WO2018145074A1 - Hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgment bundling for communication systems - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus is configured to be employed within a base station. The apparatus comprises baseband circuitry which includes an interface to radio frequency (RF) circuitry and one or more processors. The one or more processors are configured to generate a plurality of data subframes; generate a hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledge (HARQ-ACK) bundling configuration for the plurality of subframes, wherein the HARQ-ACK bundling configuration includes a number of bundles, a bundle size of each bundle, a current bundle size and acknowledge/non-acknowledge (A/N) bundle the plurality of data subframes into one or more bundles according to the bundling configuration; and provide the plurality of data subframes to the interface for a downlink transmission to a user equipment (UE) device.

Description

HYBRID AUTOMATIC REPEAT REQUEST-ACKNOWLEDGMENT BUNDLING FOR

COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.

62/455,202 filed February 6, 2017, entitled "HYBRID AUTOMATIC REPEAT

REQUEST-ACKNOWLEDGEMENT BUNDLING FOR HALF DUPLEX-FREQUENCY DIVISION DUPLEXING IN FURTHER ENHANCED MACHINE TYPE COMMUNICATIONS", and U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/455,483 filed February 6, 2017, entitled "SCHEDULING AND HARQ-ACK FEEDBACK TIMING

RELATIONSHIP FOR FEMTC" the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD

[0002] Various embodiments generally relate to the field of wireless communications.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Wireless or mobile communication involves wireless communication between two or more devices. The communication requires resources to transmit data from one device to another and/or to receive data at one device from another.

[0004] When a transmission from one device occurs, the receiving device can send an acknowledgement that the transmission was received properly or send a non- acknowledgement if the transmission was not received properly. If the transmitting device receives the acknowledgment it knows that the transmission was successful. If the transmitting device receives the non-acknowledgement, it knows that transmission was not successful and a re-transmission is required.

[0005] Typical communication systems have large numbers of devices. Thus, there are many transmissions, retransmissions, acknowledgements and non- acknowledgements. Handling and managing all of the transmissions, retransmissions, acknowledgements and non-acknowledgements can be complex and over-utilize resources.

[0006] What are needed are techniques to facilitate handling repeat transmissions and acknowledgements and suitable allocation of resources. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example wireless communications network environment for a network device (e.g., a UE, gNB or an eNB) according to various aspects or embodiments.

[0008] FIG. 2 illustrates another block diagram of an example of wireless

communications network environment for a network device (e.g., a UE, gNB or an eNB) according to various aspects or embodiments.

[0009] FIG. 3 another block diagram of an example of wireless communications network environment for network device (e.g., a UE, gNB or an eNB) with various interfaces according to various aspects or embodiments.

[0010] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an architecture of a system utilizing HARQ- ACK bundling in accordance with some embodiments.

[0011] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an architecture of a system utilizing HARQ- ACK bundling in accordance with some embodiments.

[0012] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement based on implicit indication in accordance with some embodiments.

[0013] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement based on implicit indication in accordance with some embodiments.

[0014] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement based on implicit indication in accordance with some embodiments.

[0015] FIG. 9 is a table illustrating potential HARQ-ACK error cases with feedback timing and bundling configurations in accordance with some embodiments.

[0016] FIG. 10 is a table illustrating potential HARQ-ACK error cases with feedback timing and bundling configurations in accordance with some embodiments.

[0017] FIGs. 1 1 to 1 6 illustrate suitable examples of overall design/configuration for

HARQ-ACK bundling when DAI continues across bundles and when DAI is reinitialized at the start of each bundle.

[0018] FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement having a gap between TBs in accordance with some embodiments.

[0019] FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement having a gap between TBs in accordance with some embodiments.

[0020] FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement having where only gaps between a MPDCCH and a first TB are explicitly indicated in accordance with some embodiments. [0021] FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement having where gaps between a MPDCCH and a first TB are explicitly indicated in accordance with some embodiments.

[0022] FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement having timing based on implicit indication in accordance with some embodiments.

[0023] FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement having timing based on implicit indication in accordance with some embodiments.

[0024] FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement having timing based on implicit indication in accordance with some embodiments.

[0025] FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement having time offsets between TBs in accordance with some embodiments.

[0026] FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement having varied offsets between TBs in accordance with some embodiments.

[0027] FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement for TDM in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The present disclosure will now be described with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout, and wherein the illustrated structures and devices are not necessarily drawn to scale. The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the various aspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examples that depart from these specific details. In certain instances, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary detail. Embodiments herein may be related to RAN1 and 5G.

[0029] As utilized herein, terms "component," "system," "interface," and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, hardware, software (e.g., in execution), and/or firmware. For example, a component can be a processor, a process running on a processor, a controller, an object, an executable, a program, a storage device, and/or a computer with a processing device. By way of illustration, an application running on a server and the server can also be a component. One or more components can reside within a process, and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. A set of elements or a set of other components can be described herein, in which the term "set" can be interpreted as "one or more."

[0030] Further, these components can execute from various computer readable storage media having various data structures stored thereon such as with a module, for example. The components can communicate via local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network, such as, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network, or similar network with other systems via the signal).

[0031] As another example, a component can be an apparatus with specific

functionality provided by mechanical parts operated by electric or electronic circuitry, in which the electric or electronic circuitry can be operated by a software application or a firmware application executed by one or more processors. The one or more processors can be internal or external to the apparatus and can execute at least a part of the software or firmware application. As yet another example, a component can be an apparatus that provides specific functionality through electronic components without mechanical parts; the electronic components can include one or more processors therein to execute software and/or firmware that confer(s), at least in part, the functionality of the electronic components.

[0032] Use of the word exemplary is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion. As used in this application, the term "or" is intended to mean an inclusive "or" rather than an exclusive "or". That is, unless specified otherwise, or clear from context, "X employs A or B" is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B, then "X employs A or B" is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition, the articles "a" and "an" as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean "one or more" unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms "including", "includes", "having", "has", "with", or variants thereof are used in either the detailed description and the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term

"comprising". [0033] 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.

[0034] It is appreciated that there is a continuing need to improve data rates and performance. Techniques for improving data rates can include lowering overhead and/or better utilizing resources.

[0035] One area to improve data rates and/or performance relates to repeat/request acknowledgement. Generally, when a transmission from one device occurs, the receiving device can send an acknowledgement that the transmission was received properly or send a non-acknowledgement if the transmission was not received properly. If the transmitting device receives the acknowledgment it knows that the transmission was successful. If the transmitting device receives the non-acknowledgement, it knows that transmission was not successful and a re-transmission is required.

[0036] For downlink (DL) transmissions, a transmission is from a node such as a base station, evolved node B (eNB), gNB and the like to a user equipment (UE) device. The UE can respond with an acknowledgement (ACK) that the transmission was received successfully or a non-acknowledgement (NACK) that the transmission was not received successfully. If the UE responds with the NACK, the node repeats or resends the transmission. The UE can again respond with an ACK or NACK. The process can continue until a successful transmission and an ACK. Automatic repetition of the transmission is referred to as automatic repeat request (ARQ).

[0037] In one example, the ARQ adds redundant data bits to data to be transmitted using an error detecting (ED) code, such as a cyclic redundancy check (CRC). If the transmission is detected, but not suitable or corrupted, the NACK is sent and

retransmission occurs. In a variation or hybrid approach, forward error correcting coding can be added to the error detecting code. This hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) the forward error correcting coding can be sent along with the

data/transmission or sent upon request. In some examples of HARQ, the error detecting code can be omitted and another code that can do both error detecting and forward error correcting.

[0038] Considerable resources are required to respond with the ACK/NACK and handle repeats/retransmissions for HARQ implementations, referred to as HARQ-ACK. One technique to reduce the use of resources is referred to as bundling. Bundling allows the UE to provide an ACK/NACK for multiple transmissions.

[0039] For example, HARQ-ACK bundling is supported in further enhancement machine type communications (feMTC) for half duplex-frequency division duplex (HD- FDD). In particular, HARQ-ACK bundling can be supported in coverage enhancement (CE) mode A (CEModeA) in HD-FDD, but may not be supported in CE mode B

(CEModeB).

[0040] In one example, one or multiple HARQ-ACK bundles can be supported for physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) scheduling prior to switching to uplink (UL) communication. The bundles have a bundle size defined as a number of PDSCH transmissions (corresponding to different HARQ processes) with a joint HARQ-ACK feedback. In one example, a HARQ-ACK bundle size is 4.

[0041] In another example, when HARQ-ACK bundling is radio resource controlled (RRC) configured, non-bundled transmission is still possible, where the repetition numbers of different channels are used in the same way as in Rel-13 eMTC, 3GPP TS 36.21 1 v13.4.0 (2016-12), 3GPP TS 36.212 v13.4.0 (2016-12) and 3GPP TS 36.21 3 v13.4.0 (2016-12). At least in non-repetition case, a maximum size of HARQ-ACK bundles before switching to UL is 3. In another example, a number of PDSCH transport blocks (TBs) in bundles before switching to UL is 1 0. A switch time between downlink (DL) and UL can be indicated in control information, such as downlink control information (DCI), based in a specification, by agreement and the like. If repetition is used for M-PDCCH or PDSCH, HARQ-ACK bundling is not used.

[0042] Embodiments are disclosed that include HARQ-ACK bundling for

communication systems including, HD-FDD feMTC. The HARQ-ACK bundling can enhance the feMTC higher data rate operation, reduce overhead, enhance resource utilization and/or improve DL control efficiency.

[0043] FIG. 1 illustrates an architecture of a system 100 of a network in accordance with some embodiments. The system 100 is shown to include a user equipment (UE) 101 and a UE 102. The UEs 101 and 1 02 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks), but can also comprise any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as Personal Data Assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handsets, or any computing device including a wireless communications interface.

[0044] In some embodiments, any of the UEs 101 and 102 can comprise an Internet of Things (loT) UE, which can comprise a network access layer designed for low-power loT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. An loT UE can utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communications (MTC) for exchanging data with an MTC server or device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), Proximity-Based Service (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, or loT networks. The M2M or MTC exchange of data can be a machine-initiated exchange of data. An loT network describes interconnecting loT UEs, which can include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure), with short-lived connections. The loT UEs can execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the loT network.

[0045] The UEs 101 and 102 can be configured to connect, e.g., communicatively couple, with a radio access network (RAN) 1 10— the RAN 1 10 can be, for example, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a NextGen RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. The UEs 101 and 102 utilize connections 103 and 104, respectively, each of which comprises a physical communications interface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example, the connections 103 and 104 are illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols, such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular (POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth generation (5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like.

[0046] In this embodiment, the UEs 101 and 1 02 can further directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 105. The ProSe interface 105 can

alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface comprising one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH). [0047] The UE 102 is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP) 106 via connection 107. The connection 107 can comprise a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.1 1 protocol, wherein the AP 106 would comprise a wireless fidelity (WiFi®) router. In this example, the AP 1 06 is shown to be connected to the Internet without connecting to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below).

[0048] The RAN 1 1 0 can include one or more access nodes that enable the connections 1 03 and 104. These access nodes (ANs) can be referred to as base stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next Generation NodeBs (gNB), RAN nodes, and so forth, and can comprise ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providing coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). A network device as referred to herein can include any one of these APs, ANs, UEs or any other network component. The RAN 1 10 can include one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro RAN node 1 1 1 , and one or more RAN nodes for providing femtocells or picocells (e.g., cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells), e.g., low power (LP) RAN node 1 12.

[0049] Any of the RAN nodes 1 1 1 and 1 12 can terminate the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for the UEs 101 and 102. In some embodiments, any of the RAN nodes 1 1 1 and 1 12 can fulfill various logical functions for the RAN 1 1 0 including, but not limited to, radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) dynamic radio resource

management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0050] In accordance with some embodiments, the UEs 101 and 102 can be configured to communicate using Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with each other or with any of the RAN nodes 1 1 1 and 1 1 2 over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) communication technique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

[0051] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlink transmissions from any of the RAN nodes 1 1 1 and 1 12 to the UEs 101 and 1 02, while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid can 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 corresponds 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. Each resource grid comprises a number of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block comprises a collection of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this can represent the smallest quantity of resources that currently can be allocated. There are several different physical downlink channels that are conveyed using such resource blocks.

[0052] The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) can carry user data and higher-layer signaling to the UEs 101 and 102. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) can carry information about the transport format and resource allocations related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. It is appreciated that an MTC physical downlink control channel (MPDCCH) and/or an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH) can be used in placed of the PDCCH. It can also inform the UEs 101 and 102 about the transport format, resource allocation, and H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to the UE 102 within a cell) can be performed at any of the RAN nodes 1 1 1 and 1 12 based on channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs 101 and 102. The downlink resource assignment information can be sent on the PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 101 and 102.

[0053] The PDCCH can use control channel elements (CCEs) to convey the control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols can first be organized into quadruplets, which can then be permuted using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH can be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE can correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as resource element groups (REGs). Four Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. The PDCCH can be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of the downlink control information (DCI) and the channel condition. There can be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L=1 , 2, 4, or 8).

[0054] Some embodiments can use concepts for resource allocation for control channel information that are an extension of the above-described concepts. For example, some embodiments can utilize an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. The EPDCCH can be transmitted using one or more enhanced the control channel elements (ECCEs). Similar to above, each ECCE can correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as an enhanced resource element groups (EREGs). An ECCE can have other numbers of EREGs in some situations.

[0055] The RAN 1 1 0 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network (CN) 1 20— via an S1 interface 1 1 3. In embodiments, the CN 120 can be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC) network, or some other type of CN. In this embodiment the S1 interface 1 13 is split into two parts: the S1 -U interface 1 14, which carries traffic data between the RAN nodes 1 1 1 and 1 12 and the serving gateway (S-GW) 122, and the S1 -mobility management entity (MME) interface 1 15, which is a signaling interface between the RAN nodes 1 1 1 and 1 12 and MMEs 121 .

[0056] In this embodiment, the CN 1 20 comprises the MMEs 1 21 , the S-GW 122, the Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 123, and a home subscriber server (HSS) 124. The MMEs 121 can be similar in function to the control plane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Nodes (SGSN). The MMEs 121 can manage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS 124 can comprise a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities' handling of

communication sessions. The CN 120 can comprise one or several HSSs 124, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on the capacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS 124 can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc.

[0057] The S-GW 122 can terminate the S1 interface 1 13 towards the RAN 1 1 0, and routes data packets between the RAN 1 10 and the CN 120. In addition, the S-GW 122 can be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also can provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities can include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement.

[0058] The P-GW 123 can terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P-GW 123 can route data packets between the CN network 120 and external networks such as a network including the application server 130 (alternatively referred to as application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface 125. Generally, the application server 130 can be an element offering applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). In this embodiment, the P-GW 123 is shown to be communicatively coupled to an application server 130 via an IP communications interface 125. The application server 130 can also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UEs 1 01 and 102 via the CN 120.

[0059] The P-GW 123 can further be a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCRF) 126 is the policy and charging control element of the CN 120. In a non-roaming scenario, there can be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a UE's Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with local breakout of traffic, there can be two PCRFs associated with a UE's IP-CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within a HPLMN and a Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF 126 can be communicatively coupled to the application server 130 via the P-GW 123. The application server 130 can signal the PCRF 1 26 to indicate a new service flow and select the appropriate Quality of Service (QoS) and charging parameters. The PCRF 126 can provision this rule into a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown) with the appropriate traffic flow template (TFT) and QoS class of identifier (QCI), which commences the QoS and charging as specified by the application server 130.

[0060] In one or more embodiments, IMS services can be identified more accurately in a paging indication, which can enable the UEs 101 , 102 to differentiate between PS paging and IMS service related paging. As a result, the UEs 101 , 102 can apply preferential prioritization for IMS services as desired based on any number of requests by any application, background searching (e.g., PLMN searching or the like), process, or communication. In particular, the UEs 1 01 , 102 can differentiate the PS domain paging to more distinguishable categories, so that IMS services can be identified clearly in the UEs 101 , 102 in comparison to PS services. In addition to a domain indicator (e.g., PS or CS), a network (e.g., CN 120, RAN 1 10, AP 106, or combination thereof as an eNB or the other network device) can provide further, more specific information with the TS 36.331 -Paging message, such as a "paging cause" parameter. The UE can use this information to decide whether to respond to the paging, possibly interrupting some other procedure like an ongoing PLMN search.

[0061] In one example, when UEs 101 , 102 can be registered to a visited PLMN (VPLMN) and performing PLMN search (i.e., background scan for a home PLMN (HPLMN) or a higher priority PLMN), or when a registered UE is performing a manual PLMN search, the PLMN search can be interrupted in order to move to a connected mode and respond to a paging operation as part of a MT procedure / operation.

Frequently, this paging could be for PS data (non-IMS data), where, for example, an application server 130 in the NW wants to push to the UE 101 or 102 for one of the many different applications running in / on the UE 101 or 1 02, for example. Even though the PS data could be delay tolerant and less important, in legacy networks the paging is often not able to be ignored completely, as critical services like an IMS call can be the reason for the PS paging. The multiple interruptions of the PLMN search caused by the paging can result in an unpredictable delay of the PLMN search or in the worst case even in a failure of the procedure, resulting in a loss of efficiency in network

communication operations. A delay in moving to or handover to a preferred PLMN (via manual PLMN search or HPLMN search) in a roaming condition can incur more roaming charges on a user as well.

[0062] FIG. 2 illustrates example components of a network device 200 in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the device 200 can include application circuitry 202, baseband circuitry 204, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 206, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 208, one or more antennas 210, and power management circuitry (PMC) 21 2 coupled together at least as shown. The components of the illustrated device 200 can be included in a UE 101 , 102 or a RAN node 1 1 1 , 1 12, AP,

AN, eNB or other network component. In some embodiments, the device 200 can include less elements (e.g., a RAN node cannot utilize application circuitry 202, and instead include a processor/controller to process IP data received from an EPC). In some embodiments, the network device 200 can include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, or input/output (I/O) interface. In other embodiments, the components described below can be included in more than one device (e.g., said circuitries can be separately included in more than one device for Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementations).

[0063] The application circuitry 202 can include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 202 can include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor(s) can include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processors can be coupled with or can include memory/storage and can be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the device 200. In some embodiments, processors of application circuitry 202 can process IP data packets received from an EPC.

[0064] The baseband circuitry 204 can include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry 204 can include one or more baseband processors or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 206 and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 206. Baseband processing circuity 204 can interface with the application circuitry 202 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 206. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 204 can include a third generation (3G) baseband processor 204A, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 204B, a fifth generation (5G) baseband processor 204C, or other baseband processor(s) 204D for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation (2G), si2h generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuitry 204 (e.g., one or more of baseband processors 204A-D) can handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 206. In other embodiments, some or all of the functionality of baseband processors 204A-D can be included in modules stored in the memory 204G and executed via a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 204E. The radio control functions can 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 204 can include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments,

encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 204 can include convolution, tail- biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and can include other suitable

functionality in other embodiments.

[0065] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 204 can include one or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 204F. The audio DSP(s) 204F can be include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and can include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry can 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 204 and the application circuitry 202 can be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

[0066] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 204 can provide for

communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 204 can support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) 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 204 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol can be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

[0067] RF circuitry 206 can enable communication with wireless networks

using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 206 can include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry 206 can include a receive signal path which can include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 208 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry 204. RF circuitry 206 can also include a transmit signal path which can include circuitry to up- convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 204 and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 208 for transmission.

[0068] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 206 can include mixer circuitry 206a, amplifier circuitry 206b and filter circuitry 206c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 206 can include filter circuitry 206c and mixer circuitry 206a. RF circuitry 206 can also include synthesizer circuitry 206d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path can be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 208 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 206d. The amplifier circuitry 206b can be configured to amplify the down- converted signals and the filter circuitry 206c can be a low-pass filter (LPF) or bandpass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals can be provided to the baseband circuitry 204 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals can be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path can comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0069] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the transmit signal path can be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 206d to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 208. The baseband signals can be provided by the baseband circuitry 204 and can be filtered by filter circuitry 206c.

[0070] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 206a of the transmit signal path can include two or more mixers and can be arranged for quadrature downconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 206a of the transmit signal path can include two or more mixers and can be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 206a can be arranged for direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 206a of the transmit signal path can be configured for super-heterodyne operation.

[0071] In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals can 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 can be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RF circuitry 206 can include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry 204 can include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry 206. [0072] In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry can be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the

embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0073] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 206d can 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 can be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 206d can be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0074] The synthesizer circuitry 206d can be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 206a of the RF circuitry 206 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 206d can be a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer.

[0075] In some embodiments, frequency input can be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Divider control input can be provided by either the baseband circuitry 204 or the applications processor 202 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) can be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by the applications processor 202.

[0076] Synthesizer circuitry 206d of the RF circuitry 206 can include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider can be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator can be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD can be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL can 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 can 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.

[0077] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 206d can be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency can 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 can be a LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 206 can include an IQ/polar converter.

[0078] FEM circuitry 208 can include a receive signal path which can include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 210, amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 206 for further processing. FEM circuitry 208 can also include a transmit signal path which can include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry 206 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 21 0. In various embodiments, the amplification through the transmit or receive signal paths can be done solely in the RF circuitry 206, solely in the FEM 208, or in both the RF circuitry 206 and the FEM 208.

[0079] In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 208 can include a TX/RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry can include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry can include an LNA to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 206). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 208 can include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 206), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 21 0).

[0080] In some embodiments, the PMC 212 can manage power provided to the baseband circuitry 204. In particular, the PMC 212 can control power-source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion. The PMC 212 can often be included when the device 200 is capable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device is included in a UE. The PMC 21 2 can increase the power conversion efficiency while providing desirable implementation size and heat dissipation

characteristics.

[0081] While FIG. 2 shows the PMC 212 coupled only with the baseband circuitry 204. However, in other embodiments, the PMC 2 12 can be additionally or alternatively coupled with, and perform similar power management operations for, other components such as, but not limited to, application circuitry 202, RF circuitry 206, or FEM 208.

[0082] In some embodiments, the PMC 212 can control, or otherwise be part of, various power saving mechanisms of the device 200. For example, if the device 200 is in an RRC_Connected state, where it is still connected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, then it can enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the device 200 can power down for brief intervals of time and thus save power.

[0083] If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the device 200 can transition off to an RRCJdle state, where it disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device 200 goes into a very low power state and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device 200 does not receive data in this state, in order to receive data, it transitions back to RRC_Connected state.

[0084] An additional power saving mode can allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longer than a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a few hours). During this time, the device can be unreachable to the network and can power down completely. Any data sent during this time can incur a large delay with the delay presumed to be acceptable.

[0085] Processors of the application circuitry 202 and processors of the baseband circuitry 204 can be used to execute elements of one or more instances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the baseband circuitry 204, alone or in combination, can be used execute Layer 3, Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the application circuitry 204 can utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from these layers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., transmission communication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers). As referred to herein, Layer 3 can comprise a radio resource control (RRC) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 2 can comprise a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1 can comprise a physical (PHY) layer of a UE/RAN node. Each of these layers can be implemented to operate one or more processes or network operations of embodiments / aspects herein.

[0086] In addition, the memory 204G can comprise one or more machine-readable medium / media including instructions that, when performed by a machine or component herein cause the machine to perform acts of the method or of an apparatus or system for concurrent communication using multiple communication technologies according to embodiments and examples described herein. It is to be understood that aspects described herein can be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, functions can be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium (e.g., the memory described herein or other storage device). Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media or a computer readable storage device can be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD- ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or other tangible and/or non-transitory medium, that can be used to carry or store desired information or executable instructions. Also, any connection can also be termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium.

[0087] In general, there is a move to provide network services for the packet domain. The earlier network services like UMTS or 3G and predecessors (2G) configured a CS domain and a packet domain providing different services, especially CS services in the CS domain as well as voice services were considered to have a higher priority because consumers demanded an immediate response. Based on the domain that the paging was received, the device 200 could assign certain priority for the incoming transaction. Now with LTE / 5G most services are moving to the packet domain. Currently, the UE (e.g., 1 01 , 102, or device 200) can get paging for a packet service without knowing any further information about the paging of the MT procedure, such as whether someone is calling on a line, a VoIP call, or just some packet utilized from Facebook, other application service, or other similar MT service. As such, a greater opportunity exists for further delays without the possibility for the UE to discriminate between the different application packets that could initiate a paging and also give a different priority to it based on one or more user preferences. This can could be important for the UE because the UE might be doing other tasks more vital for resource allocation. [0088] In one example, a UE (e.g., 101 , 102, or device 200) could be performing a background search for other PLMNs. This is a task the UE device 200 could do in regular intervals if it is not connected on its own home PLMN or a higher priority PLMN, but roaming somewhere else. A higher priority could be a home PLMN or some other PLMNs according to a list provided by the provider or subscriber (e.g., HSS 124).

Consequently, if a paging operation arrives as an MT service and an interruption results, such that a start and begin operation are executed, a sufficient frequency of these interruptions could cause the UE to never complete a background search in a reasonable way. This is one way where it would be advantageous for the UE or network device to know that the interruption is only a packet service, with no need to react to it immediately, versus an incoming voice call that takes preference immediately and the background scan should be postponed.

[0089] Additionally, the device 200 can be configured to connect or include multiple subscriber identity / identification module (SIM) cards / components, referred to as dual SIM or multi SIM devices. The device 200 can operate with a single transmit and receive component that can coordinate between the different identities from which the SIM components are operating. As such, an incoming voice call should be responded to as fast as possible, while only an incoming packet for an application could be relatively ignored in order to utilize resources for the other identity (e.g., the voice call or SIM component) that is more important or has a higher priority from a priority list / data set / or set of user device preferences, for example. This same scenario can also be utilized for other operations or incoming data, such as with a PLMN background search such as a manual PLMN search, which can last for a long period of time since, especially with a large number of different bands from 2G, etc. With an ever increasing number of bands being utilized in wireless communications, if paging interruptions come in between the operations already running without distinguishing between the various packet and real critical services such as voice, the network devices can interpret this manual PLMN search to serve and ensure against a drop or loss of any increment voice call, with more frequent interruptions in particular.

[0090] As stated above, even though in most of these cases the PS data is delay tolerant and less important, in legacy networks the paging cannot be ignored

completely, as critical services like an IMS call can be the reason for the PS paging. The multiple interruptions of a PLMN search caused by the paging can result in an unpredictable delay of the PLMN search or in the worst case even in a failure of the procedure. Additionally, a delay in moving to preferred PLMN (via manual PLMN search or HPLMN search) in roaming condition can incur more roaming charges on user.

Similarly, in multi-SIM scenario when UE is listening to paging channel of two networks simultaneously and has priority for voice service, a MT IMS voice call can be interpreted as "data" call as indicated in MT paging message and can be preceded by MT Circuit Switched (CS) paging of an other network or MO CS call initiated by user at same time. As such, embodiments / aspects herein can increase the call drop risk significantly for the SIM using IMS voice service.

[0091] In embodiments, 3GPP NW can provide further granular information about the kind of service the network is paging for. For example, the Paging cause parameter could indicate one of the following values / classes / categories: 1 ) IMS voice/video service; 2) IMS SMS service; 3) IMS other services (not voice/video/SMS-related; 4) any IMS service; 5) Other PS service (not IMS-related). In particular, a network device (e.g., an eNB or access point) could only be discriminating between IMS and non-IMS services could use 4) and 5), whereas a network that is able to discriminate between different types of IMS services (like voice/video call, SMS, messaging, etc.) could use 3) instead of 4) to explicitly indicate to the UE that the paging is for an IMS service different from voice/video and SMS. By obtaining this information UE may decide to suspend PLMN search only for critical services like incoming voice/video services.

[0092] In other aspects, dependent on the service category (e.g., values or classes 1 -5 above), the UE 101 , 102, or device 200 can memorize that there was a paging to which it did not respond, and access the network later, when the PLMN search has been completed and the UE decides to stay on the current PLMN. For example, if the reason for the paging was a mobile terminating IMS SMS, the MME can then inform the HSS (e.g., 124) that the UE is reachable again, and the HSS 124 can initiate a signaling procedure which will result in a delivery of the SMS to the UE once resources are more available or less urgent for another operation / application / or category, for example. To this purpose the UE 101 , 102, or 200 could initiate a periodic tau area update (TAU) procedure if the service category in the Paging message indicated "IMS SMS service", for example.

[0093] FIG. 3 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry in accordance with some embodiments. As discussed above, the baseband circuitry 204 of FIG. 2 can comprise processors 204A-204E and a memory 204G utilized by said processors. Each of the processors 204A-204E can include a memory interface, 304A-304E, respectively, to send/receive data to/from the memory 204G.

[0094] The baseband circuitry 204 can further include one or more interfaces to communicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, such as a memory interface 312 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from memory external to the baseband circuitry 204), an application circuitry interface 314 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from the application circuitry 202 of FIG. 2), an RF circuitry interface 316 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from RF circuitry 206 of FIG. 2), a wireless hardware connectivity interface 31 8 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components), and a power management interface 320 (e.g., an interface to send/receive power or control signals to / from the PMC 21 2.

[0095] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an architecture of a system 400 utilizing HARQ-ACK bundling in accordance with some embodiments. The system or apparatus

400 can be utilized with the above embodiments and variations thereof, including the system 1 00 described above. The system 400 is provided as an example and it is appreciated that suitable variations are contemplated.

[0096] The system 400 includes a network device 401 and a node 402. The device

401 is shown as a UE device and the node 402 is shown as gNB for illustrative purposes. It is appreciated that the UE device 401 can be other network devices, such as Aps, ANs and the like. It is also appreciated that the gNB 402 can be other nodes or access nodes (ANs), such as BSs, eNB, gNB, RAN nodes and the like. Other network or network devices can be present and interact with the device 401 and/or the node 402. Operation of the device 401 and/or the node 402 can be performed by circuitry, such as the baseband circuitry 204, described above.

[0097] Downlink (DL) transmissions occur from the gNB 402 to the UE 401 whereas uplink (UL) transmissions occur from the UE 401 to the gNB 402. The downlink transmissions utilize a DL control channel and a DL data channel. The uplink transmissions utilize an UL control channel and a UL data channel. The various channels can be different in terms of direction, link to another gNB, eNB and the like.

[0098] The UE 401 is one of a set or group of UE devices assigned to or associated with a cell of the gNB 402. The UE 401 can be a Bandwidth reduced Low Complexity (BL) UE and/or a Coverage Enhancement (CE) UE. [0099] The system 400 uses hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) and acknowledgement (ACK) to facilitate downlink communications between the gNB 402 and the UE 401 . Further, the HARQ-ACK technique utilizes bundling to facilitate operations and resource utilization. Bundling is a technique where, for example, a transport block(s) (TBs) can be sent multiple times in subframes or consecutive subframes without waiting for HARQ ACK/NACK messages/feedback. Multiple TBs can be bundled.

[00100] The gNB 402 and/or other network device develops a bundling configuration at 404. In one example, the bundling configuration is for a set or cell of UE devices including the UE 401 . In another example, the bundling configuration is for the UE 401 .

[00101 ] The bundling configuration includes fields such as a number of bundles, a bundle size, a current bundle size, a bundle index, a start for a first bundle, an end of a last bundle, A/N timing, a subframe index and the like. The number of bundles refers to an amount or number of bundles that occur prior to transmission switching from downlink to uplink. The number of bundles can be 1 or more. The bundle size is the number of DL TBs in the bundle. The current bundle size is the number of DL TBs in the current bundle corresponding to a received MTC physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), denoted as MPDCCH. The bundle index permits reference to the one or more bundles. The start for the first bundle indicates a time/frequency beginning for the first bundle of the one or more bundles. The end of the last bundle indicates a time/frequency ending point for the last bundle of the one or more bundles. The A/N timing refers to an acknowledge/non-acknowledge timing for HARQ-ACK feedback. The subframe index is an index to a subframe for a given bundle of the one or more bundles.

[00102] The bundling configuration can also include a bundling pattern, which includes the number of bundles and a size of each bundle. The configuration or bundling configuration can also include a TBs in bundle field, a Bundling on/off field, a HARQ-ACK delay field, a HARQ-ACK bundling flag, a Downlink Assignment Index (DAI), a HARQ-ACK resource offset, a HARQ process number and the like. In one example, a MPDCH repeat field is repurposed for the TBs in Bundle field. In one example, the HARQ-ACK delay field (such as provided in a corresponding DCI) indicates/determines a subframe as the HARQ-ACK transmission subframe. The HARQ-ACK delay value can be at least partially based on a higher layer parameter, HARQACKDelayType. [00103] The bundling configuration is provided to the UE 401 at 406. The bundling configuration can be provided via signaling, transmission, predetermined, as downlink control information (DCI) and/or the like. The bundling configuration can include or be a incorporated into a DCI. In one example, the bundling configuration is provided within a DCI carried by a MPDCCH. The bundling configuration can be provided to UEs using one or more DCI, signaling, and the like.

[00104] Examples of suitable techniques to provide the bundling configuration are shown below.

[00105] The gNB 402 generates one or more downlink transmissions at 408. The transmissions can include HARQ-ACK related code, such as forward error correction code and/or error detection code. The downlink transmissions can include subframes (SFs) and/or based on transport blocks (TBs). The downlink transmissions are provided over a channel, such as a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[00106] The UE 401 receives the one or more downlink transmissions and generates HARQ feedback based on the downlink transmissions at 410. The UE 401 uses the bundling configuration to generate the HARQ feedback at 41 0. The HARQ feedback includes bundled ACKs/NACKs for the transmissions. If a transmission was received without error or substantial error, an ACK is provided with the feedback for the transmission. If a transmission was received with error or substantial error, a NACK is provided with the feedback for the transmission. With bundling, the ACK/NACKs provided can be for more than a single transmission.

[00107] In one example, the UE 401 includes an ACK in the HARQ feedback only if the number of decoded downlink grants/subframes/TBs corresponds to the bundle equals a number of TBs in Bundle field, which can be provided in the bundling configuration. Otherwise, the UE 401 can send a NACK for the bundle.

[00108] In another example, the UE 401 generates a HARQ-ACK bit by performing a logical AND operation of HARQ-ACKs across a group/bundle of subframes.

[00109] The UE 401 provides the generated HARQ feedback at 412 to the gNB 402.

The HARQ feedback complies with or utilizes the bundling configuration generated by the gNB 402. The HARQ feedback can be provided via transmission, signaling, and the like. Additionally, the timing for the HARQ feedback can be determined by the UE 401 , the gNB 402 and the like. [00110] The gNB 402 can automatically repeat (assumed requests) for transmissions at 414 associated with NACKs and/or missing ACKs.

[00111 ] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an architecture of a system 500 utilizing HARQ-ACK bundling in accordance with some embodiments. The system 500 includes functions or operations implemented by circuitry, such as the baseband circuitry 204. The system 500 is provided for illustrative purposes and it is appreciated that additional components/elements can be included and/or omitted.

[00112] The system 500 can be implemented within a node, such as an eNB, gNB, UE device, network node, and the like for communication or interaction with another node.

[00113] A node (gNB) 402 generates a bundling configuration for a group or cell of user equipment (UE) devices 501 . The group can include a UE device, such as the UE device 401 , shown above.

[00114] The bundling configuration includes a number of bundles, a bundle size, a current bundle size, a bundle index, a start for a first bundle, an end of a last bundle, A/N timing, a subframe index and the like. The number of bundles refers to an amount or number of bundles that occur prior to transmission switching from downlink to uplink. The number of bundles can be 1 or more. The bundle size is the number of DL TBs in the bundle. The current bundle size is the number of DL TBs in the current bundle corresponding to a received MTC physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), denoted as MPDCCH. The bundle index permits reference to the one or more bundles. The start for the first bundle indicates a time/frequency beginning for the first bundle of the one or more bundles. The end of the last bundle indicates a time/frequency ending point for the last bundle of the one or more bundles. The A/N timing refers to an acknowledge/non-acknowledge timing for HARQ-ACK feedback. The subframe index is an index to a subframe for a given bundle of the one or more bundles.

[00115] The bundling configuration can also include a bundling pattern, which includes the number of bundles and a size of each bundle.

[00116] The node 402 provides the bundling configuration to the UE devices 501 using one or more of downlink control information (DCI), radio resource control (RRC) signaling, an MPDCCH and/or the like.

[00117] The node 402 transmits the downlink data as subframes or transport blocks (TBs). The UE devices 501 receive the downlink transmission and the bundling configuration. [00118] The UE devices 501 process the downlink transmissions and generate ACK/NACK feedback for the downlink data. The ACK/NACK feedback is bundled according to the bundling configuration.

[00119] The UE devices 501 generate HARQ-ACK feedback with the bundled

ACK/NACK information and according to the bundling configuration. The bundling configuration includes A/N timing for the HARQ-ACK feedback. The timing can include a delay for each bundled feedback, shown as AO, A2 ... below.

[00120] The node 402 receives the HARQ-ACK feedback and can retransmit or repeat some or more of the downlink transmissions.

[00121 ] HARQ-ACK bundling configuration:

[00122] With reference to FIGs. 4 and 5, some examples of suitable HARQ-ACK bundling configuration(s) are provided.

[00123] In one example, one or more of the information within the bundling configuration can be indicated in the downlink control information (DCI). Each DCI may carry the information, or only a subset of DCIs (e.g., only the first DCI, or the first DCI of each bundle, or the last DCI, or the last DCI of each bundle) carry this information.

[00124] Some examples of bundling configuration information that can be included in the DCI(s) include a number of bundles before switching to UL.

[00125] For the number of bundles, 2 bits of the DCI can be used to indicate the number of bundles. Additionally, the number of bundles can be jointly coded with other information, such as, for example, resulting in 7 bits. The following combinations are contemplated, 1 bundle + size the bundle from {1 , 2, 3, 4}, 2 bundles + size of each bundle from {1 , 2, 3, 4}, and 3 bundles + size of each bundle from {1 , 2, 3, 4}. It is appreciated that other suitable combinations are contemplated.

[00126] The DCI(s) can also include the bundle size of each bundle. In one option, 2 ^* 3 bits are used to indicate the bundle size for each bundle, where 2 bits for each bundle with size up to 4 and there are in total up to 3 bundles. In another option, the bundle size is jointly coded with number of bundles, resulting in 7 bits to cover following combinations: 1 bundle + size from {1 , 2, 3, 4}, 2 bundles + size of each bundle from {1 , 2, 3, 4}, and 3 bundles + size of each bundle from {1 , 2, 3, 4}.

[00127] The size of a current bundle corresponding to a received MPDCCH can also be provided within the DCI(s). For example, 2 bits can be used to indicate up to 4 PDSCHs within a bundle. [00128] The bundle index can be provided in the DCI(s) using 2 bits for up to 3 bundles or jointly coded with number of bundles, requiring 3 bits to cover the following combinations: 1 bundle + bundle index from {0}, 2 bundles + bundle index from {0, 1 } and 3 bundles + bundle index from {0, 1 , 2}.

[00129] The DCI(s) can include an indication of the start of a bundle. In one option, a flag bit is used to indicate if a current subframe/transmission/DCI is the starting of a first bundle. It is noted that if the first DCI is missed, UEs may not know the starting DCI or the start of the first bundle. In another option, up to 4 bits are used to count the offset from starting DCI to a current one or subframe.

[00130] The end of the last bundle can also be included with the DCI(s). In one option, a flag bit is used to indicate if current subframe/transmission/DCI is the end of the last bundle. However, if the last DCI is missed, UEs may not know the last DCI. In another option, up to 4 bits are used to count the remaining number of subframes before the DL to UL switching.

[00131 ] The ACK/NACK (A/N) timing can also be included with the DCI(s). In one option, the A/N timing is provided implicitly. For example, the A/N timing can be with respect to a last PDSCH transmission before switching from DL to UL. In another option, the A/N timing can be based on the bundling configuration (which may not imply the actual DL transmissions). For example, if the bundling configuration is indicated to be {3, 2, 2}, though there may be only 5 DL subframes transmitted, the HARQ-ACK feedback timing is based on the end of last bundle, i.e. 7 subframes after the first PDSCH transmission.

[00132] In another option, the A/N timing, also referred to as the HARQ-ACK feedback timing, is explicitly indicated in the DCI. The timing for HARQ-ACK

transmission can be indicated in terms of the delay with respect to: the start of first bundle; the end of last bundle; the start or end of a corresponding bundle; the end of current MPDCCH; the last PDSCH subframe scheduled by the current MPDCCH and the like. The timing for HARQ-ACK feedback can also be at the end of repeated transmissions, such as repeated MPDCCH and/or PDSCH transmissions.

[00133] For the indication of the delay (which can be defined as one of the

alternatives above), the several alternatives can be used.

[00134] For a first alternative, the delay is indicated directly in the DCI(s). [00135] For a second alternative, the delay equals an offset (denoted by Δ) plus a gap (denoted by X). The offset Δ is dynamically indicated in DCI, while the gap X can be predefined, or semi-statically configured by higher layer signalling.

[00136] In one example, X is the absolute value, taking into account all subframes. Alternatively, X can only take into account valid UL subframes and/or valid DL subframes. The value of X can be any integer number in terms of mili-seconds (ms), e.g. 3ms.

[00137] For the indication of offset Δ, a set of possible values/offsets (denoted by Y) can be predefined or semi-statically configured by higher layer signalling, and ceil(log2(|Y|)) bits can be used in DCI to indicate which value is selected among the possible values in set Y. In one example, the offset Δ is the absolute value, taking into account all subframes. Alternatively, the offset Δ can only take into account valid UL subframes and/or valid DL subframes. Y can be a set of integer numbers.

[00138] The following are two examples of dynamically indicating the offset in the DCI(s).

[00139] In one example, the Y (set of offsets) can be {0, 2, 4, 6}.

[00140] In another example, Y ean be {0, 1 , 9}.

[00141 ] To address or index a subframe for a bundle, a subframe index can be used within a bundle. As an example, a downlink assignment index (DAI) similar as TDD configuration can be used, e.g. 2 bits for DAI. The DAI is a value transmitted by a node to a UE that indicates the index of the DL TB within the DL TBs that are to be acknowledged. The DAI can be continuous across bundles or can be reset at the start of each bundle.

[00142] It is appreciated that some of the bundling configuration information above may not be needed based on the way to configure the HARQ-ACK bundling. Among the necessary configuration information, some may be implicitly indicated, while others may need explicit indication.

[00143] Additional examples of providing the bundling configuration and related information are provided below.

[00144] Static/Dynamic HARQ-ACK bundling configuration:

[00145] With reference to FIGs. 4 and 5, some examples of statically and/or dynamically configuring HARQ-ACK bundling pattern(s) are provided.

[00146] Generally, there are three alternatives to configure the HARQ-ACK pattern:

[00147] Predefine the bundling pattern, e.g. {4, 3, 3} (SD Alt 1 ). [00148] Predefine several bundling patterns, and dynamically indicate one out of these predefined bundling patterns (SD Alt 2). Denoted by C the number of predefined configurations, ceil(log2(C)) bits are needed for the indication.

[00149] Dynamically indicate the bundling pattern (SD Alt 3).

[00150] For SD Alt 3, the size of the bundling configuration can depend on the number of bundles + a size of each bundle:

[00151 ] 2+2^*3 = 8 bits if the number of bundles and size of each bundle are separately coded.

[00152] 7 bits can if the number of bundles and size of each bundle are jointly coded, i.e., 1 bundle + size from {1 , 2, 3, 4}, 2 bundles + size of each bundle from {1 , 2, 3, 4}, and 3 bundles + size of each bundle from {1 , 2, 3, 4}.

[00153] As another example for Alt 3, the size of the bundling configuration can be the number of bundles + size of current bundle: 2 + 2 bits.

[00154] The predefined configuration (SD Alt 1 ) generally requires the least amount of overhead, at the cost of less flexibility, which can result in some performance loss. On the other hand, dynamically indicating the bundling pattern (SD Alt 3) provides a flexible HARQ-ACK bundling configuration, but can require more overhead in terms of configuration indication. The number of bundles and size of each bundle need to be indicated.

[00155] The predefined bundling patterns (SD Alt 2) is balanced and can result in a trade-off between overhead and flexibility. However, depending on further indication information needed for HARQ-ACK feedback timing and for handling error cases, the overhead required for SD Alt 1 and SD Alt 2 may not be reduced compared to SD Alt 3.

[00156] It is noted that the bundling configuration here describes the HARQ-ACK feedbacks for which set of PDSCH transmissions need be bundled, if these PDSCH subframes are transmitted. It may or may not imply how many PDSCH subframes are actually transmitted.

[00157] In one example, the bundling configuration does not imply any information on how many PDSCH subframes are transmitted. This may be applied to SD Alt 1 or SD Alt 2. For example, with a predefined pattern/set {4, 3, 3}, a node or eNB may only transmit 5 subframes before switching from DL to UL, where the HARQ-ACK feedbacks for the first 3 DL subframes are bundled, and the HARQ-ACK feedbacks for the remaining 2 DL subframes are bundled. [00158] In another example, the bundling configuration can indicate the bundling pattern corresponding to actual PDSCH transmissions. This can be applied to SD Alt 2 or SD Alt 3. For example, the bundling pattern {4, 3, 3} indicates that there are 10 PDSCH subframes transmitted before the DL to UL switching.

[00159] For HARQ-ACK bundling activation/deactivation, besides the RRC based method, one extra bit can be added to DCI for HARQ-ACK bundling

activation/deactivation when RRC configuration enables the HARQ-ACK bundling. This can be applied to at least the predefined bundling configuration (SD Alt 1 ) or the predefined bundling patterns (SD Alt 2). For the dynamically bundling pattern SD Alt 3, it can indicate the bundling pattern to be bundles with size of 1 (i.e. HARQ-ACK bundling deactivation) or bundles with size of more than 1 (i.e. HARQ-ACK bundling activation) when needed.

[00160] HARQ-ACK feedback timing:

[00161 ] With reference to FIGs. 4 and 5, some examples of indicating HARQ-ACK feedback timing are provided.

[00162] The HARQ-ACK feedback timing can be indicated implicitly or explicitly.

[00163] For an implicit indication (F Alt 1 ), the HARQ-ACK feedback timing is implicitly indicated based on a reference timing. It is noted that with the implicit indication, eNB, gNB, UEs, and the like have a common understanding on the reference timing.

[00164] In one example, the reference timing is the last PDSCH transmission before the DL to UL switching. In this example, if the bundling configuration does not imply the actual PDSCH transmission, additional indication information of the end of the PDSCH transmission before switching to UL is needed. The following indication

methods/techniques can be considered:

[00165] A first method/technique of implicit indication of the HARQ-ACK feedback timing includes a flag bit to indicate if the current MPDCCH schedules a last PDSCH before the DL to UL switching.

[00166] A second method/technique of implicit indication includes N bits to indicate a remaining number of valid DL subframes carrying PDSCH or number of PDSCH TBs before the DL to UL switching. For example, N=4 can be used to indicate up to 1 5 remaining valid DL subframes or PDSCH TBs. As another example, N=3 can be used to indicate up to 7 or {0, 1 , 6, >6} valid DL subframes or PDSCH TBs. Alternatively, N=2 can be used to indicate {0, 1 , 2, >2} valid DL subframes or PDSCH TBs. [00167] As an alternative, the reference timing can be the end of last bundle based on the bundle configuration, which may or may not carry an actual PDSCH transmission.

[00168] The HARQ-ACK feedback timing can be determined as follows:

[00169] The HARQ-ACK feedback timing (F Alt 1 a) is determined starting from the

HARQ-ACK feedback for the first bundle. Specifically, the HARQ-ACK feedback for a first bundle is transmitted in a first valid UL subframe that satisfies the following conditions:

[00170] After the switching from DL to UL (i.e. at least 1 subframe after the end of last bundle), there are least 3 ms gap between the UL subframe carrying the HARQ-ACK feedback of the first bundle and the end of the first bundle.

[00171 ] The HARQ-ACK feedbacks for the following bundles are transmitted in increasing order in following valid UL subframes after the HARQ-ACK feedback for the first bundle.

[00172] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement 600 based on implicit indication in accordance with some embodiments. The arrangement 600 is shown for illustrative purposes and it is appreciated that suitable variations are contemplated.

[00173] The arrangement 600 includes a series of downlink (DL) subframes for PDSCHs and configured in a series of bundles followed by uplink (UL) subframes PUCCHs having/providing HARQ-ACK feedback.

[00174] There is no restriction on the bundling configuration and the PUCHH is not repeated.

[00175] DL subframes are shown as ranging from 0 to 9. A series of PDSCHs designated DO, D1 , D2, ... D6 are also shown. DO and D1 are configured as bundle 0, D2 and D3 are configured as bundle 1 and D5 and D6 are configured as bundle 2.

[00176] A series of UL subframes are shown below the DL subframes. HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to the bundles 0, 1 and 2 are shown as AO, A1 and A2. The HARQ-ACK feedback is provided in PUCCHs as shown.

[00177] The timing to transmit AO is determined. Then, subsequent feedback A1 and A2 are provided in subsequent value UL subframes. For illustrative purposes, an invalid UL subframe immediately precedes the feedback A1 . The feedback via PUCCH is not repeated.

[00178] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement 700 based on implicit indication in accordance with some embodiments. The arrangement 700 is shown for illustrative purposes and it is appreciated that suitable variations are contemplated.

[00179] The arrangement 700 includes a series of downlink (DL) subframes for PDSCHs and configured in a series of bundles followed by uplink (UL) subframes PUCCHs having/providing HARQ-ACK feedback.

[00180] DL subframes are shown as ranging from 0 to 9. A series of PDSCHs designated DO, D1 , D2, ... D6 are also shown. DO and D1 are configured as bundle 0, D2 and D3 are configured as bundle 1 and D5 and D6 are configured as bundle 2.

[00181 ] A series of UL subframes are shown below the DL subframes. HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to the bundles 0, 1 and 2 are shown as AO, A1 and A2. The HARQ-ACK feedback is provided in PUCCHs as shown.

[00182] As in FIG. 6, the timing for the first feedback AO is determined and the subsequent feedback is based on the timing for the first feedback and is a subsequent, valid UL subframe. Additionally, the feedback is repeated for reliability purposes as shown.

[00183] The above illustrates HARQ-ACK feedback timing based on a first bundle. In another technique, the HARQ-ACK feedback timing is based on a last bundle (F Alt 1 b). The timing for bundles preceding the last bundle are derived from the timing of the last bundle.

[00184] The HARQ-ACK feedback for the last bundle is transmitted in the first valid UL subframe that satisfies the following conditions:

[00185] There are least 3 ms gap between the UL subframe carrying the HARQ-ACK feedback and the last bundle and the end of the last bundle.

[00186] There are at least R^*(N-1 ) valid UL subframes between 1 subframe after the end of last bundle and the UL subframe carrying the HARQ-ACK feedback for the last bundle, where N is the total number of bundles, and R is the number of repetitions for PUCCH transmission.

[00187] The HARQ-ACK feedbacks for the previous bundles are transmitted in decreasing order in the previous R^*(N-1 ) valid UL subframes before the HARQ-ACK feedback transmission for the last bundle.

[00188] For example, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the timing for "A2" (i.e. HARQ-ACK feedback for bundle #2) is determined based on the description above. Then, in the order of bundle #1 and #0, the corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback time is determined, by minus R valid UL subframes. [00189] It is noted that in this approach, there are some constraints on the bundling configuration to ensure at least 3ms gap between the end of a PDSCH transmission and the start of its HARQ-ACK feedback transmission.

[00190] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement 800 based on implicit indication in accordance with some embodiments. The arrangement 800 is shown for illustrative purposes and it is appreciated that suitable variations are contemplated.

[00191 ] The arrangement 800 includes a series of downlink (DL) subframes for PDSCHs and configured in a series of bundles followed by uplink (UL) subframes PUCCHs having/providing HARQ-ACK feedback.

[00192] DL subframes are shown as ranging from 0 to 6. A series of PDSCHs designated DO, D1 , D2 are also shown. DO and D1 are configured as bundle 0 and D2 is configured as bundle 1 .

[00193] A series of UL subframes are shown below the DL subframes. HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to the bundles 0 and 1 are shown as AO and A1 . The HARQ- ACK feedback is provided in PUCCHs as shown.

[00194] The timing for the feedback A1 for the last bundle 1 is determined, then the timing for the prior bundles, only bundIO in this example is set to the prior valid UL subframe.

[00195] In this example, the timing gap between the HARQ-ACK feedback and corresponding PDSCH is less than 3ms. This timing is not supported. To avoid such timing issues, the bundling configurations with 2 bundles and last bundle with size of 1 is not supported.

[00196] Alternatively, an additional constraint is added for determining the HARQ- ACK feedback timing for last bundle to ensure the at least 3ms gap between the start of each HARQ-ACK feedback transmission and the end of its corresponding PDSCH transmission. For example, the HARQ-ACK feedback for the last bundle is transmitted in the first valid UL subframe that satisfy the following conditions:

[00197] There are least 3 ms gap between the UL subframe carrying the HARQ-ACK feedback of the last bundle and the end of the last bundle.

[00198] There are at least R^*(N-1 ) valid UL subframes between 1 subframe after the end of last bundle and the UL subframe carrying the HARQ-ACK feedback for the last bundle, where N is the total number of bundles, and R is the number of repetitions for PUCCH transmission. [00199] The start of the first valid UL subframe to carry the A/N feedback for the first bundle, which is R^*(N-1 ) valid UL subframes before the subframe carrying the HARQ- ACK feedback for the last bundle, is at least 3 ms later than the end of the first bundle.

[00200] The above examples illustrate implicit timings for HARQ-ACK feedback are derived according to the first or last bundle. The next example is explicit in that the HARQ-ACK feedback timing is explicitly indicated (F Alt 2) in a DCI.

[00201 ] The timing for HARQ-ACK feedback transmission can be indicated in terms of the delay with respect to:

[00202] The start of a first bundle;

[00203] The end of a last bundle;

[00204] The start or end of a corresponding bundle;

[00205] The current MPDCCH subframe; and

[00206] The PDSCH subframe scheduled by the current MPDCCH.

[00207] In situations where the HARQ-ACK feedback delay is with respect to the current MPDCCH subframe or the PDSCH subframe scheduled by the current

MPDCCH, the HARQ-ACK timing indication can provide the bundling configuration, i.e. no additional information on bundling configuration is needed. Specifically, the HARQ- ACK feedbacks which are indicated to transmit on the same subframe are bundled.

[00208] For the indication of the delay (which can be defined as one of the

alternatives above), the following methods/techniques (F Alt 2a and F alt 2b) can be considered.

[00209] For a first method/technique (F Alt 2a), the delay equals an offset (denoted by Δ) plus a gap (denoted by X). The offset Δ is dynamically indicated in the DCI, while the gap X can be predefined, or semi-statically configured by higher layer signalling.

[00210] For the value of X:

[00211 ] X is the absolute value, taking into account all subframes. In this case, the value of X can be any integer number in terms of ms, e.g. 3ms.

[00212] X can only take into account valid UL subframes and/or valid DL subframes.

[00213] The value of X (in absolute time, e.g. ms, or in valid DL and/or UL subframes) is determined as a function of the bundle index and/or repetitions of PUCCH.

[00214] For the indication of offset Δ, a set of possible values (denoted by Y) can be predefined or semi-statically configured by higher layer signalling, and ceil(log2(|Y|)) bits can be used in DCI to indicate which value is selected among the possible values in set Y. Several examples are provided to determine the offset Δ: [00215] The offset Δ is the absolute value, taking into account all subframes.

[00216] The offset Δ can only take into account valid UL subframes and/or valid DL subframes. Y can be a set of any integer numbers indicating time, e.g., in ms or subframe. In one example, the Y can be {0, 2, 4, 6} subframes. In another example, the Y can be {0, 3, 4, 7} subframes or {0, 4, 7} subframes to indicate the offset with respect to a bundle, e.g. start/end of corresponding bundle, with bundling configuration of {4, 3, 3}. In another example, Y ean be {0, 1 , 9} subframes, which can be used to indicate the offset from corresponding MPDCCH/PDSCH subframe. In other examples, Y ean also be a function of a PUCCH repetition number.

[00217] An example where X can take only take into account valid UL and/or DL subframes and where the offset Δ also can only take into account valid UL and/or DL subframes is provided.

[00218] In this example (E 2.2A), the offset from the PDSCH subframe to

corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback can be calculated by max{4, 1 +Χ'+Δ'}.

[00219] The parameter X' is the least duration in unit of ms, which spans over X valid UL subframes after the DL to UL switching, with X= Bundle index ^* RLPUCCH, where bundle index from {0, 1 , 2} and RL_PUCCH being the number of repetitions configured for PUCCH transmission.

[00220] The offset Δ' is the least/smallest duration in unit of ms, which spans over Δ valid DL subframes before the DL to UL switching, with Δ equals the remaining number of valid DL subframes carrying PDSCH or number of PDSCH TBs before the DL to UL switching. The parameter Δ can be indicated as the approach for end indication proposed above. N bits are used to indicate the remaining number of valid DL subframes carrying PDSCH or the number of PDSCH TBs before the DL to UL switching. For example, N=4 can be used to indicate up to 15 remaining valid DL subframes or PDSCH TBs. As another example, N=3 can be used to indicate up to 7 or {0, 1 , 6, >6} valid DL subframes or PDSCH TBs. Alternatively, N=2 can be used to indicate {0, 1 , 2, >2} valid DL subframes or PDSCH TBs. Thus, the number of bits used in the DCI for the bundling related indication in this example is 2 bits for bundle index + N bits for remaining valid DL subframes or PDSCH TBs.

[00221 ] An example where X is a function of the bundle index and/or repetitions and where the offset Δ also can only take into account valid UL and/or DL subframes is provided. [00222] The offset Δ from the PDSCH subframe to corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback can be calculated by max{4, 1 +Χ'+Δ'} (E 2.2B).

[00223] The parameter X' is 0. The offset Δ' is the least duration in unit of ms, which spans over n valid DL subframes, with n = Δ for the first PDSCH TB, where Δ, indicated via DCI, is within {0, 1 , .., 9}. The first PDSCH TB can be determined based on DAI, where DAI Alt 1 below is used (i.e. DAI continues across bundles). For following PDSCH TB, denote the TB index by T, which can be determined based on DAI, then n= RLPUCCH ^* (Δ+Τ - Δ₀) + Δ₀, where Δ₀ is the offset Δ corresponding to first PDSCH TB. For example, for T = 0, 1 , 2, 3, 4, to have a bundling pattern of {0, 1 , 2} and {3, 4} , the offsets should be Δ₀ = 9, Δι = 8, Δ₂ = 7, Δ₃ = 7, Δ₄ = 6, corresponding to η = 9, 9, 9, R+9, R+9 for these five PDSCH TBs, where R is the repetition number of PUCCH.

[00224] Thus, there are 4 bits used to indicate the offset Δ and 2 bits needed to indicate DAI. All the HARQ-ACK feedbacks to be transmitted on the same subframe are bundled.

[00225] A second method/technique (F Alt 2b) of an explicit delay is a case where X is predefined to be 0. The offset here can be indicated in similar ways as above, but the exact values of offset may be larger.

[00226] An example of the explicit delay is shown. The offset from the PDSCH subframe to corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback can be calculated by max{4,

1 +Μ'+Δ'}. The M' is the least duration in unit of ms, which spans over M DL valid subframes carrying PDSCH transmission before the DL to UL switching. The M can be indicated in terms of bundling configuration, e.g. 7 or 8 bits. The offset Δ' is the least duration in unit of ms, which spans over RL_PUCCH ^* Δ valid UL subframes after the DL to UL switching, with Δ from {0, 1 , 2} for up to 3 bundles. Thus, there are 7 or 9 bits for the bundling configuration indication, 2 bits needed to indicate Δ and 2 bits needed to indicate DAI. All the HARQ-ACK feedbacks to be transmitted on the same subframe need to be bundled.

[00227] It is noted that the X', M' and Δ' can be in terms of all subframes in the above examples. In this embodiment, the values of these parameters need to be set large enough to ensure the duration spans over enough valid DL/UL subframes.

[00228] Error timing for HARQ-ACK feedback and bundling:

[00229] With reference to FIGs. 4 and 5, some examples handling error situations with bundling and HARQ-ACK feedback are provided. [00230] A Downlink Assignment Index (DAI) can be introduced to handle the cases where some MPDCCHs are missed. The following methods/techniques (DAI Alt 1 , DAI Alt 2, and DAI Alt 3) can be used for DAI indication:

[00231 ] The DAI is continuous across different bundles (DAI Alt 1 ). In this technique, the DAI for N^th PDSCH is mod(N, X), where X= 2^AN with N being the number of bits used for DAI. For example, with 2-bit DAI, the DAI for N^th PDSCH is mod(N, 4).

[00232] The DAI is reinitialized at the start of each bundle (DAI Alt 2). In this technique, the DAI for N^th PDSCH within a bundle is mod(N, X), where X= 2^AN with N being the number of bits used for DAI. For example, with 2-bit DAI, the DAI for N^th PDSCH within a bundle is mod(N, 4). For the starting of each bundle, DAI becomes 0.

[00233] The N bits can serve as DAI to help UE identify if there are any PDSCH missed (DAI Alt 3). No additional DAI bits would be needed.

[00234] However, even with introduction of DAI, there can exist some error cases that need to be handled, depending on the bundling configuration method and HARQ-ACK timing indication methods.

[00235] FIG. 9 is a table 900 illustrating potential HARQ-ACK error cases with feedback timing and bundling configurations in accordance with some embodiments. The table 900 is provided for illustrative purposes and it is appreciated that other values and configurations can be used.

[00236] A first row has a bundling configuration with only a bundling pattern that may not imply an actual PDSCH transmission or subframe. An 'N' refers to no error while "0, 1 , 2, 3" refer to the DAI value corresponding to PDSCH subframes. Here, there can be an error condition if the HARQ ACK timing is implicit and based on the actual PDSCH transmission because the bundling configuration may not imply the actual transmission. Additionally, the timing of the last bundle may not be known for explicit timing.

Additionally, the end of each bundle may not be known. In this example, the ending of subframes 3 and 0 may not be known.

[00237] A second row has a bundling configuration that implies an actual PDSCH transmission. There are no errors.

[00238] There are error cases when the HARQ-ACK bundling configuration only indicates how to bundle the HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCH subframes if they are transmitted, but does not indicate how many PDSCH subframes are actually

transmitted. [00239] If HARQ-ACK timing is implicitly or explicitly indicated based on the end of PDSCH transmission before the DL to UL switching, the UE can miss the last several subframes and get confused on the HARQ-ACK timing. In this case, as discussed above, a flag bit can be used to indicate if the MPDCCH is the last one would not help as the last MPDCCH can be missed. Otherwise, using the N bits in for end indication would facilitate.

[00240] One technique to handle the error cases where last MPDCCH(s) are missed, is rely on the N bits in indicate the remaining number of valid DL subframes carrying PDSCH or remaining number of PDSCH TBs before the DL to UL switching.

[00241 ] Alternatively, the number of bundles and size of last/each bundle can be indicated to avoid the confusion on the end of each bundle. However, with such indication, the benefits of predefined configurations becomes limited compared to dynamic configuration, as anyway the bundling configuration information is indicated.

[00242] There are no error cases that need to be handled when the HARQ-ACK timing is explicitly indicated with regard to the start of corresponding bundle, since based on the DAI and bundling configuration, the UE can know the start of the bundle that MPDCCH belongs to and whether the MPDCCH on the start of that bundle is missed or not. If the whole bundle is missed, it is fine since the HARQ-ACK feedback for that bundle will not be transmitted and eNB will consider this is as NACK/DTX.

Additionally, there is no confusion on when to transmit the HARQ-ACK feedback for other bundles.

[00243] Note that for error cases that when the last MPDCCH of a bundle may be missed, the HARQ-ACK timing will get no confusion, the eNB or node can determine if the last MPDCCH of that bundle is missed or not based on the frequency domain resource of the corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback. Thus in these cases, no additional information is needed to handle the missed last MPDCCH(s).

[00244] FIG. 10 is a table 1000 illustrating potential HARQ-ACK error cases with feedback timing and bundling configurations in accordance with some embodiments. The table 1 000 is provided for illustrative purposes and it is appreciated that other values and configurations can be used.

[00245] Table 1000 describes potential error cases with different bundling

configuration techniques and HARQ-ACK timing indication.

[00246] A first row has a bundling configuration with only a bundling pattern that may not imply an actual PDSCH transmission or subframe. An 'N' refers to no error while MAY NOT KNOW MISSING indicates conditions where it may not know which bundle is missed {0, 1 }.

[00247] The DAI is reinitialized at the start of each bundle. If HARQ-ACK timing is implicitly indicated, or is explicitly indicated with respect to the start of first bundle or end of last bundle, the error cases may occur when a whole bundle is missed. To handle these error cases, one technique is to indicate the number of bundles and bundle index.

[00248] If number of bundles and bundle index are separately coded, 2+2=4 bits are needed.

[00249] If number of bundles and bundle index are jointly coded, 3 bits are need to cover following scenarios: 1 bundle + bundle index from {0}, 2 bundles + bundle index from {0, 1 } and 3 bundles + bundle index from {0, 1 , 2}.

[00250] In additional to the above indication, the last PDSCH transmission before the DL to UL switching is also indicated, when the bundling configuration only implies the bundling pattern but does not imply the actual PDSCH transmissions. A flag bit as discussed as discussed above can be used to indicate if the MPDCCH is the last one would not help, as the last MPDCCH can be missed. Additionally, N bits can be used to indicate the remaining number of DL subframes carrying PDSCH or remaining number of PDSCH TBs before the DL to UL switching would help.

[00251 ] There are no error cases to be handled when the HARQ-ACK timing is explicitly indicated with regard to the start of corresponding bundle, since based on the DAI, the UE can know the start of the bundle that MPDCCH belongs to and whether the MPDCCH on the start of that bundle is missed or not. If the whole bundle is missed, the HARQ-ACK feedback for that bundle will not be transmitted and eNB will consider this is as NACK/DTX. And there is no confusion on when to transmit the HARQ-ACK feedback for other bundles.

[00252] It is noted that for cases that when the last MPDCCH of a bundle may be missed, the HARQ-ACK timing is still clear, an eNB can tell if the last MPDCCH of that bundle is missed or not based on the frequency domain resource of the corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback. Thus in these cases, no additional information is needed to handle the missed last MPDCCH(s).

[00253] An example of handling or mitigating error cases/conditions is provided. The bundling configuration is dynamically indicated in a DCI, with information on the number of bundles and size of current bundle. With DAI Alt 2, the DAI and bundle size can be jointly coded via 3 bits, which covers bundle size of 4 and DAI from 0 to 3, bundle size of 3 and DAI from 0 to 2, bundle size of 2 and DAI from 0 to 1 , and bundle size of 1 and DAI of 0. In addition, to handle the error cases where a whole bundle is missed, as given in table 1000, a bundle index is indicated. The number of bundles and bundle index can be jointly coded via 3 bits as discussed above. Therefore, in this example, the number of bits needed in DCI related to HARQ-ACK bundling is 6 bits.

[00254] It is noted that the PDSCH TBs before the DL to UL switching can be transmitted consecutively on valid DL subframes.

[00255] It is also noted that the PDSCH TBs before the DL to UL switching may be transmitted on noncontiguous valid DL subframes.

[00256] In the case of non-contiguous valid DL subframes, if HARQ-ACK timing is with regard to the start of a bundle and a UE identifies that MPDCCH is missed (e.g. based on DAI), the UE may not know the exact timing for HARQ-ACK feedback. In this case, the UE can either assume the PDSCH is transmitted on continuous valid DL subframes and based on this to determine the HARQ-ACK timing, or the UE may not transmit the HARQ-ACK.

[00257] DESIGN IN CASES WITH 1 DCI - SCHEDULE(S) 1 PDSCH:

[00258] FIGs. 1 1 to 1 6 illustrate suitable examples of overall design/configuration for HARQ-ACK bundling when DAI continues across bundles and when DAI is reinitialized at the start of each bundle. The examples include the bundling configuration, HARQ- ACK timing, and corresponding information needed for configuration and handling error cases. It is appreciated that suitable variations of the values and information shown are contemplated.

[00259] FIGs. 1 1 -13 include tables 1 100a, 1 100b and 1 100c, which are collectively referred to as table 1 100.

[00260] The table 1 100 is an example design of HARQ-ACK bundling when DAI values continue across bundles. Some of the table entries include "Errorl ", which refers to information to be used to handle error cases with last MPDCCH(s) missed, such as where a bundling configuration of {0, 1 }, {2, 3}, {0} and the last two MPECCHs are missed. The Alt 1 shown in the last row refers to the above example of calculating the offset from the PDSCH (E 2.2A) and the Alt 2 shown in the last row refers to the above example (E 2.2B) of calculating the offset from the PDSCH subframe.

[00261 ] FIGs. 14-16 include tables 1400a, 1400b and 1400c, which are collectively referred to as table 1400. [00262] The table 1400 is an example design of HARQ-ACK bundling when DAI values are reinitialized at the start of each bundle. Some of the table 1400 entries include "Errorl ", which refers to information to handle error cases with last MPDCCH(s) missed, such as a bundling configuration of {0, 1 }, {0, 1 }, {0} and the last two MPDCCHs are missed. The "Error2" refers to information to handle error cases when a whole bundle is missed, such as a bundling configuration of {0,1 }, {0, 1 } and the last two MPDCCHs are missed. The "Alt 1 " shown in the last row refers to the above example of calculating the offset from the PDSCH (E 2.2A) and the "Alt 2" shown in the last row refers to the above example (E 2.2B) of calculating the offset from the PDSCH subframe.

[00263] SINGLE DCI FOR SCHEDULING OF MULTIPLE PDSCHs:

[00264] A DCI can be configured to schedule multiple PDSCH transmissions. The DCI can schedule multiple PDSCHs within one bundle or PDSCH transmissions across bundles. The DCI format can be extended as follows:

[00265] May include bundling configuration information, such as a number of bundles if the DCI schedules PDSCH transmissions across bundles, the bundle size and the bundle index.

[00266] The DCI can also include a number of PDSCH TBs that are scheduled via the DCI. It is noted that this information may not be needed if the number of bundles and bundle size provides this information.

[00267] The DCI can also include a new data indicator (NDI) and a repeat value (RV). The NDI can have the same value for TBs within the same bundle. The number of bits used for NDI is equal to the number of bundles scheduled by the DCI.

[00268] The RV can be the same value for TBs within the same bundle. The number of bits used for the RV equals 2 times the number of bundles scheduled by the DCI, i.e. 2 bits for each bundle.

[00269] Repetitions for the PDSCH can be the same for all PDSCH TBs.

[00270] The DCI can also include scheduling information.

[00271 ] A first technique (S Alt 4.1 ) for the scheduling information adds time offsets between PDSCH TBs to improve the flexibility of scheduling. A set of offset values can be predefined or semi-statically configured via RRC. DCI bits indicate one of the offset values. It is noted that the offset can be absolute time, in terms of e.g. ms, or it can only take into account valid DL subframes. The offset can also be a function of repetitions for MPDCCH/PDSCH. [00272] The same offset can be applied to or between every TBs or every bundle (S Alt 4.1 a). The offset can be applied to only TBs/bundles other than the first one, or it can also be applied to the relationship between the MPDCCH and a first TB. When the indicated offset does not apply to the gap between MPDCCH and first PDSCH, the timing relationship between MPDCCH and first PDSCH can follows the 3Gpp Rel-13 eMTC published 3/1 1 /2016, such as cross subframe scheduling with a 1 SF gap.

[00273] For example, an offset of {0, 2, 4, 6} can be RRC configured, and 2 bits in the DCI used to indicate the offset.

[00274] FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement 1700 having a gap between TBs in accordance with some embodiments. The arrangement 1700 is shown for illustrative purposes and it is appreciated that suitable variations are contemplated.

[00275] The arrangement 1700 includes subframes (SF#), MPDCCH and PDSCH as shown.

[00276] In this example, the same offset is applied to gap(s) between every TB except the gap between MPDCCH and the first TB. The DCI schedules TB0, TB1 , TB2 without bundling, and indicates the offset to be 4 sub frames (SFs). The timing relationship is as shown in FIG. 17. It is noted that the timing arrangement is provided as an example where the MPDCCH or PDSCH has repetitions is/are not excluded. With repetitions, the offset can indicate the gap between the end of previous TB and the start of following TB.

[00277] FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement 1800 having a gap between TBs in accordance with some embodiments. The arrangement 1800 is shown for illustrative purposes and it is appreciated that suitable variations are contemplated. The arrangement 1 800 is similar to the arrangement 1700 except the gap between the MPDCCH and the first bundle.

[00278] The arrangement 1800 includes subframes (SF#), MPDCCH, PDSCH and bundles as shown.

[00279] The same offset is applied to gap(s) between every TB except the gap between MPDCCH and the first TB. The DCI schedules TB0, TB1 , TB2 with in bundle 1 and TB3 and TB4 within bundle 2 and indicates the offset to be 4 sub frames (SFs).

[00280] Another technique for handling scheduling information with the DCI is to apply different offsets for different TBs or different bundles (S Alt. 4.1 b). The indicated offset can be applied only TBs/bundles other than the first one, or it can also be applied to the relationship between MPDCCH and the first TB. When the indicated offset does not apply to the gap between MPDCCH and first PDSCH, the timing relationship between MPDCCH and first PDSCH follows Rel-1 3 eMTC, i.e. cross subframe scheduling with 1 SF gap.

[00281 ] In this case, more bits are needed for this indication. For example, offset of {0, 2, 4, 6} can be RRC configured, and 2 bits multiplied by the number of TBs to be scheduled by the DCI are used to indicate the offset.

[00282] FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement 1900 having where only gaps between a MPDCCH and a first TB are explicitly indicated in accordance with some embodiments. The arrangement 1900 is shown for illustrative purposes and it is appreciated that suitable variations are contemplated.

[00283] The arrangement 1900 includes subframes (SF#), MPDCCH, and PDSCH as shown.

[00284] This example has different offsets indicating gaps between different TBs (E 4.3) (without explicit indication of the gap between MPDCCH and first TB). The DCI can schedule TBO, TB1 , TB2 and TB 3 without bundling and indicates offsets to be 4 SFs, 2 SFs and 0 SFs. It is noted that FIG. 19 is an example and cases where MPDCCH or PDSCH have repetitions are not excluded. With repetitions, the offset can indicate the gap between the end of previous TB and the start of the following TB.

[00285] FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement 2000 having where gaps between a MPDCCH and a first TB are explicitly indicated in accordance with some embodiments. The arrangement 2000 is shown for illustrative purposes and it is appreciated that suitable variations are contemplated.

[00286] The arrangement 2000 includes subframes (SF#), MPDCCH, PDSCH, and bundles as shown.

[00287] In this example, different offsets indicating gaps between different bundles

[00288] (without explicit indication of the gap between MPDCCH and first TB). Here, the DCI schedules TBO, TB1 , TB2 within a bundle 1 , TB3, TB4 within a bundle 2, and TB 5 and TB 6 within a bundle 3, and indicates offset to be 4 SFs and 2 SFs.

[00289] It is also appreciated that a particular time pattern can be provided - using RRC and/or DCI-based signaling to indicate the subframes for PDSCH/PUSCH reception/transmission. The time pattern can be indicated using a bitmap based approach over valid DL/UL (respectively) subframes, or indicated via a period and an offset. With the indication method of period and offset, the number of scheduled PDSCH/PUSCH may be limited to a specific number, smaller than period, e.g. 10.

[00290] Further, a set of patterns can be specified or configured semi-statically via higher layer signaling (e.g. RRC). The DCI indicates one out of these patterns, via ceil(log2(N)) bits, where N indicates the number of predefined/configured patterns.

[00291 ] The DCI can dynamically indicate the pattern, e.g. via a bitmap, or via period and/or offset. In one example, the period is configured via higher layer while offset may be indicated in DCI. Also, for the case of single DCI schedules multiple bundles, different offsets from the end of a bundle to its corresponding A/N transmission can also be indicated.

[00292] The bundling configuration information can be indicated or provided by the methods/techniques proposed above. Additionally, the DCI size can be extended with additional fields indicating the bundling configuration information, number of PDSCH TBs, and/or scheduling offset.

[00293] ADDITIONAL DYNAMIC HARQ-ACK FEEDBACK TIMING:

[00294] Dynamic HARQ-ACK feedback timing can support delay-sensitive traffic, such as Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE). A technique for feedback timing is proposed where the PDSCH and MPDCCH can have repetitions. The HARQ-ACK feedback timing can be indicated implicitly or explicitly.

[00295] In one technique (DF Alt 1 ), the HARQ-ACK feedback timing is implicitly indicated based on a reference timing. It is noted that with the implicit indication, eNB and UEs have a common understanding on the reference timing.

[00296] In one example, the reference timing is the last PDSCH transmission before the DL to UL switching. In this case, indication information of the end of the PDSCH transmission before switching to UL is needed. The following indication

methods/techniques for indicating the end of the PDSCH transmission can be used:

[00297] Method 1 for end indication: A flag bit is used to indicate if the current MPDCCH schedules the last PDSCH before the DL to UL switching. However, it is noted that the last MPDCCH may be missed.

[00298] Method 2 for end indication: N bits are used to indicate the remaining number of PDSCH subframes or PDSCH TBs before the DL to UL switching. For example, N=4 can be used to indicate up to 1 5 remaining valid DL subframes or PDSCH TBs. As another example, N=3 can be used to indicate up to 7 or {0, 1 , 6, >6} valid DL subframes or PDSCH TBs. Alternatively, N=2 can be used to indicate {0, 1 , 2, >2} valid DL subframes or PDSCH TBs.

[00299] In this method 2, if the number of remaining PDSCH TBs instead of the PDSCH subframes is indicated, the UE may not know the exact HARQ-ACK timing as the repetitions of MPDCCH and PDSCH are unknown if the last MPDCCH is missed. To handle this error case, a gap X can be predefined or configured, such as via RRC, to indicate the offset between the end of last received PDSCH to the start of HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to the first PDSCH TB with pending HARQ-ACK feedback. If the UE detects that the last PDSCH(s) is missed, the start of HARQ-ACK feedback would be X subframes later after the end of last received PDSCH. The gap can count the valid DL subframes or count all subframes. The gap X can be a function of how many PDSCH TBs are missed, the value of R_max in USS and/or the repetition number of last received PDSCH. For example, the gap can be X = max{3, 1 + N ^* (R_max+RL)}, where N is the number of missed PDSCH TBs, and RL is the repetition number of last received PDSCH.

[00300] In another example, the gap is determined assuming that all the MPDCCH and PDSCH in a "DL burst" (i.e., before switching to UL) are scheduled using the same numbers of repetitions for MPDCCH and PDSCH. In this case, the gap can be given by X = max{3, 1 + N ^* (RMPDCCH+RL)}, where N is the number of missed PDSCH TBs,

RMPDCCH is the number of repetitions used to transmit the last MPDCCH (or any received MPDCCH within the current burst), and RL is the number of repetitions for the last received PDSCH (or any received PDSCH within the current burst).

[00301 ] In one alternative, the reference timing is the last PDSCH subframe carrying the PDSCH transmission corresponding to the HARQ-ACK feedback.

[00302] A first technique/method for determining the HARQ-ACK feedback timing (DF Alt 1 a) is a case where each bundle has a size of 1 and the MPDCCH and the PDSCH can have repetitions.

[00303] The HARQ-ACK feedback timing is determined starting from the HARQ-ACK feedback for the first PDSCH transmission with pending HARQ-ACK feedback. The HARQ-ACK feedback for first PDSCH TB is transmitted in the first valid UL subframe that satisfies the following conditions:

[00304] After the switching from DL to UL (e.g., 1 subframe after the end of last PDSCH). [00305] There are at least 3 ms gaps between the UL subframe carrying the HARQ- ACK feedback of the first PDSCH TBs and the last subframe carrying the corresponding PDSCH TB.

[00306] FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement 2100 having timing based on implicit indication in accordance with some embodiments. The arrangement 2100 is shown for illustrative purposes and it is appreciated that suitable variations are contemplated.

[00307] The arrangement 2100 includes DL subframes (SF#), MPDCCH, PDSCH, UL subframes (SFs) and PUCCH as shown.

[00308] HARQ-ACK feedbacks (AO and A1 ) for the following PDSCH TBs are transmitted in increasing order in following valid UL subframes satisfying 3ms gap from the end of corresponding PDSCH transmission, after the first HARQ-ACK feedback transmission. In this example, the PUCCH is not repeated.

[00309] FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement 2200 having timing based on implicit indication in accordance with some embodiments. The arrangement 2200 is shown for illustrative purposes and it is appreciated that suitable variations are contemplated.

[00310] The arrangement 2200 includes DL subframes (SF#), MPDCCH, PDSCH, UL subframes (SFs) and PUCCH as shown.

[00311 ] HARQ-ACK feedbacks (AO and A1 ) for the following PDSCH TBs are transmitted in increasing order in following valid UL subframes satisfying 3ms gap from the end of corresponding PDSCH transmission, after the first HARQ-ACK feedback transmission. In this example, the PUCCH is repeated as shown by the repeated AO and the repeated A1 .

[00312] A second technique/method for determining the HARQ-ACK feedback timing (DF Alt 1 b) is where the HARQ-ACK feedback timing is determined starting from the HARQ-ACK feedback for the last PDSCH TB before the DL to UL switching. Based on the HARQ-ACK timing corresponding to the last PDSCH TB, the timing for HARQ-ACK feedback of previous TBs can be defined.

[00313] Specifically, the HARQ-ACK feedback for the last PDSCH TB before the DL to UL switching is transmitted in the first valid UL subframe that satisfies the following conditions:

[00314] There are least 3 ms gaps between the start of PUCCH carrying the HARQ- ACK feedback and the end of corresponding PDSCH transmission. [00315] There are at least R^*(N-1 ) valid UL subframes between switching subframe and the UL subframe carrying the HARQ-ACK feedback for the last PDSCH TB, where N is the total number of PDSCH TBs with pending HARQ-ACK feedback, and R is the number of repetitions for PUCCH transmission.

[00316] The start of the latest valid UL subframe, which is R^*(N-1 ) valid UL subframes before the subframe carrying the HARQ-ACK feedback for the last PDSCH TB, is at least 3 ms later than the end of the first PDSCH transmission.

[00317] The HARQ-ACK feedbacks for the previous PDSCH TBs are transmitted in decreasing order in the previous R^*(N-1 ) valid UL subframes before the HARQ-ACK feedback transmission for the last PDSCH TB. An example is provided in FIG. 23.

[00318] FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement 2300 having timing based on implicit indication in accordance with some embodiments. The arrangement 2300 is shown for illustrative purposes and it is appreciated that suitable variations are contemplated.

[00319] The arrangement 2300 includes DL subframes (SF#), PDSCH, UL subframes (SFs) and PUCCH as shown.

[00320] The timing arrangement 2300 shows the timing for "A1 " (i.e. HARQ-ACK feedback for TB #1 ) is first determined based as shown above. Then the HARQ-ACK feedback time for TB #0 is determined, specifically, by minus R valid UL subframes. It is noted that to ensure there is at least 3 ms gap between the HARQ-ACK feedback and the end of corresponding PDSCH transmission, the subframe #3 in cannot be used for HARQ-ACK feedback for TB 0. Thus, the subframe #5 is used for AO as shown.

[00321 ] In another technique (DF Alt 2), the HARQ-ACK feedback timing is explicitly indicated. For this technique, the timing for HARQ-ACK transmission can be indicated in terms of the delay with respect to:

[00322] The start of first TB with pending HARQ-ACK feedback.

[00323] The end of last TB before DL to UL switching or the switching subframe;

[00324] The start or end of considered MPDCCH transmission; and

[00325] The start or end of PDSCH transmission scheduled by the considered

MPDCCH.

[00326] In this technique, bundling is deactivated.

[00327] In a first method (DF Alt 2a), the delay equals an offset (denoted by Δ) plus a gap (denoted by X). The offset Δ is dynamically indicated in the DCI, while the gap X can be predefined, or semi-statically configured by higher layer signalling. [00328] For value of X:

[00329] X is the absolute value, taking into account all subframes. In this case, the value of X can be any integer number in terms of ms, e.g. 3ms;

[00330] X can only take into account valid UL subframes and/or valid DL subframes; or

[00331 ] the value of X (in absolute time, e.g. ms, or in valid DL and/or UL subframes) is determined as a function of the coverage condition represented by the numbers of repetitions related to one or more of MPDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, e.g. R_max for MPDCCH in USS, and/or CE modes (e.g., CEModeA and the like).

[00332] For the indication of offset Δ, a set of possible values (denoted by Y) can be predefined or semi-statically configured by higher layer signalling, and ceil(log2(|Y|)) bits can be used in DCI to indicate which value is selected among the possible values in set Y.

[00333] For the value of offset Δ:

[00334] The offset Δ is the absolute value, taking into account all subframes; and/or

[00335] The offset Δ indicates the number of valid UL subframes and/or valid DL subframes. Y can be a set of any integer numbers indicating time, e.g., in ms or subframe.

[00336] In one example, the Y can be {0, 2, 4, 6} subframes.

[00337] In another example, Y can include negative values, e.g. {-2, 0, 2, 4} or {-4, -2, 2, 4}.

[00338] In another example, Y can be {0, 1 , ..., 9} subframes, which can be used to indicate the offset from the corresponding MPDCCH/PDSCH subframe.

[00339] In other examples, Y can be a function of the coverage condition that may be represented by the numbers of repetitions related to one or more of MPDCCH / PDSCH / PUSCH / PUCCH, e.g. R_max in USS, and/or CE modes.

[00340] The HARQ-ACK timing offset with respect to (w.r.t) the reference time can be determined by Δ + X, where X is a function of R_max in USS. For example, X = (R_max + Z) or (R _max + Z)/2, with Δ being negative and/or positive integers. As another example, X = (Rmax + Z)/4, with Δ being positive values. The parameter Z is a function of repetitions for PDSCH or CE mode. For example, in CE mode A, Z can be 32, or 1 6, or 8, while in CE mode B, Z can be 2048, 1024, 51 2, 256 or 128. The offset Δ is indicated from set Y, where Y can be {-4, -2, 2, 4} when X = (R_max + Z) or (R_max + Z)/2, or Y can be {0, 2, 4, 6} when X = (R_max + Z)/4. [00341 ] In another method/technique (DF Alt 2b), the delay is indicated directly in the DCI. This can be considered as a case of DF Alt 2a above, with X predefined to be 0. The offset here can be indicated in similar ways as in DF Alt 2a, but the exact values of offset can be larger.

[00342] DYNAMIC SCHEDULING TIMING:

[00343] The scheduling timing for PDSCH/PUSCH with respect to the end of the scheduling MPDCCH can be implicitly indicated or explicitly indicated instead of being determined based on fixed (specified) time-gaps.

[00344] For certain use cases with symmetric DL and UL bidirectional traffic, it is possible to realize implicit indication based on the UL to DL switching subframe (e.g. determined by the end of PUSCH transmission) for PDSCH, and based on DL to UL switching subframe (e.g. determined by the end of PDSCH transmission) for PUSCH.

[00345] With explicit indication, the DCI can be extended to indicate the timing relationship. The timing offset can be determined similar to that shown above with regard to DF Alt 2.

[00346] The delay can be a function of (X, Y) (DS Alt 3a), e.g., delay = X + Y, where X is dynamically indicated in the DCI, and Y is predefined, or semi-statically configured by higher layer signalling. The X and Y parameters can indicate absolute time, taking into account all subframes. Alternatively, X and Y can indicate the number of valid UL subframes for PUSCH and/or valid DL subframes for PDSCH respectively.

[00347] The value of Y (in absolute time, e.g., ms, or in valid DL and/or UL subframes) can be determined as a function of the repetitions of the one or more of MPDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, e.g. R_max for MPDCCH in USS, or the number of repetitions used to transmit the corresponding MPDCCH, and/or CE modes.

[00348] For the indication of X,

[00349] In one example, a set of possible values can be predefined or semi-statically configured by higher layer signalling, and ceil(log2(|X|)) bits can be used in DCI to indicate which value is selected among the possible values, where |X| refers to the number of possible values in the set.

[00350] In another example, X can be the number of MPDCCH, PDSCH and/or PUSCH that is expected to be received/transmitted before the scheduling.

[00351 ] The delay can be indicated directly in DCI (DS Alt 3b). This can be considered as a special case of DS Alt 3a above, with X predefined to be 0. The offset here can be indicated in similar ways as in DS Alt 3a, but the exact values of offset can be larger.

[00352] Alternatively, a particular time pattern can be provided (DS Alt 3c) - using RRC and/or DCI-based signaling to indicate the subframes for PDSCH/PUSCH reception/transmission respectively. The time pattern can be indicated using a bitmap based approach over valid DL/UL (respectively) subframes, or indicated via a period and an offset. With the indication method of period and offset, the number of scheduled PDSCH/PUSCH can be limited to a specific number, smaller than a period, e.g. 10.

[00353] A set of patterns can be specified or configured semi-statically via higher layer signaling (e.g. RRC). The DCI indicates one out of these patterns, via

ceil(log2(N)) bits, where N indicates the number of predefined/configured patterns.

[00354] The DCI can dynamically indicate the pattern, e.g. via a bitmap, or via period and/or offset. In one example, the period may be configured via higher layer while offset may be indicated in DCI.

[00355] In one example, when the RRC configures dynamic timing relationship between PDSCH and corresponding HARQ-ACK, the dynamic scheduling time is also enabled.

[00356] In another example, as additional bits may be needed for dynamic HARQ- ACK timing and/or HARQ-ACK bundling, the dynamic timing relationship between UL grant and PUSCH can be supported to keep the size of DCI carrying UL grant and DL assignment the same.

[00357] SINGLE DCI FOR SCHEDULING MULTIPLE PDSCH/PUSCH:

[00358] A DCI can be configured/arranged to schedule multiple PDSCH/PUSCH receptions/transmissions. The DCI formats 6-1 A, 6-1 B for DL, and DCI formats 6-OA and 6-OB for UL can be extended to include the number of PDSCH/PUSCH TBs that are scheduled, NDI, RV, repetitions for PDSCH/PUSCH and scheduling information.

[00359] The DCI formats can include the number of PDSCH/PUSCH TBs that are scheduled via this DCI.

[00360] NDI:

[00361 ] Can be the same for all TBs; and/or

[00362] can be different for different TBs. The number of bits needed for NDI equals to the number of TBs (or bundles if HARQ-ACK bundling is enabled) scheduled by the DCI.

[00363] RV (repeat value): [00364] Can be the same for all TBs; and/or

[00365] can be different for different TBs. The number of bits needed for NDI equals to the number of TBs (or bundles if HARQ-ACK bundling is enabled) scheduled by the DCI multiplied by 2, i.e. 2 bits for each TB.

[00366] The repetitions for PDSCH/PUSCH: can be the same for all TBs.

[00367] Several alternatives are provided for Scheduling information in the DCI.

[00368] SD Alt 4.1 : Time offsets can be added between scheduled TBs to improve the flexibility of scheduling. A set of offset values can be predefined or semi-statically configured via RRC. DCI bits indicate one of the offset values. It is noted that the offset can be absolute time, in terms (of e.g. ms), or it may only take into account valid DL subframes. The set of offset values can also be a function of repetitions for

MPDCCH/PDSCH/PUSCH.

[00369] SD Alt 4.1 a: The same offset can be applied between every TB. The offset can be applied to only TB other than the first one, or it can also be applied to the relationship between MPDCCH and the first TB. When the indicated offset does not apply to the gap between MPDCCH and first TB, the timing relationship between MPDCCH and first TB can follow Rel-1 3 eMTC, i.e. cross subframe scheduling with 1 SF gap for DL and 3ms gap for UL.

[00370] In one example, 2 bits in the DCI can be used to indicate the offset, e.g., offset of {0, 2, 4, 6} configured by RRC.

[00371 ] FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement 2400 having time offsets between TBs in accordance with some embodiments. The arrangement 2400 is shown for illustrative purposes and it is appreciated that suitable variations are contemplated.

[00372] The arrangement 2400 includes DL subframes (SF#), MPDCCH, and

PDSCH. Here, the same offset is applied to gap between every TB except the gap between MPDCCH and first TB. The DCI is configured to schedule TBO, TB1 , and TB2 without bundling, and indicates offset to be 4 SFs.

[00373] It is noted that cases where MPDCCH or PDSCH/PUSCH have repetitions are contemplated. With repetitions, in one example, the offset can indicate the gap between the end of previous TB and the start of following TB.

[00374] SD Alt 4.1 b: Different offsets can be applied between different TBs. The indicated offsets can be applied to only TBs other than the first one, or it can also be applied to the relationship between MPDCCH and the first TB. When the indicated offset(s) does not apply to the gap between MPDCCH and the first TB, the timing relationship between MPDCCH and first TB follows Rel-13 eMTC, i.e. cross subframe scheduling with 1 SF gap for DL and 3ms gap for UL. For this approach, more bits are used for this indication. For example, an offset of {0, 2, 4, 6} can be RRC configured, and 2 bits multiplied by the number of TBs to be scheduled by the DCI are used to indicate the offset.

[00375] FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement 2500 having varied offsets between TBs in accordance with some embodiments. The arrangement 2500 is shown for illustrative purposes and it is appreciated that suitable variations are contemplated.

[00376] The arrangement 2500 includes DL subframes (SF#), MPDCCH, and

PDSCH. Here, the different offsets are applied to gaps between the TBs. The DCI is configured to schedule TB0, TB1 , TB2 and TB 3 (associated with DO, D1 , D2 and D3) without bundling, and indicates offsets to be 4 SFs, 2 SFs and 0 SFs. It is noted that FIG. 25 is provided as an example and cases where MPDCCH or PDSCH have repetitions are contemplated. With repetitions, the offset can indicate the gap between the end of previous TB and the start of following TB.

[00377] SD Alt 4.2: As another alternative for timing, particular time pattern can be provided using RRC and/or DCI-based signaling to indicate the subframes for

PDSCH/PUSCH reception/transmission. The time pattern can be indicated using a bitmap based approach over valid DL/UL (respectively) subframes, or indicated via a period and an offset. With the indication method of period and offset, the number of scheduled PDSCH/PUSCH may be limited to a specific number, smaller than period, e.g., 10.

[00378] SD Alt 4.2a: A set of patterns can be specified or configured semi-statically via higher layer signaling (e.g. RRC). The DCI indicates one out of these patterns, via ceil(log2(N)) bits, where N indicates the number of predefined/configured patterns.

[00379] SD Alt 4.2b: The DCI dynamically indicates the pattern, e.g., via a bitmap, or via period and/or offset. In one example, the period can be configured via higher layer while offset may be indicated in DCI.

[00380] It is also appreciated that different offsets from the end of a TB (or a bundle if HARQ-ACK bundling is enabled) to its corresponding A/N transmission can be indicated for the case of a single DCI that schedules multiple TBs (or bundles if HARQ-ACK bundling is enabled). [00381 ] FURTHER DESIGNS FOR HARQ-ACK BUNDLING FOR HD-FDD:

[00382] In addition to case/situations where PDSCH TBs are scheduled on

consecutive valid DL subframes, the following techniques can also be used.

[00383] The MPDCCH and PDSCH can be time division multiplexing (TDM) instead of frequency division multiplexing (FDM), and thus the scheduled PDSCH TBs may not be transmitted on consecutive valid DL subframes. However, consecutive valid DL subframes within a certain duration can be used for either MPDCCH or PDSCH transmission, as illustrated in FIG. 26.

[00384] FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating a HARQ-ACK timing arrangement 2600 for TDM in accordance with some embodiments. The arrangement 2600 is shown for illustrative purposes and it is appreciated that suitable variations are contemplated.

[00385] The arrangement 2600 shows subframes (SF#) and DL transmissions. The DL transmissions can include gaps (GdO ...) and TBs (DO, ...).

[00386] In this example, the timing offset and/or gap values, e.g. for the indication of HARQ-ACK timing, take into account the subframes needed to accommodate the MPDCCH transmissions. Thus, in one embodiment, the time gap values are defined assuming that the MPDCCH and PDSCH are multiplexed in time domain as shown in FIG. 26 and the time offset/gap is defined relative to the end of the concerned PDSCH depending on whether the PDSCH is the first or the second of a pair of PDSCH scheduled in an interleaved manner.

[00387] Accordingly, if the time reference is the end of the PDSCH which is the second of an interleaved pair, the time gap from the end of this PDSCH until the end of the last PDSCH before switching to UL is given by 2^*N for 'Ν' PDSCH Transport Blocks (TBs) being scheduled in between; and if the time reference is the end of the PDSCH which is the first of an interleaved pair, the time gap from the end of the PDSCH until the end of the last PDSCH before switching to UL is given by (2^*N-1 ) for 'Ν' PDSCH TBs being scheduled in between.

[00388] In one example, for a single DCI scheduling multiple PDSCH TBs, which may belong to the same bundle (i.e., 1 DCI per bundle), the DCI includes the number of PDSCH TBs scheduled by the DCI. For the HARQ-ACK feedback for this case, the mechanisms described above to support dynamic HARQ-ACK feedback can apply since for a DCI scheduling a bundle, the operation is similar to support of dynamic HARQ-ACK feedback without bundling. [00389] In another example, for a single DCI scheduling multiple PDSCH TBs, which may belong to the same bundle (i.e., 1 DCI per bundle), or may belong to multiple bundles (e.g., 1 DCI for all bundles), the DCI can include the following information for bundling configuration:

[00390] The total number of bundles can be indicated in the DCI; and/or

[00391 ] the total number of scheduled PDSCH TBs can be indicated in the DCI.

[00392] A mapping from the number of bundles N_Bd and/or number of scheduled

PDSCH TBs NTB to the bundling pattern can be defined. For example, each bundle has at least floor(N_TB / N_Bd) number of TBs. The first or last M bundles have floor(N_TB / N_Bd)

+ 1 TBs, while the others have ceil(N_TEs / N_Bd) TBs, where M = N_TB - floor(NjB / N_Bd) *

N_Bd- The following provides some possible bundling combinations:

[00393] With N_TB = 10 and N_Bd = 3, we have M = 1 , resulting bundling pattern of {0, 1 ,

2, 3}, {4, 5, 6}, {7, 8, 9} if the first 'M' bundles carry the additional TB.

[00394] With N_TB = 9 and N_Bd = 3, we have M = 0, resulting bundling pattern of {0, 1 ,

2}, {3, 4, 5}, {6, 7, 8}.

[00395] With N_TB = 8 and N_Bd = 3, we have M = 2, resulting bundling pattern of {0, 1 , 2}, {3, 4, 5}, {6, 7} if the first 'M' bundles carry the additional TB.

[00396] With N_TB = 8 and N_Bd = 2, we have M = 0, resulting bundling pattern of {0, 1 , 2, 3}, {4, 5, 6, 7}.

[00397] With N_TB = 7 and N_Bd = 3, we have M = 1 , resulting bundling pattern of {0, 1 , 2}, {3, 4}, {5, 6} if the first 'M' bundles carry the additional TB.

[00398] With N_TB = 7 and N_Bd = 2, we have M = 1 , resulting bundling pattern of {0, 1 , 2, 3}, {4, 5, 6} if the first 'M' bundles carry the additional TB.

[00399] With N_TB = 6 and N_Bd = 2, we have M = 0, resulting bundling pattern of {0, 1 , 2}, {3, 4, 5}.

[00400] With N_TB = 5 and N_Bd = 2, we have M = 1 , resulting bundling pattern of {0, 1 , 2}, {3, 4} if the first 'M' bundles carry the additional TB.

[00401 ] With N_TB = 4 and N_Bd = 2, we have M = 0, resulting bundling pattern of {0, 1 }, {2, 3}.

[00402] With N_TB = 3 and N_Bd = 2, we have M = 1 , resulting bundling pattern of {0, 1 }, {2} if the first 'M' bundles carry the additional TB.

[00403] With N_TB = 3 and N_Bd = 1 , we have M = 2, resulting bundling pattern of {0, 1 , 2} if the first 'M' bundles carry the additional TB. [00404] With NTB = 2 and N_BD = 1 , we have M = 1 , resulting bundling pattern of {0, 1 } if the first 'M' bundles carry the additional TB.

[00405] With NTB = 1 and N_Bcj = 1 , we have M = 0, resulting bundling pattern of {0}.

[00406] For the indication method/technique, in one example, 2 bits can be used for indication of number of bundles, and 4 bits can be used for indication of number of PDSCH TBs. The 2 bits for number of bundles can cover {0, 1 , 2, 3} where the status 0 refers to the case that bundling is not used although the UE is configured with HARQ- ACK bundling via higher layer (RRC) signalling.

[00407] In an alternative example, the number of bundles and number of PDSCH TBs can be jointly coded. For example, 5 bits can be used to cover the following 29 combinations: 3 bundles and number of PDSCH TBs within {3, 4, 10}, 2 bundles and number of PDSCH TBs {2, 3, 8}, 1 bundles and number of PDSCH TBs {1 , . . . , 4} and number of PDSCH TBs {1 , ..., 10} without bundling.

[00408] The above examples and embodiments include values and examples for illustrative purposes. It is appreciated that suitable variations are contemplated.

[00409] 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.

[00410] As it employed in the subject specification, the term "processor" can refer to substantially any computing processing unit or device including, but not limited to including, single-core processors; single-processors with software multithread execution capability; multi-core processors; multi-core processors with software multithread execution capability; multi-core processors with hardware multithread technology;

parallel platforms; and parallel platforms with distributed shared memory. Additionally, a processor can refer to an integrated circuit, an application specific integrated circuit, a digital signal processor, a field programmable gate array, a programmable logic controller, a complex programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions and/or processes described herein. Processors can exploit nano-scale architectures such as, but not limited to, molecular and quantum-dot based transistors, switches and gates, in order to optimize space usage or enhance performance of mobile devices. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing processing units.

[00411 ] In the subject specification, terms such as "store," "data store," data storage," "database," and substantially any other information storage component relevant to operation and functionality of a component and/or process, refer to "memory

components," or entities embodied in a "memory," or components including the memory. It is noted that the memory components described herein can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory.

[00412] By way of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory, for example, can be included in a memory, non-volatile memory (see below), disk storage (see below), and memory storage (see below). Further, nonvolatile memory can be included in read only memory, programmable read only memory, electrically programmable read only memory, electrically erasable programmable read only memory, or flash memory.

Volatile memory can include random access memory, which acts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, random access memory is available in many forms such as synchronous random access memory, dynamic random access memory, synchronous dynamic random access memory, double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory, enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory, Synchlink dynamic random access memory, and direct Rambus random access memory. Additionally, the disclosed memory components of systems or methods herein are intended to include, without being limited to including, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[00413] Examples can include subject matter such as a method, means for performing acts or blocks of the method, at least one machine-readable medium including instructions that, when performed by a machine cause the machine to perform acts of the method or of an apparatus or system for concurrent communication using multiple communication technologies according to embodiments and examples described herein.

[00414] Example 1 is an apparatus configured to be employed within a base station. The apparatus comprises baseband circuitry which includes an interface and one or more processors. The interface is an interface to radio frequency (RF) circuitry. The one or more processors are configured to generate a plurality of data subframes;

generate a hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledge (HARQ-ACK) bundling configuration for the plurality of subframes, wherein the HARQ-ACK bundling configuration includes a number of bundles, a bundle size of each bundle, a current bundle size and acknowledge/non-acknowledge (A/N) bundle the plurality of data subframes into one or more bundles according to the bundling configuration; and provide the plurality of data subframes to the interface for a downlink transmission to a user equipment (UE) device.

[00415] Example 2 includes the subject matter of Example 1 , including or omitting optional elements, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive HARQ-ACK feedback based on the HARQ-ACK bundling configuration, wherein the HARQ-ACK feedback includes at least one bundled feedback for two or more of the plurality of subframes.

[00416] Example 3 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1 -2, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the number of bundles is the amount of bundles transmitted before switching from downlink to uplink.

[00417] Example 4 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1 -3, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the number of bundles are allocated by two bits of the HARQ-ACK bundling configuration.

[00418] Example 5 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1 -4, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the bundle size is jointly coded with the number of bundles.

[00419] Example 6 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1 -5, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the current bundle size corresponds to a number of physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transport blocks (TBs) that a HARQ-ACK transmission can use for feedback, including a PDSCH TB scheduled by a current received machine type communication physical downlink control channel (MPDCCH).

[00420] Example 7 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1 -6, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the current bundle size uses two bits to indicate up to four physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) or transport blocks (TBs) within a current bundle.

[00421 ] Example 8 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1 -7, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the A/N timing is implicit and is based on a first bundle of one or more bundles. [00422] Example 9 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1 -8, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the A/N timing is implicit and is based on a last bundle of one or more bundles.

[00423] Example 10 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1 -9, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the A/N timing is explicit and is based on a first bundle and/or a last bundle of one or more bundles.

[00424] Example 1 1 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1 -1 0, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the HARQ-ACK bundling configuration is predefined.

[00425] Example 12 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1 -1 1 , including or omitting optional elements, wherein the HARQ-ACK bundling configuration is dynamically determined.

[00426] Example 13 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1 -1 2, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the HARQ-ACK bundling configuration is at least partially provided in a downlink control information (DCI) and includes a HARQ-ACK bundling flag.

[00427] Example 14 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1 -1 3, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the HARQ-ACK bundling configuration is at least partially provided using radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[00428] Example 15 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1 -14, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the A/N timing includes a delay for HARQ-ACK feedback, wherein the delay includes a gap and/or an offset.

[00429] Example 16 is an apparatus configured to be employed within a user equipment (UE) device comprising baseband circuitry. The baseband circuitry includes an interface to radio frequency (RF) circuitry and one or more processors. The one or more processors are configured to identify one or more bundles from the one or more downlink transmissions based on a hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledge (HARQ-ACK) bundling configuration; generate HARQ-ACK feedback based on the HARQ-ACK bundling configuration for the one or more bundles; and provide the HARQ- ACK feedback to the interface for transmission to a base station.

[00430] Example 17 includes the subject matter of Example 16, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the bundling configuration includes acknowledge/non- acknowledge (A/N) timing and the A/N timing includes a delay for the HARQ-ACK feedback. [00431 ] Example 18 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 15-17, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the delay is indicated in a downlink control information (DCI) and/or radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[00432] Example 19 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 15-18, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the delay is an offset plus a gap.

[00433] Example 20 includes the subject matter of Examples 15-19, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the delay is only in terms of an offset.

[00434] Example 21 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 15-20, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the A/N timing includes a gap.

[00435] Example 22 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 15-21 , including or omitting optional elements, wherein the delay is relative to an end of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission.

[00436] Example 23 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 15-22, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the A/N timing includes a gap and an offset, the offset is indicated in a downlink control information (DCI) and the gap is configured by higher layer signaling.

[00437] Example 24 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 15-23, including or omitting optional elements, wherein each bundle of the one or more bundles is associated with one or subframes.

[00438] Example 25 is one or more computer-readable media having instructions that, when executed, cause a base station to generate a plurality of data transmissions; generate a configuration, wherein the configuration includes an acknowledge/non- acknowledge (A/N) timing; and receive feedback according to the A/N timing.

[00439] Example 26 includes the subject matter of Example 25, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the base station to generate the A/N timing having a delay equal to an offset, wherein the offset is based on valid uplink subframes.

[00440] Example 27 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 25-26, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the configuration includes a bundling pattern and the bundling pattern includes a number of bundles and a size for each of number of bundles.

[00441 ] Example 28 is an apparatus configured to be employed within a user equipment (UE) device. The apparatus includes a means to obtain a hybrid automatic repeat request - acknowledge (HARQ-ACK) bundling configuration from signaling and/or downlink control information (DCI); a means to determine an offset and a gap for a delay for a plurality of downlink transmissions; a means to generate feedback for the plurality of downlink transmissions; and a means to send the generated feedback according to the HARQ-ACK bundling configuration and the determined delay.

[00442] Example 29 includes the subject matter of Example 28, including or omitting optional elements, further comprising a means to send the generated feedback using valid uplink subframes.

[00443] Example 30 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 28-29, including or omitting optional elements, further comprising a means to repeat sending the generated feedback.

[00444] It is to be understood that aspects described herein can be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, functions can be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media or a computer readable storage device can be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD- ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or other tangible and/or non-transitory medium, that can be used to carry or store desired information or executable instructions. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.

Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer- readable media.

[00445] Various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with aspects disclosed herein can be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other

programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform functions described herein. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but, in the alternative, processor can be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. Additionally, at least one processor can comprise one or more modules operable to perform one or more of the s and/or actions described herein.

[00446] For a software implementation, techniques described herein can be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform functions described herein. Software codes can be stored in memory units and executed by processors. Memory unit can be implemented within processor or external to processor, in which case memory unit can be communicatively coupled to processor through various means as is known in the art. Further, at least one processor can include one or more modules operable to perform functions described herein.

[00447] Techniques described herein can be used for various wireless communication systems such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA and other systems. The terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably. A CDMA system can implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), CDMA1800, etc. UTRA includes Wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA) and other variants of CDMA. Further, CDMA1800 covers IS-1800, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA system can implement a radio technology such as Global System for Mobile

Communications (GSM). An OFDMA system can implement a radio technology such as Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.1 1 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.18, Flash-OFDM, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a release of UMTS that uses E-UTRA, which employs OFDMA on downlink and SC-FDMA on uplink. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE and GSM are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). Additionally, CDMA1 800 and UMB are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). Further, such wireless communication systems can additionally include peer-to-peer (e.g., mobile-to-mobile) ad hoc network systems often using unpaired unlicensed spectrums, 802. xx wireless LAN, BLUETOOTH and any other short- or long- range, wireless communication techniques.

[00448] Single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), which utilizes single carrier modulation and frequency domain equalization is a technique that can be utilized with the disclosed aspects. SC-FDMA has similar performance and essentially a similar overall complexity as those of OFDMA system. SC-FDMA signal has lower peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) because of its inherent single carrier structure. SC-FDMA can be utilized in uplink communications where lower PAPR can benefit a mobile terminal in terms of transmit power efficiency.

[00449] Moreover, various aspects or features described herein can be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/or engineering techniques. The term "article of manufacture" as used herein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or media. For example, computer-readable media can include but are not limited to magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips, etc.), optical disks (e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., EPROM, card, stick, key drive, etc.). Additionally, various storage media described herein can represent one or more devices and/or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" can include, without being limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing, and/or carrying instruction(s) and/or data. Additionally, a computer program product can include a computer readable medium having one or more instructions or codes operable to cause a computer to perform functions described herein.

[00450] Communications media embody computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other structured or unstructured data in a data signal such as a modulated data signal, e.g., a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and includes any information delivery or transport media. The term "modulated data signal" or signals refers to a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in one or more signals. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media include wired media, such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media.

[00451 ] Further, the actions of a method or algorithm described in connection with aspects disclosed herein can be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or a combination thereof. A software module can reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium can be coupled to processor, such that processor can read information from, and write information to, storage medium. In the alternative, storage medium can be integral to processor. Further, in some aspects, processor and storage medium can reside in an ASIC. Additionally, ASIC can reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, processor and storage medium can reside as discrete components in a user terminal. Additionally, in some aspects, the s and/or actions of a method or algorithm can reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a machine-readable medium and/or computer readable medium, which can be incorporated into a computer program product.

[00452] The above description of illustrated embodiments of the subject disclosure, including what is described in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosed embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. While specific embodiments and examples are described herein for illustrative purposes, various modifications are possible that are considered within the scope of such embodiments and examples, as those skilled in the relevant art can recognize.

[00453] In this regard, while the disclosed subject matter has been described in connection with various embodiments and corresponding Figures, where applicable, it is to be understood that other similar embodiments can be used or modifications and additions can be made to the described embodiments for performing the same, similar, alternative, or substitute function of the disclosed subject matter without deviating therefrom. Therefore, the disclosed subject matter should not be limited to any single embodiment described herein, but rather should be construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the appended claims below.

[00454] In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described components (assemblies, devices, circuits, systems, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a "means") used to describe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component or structure which performs the specified function of the described component (e.g., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary implementations of the disclosure. In addition, while a particular feature may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1 . An apparatus for a base station, comprising baseband circuitry having:

an interface to radio frequency (RF) circuitry; and

one or more processors configured to:

generate a plurality of data subframes;

generate a hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledge (HARQ-ACK) bundling configuration for the plurality of subframes, wherein the HARQ-ACK bundling configuration includes a number of bundles, bundle sizes, a current bundle size and acknowledge/non-acknowledge (A/N) timing; and

provide the plurality of data subframes to the interface for a downlink transmission to a user equipment (UE) device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive HARQ-ACK feedback based on the HARQ-ACK bundling configuration, wherein the HARQ-ACK feedback includes at least one bundled feedback for two or more of the plurality of subframes.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the number of bundles is the amount of bundles transmitted before switching from downlink to uplink.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the number of bundles are allocated by two bits of the HARQ-ACK bundling configuration.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the bundle size is jointly coded with the number of bundles.

6. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 -5, wherein the current bundle size corresponds to a number of physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transport blocks (TBs) that a HARQ-ACK transmission can use for feedback, including a PDSCH TB scheduled by a current received machine type communication physical downlink control channel (MPDCCH).

7. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 -5, wherein the current bundle size uses two bits to indicate up to four physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) or transport blocks (TBs) within a current bundle.

8. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 -5, wherein the A/N timing is implicit and is based on a first bundle of one or more bundles.

9. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 -5, wherein the A/N timing is implicit and is based on a last bundle of one or more bundles.

10. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 -5, wherein the A/N timing is explicit based on a first bundle and/or a last bundle of one or more bundles.

1 1 . The apparatus of any one of claims 1 -5, wherein the HARQ-ACK bundling configuration is predefined.

12. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 -5, wherein the HARQ-ACK bundling configuration is dynamically determined.

13. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 -5, wherein the HARQ-ACK bundling configuration is at least partially provided in a downlink control information (DCI) and includes a HARQ-ACK bundling flag.

14. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 -5, wherein the HARQ-ACK bundling configuration is at least partially provided using radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

15. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 -5, wherein the A/N timing includes a delay for HARQ-ACK feedback, wherein the delay includes a gap and/or an offset.

16. An apparatus for a user equipment (UE) device, comprising baseband circuitry having:

an interface to radio frequency (RF) circuitry, the interface configured to receive one or more downlink transmissions from a base station; and

one or more processors configured to: identify one or more bundles from the one or more downlink transmissions based on a hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledge (HARQ-ACK) bundling configuration;

generate HARQ-ACK feedback based on the HARQ-ACK bundling configuration for the one or more bundles; and

provide the HARQ-ACK feedback to the interface for transmission to a base station.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the bundling configuration includes acknowledge/non-acknowledge (A/N) timing and the A/N timing includes a delay for the HARQ-ACK feedback.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the delay is indicated in a downlink control information (DCI) and/or radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the delay is an offset plus a gap.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the delay is only in terms of an offset.

21 . The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the A/N timing includes a gap.

22. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the delay is relative to an end of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission.

23. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the A/N timing includes a gap and an offset, the offset is indicated in a downlink control information (DCI) and the gap is configured by higher layer signaling.

24. The apparatus of any one of claims 16-23, wherein each bundle of the one or more bundles is associated with one or subframes.

25. One or more computer-readable media having instructions that, when executed, cause a base station to:

generate a plurality of data transmissions; generate a configuration, wherein the configuration includes an acknowledge/non-acknowledge (A/N) timing; and

receive feedback according to the A/N timing.

26. The computer-readable media of claim 25, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the base station to generate the A/N timing having a delay equal to an offset, wherein the offset is based on valid uplink subframes.

27. The computer-readable media of claim 25, wherein the configuration includes a bundling pattern and the bundling pattern includes a number of bundles and a size for each of number of bundles.

28. An apparatus for a user equipment (UE) device comprising:

a means to obtain a hybrid automatic repeat request - acknowledge (HARQ- ACK) bundling configuration from signaling and/or downlink control information (DCI); a means to determine an offset and a gap for a delay for a plurality of downlink transmissions;

a means to generate feedback for the plurality of downlink transmissions; and a means to send the generated feedback according to the HARQ-ACK bundling configuration and the determined delay.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, further comprising a means to send the generated feedback using valid uplink subframes.

30. The apparatus of claim 28, further comprising a means to repeat sending the generated feedback.