WO2021262071A1 - Demande de répétition automatique (arq) hybride (harq) améliorée pour un réseau sans fil - Google Patents

Demande de répétition automatique (arq) hybride (harq) améliorée pour un réseau sans fil Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2021262071A1
WO2021262071A1 PCT/SE2021/050610 SE2021050610W WO2021262071A1 WO 2021262071 A1 WO2021262071 A1 WO 2021262071A1 SE 2021050610 W SE2021050610 W SE 2021050610W WO 2021262071 A1 WO2021262071 A1 WO 2021262071A1
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Prior art keywords
harq
data
network node
feedback
transmitting
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PCT/SE2021/050610
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English (en)
Inventor
Min Wang
Bikramjit Singh
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Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
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Publication of WO2021262071A1 publication Critical patent/WO2021262071A1/fr

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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L1/00—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received
    • H04L1/12—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel
    • H04L1/16—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel in which the return channel carries supervisory signals, e.g. repetition request signals
    • H04L1/18—Automatic repetition systems, e.g. Van Duuren systems
    • H04L1/1867—Arrangements specially adapted for the transmitter end
    • H04L1/1896—ARQ related signaling
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L1/00—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received
    • H04L1/12—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel
    • H04L1/16—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel in which the return channel carries supervisory signals, e.g. repetition request signals
    • H04L1/1607—Details of the supervisory signal
    • H04L1/1657—Implicit acknowledgement of correct or incorrect reception, e.g. with a moving window
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L1/00—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received
    • H04L1/12—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel
    • H04L1/16—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel in which the return channel carries supervisory signals, e.g. repetition request signals
    • H04L1/18—Automatic repetition systems, e.g. Van Duuren systems
    • H04L1/1812—Hybrid protocols; Hybrid automatic repeat request [HARQ]
    • H04L1/1819—Hybrid protocols; Hybrid automatic repeat request [HARQ] with retransmission of additional or different redundancy
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L1/00—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received
    • H04L1/12—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel
    • H04L1/16—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel in which the return channel carries supervisory signals, e.g. repetition request signals
    • H04L1/18—Automatic repetition systems, e.g. Van Duuren systems
    • H04L1/1822—Automatic repetition systems, e.g. Van Duuren systems involving configuration of automatic repeat request [ARQ] with parallel processes
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L1/00—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received
    • H04L1/12—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel
    • H04L1/16—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel in which the return channel carries supervisory signals, e.g. repetition request signals
    • H04L1/18—Automatic repetition systems, e.g. Van Duuren systems
    • H04L1/1829—Arrangements specially adapted for the receiver end
    • H04L1/1848—Time-out mechanisms
    • H04L1/1851—Time-out mechanisms using multiple timers
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L1/00—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received
    • H04L1/12—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel
    • H04L1/16—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel in which the return channel carries supervisory signals, e.g. repetition request signals
    • H04L1/18—Automatic repetition systems, e.g. Van Duuren systems
    • H04L1/1829—Arrangements specially adapted for the receiver end
    • H04L1/1854—Scheduling and prioritising arrangements
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L1/00—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received
    • H04L1/12—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel
    • H04L1/16—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel in which the return channel carries supervisory signals, e.g. repetition request signals
    • H04L1/18—Automatic repetition systems, e.g. Van Duuren systems
    • H04L1/1829—Arrangements specially adapted for the receiver end
    • H04L1/1864—ARQ related signaling
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L1/00—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received
    • H04L1/12—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel
    • H04L1/16—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel in which the return channel carries supervisory signals, e.g. repetition request signals
    • H04L1/18—Automatic repetition systems, e.g. Van Duuren systems
    • H04L1/1867—Arrangements specially adapted for the transmitter end
    • H04L1/188—Time-out mechanisms
    • H04L1/1883—Time-out mechanisms using multiple timers
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L1/00—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received
    • H04L1/12—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel
    • H04L1/16—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel in which the return channel carries supervisory signals, e.g. repetition request signals
    • H04L1/18—Automatic repetition systems, e.g. Van Duuren systems
    • H04L1/1867—Arrangements specially adapted for the transmitter end
    • H04L1/1887—Scheduling and prioritising arrangements
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L1/00—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received
    • H04L1/12—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel
    • H04L1/16—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel in which the return channel carries supervisory signals, e.g. repetition request signals
    • H04L1/18—Automatic repetition systems, e.g. Van Duuren systems
    • H04L1/1867—Arrangements specially adapted for the transmitter end
    • H04L1/189—Transmission or retransmission of more than one copy of a message

Definitions

  • the present application relates generally to the field of wireless communications, and more specifically to enhanced techniques for hybrid ARQ (HARQ) feedback for data transmissions to/from a user equipment (UE) from/to a network node in the wireless network.
  • HARQ hybrid ARQ
  • NR New Radio
  • 3GPP Third-Generation Partnership Project
  • MTC machine type communication
  • URLCC ultra-low latency critical communications
  • D2D side-link device-to-device
  • the present disclosure relates generally to NR, but the following description of previous-generation technology is provided for context since it shares many features with NR.
  • LTE Long Term Evolution
  • 4G fourth generation
  • 3 GPP Third-Generation Partnership Project
  • Rel-8 Release 8
  • Release 9 Release 9
  • SAE System Architecture Evolution
  • EPC Evolved Packet Core
  • LTE continues to evolve through subsequent releases that are developed according to standards-setting processes with 3GPP and its working groups (WGs), including the Radio Access Network (RAN) WG, and sub-working groups (e.g, RANI, RAN2, etc.).
  • SAE System Architecture Evolution
  • WGs including the Radio Access Network (RAN) WG
  • sub-working groups e.g, RANI, RAN2, etc.
  • LTE Rel-10 supports bandwidths larger than 20 MHz.
  • One important requirement on Rel- 10 is to backward compatibility with LTE Rel-8.
  • This also includes spectrum compatibility in which a wideband LTE Rel-10 carrier (e.g, wider than 20 MHz) should appear as multiple carriers to an LTE Rel-8 (“legacy”) terminal (“user equipment” or EE).
  • Each such carrier can be referred to as a Component Carrier (CC).
  • CC Component Carrier
  • legacy terminals can be scheduled in all parts of the wideband LTE Rel-10 carrier. This can be done by Carrier Aggregation (CA), in which a Rel-10 terminal receives multiple CCs, each having the same structure as a Rel-8 carrier.
  • CA Carrier Aggregation
  • LTE Rel-12 introduced dual connectivity (DC) whereby a EE can be connected to two network nodes simultaneously, thereby improving connection robustness and/or capacity.
  • DC dual connectivity
  • the E-UTRAN includes one or more evolved Node B’s (eNB), each of which can serve a geographic coverage area including one more cells. In each cell, the serving eNB can communicate with one or more user equipment (UE).
  • UE user equipment
  • “user equipment” or “UE” means any wireless communication device (e.g ., smartphone or computing device) that is capable of communicating with 3GPP-standard-compliant network equipment, including E-UTRAN as well as UTRAN and/or GERAN, as the third-generation (“3G”) and second-generation (“2G”) 3GPP RANs are commonly known.
  • 3G third-generation
  • 2G second-generation
  • E-UTRAN is responsible for all radio-related functions in the network, including radio bearer control, radio admission control, radio mobility control, scheduling, and dynamic allocation of resources to UEs (in uplink and downlink, as well as security of the communications with UEs. These functions reside in the eNBs, which communicate with each other via respective X2 interfaces. The eNBs also are responsible for the E-UTRAN interface to the EPC, specifically the SI interface to the Mobility Management Entity (MME) and the Serving Gateway (SGW). Generally speaking, the MME/S-GW handles both the overall control of the UE and data flow between the UE and the rest of the EPC.
  • MME Mobility Management Entity
  • SGW Serving Gateway
  • the MME processes the signaling (e.g., control plane) protocols between the UE and the EPC, which are known as the Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocols.
  • the SGW handles all Internet Protocol (IP) data packets (e.g, data or user plane) between the UE and the EPC and serves as the local mobility anchor for the data bearers when a UE moves between eNBs.
  • IP Internet Protocol
  • An exemplary LTE control-plane (CP) protocol stack includes Physical (PHY), Medium Access Control (MAC), Radio Link Control (RLC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), and Radio Resource Control (RRC) layers between the UE and eNB.
  • the PHY layer is concerned with how and what characteristics are used to transfer data over transport channels on the LTE radio interface.
  • the MAC layer provides data transfer services on logical channels, maps logical channels to PHY transport channels, and reallocates PHY resources to support these services.
  • the RLC layer provides error detection and/or correction, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly, reordering of data transferred to or from the upper layers.
  • the PDCP layer provides ciphering/deciphering and integrity protection for both U-plane and C-plane, as well as other functions for the U-plane such as header compression.
  • the exemplary protocol stack also includes non-access stratum (NAS) signaling between the UE and the MME.
  • NAS non-access stratum
  • the RRC layer controls communications between a UE and an eNB at the radio interface, as well as the mobility of a UE between cells in the E-UTRAN.
  • a UE After a UE is powered ON it will be in the RRC IDLE state until an RRC connection is established with the network, at which time the UE will transition to RRC_CONNECTED state (e.g., where data transfer can occur).
  • the UE returns to RRC IDLE after the connection with the network is released.
  • the UE s radio is active on a discontinuous reception (DRX) schedule configured by upper layers.
  • DRX discontinuous reception
  • an RRC IDLE UE receives system information (SI) broadcast by a serving ceil, performs measurements of neighbor cells to support cell reselection, and monitors a paging channel on PDCCH for pages from the EPC via eNB.
  • SI system information
  • a LIE in RRC IDLE state is known in the EPC and has an assigned IP address, but is not known to the serving eNB (e.g., there is no stored context).
  • Fifth-generation NR technology shares many similarities with fourth-generation LTE.
  • NR uses CP-OFDM (Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) in the DL and both CP-OFDM and DFT-spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) in the UL.
  • CP-OFDM Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
  • DFT-S-OFDM DFT-spread OFDM
  • NR DL and UL physical resources are organized into equal-sized 1-ms subframes. A subframe is further divided into multiple slots of equal duration, with each slot including multiple OFDM-based symbols.
  • NR RRC layer includes RRC IDLE and RRC CONNECTED states, but adds an additional state known as RRC INACTIVE that has some properties similar to a “suspended” condition for LTE.
  • NR networks In addition to providing coverage via cells, as in LTE, NR networks also provide coverage via “beams.”
  • a DL “beam” is a coverage area of a network-transmitted RS that may be measured or monitored by a UE.
  • hybrid ARQ is used in both LTE and NR.
  • a receiver of a data packet replies to the sender with a positive (ACK) or a negative acknowledgement (NAK or NACK), depending on whether the receiver correctly decoded the packet.
  • ACK positive
  • NAK negative acknowledgement
  • the sender will transmit another packet (if available).
  • NAK negative acknowledgement
  • the sender will retransmit either the same version or a different version of the initial data packet. If needed, a single data packet can be retransmitted multiple times.
  • HARQ can improve the reliability of transmissions from the sender to the receiver, albeit at the cost of some complexity and/or transmission delay.
  • HARQ is most suitable for unicast and groupcast (also referred to as “multicast”) transmissions because these transmission modes often have some ways of identifying the source and the destination of a packet (e.g., source and destination IDs), which facilitates both the feedbacks and data retransmissions.
  • HARQ is often not used in broadcast transmission, because either feedback and retransmission are not of interest or their benefits do not outweigh the associated complexity due to participation of many recipients. Even so, there are various problems, issues, and/or difficulties associated with HARQ mechanisms currently available for NR.
  • exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure address these and other problems, issues, and/or difficulties associated with currently available HARQ mechanisms, thereby enabling the otherwise-advantageous deployment of wireless networks and UEs (e.g., for 5G).
  • Embodiments include methods (e.g., procedures) for a network node, in a wireless network, to communicate via a data channel with a user equipment (UE). These exemplary methods can include transmitting, to the UE, a configuration associated with HARQ feedback for the data channel.
  • the configuration can include at least one HARQ codebook comprising a plurality of codepoints and a duration of applicability for the at least one HARQ codebook.
  • These exemplary methods can also include transmitting or receiving data via the data channel.
  • These exemplary methods can also include receiving or transmitting HARQ feedback associated with the data in accordance with the configuration.
  • the HARQ feedback includes one or more codepoints from the at least one HARQ codebook and is received or transmitted during the duration of applicability.
  • the duration of applicability can be indicated by one of the following:
  • DCI downlink control information
  • the at least one HARQ codebook includes a single HARQ codebook including codepoints for transmissions of a plurality of priorities. In other embodiments, the at least one HARQ codebook includes a plurality of HARQ codebook including codepoints for transmissions of a respective plurality of priorities.
  • the configuration includes one or more of the following associated with a first HARQ process between the UE and network node: an initial value for a HARQ feedback retransmission timer maintained by the UE; and a maximum number of retransmission attempts for HARQ feedback.
  • transmitting or receiving data can include transmitting data associated with the first HARQ process.
  • receiving or transmitting HARQ feedback can include receiving HARQ feedback for the data associated with the first HARQ process.
  • these exemplary methods can also include sending, to the UE, an indication that the network node received the HARQ feedback for the data associated with the first HARQ process.
  • the indication can be a DL assignment by the network node for the UE to receive data associated with the first HARQ process or with a second HARQ process.
  • transmitting or receiving data can include receiving data associated with a first HARQ process between the UE and the network node.
  • the configuration can include an indication of whether feedback associated with the first HARQ process is explicit or implicit.
  • receiving or transmitting the HARQ feedback can include, when the indication indicates implicit HARQ feedback, providing a positive acknowledgement (ACK) of the data based on one of the following:
  • receiving or transmitting the HARQ feedback can also include, when the indication indicates implicit HARQ feedback, providing an indication of a negative acknowledgement (NAK) of the data based on one or more of the following:
  • NAK negative acknowledgement
  • the data includes a code block group (CBG) comprising a plurality of code blocks and the configuration indicates one of the following modes for the HARQ feedback: one indication per code block; one indication per CBG; or one indication per subset of CBs in each CBG, with each subset including a plurality of CBs.
  • the one indication per CBG comprises a positive acknowledgement (ACK) based on all code blocks of the CBG being decoded successfully, or alternately based on a number of successfully decoded code blocks of the CBG being greater than a threshold.
  • ACK positive acknowledgement
  • the configuration can be transmitted in a DCI message that indicates resources for the transmitting or receiving of the data, which is associated with first and second HARQ processes.
  • the DCI indicates at least one of the following parameters that differs between the first and second HARQ processes: initial transmission vs. retransmission; uplink vs. downlink transmission; dynamic vs. semi-static or configured; sub carrier spacings; frequency ranges; licensed vs. unlicensed spectrum; priorities; HARQ feedback policy; HARQ codebooks; modulation and coding schemes (MCS); numbers of repetitions; redundancy versions (RVs); MIMO transmission or precoding; and time-domain resource allocation.
  • Other embodiments include additional methods (e.g., procedures) for a UE to communicate via a data channel with a network node in a wireless network.
  • These exemplary methods can include receiving, from the network node, a configuration associated with HARQ feedback for the data channel.
  • the configuration can include at least one HARQ codebook comprising a plurality of codepoints and a duration of applicability for the at least one HARQ codebook.
  • These exemplary methods can also include transmitting or receiving data via the data channel.
  • These exemplary methods can also include receiving or transmitting HARQ feedback associated with the data in accordance with the configuration.
  • the HARQ feedback includes one or more codepoints from the at least one HARQ codebook and is received or transmitted during the duration of applicability.
  • the duration of applicability can be indicated in any of the ways summarized above for the network node embodiments.
  • the at least one HARQ codebook includes a single HARQ codebook including codepoints for transmissions of a plurality of priorities. In other embodiments, the at least one HARQ codebook includes a plurality of HARQ codebook including codepoints for transmissions of a respective plurality of priorities.
  • the configuration can include one or more of the following associated with a first HARQ process between the UE and network node: an initial value for a HARQ feedback retransmission timer maintained by the UE; and a maximum number of retransmission attempts for HARQ feedback.
  • transmitting or receiving data can include receiving data associated with the first HARQ process.
  • receiving or transmitting HARQ feedback can include the following: transmitting HARQ feedback for the data associated with the first HARQ process; initiating the HARQ feedback retransmission timer based on the initial value; and incrementing a count of retransmission attempts. Additionally, receiving or transmitting HARQ feedback can include, upon expiration of the HARQ retransmission timer without receiving an indication that the network node received the transmitted HARQ feedback, repeating the transmitting, initiating, and incrementing operations unless the count is equal to the maximum number. In some of these embodiments, the indication can be a DL assignment by the network node for receiving data associated with the first HARQ process or with a second HARQ process.
  • transmitting or receiving data can include transmitting data associated with a first HARQ process between the UE and the network node.
  • the configuration can include an indication of whether feedback associated with the first HARQ process is explicit or implicit.
  • receiving or transmitting the HARQ feedback can include, when the indication indicates implicit HARQ feedback, monitoring for an ACK of the data based on one of the following:
  • receiving or transmitting the HARQ feedback can include, when the indication indicates implicit HARQ feedback, monitoring for a NAK of the data based on one of the following:
  • the data includes a CBG comprising a plurality of code blocks and the configuration indicates one of the following modes for the HARQ feedback: one indication per code block; one indication per CBG; or one indication per subset of CBs in each CBG, with each subset including a plurality of CBs.
  • the one indication per CBG comprises an ACK based on all code blocks of the CBG being decoded successfully, or alternately based on a number of successfully decoded code blocks of the CBG being greater than a threshold.
  • the configuration is received in a DCI message that indicates resources for the transmitting or receiving of the data, which is associated with first and second HARQ processes (i.e., between the UE and network node).
  • the DCI indicates at least one parameter that differs between the first and second HARQ processes, including any of the parameters summarized above for the network node embodiments.
  • network nodes e.g., e.g., eNBs, gNBs, en-gNBs, ng-eNBs, etc. or components thereof
  • UEs e.g., wireless devices
  • Other embodiments include non-transitory, computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, configure a network node or a UE (as the case may be) to perform operations corresponding to any of the exemplary methods described herein.
  • embodiments of the present disclosure can provide flexible and efficient mechanisms for configuring and scheduling HARQ feedback, particularly in relation to HARQ codebooks and multi-transmission time interval (TTI) scheduling for correlated HARQ processes. Furthermore, embodiments facilitate more flexible configuration of resources in wireless networks and improve usage efficiency of UL and DL channels used for data transmission and HARQ feedback (e g., PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH).
  • TTI transmission time interval
  • Figure 1 shows a high-level view of an exemplary 5G network architecture.
  • Figure 2 shows an exemplary frequency-domain configuration for an NR UE.
  • Figure 3 shows an exemplary arrangement of an NR timeslot, including an exemplary time-frequency resource grid.
  • Figure 4 illustrates various timing offsets between various NR channels and/or signals.
  • FIG. 5 shows an exemplary wireless system that illustrates principles of code block group (CBG)-based hybrid ARQ (HARQ) feedback.
  • CBG code block group
  • HARQ hybrid ARQ
  • Figures 6-7 are flow diagrams illustrating exemplary methods (e.g., procedures) for a network node and a UE, respectively, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • Figure 8 shows a block diagram of an exemplary wireless device or UE, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • Figure 9 shows a block diagram of an exemplary network node, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of an exemplary network configured to provide over- the-top (OTT) data services between a host computer and a UE, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • OTT over-the-top
  • Radio Node As used herein, a “radio node” can be either a “radio access node” or a “wireless device.”
  • Radio Access Node As used herein, a “radio access node” (or equivalently “radio network node,” “radio access network node,” or “RAN node”) can be any node in a radio access network (RAN) of a cellular communications network that operates to wirelessly transmit and/or receive signals.
  • RAN radio access network
  • a radio access node examples include, but are not limited to, a base station (e.g ., a New Radio (NR) base station (gNB) in a 3GPP Fifth Generation (5G) NR network or an enhanced or evolved Node B (eNB) in a 3GPP LTE network), base station distributed components (e.g., CU and DU), a high-power or macro base station, a low-power base station (e.g, micro, pico, femto, or home base station, or the like), an integrated access backhaul (LAB) node, a transmission point, a remote radio unit (RRU or RRH), and a relay node.
  • a base station e.g ., a New Radio (NR) base station (gNB) in a 3GPP Fifth Generation (5G) NR network or an enhanced or evolved Node B (eNB) in a 3GPP LTE network
  • base station distributed components e.g., CU and DU
  • a “core network node” is any type of node in a core network.
  • Some examples of a core network node include, e.g, a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a serving gateway (SGW), a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW), an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a user plane function (UPF), a network exposure function (NEF), or the like.
  • MME Mobility Management Entity
  • SGW serving gateway
  • P-GW Packet Data Network Gateway
  • AMF access and mobility management function
  • SMF session management function
  • UPF user plane function
  • NEF network exposure function
  • Wireless Device As used herein, a “wireless device” (or “WD” for short) is any type of device that has access to (i.e., is served by) a cellular communications network by communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other wireless devices. Communicating wirelessly can involve transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through air.
  • wireless device examples include, but are not limited to, smart phones, mobile phones, cell phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, gaming consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback appliances, wearable devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablets, laptops, laptop- embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart devices, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), mobile-type communication (MTC) devices, Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, D2D LIEs, V2X LIEs, etc.
  • the term “wireless device” is used interchangeably herein with the term “user equipment” (or “UE” for short).
  • Network Node is any node that is either part of the radio access network or the core network of a cellular communications network.
  • a network node is equipment capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the cellular communications network, to enable and/or provide wireless access to the wireless device, and/or to perform other functions (e.g ., administration) in the cellular communications network.
  • a “resource” can correspond to any type of physical resource or radio resource expressed in terms of time and/or frequency. Examples of time resources include symbol, time slot, subframe, radio frame, TTI, interleaving time, etc. Examples of time-frequency resources include subcarrier, resource block (RB), etc. An RB may also be called as physical RB (PRB), virtual RB (VRB), etc.
  • PRB physical RB
  • VRB virtual RB
  • a “channel” can be a logical, transport or physical channel.
  • a channel may comprise and/or be arranged on one or more carriers and/or a plurality of subcarriers.
  • a channel carrying and/or for carrying control signaling/control information may be considered a control channel (e.g., PDCCH), in particular if it is a physical layer channel and/or if it carries control plane information.
  • a channel carrying and/or for carrying data signaling/user information may be considered a data channel (e.g., PDSCH), in particular if it is a physical layer channel and/or if it carries user plane (UP) information.
  • a channel may be defined for a specific communication direction, or for two complementary communication directions (e.g, UL and DL, or sidelink in two directions), in which case it may be considered to have two component channels, one for each direction.
  • WCDMA Wide Band Code Division Multiple Access
  • WiMax Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access
  • UMB Ultra Mobile Broadband
  • GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
  • functions and/or operations described herein as being performed by a wireless device or a network node may be distributed over a plurality of wireless devices and/or network nodes.
  • the term “cell” is used herein, it should be understood that (particularly with respect to 5G NR) beams may be used instead of cells and, as such, concepts described herein apply equally to both cells and beams.
  • 5G also referred to as “NR”
  • NR 5G
  • eMBB enhanced Mobile Broad Band
  • URLLC Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication
  • MTC Machine-Type Communications
  • URLLC is intended to provide a data service with extremely strict error and latency requirements, e.g., error probabilities as low as 10 -5 or lower and 1 ms end-to-end latency or lower.
  • error probabilities as low as 10 -5 or lower and 1 ms end-to-end latency or lower.
  • the peak data rate requirements are moderate.
  • the latency and error probability requirements can be less stringent than URLLC, whereas the required peak rate and/or spectral efficiency can be higher than URLLC.
  • NR is targeted to support deployment in lower-frequency spectrum similar to LTE, and in very-high-frequency spectrum (referred to as “millimeter wave” or “mmW”).
  • FIG. 1 shows a high-level view of an exemplary 5G network architecture, including a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 199 and a 5G Core (5GC) 198.
  • NG-RAN 199 can include one or more gNodeB’s (gNBs) connected to the 5GC via one or more NG interfaces, such as gNBs 100, 150 connected via interfaces 102, 152, respectively. More specifically, gNBs 100, 150 can be connected to one or more Access and Mobility Management Functions (AMF) in the 5GC 198 via respective NG-C interfaces. Similarly, gNBs 100, 150 can be connected to one or more User Plane Functions (UPFs) in 5GC 198 via respective NG-U interfaces.
  • AMF Access and Mobility Management Functions
  • UPFs User Plane Functions
  • 5GC 198 can be replaced by an Evolved Packet Core (EPC), which conventionally has been used together with LTE E-UTRAN.
  • EPC Evolved Packet Core
  • gNBs 100, 150 can connect to one or more Mobility Management Entities (MMEs) in EPC 198 via respective Sl-C interfaces.
  • MMEs Mobility Management Entities
  • SGWs Serving Gateways
  • the gNBs can be connected to each other via one or more Xn interfaces, such as Xn interface 140 between gNBs 100 and 150.
  • the radio technology for the NG-RAN is often referred to as “New Radio” (NR).
  • NR New Radio
  • each of the gNBs can support frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), or a combination thereof.
  • FDD frequency division duplexing
  • TDD time division duplexing
  • the radio-related protocols between UEs and the NG-RAN over the Uu interface are generally referred to as the access stratum (AS), while the protocols between UEs and the core network (e.g., 5GC or EPC) are generally referred to as the non-access stratum (NAS).
  • AS access stratum
  • NAS non-access stratum
  • NG-RAN 199 is layered into a Radio Network Layer (RNL) and a Transport Network Layer (TNL).
  • RNL Radio Network Layer
  • TNL Transport Network Layer
  • the NG-RAN architecture /. e. , the NG-RAN logical nodes and interfaces between them, is defined as part of the RNL.
  • NG, Xn, FI the related TNL protocol and the functionality are specified.
  • the TNL provides services for user plane transport and signaling transport.
  • each gNB is connected to all 5GC nodes within an “AMF Region” which is defined in 3GPP TS 23.501.
  • the NG RAN logical nodes shown in Figure 1 include a Central Unit (CU or gNB-CU) and one or more Distributed Units (DU or gNB-DU).
  • gNB 100 includes gNB-CU 110 and gNB-DUs 120 and 130.
  • CUs e.g., gNB-CU 110
  • a DU e.g., gNB-DUs 120, 130
  • gNB-DUs 120, 130 is a decentralized logical node that hosts lower layer protocols and can include, depending on the functional split option, various subsets of the gNB functions.
  • each of the CUs and DUs can include various circuitry needed to perform their respective functions, including processing circuitry, transceiver circuitry (e.g., for communication), and power supply circuitry.
  • processing circuitry e.g., for communication
  • transceiver circuitry e.g., for communication
  • power supply circuitry e.g., for power supply circuitry.
  • central unit and centralized unit are used interchangeably herein, as are the terms “distributed unit” and “decentralized unit.”
  • a gNB-CU connects to one or more gNB-DUs over respective FI logical interfaces, such as interfaces 122 and 132 shown in Figure 1.
  • a gNB-DU can be connected to only a single gNB-CU.
  • the gNB-CU and connected gNB-DU(s) are only visible to other gNBs and the 5GC as a gNB. In other words, the FI interface is not visible beyond gNB-CU.
  • the NR PHY uses CP-OFDM (Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) in the DL and both CP-OFDM and DFT-spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) in the UL.
  • CP-OFDM Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
  • DFT-S-OFDM DFT-spread OFDM
  • NR DL and UL physical resources are organized into equal-sized, 1-ms subframes. Each subframe includes of one or more slots, and each slot includes 14 (for normal cyclic prefix) or 12 (for extended cyclic prefix) time-domain symbols.
  • Figure 2 shows an exemplary frequency-domain configuration for an NR UE.
  • a UE can be configured with up to four carrier bandwidth parts (BWPs) in the DL with a single DL BWP being active at a given time.
  • BWPs carrier bandwidth parts
  • a UE can be configured with up to four BWPs in the UL with a single UL BWP being active at a given time.
  • the UE can be configured with up to four additional BWPs in the supplementary UL, with a single supplementary UL BWP being active at a given time.
  • the UE is configured with three DL (or UL) BWPs, labelled BWP 0-2, respectively.
  • Common RBs are numbered from 0 to the end of the carrier bandwidth.
  • Each BWP configured for a UE has a common reference of CRB0 (as shown in Figure 2), such that a configured BWP may start at a CRB greater than zero.
  • CRB0 can be identified by one of the following parameters provided by the network, as further defined in 3GPP TS 38.211 section 4.4:
  • PCell e.g., PCell or PSCell
  • a UE can be configured with a narrow BWP (e.g., 10 MHz) and a wide BWP (e.g, 100 MHz), each starting at a particular CRB, but only one BWP can be active for the UE at a given point in time.
  • BWPs 0-2 start at CRBs N°BWP, N 1 Bwp, and N 2 BWP, respectively.
  • PRBs are defined and numbered in the frequency domain from 0 to ⁇ BWP / _ 1 , where i is the index of the particular BWP for the carrier.
  • BWPs 0-2 include PRBs 0 to Nl, N2, and N3, respectively.
  • each NR resource element corresponds to one OFDM subcarrier during one OFDM symbol interval.
  • the maximum carrier bandwidth is directly related to numerology according to 2 m * 50 MHz. Table 1 below summarizes the supported NR numerologies and associated parameters. Different DL and UL numerologies can be configured by the network. Table 1.
  • Figure 3 shows an exemplary time-frequency resource grid for an NR slot.
  • a resource block consists of a group of 12 contiguous OFDM subcarriers for a duration of a 14-symbol slot.
  • a resource element consists of one subcarrier in one slot.
  • An NR slot can include 14 OFDM symbols for normal cyclic prefix and 12 symbols for extended cyclic prefix.
  • An NR slot can also be arranged with various combinations of EiL and DL symbols.
  • Options can include DL-only slots (i.e., no EIL transmission) with on-time (symbol 0) or late (symbol > 0) starts, “DL-heavy” slots (e.g., one EL symbol), and “UL-heavy” slot with a single DL symbol carrying DL control information.
  • DL-only slots i.e., no EIL transmission
  • DL-heavy slots e.g., one EL symbol
  • UL-heavy slot with a single DL symbol carrying DL control information.
  • NR includes a Type-B scheduling, also known as “mini-slots.” These are shorter than slots, typically ranging from one symbol up to one less than the number of symbols in a slot (e.g., 11 or 13), and can start at any symbol of a slot. Mini-slots can be used if the transmission duration of a slot is too long and/or the occurrence of the next slot start (slot alignment) is too late. Applications of mini-slots include unlicensed spectrum and latency-critical transmission (e.g., URLLC). However, mini-slots are not service-specific and can also be used for eMBB or other services.
  • mini-slots are shorter than slots, typically ranging from one symbol up to one less than the number of symbols in a slot (e.g., 11 or 13), and can start at any symbol of a slot. Mini-slots can be used if the transmission duration of a slot is too long and/or the occurrence of the next slot start (slot alignment) is too late. Applications of mini
  • DL physical channels provided by the NR physical layer include Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH).
  • PDSCH is the main physical channel used for unicast downlink data transmission, but also for transmission of RAR (random access response), certain system information blocks, and paging information.
  • PBCH carries the basic system information, required by the UE to access the network.
  • PDCCH is used for transmitting downlink control information (DCI) including scheduling assignments for DL messages on PDSCH, grants for LL transmissions (e.g., on PUSCH), and channel quality feedback (e.g., CSI) for the LL channel.
  • DCI downlink control information
  • LL transmissions are usually referred to as being “granted” by the network (i.e., “LL grant”), while DL transmissions are usually referred to as taking place on resources that are “assigned” by the network (i.e., “DL assignment”).
  • DL assignment the NR DL includes various reference signals (RS) such as SS/PBCH block (SSB), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), tertiary reference signals (or any other sync signal), positioning reference signals (PRS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), phase-tracking reference signals (PTRS), etc.
  • RS reference signals
  • SSB SS/PBCH block
  • CSI-RS channel state information reference signals
  • PRS positioning reference signals
  • DMRS demodulation reference signals
  • PTRS phase-tracking reference signals
  • SSB is available to all UEs regardless of RRC state, while other RS (e.g ., CSI-RS, DM-RS, PTRS) are associated with specific UEs that have a network connection, i.e ., in RRC CONNECTED state.
  • RS e.g ., CSI-RS, DM-RS, PTRS
  • a DL “beam” is a coverage area of a network-transmitted RS that may be measured or monitored by a UE.
  • UL physical channels provided by the NR PHY include Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), and Physical Random -Access Channel (PRACH).
  • PUSCH is the uplink counterpart to the PDSCH.
  • PUCCH is used by UEs to transmit uplink control information (UCI) including HARQ feedback for eNB DL transmissions, channel quality feedback (e.g., CSI) for the DL channel, scheduling requests (SRs), etc.
  • PRACH is used for random access preamble transmission.
  • the NR UL includes various reference signals such as DMRS, which are transmitted to aid the eNB in the reception of an associated PUCCH or PUSCH; sounding reference signals (SRS), which are not associated with any uplink channel; and PRS.
  • PDCCH is confined to a region containing a particular number of symbols and a particular number of subcarriers, referred to as the control resource set (CORESET).
  • the CORESET can include the first two symbols of a slot and each of the remaining 12 symbols can contain physical data channels (PDCH), i.e., either DL (PDSCH) or UL (PUSCH).
  • PDCH physical data channels
  • PUSCH UL
  • the first two slots can also carry PDSCH or other information, as required.
  • a CORESET includes multiple RBs (i.e., multiples of 12 REs) in the frequency domain and 1-3 OFDM symbols in the time domain, as further defined in 3GPP TS 38.211 ⁇ 7.3.2.2.
  • the smallest unit used for defining CORESET is resource element group (REG), which spans one PRB in frequency and one OFDM symbol in time.
  • REG resource element group
  • a CORESET is functionally similar to the control region in LTE subframe. In NR, however, each REG consists of all 12 REs of one OFDM symbol in an RB, whereas an LTE REG includes only four REs.
  • the CORESET time domain size can be indicated by the physical control format indicator (CFI) channel (PCFICH).
  • CFI physical control format indicator
  • the frequency bandwidth of the control region is fixed (i.e., to the total system bandwidth), whereas in NR, the frequency bandwidth of the CORESET is variable.
  • CORESET resources can be indicated to a UE by radio resource control (RRC) signaling.
  • RRC radio resource control
  • each REG in a CORESET contains DM-RS to facilitate estimation of the radio channel over which that REG was transmitted.
  • a precoder can be used to apply weights at the transmit antennas based on some knowledge of the radio channel prior to transmission. It is possible to improve channel estimation performance at the UE by estimating the channel over multiple REGs that are proximate in time and frequency, if the precoder used at the transmitter for the REGs is not different.
  • multiple REGs can be grouped together to form a REG bundle, and the REG bundle size for a CORESET ( i.e ., 2, 3, or 5 REGs) can be indicated to the UE.
  • the UE can assume that any precoder used for the transmission of the PDCCH is the same for all the REGs in a REG bundle.
  • An NR. control channel element consists of six REGs. These REGs may either be contiguous or distributed in frequency. When the REGs are distributed in frequency, the CORESET is said to use interleaved mapping of REGs to a CCE, while if the REGs are contiguous in frequency, a non-interleaved mapping is said to be used. Interleaving can provide frequency diversity. Not using interleaving is beneficial for cases where knowledge of the channel allows the use of a precoder in a particular part of the spectrum improve the SINR at the receiver.
  • NR data scheduling can be performed dynamically, e.g., on a per-slot basis.
  • the base station e.g, gNB
  • DCI downlink control information
  • UEs transmit UCI (Uplink Control Information) UEs on PUCCH.
  • UCI can include HARQ feedback, CSI (Channel State Information) feedback, and SR (Scheduling Requests).
  • CSI Channel State Information
  • SR Service Requests
  • a UE Upon receiving PDCCH, a UE first detects and decodes DCI and, if the DCI includes DL scheduling information for the UE, receives the corresponding PDSCH based on the DL scheduling information. DCI formats 1 0 and 1 1 are used to convey PDSCH scheduling.
  • DCI on PDCCH can also include UL grants that indicate which UE is scheduled to transmit data on PUCCH in that slot, as well as which RBs will carry that data.
  • a UE first detects and decodes DCI and, if the DCI includes an uplink grant for the UE, transmits the corresponding PUSCH on the resources indicated by the UL grant.
  • DCI formats 0 0 and 0 1 are used to convey UL grants for PUSCH, while Other DCI formats (2 0, 2 1, 2 2 and 2 3) are used for other purposes including transmission of slot format information, reserved resource, transmit power control information, etc.
  • UL and DL data transmissions can take place with or without an explicit grant or assignment of resources by the network (e.g, gNB).
  • DCI is used to provide an explicit grant or assignment.
  • a transmission without an explicit grant/assignment is typically configured (e.g., via RRC) to occur with a defined periodicity.
  • the UE Given a periodic and/or recurring UL grant and/or DL assignment, the UE can then initiate a data transmission and/or receive data according to a predefined configuration.
  • Such transmissions can be referred to as semi-persistent scheduling (SPS, for DL) and configured grants (CG, for UL).
  • SPS semi-persistent scheduling
  • CG configured grants
  • the DCI formats 0 0/1 0 are referred to as “fallback DCI formats,” while the DCI formats 0 1/1 1 are referred to as “non-fallback DCI formats.”
  • the fallback DCI support resource allocation type 1 in which DCI size depends on the size of active BWP.
  • DCI formats 0 1/1 1 are intended for scheduling a single transport block (TB) transmission with limited flexibility.
  • the non-fallback DCI formats can provide flexible TB scheduling with multi-layer transmission.
  • a DCI includes a payload complemented with a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) of the payload data. Since DCI is sent on PDCCH that is received by multiple UEs, an identifier of the targeted UE needs to be included. In NR, this is done by scrambling the CRC with a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) assigned to the UE. Most commonly, the cell RNTI (C- RNTI) assigned to the targeted UE by the serving cell is used for this purpose.
  • CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check
  • DCI payload together with an identifier-scrambled CRC is encoded and transmitted on the PDCCH.
  • each UE tries to detect a PDCCH addressed to it according to multiple hypotheses (also referred to as “candidates”) in a process known as “blind decoding.”
  • PDCCH candidates span 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs, with the number of CCEs referred to as the aggregation level (AL) of the PDCCH candidate. If more than one CCE is used, the information in the first CCE is repeated in the other CCEs.
  • AL aggregation level
  • PDCCH link adaptation can be performed by adjusting AL.
  • PDCCH candidates can be located at various time-frequency locations in the CORESET.
  • a hashing function can be used to determine the CCEs corresponding to PDCCH candidates that a UE must monitor within a search space set. The hashing is done differently for different UEs. In this manner, CCEs used by the UEs are randomized and the probability of collisions between multiple UEs having messages included in a CORESET is reduced.
  • a UE decodes a DCI, it de-scrambles the CRC with RNTI(s) that is(are) assigned to it and/or associated with the particular PDCCH search space. In case of a match, the UE considers the detected DCI as being addressed to it, and follows the instructions ( e.g ., scheduling information) in the DCI.
  • the UE first reads the 5-bit modulation and coding scheme field ( I MCS ) in the DCI (e.g., formats 1 0 or 1 1) to determine the modulation order (Q m ) and target code rate ( R ) based on the procedure defined in 3GPP TS 38.214 V15.0.0 clause 5.1.3.1. Subsequently, the UE reads the redundancy version field (rv) in the DCI to determine the redundancy version.
  • I MCS 5-bit modulation and coding scheme field
  • R target code rate
  • the UE determines the Transport Block Size (TBS) for the PDSCH according to the procedure defined in 3GPP TS 38.214 V15.0.0 clause 5.1.3.2. Similar techniques can be used by the UE for PUSCH transmission scheduled by DCI (e.g., formats 0 0 or 0 1).
  • DCI can also include information about various timing offsets (e.g., in slots or subframes) between PDCCH and PDSCH, PUSCH, HARQ, and/or CSI-RS.
  • Figure 4 illustrates various timing offsets between PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, HARQ, and CSI-RS for NR.
  • offset K0 represents the number of slots between the UE’s PDCCH reception of a PDSCH scheduling DCI (e.g., formats 1 0 or 1 1) and the subsequent PDSCH transmission.
  • offset K1 represents the number of slots between this PDSCH transmission and the UE’s responsive HARQ ACK/NAK transmission on the PUSCH.
  • offset K3 represents the number of slots between this responsive ACK/NAK and the corresponding retransmission of data on PDSCH.
  • offset K2 represents the number of slots between the UE’s PDCCH reception of a PUSCH grant DCI (e.g., formats 0 0 or 0 1) and the subsequent PUSCH transmission.
  • DCI e.g., formats 0 0 or 0 1
  • DCI format 0 1 can also include a network request for a UE report of channel state information (CSI) or channel quality information (CQI). Prior to sending this report, the UE receives and measures CSI-RS transmitted by the network.
  • the parameter aperiodicTriggeringOffset represents the integer number of slots between the UE’s reception of a DCI including a CSI request and the network’s transmission of the CSI-RS. This parameter can take on values 0-4.
  • Offset K0 is part of a UE’s PDSCH time-domain resource allocation (TDRA) provided by the network node. Also included in the PDSCH TDRA is a slot length indicator values (SLIV), which identifies a particular combination of a starting symbol (S) and a length (L) of the time-domain allocation for PDSCH.
  • S can be any symbol 0-13 and L can be any number of symbols beginning with S until the end of the slot (i.e., symbol 13).
  • the SLIV can be used as a look-up table index to find the associated (S, L) combination.
  • offset K2 is part of a UE’s PUSCH TDRA provided by the network node, which also includes a corresponding SLIV.
  • a table listing multiple timing options can be configured via RRC. Subsequent DCIs can include indices to specific entries in the configured table.
  • the scheduling offsets shown in Figure 4 can be larger than zero, which facilitates both same-slot (zero offset) and cross-slot (non-zero offset) scheduling.
  • cross slot scheduling may be desirable for facilitating UE power savings by adaptively changing between upper and lower BWPs for PDCCH and PDSCH, respectively.
  • both the UE and the serving gNB maintain a HARQ entity and HARQ processes.
  • the maximum number of HARQ processes is configurable by the network via RRC and can range from two to 16.
  • the UE is the data receiver and HARQ transmitter, while the gNB is the data transmitter and HARQ receiver.
  • the UE is the data transmitter and HARQ transmitter, while the gNB is the data receiver and HARQ transmitter.
  • the gNB sends a NDI (New Data Indicator) bit in a DCI to inform the UE whether the scheduled data for a particular HARQ process is new transmission or a re transmission.
  • NDI New Data Indicator
  • the NDI value is different from the value in the DCI for the previous transmission, it means new DL data will be transmitted.
  • a similar mechanism is used for UE UL data transmissions based on NDI in DCI containing an UL grant.
  • a HARQ process can be either synchronous or asynchronous.
  • a UE For synchronous HARQ in UL and DL, a UE must use a specific HARQ process in a certain subframe. Due to this implicit relationship, the network does not need to include HARQ process information in DCI.
  • asynchronous HARQ in UL and DL there is no implicit relationship between subframe and HARQ process. Consequently, the network must provide explicit HARQ process information in DCI.
  • Asynchronous adaptive HARQ is also supported for NR UL and DL.
  • the UE In response to a DL data transmission, the UE sends an ACK/NAK on PUCCH based on one of the available HARQ formats. For example, if PDSCH was scheduled with DCI format 1 1, the UE’s HARQ feedback is for an entire transport block (TB) of data and consists of a single bit. In other cases, HARQ feedback can be provided on a code-block group (CBG) basis rather than for an entire TB.
  • CBG code-block group
  • Figure 5 shows an exemplary wireless system that illustrates the principles of CBG-based HARQ feedback.
  • the system 10 includes a transmit radio node 12 (e.g., a base station) and a receive radio node 14 (e.g., a user equipment, UE).
  • a transmit radio node 12 e.g., a base station
  • a receive radio node 14 e.g., a user equipment, UE
  • the transmit radio node 12 transmits one or more code blocks (CBs) 18-1,... 18-8 of a transport block 18 to the receive radio node 14 as part of a first transmission 16A.
  • This transport block 18 may be for instance the unit of data transmission in PDSCH, and each code block (CB) may be a block of data which is the input to a channel encoder for channel coding (e.g., turbo coding).
  • the CBs may be organized into first CBGs, as explained in more detail below.
  • the receive radio node 14 Upon receiving TB 18, the receive radio node 14 transmits feedback 20A to the transmit radio node 12.
  • This feedback 20A positively (e.g., ACK) or negatively (e.g., NAK) acknowledges each first CBGs into which transmitted CBs 18-1... 18-8 are allocated according to a first CB-to- CBG allocation 22-1.
  • Each CBG can include one or more CBs, such that acknowledgement is CBG-specific rather than CB- or TB-specific. For example, if any CB allocated to a particular CBG is erroneously received, that particular CBG is negatively acknowledged (NAK). Only if all CBs allocated to a particular CBG are correctly received will that particular CBG be positively acknowledged (ACK).
  • the first CB-to-CBG allocation 22-1 allocates CBs 18- 1, 18-2, 18-3, and 18-4 to first CBG 22-1 A and allocates CBs 18-5, 18-6, 18-7, and 18-8 to first CBG 22-1B.
  • Feedback 20A positively acknowledges first CBG 22-1 A based on the receive radio node 14 correctly receiving all of CBs 18-1, 18-2, 18-3, and 18-4.
  • feedback 20A negatively acknowledges first CBG 22-1B based on the receive radio node 14 erroneously receiving at least one of CB 18-5, 18-6, 18-7, and 18-8.
  • the feedback 20A includes a number of acknowledgement bits that is equal to a number of first CBGs received; that is, the feedback 20 A includes two bits 20 A- 1 and 20A-2 to acknowledge the corresponding two first CBGs 22-1 A and 22-1B.
  • Each acknowledgement bit is shown as an ACK or NAK with respect to the corresponding first CBG.
  • the transmit radio node re-transmits to the receive radio node 14 any CBs included in first CBGs that were negatively acknowledged by feedback 20A.
  • transmit radio node 12 re-transmits CBs 18-5, 18-6, 18-7, and 18-8 because those are the CBs that were allocated to first CBG 22-1B, for which a NAK was received.
  • the transmit radio node 12 does not re-transmit the CBs that were allocated to first CBG 22-1 A, for which an ACK was received.
  • retransmitting a particular CB can include transmitting a redundancy version (RV) of that CB that is different than a previously transmitted RV of that CB (i.e., different sets of coded bits for the given CB may be transmitted across different transmissions of that given CB).
  • RV redundancy version
  • the receive radio node 14 transmits feedback 20B to the transmit radio node 12.
  • This feedback 20B positively or negatively acknowledges each second CBG into which the one or more re-transmitted CBs 18-5... 18-8 are allocated according to a second CB-to-CBG allocation 22-2.
  • the feedback 20B similarly includes a number of acknowledgement bits that is equal to the number of second CBGs to be positively or negatively acknowledged by that feedback 20B; that is, the feedback 20B includes two bits 20B-1 and 20B-2 corresponding to respective second CBGs 22-2 A and 22-2B. Each acknowledgement bit as shown positively or negatively acknowledging a corresponding second CBG.
  • the number of bits comprising an HARQ feedback field and the meanings associated with various combinations of bit values are defined based on a HARQ ACK codebook.
  • the UE can derive the HARQ ACK codebook based on information received from the network, e.g., using a predefined HARQ ACK codebook determination algorithm.
  • 3GPP specifications include three different HARQ ACK codebook determinations: CBG-based, Type-1 (e.g., for semi-static HARQ codebook), and Type-2 (e.g., for dynamic HARQ codebook).
  • the UE can determine two different HARQ ACK codebooks, one associated with a higher-priority PUCCH and another associated with a lower-priority PUCCH.
  • one or more codebooks are determined for HARQ feedback to be transmitted on PUCCH at the K1 offset from the PDSCH carrying the DL data to be acknowledged.
  • bits from the higher-priority HARQ ACK codebook supersede and/or replace bits from the lower-priority HARQ ACK codebook even if bits from both codebooks can be accommodated in PUCCH. This can be spectrally inefficient.
  • codepoints in the current HARQ ACK codebooks can represent either feedback for an entire TB or individual CBs of the TB. This arrangement can be inflexible and may not adequately address future needs.
  • an NR slot can also be arranged with various combinations of UL and DL symbols, including DL-only slots, “DL-heavy” slots (e.g., one UL symbol), and “UL- heavy” slot with a single DL symbol carrying DL control information.
  • multiple Transmit Time Interval (multi-TTI) UL scheduling can be used to reduce the need for DL subframes that contain UL grants.
  • a single DCI can provide UL grants for a UE’s PUSCH transmissions in multiple subframes (or TTIs).
  • Each of the UL grants can be associated with a different HARQ process between the UE and the gNB, although the different processes may be correlated (to some degree) in order for the gNB to schedule them using a single DCI.
  • a single DCI can provide scheduling information for PDSCH transmissions in multiple subframes (or TTIs), which may be associated with different (albeit correlated) HARQ processes.
  • current multi-TTI scheduling mechanisms do not consider whether UL or DL transmissions scheduled by a single DCI are for HARQ processes that are correlated in some manner.
  • NR Rel-16 supports SCS up to 240 kHz, which can be used for carrier frequencies up to 52.6 GHz. Support for higher SCS (e.g., 960 kHz and above) has been proposed for the 52.6-71 GHz band.
  • the finest granularity of time resources in NR is one OFDM symbol and, as illustrated in Table 1, symbol duration is inversely proportional to SCS. As such, the number of OFDM symbols in a given transmission time interval (TTI, e.g., 1 ms) increases proportionally with the SCS.
  • TTI transmission time interval
  • scheduling the use of time resources (and the corresponding signaling) is based on units of slots or symbols.
  • the signaling overhead is dependent on the granularity of the scheduling/signaling. For higher frequency band using higher SCS, it is neither necessary nor reasonable to schedule based on units of slots, mini-slots, or symbols since the slot duration is very short. For example, a slot duration for 960 kHz SCS is approximately 15.7 ps. Scheduling for such slot durations would severely constrain hardware and software resources in the network (e.g., in gNBs serving cells). As such, it would be beneficial to schedule in units of multiple slots for higher SCS. However, SLIV fields in DCI would be very large if NR Rel-16 frame structures and signaling procedures were used for multi-slot scheduling.
  • Embodiments of the present disclosure address these and other problems, difficulties, and/or issues by providing flexible and efficient mechanisms for configuring and scheduling HARQ feedback, particularly in relation to HARQ ACK codebooks and multi-TTI scheduling for correlated HARQ processes. In this manner, embodiments address the exemplary problems for current implementations discussed above. Furthermore, embodiments facilitate more flexible configuration of resources in NR networks, and improve usage efficiency of UL and DL channels used for data transmission and HARQ responses (e g., PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH).
  • the time of applicability of a HARQ ACK codebook (e.g., derived via a codebook determination algorithm) can be variable and/or configurable.
  • a HARQ ACK codebook can be allocated to provide feedback at different times, such as:
  • a DCI (or other control signaling) can include various parameters to represent a time window for feedback to be provided.
  • a minimum time period after the PDSCH is received during which the UE will not provide HARQ feedback is configured by the gNB considering potential UE processing time (i.e., decoding of PDSCH, and encoding HARQ feedback, BWP switching, etc.). If the UE is assigned PUCCH resources during this time period for transmitting HARQ feedback, the UE will ignore the assigned PUCCH resources.
  • the gNB can configure the UE with a maximum duration after reception of the PDSCH that the UE should wait for a DL assignment for another PDSCH (re)transmission associated with this HARQ process.
  • a DL assignment would include a new data indicator (NDI). If no DL assignment has been received at the end of the duration, this could indicate that the gNB has not received the UE’s most recent feedback. Accordingly, the UE will attempt to provide HARQ feedback for this HARQ process at the end of the duration.
  • NDI new data indicator
  • the UE will attempt to transmit the HARQ feedback process using a PUSCH resource.
  • the UE can transmit the PUSCH containing only HARQ feedback or multiplex HARQ feedback with other information.
  • the UE can send a scheduling request (SR) for resources to transmit the HARQ feedback.
  • SR scheduling request
  • the gNB can configure specific SR resources for this purpose (e.g., a specific SR configuration).
  • the gNB can decide whether to grant the UE PUSCH or PUCCH resources for the HARQ feedback.
  • the UE can transmit the HARQ feedback using the granted resource.
  • the UE may receive a DCI from the gNB requesting HARQ feedback for the HARQ process before receiving gNB’s response.
  • the DCI may also indicate PUCCH resource for HARQ feedback. In this case, the UE can ignore the PUCCH resource indicated by the DCI.
  • a gNB can configure a UE (e.g., via RRC) with a retransmission timer for a HARQ process associated with a PDSCH.
  • the timer is started when the UE (re)transmits HARQ feedback for the HARQ process. While the timer is running, the UE will not retransmit HARQ feedback for this HARQ process.
  • the UE receives the gNB’s response for this HARQ process (e.g., a DL assignment indicating another PDSCH (re)transmission), the UE can stop the timer.
  • the UE can retransmit HARQ feedback for this HARQ process.
  • the gNB may also configure a maximum number of HARQ feedback retransmission attempts by the UE. When the UE reaches the maximum number of HARQ feedback retransmission attempts for a HARQ process, the UE will stop the retransmission timer for this HARQ process.
  • the gNB can configure one of multiple available HARQ feedback mechanisms (e.g., by the gNB) for a HARQ process associated with a PUSCH.
  • the gNB may configure one of the following HARQ feedback mechanisms for a HARQ process:
  • Implicit HARQ ACK/NAK a. Indicates ACK by providing an UL grant indicating a new transmission associated with the HARQ process; b. Indicates NAK by providing an UL grant indicating a retransmission associated with the HARQ process; c. Indicates ACK by expiry of a first timer associated with the HARQ process; or d. Indicates NAK by expiry of a second timer associated with the HARQ process.
  • a single HARQ ACK codebook can be constructed to include HARQ feedback bits from higher- and lower- priority transmissions.
  • feedback bits can be arranged to include priority as a dimension with carrier/cells, time, etc. being examples of other codebook dimensions.
  • feedback bits can be arranged for each priority as in Rel-16 but extended to all the priorities within the same codebook, such that the codebooks associated with the two (or more generally, N) priorities are joined, merged, and/or combined.
  • a restriction can be configured if the feedback bits of different priorities can be placed in same codebook.
  • the restriction can be derived based on a logical channel (LCH) or LCH group (LCG) associated with a HARQ process, or can be indicated in a DCI.
  • LCH logical channel
  • LCG LCH group
  • a UE can be configured to send HARQ feedback for a CBG containing N CBs according to one of several available options. For example, both the UE and the gNB can be aware of the available options and the gNB can indicate one of them to the UE (e.g., via RRC, MAC CE, or DCI). Available options can include any of the following:
  • UE sends one ACK/NAK for CBs 1-2 and one ACK/NAK for CBs 3-4. For example, UE sends ACK if both CBs 1-2 are decoded correctly but otherwise NAK, with a similar arrangement for CBs 3-4. As another example, UE sends ACK if either of CBs 1-2 are decoded correctly but otherwise NAK, with a similar arrangement for CBs 3-4.
  • Combinations of the above options can also be used, with different options enabled/disabled (e.g., via DCI or RRC) at different times and/or for different conditions.
  • a gNB can configure a UE to transmit per-CB HARQ feedback initially and then later configure the UE to use per-CBG feedback instead.
  • the gNB can configure the UE to use different feedback options concurrently for different active HARQ processes.
  • a UE can be requested to transmit HARQ feedback (e.g., for PDSCH) associated with and/or corresponding to particular instances or resources in the time domain, including any of the following:
  • a gNB can transmit HARQ feedback (e.g., for PUSCH) associated with and/or corresponding to particular instances or resources in the time domain, including any of the following:
  • an appropriate HARQ feedback structure can be constructed to accommodate the feedback to be provided, e.g., a HARQ ACK codebook in which the feedback is mapped to available codepoints.
  • the timing offset parameters K0 (PDCCH to PDSCH), K1 (PDSCH to HARQ), and/or K2 (PDCCH to PUSCH) can be defined in a flexible manner in terms of various units of time, rather than only in units of slots.
  • the values in K0, Kl, and/or K2 can be used to represent any of the following time units:
  • the particular time unit to be used in conjunction with values of K0, Kl, and/or K2 can be configured via RRC or can be indicated in a scheduling DCI, e.g., along with the particular value.
  • a SLIV e.g., for K0 or K2
  • a SLIV can also indicate the particular time unit associated with the start and length values for the time-domain allocation (e.g., for PDSCH or PUSCH).
  • a new timing DCI to PDSCH can be configured and notified in the same DCF
  • a UE can inform a gNB of a currently configured or minimum value for K2, i.e., from scheduling DCI to PUSCH. For example, the UE can send this information in a SR or buffer status report (BSR) requesting PUSCH resources. In some embodiments, a UE can inform a gNB of a currently configured absolute time for a PUSCH or HARQ codebook or any other UL transmission allocation on the resource grid.
  • BSR buffer status report
  • a single DCI can make resource allocations associated with multiple HARQ processes (e.g., multi-TTI scheduling).
  • Each HARQ process can be allocated resources based on various parameters, any of which can be the same (except as noted below), different than, or derived from corresponding parameters associated with resources allocated for other HARQ processes by the single DCI.
  • any of the following parameters associated with resources of a second HARQ process can be the same as, or derived from, the corresponding parameters associated with resources allocated for a first HARQ process by the same DCI:
  • priorities e.g., different HARQ ACK codebooks
  • feedback policy e.g., type allowed if enabled
  • Time-domain resource allocation (e.g., SLIV, can be derived from but not same).
  • a single DCI can schedule and/or allocate resources for multiple HARQ processes that differ in any of the following aspects:
  • priority e.g., different HARQ ACK codebooks
  • MCS repetitions
  • RVs etc.
  • the DCI can include listen-before-talk (LBT) or clear-channel assessment (CCA) parameters for the unlicensed spectrum.
  • LBT listen-before-talk
  • CCA clear-channel assessment
  • parameters that are common between the licensed and unlicensed spectrum allocations e.g., MCS, priority, RVs, etc. only need to be included once in the DCI.
  • a single DCI can provide dynamic allocations for PUSCH and/or PDSCH, and also to activate/deactivate DL SPS or an UL CG.
  • a single DCI can activate or deactivate an NR DL SPS in licensed spectrum and two NR UL CGs in unlicensed spectrum (e.g., for NR-U), as well as providing a dynamic PDSCH allocation in LTE spectrum.
  • the gNB can configure (e.g., via RRC) a table in the UE for different combinations of values for the various parameters associated with resource allocations, e.g., MCS, repetitions, RVs, priorities, etc.
  • the table can include entries for commonly used combinations and/or combinations associated with particular services, along with other entries that may be useful for increased data rate, increased reliability, etc.
  • the table can include a first entry corresponding to lowest MCS value with two repetitions of RV pattern (0,1), along with a second entry corresponding to a higher MCS value with the same repetitions and RV pattern.
  • the table can include entries corresponding to UL resource grants (e.g., for PUSCH) and other entries corresponding to DL resource assignments (e.g., for PDSCH).
  • the gNB can send a single DCI including one or more indices, with each index pointing to a table entry.
  • the DCI can also include other parameters not included in the table, such as SLIV, HARQ process ID, etc.
  • the UE can combine the parameter values of the indexed table entry(s) together with the other parameter values included in the DCI to determine the set of parameters associated with each UL or DL resource allocation provided in the DCI. Subsequently, the UE can apply the determined sets of parameters when using the respective allocations provided in the DCI, e.g., for UL transmission on PUSCH or DL reception on PDSCH.
  • Figures 6- 7, depict exemplary methods performed by a network node and a UE, respectively.
  • various features of operations described below correspond to various aspects of embodiments described above.
  • the exemplary methods depicted by Figures 6-7 can be used cooperatively to provide various exemplary benefits and/or advantages described herein.
  • the exemplary methods are illustrated in Figures 6-7 by specific blocks in particular orders, the operations corresponding to the blocks can be performed in different orders than shown and can be combined and/or divided into blocks having different functionality than shown.
  • Optional blocks and/or operations are indicated by dashed lines.
  • Figure 6 illustrates an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a network node to communicate via a data channel with a UE, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • the exemplary method shown in Figure 6 can be performed by a network node (e.g., eNB, gNB, ng-e B, etc. or component thereof) in a wireless network, (e.g., E-UTRAN, NG-RAN), such as network nodes described elsewhere herein.
  • a network node e.g., eNB, gNB, ng-e B, etc. or component thereof
  • a wireless network e.g., E-UTRAN, NG-RAN
  • the exemplary method can include the operations of block 610, where the network node can transmit, to the UE, a configuration associated with HARQ feedback for the data channel.
  • the configuration can include at least one HARQ codebook comprising a plurality of codepoints and a duration of applicability for the at least one HARQ codebook.
  • the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 620, where the network node can transmit or receive data via the data channel.
  • the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 630, where the network node can receive or transmit HARQ feedback associated with the data in accordance with the configuration.
  • the HARQ feedback includes one or more codepoints from the at least one HARQ codebook and is received or transmitted during the duration of applicability.
  • the duration of applicability is indicated (e.g., in the configuration) by one of the following: • specific start and end times of the duration;
  • the at least one HARQ codebook includes a single HARQ codebook including codepoints for transmissions of a plurality of priorities. In other embodiments, the at least one HARQ codebook includes a plurality of HARQ codebook including codepoints for transmissions of a respective plurality of priorities.
  • the configuration includes one or more of the following associated with a first HARQ process between the UE and network node: an initial value for a HARQ feedback retransmission timer maintained by the UE; and a maximum number of retransmission attempts for HARQ feedback.
  • transmitting or receiving data in block 620 can include the operations of sub-block 621, where the network node can transmit data associated with the first HARQ process.
  • receiving or transmitting HARQ feedback in block 630 can include the operations of sub-block 631, where the network node can receive HARQ feedback for the data associated with the first HARQ process.
  • the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 640, where the network node can send, to the UE, an indication that the network node received the HARQ feedback for the data associated with the first HARQ process.
  • the indication can be a DL assignment by the network node for the UE to receive data associated with the first HARQ process or with a second HARQ process.
  • transmitting or receiving data in block 620 can include the operations of sub-block 622, where the network node can receive data associated with a first HARQ process between the UE and the network node.
  • the configuration can include an indication of whether feedback associated with the first HARQ process is explicit or implicit.
  • receiving or transmitting the HARQ feedback in block 630 can include the operations of sub-block 632, where the network node can, when the indication indicates implicit HARQ feedback, provide a positive acknowledgement (ACK) of the data based on one of the following:
  • receiving or transmitting the HARQ feedback in block 630 can also include the operations of sub-block 633, where the network node can, when the indication indicates implicit HARQ feedback, provide an indication of a negative acknowledgement (NAK) of the data based on one or more of the following:
  • NAK negative acknowledgement
  • the data includes a code block group (CBG) comprising a plurality of code blocks and the configuration indicates one of the following modes for the HARQ feedback: one indication per code block; one indication per CBG; or one indication per subset of CBs in each CBG, with each subset including a plurality of CBs.
  • CBG code block group
  • the one indication per CBG comprises a positive acknowledgement (ACK) based on all code blocks of the CBG being decoded successfully, or alternately based on a number of successfully decoded code blocks of the CBG being greater than a threshold.
  • ACK positive acknowledgement
  • the configuration is transmitted in a DCI message that indicates resources for the transmitting or receiving of the data, which is associated with first and second HARQ processes (i.e., between the UE and network node).
  • the DCI indicates at least one of the following parameters that differs between the first and second HARQ processes: initial transmission vs. retransmission; uplink vs. downlink transmission; dynamic vs. semi-static or configured (e.g., DL SPS or UL CG); sub-carrier spacings; frequency ranges (e.g., FR1 vs. FR2); licensed vs. unlicensed spectrum; priorities; HARQ feedback policy; HARQ codebooks; modulation and coding schemes (MCS); numbers of repetitions; redundancy versions (RVs); MIMO transmission or precoding; and time-domain resource allocation.
  • MCS modulation and coding schemes
  • Figure 7 illustrates another exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a UE to communicate via a data channel with a network node in a wireless network, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • the exemplary method shown in Figure 7 can be performed by a UE (e.g., wireless device), such as UEs described elsewhere herein.
  • the exemplary method can include the operations of block 710, where the UE can receive, from the network node, a configuration associated with HARQ feedback for the data channel.
  • the configuration can include at least one HARQ codebook comprising a plurality of codepoints and a duration of applicability for the at least one HARQ codebook.
  • the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 720, where the UE can transmit or receive data via the data channel.
  • the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 730, where the UE can receive or transmit HARQ feedback associated with the data in accordance with the configuration.
  • the HARQ feedback includes one or more codepoints from the at least one HARQ codebook and is received or transmitted during the duration of applicability.
  • the duration of applicability is indicated (e.g., in the configuration) by one of the following:
  • the at least one HARQ codebook includes a single HARQ codebook including codepoints for transmissions of a plurality of priorities. In other embodiments, the at least one HARQ codebook includes a plurality of HARQ codebook including codepoints for transmissions of a respective plurality of priorities.
  • the configuration includes one or more of the following associated with a first HARQ process between the UE and network node: an initial value for a HARQ feedback retransmission timer maintained by the UE; and a maximum number of retransmission attempts for HARQ feedback.
  • transmitting or receiving data in block 720 can include the operations of sub-block 721, where the UE can receive data associated with the first HARQ process.
  • the operations of block 730 can include the operations of sub-blocks 731-734.
  • the UE can transmit HARQ feedback for the data associated with the first HARQ process, initiate the HARQ feedback retransmission timer based on the initial value, and increment a count of retransmission attempts.
  • the UE can, upon expiration of the HARQ retransmission timer without receiving an indication that the network node received the transmitted HARQ feedback, repeat the transmitting, initiating, and incrementing operations (i.e., of sub-blocks 731-733) unless the count is equal to the maximum number.
  • the indication can be a DL assignment by the network node for receiving data associated with the first HARQ process or with a second HARQ process.
  • transmitting or receiving data in block 720 can include the operations of sub-block 722, where the UE can transmit data associated with a first HARQ process between the UE and the network node.
  • the configuration can include an indication of whether feedback associated with the first HARQ process is explicit or implicit.
  • receiving or transmitting the HARQ feedback in block 730 can include the operations of sub-block 735, where the UE can, when the indication indicates implicit HARQ feedback, monitor for an ACK of the data based on one of the following:
  • receiving or transmitting the HARQ feedback in block 730 can include the operations of sub-block 736, where the UE can, when the indication indicates implicit HARQ feedback, monitor for a NAK of the data based on one of the following:
  • N/T indications e.g., ACKs or NAKs
  • the one indication per CBG comprises a positive acknowledgement (ACK) based on all code blocks of the CBG being decoded successfully, or alternately based on a number of successfully decoded code blocks of the CBG being greater than a threshold.
  • ACK positive acknowledgement
  • the configuration is received in a DCI message that indicates resources for the transmitting or receiving of the data, which is associated with first and second HARQ processes (i.e., between the UE and network node).
  • the DCI indicates at least one of the following parameters that differs between the first and second HARQ processes: initial transmission vs. retransmission; uplink vs. downlink transmission; dynamic vs. semi-static or configured (e.g., DL SPS or UL CG); sub-carrier spacings; frequency ranges (e.g., FR1 vs. FR2); licensed vs. unlicensed spectrum; priorities; HARQ feedback policy; HARQ codebooks; modulation and coding schemes (MCS); numbers of repetitions; redundancy versions (RVs); MIMO transmission or precoding; and time-domain resource allocation.
  • MCS modulation and coding schemes
  • FIG 8 shows a block diagram of an exemplary wireless device or user equipment (UE) 800 (hereinafter referred to as “UE 800”) according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, including those described above with reference to other figures.
  • UE 800 can be configured by execution of instructions, stored on a computer-readable medium, to perform operations corresponding to one or more of the exemplary methods and/or procedures described above.
  • UE 800 can include a processor 810 (also referred to as “processing circuitry”) that can be operably connected to a program memory 820 and/or a data memory 830 via a bus 870 that can comprise parallel address and data buses, serial ports, or other methods and/or structures known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
  • Program memory 820 can store software code, programs, and/or instructions (collectively shown as computer program product 821 in Figure 8) that, when executed by processor 810, can configure and/or facilitate UE 800 to perform various operations, including operations described below.
  • execution of such instructions can configure and/or facilitate UE 800 to communicate using one or more wired or wireless communication protocols, including one or more wireless communication protocols standardized by 3GPP, 3GPP2, or IEEE, such as those commonly known as 5G/NR, LTE, LTE-A, UMTS, HSPA, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, lxRTT, CDMA2000, 802.11 WiFi, HDMI, USB, Firewire, etc., or any other current or future protocols that can be utilized in conjunction with radio transceiver 840, user interface 850, and/or control interface 860.
  • 3GPP 3GPP2
  • IEEE such as those commonly known as 5G/NR, LTE, LTE-A, UMTS, HSPA, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, lxRTT, CDMA2000, 802.11 WiFi, HDMI, USB, Firewire, etc., or any other current or future protocols that can be utilized in conjunction with radio transceiver 840, user interface 850, and/or control interface 860.
  • processor 810 can execute program code stored in program memory 820 that corresponds to MAC, RLC, PDCP, and RRC layer protocols standardized by 3 GPP (e.g., for NR and/or LTE).
  • processor 810 can execute program code stored in program memory 820 that, together with radio transceiver 840, implements corresponding PHY layer protocols, such as Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), and Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA).
  • processor 810 can execute program code stored in program memory 820 that, together with radio transceiver 840, implements device-to-device (D2D) communications with other compatible devices and/or UEs.
  • D2D device-to-device
  • Program memory 820 can also include software code executed by processor 810 to control the functions of UE 800, including configuring and controlling various components such as radio transceiver 840, user interface 850, and/or host interface 860.
  • Program memory 820 can also comprise one or more application programs and/or modules comprising computer-executable instructions embodying any of the exemplary methods and/or procedures described herein.
  • Such software code can be specified or written using any known or future developed programming language, such as e.g., Java, C++, C, Objective C, HTML, XHTML, machine code, and Assembler, as long as the desired functionality, e.g. , as defined by the implemented method steps, is preserved.
  • program memory 820 can comprise an external storage arrangement (not shown) remote from UE 800, from which the instructions can be downloaded into program memory 820 located within or removably coupled to UE 800, so as to enable execution of such instructions.
  • Data memory 830 can include memory area for processor 810 to store variables used in protocols, configuration, control, and other functions of UE 800, including operations corresponding to, or comprising, any of the exemplary methods and/or procedures described herein.
  • program memory 820 and/or data memory 830 can include non-volatile memory (e.g, flash memory), volatile memory (e.g, static or dynamic RAM), or a combination thereof.
  • data memory 830 can comprise a memory slot by which removable memory cards in one or more formats (e.g, SD Card, Memory Stick, Compact Flash, etc.) can be inserted and removed.
  • processor 810 can include multiple individual processors (including, e.g, multi-core processors), each of which implements a portion of the functionality described above. In such cases, multiple individual processors can be commonly connected to program memory 820 and data memory 830 or individually connected to multiple individual program memories and or data memories. More generally, persons of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various protocols and other functions of UE 800 can be implemented in many different computer arrangements comprising different combinations of hardware and software including, but not limited to, application processors, signal processors, general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, ASICs, fixed and/or programmable digital circuitry, analog baseband circuitry, radio-frequency circuitry, software, firmware, and middleware.
  • Radio transceiver 840 can include radio-frequency transmitter and/or receiver functionality that facilitates the UE 800 to communicate with other equipment supporting like wireless communication standards and/or protocols.
  • the radio transceiver 840 includes one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that enable UE 800 to communicate according to various protocols and/or methods proposed for standardization by 3GPP and/or other standards bodies.
  • such functionality can operate cooperatively with processor 810 to implement a PHY layer based on OFDM, OFDMA, and/or SC-FDMA technologies, such as described herein with respect to other figures.
  • radio transceiver 840 includes one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that can facilitate the UE 800 to communicate with various LTE, LTE- Advanced (LTE- A), and/or NR networks according to standards promulgated by 3 GPP.
  • the radio transceiver 840 includes circuitry, firmware, etc. necessary for the UE 800 to communicate with various NR, NR-U, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-LAA, UMTS, and/or GSM/EDGE networks, also according to 3GPP standards.
  • radio transceiver 840 can include circuitry supporting D2D communications between UE 800 and other compatible devices.
  • radio transceiver 840 includes circuitry, firmware, etc. necessary for the UE 800 to communicate with various CDMA2000 networks, according to 3GPP2 standards.
  • the radio transceiver 840 can be capable of communicating using radio technologies that operate in unlicensed frequency bands, such as IEEE 802.11 WiFi that operates using frequencies in the regions of 2.4, 5.6, and/or 60 GHz.
  • radio transceiver 840 can include a transceiver that is capable of wired communication, such as by using IEEE 802.3 Ethernet technology.
  • the functionality particular to each of these embodiments can be coupled with and/or controlled by other circuitry in the UE 800, such as the processor 810 executing program code stored in program memory 820 in conjunction with, and/or supported by, data memory 830.
  • User interface 850 can take various forms depending on the particular embodiment of UE 800, or can be absent from UE 800 entirely.
  • user interface 850 can comprise a microphone, a loudspeaker, slidable buttons, depressible buttons, a display, a touchscreen display, a mechanical or virtual keypad, a mechanical or virtual keyboard, and/or any other user-interface features commonly found on mobile phones.
  • the UE 800 can comprise a tablet computing device including a larger touchscreen display.
  • one or more of the mechanical features of the user interface 850 can be replaced by comparable or functionally equivalent virtual user interface features (e.g ., virtual keypad, virtual buttons, etc.) implemented using the touchscreen display, as familiar to persons of ordinary skill in the art.
  • the UE 800 can be a digital computing device, such as a laptop computer, desktop computer, workstation, etc. that comprises a mechanical keyboard that can be integrated, detached, or detachable depending on the particular exemplary embodiment.
  • a digital computing device can also comprise a touch screen display.
  • Many exemplary embodiments of the UE 800 having a touch screen display are capable of receiving user inputs, such as inputs related to exemplary methods and/or procedures described herein or otherwise known to persons of ordinary skill in the art.
  • UE 800 can include an orientation sensor, which can be used in various ways by features and functions of UE 800.
  • the UE 800 can use outputs of the orientation sensor to determine when a user has changed the physical orientation of the UE 800’s touch screen display.
  • An indication signal from the orientation sensor can be available to any application program executing on the UE 800, such that an application program can change the orientation of a screen display ( e.g ., from portrait to landscape) automatically when the indication signal indicates an approximate 90-degree change in physical orientation of the device.
  • the application program can maintain the screen display in a manner that is readable by the user, regardless of the physical orientation of the device.
  • the output of the orientation sensor can be used in conjunction with various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • a control interface 860 of the UE 800 can take various forms depending on the particular exemplary embodiment of UE 800 and of the particular interface requirements of other devices that the UE 800 is intended to communicate with and/or control.
  • the control interface 860 can comprise an RS-232 interface, a USB interface, an HDMI interface, a Bluetooth interface, an IEEE (“Firewire”) interface, an I 2 C interface, a PCMCIA interface, or the like.
  • control interface 860 can comprise an IEEE 802.3 Ethernet interface such as described above.
  • the control interface 860 can comprise analog interface circuitry including, for example, one or more digital-to-analog (D/A) and/or analog-to-digital (A/D) converters.
  • the UE 800 can comprise more functionality than is shown in Figure 8 including, for example, a video and/or still-image camera, microphone, media player and/or recorder, etc.
  • radio transceiver 840 can include circuitry necessary to communicate using additional radio-frequency communication standards including Bluetooth, GPS, and/or others.
  • the processor 810 can execute software code stored in the program memory 820 to control such additional functionality.
  • exemplary network node 900 can be configured by execution of instructions, stored on a computer-readable medium, to perform operations corresponding to one or more of the exemplary methods and/or procedures described above.
  • network node 900 can comprise a base station, eNB, gNB, or one or more components thereof.
  • network node 900 can be configured as a central unit (CU) and one or more distributed units (DUs) according to NR gNB architectures specified by 3GPP. More generally, the functionally of network node 900 can be distributed across various physical devices and/or functional units, modules, etc.
  • CU central unit
  • DUs distributed units
  • 3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project
  • Network node 900 can include processor 910 (also referred to as “processing circuitry”) that is operably connected to program memory 920 and data memory 930 via bus 970, which can include parallel address and data buses, serial ports, or other methods and/or structures known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
  • processor 910 also referred to as “processing circuitry”
  • bus 970 can include parallel address and data buses, serial ports, or other methods and/or structures known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
  • Program memory 920 can store software code, programs, and/or instructions (collectively shown as computer program product 921 in Figure 9) that, when executed by processor 910, can configure and/or facilitate network node 900 to perform various operations. For example, execution of such stored instructions can configure network node 900 to communicate with one or more other devices using protocols according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, including one or more exemplary methods and/or procedures discussed above.
  • Program memory 920 can also comprise software code executed by processor 910 that can facilitate and specifically configure network node 900 to communicate with one or more other devices using other protocols or protocol layers, such as one or more of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, and RRC layer protocols standardized by 3GPP for LTE, LTE-A, and/or NR, or any other higher-layer protocols utilized in conjunction with radio network interface 940 and core network interface 950.
  • core network interface 950 can comprise the SI interface and radio network interface 940 can comprise the Uu interface, as standardized by 3GPP.
  • Program memory 920 can further comprise software code executed by processor 910 to control the functions of network node 900, including configuring and controlling various components such as radio network interface 940 and core network interface 950.
  • Data memory 930 can comprise memory area for processor 910 to store variables used in protocols, configuration, control, and other functions of network node 900.
  • program memory 920 and data memory 930 can comprise non-volatile memory (e.g ., flash memory, hard disk, etc.), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic RAM), network-based (e.g, “cloud”) storage, or a combination thereof.
  • processor 910 can include multiple individual processors (not shown), each of which implements a portion of the functionality described above. In such case, multiple individual processors may be commonly connected to program memory 920 and data memory 930 or individually connected to multiple individual program memories and/or data memories.
  • network node 900 may be implemented in many different combinations of hardware and software including, but not limited to, application processors, signal processors, general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, ASICs, fixed digital circuitry, programmable digital circuitry, analog baseband circuitry, radio- frequency circuitry, software, firmware, and middleware.
  • Radio network interface 940 can comprise transmitters, receivers, signal processors, ASICs, antennas, beamforming units, and other circuitry that enables network node 900 to communicate with other equipment such as, in some embodiments, a plurality of compatible user equipment (UE). In some embodiments, interface 940 can also enable network node 900 to communicate with compatible satellites of a satellite communication network.
  • UE user equipment
  • radio network interface 940 can comprise various protocols or protocol layers, such as the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, and/or RRC layer protocols standardized by 3GPP for LTE, LTE- A, LTE-LAA, NR, NR-U, etc.; improvements thereto such as described herein above; or any other higher-layer protocols utilized in conjunction with radio network interface 940.
  • the radio network interface 940 can comprise a PHY layer based on OFDM, OFDMA, and/or SC-FDMA technologies.
  • the functionality of such a PHY layer can be provided cooperatively by radio network interface 940 and processor 910 (including program code in memory 920).
  • Core network interface 950 can comprise transmitters, receivers, and other circuitry that enables network node 900 to communicate with other equipment in a core network such as, in some embodiments, circuit-switched (CS) and/or packet-switched Core (PS) networks.
  • core network interface 950 can comprise the SI interface standardized by 3GPP.
  • core network interface 950 can comprise the NG interface standardized by 3GPP.
  • core network interface 950 can comprise one or more interfaces to one or more AMFs, SMFs, SGWs, MMEs, SGSNs, GGSNs, and other physical devices that comprise functionality found in GERAN, UTRAN, EPC, 5GC, and CDMA2000 core networks that are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art. In some embodiments, these one or more interfaces may be multiplexed together on a single physical interface.
  • lower layers of core network interface 950 can comprise one or more of asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), Internet Protocol (IP)-over-Ethemet, SDH over optical fiber, T1/E1/PDH over a copper wire, microwave radio, or other wired or wireless transmission technologies known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
  • ATM asynchronous transfer mode
  • IP Internet Protocol
  • SDH over optical fiber
  • T1/E1/PDH over a copper wire
  • microwave radio or other wired or wireless transmission technologies known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
  • network node 900 can include hardware and/or software that configures and/or facilitates network node 900 to communicate with other network nodes in a RAN, such as with other eNBs, gNBs, ng-eNBs, eNB-gNBs, IAB nodes, etc.
  • Such hardware and/or software can be part of radio network interface 940 and/or core network interface 950, or it can be a separate functional unit (not shown).
  • such hardware and/or software can configure and/or facilitate network node 900 to communicate with other RAN nodes via the X2 or Xn interfaces, as standardized by 3GPP.
  • OA&M interface 960 can comprise transmitters, receivers, and other circuitry that enables network node 900 to communicate with external networks, computers, databases, and the like for purposes of operations, administration, and maintenance of network node 900 or other network equipment operably connected thereto.
  • Lower layers of OA&M interface 960 can comprise one or more of asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), Internet Protocol (IP)-over-Ethemet, SDH over optical fiber, T1/E1/PDH over a copper wire, microwave radio, or other wired or wireless transmission technologies known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
  • ATM asynchronous transfer mode
  • IP Internet Protocol
  • SDH over optical fiber
  • T1/E1/PDH over optical fiber
  • T1/E1/PDH over a copper wire, microwave radio, or other wired or wireless transmission technologies known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
  • radio network interface 940, core network interface 950, and OA&M interface 960 may be multiplexed together on a single physical interface, such as the examples listed above.
  • FIG 10 is a block diagram of an exemplary communication network configured to provide over-the-top (OTT) data services between a host computer and a user equipment (UE), according to one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • UE 1010 can communicate with radio access network (RAN) 1030 over radio interface 1020, which can be based on protocols described above including, e.g ., LTE, LTE-A, and 5G/NR.
  • RAN radio access network
  • UE 1010 can be configured and/or arranged as shown in other figures discussed above.
  • RAN 1030 can include one or more terrestrial network nodes (e.g, base stations, eNBs, gNBs, controllers, etc.) operable in licensed spectrum bands, as well one or more network nodes operable in unlicensed spectrum (using, e.g, LAA or NR-U technology), such as a 2.4-GHz band and/or a 5-GHz band.
  • the network nodes comprising RAN 1030 can cooperatively operate using licensed and unlicensed spectrum.
  • RAN 1030 can include, or be capable of communication with, one or more satellites comprising a satellite access network.
  • RAN 1030 can further communicate with core network 1040 according to various protocols and interfaces described above.
  • one or more apparatus e.g, base stations, eNBs, gNBs, etc.
  • RAN 1030 and core network 1040 can be configured and/or arranged as shown in other figures discussed above.
  • eNBs comprising an E-UTRAN 1030 can communicate with an EPC core network 1040 via an SI interface, such as shown in Figure 1.
  • gNBs comprising a NR RAN 1030 can communicate with a 5GC core network 1030 via an NG interface.
  • Core network 1040 can further communicate with an external packet data network, illustrated in Figure 10 as Internet 1050, according to various protocols and interfaces known to persons of ordinary skill in the art. Many other devices and/or networks can also connect to and communicate via Internet 1050, such as exemplary host computer 1060.
  • host computer 1060 can communicate with UE 1010 using Internet 1050, core network 1040, and RAN 1030 as intermediaries.
  • Host computer 1060 can be a server (e.g ., an application server) under ownership and/or control of a service provider.
  • Host computer 1060 can be operated by the OTT service provider or by another entity on the service provider’s behalf.
  • host computer 1060 can provide an over-the-top (OTT) packet data service to UE 1010 using facilities of core network 1040 and RAN 1030, which can be unaware of the routing of an outgoing/incoming communication to/from host computer 1060.
  • host computer 1060 can be unaware of routing of a transmission from the host computer to the UE, e.g., the routing of the transmission through RAN 1030.
  • OTT services can be provided using the exemplary configuration shown in Figure 10 including, e.g, streaming (unidirectional) audio and/or video from host computer to UE, interactive (bidirectional) audio and/or video between host computer and UE, interactive messaging or social communication, interactive virtual or augmented reality, etc.
  • the exemplary network shown in Figure 10 can also include measurement procedures and/or sensors that monitor network performance metrics including data rate, latency and other factors that are improved by exemplary embodiments disclosed herein.
  • the exemplary network can also include functionality for reconfiguring the link between the endpoints (e.g. , host computer and UE) in response to variations in the measurement results.
  • Such procedures and functionalities are known and practiced; if the network hides or abstracts the radio interface from the OTT service provider, measurements can be facilitated by proprietary signaling between the UE and the host computer.
  • inventions described herein provide flexible and efficient mechanisms for configuring and scheduling HARQ feedback, particularly in relation to HARQ codebooks and multi-TTI scheduling for correlated HARQ processes. Furthermore, embodiments facilitate more flexible configuration of resources in wireless networks and improve usage efficiency of UL and DL channels used for data transmission and HARQ feedback (e.g., PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH).
  • HARQ feedback e.g., PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH.
  • exemplary embodiments described herein can provide various improvements, benefits, and/or advantages to OTT service providers and end-users, including more consistent data throughout and fewer delays without excessive UE power consumption, service interruptions, and/or other reductions in user experience.
  • the term unit can have conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and/or electronic devices and can include, for example, electrical and/or electronic circuitry, devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid state and/or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks, procedures, computations, outputs, and/or displaying functions, and so on, as such as those that are described herein.
  • any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual apparatuses.
  • Each virtual apparatus may comprise a number of these functional units.
  • These functional units may be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include Digital Signal Processor (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like.
  • the processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as Read Only Memory (ROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc.
  • Program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein.
  • the processing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unit to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • device and/or apparatus can be represented by a semiconductor chip, a chipset, or a (hardware) module comprising such chip or chipset; this, however, does not exclude the possibility that a functionality of a device or apparatus, instead of being hardware implemented, be implemented as a software module such as a computer program or a computer program product comprising executable software code portions for execution or being run on a processor.
  • functionality of a device or apparatus can be implemented by any combination of hardware and software.
  • a device or apparatus can also be regarded as an assembly of multiple devices and/or apparatuses, whether functionally in cooperation with or independently of each other.
  • devices and apparatuses can be implemented in a distributed fashion throughout a system, so long as the functionality of the device or apparatus is preserved. Such and similar principles are considered as known to a skilled person.
  • Example embodiments of the techniques and apparatus described herein include, but are not limited to, the following enumerated examples:
  • a method for a network node in a wireless network, for communicating via a data channel between the network node and a user equipment (UE) that supports hybrid ARQ (HARQ) feedback, the method comprising: transmitting, to the UE, a configuration associated with HARQ feedback for the data channel; transmitting or receiving data via the data channel; and receiving or transmitting HARQ feedback, associated with the data, in accordance with the configuration.
  • UE user equipment
  • HARQ hybrid ARQ
  • the configuration includes a single HARQ ACK codebook comprising a plurality of codepoints, including a first codepoint; the first codepoint corresponds to HARQ feedback for transmissions associated with first and second HARQ processes between the UE and network node; and the HARQ feedback comprises one of the codepoints from the HARQ ACK codebook.
  • the second HARQ process is a lower-priority HARQ process.
  • the first and second HARQ processes are associated with a first priority
  • the HARQ codebook comprises a second codepoint corresponding to HARQ feedback for transmissions associated with third and fourth HARQ processes between the UE and network node
  • the third and fourth HARQ processes are associated with a second priority different from the first priority.
  • transmitting or receiving data comprises transmitting data associated with the first and second HARQ processes via the data channel; and receiving or transmitting HARQ feedback comprises receiving HARQ feedback corresponding to the first codepoint.
  • A6 The method of any of embodiments A2-A5, wherein: the configuration indicates a duration of applicability for the HARQ ACK codebook; and receiving or transmitting the HARQ feedback is during the duration of applicability.
  • duration of applicability is indicated by one of the following: specific start and end times of the duration; a specific end time, in relation to when the configuration is transmitted; or a specific start time, in relation to when the configuration is transmitted.
  • A8 The method of any of embodiments A1-A7, wherein the configuration includes one or more of the following associated with a HARQ process between the UE and network: an initial value for a HARQ feedback retransmission timer maintained by the UE; and a maximum number of retransmission attempts for HARQ feedback.
  • the configuration includes an indication of a HARQ feedback mode associated with a HARQ process between the UE and network node; and the HARQ feedback mode is explicit or implicit.
  • the implicit HARQ feedback mode comprises an indication of a positive acknowledgement (ACK) based on one or more of the following: the network node providing an UL grant indicating a new transmission associated with the HARQ process; and expiration of a first timer, associated with the HARQ process, maintained by the UE.
  • ACK positive acknowledgement
  • the implicit HARQ feedback mode comprises an indication of a negative acknowledgement (NAK) based on one or more of the following: the network node providing an UL grant indicating a retransmission associated with the HARQ process; and expiration of a second timer, associated with the HARQ process, maintained by the UE.
  • NAK negative acknowledgement
  • A12 The method of any of embodiments Al-Al 1, wherein the configuration is transmitted in downlink control information (DCI) on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).
  • DCI downlink control information
  • PDCH physical downlink control channel
  • the DCI also includes first and second resource allocations for respective first and second HARQ processes between the UE and the network node; and the first and second resource allocations are associated with respective first and second sets of values for a plurality of parameters.
  • A14 The method of embodiment A13, wherein the first and second resource allocations differ in at least one of following aspects: initial transmission vs. retransmission; uplink vs. downlink transmission; dynamic vs. semi-static or configured; sub-carrier spacings; frequency ranges; licensed vs. unlicensed spectrum;
  • HARQ ACK codebooks modulation and coding schemes (MCS); numbers of repetitions; redundancy versions (RVs).
  • A15 The method of any of embodiments A13-A14, wherein: the DCI includes the first set of values and a portion of the second set of values corresponding to a subset of the parameters a further portion of the second set of values, not included in the DCI, are the same as or can be derived from the first set of values.
  • MIMO or precoder parameters MIMO or precoder parameters; and time-domain resource allocation.
  • the method further comprises configuring the UE with a table comprising a plurality of entries, each entry including respective values for a portion of the plurality of parameters; and the DCI includes a first index to a first table entry that includes the portion of the first set of values and a second index to a second table entry that includes the portion of the second set of values.
  • the first and second resource allocations include respective first and second time-domain resource allocations (TDRAs) for transmissions associated with the respective first and second HARQ processes; and each TDRA indicates a timing offset, relative to the DCI or the associated transmission, based on a value and a time unit associated with the value.
  • TDRAs time-domain resource allocations
  • time unit is one of the following: one OFDM symbol; multiple (N) OFDM symbols; one sub-slot or mini-slot; multiple (N) sub-slots or mini-slots; or multiple (N) slots.
  • transmitting or receiving data comprises: transmitting or receiving data associated with the first HARQ process, via the data channel, using the first resource allocation and based on the first set of values for the parameters; and transmitting or receiving data associated with the second HARQ process, via the data channel, using the second resource allocation and based on the second set of values for the parameters; and receiving or transmitting HARQ feedback comprises: receiving or transmitting HARQ feedback, for the data associated with the first HARQ process, based on the first set of values for the parameters; and receiving or transmitting HARQ feedback, for the data associated with the second HARQ process, based on the second set of values for the parameters.
  • the configuration includes an indication of one of a plurality of available modes to be used for HARQ feedback; and the plurality of available modes include at least two of the following: per codeblock (CB) of data; per CB group (CBG) of data, where a CBG includes a plurality of CBs; and per subset of CBs in each CBG, with each subset including a plurality of CBs.
  • CB codeblock
  • CBG per CB group
  • B 1 A method, for a user equipment (UE), for communicating via a data channel between the UE and the UE.
  • UE and a network node in a wireless network that supports hybrid ARQ (HARQ) feedback, the method comprising: receiving, from the network node, a configuration associated with HARQ feedback for the data channel; transmitting or receiving data via the data channel; and receiving or transmitting HARQ feedback in accordance with the configuration.
  • HARQ hybrid ARQ
  • the configuration includes a single HARQ ACK codebook comprising a plurality of codepoints, including a first codepoint; the first codepoint corresponds to HARQ feedback for transmissions associated with first and second HARQ processes between the EE and network node; and the HARQ feedback comprises one of the codepoints from the HARQ ACK codebook.
  • the second HARQ process is a lower-priority HARQ process.
  • the first and second HARQ processes are associated with a first priority
  • the HARQ codebook comprises a second codepoint corresponding to HARQ feedback for transmissions associated with third and fourth HARQ processes between the EE and network node
  • the third and fourth HARQ processes are associated with a second priority different from the first priority.
  • transmitting or receiving data comprises receiving data associated with the first and second HARQ processes via the data channel; the method further comprises determining whether the data was correctly received for each of the first and second HARQ processes; and receiving or transmitting the HARQ feedback comprises transmitting the first codepoint based on the result of the determination.
  • receiving or transmitting the HARQ feedback comprises performing the following operations: transmitting HARQ feedback for data associated with a first HARQ process; and initiating the HARQ feedback retransmission timer based on the initial value and incrementing a count of retransmission attempts; upon expiration of the HARQ retransmission timer without receiving an expected response from the network node, repeating the preceding operations unless the count is equal to the maximum number.
  • the configuration includes an indication of a HARQ feedback mode associated with a HARQ process between the UE and network node; and the HARQ feedback mode is explicit or implicit.
  • the implicit HARQ feedback mode comprises an indication of a positive acknowledgement (ACK) based on one or more of the following: the network node providing an UL grant indicating a new transmission associated with the HARQ process; and expiration of a first timer, associated with the HARQ process, maintained by the UE.
  • ACK positive acknowledgement
  • the implicit HARQ feedback mode comprises an indication of a negative acknowledgement (NAK) based on one or more of the following: the network node providing an UL grant indicating a retransmission associated with the HARQ process; and expiration of a second timer, associated with the HARQ process, maintained by the UE.
  • NAK negative acknowledgement
  • the DCI also includes first and second resource allocations for respective first and second HARQ processes between the UE and the network node; and the first and second resource allocations are associated with respective first and second sets of values for a plurality of parameters.
  • HARQ ACK codebooks modulation and coding schemes (MCS); numbers of repetitions; redundancy versions (RVs).
  • MIMO or precoder parameters MIMO or precoder parameters; and time-domain resource allocation.
  • the method further comprises receiving, from the network node, a table comprising a plurality of entries, each entry including respective values for a portion of the plurality of parameters; and the DCI includes a first index to a first table entry that includes the portion of the first set of values and a second index to a second table entry that includes the portion of the second set of values.
  • the first and second resource allocations include respective first and second time-domain resource allocations (TDRAs) for transmissions associated with the respective first and second HARQ processes; and each TDRA indicates a timing offset, relative to the DCI or the associated transmission, based on a value and a time unit associated with the value.
  • TDRAs time-domain resource allocations
  • time unit is one of the following: one OFDM symbol; multiple (N) OFDM symbols; one sub-slot or mini-slot; multiple (N) sub-slots or mini-slots; or multiple (N) slots.
  • transmitting or receiving data comprises: transmitting or receiving data associated with the first HARQ process, via the data channel, using the first resource allocation and based on the first set of values for the parameters; and transmitting or receiving data associated with the second HARQ process, via the data channel, using the second resource allocation and based on the second set of values for the parameters; and receiving or transmitting HARQ feedback comprises: receiving or transmitting HARQ feedback, for the data associated with the first HARQ process, based on the first set of values for the parameters; and receiving or transmitting HARQ feedback, for the data associated with the second HARQ process, based on the second set of values for the parameters.
  • the configuration includes an indication of one of a plurality of available modes to be used for HARQ feedback; and the plurality of available modes include at least two of the following: per codeblock (CB) of data; per CB group (CBG) of data, where a CBG includes a plurality of CBs; and per subset of CBs in each CBG, with each subset including a plurality of CBs.
  • CB codeblock
  • CBG per CB group
  • a network node in a wireless network, configured to communicate via a data channel between the network node and a user equipment (UE) that supports hybrid ARQ (HARQ) feedback, the network node comprising: radio network interface circuitry configured to communicate with the UE; and processing circuitry operatively coupled to the radio network interface circuitry, whereby the processing circuitry and the radio network interface circuitry are configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments Al- A22.
  • UE user equipment
  • HARQ hybrid ARQ
  • a network node in a wireless network, configured to communicate via a data channel between the network node and a user equipment (UE) that supports hybrid ARQ (HARQ) feedback, the network node being further arranged to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments A1-A22.
  • UE user equipment
  • HARQ hybrid ARQ
  • a non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a network node in a wireless network, configure the network node to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments A1-A22.
  • a computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a network node in a wireless network, configure the network node to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments A1-A22.
  • a user equipment configured to communicate via a data channel between the UE and a network node in a wireless network that supports hybrid ARQ (HARQ) feedback, the UE comprising: radio transceiver circuitry configured to communicate with the network node; and processing circuitry operatively coupled to the radio transceiver circuitry, whereby the processing circuitry and the radio transceiver circuitry are configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1-B23.
  • HARQ hybrid ARQ
  • a user equipment configured to communicate via a data channel between the UE and a network node in a wireless network that supports hybrid ARQ (HARQ) feedback, the UE being further arranged to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1-B23.
  • D3. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a user equipment (UE), configure the UE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1-B23.
  • a computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a user equipment (EE), configure the EE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1-B23.

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Abstract

Des modes de réalisation comprennent des procédés pour un nœud de réseau, dans un réseau sans fil, pour communiquer par l'intermédiaire d'un canal de données avec un équipement utilisateur (UE). De tels procédés comprennent la transmission, à l'UE, d'une configuration associée à une rétroaction ARQ hybride (HARQ) pour le canal de données. La configuration comprend au moins un livre de codes HARQ comprenant une pluralité de points de code et une durée d'applicabilité pour l'au moins un livre de codes HARQ. De tels procédés comprennent également la transmission ou la réception de données par l'intermédiaire du canal de données et la réception ou la transmission d'une rétroaction HARQ associée aux données conformément à la configuration. La rétroaction HARQ comprend un ou plusieurs points de code à partir de l'au moins un livre de codes HARQ et est reçue ou transmise pendant la durée d'applicabilité. D'autres modes de réalisation comprennent des procédés complémentaires d'un UE, ainsi que des nœuds de réseau et des UE configurés pour mettre en œuvre de tels procédés.
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