WO2018085044A1

WO2018085044A1 - User equipment (ue), evolved node-b (enb) and methods for signaling of new radio (nr) physical uplink control channel (pucch) allocations

Info

Publication number: WO2018085044A1
Application number: PCT/US2017/057024
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gang Xiong; Joonyoung Cho; Hong He; Hwan-Joon Kwon
Original assignee: Intel IP Corporation
Priority date: 2016-11-02
Filing date: 2017-10-17
Publication date: 2018-05-11
Also published as: DE112017004435T5

Abstract

Embodiments of a User Equipment (UE), Evolved Node-B (eNB) and methods for communication are generally described herein. The UE may receive a control message that configures a set of time and frequency resources allocated for new radio (NR) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmissions. The time resources may include one or more symbols in a slot and the frequency resources may include one or more physical resource blocks. The UE may decode a downlink control information (DCI) that indicates time and frequency resources from the set of configured time and frequency resources. The UE may transmit an NR PUCCH in the indicated time and frequency resources.

Description

USER EQUIPMENT (UE), EVOLVED NODE-B (ENB) AND METHODS FOR SIGNALING OF NEW RADIO (NR) PHYSICAL UPLINK CONTROL

CHANNEL (PUCCH) ALLOCATIONS

PRIORITY CLAIM

[0001] This application claims priority to United States Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 62/416,621, filed November 2, 2016, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD [0002] Embodiments pertain to wireless communications. Some embodiments relate to wireless networks including 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) networks, 3GPP LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks, and 3GPP LTE-A (LTE Advanced) networks. Some embodiments relate to Fifth Generation (5G) networks. Some embodiments relate to New Radio (NR) networks. Some embodiments relate to multiplexing of data and control information, including but not limited to multiplexing of physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmissions and physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmissions. Some embodiments relate to determination of PUCCH allocations. Some embodiments relate to signaling of PUCCH allocations.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Base stations and mobile devices operating in a cellular network may exchange data. In some cases, time resources and/or frequency resources may be allocated for multiplexing of data and control information in a frame. In some scenarios, an application used by the mobile device may operate with a relatively high data rate. Support of such a data rate may utilize a significant portion of a system data rate supported by the base station, and may even exceed the supported data rate in some cases. Operations such as multiplexing of data and control and other operations may become challenging when such data rates are used. For instance, new radio (NR) networks may support data rates that are significantly higher than Fourth Generation (4G) systems and other cellular systems. Accordingly, there is a general need for methods of multiplexing data and control information in these and other scenarios.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] FIG. 1 is a functional diagram of an example network in accordance with some embodiments;

[0005] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine in accordance with some embodiments;

[0006] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an Evolved Node-B (eNB) in accordance with some embodiments and a block diagram of a Generation Node- B (gNB) in accordance with some embodiments;

[0007] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a User Equipment (UE) in accordance with some embodiments;

[0008] FIG. 5 illustrates the operation of a method of communication in accordance with some embodiments;

[0009] FIG. 6 illustrates the operation of another method of

communication in accordance with some embodiments;

[0010] FIG. 7 illustrates example slots in accordance with some embodiments;

[0011] FIG. 8 illustrates example physical uplink control channels

(PUCCHs) in accordance with some embodiments;

[0012] FIG. 9 illustrates additional example slots in accordance with some embodiments;

[0013] FIG. 10 illustrates additional example slots in accordance with some embodiments;

[0014] FIG. 1 1 illustrates additional example slots in accordance with some embodiments; [0015] FIG. 12 illustrates additional example slots in accordance with some embodiments;

[0016] FIG. 13 illustrates additional example slots in accordance with some embodiments;

[0017] FIG. 14 illustrates an example of multiplexing of demodulation reference signals (DM-RS) and PUCCH in accordance with some embodiments

[0018] FIG. 15 illustrates an example radio frame structure in accordance with some embodiments;

[0019] FIGs. 16A-B illustrate example frequency resources in accordance with some embodiments;

[0020] FIG. 17 illustrates an example of entities exchanging radio resource control (RRC) elements in accordance with some embodiments; and

[0021] FIG. 18 illustrates an example entity that may be used to implement medium access control (MAC) layer functions in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0022] The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustrate specific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments. Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims.

[0023] FIG. 1 is a functional diagram of an example network in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the network 100 may be a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network. It should be noted that embodiments are not limited to usage of 3GPP networks, however, as other networks may be used in some embodiments. As an example, a Fifth

Generation (5G) network may be used in some cases. As another example, a

New Radio (NR) network may be used in some cases. As another example, a wireless local area network (WLAN) may be used in some cases. Embodiments are not limited to these example networks, however, as other networks may be used in some embodiments. In some embodiments, a network may include one or more components shown in FIG. 1. Some embodiments may not necessarily include all components shown in FIG. 1, and some embodiments may include additional components not shown in FIG. 1.

[0024] The network 100 may comprise a radio access network (RAN)

101 and the core network 120 (e.g., shown as an evolved packet core (EPC)) coupled together through an S 1 interface 115. For convenience and brevity sake, only a portion of the core network 120, as well as the RAN 101, is shown. In a non-limiting example, the RAN 101 may be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN). In another non-limiting example, the RAN 101 may include one or more components of a New Radio (NR) network. In another non-limiting example, the RAN 101 may include one or more components of an E-UTRAN and one or more components of another network (including but not limited to an NR network) .

[0025] The core network 120 may include a mobility management entity

(MME) 122, a serving gateway (serving GW) 124, and packet data network gateway (PDN GW) 126. In some embodiments, the network 100 may include (and/or support) one or more Evolved Node-B 's (eNBs) 104 (which may operate as base stations) for communicating with User Equipment (UE) 102. The eNBs 104 may include macro eNBs and low power (LP) eNBs, in some embodiments.

[0026] In some embodiments, the network 100 may include (and/or support) one or more Generation Node-B's (gNBs) 105. In some embodiments, one or more eNBs 104 may be configured to operate as gNBs 105.

Embodiments are not limited to the number of eNBs 104 shown in FIG. 1 or to the number of gNBs 105 shown in FIG. 1. In some embodiments, the network 100 may not necessarily include eNBs 104. Embodiments are also not limited to the connectivity of components shown in FIG. 1.

[0027] It should be noted that references herein to an eNB 104 or to a gNB 105 are not limiting. In some embodiments, one or more operations, methods and/or techniques (such as those described herein) may be practiced by a base station component (and/or other component), including but not limited to a gNB 105, an eNB 104, a serving cell, a transmit receive point (TRP) and/or other. In some embodiments, the base station component may be configured to operate in accordance with a New Radio (NR) protocol and/or NR standard, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the base station component may be configured to operate in accordance with a Fifth Generation (5G) protocol and/or 5G standard, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0028] In some embodiments, one or more of the UEs 102 and/or eNBs

104 may be configured to operate in accordance with an NR protocol and/or NR techniques. References to a UE 102, eNB 104 and/or gNB 105 as part of descriptions herein are not limiting. For instance, descriptions of one or more operations, techniques and/or methods practiced by an eNB 104 are not limiting. In some embodiments, one or more of those operations, techniques and/or methods may be practiced by a gNB 105 and/or other base station component.

[0029] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may transmit signals (data, control and/or other) to the gNB 105, and may receive signals (data, control and/or other) from the gNB 105. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may transmit signals (data, control and/or other) to the eNB 104, and may receive signals (data, control and/or other) from the eNB 104. These embodiments will be described in more detail below.

[0030] The MME 122 is similar in function to the control plane of legacy

Serving GPRS Support Nodes (SGSN). The MME 122 manages mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The serving GW 124 terminates the interface toward the RAN 101, and routes data packets between the RAN 101 and the core network 120. In addition, it may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-eNB handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement. The serving GW 124 and the MME 122 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes. The PDN GW 126 terminates an SGi interface toward the packet data network (PDN). The PDN GW 126 routes data packets between the EPC 120 and the external PDN, and may be a key node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. It may also provide an anchor point for mobility with non-LTE accesses. The external PDN can be any kind of IP network, as well as an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) domain. The PDN GW 126 and the serving GW 124 may be implemented in one physical node or separated physical nodes.

[0031] In some embodiments, the eNBs 104 (macro and micro) terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for a UE 102. In some embodiments, an eNB 104 may fulfill various logical functions for the network 100, including but not limited to RNC (radio network controller functions) such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0032] In some embodiments, UEs 102 may be configured to communicate Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with an eNB 104 and/or gNB 105 over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance with an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication technique. In some embodiments, eNBs 104 and/or gNBs 105 may be configured to communicate OFDM communication signals with a UE 102 over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance with an OFDMA communication technique. The OFDM signals may comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

[0033] The S I interface 1 15 is the interface that separates the RAN 101 and the EPC 120. It may be split into two parts: the S l-U, which carries traffic data between the eNBs 104 and the serving GW 124, and the S l-MME, which is a signaling interface between the eNBs 104 and the MME 122. The X2 interface is the interface between eNBs 104. The X2 interface comprises two parts, the X2-C and X2-U. The X2-C is the control plane interface between the eNBs 104, while the X2-U is the user plane interface between the eNBs 104.

[0034] In some embodiments, similar functionality and/or connectivity described for the eNB 104 may be used for the gNB 105, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. In a non-limiting example, the S 1 interface 115 (and/or similar interface) may be split into two parts: the S l-U, which carries traffic data between the gNBs 105 and the serving GW 124, and the S l-MME, which is a signaling interface between the gNBs 104 and the MME 122. The X2 interface (and/or similar interface) may enable

communication between eNBs 104, communication between gNBs 105 and/or communication between an eNB 104 and a gNB 105. [0035] With cellular networks, LP cells are typically used to extend coverage to indoor areas where outdoor signals do not reach well, or to add network capacity in areas with very dense phone usage, such as train stations. As used herein, the term low power (LP) eNB refers to any suitable relatively low power eNB for implementing a narrower cell (narrower than a macro cell) such as a femtocell, a picocell, or a micro cell. Femtocell eNBs are typically provided by a mobile network operator to its residential or enterprise customers. A femtocell is typically the size of a residential gateway or smaller and generally connects to the user's broadband line. Once plugged in, the femtocell connects to the mobile operator's mobile network and provides extra coverage in a range of typically 30 to 50 meters for residential femtocells. Thus, a LP eNB might be a femtocell eNB since it is coupled through the PDN GW 126. Similarly, a picocell is a wireless communication system typically covering a small area, such as in-building (offices, shopping malls, train stations, etc.), or more recently in-aircraft. A picocell eNB can generally connect through the X2 link to another eNB such as a macro eNB through its base station controller (BSC)

functionality. Thus, LP eNB may be implemented with a picocell eNB since it is coupled to a macro eNB via an X2 interface. Picocell eNBs or other LP eNBs may incorporate some or all functionality of a macro eNB. In some cases, this may be referred to as an access point base station or enterprise femtocell. In some embodiments, various types of gNBs 105 may be used, including but not limited to one or more of the eNB types described above.

[0036] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from an eNB 104 to a UE 102, while uplink

transmission from the UE 102 to the eNB 104 may utilize similar techniques. In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from a gNB 105 to a UE 102, while uplink transmission from the UE 102 to the gNB 105 may utilize similar techniques. The grid may be a time- frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in each slot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practice for OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radio resource allocation. Each column and each row of the resource grid correspond to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted as a resource element (RE). There are several different physical downlink channels that are conveyed using such resource blocks. With particular relevance to this disclosure, two of these physical downlink channels are the physical downlink shared channel and the physical down link control channel.

[0037] As used herein, the term "circuitry" may refer to, be part of, or include an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be implemented in, or functions associated with the circuitry may be implemented by, one or more software or firmware modules. In some embodiments, circuitry may include logic, at least partially operable in hardware. Embodiments described herein may be implemented into a system using any suitably configured hardware and/or software.

[0038] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine in accordance with some embodiments. The machine 200 is an example machine upon which any one or more of the techniques and/or methodologies discussed herein may be performed. In alternative embodiments, the machine 200 may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 200 may operate in the capacity of a server machine, a client machine, or both in server-client network environments. In an example, the machine 200 may act as a peer machine in peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environment. The machine 200 may be a UE 102, eNB 104, gNB 105, access point (AP), station (STA), mobile device, base station, personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a smart phone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term

"machine" shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), other computer cluster configurations.

[0039] Examples as described herein, may include, or may operate on, logic or a number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangible entities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example, circuits may be arranged (e.g., internally or with respect to external entities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. In an example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client or server computer system) or one or more hardware processors may be configured by firmware or software (e.g., instructions, an application portion, or an application) as a module that operates to perform specified operations. In an example, the software may reside on a machine readable medium. In an example, the software, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causes the hardware to perform the specified operations.

[0040] Accordingly, the term "module" is understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specifically configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., transitorily) configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or to perform part or all of any operation described herein. Considering examples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of the modules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example, where the modules comprise a general -purpose hardware processor configured using software, the general-purpose hardware processor may be configured as respective different modules at different times. Software may accordingly configure a hardware processor, for example, to constitute a particular module at one instance of time and to constitute a different module at a different instance of time.

[0041] The machine (e.g., computer system) 200 may include a hardware processor 202 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory 204 and a static memory 206, some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interlink (e.g., bus) 208. The machine 200 may further include a display unit 210, an alphanumeric input device 212 (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 214 (e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display unit 210, input device 212 and UI navigation device 214 may be a touch screen display. The machine 200 may additionally include a storage device (e.g., drive unit) 216, a signal generation device 218 (e.g., a speaker), a network interface device 220, and one or more sensors 221, such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or other sensor. The machine 200 may include an output controller 228, such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicate or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, card reader, etc.).

[0042] The storage device 216 may include a machine readable medium

222 on which is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 224 (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. The instructions 224 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 204, within static memory 206, or within the hardware processor 202 during execution thereof by the machine 200. In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor 202, the main memory 204, the static memory 206, or the storage device 216 may constitute machine readable media. In some embodiments, the machine readable medium may be or may include a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.

[0043] While the machine readable medium 222 is illustrated as a single medium, the term "machine readable medium" may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) configured to store the one or more instructions 224. The term "machine readable medium" may include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the machine 200 and that cause the machine 200 to perform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, or that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures used by or associated with such instructions. Non-limiting machine readable medium examples may include solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media. Specific examples of machine readable media may include: non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable

Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto -optical disks; Random Access Memory (RAM); and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. In some examples, machine readable media may include non-transitory machine readable media. In some examples, machine readable media may include machine readable media that is not a transitory propagating signal.

[0044] The instructions 224 may further be transmitted or received over a communications network 226 using a transmission medium via the network interface device 220 utilizing any one of a number of transfer protocols (e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP), transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks may include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet data network (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellular networks), Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, and wireless data networks (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi®, IEEE 802.16 family of standards known as WiMax®), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) family of standards, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) family of standards, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, among others. In an example, the network interface device 220 may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or phone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communications network 226. In an example, the network interface device 220 may include a plurality of antennas to wirelessly communicate using at least one of single-input multiple-output (SIMO), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), or multiple-input single-output (MISO) techniques. In some examples, the network interface device 220 may wirelessly communicate using Multiple User MIMO techniques. The term "transmission medium" shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machine 200, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitate communication of such software. [0045] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an Evolved Node-B (eNB) in accordance with some embodiments and a block diagram of a Generation Node- B (gNB) in accordance with some embodiments. It should be noted that in some embodiments, the eNB 300 may be a stationary non-mobile device. The eNB 300 may be suitable for use as an eNB 104 as depicted in FIG. 1. The eNB 300 may include physical layer circuitry 302 and a transceiver 305, one or both of which may enable transmission and reception of signals to and from the UE 200, other eNBs, other UEs or other devices using one or more antennas 301. As an example, the physical layer circuitry 302 may perform various encoding and decoding functions that may include formation of baseband signals for transmission and decoding of received signals. As another example, the transceiver 305 may perform various transmission and reception functions such as conversion of signals between a baseband range and a Radio Frequency (RF) range. Accordingly, the physical layer circuitry 302 and the transceiver 305 may be separate components or may be part of a combined component. In addition, some of the described functionality related to transmission and reception of signals may be performed by a combination that may include one, any or all of the physical layer circuitry 302, the transceiver 305, and other components or layers. The eNB 300 may also include medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry 304 for controlling access to the wireless medium. The eNB 300 may also include processing circuitry 306 and memory 308 arranged to perform the operations described herein. The eNB 300 may also include one or more interfaces 3 10, which may enable communication with other components, including other eNBs 104 (FIG. 1), gNBs 105, components in the EPC 120 (FIG. 1) or other network components. In addition, the interfaces 310 may enable communication with other components that may not be shown in FIG. 1, including components external to the network. The interfaces 310 may be wired or wireless or a combination thereof. It should be noted that in some embodiments, an eNB or other base station may include some or all of the components shown in either FIG. 2 or FIG. 3 (such as in 300) or both.

[0046] It should be noted that in some embodiments, the gNB 350 may be a stationary non-mobile device. The gNB 350 may be suitable for use as a gNB 105 as depicted in FIG. 1. The gNB 350 may include physical layer circuitry 352 and a transceiver 355, one or both of which may enable transmission and reception of signals to and from the UE 200, eNBs, other gNBs, other UEs or other devices using one or more antennas 351. As an example, the physical layer circuitry 352 may perform various encoding and decoding functions that may include formation of baseband signals for transmission and decoding of received signals. As another example, the transceiver 355 may perform various transmission and reception functions such as conversion of signals between a baseband range and a Radio Frequency (RF) range. Accordingly, the physical layer circuitry 352 and the transceiver 355 may be separate components or may be part of a combined component. In addition, some of the described functionality related to transmission and reception of signals may be performed by a combination that may include one, any or all of the physical layer circuitry 352, the transceiver 355, and other components or layers. The gNB 350 may also include MAC circuitry 354 for controlling access to the wireless medium. The gNB 350 may also include processing circuitry 356 and memory 308 arranged to perform the operations described herein. The gNB 350 may also include one or more interfaces 360, which may enable communication with other components, including other gNBs 105 (FIG. 1), eNBs 104 (FIG. 1), components in the EPC 120 (FIG. 1) or other network components. In addition, the interfaces 360 may enable communication with other components that may not be shown in FIG. 1, including components external to the network. The interfaces 360 may be wired or wireless or a combination thereof. It should be noted that in some embodiments, a gNB or other base station may include some or all of the components shown in either FIG. 2 or FIG. 3 (such as in 350) or both.

[0047] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a User Equipment (UE) in accordance with some embodiments. The UE 400 may be suitable for use as a UE 102 as depicted in FIG. 1. In some embodiments, the UE 400 may include application circuitry 402, baseband circuitry 404, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 406, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 408 and one or more antennas

410, coupled together at least as shown. In some embodiments, other circuitry or arrangements may include one or more elements and/or components of the application circuitry 402, the baseband circuitry 404, the RF circuitry 406 and/or the FEM circuitry 408, and may also include other elements and/or components in some cases. As an example, "processing circuitry" may include one or more elements and/or components, some or all of which may be included in the application circuitry 402 and/or the baseband circuitry 404. As another example, a "transceiver" and/or "transceiver circuitry" may include one or more elements and/or components, some or all of which may be included in the RF circuitry 406 and/or the FEM circuitry 408. These examples are not limiting, however, as the processing circuitry, transceiver and/or the transceiver circuitry may also include other elements and/or components in some cases. It should be noted that in some embodiments, a UE or other mobile device may include some or all of the components shown in either FIG. 2 or FIG. 4 or both.

[0048] The application circuitry 402 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 402 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination of general -purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors,

application processors, etc.). The processors may be coupled with and/or may include memory/storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications and/or operating systems to run on the system.

[0049] The baseband circuitry 404 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry 404 may include one or more baseband processors and/or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 406 and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 406. Baseband processing circuitry 404 may interface with the application circuitry 402 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 406. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 404 may include a second generation (2G) baseband processor 404a, third generation (3G) baseband processor 404b, fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 404c, and/or other baseband processor(s) 404d for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., fifth generation (5G), 6G, etc.). The baseband circuitry 404 (e.g., one or more of baseband processors 404a-d) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 406. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation,

encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 404 may include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, and/or constellation

mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 404 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, and/or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

[0050] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 404 may include elements of a protocol stack such as, for example, elements of an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) protocol including, for example, physical (PHY), media access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and/or radio resource control (RRC) elements. A central processing unit (CPU) 404e of the baseband circuitry 404 may be configured to run elements of the protocol stack for signaling of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP and/or RRC layers. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may include one or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 404f. The audio DSP(s) 404f may be include elements for

compression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 404 and the application circuitry 402 may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

[0051] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 404 may provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 404 may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) and/or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 404 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

[0052] RF circuitry 406 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 406 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry 406 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 408 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry 404. RF circuitry 406 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 404 and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 408 for transmission.

[0053] In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 406 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the RF circuitry 406 may include mixer circuitry 406a, amplifier circuitry 406b and filter circuitry 406c. The transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 406 may include filter circuitry 406c and mixer circuitry 406a. RF circuitry 406 may also include synthesizer circuitry 406d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 408 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 406d. The amplifier circuitry 406b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 406c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the baseband circuitry 404 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 406d to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 408. The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 404 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 406c. The filter circuitry 406c may include a low-pass filter (LPF), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0054] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 406a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and/or upconversion respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 406a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g.,

Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 406a may be arranged for direct downconversion and/or direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 406a of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.

[0055] In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RF circuitry 406 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry 404 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry 406. In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0056] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 406d may be a fractional -N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 406d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider. The synthesizer circuitry 406d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 406a of the RF circuitry 406 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 406d may be a fractional N N+l synthesizer. In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Divider control input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 404 or the applications processor 402 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a lookup table based on a channel indicated by the applications processor 402.

[0057] Synthesizer circuitry 406d of the RF circuitry 406 may include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DP A). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+l (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0058] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 406d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLo). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 406 may include an IQ/polar converter. [0059] FEM circuitry 408 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 410, amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 406 for further processing. FEM circuitry 408 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry 406 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 410.

[0060] In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 408 may include a

TX/RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 406). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 408 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 406), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 410. In some embodiments, the UE 400 may include additional elements such as, for example, memory /storage, display, camera, sensor, and/or input/output (I/O) interface.

[0061] One or more of the antennas 230, 301, 351, 410 may comprise one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, one or more of the antennas 230, 301, 351, 410 may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result.

[0062] In some embodiments, the UE 400 and/or the eNB 300 and/or gNB 350 may be a mobile device and may be a portable wireless communication device, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wireless communication capability, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, a smartphone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, a digital camera, an access point, a television, a wearable device such as a medical device

(e.g., a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor, etc.), or other device that may receive and/or transmit information wirelessly. In some embodiments, the UE 400 and/or eNB 300 and/or gNB 350 may be configured to operate in accordance with 3GPP standards, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. Mobile devices or other devices in some embodiments may be configured to operate according to other protocols or standards, including IEEE 802.1 1 or other IEEE standards. In some embodiments, the UE 400, eNB 300, gNB 350 and/or other device may include one or more of a keyboard, a display, a non-volatile memory port, multiple antennas, a graphics processor, an application processor, speakers, and other mobile device elements. The display may be an LCD screen including a touch screen.

[0063] Although the UE 400, the eNB 300 and the gNB 350 are each illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software -configured elements, such as processing elements including digital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field- programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[0064] Embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware and software. Embodiments may also be implemented as instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device, which may be read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operations described herein. A computer-readable storage device may include any non-transitory mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a computer-readable storage device may include readonly memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memory devices, and other storage devices and media. Some embodiments may include one or more processors and may be configured with instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device. [0065] It should be noted that in some embodiments, an apparatus used by the UE 400 and/or eNB 300 and/or gNB 350 and/or machine 200 may include various components of the UE 400 and/or the eNB 300 and/or the gNB 350 and/or the machine 200 as shown in FIGs. 2-4. Accordingly, techniques and operations described herein that refer to the UE 400 (or 102) may be applicable to an apparatus for a UE. In addition, techniques and operations described herein that refer to the eNB 300 (or 104) may be applicable to an apparatus for an eNB. In addition, techniques and operations described herein that refer to the gNB 350 (or 105) may be applicable to an apparatus for a gNB.

[0066] In accordance with some embodiments, the UE 102 may receive downlink control information (DCI) that indicates a configurable first physical resource block (PRB) for an allocation of PRBs for new radio (NR) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmissions in a control region of a slot. The control region may include one or more symbol periods. The UE 102 may store at least a portion of the DCI in memory. The UE 102 may determine a frequency separation parameter that is based at least partly on an identifier of the UE 102. The UE 102 may determine, based on the first PRB and the frequency separation parameter, a second PRB that is allocated for the NR PUCCH transmissions in the control region. The UE 102 may transmit an NR PUCCH in the first and second PRBs in the control region. These embodiments are described in more detail below.

[0067] FIG. 5 illustrates the operation of a method of communication in accordance with some embodiments. It is important to note that embodiments of the method 500 may include additional or even fewer operations or processes in comparison to what is illustrated in FIG. 5. In addition, embodiments of the method 500 are not necessarily limited to the chronological order that is shown in FIG. 5. In describing the method 500, reference may be made to FIGs. 1-4 and 6- 14, although it is understood that the method 500 may be practiced with any other suitable systems, interfaces and components.

[0068] In some embodiments, a UE 102 may perform one or more operations of the method 500, but embodiments are not limited to performance of the method 500 and/or operations of it by the UE 102. In some embodiments, the eNB 104 and/or gNB 105 may perform one or more operations of the method 500 (and/or similar operations). Accordingly, although references may be made to performance of one or more operations of the method 500 by the UE 102 in descriptions herein, it is understood that the eNB 104 and/or gNB 105 may perform the same operation(s), similar operation(s) and/or reciprocal operation(s), in some embodiments.

[0069] In addition, while the method 500 and other methods described herein may refer to eNBs 104, gNBs 105 or UEs 102 operating in accordance with 3GPP standards, 5G standards and/or other standards, embodiments of those methods are not limited to just those eNBs 104, gNBs 105 or UEs 102 and may also be practiced on other devices, such as a Wi-Fi access point (AP) or user station (STA). In addition, the method 500 and other methods described herein may be practiced by wireless devices configured to operate in other suitable types of wireless communication systems, including systems configured to operate according to various IEEE standards such as IEEE 802.1 1. The method 500 may also be applicable to an apparatus of a UE 102, an apparatus of an eNB 104, an apparatus of a gNB 105 and/or an apparatus of another device described above.

[0070] It should also be noted that embodiments are not limited by references herein (such as in descriptions of the methods 500 and 600 and/or other descriptions herein) to transmission, reception and/or exchanging of elements such as frames, messages, requests, indicators, signals or other elements. In some embodiments, such an element may be generated, encoded or otherwise processed by processing circuitry (such as by a baseband processor included in the processing circuitry) for transmission. The transmission may be performed by a transceiver or other component, in some cases. In some embodiments, such an element may be decoded, detected or otherwise processed by the processing circuitry (such as by the baseband processor). The element may be received by a transceiver or other component, in some cases. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry and the transceiver may be included in a same apparatus. The scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect, however, as the transceiver may be separate from the apparatus that comprises the processing circuitry, in some embodiments. [0071] At operation 505, the UE 102 may receive one or more new radio

(NR) minimum system information (MSI), NR remaining minimum system information (RMSI) and/or may receive one or more NR system information blocks (SIBs). At operation 510, the UE 102 may receive radio resource control (RRC) signaling. The RRC signaling, MSI and RMSI and/or SIB(s) may include various information, including but not limited to information related to time resource(s) and/or frequency resource(s) for a data region of one or more slots, information related to time resource(s) and/or frequency resource(s) for a control region of one or more slots, information related to multiplexing of the data region and control region in one or more slots and/or other information. These examples will be described in more detail below. It should be noted that embodiments are not limited to usage of RRC signaling, MSI and RMSI and/or SIB(s) to communicate such information, as other signaling, messages, blocks and/or other elements may be used, in some embodiments.

[0072] In some embodiments, the RRC signaling, MSI and RMSI and/or

SIB(s) may be received from an eNB 104, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the RRC signaling, MSI and RMSI and/or SIB(s) may be received from a gNB 105, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the RRC signaling, MSI and RMSI and/or SIB(s) may be received from another base station component and/or other component.

[0073] It should be noted that some embodiments may not necessarily include all operations shown in FIG. 5. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may perform one of operations 505-510 but may not necessarily perform both operations 505-510. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may perform both of operations 505-510.

[0074] At operation 515, the UE 102 may receive downlink control information (DCI). At operation 520, the UE 102 may determine an allocation for uplink PUCCH transmissions. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may determine the allocation based at least partly on information included in the DCI, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0075] In some embodiments, the DCI may indicate time resources and/or frequency resources that may be used, by one or more UEs 102, for uplink PUCCH transmissions. In some embodiments, the DCI may indicate an allocation for PUCCH transmissions by one or more UEs 102. It should be noted that the DCI may schedule one or more uplink PUSCHs, in some embodiments, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the DCI may indicate time resources and/or frequency resources that may be used, by one or more UEs 102, for uplink PUSCH transmission(s).

[0076] In some embodiments, DCI may include information related to

PUCCH transmissions, including but not limited to an allocation for the PUCCH transmissions (which may be in terms of time resources, frequency resources, code resources and/or other), time resources for the PUCCH transmissions, frequency resources for the PUCCH transmissions, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for the PUCCH transmissions, a number of bits, bytes and/or other to be encoded for the PUCCH transmissions, sequence index or cyclic shift index, a number of symbols (such as starting symbols and symbol periods, OFDM symbol periods and/or other) and/or other. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may determine information related to the PUCCH transmissions (and/or other information) based at least partly on information included in the DCI.

[0077] In some embodiments, the DCI may indicate a configurable first PRB physical resource block (PRB) for an allocation of PRBs for NR PUCCH transmissions in a control region of a slot. In some embodiments, the control region may include one or more symbol periods. In some embodiments, the control region may be restricted to one symbol period. For instance, an end symbol period of the slot may be allocated for the NR PUCCH transmissions. Embodiments are not limited to usage of the end symbol period, however.

[0078] It should be noted that embodiments are not limited to indication of one PRB (the first configurable PRB described above). In some

embodiments, multiple PRBs may be used. For instance, the DCI may indicate a first plurality of PRBs. In a non-limiting example, the frequency resources allocated for NR PUCCH transmissions may include a first plurality of PRBs and a second plurality of PRBs. In some embodiments, a frequency separation parameter may be given in terms of a size other than PRBs. For instance, the first and second pluralities of PRBs may be of a particular size (such as in terms of a number of PRBs). The frequency separation parameter may be given in terms of a multiple of that size. In a non-limiting example, the first and second pluralities of PRBs may include 4 PRBs, and the frequency separation parameter may be a multiplier to indicate a separation equal to a product of 4 and the multiplier. Other examples described herein may be similarly extended. For instance, examples described herein in which a single PRB is used may be extended to use one or more PRBs.

[0079] In some cases, an allocation for an NR PUCCH with short duration may be included in one symbol or two symbols period of a slot. It should be noted that usage of the term "short duration" is not limiting, as techniques described for the NR PUCCH with short duration may be applicable to allocations for NR PUCCHs (and/or control channels) of any suitable size/duration. The term "short duration" may be applicable to terminology of a 3GPP standard, NR standard, 5G standard and/or other standard, in some cases. In some embodiments, an allocation for the NR PUCCH with short duration may be restricted to one or more PRBs of one symbol period, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, an allocation for the NR PUCCH with short duration may span one symbol period, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the allocation for the NR PUCCH with short duration may span a relatively small number of symbol periods.

[0080] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may determine a frequency separation parameter that is based at least partly on an identifier of the UE 102. In an example, the identifier of the UE 102 may be a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI). This example is not limiting, however, as any suitable identifier(s) may be used. In addition, the UE 102 may determine the frequency separation parameter based at least partly on one or more other parameters, in some embodiments.

[0081] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may determine the frequency separation parameter based at least partly on an identifier of a cell in which the

UE 102 operates. For instance, different cells may be configured for different allocations for the PUCCH transmissions. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may determine the frequency separation parameter based at least partly on an identifier of the UE 102, an identifier of the cell in which the UE 102 operates and/or other parameter(s).

[0082] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may determine, based on the first PRB and the frequency separation parameter, a second PRB that is allocated for the NR PUCCH transmissions in the control region. It should be noted that the UE 102 may determine the second PRB when the allocation is configured for the NR PUCCH transmissions of the short duration, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. Accordingly, one or more of the techniques described herein for determination of the second PRB may be applicable to cases in which the allocation is configured for the NR PUCCH transmissions of the short duration, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0083] In some embodiments, the frequency separation parameter may indicate a frequency spacing and/or frequency gap between the first and second PRBs. Any suitable unit and/or technique may be used for the frequency spacing and/or frequency gap. In a non-limiting example, a value in Hz (and/or other unit) may be used. In another non-limiting example, a fraction of a bandwidth (such as a system bandwidth, channel and/or other) may be indicated.

[0084] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may determine the second PRB based on a summation that includes the frequency spacing and a frequency of the first PRB. For instance, if the frequency separation parameter indicates the frequency spacing, a frequency of the second PRB may be or may be based on a summation of the frequency spacing and the frequency of the first PRB.

[0085] In some embodiments, the frequency separation parameter may indicate a PRB spacing between the first and second PRBs. For instance, a number of PRBs between the first and second PRBs may be indicated. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may determine the second PRB based on a summation that includes the PRB spacing and a PRB index of the first PRB. For instance, if the frequency separation parameter indicates the PRB spacing, a PRB index of the second PRB may be or may be based on a summation of the PRB index of the first PRB and the PRB spacing.

[0086] It should be noted that embodiments are not limited to two PRBs for the allocation. In some embodiments, one or more of the techniques described herein for determination of the second PRB based at least partly on the first PRB may be extended to cases in which the allocation includes three or more PRBs. For instance, multiple frequency separation parameters (including but not limited to frequency spacings and/or frequency gaps) may be determined.

[0087] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may receive a control message that indicates candidate PRBs for the NR PUCCH transmissions. The UE 102 may select the first PRB from the candidate PRBs based on an indicator included in the DCI. For instance, an NR minimum system information (MSI), NR remaining minimum system information (RMSI), NR system information block (SIB), radio resource control (RRC) signaling and/or other control message may be received.

[0088] In some embodiments, the DCI may exclude indicators of the second PRB. In a non-limiting example, the DCI may be used to communicate the first PRB, and the second PRB may be determined based on the first PRB and one or more other parameters (such as the frequency separation parameter and/or other). The DCI may not necessarily indicate the second PRB, in some cases. In a non-limiting example, the DCI may be used to communicate the first PRB, and additional PRB(s) may be determined based on the first PRB and one or more other parameters (such as the frequency separation parameter and/or other). The DCI may not necessarily indicate one or more of the additional PRBs, in some cases.

[0089] In some cases, an allocation for an NR PUCCH with long duration may be included in more than four symbols period of a slot. It should be noted that usage of the term "long duration" is not limiting, as techniques described for the NR PUCCH with long duration may be applicable to allocations for NR PUCCHs (and/or control channels) of any suitable size/duration. The term "long duration" may be applicable to terminology of a 3GPP standard, NR standard, 5G standard and/or other standard, in some cases. In some embodiments, an allocation for the NR PUCCH with long duration may include one or more PRBs in multiple symbol period, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the NR PUCCH with long duration may span multiple symbol periods, almost a slot, multiple slots and/or other durations. [0090] In some embodiments, the NR PUCCH with long duration and the NR PUCCH with short duration may be supported. For instance, the allocation may be configurable for both types, in some cases. In a non-limiting example, the allocation may be configurable for: NR PUCCH transmissions of a short duration, wherein the control region is restricted to one or two symbol period (such as an end symbol period) of the slot; and/or NR PUCCH transmissions of a long duration, wherein the control region includes multiple symbol periods of the slot. In some cases, the UE 102 may receive a control message that indicates whether the allocation is to be configured for the NR PUCCH transmissions of the short duration or for the NR PUCCH transmissions of the long duration.

[0091] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may receive a DCI that indicates a configurable number of symbol periods for an allocation for NR PUCCH transmissions in a slot. The allocation may be in one or more predetermined PRBs, in some embodiments, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. The UE 102 may determine a start symbol period of the allocation based on a difference between an end symbol period of the slot and the number of symbol periods indicated in the DCI.

[0092] In some embodiments, the end symbol period of the allocation may be predetermined. In some embodiments, the end symbol period of the allocation may be indicated in a standard, included in a specification and/or signaled (such as by an MSI, RMSI, SIB, RRC signaling and/or other). In a non-limiting example, the end symbol period of the allocation may be the end symbol period of the slot. The scope of embodiments are not limited to the end symbol period of the slot, however, as any suitable symbol period may be used as the end symbol period of the allocation, in some embodiments.

[0093] It should be noted that the UE 102 may determine the start symbol period when the allocation is configured for the NR PUCCH transmissions of the long duration, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. Accordingly, one or more of the techniques described herein for determination of the start symbol period may be applicable to cases in which the allocation is configured for the NR PUCCH transmissions of the long duration, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. [0094] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may receive a control message that indicates candidate numbers of symbol periods for the allocation. The UE 102 may select the number of symbol periods for the allocation from the candidate numbers of symbol periods for the allocation based on an indicator included in the DCI. Any suitable control message may be received, including but not limited to an MSI, RMSI, SIB, RRC signaling and/or other.

[0095] In some embodiments, the allocation may be configurable for frequency hopping arrangements, wherein: first PRBs are allocated in first symbol periods of the allocation, and second PRBs are allocated in second symbol periods of the allocation. The frequency hopping arrangements may be supported when the NR PUCCH with long duration is used, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0096] In some embodiments, a control message may indicate a symbol period of the allocation for a switch from the first PRBs to the second PRBs for a transmission of the NR PUCCH in accordance with a frequency hopping arrangement. Any suitable control message may be received, including but not limited to an MSI, RMSI, SIB, RRC signaling and/or other.

[0097] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may receive a control message that indicates whether frequency hopping is enabled in the slot. The UE 102 may, if the control message indicates that frequency hopping is enabled in the slot, transmit the NR PUCCH in accordance with a frequency hopping arrangement. The UE 102 may, if the control message indicates that frequency hopping is not enabled in the slot, transmit the NR PUCCH in accordance with a non-frequency hopping arrangement. The UE 102 may, if the control message indicates that frequency hopping is not enabled in the slot, transmit the NR

PUCCH in accordance with an arrangement in which frequency hopping is not used for the NR PUCCH transmission. In a non-limiting example of such an arrangement, at least one of the PRBs of the allocation may be allocated in each symbol period of the allocation. In another non-limiting example of such an arrangement, the PRBs of the allocation may be the same in each symbol period of the allocation.

[0098] In some embodiments, the DCI may exclude indicators of the start symbol period and/or end symbol period. In a non-limiting example, the DCI may be used to communicate the number of symbol periods in the allocation, and the allocation may be determined based on one or more other parameters, such as the start symbol period, end symbol period and/or other. The DCI may not necessarily indicate the start symbol period and/or end symbol period, in some cases. In some embodiments, a starting symbol and/or end symbol may be configured by RRC signaling. In some of those embodiments, the DCI may not necessarily be used to signal such information.

[0099] At operation 525, the UE 102 may transmit one or more uplink

PUCCHs. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may perform one or more PUCCH transmissions. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may perform a control transmission. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may transmit control element(s) and/or control information. It should be noted that transmission of the PUCCH(s), the PUCCH transmission(s), control transmission(s) and/or transmission(s) of control information may be performed in accordance with the determined allocation, in some embodiments.

[00100] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may determine, based at least partly on an identifier of the UE 102, a first sequence and a second sequence. Any suitable sequences may be used, including but not limited to Zadoff Chu (ZC) sequences or computer generated sequence. In a non-limiting example, when a first and second PRBs are included in the allocation, the UE 102 may encode data bits to generate at least first data symbols and second data symbols. The UE 102 may encode the NR PUCCH based on a Fourier Transform operation, wherein: a product of the first data symbols and the first sequence may be mapped to the first PRB; and a product of the second data symbols and the second sequence is mapped to the second PRB. This example may be extended to cases in which more than two PRBs are allocated and/or used by the UE 102 for the NR PUCCH transmission.

[00101] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may determine a sequence based at least partly on the identifier of the UE 102. Any suitable sequence may be used, including but not limited to a ZC sequence or computer generated sequence. In a non-limiting example, when a first and second PRB are included in the allocation, the UE 102 may encode data bits to generate data symbols. The UE 102 may encode the NR PUCCH based on a Fourier Transform operation, wherein: a product of a first portion of the data symbols and a first portion of the sequence is mapped to the first PRB; and a product of a second portion of the data symbols and a second portion of the sequence is mapped to the second PRB. This example may be extended to cases in which more than two PRBs are allocated and/or used by the UE 102 for the NR PUCCH transmission.

[00102] At operation 530, the UE 102 may transmit one or more demodulation reference signals (DM-RS). It should be noted that the DM-RS may be performed in accordance with the determined allocation, in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the DM-RS may be multiplexed in a time division multiplexing (TDM) manner with an uplink PUCCH, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. In a non-limiting example, the UE 102 may use one or more transmit/encode functions to generate symbols (such as modulated symbols) based on control information. The symbols may be mapped to time resources and/or frequency resources. The symbols may be multiplexed with DM-RS. One or more functions (such as an IFFT) may be performed on the symbols multiplexed with the DM-RS to generate an output signal.

[00103] It should be noted that some embodiments may not necessarily include all operations shown in FIG. 5. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may perform one of operations 525-530 but may not necessarily perform both operations 525-530. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may perform both of operations 525-530. Operations 525 and 530 may be performed jointly and/or together, in some embodiments, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[00104] In some embodiments, a PUCCH transmission may be performed in a channel of multiple physical resource blocks (PRBs). In a non-limiting example, OFDMA and/or OFDM and/or DFT-s-OFDM may be employed, and an allocation (such as an allocation for PUCCH transmissions) may include one or more OFDM symbol periods and one or more PRBs, resource elements (REs), resource blocks (RBs), sub-channels, sub-carriers and/or other frequency resource unit. [00105] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may receive a control message (including but not limited to an MSI, RMSI, NR SIB or RRC signaling) that indicates, for per-slot allocations for NR PUCCH transmissions: time resources of one or more symbol periods; and candidate starting PRBs for frequency resources, the frequency resources configurable on a per-slot basis. In some embodiments, the time resources may be fixed time resources, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. The UE 102 may receive a DCI during a slot. The DCI may indicate one of the candidate starting PRBs as a starting PRB of the frequency resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot. The UE 102 may determine, based at least partly on the starting PRB indicated in the DCI, the frequency resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot. The UE 102 may transmit an NR PUCCH during the slot in the per-slot allocation for the slot.

[00106] In some embodiments, the frequency resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot may include the starting PRB and a second PRB. The UE 102 may determine, based on one or more parameters (including but not limited to an identifier of the UE 102), a frequency separation parameter that indicates a frequency spacing between the starting PRB and the second PRB. The UE may determine the second PRB based on a summation that includes: the frequency spacing and a frequency of the starting PRB; or the PRB spacing and a PRB index of the starting PRB. In some embodiments, the identifier of the UE 102 may be a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may determine the frequency separation parameter based at least partly on an identifier of a cell in which the UE 102 operates.

[00107] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may determine, based at least partly on an identifier of the UE 102: a first sequence to indicate, in accordance with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, successful reception; and a second sequence to indicate, in accordance with the HARQ process, unsuccessful reception. The UE 102 may attempt to decode a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). If the PDSCH is decoded correctly, the UE 102 may map the first sequence to the starting PRB and the second PRB for transmission. If the PDSCH is not decoded correctly, the UE 102 may map the second sequence to the starting PRB and the second PRB for transmission. In some embodiments, the first and second sequences may be Zadoff Chu (ZC) sequences, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the first and second sequences may be computer generated sequences, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. Embodiments are not limited to PDSCHs, as any suitable data block, data frame and/or other element may be used, in some embodiments.

[00108] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may determine, based at least partly on an identifier of the UE 102: a first set of two sequences to indicate, in accordance with an HARQ process, successful reception; and a second sequence of two sequences to indicate, in accordance with the HARQ process, unsuccessful reception. The UE 102 may attempt to decode a PDSCH. If the PDSCH is decoded correctly, the UE 102 may map the first set of two sequences to the starting PRB and the second PRB for transmission. If the PDSCH is not decoded correctly, the UE 102 may map the second set of two sequences to the starting PRB and the second PRB for transmission. In some embodiments, the first and second sets of sequences may include Zadoff Chu (ZC) sequences, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the first and second sets of sequences may include computer generated sequences, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. Embodiments are not limited to PDSCHs, as any suitable data block, data frame and/or other element may be used, in some embodiments.

[00109] In some embodiments, the frequency resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot may include a range of PRBs that starts with the starting PRB. The UE 102 may determine the frequency resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot further based on a predetermined size of the range of PRBs.

[00110] In some embodiments, the per-slot allocations may be configurable for NR PUCCH transmissions of a short duration or for NR PUCCH transmissions of a long duration. If the per-slot allocations are configured for NR PUCCH transmissions of the short duration: the control message may indicate the time resources and the candidate starting PRBs for the frequency resources; and the UE 102 may determine the frequency resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot based at least partly on the starting PRB indicated in the DCI. If the per-slot allocations are configured for NR PUCCH transmissions of the long duration: the control message may indicate frequency resources for the per-slot allocations and may further indicate candidate starting symbols for the time resources for the per-slot allocations; the DCI may indicate one of the candidate starting symbols as a starting symbol of the time resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot; and the UE 102 may determine the time resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot based on the starting symbol indicated in the DCI. One or more control messages (including but not limited to the same control message that indicates the candidate starting PRBs) may indicate whether the allocation is to be configured for the NR PUCCH transmissions of the short duration or for the NR PUCCH transmissions of the long duration.

[00111] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may receive one or more control messages that indicate, for per-slot allocations for new radio (NR) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmissions: frequency resources, and candidate start symbols of time resources, candidate end symbols of the time resources or candidate symbol durations of the time resources. The time resources may be configurable on a per-slot basis. In some embodiments, the frequency resources may be fixed, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. The UE 102 may receive a DCI that indicates one of a candidate start symbol, a candidate end symbol or a candidate symbol. The UE 102 may determine the time resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot based at least partly on the DCI. The UE 102 may transmit an NR PUCCH during the slot in the per-slot allocation for the slot.

[00112] In some embodiments, the per-slot allocations may be configurable for frequency hopping arrangements wherein: the frequency resources include first PRBs in first symbols of the per-slot allocations, and the frequency resources include second PRBs in second symbols of the per-slot allocations. The one or more control messages may indicate a symbol period of the per-slot allocations for a switch from the first PRBs to the second PRBs for a transmission of the NR PUCCH. The one or more control messages may indicate whether frequency hopping is enabled in the per-slot allocations. If the one or more control messages indicate that frequency hopping is enabled in the slot, the UE 102 may transmit the NR PUCCH in accordance with a frequency hopping arrangement. If the one or more control messages indicate that frequency hopping is not enabled in the slot, the UE 102 may transmit the NR PUCCH in accordance with a non-frequency hopping arrangement in which at least one of the PRBs of the allocation is allocated in each symbol period of the allocation.

[00113] In some embodiments, allocations may be configurable for: NR PUCCH transmissions of a short duration (wherein the per-slot allocations include one or two symbol periods) or NR PUCCH transmissions of a long duration (wherein the per-slot allocations include more than two symbol periods). The UE 102 may determine the time resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot when the allocation is configured for the NR PUCCH transmissions of the long duration.

[00114] In some embodiments, an apparatus of a UE 102 may comprise memory. The memory may be configurable to store at least a portion of the DCI. The memory may store one or more other elements and the apparatus may use them for performance of one or more operations. The apparatus may include processing circuitry, which may perform one or more operations (including but not limited to operation(s) of the method 500 and/or other methods described herein). The processing circuitry may include a baseband processor. The baseband circuitry and/or the processing circuitry may perform one or more operations described herein, including but not limited to decoding of the DCI and/or determination of the allocation. The apparatus of the UE 102 may include a transceiver to receive the DCI. The transceiver may transmit and/or receive other blocks, messages and/or other elements.

[00115] FIG. 6 illustrates the operation of another method of

communication in accordance with some embodiments. As mentioned previously regarding the method 600, embodiments of the method 600 may include additional or even fewer operations or processes in comparison to what is illustrated in FIG. 6 and embodiments of the method 600 are not necessarily limited to the chronological order that is shown in FIG. 6. In describing the method 600, reference may be made to FIGs. 1-14, although it is understood that the method 600 may be practiced with any other suitable systems, interfaces and components. In addition, embodiments of the method 600 may be applicable to UEs 102, eNBs 104, gNBs 105, APs, STAs and/or other wireless or mobile devices. The method 600 may also be applicable to an apparatus of a UE 102, eNB 104, gNB 105 and/or other device described above.

[00116] It should be noted that references to an eNB 104 (such as in descriptions of the method 600 and/or other descriptions) are not limiting. In some embodiments, a gNB 105 may perform one or more operations of the method 600. In some embodiments, an eNB 104 configured to operate as a gNB 105 may perform one or more operations of the method 600.

[00117] In some embodiments, an eNB 104 may perform one or more operations of the method 600, but embodiments are not limited to performance of the method 600 and/or operations of it by the eNB 104. In some

embodiments, the gNB 105 may perform one or more operations of the method 600 (and/or similar operations). In some embodiments, an eNB 104 may be configured to operate as a gNB 105 and may perform one or more operations of the method 600 (and/or similar operations). In some embodiments, the UE 102 may perform one or more operations of the method 600 (and/or similar operations). Accordingly, although references may be made to performance of one or more operations of the method 600 by the eNB 104 in descriptions herein, it is understood that the UE 102 may perform the same operation(s), similar operation(s) and/or reciprocal operation(s), in some embodiments.

[00118] It should be noted that the method 600 may be practiced by an eNB 104 and may include exchanging of elements, such as frames, signals, messages and/or other elements, with a UE 102. Similarly, the method 500 may be practiced by a UE 102 and may include exchanging of such elements with an eNB 104. In some cases, operations and techniques described as part of the method 500 may be relevant to the method 600. In addition, embodiments of the method 600 may include one or more operations performed by the eNB 104 that may be the same as, similar to or reciprocal to one or more operations described herein performed by the UE 102 (including but not limited to operations of the method 500). For instance, an operation of the method 500 may include reception of an element (such as a frame, block, message and/or other) by a UE 102 and the method 600 may include transmission of a same or similar element by the eNB 104.

[00119] In addition, previous discussion of various techniques and concepts may be applicable to the method 600 in some cases, including MSI, RMSI, SIB, RRC signaling, PUSCH, PUCCH, DM-RS, DCI, allocation of time resources (including but not limited to symbols, symbol periods, OFDM symbol periods and/or other), allocation of frequency resources (including but not limited to PRBs, RBs, REs, sub-channels, sub-carriers and/or other), technique(s) to determine an allocation and/or others. In addition, the examples shown in FIGs. 7-14 may also be applicable, in some cases, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[00120] At operation 605, the eNB 104 may transmit an MSI, RMSI and/or SIB. At operation 610, the eNB 104 may transmit RRC signaling. It should be noted that some embodiments may not necessarily include all operations shown in FIG. 6. In some embodiments, the eNB 104 may perform one of operations 605-610 but may not necessarily perform both operations 605- 610. In some embodiments, the eNB 104 may perform both of operations 605- 610.

[00121] At operation 615, the eNB 104 may determine a resource allocation for PUCCH transmissions in a slot. At operation 620, the eNB 104 may transmit a DCI that includes information related to PUCCH transmissions. The DCI may indicate a resource allocation for PUCCH transmissions, in some embodiments. One or more of the previously described techniques may be used in operation 615 and/or 620 in some embodiments, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. One or more techniques that may be similar to one or more of the previously described techniques may be used in operation 615 and/or 620 in some embodiments, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. It should be noted that embodiments may not necessarily include all operations shown in FIG. 6. Accordingly, one or more of operation 615-620 may not necessarily be included in the method 600, in some embodiments. [00122] At operation 625, the eNB 104 may receive one or more PUCCH transmissions. At operation 630, the eNB 104 may receive one or more DM-RS transmissions.

[00123] In some embodiments, the eNB 104 may transmit a control message that indicates a frequency gap to be used by a UE 102 in a plurality of slots to determine PRBs for NR PUCCH transmissions. The eNB 104 may transmit, in a particular slot of the plurality of slots, a DCI that indicates a first PRB allocated for a transmission of an NR PUCCH by the UE 102 in a predetermined symbol period of the particular slot. The eNB 104 may receive the NR PUCCH in a plurality of PRBs that includes the first PRB and a second PRB. In a non-limiting example, the first and second PRBs may be separated in frequency by the frequency gap. The control message may be an MSI, RMSI, SIB, RRC signaling and/or other.

[00124] In some embodiments, the eNB 104 may signal different frequency gaps to different UEs 102. In a non-limiting example, the eNB 104 may transmit a first control message to indicate a first frequency gap to be used by a first UE 102. The eNB 104 may indicate a second frequency gap to be used by a second UE 102. In some cases, the first control message may indicate the first and second frequency gaps. In some cases, a second control message may indicate the second frequency gap. This example may be extended to cases in which more than two frequency gaps are to be used.

[00125] In some embodiments, the eNB 104 may determine the first and second frequency gaps based at least partly on one or more signal quality measurements received from the first and second UEs 102.

[00126] In some embodiments, the eNB 104 may transmit a control message that indicates a set of time and frequency resources for NR PUCCH transmissions. The eNB 104 may transmit, in a particular slot, a DCI that indicates time and frequency resources (from the set of time and frequency resources) allocated for a transmission of an NR PUCCH by the UE 102 in a predetermined symbol period of the particular slot. The eNB 104 may receive the NR PUCCH in the indicated time and frequency resources. The control message may be an MSI, RMSI, NR SIB, RRC signaling and/or other. [00127] FIG. 7 illustrates example slots in accordance with some embodiments; FIG. 8 illustrates example physical uplink control channels (PUCCHs) in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 9 illustrates additional example slots in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 10 illustrates additional example slots in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 1 1 illustrates additional example slots in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 12 illustrates additional example slots in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 13 illustrates additional example slots in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 14 illustrates an example of multiplexing of demodulation reference signals (DM-RS) and PUCCH in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 15 illustrates an example radio frame structure in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 16 illustrates example frequency resources in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 17 illustrates an example of entities exchanging radio resource control (RRC) elements in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 18 illustrates an example entity that may be used to implement medium access control (MAC) layer functions in accordance with some embodiments.

[00128] It should be noted that the examples shown in FIGs. 7-18 may illustrate some or all of the concepts and techniques described herein in some cases, but embodiments are not limited by the examples. For instance, embodiments are not limited by the name, number, type, size, ordering, arrangement and/or other aspects of the operations, time resources, symbol periods, frequency resources, PRBs, data regions, control regions,

transmitted/received elements (such as PUSCH, PUCCH, SRS, DM-RS and/or other) and other elements as shown in FIGs. 7-18. Although some of the elements shown in the examples of FIGs. 7-18 may be included in a 3GPP LTE standard, 5G standard, NR standard and/or other standard, embodiments are not limited to usage of such elements that are included in standards.

[00129] In some scenarios, an NR protocol may enable higher data rates compared to other protocols, such as 3GPP LTE protocols, legacy protocols and/or other. In a non-limiting example, an NR protocol may be capable of a peak data rate of more than lOGps and a minimum guaranteed user data rate of at least 100Mbps. To support the higher data rate for NR, a larger system bandwidth (in comparison to other systems, such as 3GPP LTE and other(s)) may be used. For instance, a carrier frequency above 6 GHz may be used, including but not limited to cmWave frequencies and/or mm Wave frequencies. In some embodiments, multiple code blocks for one transport block may be transmitted in one slot.

[00130] In some embodiments, illustrates examples of NR physical uplink control channel (NR PUCCH) with short and long duration within a UL data slot. For the example 700, an NR PUCCH with short duration is supported. The NR PUCCH 725 and PUSCH 720 may be multiplexed in a time division multiplexing (TDM) manner. In some cases, such an arrangement may be used for low latency applications, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. For the example 750, an NR PUCCH with long duration is supported. Multiple OFDM symbols may be allocated for NR PUCCH 775. In some cases, an improvement in link budget and uplink coverage for the control channel may be realized in comparison to arrangements such as 700 and/or others. For the UL data slot 755, NR PUCCH 775 and PUSCH 770 may be multiplexed in a frequency division multiplexing (FDM) fashion. Note that in the examples 700, 750, in order to accommodate the DL to UL and UL to DL switching time and round-trip propagation delay, a guard period (GP) (such as 715, 765) may be used. For instance, the GP 715 may be inserted after NR physical downlink shared channel (NR PDSCH) 710 and the GP 765 may be inserted after NR PDSCH 760.

[00131] In some embodiments, a PUCCH with short duration may be included in one or two symbols period of a slot. It should be noted that usage of the term "short duration" is not limiting, as techniques described for the NR PUCCH with a short duration may be applicable to PUCCHs (and/or control channels) of any suitable size/duration. The term "short duration" may be applicable to terminology of a 3 GPP standard, NR standard, 5G standard and/or other standard, in some cases. In some embodiments, the NR PUCCH with a short duration may span one symbol period, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the NR PUCCH with a short duration may span a relatively small number of symbol periods.

[00132] In some embodiments, frequency diversity may be used and/or realized for the PUCCH with short duration. In a non-limiting example, one or more frequency resources may be used for NR PUCCH transmission with short duration. Such frequency resources may include resource blocks (RBs), resource sequences and/or other. Embodiments are not limited to one symbol for the NR PUCCH with short duration. In some embodiments, the NR PUCCH with short duration may span one or two symbols within one slot.

[00133] In some embodiments, the frequency resources (and/or a number of frequency resources) used for NR PUCCH transmission may be predefined in a standard and/or specification. In some embodiments, the frequency resources (and/or a number of frequency resources) used for NR PUCCH transmission may be configured by higher layers via NR minimum system information (MSI), NR remaining minimum system information (RMSI), NR system information block (SIB) radio resource control (RRC) signaling and/or other element(s). In a non-limiting example, such parameter(s) may be defined in a cell specific or UE specific manner. In another non-limiting example, such parameter(s) may depend on UE capability.

[00134] In some embodiments, one or more frequency resources may be configured by higher layer(s) via radio resource control (RRC) signaling or dynamically indicated in the downlink control information (DCI). Embodiments are not limited to usage of RRC signaling or the DCI, however, as other element(s) may be used in some embodiments. To reduce the signaling overhead in the DCI, a field of the DCI may indicate one frequency resource from a set of the frequency resources configured by higher layers for NR PUCCH transmission. In some cases, such techniques may be used to provide NR PUCCH with distributed transmission.

[00135] In some embodiments, a first frequency resource may be configured by higher layers or dynamically indicated in the DCI. In some cases, a frequency gap between a first and a second frequency resource may be either predefined in a standard, predefined in a specification and/or configured by higher layers in a UE specific manner. In a non-limiting example, the gap 850 between the frequency resources 840 and 845 in option 2 (830) in FIG. 8 may be used. In cases in which the gap is predefined (such as in a standard,

specification and/or other), the gap may be randomized in a UE specific and/or cell specific manner. For instance, a pseudo random function based on symbol/slot/frame index and/or UE ID and/or cell ID (physical cell ID or virtual cell ID) may be used, in some embodiments. In some cases, such technique(s) may help to randomize interference between neighboring cells and/or randomize a frequency in which an intermodulation harmonic distortion may be created. In some embodiments, the gap may be set to a value which may reduce intermodulation distortion. In a non-limiting example, when two frequency resources are used for NR PUCCH transmission, a gap between these two resources may be predefined as half of a system bandwidth and/or UE specific transmission bandwidth which may be configured by RRC signaling. For instance, the gap 820 between the frequency resources 810 and 815 in option 1 (800) in FIG. 8 may be used. In some embodiments, a mirrored pattern may be applied for NR PUCCH transmission within a system bandwidth and/or UE specific transmission bandwidth which may be configured by RRC signaling. For instance, the mirrored pattern that includes the frequency resources 870 and 875 in option 3 (860) in FIG. 8 may be used.

[00136] Embodiments are not limited to usage of two frequency resources. In cases in which more than two frequency resources are allocated for NR PUCCH transmission with short duration, either uniform or non-uniform frequency gap may be applied between frequency resources. In a non-limiting example, one PUCCH channel may occupy multiple consecutive RBs or distributed RBs. Such RBs may be configurable by high layers in a semi-static manner or dynamically indicated through DCI format or a combination thereof, in some embodiments. For instance, the RBs used may be determined based on one or more factors, including but not limited to SNR measurement for a UE 102 at an eNB 104. The gap between the frequency resources in case of distributed PUCCH transmission may be determined and/or configured using suitable technique(s), including but not limited to those described above for cases in which two frequency resources are allocated.

[00137] In some cases, two or more PUCCH resources may be located in a single CC or multiple CCs in accordance with higher layer configurations for a given UE 102. In a non-limiting example, the CCs used for PUCCH

transmissions may be semi-statically configured by high layers and/or dynamically managed. For instance, such technique(s) may be used in cases in which the PUCCH cells are located in an unlicensed band.

[00138] In some embodiments, sequence based techniques may be used for the NR PUCCH. In a non-limiting example, a payload (of 1 bit, 2 bits or other suitable size) may be used. Embodiments may be applicable to on/off signaling, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. For instance, for a 1 bit payload, two resources may be configured for NR PUCCH transmission, wherein a first resource may be used to indicate bit "1" and a second resource may be used to indicate bit "0". In some embodiments, DM-RS may be embedded with NR PUCCH transmission. In a non-limiting example, channel estimation based on DM-RS and subsequently coherent demodulation may be employed at the receiver for NR PUCCH decoding. It should be noted that in some cases (including but not limited to those described above), spreading sequences and/or DM-RS may be based on computer search based sequence(s), Zadoff-Chu sequence(s) (including but not limited to those included in a 3GPP LTE standard) and/or other sequences.

[00139] In some embodiments, for NR PUCCH with short duration, multiple frequency resources may be allocated for NR PUCCH transmission. A short sequence may be mapped to each frequency resource. For different frequency resources, different sequences may be applied for NR PUCCH transmission. In a non-limiting example, a same base or root sequence and/or different cyclic shift values may be used to reduce Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR) for uplink transmission. For instance, a cyclic shift hopping pattern may be predefined in a standard, may be predefined in a specification and/or may be defined as a function of one or more parameters, including but not limited to the following parameters: physical cell ID, virtual cell ID, cyclic shift value in the first frequency resource, symbol/slot/frame index, frequency resource index, UE ID (including but not limited to a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C- RNTI)).

[00140] In a non-limiting example, a cyclic shift offset may be applied for different frequency resources as follows -

[00141] ncsik) = C¾_¾(0) -t- k · Acs)m&d (N_cs) [00142] In the above, is the cyclic shift value for kt frequency resource, x is the cyclic shift offset (which may be predefined in a standard, predefined in a specification and/or configured by higher layers via MSI, RMSI, SIB, RRC signaling and/or other element. The parameter is the cyclic shift value for the first frequency resource, which may be configured by higher layers via UE specific RRC signaling, may be dynamically indicated in the DCI and/or may be determined by a function using one or more parameters (including but not limited to a UE ID, a cell ID and/or other). The parameter is a constant, which is the maximum cyclic shift value. In a non-limiting example, a value of 12 may be used for although any suitable value may be used.

[00143] In another non-limiting example, a cyclic shift value for each frequency resource may be defined as - [00144] tics®} - C¾s C¾ _m kjnwd (¾}

[00145] In the above, «? > is a physical cell ID or virtual cell ID. This may be configured by higher layers, in some embodiments. The scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect, however, as any suitable messages and/or techniques may be used to communicate this information,

[00146] In another non-limiting example, a same base sequence with a same root index and different cyclic shift values may be used for NR PUCCH transmission on each frequency resource. Further, different phase rotations may be applied for different frequency resources.

[00147] In some embodiments, NR PUCCH transmissions from different

UEs 102 may be multiplexed on a same frequency resource. Then, cyclic shift values for the respective UEs 102 for a given frequency resource may have an offset between the UEs 102 such that the NR PUCCH transmissions from the different UEs 102 are orthogonal and do not interfere each other. The offset value for a given UE 102 may be indicated via DCI, may be configured by higher layers and/or may be determined from a function. Such a function may be based on one or more factors, including but not limited to a UE dedicated RNTI, DL resources used for corresponding physical DL control or data channel transmission and/or other factor(s). [00148] In some embodiments, different base sequences with different root indexes may be used for NR PUCCH transmission on different frequency resources.

[00149] In some embodiments, a long sequence may be directly mapped to multiple frequency resources used for NR PUCCH transmission. For instance, assuming two frequency resources for NR PUCCH transmission in which each resource occupies 2 physical resource blocks (PRB), a length-48 sequence based on a Zadoff-Chu sequence may be directly mapped to these two frequency resources.

[00150] In some embodiments, when an NR PUCCH carries a relatively large payload size (such as after one or more operations such as coding, modulation, spreading operation, Discrete Fourier Transform and/or other operation(s)), modulated symbols of the payload may be directly mapped to one or more frequency resources. It should be noted that in some cases, including but not limited to cases in which a payload size is relatively large, a spreading operation may not necessarily be performed and modulated symbols may be fully mapped to allocated resources. For orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) based waveform, a Discrete Fourier transform (DFT) operation may not necessarily be performed in some cases.

[00151] In some embodiments, an NR PUCCH with a long duration may be used. It should be noted that usage of the term "long duration" is not limiting, as techniques described for the NR PUCCH with a long duration may be applicable to PUCCHs (and/or control channels) of any suitable size/duration. The term "long duration" may be applicable to terminology of a 3GPP standard, NR standard, 5G standard and/or other standard, in some cases. In some embodiments, the NR PUCCH with a long duration may span multiple symbol periods, almost a slot, multiple slots and/or other durations. In one example, a PUCCH with a long duration may span more than four symbols. In some cases, the PUCCH with a long duration may provide a larger coverage than the PUCCH with a short duration (such as a PUCCH that spans one symbol period or a relatively small number of symbol periods).

[00152] In some embodiments, for a dynamic TDD system in which both a downlink control channel and an uplink control channel may be allocated in a same slot, the UL control region size may vary depending on slot duration, DL control region size, GP duration and/or other factor(s).

[00153] In FIGs. 9 and 10, examples are shown in which different numbers of symbol periods for NR PUCCH are used. In the examples 900, 930, 960 in FIG. 9, a slot includes 7 symbol periods. In the example 900, 7 symbol periods 905 are included in the slot 902. The NR PUCCH 910 is allocated across the 7 symbol periods 905. In the example 930, the slot 932 includes a PDCCH in symbol period 935, a guard period (GP) in symbol period 940, and 5 symbol periods 945. The NR PUCCH 950 is allocated across the 5 symbol periods 945. In the example 960, the slot 962 includes a PDCCH in symbol period 965, GPs in symbol periods 970, and 4 symbol periods 975. The NR PUCCH 980 is allocated across the 4 symbol periods 975. As shown in FIG. 9, the number of symbols allocated for NR PUCCH may vary for different control region size(s) and GP duration(s). It should be noted that embodiments are not limited to the sizes (in terms of symbol periods) shown in the examples 900, 930, 960 for the PDCCH(s), GP(s) and NR PUCCH(s).

[00154] In the examples 1000, 1030, 1060 in FIG. 10, a slot includes 14 symbol periods. In the example 1000, 14 symbol periods 1005 are included in the slot 1002. The NR PUCCH 1010 is allocated across the 14 symbol periods 1005. In the example 1030, the slot 1032 includes a PDCCH in symbol period 1035, a guard period (GP) in symbol period 1040, and 12 symbol periods 1045. The NR PUCCH 1050 is allocated across the 12 symbol periods 1045. In the example 1060, the slot 1062 includes PDCCHs in symbol periods 1065, a GP in symbol period 1070, and 11 symbol periods 1075. The NR PUCCH 1080 is allocated across the 11 symbol periods 1075. As shown in FIG. 10, the number of symbols allocated for NR PUCCH may vary for different control region size(s) and GP duration(s). It should be noted that embodiments are not limited to the sizes (in terms of symbol periods) shown in the examples 1000, 1030, 1060 for the PDCCH(s), GP(s) and NR PUCCH(s).

[00155] In some embodiments, a set of candidate numbers of symbols to be configurable for NR PUCCH may be used. In a non-limiting example, the set and/or candidate numbers of the set may be defined in a standard and/or specification. In some cases, such a definition may help to minimize and/or reduce an impact on the standard and/or the specification. In some cases, such a definition may reduce implementation and testing effort(s). For instance, four sizes {4, 7, 11, 14} may be defined for NR PUCCH. In one example, the number of symbols for NR PUCCH transmission may be determined according to the maximum DL control size as defined in the standard and/or the specification.

[00156] In some embodiments, the set and/or candidate numbers may be included in one or more elements, including but not limited to an NR minimum system information (MSI), NR remaining minimum system information (RMSI), NR system information block (SIB) and/or radio resource control (RRC) signaling. In some embodiments, the set and/or candidate numbers may be configured by higher layers.

[00157] In some embodiments, a number of symbols allocated for NR

PUCCH may be implicitly derived based on one or more factors, including but not limited to a slot duration, a GP duration and/or DL control region size. In some embodiments, the number of symbols for NR PUCCH transmission may be signaled by RRC signaling and/or downlink control information (DCI).

Embodiments are not limited to usage of RRC signaling or the DCI, however, as other element(s) may be used in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the number of symbols may be selected from the set of candidate numbers of symbols.

[00158] In some embodiments, in cases in which a number of symbols allocated for NR PUCCH is less than the UL region size, the NR PUCCH may be transmitted at the beginning of the UL region or at the last part of the UL region. In a non-limiting example, a starting symbol that is to be used for NR PUCCH transmission in the slot may be configured by RRC signaling and/or may be dynamically signaled in the DCI or a combination thereof.

Embodiments are not limited to usage of RRC signaling or the DCI, however, as other element(s) may be used in some embodiments.

[00159] In FIG. 11, examples 1100 and 1150 illustrate possible different starting symbols for NR PUCCH transmission. In the examples 1100 and 1150, 5 symbol periods are allocated for UL region. However, only 4 symbols are used for NR PUCCH transmission. In the example 1100, the slot 1102 includes a PDCCH in symbol period 1105, a GP in symbol period 1110, and 5 symbol periods 11 15. The PUCCH 1 120 may be transmitted in the 4 symbol periods shown (third through sixth), and the third symbol period may be the starting symbol period for the PUCCH. In the example 1150, the slot 1 152 includes a PDCCH in symbol period 1 155, a GP in symbol period 1 160, and 5 symbol periods 1165. The PUCCH 1 170 may be transmitted in the 4 symbol periods shown (fourth through seventh), and the fourth symbol period may be the starting symbol period for the PUCCH.

[00160] In some embodiments, a start symbol period, end symbol period and/or length of NR PUCCH may be signaled (and/or configured by higher layers) via RRC signaling, dynamic indication in the DCI or a combination thereof. Embodiments are not limited to usage of RRC signaling or the DCI, however, as other element(s) may be used in some embodiments. In some embodiments, depending on specific UCI, different options may be used. For instance, for periodic or semi-persistent based channel state information (CSI) report or scheduling request (SR), time domain resource(s), including but not limited to a start symbol period and/or end symbol period for NR PUCCH may be configured via RRC signaling. For HARQ ACK/NACK feedback, time domain resource(s) for NR PUCCH transmission may be dynamically indicated in the DCI. For HARQ ACK/NACK feedback for semi-persistently scheduled data or for cases in which transmission is implicitly decided by the DCI scheduling the corresponding data, the time domain resource(s) for NR PUCCH (including but not limited to the start symbol period and/or end symbol period) may be configured via RRC signaling. Embodiments are not limited to these examples, as different elements (including but not limited to those described above) may be used in different cases.

[00161] In some embodiments, frequency resource(s) used for NR

PUCCH transmission may be configured in a cell specific or UE specific manner by higher layers via MSI, RMSI, SIB, RRC signaling and/or other elements. In some embodiments, the frequency resource(s) used for NR PUCCH transmission may be dynamically indicated in the DCI or a combination of RRC signalling and indication in DCI.

[00162] In some embodiments, the NR PUCCH may occupy one or more

PRBs in the frequency domain. The PRBs occupied may depend on one or more factors, including but not limited to a specific NR PUCCH format and/or uplink control information (UCI) pay load size. In a non-limiting example, the starting PRB may be configured by higher layers or dynamically indicated in the DCI or a combination thereof for NR PUCCH transmission. In the latter case, a frequency dependent scheduling gain may be achieved for NR PUCCH transmission, in some cases. Such cases may include cases in which channel state information is available and the eNB 104 may schedule the NR PUCCH transmission on the frequency resource(s) for which a channel condition is determined as favorable. In a non-limiting example, a signal to noise ratio (SNR) (and/or other measurement) on such frequency resource(s) may be above a threshold. In another non-limiting example, the frequency resources with highest SNR (and/or other measurement) may be used.

[00163] In some embodiments, more than one frequency resources, (for instance, two or more frequency resources) may be configured by higher layers in a UE specific or group/cell specific manner via MSI, RMSI, SIB, RRC signaling and/or other element(s). In some cases, the UE 102 may perform frequency hopping between more than one frequency resources within one slot.

[00164] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may perform frequency hopping on the edge of a system bandwidth and/or UE specific bandwidth. In the latter case, the UE specific bandwidth or bandwidth part for uplink transmission may be configured via UE specific RRC signaling and/or other element(s).

[00165] In some embodiments, a starting PRB and/or frequency gaps between frequency resources for NR PUCCH transmission may be configured by higher layers or dynamically indicated in the DCI or a combination thereof.

[00166] In some embodiments, frequency hopping may be enabled or disabled by high layers via RRC signaling, medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), dynamic indication in the DCI and/or other element(s). In a non-limiting example, an indicator (including but not limited to a one bit indicator) may be included in the DCI. For instance, a value of "1" may indicate that frequency hopping is enabled while a value of "0" may indicate that frequency hopping is disabled. Embodiments are not limited to usage of one bit and are also not limited to the particular assignment of "1" and "0" given above. [00167] In some embodiments, two resources may be configured for NR

PUCCH transmission. Within each NR PUCCH resource, either a localized or a distributed transmission mode may be used. In a non-limiting example, the mode may be configured by higher layers. For different UCI, different resources may be used and/or configured by one or more elements, including but not limited to RRC signaling and/or dynamic indication in the DCI. For instance, for periodic or semi-persistent based channel state information (CSI) report or scheduling request (SR), frequency resource(s) for NR PUCCH may be configured via RRC signaling. For HARQ ACK/NACK feedback, frequency resource(s) for NR PUCCH transmission may be dynamically indicated in the DCI.

[00168] In FIG. 12, examples of NR PUCCH transmission with frequency hopping are shown. In the example 1200, slot 1202 includes symbol periods 1205. Two frequency resource 1210, 1215 are configured for NR PUCCH transmission and the UE 102 may perform frequency hopping across these two frequency resources. In the example 1230, slot 1232 includes symbol periods 1235. The NR PUCCH may be transmitted on the both edges (shown as 1240 and 1245) of the system bandwidth. In this example 1230, frequency hopping may be performed (from 1240 to 1245) in approximately the middle of slot 1232. Embodiments are not limited to frequency hopping in the middle of the slot, however. In the example 1260, a mirror pattern may be used for NR PUCCH transmission within slot 1262. The NR PUCCH may be transmitted with frequency hopping within a UE specific transmission bandwidth. In some cases, the UE specific transmission bandwidth may depend on UE capability. In some cases, the UE specific transmission bandwidth may be configured and/or signaled with one or more elements, including but not limited to RRC signaling.

[00169] In some embodiments, two or more frequency resources may be used for NR PUCCH transmission with long duration. One or more techniques described herein for NR PUCCH transmission with short duration may be applied and/or extended for NR PUCCH transmission with long duration, in some embodiments. In a non-limiting example, two or more frequency resources may be configured by higher layers and/or indicated in one or more elements, including but not limited to the DCI. In another non-limiting example, a first frequency resource may be configured by higher layers and a gap between multiple resources may be predefined, may be configured by higher layers, may be indicated in the DCI and/or may be defined as a function of one or more parameters (including but not limited to UE ID, physical cell ID and/or virtual cell ID). An example 1300 of allocation of two resources for NR PUCCH transmission with long duration is shown in FIG. 13. The slot 1302 includes symbol periods 1305. The frequency resources 1310 and 1315 may be used for the NR PUCCH transmission.

[00170] In some embodiments, an NR PUCCH with long duration may be transmitted. In some cases, one or more demodulation reference signals (DM- RS) may be multiplexed with an NR PUCCH in a time division multiplexing (TDM) manner. Positions and design of the DM-RS may be determined using one or more techniques described below, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the position and/or design may depend on one or more factors, including but not limited to a number of symbols allocated for NR PUCCH with long duration. In some embodiments, the DM-RS may be included at least at the beginning of NR PUCCH resource(s). In cases in which frequency hopping is applied for the NR PUCCH transmission, the DM-RS may also be included at the beginning of a second NR PUCCH resource (including but not limited to a second NR PUCCH resource on a second frequency to which the frequency hopping is performed).

[00171] In some embodiments, the DM-RS may be included in a fixed position for each frequency hop within a slot. In some cases, the DM-RS may be included in a fixed position for each frequency hop with the slot regardless of a number of symbols allocated for NR PUCCH, although the scope of

embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some cases, this design (fixed position) may be beneficial in terms of a unified channel estimator at a receiver. In a non-limiting example, the DM-RS may be located in a first symbol of NR- PUCCH or in the middle of each frequency hop.

[00172] In some embodiments, for an NR PUCCH with long duration, the

DM-RS may be located in the starting symbol of the NR PUCCH for each frequency resource. For instance, in the example 1400 in FIG. 14, in slot 1410, the combination of 141 1 and 1412 may be allocated for NR PUCCH, and 141 1 (in the start symbol of the 1411/1412 combination) may be used for DM-RS. In addition, in slot 1410, the combination of 1415 and 1417 may be allocated for NR PUCCH, and 1415 (in the start symbol of the 1415/1417 combination) may be used for DM-RS. Similarly, in slot 1420, 1421 and 1425 may be used for the DM-RS.

[00173] In some embodiments, for the NR PUCCH with long duration, the DM-RS may be location in a fixed position. In some cases, the DM-RS may be located in the fixed position regardless of a number of symbols allocated for the NR PUCCH transmission, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. In the non-limiting example 1450 in FIG. 14, the DM-RS may be sent in the third and fifth symbol periods as shown. For instance, in the slot 1460, the DM-RS may be transmitted in 1462 and 1465. In addition, in the slot 1470, the DM-RS may be transmitted in 1471 and 1475.

[00174] In some embodiments, the DM-RS location for different PUCCH formats may vary at least based on a PUCCH format length. In a non-limiting example, the location of the DM-RS for the PUCCH may be indicated by a DCI format that is used for PDSCH scheduling. In some cases, the DM-RS symbol may be shared among UEs 102 that are multiplexed within one frequency resource. For instance, the DM-RS may be placed at the start of a first PUCCH channel for one UE 102 but may be located at the end of a second PUCCH channel in order to enable sharing of the DM-RS symbol.

[00175] In some cases (including but not limited to cases in which the NR

PUCCH carries a relatively small UCI payload), multiple UEs 102 may be multiplexed in a code division multiplexing (CDM) manner within a same physical resource. Different cyclic shifts in the frequency domain and/or different orthogonal cover codes (OCC) in the time domain for the UEs 102 may be used to support orthogonal multiplexing of multiple UEs 102. In a non- limiting example, for an OCC code in the time domain, depending on the number of symbols allocated for NR PUCCH and DM-RS transmission, a nested structure may be defined for OCC code with variable lengths. A length and/or a number of the used OCC codes may increase in accordance with a number of multiplexed UEs 102, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. [00176] An example of a radio frame structure that may be used in some aspects is shown in FIG. 15. In this example, radio frame 1500 has a duration of 10ms. Radio frame 1500 is divided into slots 1502 each of duration 0.5 ms, and numbered from 0 to 19. Additionally, each pair of adjacent slots 1502 numbered 2i and 2i+l, where /^' is an integer, is referred to as a subframe 1501.

[00177] In some aspects using the radio frame format of FIG. 15, each subframe 1501 may include a combination of one or more of downlink control information, downlink data information, uplink control information and uplink data information. The combination of information types and direction may be selected independently for each subframe 1501.

[00178] In some aspects, a sub-component of a transmitted signal consisting of one subcarrier in the frequency domain and one symbol interval in the time domain may be termed a resource element. Resource elements may be depicted in a grid form as shown in FIG. 16A and FIG. 16B.

[00179] In some aspects, illustrated in FIG. 16A, resource elements may be grouped into rectangular resource blocks 1600 consisting of 12 subcarriers in the frequency domain and the P symbols in the time domain, where P may correspond to the number of symbols contained in one slot, and may be 6, 7, or any other suitable number of symbols.

[00180] In some alternative aspects, illustrated in FIG. 16B, resource elements may be grouped into resource blocks 1600 consisting of 12 subcarriers (as indicated by 1602) in the frequency domain and one symbol in the time domain. In the depictions of FIG. 16A and FIG. 16B, each resource element 1605 may be indexed as (k, 1) where k is the index number of subcarrier, in the range 0 to N.M-1 (as indicated by 1603), where N is the number of subcarriers in a resource block, and M is the number of resource blocks spanning a component carrier in the frequency domain.

[00181] Some aspects of communication between instances of radio resource control (RRC) layer 1700 are illustrated in FIG. 17. According to an aspect, an instance of RRC 1700 contained in a user equipment (UE) 1705 may encode and decode messages, transmitted to and received from respectively, a peer RRC instance 1700 contained in a base station 1710 which may be an evolved node B (eNodeB), gNodeB or other base station instance. [00182] According to an aspect, an RRC 1700 instance may encode or decode broadcast messages, which may include one or more of system information, cell selection and reselection parameters, neighboring cell information, common channel configuration parameters, and other broadcast management information.

[00183] According to an aspect, an RRC 1700 instance may encode or decode RRC connection control messages, which may include one or more of paging information, messages to establish, modify, suspend, resume or release RRC connection, messages to assign or modify UE identity, which may include a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), messages to establish, modify or release a signaling radio bearer (SRB), data radio bearer (DRB) or QoS flow, messages to establish, modify or release security associations including integrity protection and ciphering information, messages to control inter-frequency, intra-frequency and inter-radio access technology (RAT) handover, messages to recover from radio link failure, messages to configure and report measurement information, and other management control and information functions.

[00184] An entity 1800 that may be used to implement medium access control layer functions according to an aspect is illustrated in FIG. 18.

According to some aspects, MAC entity 1800 may include one or more of a controller 1805, a logical channel prioritizing unit 1810, a channel multiplexer & de-multiplexer 1815, a PDU filter unit 1815, random access protocol entity 1820, data hybrid automatic repeat request protocol (HARQ) entity 1825 and broadcast HARQ entity 1830.

[00185] According to some aspects, a higher layer may exchange control and status messages 1835 with controller 1805 via management service access point 1840. According to some aspects, MAC service data units (SDU) corresponding to one or more logical channels 1845, 1855, 1865 and 1875 may be exchanged with MAC entity 1800 via one or more service access points (SAP) 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. According to some aspects, PHY service data units (SDU) corresponding to one or more transport channels 1802, 1804, 1806, 1808 may be exchanged with a physical layer entity via one or more service access points (SAP) 1801, 1803, 1805, 1807. [00186] According to some aspects, logical channel prioritization unit

1810 may perform prioritization amongst one or more logical channels 1845 and 1855, which may include storing parameters and/or state information corresponding to each of the one or more logical channels. Such parameters and/or state information may be initialized when a logical channel is established. According to some aspects, logical channel prioritization unit 1810 may be configured with a set of parameters for each of one or more logical channels 1845 and 1855, the each set including parameters which may include one or more of a prioritized bit rate (PBR) and a bucket size duration (BSD).

[00187] According to some aspects, multiplexer & de-multiplexer 1815 may generate MAC PDUs, which may include one or more of MAC-SDUs or partial MAC-SDUs corresponding to one or more logical channels, a MAC header which may include one or more MAC sub-headers, one or more MAC control elements, and padding data. According to some aspects, multiplexer & de-multiplexer 1815 may separate one or more MAC-SDUs or partial MAC- SDUs contained in a received MAC PDU, corresponding to one or more logical channels 1845 and 1855, and may indicate the one or more MAC-SDUs or partial MAC-SDUs to a higher layer via one or more service access points 1850 and 1860.

[00188] According to some aspects, HARQ entity 1825 and broadcast

HAPvQ entity 1830 may include one or more parallel HARQ processes, each of which may be associated with a HARQ identifier, and which may be one of a receive or transmit HARQ process.

[00189] According to some aspects, a transmit HARQ process may generate a transport block (TB) to be encoded by the PHY according to a specified redundancy version (RV), by selecting a MAC-PDU for transmission.

According to some aspects, a transmit HARQ process that is included in a broadcast HARQ entity 1830 may retransmit a same TB in successive transmit intervals a predetermined number of times. According to some aspects, a transmit HARQ process included in a HARQ entity 1825 may determine whether to retransmit a previously transmitted TB or to transmit a new TB at a transmit time based on whether a positive acknowledgement or a negative acknowledgement was received for a previous transmission. [00190] According to some aspects, a receive HARQ process may be provided with encoded data corresponding to one or more received TBs and which may be associated with one or more of a new data indication (NDI) and a redundancy version (RV), and the receive HARQ process may determine whether each such received encoded data block corresponds to a retransmission of a previously received TB or a not previously received TB. According to some aspects, a receive HARQ process may include a buffer, which may be implemented as a memory or other suitable storage device, and may be used to store data based on previously received data for a TB. According to some aspects, a receive HARQ process may attempt to decode a TB, the decoding based on received data for the TB, and which may be additionally be based on the stored data based on previously received data for the TB.

[00191] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may switch between an NR

PUCCH with short duration and an NR PUCCH with long duration. In some embodiments, the eNB 104 may switch the UE 102 between an NR PUCCH with short duration and an NR PUCCH with long duration. In some embodiments, a switch between an NR PUCCH with short duration and an NR PUCCH with long duration may occur. In some embodiments, a switch between an NR PUCCH with short duration and an NR PUCCH with long duration may be performed.

[00192] In some cases, an NR PUCCH with short duration may be used by a UE 102 (including but not limited to a UE 102 located near a center of a cell) that operates with a relatively good channel condition (such as a high SNR and/or other metric). An NR PUCCH with long duration may be used by a UE 102 (including but not limited to a UE located near a cell edge) that operates with a relatively bad channel condition (such as limited coverage, low SNR and/or other metric). In cases in which the UE 102 changes locations in the network due to mobility, a switch between the NR PUCCH with long duration and the NR PUCCH with short duration may be performed. The switch may be based on one or more factors, including but not limited to channel conditions of different cells.

[00193] In some embodiments, a switch between NR PUCCH with short and long duration may be performed. Resources for the NR PUCCH with short and long duration may be configured by higher layers. An indicator and/or field may indicate which duration is to be used for the NR PUCCH transmission (either short duration or long duration). The indicator and/or field may be included in the RRC signaling, may be dynamically signaled in the DCI, may be dynamically signaled in a MAC-CE and/or communicated using other suitable technique(s). In a non-limiting example, a value of "1" in the indicator and/or field may indicate that the NR PUCCH with short duration is to be used, while a value of "0" in the indicator and/or field may indicate that the NR PUCCH with long duration is to be used.

[00194] In some embodiments, additional bit(s) may be used to indicate the number of symbols allocated for NR PUCCH transmission with long duration. In a non-limiting example, a value of "00" may indicate that an NR PUCCH with short duration is to be used; a value of "01" may indicate that an NR PUCCH with long duration which spans L0 symbols is to be used; value of "10" may indicate that an NR PUCCH with long duration which spans LI symbols is to be used; and a value of "1 1" may indicate that an NR PUCCH with long duration which spans L2 symbols is to be used. In some embodiments, the values of L0, LI and/or L2 may be predefined in a standard and/or specification. In some embodiments, the values may be configured by higher layers and/or signaled via one or more elements (including but not limited to an MIB, SIB and/or RRC signaling). The parameters L0, LI and/or L2 may be included in a standard in some cases, although embodiments are not limited to these particular parameters or to these particular names. Embodiments are also not limited to usage of 3 such parameters or to usage of 2 bits. Embodiments are also not limited to parameters and/or values that are included in a standard.

[00195] In some embodiments, different UCI types may be included in

(and/or carried in) an NR PUCCH with short or long duration. In a non-limiting example, a CSI report may be included in an NR PUCCH with long duration while HARQ-ACK feedback may be included in an NR PUCCH with short duration and/or an NR PUCCH with long duration.

[00196] In some embodiments, an NR physical random access channel

(NR PRACH) with dedicated resource may be used to indicate UE coverage status. After successful detection of the NR PRACH on dedicated resource(s) (including but not limited to time, frequency, PRACH sequence, preamble and/or other), the eNB 104 may determine a coverage extension level and may determine whether an NR PUCCH with short duration or an NR PUCCH with long duration is to be used to communicate and/or carry the UCI. In this case, the eNB 104 may communicate, to the UE 102, a configuration of NR PUCCH with short or long duration. The eNB 104 may communicate one or more elements, including but not limited to time resource(s), frequency resource(s), code resource(s) and/or other resources that are allocated for NR PUCCH transmission. The eNB 104 may communicate the element(s) via RRC signaling and/or other suitable technique(s). In some embodiments, the eNB 104 may assign the resource(s) for the NR PUCCH transmission in an early stage, which may improve the resource efficiency, in some cases.

[00197] In some embodiments, the NR PRACH resource(s) for NR

PUCCH with short and long duration may be multiplexed in a time division multiplexing (TDM) manner, frequency division multiplexing (FDM) manner and/or code division multiplexing (CDM) manner or a combination thereof. In some cases, a partition of such resource(s) may be predefined. In some cases, a partition of such resource(s) may be configured by higher layers. In some cases, an element such as an MSI, RMSI, an SIB, RRC signaling and/or other element(s) may be used to communicate the partition.

[00198] In some embodiments, one or more signature sequences may be reserved for NR PRACH to request a self-contained transmission scheme. In some embodiments, one or more frequency resources may be allocated for NR PRACH to request the self-contained transmission scheme.

[00199] In some embodiments, one or more time resources may be allocated for NR PRACH to request the self-contained transmission scheme. For instance, NR PRACH for default transmission scheme may be transmitted in one or a multiple of subframes 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 within one frame while NR PRACH used to request the self-contained transmission scheme may be transmitted in one or a multiple of subframes 1, 3, 5, 7, 9.

[00200] In some embodiments, a combination of TDM, FDM and/or

CDM based multiplexed schemes may be used to separate the resource(s) for default transmission scheme and for request of the self-contained transmission scheme. In some embodiments, two scheduling request (SR) resources may be configured for a UE 102, wherein one of the SR resources has a long duration, while another SR resource has a short duration. In this case, the UE 102 may measure the reference signal power and may determine a coverage status. The UE 102 may request uplink transmission using corresponding SR resources with short or long duration. For instance, when the UE 102 determines that a coverage situation has degraded and/or is below a certain level/threshold, the UE 102 may request uplink transmission using SR resource with long duration. In addition, an analogous scenario may occur, wherein the UE 102 may determine that a coverage situation has improved and/or is above a certain level/threshold, and may request uplink transmission using SR resource with short duration. In some embodiments, such a level and/or threshold may be predefined in a standard and/or specification. In some embodiments, the level and/or threshold may be configured by higher layers via MSI, RMSI, SIB, RRC signaling and/or other. In some embodiments, the level and/or threshold may be configured by higher layers via MSI, RMSI, SIB, RRC signaling and/or other. It should be noted that usage of the terms "short duration" and/or "long duration" is not limiting, as techniques described for the SR resources with short duration or long duration may be applicable to SR resources of any suitable size/duration. The terms "short duration" and "long duration" may be applicable to terminology of a 3 GPP standard, NR standard, 5G standard and/or other standard, in some cases.

[00201] In some embodiments, a determination of whether to configure

NR PUCCH resource with short or long duration may depends on one or more factors, including but not limited to a deployment scenario, duplex mode and/or other. The eNB 104 may broadcast this information via one or more elements, including but not limited to an MSI, an RMSI, an SIB and/or RRC signaling.

[00202] In some embodiments, an eNB 104 may configure time and/or frequency and/or code resource(s) for NR physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). The time resources may span one or more slots, or one or more symbols within one slot. The frequency resource(s) may be localized or distributed within a system or a UE specific transmission bandwidth. The UE 102 may transmit the NR PUCCH on the configured time and frequency resource.

[00203] In some embodiments, one or more of the frequency resource(s) may include resource blocks and/or resource sequences for NR PUCCH with short and/or NR PUCCH with long duration. The resource blocks and/or resource sequences may be configured by higher layers via radio resource control (RRC) signaling or dynamically indicated in the downlink control information (DO) or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, a first frequency resource may be configured by higher layers or dynamically indicated in the DCI, wherein a frequency gap between a first and a second frequency resource may be either predefined in a standard/specification or configured by higher layers in a UE specific manner.

[00204] In some embodiments, the gap may be randomized in a UE specific and/or cell specific manner using a pseudo random function based on symbol/slot/frame index and/or UE ID and/or cell ID (physical cell ID or virtual cell ID). In some embodiments, in some cases in which more than two frequency resources are allocated for NR PUCCH transmission with short duration, either a uniform or a non-uniform frequency gap may be applied between frequency resources. In some embodiments, a short sequence may be mapped to each frequency resource. For different frequency resources, different sequences may be applied for NR PUCCH transmission. In some embodiments, a same base or root sequence and/or different cyclic shift values may be used. A cyclic shift hopping pattern may be predefined in a standard/specification or defined as a function of one or more of the following parameters: physical cell ID, virtual cell ID, cyclic shift value in the first frequency resource, symbol/slot/frame index, frequency resource index, UE ID (e.g., Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI)). In some embodiments, a long sequence may be directly mapped to multiple frequency resources used for NR PUCCH transmission.

[00205] In some embodiments, a set of the number of symbols to be configurable for NR PUCCH may be defined in a standard/specification. In some embodiments, the set may be configured by higher layers via NR master information block (MIB), NR system information block (SIB), radio resource control (RRC) signaling and/or other element(s). In some embodiments, a number of symbols allocated for NR PUCCH may be implicitly derived from slot duration, GP duration and DL control region size. In some embodiments, the number of symbols allocated for NR PUCCH may be signaled by RRC signaling, a downlink control information (DCI) and/or other element. In some embodiments, the number of symbols may be selected from the set described above.

[00206] In some embodiments, a start symbol, end symbol and/or length of NR PUCCH may be configured by higher layers via RRC signaling or dynamically indicated in the DCI or a combination thereof. In some

embodiments, the frequency resource(s) used for the NR PUCCH transmission may be configured in a cell specific or UE specific manner by higher layers via MSI, RMSI, SIB or RRC signaling. In some embodiments, the frequency resource(s) used for the NR PUCCH transmission may be dynamically indicated in the DCI or a combination of RRC signalling and DCI indication. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may perform frequency hopping on the edge of a system bandwidth or UE specific bandwidth which may be configured by higher layer via RRC signaling. In some embodiments, a starting PRB and/or frequency gaps between frequency resources for NR PUCCH transmission may be configured by higher layers or dynamically indicated in the DCI or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, frequency hopping may be enabled or disabled by high layers via RRC signaling or medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) or dynamically indicated in the DCI. In some

embodiments, the UE 102 may be configured with two resources for NR PUCCH transmission. In some embodiments, within each NR PUCCH resource, either a localized or a distributed transmission mode can be configured by higher layers. In some embodiments, within each of one or more of the NR PUCCH resources, either a localized or a distributed transmission mode can be configured by higher layers.

[00207] In some embodiments, DM-RS may be at least placed at the beginning of NR PUCCH resource(s). In some embodiments, the DM-RS may be placed in a fixed position for each frequency hop within a slot. In some embodiments, the DM-RS may be placed in the fixed position within the slot regardless of a number of symbols allocated for NR PUCCH, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, resource(s) for NR PUCCH with short duration and/or long duration may be configured by higher layers. An indicator and/or field may indicate which duration is to be used for NR PUCCH transmission (either short duration or long duration). The indicator and/or field may be included in the RRC signaling or dynamically signaled in the DCI or MAC-CE.

[00208] In some embodiments, different UCI types may be carried in NR

PUCCH with short or long duration. In some embodiments, an NR physical random access channel (NR PRACH) with dedicated resource(s) may be used to indicate UE coverage status. NR PRACH resource may be multiplexed for NR PUCCH resource with short and long duration in a time division multiplexing (TDM) manner, frequency division multiplexing (FDM) manner and/or code division multiplexing (CDM) manner or a combination thereof. A resource partition may be predefined or configured by higher layers via MIB, SIB or RRC signaling. In some embodiments, two scheduling request (SR) resources may be configured for a UE 102. One SR resource may have a long duration, while another SR resource may have a short duration.

[00209] In Example 1, an apparatus of a User Equipment (UE) may comprise memory. The apparatus may further comprise processing circuitry. The processing circuitry may be configured to decode a control message that indicates, for per-slot allocations for new radio (NR) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmissions: time resources of one or more symbol periods, and candidate starting physical resource blocks (PRBs) for frequency resources, the frequency resources configurable on a per-slot basis. The processing circuitry may be further configured to decode a downlink control information (DCI) received during a slot. The DCI may indicate one of the candidate starting PRBs as a starting PRB of the frequency resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot. The processing circuitry may be further configured to store at least a portion of the DCI in the memory. The processing circuitry may be further configured to determine, based at least partly on the starting PRB indicated in the DCI, the frequency resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot. The processing circuitry may be further configured to encode an NR PUCCH for transmission during the slot in the per-slot allocation for the slot.

[00210] In Example 2, the subject matter of Example 1, wherein the control message may be an NR minimum system information (MSI), NR remaining minimum system information (RMSI), NR system information block (SIB) or radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[00211] In Example 3, the subject matter of one or any combination of

Examples 1-2, wherein the frequency resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot may include the starting PRB and a second PRB. The processing circuitry may be further configured to determine, based on an identifier of the UE, a frequency separation parameter that indicates a frequency spacing between the starting PRB and the second PRB. The processing circuitry may be further configured to determine the second PRB based on a summation that includes: the frequency spacing and a frequency of the starting PRB, or the PRB spacing and a PRB index of the starting PRB .

[00212] In Example 4, the subject matter of one or any combination of

Examples 1-3, wherein the identifier of the UE may be a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI).

[00213] In Example 5, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples 1-4, wherein the processing circuitry may be further configured to determine the frequency separation parameter further based at least partly on an identifier of a cell in which the UE operates.

[00214] In Example 6, the subject matter of one or any combination of

Examples 1-5, wherein the processing circuitry may be further configured to determine, based at least partly on an identifier of the UE: a first sequence to indicate, in accordance with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, successful reception, and a second sequence to indicate, in accordance with the HARQ process, unsuccessful reception. The processing circuitry may be further configured to attempt to decode a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The processing circuitry may be further configured to, if the PDSCH is decoded correctly, map the first sequence to the starting PRB and the second PRB for transmission. The processing circuitry may be further configured to, if the PDSCH is not decoded correctly, map the second sequence to the starting PRB and the second PRB for transmission.

[00215] In Example 7, the subject matter of one or any combination of

Examples 1-6, wherein the first and second sequences may be Zadoff Chu (ZC) sequences or computer generated sequences.

[00216] In Example 8, the subject matter of one or any combination of

Examples 1-7, wherein the processing circuitry may be further configured to determine, based at least partly on an identifier of the UE: a first set of two sequences to indicate, in accordance with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, successful reception, and a second sequence of two sequences to indicate, in accordance with the HARQ process, unsuccessful reception. The processing circuitry may be further configured to attempt to decode a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The processing circuitry may be further configured to, if the PDSCH is decoded correctly, map the first set of two sequences to the starting PRB and the second PRB for transmission. The processing circuitry may be further configured to, if the PDSCH is not decoded correctly, map the second set of two sequences to the starting PRB and the second PRB for transmission.

[00217] In Example 9, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples 1-8, wherein the frequency resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot may include a range of PRBs that starts with the starting PRB. The processing circuitry may be further configured to determine the frequency resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot further based on a predetermined size of the range of PRBs.

[00218] In Example 10, the subject matter of one or any combination of

Examples 1-9, wherein the UE may be arranged to operate in accordance with a new radio (NR) protocol. The per-slot allocations may be configurable for NR

PUCCH transmissions of a short duration or for NR PUCCH transmissions of a long duration. If the per-slot allocations are configured for NR PUCCH transmissions of the short duration: the control message may indicate the time resources and the candidate starting PRBs for the frequency resources, and the processing circuitry may be configured to determine the frequency resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot based at least partly on the starting PRB indicated in the DCI. If the per-slot allocations are configured for NR PUCCH transmissions of the long duration: the control message may indicate frequency resources for the per-slot allocations and may further indicate candidate starting symbols for the time resources for the per-slot allocations; the DCI may indicate one of the candidate starting symbols as a starting symbol of the time resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot; and the processing circuitry may be configured to determine the time resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot based on the starting symbol indicated in the DCI.

[00219] In Example 1 1, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples 1-10, wherein the control message may indicate whether the allocation is to be configured for the NR PUCCH transmissions of the short duration or for the NR PUCCH transmissions of the long duration. The processing circuitry may be further configured to decode another control message that indicates whether the allocation is to be configured for the NR PUCCH transmissions of the short duration or for the NR PUCCH transmissions of the long duration.

[00220] In Example 12, the subject matter of one or any combination of

Examples 1-1 1, wherein the time resources indicated in the control message may be fixed time resources.

[00221] In Example 13, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples 1-12, wherein the apparatus may further include a transceiver to receive the control message and the DCI and to transmit the NR PUCCH.

[00222] In Example 14, the subject matter of one or any combination of

Examples 1-13, wherein the processing circuitry may include a baseband processor to decode the control message and the DCI.

[00223] In Example 15, a computer-readable storage medium may store instructions for execution by one or more processors to perform operations for communication by a User Equipment (UE). The operations may configure the one or more processors to decode one or more control messages that indicate, for per-slot allocations for new radio (NR) physical uplink control channel

(PUCCH) transmissions: frequency resources, and candidate start symbols of time resources, candidate end symbols of the time resources or candidate symbol durations of the time resources, wherein the time resources are configurable on a per-slot basis. The operations may further configure the one or more processors to decode a downlink control information (DCI) received during a slot, wherein the DCI indicates one of a candidate start symbol, a candidate end symbol or a candidate symbol. The operations may further configure the one or more processors to determine the time resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot based at least partly on the DCI. The operations may further configure the one or more processors to encode an NR PUCCH for transmission during the slot in the per-slot allocation for the slot.

[00224] In Example 16, the subject matter of Example 15, wherein the per-slot allocations may be configurable for frequency hopping arrangements wherein: the frequency resources include first physical resource blocks (PRBs) in first symbols of the per-slot allocations, and the frequency resources include second PRBs in second symbols of the per-slot allocations.

[00225] In Example 17, the subject matter of one or any combination of

Examples 15-16, wherein the one or more control messages may further indicate a symbol period of the per-slot allocations for a switch from the first PRBs to the second PRBs for a transmission of the NR PUCCH.

[00226] In Example 18, the subject matter of one or any combination of

Examples 15-17, wherein the one or more control messages may indicate whether frequency hopping is enabled in the per-slot allocations. The operations may further configure the one or more processors to, if the one or more control messages indicate that frequency hopping is enabled in the slot, encode the NR PUCCH for transmission in accordance with a frequency hopping arrangement. The operations may further configure the one or more processors to, if the one or more control messages indicate that frequency hopping is not enabled in the slot, encode the NR PUCCH for transmission in accordance with a non-frequency hopping arrangement in which at least one of the PRBs of the allocation is allocated in each symbol period of the allocation.

[00227] In Example 19, the subject matter of one or any combination of

Examples 15-18, wherein the UE may be arranged to operate in accordance with a new radio (NR) protocol. The allocation may be configurable for NR PUCCH transmissions of a short duration, wherein the per-slot allocations include one or two symbol periods; or NR PUCCH transmissions of a long duration, wherein the per-slot allocations include more than two symbol periods. The operations may further configure the one or more processors to determine the time resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot when the allocation is configured for the NR PUCCH transmissions of the long duration.

[00228] In Example 20, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples 15-19, wherein the frequency resources indicated in the one or more control messages may be fixed frequency resources.

[00229] In Example 21, an apparatus of an Evolved Node-B (eNB) may comprise memory. The apparatus may further comprise processing circuitry. The processing circuitry may be configured to encode, for transmission, a control message that indicates a set of time and frequency resources for new radio (NR) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmissions. The processing circuitry may be further configured to encode, for transmission in a particular slot, downlink control information (DCI) that indicates a time and frequency resources from the set of time and frequency resources allocated for a transmission of an NR PUCCH by the UE in a predetermined symbol period of the particular slot. The processing circuitry may be further configured to decode the NR PUCCH in the indicated time and frequency resources.

[00230] In Example 22, the subject matter of Example 21, wherein the control message may be an NR minimum system information (MSI), NR remaining minimum system information (RMSI), NR system information block (SIB) or radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[00231] In Example 23, an apparatus of a User Equipment (UE) may comprise means for decoding one or more control messages that indicate, for per-slot allocations for new radio (NR) physical uplink control channel

(PUCCH) transmissions: frequency resources, and candidate start symbols of time resources, candidate end symbols of the time resources or candidate symbol durations of the time resources. The time resources may be configurable on a per-slot basis. The apparatus may further comprise means for decoding a downlink control information (DCI) received during a slot, wherein the DCI indicates one of a candidate start symbol, a candidate end symbol or a candidate symbol. The apparatus may further comprise means for determining the time resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot based at least partly on the DCI. The apparatus may further comprise means for encoding an NR PUCCH for transmission during the slot in the per-slot allocation for the slot.

[00232] In Example 24, the subject matter of Example 23, wherein the per-slot allocations may be configurable for frequency hopping arrangements wherein: the frequency resources may include first physical resource blocks (PRBs) in first symbols of the per-slot allocations, and the frequency resources may include second PRBs in second symbols of the per-slot allocations.

[00233] In Example 25, the subject matter of one or any combination of

Examples 23-24, wherein the one or more control messages may further indicate a symbol period of the per-slot allocations for a switch from the first PRBs to the second PRBs for a transmission of the NR PUCCH.

[00234] In Example 26, the subject matter of one or any combination of

Examples 23-25, wherein the one or more control messages may indicate whether frequency hopping is enabled in the per-slot allocations. The apparatus may further comprise means for, if the one or more control messages indicate that frequency hopping is enabled in the slot, encode the NR PUCCH for transmission in accordance with a frequency hopping arrangement. The apparatus may further comprise means for, if the one or more control messages indicate that frequency hopping is not enabled in the slot, encode the NR PUCCH for transmission in accordance with a non-frequency hopping arrangement in which at least one of the PRBs of the allocation is allocated in each symbol period of the allocation.

[00235] In Example 27, the subject matter of one or any combination of

Examples 23-26, wherein the UE may be arranged to operate in accordance with a new radio (NR) protocol. The allocation may be configurable for NR PUCCH transmissions of a short duration, wherein the per-slot allocations include one or two symbol periods; or NR PUCCH transmissions of a long duration, wherein the per-slot allocations include more than two symbol periods. The apparatus may further comprise means for determining the time resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot when the allocation is configured for the NR PUCCH transmissions of the long duration. [00236] In Example 28, the subject matter of one or any combination of

Examples 23-27, wherein the frequency resources indicated in the one or more control messages may be fixed frequency resources.

[00237] The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section

1.72(b) requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scope or meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus of a User Equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising: memory; and processing circuitry, configured to:

decode a control message that indicates, for per-slot allocations for new radio (NR) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmissions:

time resources of one or more symbol periods, and candidate starting physical resource blocks (PRBs) for frequency resources, the frequency resources configurable on a per-slot basis;

decode a downlink control information (DCI) received during a slot, wherein the DCI indicates one of the candidate starting PRBs as a starting PRB of the frequency resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot;

store at least a portion of the DCI in the memory;

determine, based at least partly on the starting PRB indicated in the DCI, the frequency resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot; and

encode an NR PUCCH for transmission during the slot in the per-slot allocation for the slot.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control message is an NR minimum system information (MSI), NR remaining minimum system information (RMSI), NR system information block (SIB) or radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the frequency resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot include the starting PRB and a second PRB,

the processing circuitry is further configured to determine, based on an identifier of the UE, a frequency separation parameter that indicates a frequency spacing between the starting PRB and the second PRB,

the processing circuitry is further configured to determine the second

PRB based on a summation that includes: the frequency spacing and a frequency of the starting PRB, or the PRB spacing and a PRB index of the starting PRB.

4. The apparatus according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the identifier of the UE is a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI).

5. The apparatus according to claim 3, the processing circuitry further configured to determine the frequency separation parameter further based at least partly on an identifier of a cell in which the UE operates.

6. The apparatus according to any of claims 1, 3, and 5, the processing circuitry further configured to:

determine, based at least partly on an identifier of the UE:

a first sequence to indicate, in accordance with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, successful reception, and

a second sequence to indicate, in accordance with the HARQ process, unsuccessful reception;

attempt to decode a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH);

if the PDSCH is decoded correctly, map the first sequence to the starting PRB and the second PRB for transmission; and

if the PDSCH is not decoded correctly, map the second sequence to the starting PRB and the second PRB for transmission.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the first and second sequences are Zadoff Chu (ZC) sequences or computer generated sequences.

8. The apparatus according to claim 3, the processing circuitry further configured to:

determine, based at least partly on an identifier of the UE:

a first set of two sequences to indicate, in accordance with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, successful reception, and a second sequence of two sequences to indicate, in accordance with the HARQ process, unsuccessful reception; and attempt to decode a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH);

if the PDSCH is decoded correctly, map the first set of two sequences to the starting PRB and the second PRB for transmission; and

if the PDSCH is not decoded correctly, map the second set of two sequences to the starting PRB and the second PRB for transmission.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the frequency resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot include a range of PRBs that starts with the starting PRB, and

the processing circuitry is further configured to determine the frequency resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot further based on a predetermined size of the range of PRBs.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the UE is arranged to operate in accordance with a new radio (NR) protocol,

the per-slot allocations are configurable for NR PUCCH transmissions of a short duration or for NR PUCCH transmissions of a long duration,

if the per-slot allocations are configured for NR PUCCH transmissions of the short duration:

the control message indicates the time resources and the candidate starting PRBs for the frequency resources, and

the processing circuitry is configured to determine the frequency resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot based at least partly on the starting PRB indicated in the DCI, and

if the per-slot allocations are configured for NR PUCCH transmissions of the long duration:

the control message indicates frequency resources for the per-slot allocations and further indicates candidate starting symbols for the time resources for the per-slot allocations,

the DCI indicates one of the candidate starting symbols as a starting symbol of the time resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot, and the processing circuitry is configured to determine the time resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot based on the starting symbol indicated in the DCI.

11. The apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, wherein:

the control message indicates whether the allocation is to be configured for the NR PUCCH transmissions of the short duration or for the NR PUCCH transmissions of the long duration, or

the processing circuitry is further configured to decode another control message that indicates whether the allocation is to be configured for the NR

PUCCH transmissions of the short duration or for the NR PUCCH transmissions of the long duration.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the time resources indicated in the control message are fixed time resources.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus further includes a transceiver to receive the control message and the DCI and to transmit the NR PUCCH.

14. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry includes a baseband processor to decode the control message and the DCI.

15. A computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors to perform operations for communication by a User Equipment (UE), the operations to configure the one or more processors to:

decode one or more control messages that indicate, for per-slot allocations for new radio (NR) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmissions:

frequency resources, and candidate start symbols of time resources, candidate end symbols of the time resources or candidate symbol durations of the time resources, wherein the time resources are configurable on a per-slot basis;

decode a downlink control information (DCI) received during a slot, wherein the DCI indicates one of a candidate start symbol, a candidate end symbol or a candidate symbol;

determine the time resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot based at least partly on the DCI; and

16. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein:

the per-slot allocations are configurable for frequency hopping arrangements wherein:

the frequency resources include first physical resource blocks (PRBs) in first symbols of the per-slot allocations, and

the frequency resources include second PRBs in second symbols of the per-slot allocations.

17. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 16, wherein:

the one or more control messages further indicate a symbol period of the per-slot allocations for a switch from the first PRBs to the second PRBs for a transmission of the NR PUCCH.

18. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 16, wherein:

the one or more control messages indicate whether frequency hopping is enabled in the per-slot allocations,

the operations further configure the one or more processors to, if the one or more control messages indicate that frequency hopping is enabled in the slot, encode the NR PUCCH for transmission in accordance with a frequency hopping arrangement; and

the operations further configure the one or more processors to, if the one or more control messages indicate that frequency hopping is not enabled in the slot, encode the NR PUCCH for transmission in accordance with a non- frequency hopping arrangement in which at least one of the PRBs of the allocation is allocated in each symbol period of the allocation.

19. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein:

the UE is arranged to operate in accordance with a new radio (NR) protocol,

the allocation is configurable for:

NR PUCCH transmissions of a short duration, wherein the per- slot allocations include one or two symbol periods, or

NR PUCCH transmissions of a long duration, wherein the per- slot allocations include more than two symbol periods;

the operations further configure the one or more processors to:

determine the time resources of the per-slot allocation for the slot when the allocation is configured for the NR PUCCH transmissions of the long duration.

20. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the frequency resources indicated in the one or more control messages are fixed frequency resources.

21. An apparatus of an Evolved Node-B (eNB), comprising: memory; and processing circuitry, configured to:

encode, for transmission, a control message that indicates a set of time and frequency resources for new radio (NR) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmissions; encode, for transmission in a particular slot, downlink control information (DCI) that indicates time and frequency resources from the set of time and frequency resources allocated for a transmission of an NR PUCCH by the UE in a predetermined symbol period of the particular slot;

decode the NR PUCCH in the indicated time and frequency resources

22. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the control message is an NR minimum system information (MSI), NR remaining minimum system information (RMSI), NR system information block (SIB) or radio resource control (RRC) signaling.