other HARQ group, and An additional bitmap, a bit in the additional bitmap is associated with the index of the sixth HARQ process.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method includes receiving a first signaling used to trigger at least one HARQ feedback of at least one hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process from a network device, the first signaling including an indication for at least one HARQ group . The method also includes determining whether the indication indicates one or more HARQ groups into which the at least one HARQ process is clustered. The method also includes sending the HARQ feedback to the network device in response to determining that the instruction indicates the one or more HARQ groups.

In some embodiments, the indication for the at least one HARQ group includes at least one of the following: an identification code of the at least one HARQ group; and a bit map, a bit in the bit map and the at least one The HARQ group is associated.

In some embodiments, the method further includes: receiving a second signaling for scheduling downlink transmission from the network device, the second signaling including: one HARQ process of the at least one HARQ process An identification code, the fifth HARQ process is associated with the downlink transmission; and an indication that the HARQ process is clustered into one of the HARQ groups.

In some embodiments, determining whether the indication indicates the one or more HARQ groups includes: determining whether the indication for the at least one HARQ group in the first signaling is the same as the indication for the HARQ group .

In some embodiments, determining whether the indication indicates the one or more HARQ groups includes: determining to be used for the at least one HARQ process based on a time indicator received from the network device for the second HARQ process An initial HARQ feedback transmission timing of a second HARQ process; based on the initial HARQ feedback transmission timing, determine a HARQ group into which the second HARQ process is clustered; and determine to use the at least one HARQ group in the first signaling Whether the indication of a HARQ group indicates the HARQ group.

In some embodiments, determining whether the indication indicates the one or more HARQ groups includes: based on a control resource set, determining that a third HARQ process of the at least one HARQ process is clustered into a HARQ group, and the The downlink grant associated with the third HARQ process is being sent on the control resource set; and it is determined whether the indication for the at least one HARQ group in the first signaling indicates the HARQ group.

In some embodiments, the method further includes: receiving a third signaling for scheduling another downlink transmission from the network device, the third signaling including: a fourth of the at least one HARQ process An identification code of the HARQ process, the fourth HARQ process is associated with the other downlink transmission; and an index of the fourth HARQ process in one of the other HARQ groups where the fourth HARQ process is clustered.

In some embodiments, receiving the first signaling includes: receiving the first signaling, which includes an indication for the other HARQ group and an additional bitmap, one of the other bitmaps The bit is associated with the index of the fourth HARQ process.

In a third aspect, a network device is provided. The network device includes at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program codes. The at least one memory and the computer program code are assembled and, together with the at least one processor, cause the device to execute the method according to the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device includes at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program codes. The at least one memory and the computer program code are assembled and, together with the at least one processor, cause the device to execute the method according to the second aspect.

In a fifth aspect, a computer-readable medium with a computer program stored thereon is provided. When the computer program is executed by a processor, it will cause the processor to execute the method according to the first aspect.

In a sixth aspect, a computer-readable medium with a computer program stored thereon is provided. When the computer program is executed by a processor, it will cause the processor to execute the method according to the second aspect.

It will be understood that the summary of the present invention is not intended to point out the key or essential features of the embodiments of the present invention, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present invention. Through the following description, other features of the present invention will become easier to understand.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiment

The principle of the present invention will now be explained with reference to some example embodiments. It will be understood that these embodiments are described only for illustrative purposes, and are helpful for those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present invention, but do not imply any limitation on the scope of the present invention. The disclosure described herein can also be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs.

As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that complies with any suitable communication standard or protocol, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced LTE (LTE-A), and 5G NR, and any Suitable communication technologies include, for example, MIMO, OFDM, Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM), Code Division Multiplexing (CDM), Bluetooth, ZigBee, Machine Type Communication (MTC), eMBB, mMTC, and uRLLC technology. For the purpose of discussion, in some embodiments, the LTE network, the LTE-A network, the 5G NR network, or any combination thereof is regarded as an example of the communication network.

As used herein, the term "network device" refers to any suitable device on the network side of a communication network. The network device may include any suitable device in an access network of a communication network, for example, including a base station (BS), a relay, an access point (AP), a node B (NodeB) Or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), a billion-bit NodeB (GNB), a remote radio module (RRU), a radio head (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), A low-power node such as an ultra-micro base station, a micro base station, etc. For discussion purposes, in some embodiments, the eNB is regarded as an example of the network device.

The network device may also include any suitable device in a core network, such as multi-standard radio (MSR) radio equipment such as MSR BS, network controller such as radio network controller (RNC) or base station controller (BSC), Multicell/Multicast Coordination Entity (MCE), Mobile Switching Center (MSC) and MME, Operation and Management (O&M) Node, Operation Support System (OSS) Node, Self-Organizing Network (SON) Node, Positioning Nodes, such as Enhanced Services Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC), and/or Mobile Data Terminal (MDT).

As used herein, the term "terminal device" refers to a device that is capable of, configured for, arranged for, and/or operable to communicate with a network device or to communicate with a network device. Another terminal device in a communication network communicates. Such communications may involve sending and/or receiving wireless signals, using electromagnetic signals, radio waves, infrared signals, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information in the air. In some embodiments, the terminal device can be configured to send and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, when an internal or external event triggers or responds to a request from the network side, the terminal device can send information to the network device in a predetermined schedule.

Examples of the terminal device include, but are not limited to, user devices (UE) such as smart phones, wireless-enabled tablets, laptop embedded devices (LEE), laptop-mounted devices (LME), and/or Wireless customer premise equipment (CPE). For the purpose of discussion, in the following, some embodiments will be described with reference to UE as an example of such terminal devices, and the terms "terminal device" and "user device" (UE) can be used interchangeably in the context of the present invention. use.

As used herein, the term "cell" refers to an area covered by radio signals transmitted by a network device. The terminal device in the cell can be served by the network device and access the communication network through the network device.

As used herein, the term "circuit" can refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) Circuit implementation using only hardware (such as implementation only using analog and/or digital circuits); and (b) A combination of hardware circuits and software, such as (if applicable): (i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuits and software/firmware and (ii) any part of the hardware processor and software (including digital signals) The processor, software, and memory work together to cause a device, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions); and (c) hardware circuits and or processors, such as a microprocessor or a microprocessor A part of the device that requires software (for example, firmware) for operation, but the software will not appear when the software is not needed for operation.

The definition of this circuit applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claim. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuit also covers only a hardware circuit or processor (or processors) or a hardware circuit or a part of the processor and (or They) an implementation of accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuit also includes, and if applicable to the specific request element, such as a baseband integrated circuit or a processor integrated circuit used in a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a Cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to also include the plural form, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The term "including" and its variations will be interpreted as open terms that mean "including but not limited to." The term "based on" should be understood as "based at least in part." The terms "one embodiment" and "one embodiment" will be understood to mean "at least one embodiment". The term "another embodiment" should be understood to mean "at least one other embodiment." Other definitions, explicit and implicit, can be included below.

Figure 1 shows an example communication network 100 in which an embodiment of the present invention can be implemented. The network 100 includes a network device 110 and a terminal device 120, the latter being served by the network device 110. The service area of the network device 110 is called a cell 102. It will be understood that the number of network devices and terminal devices is for illustrative purposes only and does not imply any limitation. The network 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices suitable for implementing the embodiments of the present invention. Although not shown, it should be understood that one or more terminal devices may be located in the cell 102 and served by the network device 110.

The communications in the network 100 can comply with any suitable standards, including, but not limited to, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), extended coverage of the Global System for Mobile Communications (EC-GSM-IoT), and Long Term Evolution. (LTE), LTE Evolution, Advanced LTE (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), and the like. Moreover, such communications can be performed according to any generation of communications protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples of such communication protocols include, but are not limited to, the first generation (1G), the second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, The fifth generation (5G) communication protocol.

In the communication network 100, the network device 110 can transmit data and control information to the terminal device 120, and the terminal device 120 can also transmit data and control information to the network device 110. A link from the network device 110 to the terminal device 120 is called a downlink (DL), and a link from the terminal device 120 to the network device 110 is called an uplink ( UL).

For NR, the HARQ feedback transmission opportunity for the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is determined based on the PDSCH to HARQ feedback timing indicator given in the corresponding DL grant. At the feedback transmission opportunity determined based on the PDSCH to HARQ feedback timing indicator, the terminal device will report the feedback for one or more DL HARQ processes. However, on unlicensed spectrum, due to the failure of the LBT process, HARQ feedback transmission may be prevented. NR will not provide additional feedback transmission opportunities for those who are blocked.

For MuLTEFire 1.X, in order to handle the blocked HARQ feedback transmission of PDSCH, a mechanism is proposed to trigger via short physical uplink control channel (sPUCCH) or extended physical uplink control channel (ePUCCH) To report the feedback of all DL HARQ processes. If the number of all DL HARQ processes is large or the transmission based on code block group (CBG) is used, the main problem of this mechanism is the high overhead, because the HARQ feedback for many unused DL HARQ processes is reported .

This article also proposes to send HARQ feedback for all DL HARQ processes sent in slot #n-4 or earlier in the same transmission opportunity (TxOP), and HARQ feedback that has not been sent in the previous TxOP (because of the initial feedback The report is blocked or there is not enough processing time). The main problem of this solution will be misunderstood between the terminal device and the network device if the network device misses a feedback report.

In order to solve at least some of the above-mentioned problems and other potential problems, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a solution for dynamic group-based HARQ feedback transmission is proposed. In this solution, a network device clusters a plurality of HARQ processes for a terminal device into at least one HARQ group. Each HARQ group is assigned an indication for that group. If the network device fails to receive the HARQ feedback for one or more HARQ processes in one or more HARQ groups, the network device sends a signaling to the terminal device to trigger the transmission of the HARQ feedback . The signaling includes an indication for the one or more HARQ groups.

Using this solution, in response to a trigger from the network device, the terminal device can send the HARQ feedback of the HARQ process in one or more HARQ groups indicated by the network device, instead of sending all the configured ones HARQ feedback for HARQ process. Therefore, the cost of feedback can be reduced. In addition, since the network device provides a clear indication for one or more HARQ groups, misunderstandings between the network device and the terminal device can be avoided.

The principle and implementation of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 2, which shows a process 200 for HARQ feedback transmission according to an embodiment of the present invention. For the purpose of discussion, the process 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The process 200 may include the network device 110 and the terminal device 120 in FIG. 1.

The network device 110 clusters a plurality of HARQ processes for the terminal device 120 into at least one HARQ group (210).

In some embodiments, for clustering purposes, the network device 110 determines a first timing indicator for one of the first HARQ processes of the plurality of HARQ processes and for one of the plurality of HARQ processes A second timing indicator of the second HARQ process. The timing indicator for a HARQ process can indicate the time from the reception of a DL transmission to the transmission of an initial HARQ process associated with the DL transmission. Based on the first and second timing indicators, the network device 110 can determine whether the first and second HARQ processes share an initial HARQ feedback transmission opportunity. Examples of the timing indicator include, but are not limited to, the PDSCH to HARQ feedback timing indicator.

Consider an example in which the network device 110 sends the first DL transmission in slot #0, the second DL transmission in slot #1, the third DL transmission in slot #3, and the third DL transmission in slot #4. Fourth DL transmission. The first DL transmission is associated with the first HARQ process (which is also referred to as the first HARQ process #6) with an identification code (ID) 6. The second DL transmission is associated with the second HARQ process with an ID 3 (which is also referred to as the second HARQ process #3). The third DL transmission is associated with a third HARQ process with an ID 2 (which is also referred to as the third HARQ process #2). The fourth DL transmission is associated with a fourth HARQ process with an ID 9 (which is also referred to as the fourth HARQ process #9).

The PDSCH to HARQ feedback timing indicator for the first HARQ process #6 indicates the 5 time slots from the reception of the first DL transmission to the transmission of one of the initial HARQ feedback for the first HARQ process #6. The PDSCH to HARQ feedback timing indicator for the second HARQ process #3 indicates the 4 time slots from the reception of the second DL transmission to the transmission of one of the initial HARQ feedback for the second HARQ process #3. The PDSCH to HARQ feedback timing indicator for the third HARQ process #2 indicates the 4 time slots from the reception of the third DL transmission to the transmission of the initial HARQ feedback for the third HARQ process #2. The PDSCH to HARQ feedback timing indicator for the fourth HARQ process #9 indicates the 3 time slots from the reception of the fourth DL transmission to the transmission of the initial HARQ feedback for the fourth HARQ process #9.

The network device 110 determines that an initial HARQ feedback transmission timing for the HARQ feedback of the first HARQ process #6 is slot #5. The network device 110 determines that an initial HARQ feedback transmission opportunity for the HARQ feedback of the second HARQ process #3 is slot #5. Therefore, the network device 110 can determine that the first HARQ process #6 and the second HARQ process #3 share the same initial HARQ feedback transmission opportunity at slot #5. Correspondingly, the network device 110 clusters the first HARQ process #6 and the second HARQ process #3 into a first HARQ group. When the total number of all HARQ groups is four, the network device 110 can determine the ID system #1 (ie, 5 mod 4) for the first HARQ group.

The network device 110 determines that an initial HARQ feedback transmission timing for the HARQ feedback of the third HARQ process #2 is slot #7. The network device 110 determines that an initial HARQ feedback transmission opportunity for the fourth HARQ process #9 of the HARQ feedback is slot #7. Therefore, the network device 110 can determine that the third HARQ process #2 and the fourth HARQ process #9 share the same initial HARQ feedback transmission opportunity at slot #7. Correspondingly, the network device 110 clusters the third HARQ process #3 and the fourth HARQ process #9 into a second HARQ group. When the total number of all HARQ groups is four, the network device 110 can determine the ID system #3 (ie, 7 mod 4) for the first HARQ group.

In some embodiments, for the purpose of clustering, the network device 110 determines a first DL grant associated with a fifth HARQ process of one of the plurality of HARQ processes and one of the plurality of HARQ processes Whether a second DL grant associated with the sixth HARQ process is sent in a single control resource set (CORSET). For example, if the first DL authorization and the second DL authorization are sent in the CORSET in slot #0, the network device 110 may determine that the first and second DL authorizations are in a single (same) CORSET Was sent in. Therefore, the network device 110 can cluster the fifth HARQ process and the sixth HARQ process into a third HARQ group.

It should be understood that the cluster system according to the present invention is a dynamic cluster, and it will change with the schedule. The dynamic cluster avoids the inefficiency of static clusters.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 2, if the network device 110 fails to receive a HARQ feedback for one of the HARQ processes in the at least one HARQ group, the network device 110 will send to the terminal device 120 for triggering the The HARQ feedback transmits a first signaling (220). The first signaling includes an indication for the at least one HARQ group. Because the first signaling used for triggering contains an indication for the at least one HARQ group instead of a clear identification code for the triggered HARQ processes, the overhead used for triggering can be reduced.

Correspondingly, the terminal device 120 will receive the first signaling used to trigger the HARQ feedback transmission.

In some embodiments, the indication for the at least one HARQ group in the first signaling for triggering may include an identification code of the at least one HARQ group.

In other embodiments, the indication for the at least one HARQ group in the first signaling for triggering includes a bit map. The bits in the bitmap are associated with the at least one HARQ group. For example, a first bit in the bitmap can be associated with the first HARQ group #1, and a second bit in the bitmap can be associated with the second HARQ group #3 . If a bit in the bitmap is set to 1, it indicates that the HARQ feedback used for the HARQ process in the associated HARQ group is triggered to be transmitted. If a bit in the bitmap is set to 0, it indicates that the HARQ feedback used for the HARQ process in the associated HARQ group is not triggered to be transmitted.

In some embodiments, the first signaling used for triggering may include UL authorized downlink control information (PUCCH) of the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) used for HARQ feedback uplink control information (UCI) ( DCI). For example, in the case where the identification code of a HARQ group is used to indicate the trigger group, the DCI may include the following items: the HARQ group ID (2 bits) that is triggered, and the PUCCH resource indicator (3 bits) yuan). For another example, in the case where a bitmap is used to indicate one or more triggered groups, the DCI may include the following: the HARQ group bitmap (4 bits) that is triggered and the PUCCH resource indicator Symbol (3 bits).

In some embodiments, the network device 110 may trigger the HARQ feedback transmission of the HARQ process in more than one HARQ group. In some such embodiments, the network device 110 may send the first pair of signaling for triggering to the terminal device 120, which includes the bitmap for more than one HARQ group. For example, the first signaling used for triggering may include the bit map of 0101, which indicates that the first HARQ group #1 and the second HARQ group #3 will be triggered.

In some embodiments, the network device 110 may trigger HARQ feedback transmission of part of the HARQ process in a HARQ group. In such an embodiment, the network device 110 may assign an index to each HARQ process in the HARQ group. The index may be different from the ID for the respective HARQ process. Before triggering the HARQ feedback transmission for part of the HARQ process, the network device 110 may send a signaling to the terminal device 120, which includes the IDs used for the HARQ processes in the HARQ group and the IDs used for the HARQ processes. Index of the HARQ process. In some embodiments, the signaling may include one or more DL granted DCIs for the PDSCH of DL transmission. For example, a DL grant for PDSCH for DL transmission may include the following items: HARQ process ID (3 bits), index for HARQ process (2 bits), downlink assignment index (2 bits), PDSCH To HARQ timing indicator (3 bits) and CBG transmission information (4 bits).

Consider an example in which the network device 110 sends three DL authorizations in the same CORSET in slot #0. These three DL grants are used to schedule DL transmissions associated with HARQ processes #6, #3, and #10, respectively. Then, HARQ processes #6, #3, and #10 can be clustered into HARQ group #0 (0 mod 4, where "0" represents the time slot #0 and the total number of all HARQ groups is 4). The network device 110 can assign HARQ processes #6, #3, and #10 with indexes #0, #1, and #2. If the network device 110 fails to receive the HARQ feedback for HARQ processes #6 and #10, the network device 110 will send a signaling to trigger the HARQ feedback transmission for HARQ processes #6 and #10. In this case, the signaling for triggering may include an ID for the HARQ group (HARQ group #0) and a bit map. The bit in the bitmap is associated with the index of the triggered HARQ process. For example, the bitmap may be 1010, which means that the HARQ process with indexes #0 and #2 will be triggered.

Returning to FIG. 2, upon receiving the first signaling for triggering, the terminal device 120 determines whether the indication in the first signaling indicates that at least one HARQ process is clustered into one or more HARQs. Group (230).

In some embodiments, based on an explicit indication (e.g., identification code or bit map) received from the network device 110 for the one or more HARQ groups, the terminal device 120 determines that the first signaling Whether the indication in indicates that at least one HARQ process is clustered into one or more HARQ groups.

In some embodiments, before the first signaling used to trigger, the network device 110 sends to the terminal device 120 a second signaling for scheduling DL transmission. The second signaling may at least include: an identification code of a HARQ process associated with DL transmission; and an indication for the HARQ process to be clustered into one of the HARQ groups.

In some embodiments, the second signaling used for scheduling DL transmission may include DCI for DL grant of PDSCH for DL transmission. For example, the DCI may include the following: HARQ group ID (2 bits), HARQ process ID (3 bits), downlink assignment index (2 bits), PDSCH to HARQ timing indicator (3 bits), Code block group (CBG) transmission information (4 bits).

In these embodiments, the second signaling used to schedule DL transmission includes the identification code of a HARQ process and an indication that the HARQ process is clustered into one of the HARQ groups. During signaling, the terminal device 120 can know that the HARQ process is clustered into the HARQ group indicated by the indication in the second signaling. Upon receiving the first signaling for triggering, the terminal device 120 may determine whether the indication used for the at least one HARQ group in the first signaling is the same as that used for the HARQ in the second signaling. The instructions for the group are the same. If the terminal device 120 determines that the indication used for the at least one HARQ group in the first signaling is the same as the indication used for the HARQ group in the second signaling, the terminal device 120 determines that the The indication in the first signaling indicates one or more HARQ groups into which at least one HARQ process is clustered.

In other embodiments, in the second signaling from the network device 110, no obvious indication for the one or more HARQ groups is received. Instead, the terminal device 120 determines an identification code for a HARQ process to be clustered into one of the HARQ groups based on an initial HARQ feedback transmission opportunity for the HARQ process.

For example, the terminal device 120 may receive the PDSCH to HARQ timing indicator for the HARQ process in the second signaling used for scheduling the DL transmission associated with the HARQ process. The terminal device 120 may determine the initial HARQ feedback transmission timing for the HARQ process based on the PDSCH to HARQ timing indicator. For example, based on the PDSCH to HARQ timing indicator, the terminal device 120 may determine that the initial HARQ feedback transmission timing for the HARQ process will be slot #5. In this case where the total number of all HARQ groups is 4, the terminal device 120 can determine that the identification code for the HARQ group will be #1 (ie, 5 mod 4). The total number of all HARQ groups can be pre-configured or signaled by the network device 110.

In still other embodiments, no explicit indication for the one or more HARQ groups is received in the second signaling from the network device 110. Instead, based on a CORSET in which a DL grant associated with a HARQ process is received, the terminal device 120 determines that the HARQ process is clustered into an identification code of one of the HARQ groups. For example, if the DL grant is received at slot #0 in the CORSET and the total number of all HARQ groups is four, the terminal device 120 can determine that the identification code for the HARQ group will be #0 (ie , 0 mod 4).

Continuing to refer to FIG. 2, if the terminal device 120 determines that the indication in the first signaling indicates the one or more HARQ groups, the terminal device 120 sends the HARQ feedback to the network device 110 (240) .

In some embodiments, the signaling used for triggering may include a PUCCH resource indicator, which indicates the resource used for one or more HARQ feedback transmissions.

In some embodiments, the signaling used to schedule DL transmission may include a downlink assignment index (DAI). The terminal device 120 can determine the bit position of a HARQ feedback based on the DAI.

In the embodiments where the HARQ feedback for more than one HARQ group is triggered, the terminal device 120 may determine to be used for each DAI based on the DAI received in the signaling for scheduling DL transmission. The bit position of the HARQ feedback of a triggered HARQ group. Then, the terminal device 120 can send to the network device 110 a bit concatenation for the HARQ feedback of each triggered HARQ group. For example, the bit system used for HARQ feedback of HARQ group #1 is 1110|0110|1111, and the bit system used for HARQ feedback of HARQ group #3 is 1111|1011. The terminal device 120 can send a serial connection of 1110|0110|1111 and 1111|1011 to the network device 110, that is, 1110|0110|1111||1111|1011.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method 300 for HARQ feedback transmission according to some embodiments of the present invention. For example, the method 300 may be implemented at the network device 110 as shown in FIG. 1. It will be understood that the method 300 may include additional blocks not shown in the figure and/or some blocks shown in the figure may be omitted, and the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect.

At block 310, the network device 110 clusters a plurality of HARQ processes for a terminal device 120 into at least one HARQ group.

In block 320, in response to failing to receive a HARQ feedback for one of the HARQ processes in the at least one HARQ group, the network device 110 sends to the terminal device 120 a first signaling for triggering the HARQ feedback transmission . The first signaling includes an indication for the at least one HARQ group.

In some embodiments, clustering the plurality of HARQ processes includes: determining a first timing indicator for a first HARQ process of one of the plurality of HARQ processes and a first timing indicator for one of the plurality of HARQ processes. 2. a second timing indicator of the HARQ process; based on the first and second timing indicators, determine whether the first and second HARQ processes share an initial HARQ feedback transmission timing; and in response to determining the first and second HARQ processes And the second HARQ process share the initial HARQ feedback transmission opportunity, and the first and second HARQ processes are clustered into a first HARQ group.

In some embodiments, clustering the plurality of HARQ processes includes: determining a first downlink grant associated with a third HARQ process of one of the plurality of HARQ processes and the relationship between the plurality of HARQ processes Whether a second downlink grant associated with a fourth HARQ process is sent in a single control resource set; and in response to determining that the first and second downlink grants are sent in a single control resource set To cluster the third HARQ process and the fourth HARQ process into a second HARQ group of the at least one HARQ group.

In some embodiments, the indication for the at least one HARQ group includes at least one of the following: an identification code of the at least one HARQ group; and a bit map, the bit in the bit map and the at least one One HARQ group is associated.

In some embodiments, the method 300 further includes: sending a second signaling for scheduling downlink transmission to the terminal device, the second signaling including: one of the plurality of HARQ processes An identification code of the fifth HARQ process, the fifth HARQ process is associated with the downlink transmission; and an indication for the fifth HARQ process to be clustered into one of the HARQ groups.

In some embodiments, the method 300 further includes: sending a third signaling for scheduling another downlink transmission to the terminal device, and the third signaling includes: one of the plurality of HARQ processes An identification code of a sixth HARQ process, the sixth HARQ process is associated with the other downlink transmission; and an index of the sixth HARQ process in one of the other HARQ groups when the sixth HARQ process is clustered .

In some embodiments, sending the first signaling includes: in response to the failure to receive a HARQ feedback for the sixth HARQ process, sending the first signaling, which includes an indication for the other HARQ group And an additional bitmap, a bit in the additional bitmap is associated with the index of the sixth HARQ process.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method 400 for HARQ feedback transmission according to some embodiments of the present invention. For example, the method 400 may be implemented at the terminal device 120 as shown in FIG. 1. It will be understood that the method 400 may include additional blocks not shown in the figure and/or some blocks shown in the figure may be omitted, and the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect.

At block 410, the terminal device 120 receives a first signaling from the network device 110 for triggering at least one HARQ feedback transmission of at least one HARQ process. The first signaling includes an indication for at least one HARQ group.

At block 420, the terminal device 120 determines whether the indication indicates one or more HARQ groups into which the at least one HARQ process is clustered.

In block 430, if the terminal device 120 determines that the indication indicates the one or more HARQ groups, the terminal device 120 sends the HARQ feedback to the network device 110.

In some embodiments, the indication for the at least one HARQ group includes at least one of: an identification code of the at least one HARQ group; and a bit map, a bit in the bit map, and the at least one The HARQ group is associated.

In some embodiments, the method 400 further includes: receiving a second signaling for scheduling downlink transmission from the network device, the second signaling including: one of the at least one HARQ process An identification code for the fifth HARQ process associated with the downlink transmission; and an indication for the HARQ process to be clustered into one of the HARQ groups.

In some embodiments, determining whether the indication indicates the one or more HARQ groups includes: determining whether the indication for the at least one HARQ group in the first signaling is the same as the indication for the HARQ group .

In some embodiments, determining whether the indication indicates the one or more HARQ groups includes: determining to be used for the at least one HARQ process based on a time indicator received from the network device for the second HARQ process An initial HARQ feedback transmission timing of a second HARQ process; based on the initial HARQ feedback transmission timing, determine a HARQ group into which the second HARQ process is clustered; and determine to use the at least one HARQ group in the first signaling Whether the indication of a HARQ group indicates the HARQ group.

In some embodiments, determining whether the indication indicates the one or more HARQ groups includes: based on a control resource set, determining that a third HARQ process of the at least one HARQ process is clustered into a HARQ group, and the The downlink grant associated with the third HARQ process is being sent on the control resource set; and it is determined whether the indication for the at least one HARQ group in the first signaling indicates the HARQ group.

In some embodiments, the method 400 further includes: receiving a third signaling for scheduling another downlink transmission from the network device, the third signaling including: a first of the at least one HARQ process An identification code of four HARQ processes, the fourth HARQ process is associated with the other downlink transmission; and an index of the fourth HARQ process in one of the other HARQ groups where the fourth HARQ process is clustered.

In some embodiments, receiving the first signaling includes: receiving the first signaling, which includes an indication for the other HARQ group and an additional bitmap, one of the other bitmaps The bit is associated with the index of the fourth HARQ process.

In some embodiments, a device capable of executing the method 300 (for example, the network device 110) may include components for executing each step of the method 300. The component can be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component can be realized as a circuit or a software module.

In some embodiments, the device includes: means for clustering a plurality of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes of a terminal device into at least one HARQ group. The device also includes means for: responding to the inability to receive a HARQ feedback of one of the HARQ processes in the at least one HARQ group, sending to the terminal device a first signaling for triggering the HARQ feedback transmission, the first The signaling includes an indication for the at least one HARQ group.

In some embodiments, the means for clustering the plurality of HARQ processes includes: means for determining a first timing indicator for the first HARQ process of one of the plurality of HARQ processes and for the A second timing indicator of the second HARQ process of one of the plurality of HARQ processes; the component is used to determine whether the first and second HARQ processes share an initial HARQ feedback transmission based on the first and second timing indicators Timing; and the component is used to cluster the first and second HARQ processes into a first HARQ group in response to determining that the first and second HARQ processes share the initial HARQ feedback transmission opportunity.

In some embodiments, the means for clustering the plurality of HARQ processes includes: means for determining a first downlink grant associated with a third HARQ process of one of the plurality of HARQ processes and Whether a second downlink grant associated with the fourth HARQ process of one of the plurality of HARQ processes is sent in a single control resource set; and means for responding to determining the first and second downlinks The authorization is sent in a single control resource set, clustering the third HARQ process and the fourth HARQ process into a second HARQ group of the at least one HARQ group.

In some embodiments, the indication for the at least one HARQ group includes at least one of: an identification code of the at least one HARQ group; and a bit map, the bit in the bit map and the bit map At least one HARQ group is associated.

In some embodiments, the device further includes: means for sending a second signaling for scheduling downlink transmission to the terminal device, the second signaling including: the plurality of HARQ processes An identification code of a fifth HARQ process, the fifth HARQ process is associated with the downlink transmission; and an indication for the fifth HARQ process to be clustered into one of the HARQ groups.

In some embodiments, the device further includes: means for sending a third signaling for scheduling another downlink transmission to the terminal device, the third signaling including: the plurality of HARQ One of the identification codes of the sixth HARQ process, the sixth HARQ process is associated with the other downlink transmission; and the sixth HARQ process is clustered into one of the other HARQ groups in the sixth HARQ process One index.

In some embodiments, the means for sending the first signaling includes: a means for responding to a HARQ feedback that the sixth HARQ process cannot be received, sending the first signaling, which includes information for the additional An indication of the HARQ group and an additional bitmap, and a bit in the additional bitmap is associated with the index of the sixth HARQ process.

In some embodiments, a device capable of executing the method 400 (for example, the terminal device 120) may include components for executing each step of the method 400. The component can be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component can be realized as a circuit or a software module.

In some embodiments, the device includes means for receiving a first signaling from a network device for triggering at least one HARQ feedback transmission of at least one hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, and the first signaling includes An indication for at least one HARQ group. The apparatus also includes means for determining whether the indication indicates one or more HARQ groups into which the at least one HARQ process is clustered. The device also includes means for sending the HARQ feedback to the network device in response to determining that the instruction indicates the one or more HARQ groups.

In some embodiments, the indication for the at least one HARQ group includes at least one of the following: an identification code of the at least one HARQ group; and a bit map, the bit in the bit map and the at least one One HARQ group is associated.

In some embodiments, the device further includes: means for receiving a second signaling for scheduling downlink transmission from the network device, the second signaling including: the at least one HARQ process An identification code of a HARQ process, the fifth HARQ process is associated with the downlink transmission; and an indication for the HARQ process to be clustered into one of the HARQ groups.

In some embodiments, the means for determining whether the indication indicates the one or more HARQ groups includes: means for determining whether the indication for the at least one HARQ group in the first signaling is the same as the one used for the HARQ group. The indication for the HARQ group.

In some embodiments, the means for determining whether the indication indicates the one or more HARQ groups includes: means for determining whether to use the time indicator received from the network device for the second HARQ process An initial HARQ feedback transmission opportunity of a second HARQ process in one of the at least one HARQ process; means for determining an HARQ group into which the second HARQ process is clustered based on the initial HARQ feedback transmission opportunity; and means for It is determined whether the indication for the at least one HARQ group in the first signaling indicates the HARQ group.

In some embodiments, the means for determining whether the indication indicates the one or more HARQ groups includes: means for determining that a third HARQ process of the at least one HARQ process is clustered into it based on a control resource set A HARQ group of the third HARQ process, the downlink grant associated with the third HARQ process is being sent on the control resource set; and means for determining the indication for the at least one HARQ group in the first signaling Whether to indicate the HARQ group.

In some embodiments, the device further includes: means for receiving a third signaling for scheduling another downlink transmission from the network device, the third signaling including: the at least one HARQ process An identification code of a fourth HARQ process, the fourth HARQ process is associated with the other downlink transmission; and an index of the fourth HARQ process in one of the other HARQ groups when the fourth HARQ process is clustered .

In some embodiments, the means for receiving the first signaling includes: a means for receiving the first signaling, which includes an indication for the other HARQ group and an additional bitmap, in the In addition, a bit in the bitmap is associated with the index of the fourth HARQ process.

FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of a device 500, which is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present invention. The device 500 can be regarded as another example implementation of the network device 101 as shown in FIG. 1. Therefore, the device 500 can be implemented at the network device 110 or the terminal device 120 or as at least a part of the network device 110 or the terminal device 120.

As shown in the figure, the device 500 includes a processor 510, a memory 520 coupled to the processor 510, a suitable transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) 540 coupled to the processor 510, and A communication interface coupled to the TX/RX 540. The memory 520 stores at least a part of a program 530. The TX/RX 540 is used for two-way communication. The TX/RX 540 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, but in fact, an access node mentioned in this application may have several antennas. The communication interface can represent any interface required for communication with other network elements, such as the X2 interface for two-way communication between eNBs, and for a mobility management entity (MME)/service gateway (S-GW) ) S1 interface for communication with the eNB, Un interface for communication between the eNB and a relay node (RN), or Uu interface for communication between the eNB and UE.

The program 530 is assumed to include program instructions. When the program instructions are executed by the associated processor 510, the device 500 can be operated according to the embodiment of the present invention, as described herein with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10 discussed. The embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 510 of the device 500, or implemented by hardware, or implemented by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 510 can be configured to implement various embodiments of the present invention. In addition, a combination of the processor 510 and the memory 520 can form a processing component 550 suitable for implementing various embodiments of the present invention.

The memory 520 can be of any type suitable for local technology networks, and can be implemented using any appropriate data storage technology, such as a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, a semiconductor-based memory device, and magnetic Memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory are as non-limiting examples. Although only one memory 520 is shown in the device 500, there may be several physically different memory modules in the device 500. The processor 510 may be of any type suitable for regional technology networks, and may include general-purpose computers, special-purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSP), and processors based on multi-core processor architecture. One or more, as non-limiting examples. The device 500 may have multiple processors, such as an application-specific integrated circuit chip, which is subordinate in time to a clock synchronized with the main processor.

Generally speaking, various embodiments of the present invention can be implemented by hardware or dedicated circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects can be implemented by hardware, while other aspects can be implemented by firmware or software, which can be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of the present invention are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other graphics to represent, it will be understood that the blocks, devices, systems, and technologies described herein Or the method can be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuit or logic, general-purpose hardware or controller or other computing device, or some combination thereof, as a non-limiting example.

The present invention also provides at least one computer program product, which is tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in a program module, which are executed on a real or virtual processor of a target in a device to execute the above with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 Methods 300, 400. Generally, program modules include programs, programs, libraries, objects, categories, components, data structures, etc., that perform specific tasks or implement specific abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functions of the program modules can be combined or divided among the program modules as needed. Machine executable instructions for program modules can be executed in a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules can be located in local and remote storage media.

The program code used to execute the method of the present invention can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes can be provided to a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, or other processors or controllers that can plan data processing devices, so that when executed by the processor or controller, the The functions/operations specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram will be implemented. The code can be executed entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, executed as an independent software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine, or entirely on the machine. Execute on the remote machine or server.

In the environment of the present invention, the computer program codes or related data can be carried by any suitable carrier, so that the device, equipment or processor can perform various processing and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium.

The computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. A computer readable medium can include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, equipment, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A more specific example of the computer-readable storage medium would include an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), and a read only Memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable CD-ROM (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device , Or any suitable combination of the above.

In addition, although the operations are described in a specific order, this should not be construed as requiring the operations to be performed in the specific order shown or in a sequential order, or all operations shown in the figures Must be executed to achieve the desired result. In some cases, multiplexing and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, although several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention, but as a description of features specific to specific embodiments. Certain features described in the context of separate embodiments can also be combined to be implemented in the context of a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in separate multiple embodiments or in any suitable subcombination.

Although the present invention has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological actions, it will be understood that the present invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or actions described above. To be more precise, the above-mentioned specific features and actions are disclosed as an example form of realizing the request item.

100: Internet 102: Cell 110: network device 120: terminal device 200: process 210: Cluster a plurality of HARQ processes for the terminal device into at least one HARQ group 220: Send a first signaling used to trigger the HARQ feedback transmission to the terminal device 230: Determine whether the indication in the first signaling indicates one or more HARQ groups into which at least one HARQ process is clustered 240: Send the HARQ feedback to the network device 300, 400: method 310, 320, 410, 420, 430: block 500: device 510: processor 520: memory 530: program 540: TX/RX 550: processing component

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent through the more detailed description of some embodiments of the present invention in the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 illustrates an example communication network in which embodiments of the present invention can be implemented;

Figure 2 is a signaling diagram of an example process for HARQ feedback transmission according to some embodiments of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a flowchart of a HARQ feedback transmission method according to some embodiments of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a flowchart of a HARQ feedback transmission method according to some embodiments of the present invention; and

Figure 5 is a block diagram of a device suitable for implementing embodiments of the present invention.

In all the drawings, the same or similar reference signs indicate the same or similar elements.

300: method

310: Block

320: block

Claims (19)

A communication method, which includes: Clustering a plurality of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes for a terminal device into at least one HARQ group at a network device; and In response to a reception failure of a HARQ feedback used for a HARQ process in the at least one HARQ group, a first signaling for triggering transmission of the HARQ feedback is sent to the terminal device, the first signaling including An indication of the at least one HARQ group. Such as the method of claim 1, wherein clustering the plurality of HARQ processes includes: Determining a first timing indicator for a first HARQ process of one of the plurality of HARQ processes and a second timing indicator for a second HARQ process of one of the plurality of HARQ processes; Based on the first timing indicator and the second timing indicator, determine whether the first HARQ process and the second HARQ process share an initial HARQ feedback transmission opportunity; and In response to determining that the first HARQ process and the second HARQ process share the initial HARQ feedback transmission opportunity, the first HARQ process and the second HARQ process are clustered into a first HARQ group. Such as the method of claim 1, wherein clustering the plurality of HARQ processes includes: Determine whether a first downlink grant associated with a third HARQ process of one of the plurality of HARQ processes and a second downlink grant associated with a fourth HARQ process of one of the plurality of HARQ processes Is sent in a single control resource set; and In response to determining that the first and second downlink grants are sent in a single control resource set, cluster the third HARQ process and the fourth HARQ process into a second HARQ group of the at least one HARQ group . Such as the method of any one of claim items 1 to 3, wherein the indication for the at least one HARQ group includes at least one of the following: An identification code of the at least one HARQ group, and A bitmap, and the bits in the bitmap are associated with the at least one HARQ group. Such as the method of claim 1, which further includes: A second signaling for scheduling downlink transmission is sent to the terminal device, and the second signaling includes: An identification code of a fifth HARQ process of one of the plurality of HARQ processes, the fifth HARQ process being associated with the downlink transmission; and The fifth HARQ process is clustered in an indication of one of the HARQ groups. Such as the method of claim 1, which further includes: Send a third signaling for scheduling another downlink transmission to the terminal device, the third signaling includes: An identification code of a sixth HARQ process of one of the plurality of HARQ processes, the sixth HARQ process being associated with the other downlink transmission; and The sixth HARQ process is clustered into an index of the sixth HARQ process in one of the other HARQ groups. Such as the method of claim 6, wherein sending the first signaling includes: In response to a reception failure for one of the HARQ feedbacks of the sixth HARQ process, the first signaling is sent, which includes an indication for the other HARQ group and an additional bit map, in the additional bit A bit in the image is associated with the index of the sixth HARQ process. A communication method, which includes: A first signaling is received from a network device, the first signaling is used to trigger at least one HARQ feedback transmission used for at least one hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, and the first signaling includes information for at least one An indication of the HARQ group; Determine whether the indication indicates one or more HARQ groups into which the at least one HARQ process is clustered; and In response to determining that the instruction indicates the one or more HARQ groups, the HARQ feedback is sent to the network device. The method of claim 8, wherein the indication for the at least one HARQ group includes at least one of the following: An identification code of the at least one HARQ group; and A bitmap, and the bits in the bitmap are associated with the at least one HARQ group. Such as the method of claim 8, which further includes: A second signaling for scheduling downlink transmission is received from the network device, and the second signaling includes: An identification code of one HARQ process of the at least one HARQ process, and the fifth HARQ process is associated with the downlink transmission; and The HARQ process is clustered into an indication of one of the HARQ groups. Such as the method of claim 10, wherein determining whether the indication indicates the one or more HARQ groups includes: It is determined whether the indication used for the at least one HARQ group in the first signaling is the same as the indication used for the HARQ group. Such as the method of claim 8, wherein determining whether the indication indicates the one or more HARQ groups includes: Determining an initial HARQ feedback transmission opportunity for a second HARQ process of the at least one HARQ process, the determination is based on a timing indicator received from the network device for the second HARQ process; Based on the initial HARQ feedback transmission opportunity, determine a HARQ group into which the second HARQ process is clustered; and It is determined whether the indication for the at least one HARQ group in the first signaling indicates the HARQ group. Such as the method of claim 8, wherein determining whether the indication indicates the one or more HARQ groups includes: Based on a control resource set, determining that a third HARQ process of the at least one HARQ process is clustered into one of the HARQ groups, and the downlink grant associated with the third HARQ process is being sent on the control resource set; as well as It is determined whether the indication for the at least one HARQ group in the first signaling indicates the HARQ group. Such as the method of claim 8, which further includes: A third signaling for scheduling another downlink transmission is received from the network device, and the third signaling includes: An identification code of a fourth HARQ process of one of the at least one HARQ process, the fourth HARQ process being associated with the other downlink transmission; and The fourth HARQ process is clustered into an index of the fourth HARQ process in one of the other HARQ groups. Such as the method of claim 14, wherein receiving the first signaling includes: The first signaling is received, which includes an indication for the other HARQ group and an additional bitmap, and a bit in the additional bitmap is associated with the index of the fourth HARQ process. A network device including: At least one processor; and At least one memory containing computer code; The at least one memory and the computer program code are assembled together with the at least one processor to cause the device to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-7. A terminal device, which includes: At least one processor; and At least one memory containing computer code; The at least one memory and the computer program code are assembled, together with the at least one processor, to cause the device to execute the method according to any one of claims 8-15. A computer-readable medium with a computer program stored thereon. When the computer program is executed by a processor, it causes the processor to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-7. A computer-readable medium with a computer program stored thereon. The computer program, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to execute the method according to any one of claims 8-15.

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