WO2023060597A1

WO2023060597A1 - Method, device and computer readable medium for communication

Info

Publication number: WO2023060597A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/124218
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gang Wang; Xiaohong Zhang; Lin Liang
Original assignee: Nec Corporation
Priority date: 2021-10-15
Filing date: 2021-10-15
Publication date: 2023-04-20

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods, devices and computer readable media for communication. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a terminal device receives, from a network device, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The terminal device determines a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) feedback for the PDSCH. If the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) is cancelled, the terminal device starts a first discontinuous reception (DRX) timer. The terminal device monitors a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for requesting a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback during running time of the first DRX timer In this way, it improves communication performances. It can also improve reliability and reduce latency of the HARQ feedback transmission.

Description

METHOD, DEVICE AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM FOR COMMUNICATION

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication, and in particular, to methods, devices and computer storage media for communication.

BACKGROUND

Several technologies have been proposed to improve communication performances. Discontinuous reception (DRX) is a method that is employed in various wireless technologies to allow a terminal device to turn its receiver off during periods of inactivity. DRX can be employed in both RRC idle mode and RRC connected mode. In communication systems, the terminal device is configured to use DRX to reduce power consumption and the terminal devices are expected to monitor one paging occasion (PO) per DRX cycle. In RRC idle mode, the DRX cycle is based on the paging cycle, as the terminal device expects to only receive paging messages. In RRC connected mode, the terminal device needs to monitor physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) search space for possible indication of incoming traffic.

SUMMARY

In general, embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods, devices and computer storage media for communications.

In a first aspect, there is provided a method of communication. The method comprises: receiving, at a terminal device and from a network device, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) ; determining a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) feedback for the PDSCH; in accordance with a determination that a transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) is cancelled, starting a first discontinuous reception (DRX) timer; and monitoring a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for requesting a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback during running time of the first DRX timer.

In a second aspect, there is provided a method of communication. The method comprises: determining a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) feedback for a semi persist scheduling physical downlink shared channel (SPS PDSCH) ; and in accordance with a determination that a transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) overlaps with a downlink symbol, monitoring, within a configured duration after the PUCCH, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for requesting a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK.

In a third aspect, there is provided a method of communication. The method comprises: transmitting, at a network device and to a terminal device, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) ; and in accordance with a determination that a transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) feedback for the PDSCH is cancelled, transmitting a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for requesting a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback during running time of a DRX timer.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a method of communication. The method comprises: in accordance with a determination that a transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) feedback for a semi persistent scheduling physical downlink shared channel (SPS PDSCH) on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) overlaps with a downlink symbol, transmitting, within a configured duration after the PUCCH, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for requesting a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a terminal device. The terminal device comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory stores instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the terminal device to perform: receiving, at a terminal device and from a network device, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) ; determining a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) feedback for the PDSCH; in accordance with a determination that a transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) is cancelled, starting a first discontinuous reception (DRX) timer; and monitoring a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for requesting a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback during running time of the first DRX timer.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a terminal device. The terminal device comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory stores instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the terminal device to perform: determining a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) feedback for a semi persist scheduling physical downlink shared channel (SPS PDSCH) ; and in accordance with a determination that a transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) overlaps with a downlink symbol, monitoring, within a configured duration after the PUCCH, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for requesting a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided a network device. The network device comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory stores instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the network to perform: transmitting, at a network device and to a terminal device, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) ; and in accordance with a determination that a transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) feedback for the PDSCH is cancelled, transmitting a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for requesting a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback during running time of a DRX timer.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a network device. The network device comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory stores instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the network to perform: in accordance with a determination that a transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) for a semi persistent scheduling physical downlink shared channel (SPS PDSCH) on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) overlaps with a downlink symbol, transmitting, within a configured duration after the PUCCH, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for requesting a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon. The instructions, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method according to the first, second, third or fourth aspect of the present disclosure.

Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Through the more detailed description of some embodiments of the present disclosure in the accompanying drawings, the above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent, wherein:

Fig. 1A shows a schematic diagram of a DRX mechanism according to conventional technologies;

Fig. 1B shows a schematic diagram of a DRX mechanism according to conventional technologies;

Fig. 2A shows a schematic diagram of a DRX mechanism according to conventional technologies;

Fig. 2B shows a schematic diagram of a DRX mechanism according to conventional technologies;

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a communication environment in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

Fig. 4 illustrates a signaling flow for communications between devices in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 5A shows a schematic diagram of a retransmission of HARQ-ACK feedback in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 5B shows a schematic diagram of a retransmission of HARQ-ACK feedback in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 6A shows a schematic diagram of a retransmission of HARQ-ACK feedback for semi-persistent transmissions in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 6B shows a schematic diagram of a retransmission of HARQ-ACK feedback for semi-persistent transmissions in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 7 illustrates a signaling flow for communications between devices in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 8 shows a schematic diagram of a retransmission of HARQ-ACK feedback for semi-persistent transmissions in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 9 illustrates a flow chart of an example method of communication implemented at a terminal device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 10 illustrates a flow chart of an example method of communication implemented at a terminal device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 11 illustrates a flow chart of an example method of communication implemented at a network device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 12 illustrates a flow chart of an example method of communication implemented at a network device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

Fig. 13 is a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitations as to the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

As used herein, the term “terminal device” refers to any device having wireless or wired communication capabilities. Examples of the terminal device include, but not limited to, user equipment (UE) , personal computers, desktops, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) , portable computers, tablets, wearable devices, internet of things (IoT) devices, Internet of Everything (IoE) devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, device on vehicle for V2X communication where X means pedestrian, vehicle, or infrastructure/network, or image capture devices such as digital cameras, gaming devices, music storage and playback appliances, or Internet appliances enabling wireless or wired Internet access and browsing and the like. The term “terminal device” can be used interchangeably with a UE, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile terminal, a user terminal or a wireless device. In addition, the term “network device” refers to a device which is capable of providing or hosting a cell or coverage where terminal devices can communicate. Examples of a network device include, but not limited to, a Node B (NodeB or NB) , an Evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a next generation NodeB (gNB) , a Transmission Reception Point (TRP) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a radio head (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a low power node such as a femto node, a pico node, and the like.

In one embodiment, the terminal device may be connected with a first network device and a second network device. One of the first network device and the second network device may be a master node and the other one may be a secondary node. The first network device and the second network device may use different radio access technologies (RATs) . In one embodiment, the first network device may be a first RAT device and the second network device may be a second RAT device. In one embodiment, the first RAT device is eNB and the second RAT device is gNB. Information related with different RATs may be transmitted to the terminal device from at least one of the first network device and the second network device. In one embodiment, first information may be transmitted to the terminal device from the first network device and second information may be transmitted to the terminal device from the second network device directly or via the first network device. In one embodiment, information related with configuration for the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted from the second network device via the first network device. Information related with reconfiguration for the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted to the terminal device from the second network device directly or via the first network device.

As used herein, the singular forms ‘a’ , ‘an’ and ‘the’ are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The term ‘includes’ and its variants are to be read as open terms that mean ‘includes, but is not limited to. ’ The term ‘based on’ is to be read as ‘at least in part based on. ’ The term ‘one embodiment’ and ‘an embodiment’ are to be read as ‘at least one embodiment. ’ The term ‘another embodiment’ is to be read as ‘at least one other embodiment. ’ The terms ‘first, ’ ‘second, ’ and the like may refer to different or same objects. Other definitions, explicit and implicit, may be included below.

In some examples, values, procedures, or apparatus are referred to as ‘best, ’ ‘lowest, ’ ‘highest, ’ ‘minimum, ’ ‘maximum, ’ or the like. It will be appreciated that such descriptions are intended to indicate that a selection among many used functional alternatives can be made, and such selections need not be better, smaller, higher, or otherwise preferable to other selections.

The term “circuitry” used herein may refer to hardware circuits and/or combinations of hardware circuits and software. For example, the circuitry may be a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuits with software/firmware. As a further example, the circuitry may be any portions of hardware processors with software including digital signal processor (s) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a terminal device or a network device, to perform various functions. In a still further example, the circuitry may be hardware circuits and or processors, such as a microprocessor or a portion of a microprocessor, that requires software/firmware for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation. As used herein, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (s) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor (s) and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware.

As mentioned above, DRX has been proposed. A DRX cycle consists of an 'On Duration 'during which the terminal device should monitor the PDCCH and a 'DRX period' during which a terminal device can skip reception of downlink channels for battery saving purposes. When a scheduling message is received during an 'On Duration' , the UE starts a 'DRX Inactivity Timer' and monitors the PDCCH in every subframe while the DRX Inactivity Timer is running. During this period, the UE can be regarded as being in a continuous reception mode. The term “DRX” used herein refers to a method used in mobile communication to conserve the battery of the mobile device. The mobile device and the network negotiate phases in which data transfer occurs. During other times the device turns its receiver off and enters a low power state. The “resources” used herein comprises resources in frequency domain and resources in time domain which can be used for transmission between communication devices. The term “on-duration” used herein refers to a time period during which the terminal device is able to monitor a downlink channel. The term “DRX period” or “opportunity for DRX” or “off-duration” used herein refers to a time period during which the terminal device does not monitor the downlink channel and does not receive data or control information on the downlink channel. The term “DRX cycle” used herein comprises an on-duration during which the terminal device should monitor the downlink channel and a DRX period during which the terminal device can skip reception of downlink channels.

The DRX operation can be configured by the following parameters: -drx-onDurationTimer: the duration at the beginning of a DRX cycle; -drx-SlotOffset: the delay before starting the drx-onDurationTimer; -drx-InactivityTimer: the duration after the PDCCH occasion in which a PDCCH indicates a new UL or DL transmission for the MAC entity; -drx-RetransmissionTimerDL (per DL HARQ process except for the broadcast process) : the maximum duration until a DL retransmission is received; -drx-RetransmissionTimerUL (per UL HARQ process) : the maximum duration until a grant for UL retransmission is received; -drx-LongCycleStartOffset: the Long DRX cycle and drx-StartOffset which defines the subframe where the Long and Short DRX cycle starts; -drx-ShortCycle (optional) : the Short DRX cycle; -drx-ShortCycleTimer (optional) : the duration the UE shall follow the Short DRX cycle; -drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL (per DL HARQ process except for the broadcast process) : the minimum duration before a DL assignment for HARQ retransmission is expected by the MAC entity; -drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL (per UL HARQ process) : the minimum duration before a UL HARQ retransmission grant is expected by the MAC entity; -ps-Wakeup (optional) : the configuration to start associated drx-onDurationTimer in case DCP is monitored but not detected; -ps-TransmitOtherPeriodicCSI (optional) : the configuration to report periodic CSI that is not L1-RSRP on PUCCH during the time duration indicated by drx-onDurationTimer in case DCP is configured but associated drx-onDurationTimer is not started; -ps-TransmitPeriodicL1-RSRP (optional) : the configuration to transmit periodic CSI that is L1-RSRP on PUCCH during the time duration indicated by drx-onDurationTimer in case DCP is configured but associated drx-onDurationTimer is not started.

When DRX is configured, the Active Time for Serving Cells in a DRX group includes the time while: -drx-onDurationTimer or drx-InactivityTimer configured for the DRX group is running; or -drx-RetransmissionTimerDLor drx-RetransmissionTimerUL is running on any Serving Cell in the DRX group; or -ra-ContentionResolutionTimer or msgB-ResponseWindow is running; or -aScheduling Request is sent on PUCCH and is pending; or -a PDCCH indicating a new transmission addressed to the C-RNTI of the MAC entity has not been received after successful reception of a Random Access Response for the Random Access Preamble not selected by the MAC entity among the contention-based Random Access Preamble.

Fig. 1A shows a schematic diagram of a DRX mechanism according to conventional technologies. Within the on-duration timer 150, a UE can monitor the downlink control channel. For example, the UE can receive downlink control information (DCI) 110-1 within the on-duration timer 150 for scheduling the PDSCH 120-1. The UE can start a drx-inactivity timer which has a length 160 after the DCI 110-1 for possible subsequent data scheduling. The UE can also receive the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) 120-1. The drx-inactivity timer will be restarted after the DCI 110-2 scheduling PDSCH 120-2 and restarted after the DCI 110-3 scheduling PDSCH 120-3. After the expiration of the drx-inactivity timer, UE will be inactive statue and not monitor PDCCH transmission. Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback of the PDSCH 120-1, PDSCH 120-2 and PDSCH 120-3 can be transmitted on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) 130-1. As shown in Fig. 1A, the HARQ feedbacks of the PDSCH 120-1 and PDSCH 120-2 are ACK, the HARQ feedback of PDSCH 120-3 is NACK. The UE can start a drx HARQ round trip time (RTT) timer which has a length 170 after the PUCCH 130-1 for each HARQ processes of the PDSCH and then start a drx retransmission timer after the expiration of the drx HARQ round trip time (RTT) timer if the decoding result of the PDSCH is failed. If the HARQ-ACK value of the PDSCH 120-3 is NACK, which means that the PDSCH 120-3 is failed to be decoded by UE. The UE may receive the DCI 110-4 scheduling the PDSCH 120-4 for retransmitting data on PDSCH 120-3 and transmit the feedback (e.g., ACK) of the PDSCH 120-4 on the PUCCH 130-2. During the DRX cycle 140, the UE is in DXR active time during the running time of the drx on duration timer, drx-inactivity timer, or drx retransmission timer, the UE can be active in DRX active time 190-1 and 190-2. In other words, the UE can monitor and receive downlink control channel for control information during the DRX active time 190-1 and 190-2. The UE can sleep in sleep time 195-1 and 195-2. In other words, the UE does not monitor and receive downlink control channel for control information during the sleep time 195-1 and 195-2.

Fig. 1B shows a schematic diagram of a DRX mechanism according to conventional technologies. UE can receive semi-persistent scheduling PDSCH (SPS PDSCH) without associated PDCCH in active time or inactive time, for example, the UE can receive semi-persistent scheduling PDSCH (SPS PDSCH) 111-1 within the on-duration timer 151. A HARQ feedback of the SPS PDSCH 111-1 can be transmitted on the PUCCH 131-1. The HARQ feedback of the SPS PDSCH 111-1 is NACK and the HARQ feedback of the SPS PDSCH 111-2 is ACK. The UE can also receive SPS PDSCH 111-2, while the PUCCH 131-2 configured for transmitting the HARQ feedback of the SPS PDSCH 111-2 is cancelled due to overlapping with DL symbols. The UE can start a drx HARQ RTT timer for the HARQ process of SPS PDSCH 111-1 which has a length 171 after the PUCCH 131-1 and then start a drx retransmission timer which has a length 181 after the expiration of the drx HARQ round trip time (RTT) timer if the decoding result of the SPS PDSCH 111-1 is failed. The UE may receive the DCI 112 scheduling the PDSCH 121-1 for data retransmission on SPS PDSCH 111-1 and transmit the corresponding feedback (e.g., ACK) on the PUCCH 131-3. During the DRX cycle 141, the UE is in DXR active time during the running time of the drx on duration timer, or drx retransmission timer, the UE can be active in DRX active time 191-1 and 191-2. The UE can sleep in sleep time 196-1 and 196-2.

However, in some cases, the HARQ feedback transmission on initial PUCCH will be cancelled, for example, the initial PUCCH is overlapped with another UL transmission with a higher priority, or the initial PUCCH is configured by RRC and overlapped with DL symbol/SSB/a control resource set (CORESET) 0. In NR Rel-17, dynamic triggering or requesting a retransmission of cancelled HARQ feedback on a new PUCCH resource by gNB is supported, it is beneficial to reduce unnecessary PDSCH retransmission and improves the spectrum efficiency. For example, for dynamic scheduling downlink transmissions, as shown in Fig. 2A, within the on-duration timer 250, a UE can monitor the downlink control channel for scheduling data transmission. For example, the UE can receive DCI 210-1 within the on-duration timer 250. The UE start a drx-inactivity timer which has a length 260 after the DCI 210-1 for possible subsequent data scheduling. The UE can also receive the PDSCH 220-1. The drx-inactivity timer will be restarted after the DCI 210-2 scheduling PDSCH 220-2. After the expiration of the drx-inactivity timer, UE will be inactive statue and not monitor PDCCH transmission. HARQ feedback of the PDSCH 220-1 and PDSCH 220-2 can be transmitted on a PUCCH 230-1. The UE may receive the DCI 210-3 scheduling the PDSCH 220-3 for data retransmission on PDSCH 220-3. The HARQ feedback of the PDSCH 220-3 can be transmitted on the PUCCH 230-2. In this case, the PUCCH 230-1 collides with the PUCCH 230-2. Since the PUCCH 230-2 has a higher priority than the PUCCH 230-1, the PUCCH 230-1 needs to be cancelled. DCI 210-4 can be transmitted for requesting the cancelled HARQ feedback on the PUCCH 230-1 to be retransmitted on a PUCCH 230-3. However, as shown in Fig. 2A, within the DRX cycle 240, the UE can be active in DRX active time 270 and sleep in sleep time 280, the UE cannot receive the DCI 210-4 since the DCI 210-4 is transmitted during the sleep time 280. In other words, since UE may not monitor and receive the DL control channel (PDCCH) for requesting HARQ-ACK retransmission signaling, the retransmission of the cancelled HARQ feedback cannot be performed. If the DCI 210-4 is waited to be transmitted until UE is in active time in next DXR cycle, it will lead to large latency of HARQ-ACK transmission, which will degrade the system performance.

Moreover, for SPS downlink transmissions, as shown in Fig. 2B. For example, the UE can receive the SPS PDSCH 211-1 within the on-duration timer 251. A HARQ feedback of the SPS PDSCH 211-1 can be transmitted on the PUCCH 231-1. The UE can also receive SPS PDSCH 211-2 and while the PUCCH 231-2 configured for transmitting the HARQ feedback of the SPS PDSCH 211-2 is cancelled due overlapping with DL symbols configured by TDD configuration. If the SPS PDSCH 211-1 is successfully decoded, the UE will only start a drx HARQ RTT timer which has a length 271 after the PUCCH 231-1. DCI 222 can be transmitted for requesting the retransmission of the cancelled HARQ feedback of SPS PDSCH 211-2 on the PUCCH 231-3. However, as shown in Fig. 2B, within the DRX cycle 241, the UE is in DXR active time during the running time of the drx on duration timer, the UE can be active in DRX active time 281 and can sleep in sleep time 291, the UE cannot receive the DCI 222 since the DCI 222 is transmitted during the sleep time 291. In other words, since UE may not monitor and receive the DL control channel (PDCCH) for requesting HARQ-ACK retransmission signaling, the retransmission of the cancelled SPS HARQ feedback cannot be performed.

In order to solve at least part of above problems, when UE is configured with DXR, solutions to ensure UE is enable to monitor and receive PDCCH for requesting the retransmission of HARQ feedback are needed. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a terminal device receives, from a network device, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) . The terminal device determines a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) feedback for the PDSCH. If the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) is cancelled, the terminal device starts a first discontinuous reception (DRX) timer. The terminal device monitors a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for requesting a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback during running time of the first DRX timer In this way, it improves communication performances. It can also improve reliability and reduce latency of the HARQ feedback transmission.

Fig. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of a communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. The communication system 300, which is a part of a communication network, comprises a terminal device 310-1, a terminal device 310-2, ..., a terminal device 310-N, which can be collectively referred to as “terminal device (s) 310. ” The number N can be any suitable integer number.

The communication system 300 further comprises a network device 320. In the communication system 300, the network devices 320 and the terminal devices 310 can communicate data and control information to each other. The numbers of devices shown in Fig. 3 are given for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations.

Communications in the communication system 300 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol (s) , comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols of the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) and the fifth generation (5G) and on the like, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and/or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Divided Multiple Address (CDMA) , Frequency Divided Multiple Address (FDMA) , Time Divided Multiple Address (TDMA) , Frequency Divided Duplexer (FDD) , Time Divided Duplexer (TDD) , Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) , Orthogonal Frequency Divided Multiple Access (OFDMA) and/or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

Embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to any suitable scenarios. For example, embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented at NR IIoT/URLLC. Alternatively, embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented in one of the followings: reduced capability NR devices, NR multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) , NR sidelink enhancements, NR systems with frequency above 52.6GHz, an extending NR operation up to 71GHz, narrow band-Internet of Thing (NB-IOT) /enhanced Machine Type Communication (eMTC) over non-terrestrial networks (NTN) , NTN, UE power saving enhancements, NR coverage enhancement, NB-IoT and LTE-MTC, Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) , NR Multicast and Broadcast Services, or enhancements on Multi-Radio Dual-Connectivity.

Fig. 4 shows a signaling chart illustrating process 400 among devices according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Only for the purpose of discussion, the process 400 will be described with reference to Fig. 3. The process 400 may involve the terminal device 310-1 and the network device 320 in Fig. 3. It should be noted that the process 400 is only an example not limitation.

In some embodiments, the network device 320 may transmit 4005 a configuration to the terminal device 310-1. In other embodiments, the configuration may indicate a first DRX timer. If the first DRX timer is a newly introduced timer, the configuration may also indicate the length or value of the first DRX timer. For example, the length of the first DRX timer can be one or more symbols. In other embodiments, the length of the first DRX timer can be one or more slots. Alternatively, if a specific timer can be reused for the first DRX timer, the configuration may indicate the specific timer as the first DRX timer.

The configuration may indicate whether an enhanced DRX mechanism can be enabled. For example, the enabling or disabling of the enhanced DRX operation may be indicated by whether the new DRX timer parameter is present or not, the configuration may indicate a parameter associated with enabling or disabling of the DRX operation. In this case, if the configuration indicates that the enhanced DRX mechanism is disabled, the terminal device 310-1 may not run the first DRX timer. The configuration can be transmitted via RRC signaling. It should be noted that the configuration can be transmitted via any proper signaling.

The network device 320 transmits 4010 a PDSCH to the terminal device 310-1. In some embodiments, the PDSCH can be a dynamic scheduled PDSCH. Alternatively or in addition, the PDSCH can be a SPS PDSCH. The term “SPS based resource allocation” refers to a transmission mode in which the serving base station allocates at least a part of resources and transport formats to the terminal device semi-statically over a certain time interval.

The terminal device 310-1 determines 4020 a HARQ-ACK feedback for the PDSCH. In some embodiments, the terminal device 310-1 may determine an ACK for the PDSCH if the PDSCH is successfully decoded. Alternatively, the terminal device 310-1 may determine a non-acknowledgement (NACK) for the PDSCH. For example, if the terminal device 310-1 cannot decode the PDSCH correctly, the terminal device 310-1 can determine the NACK for the PDSCH.

The terminal device 310-1 may determine whether a transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback on a PUCCH collides with other transmissions. In some embodiments, if the terminal device 310-1 receives DCI which schedules an uplink transmission and the uplink transmission overlaps with the PUCCH in time domain, the terminal device 310-1 can determine that the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback on the PUCCH collides with the uplink transmission. In this case, if the uplink transmission has a higher priority than the PUCCH transmission for the HARQ-ACK, the terminal device 310-1 may determine to cancel the PUCCH transmission of the HARQ-ACK.

Alternatively, for SPS transmission, the terminal device 310-1 may be configured and activated a SPS transmission configuration. The configuration may comprise allocating a PUCCH resource for HARQ-ACK for SPS PDSCH in each SPS period. The terminal device 310-1 may also receive a TDD configuration may comprise a slot pattern which indicates which slot (s) are uplink slots, which slot (s) are downlink slots, which slot (s) are flexible slots. The terminal device 310-1 may determine whether the PUCCH transmission for HARQ-ACK feedback for SPS PDSCH collides with DL symbol based on TDD configuration, SSB or CORESET 0. For example, if the PUCCH locates in a downlink slot, the terminal device 310-1 may determine to cancel the PUCCH transmission for the HARQ-ACK. In other embodiments, if the PUCCH locates in an uplink slot, the PUCCH transmission for the HARQ-ACK feedback can be transmitted.

If the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback on a PUCCH will be cancelled, the terminal device 310-1 starts 4030 the first DRX timer. The terminal device 310-1 is in active state during the running of the first DRX timer. In some embodiments, the first DRX timer can be a newly introduced timer, for example, a DRX HARQ-ACK retransmission timer, the timer can be per HARQ process or per UE. Alternatively, the first DRX timer can reuse other DRX timer. For example, the DRX downlink retransmission timer (drx-RetransmissionTimerDL) can be reused as the first DRX timer. In an example embodiment, the terminal device 310-1 may start the first DRX timer in a first symbol after the PUCCH. In other words, the terminal device 310-1 may start the first DRX timer in the first symbol after the corresponding cancelled transmission for the corresponding HARQ process associated with each cancelled HARQ-ACK bit (HARQ process specific timer) .

In some embodiments, as discussed above, the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback on the PUCCH may collide with an uplink transmission scheduled by a PDCCH. In this case, the terminal device 310-1 may start the first DRX timer in a first symbol after the PDCCH. In other words, the terminal device 310-1 may start the first DRX timer in the first symbol after the corresponding PDCCH transmission scheduling the high priority UL transmission for the corresponding HARQ process associated with each cancelled HARQ-ACK bit. In other embodiments, the uplink transmission may comprise HARQ-ACK bits of a plurality of PDSCHs scheduled by a plurality of PDCCHs, the terminal device 310-1 may start the first DRX timer in a first symbol after a last PDCCH in the plurality of PDCCHs. Alternatively, the terminal device 310-1 may start the first DRX timer in a first symbol after a first PDCCH in the plurality of PDCCHs and restart the first DRX timer in a first symbol after the subsequent PDCCH in plurality of PDCCHs. Alternatively, the terminal device 310-1 may start the first DRX timer in a first symbol after the uplink transmission.

In some embodiments, alternatively, as mentioned previously, the PDSCH can be a SPS PDSCH reception and the PUCCH transmission for HARQ-ACK feedback for the SPS PDSCH may be cancelled due to colliding with DL symbol, SSB, or CORESET 0. In this case, the terminal device 310-1 may start the first DRX timer in a first symbol after the SPS PDSCH reception.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 310-1 may start a second DRX timer in a first symbol after the PUCCH. The terminal device 310-1 may start the first DRX timer in a first symbol after the second DRX timer expires. In this case, the first DRX timer can be the DRX downlink retransmission timer and the second DRX timer can be a DRX HARQ downlink RTT timer.

The network device 320 transmits 4040 a PDCCH to the terminal device 310-1 within a configured duration after the PUCCH. The PDCCH can request a retransmission of the cancelled HARQ-ACK. For example, the network device 320 may transmit the PDCCH before an expiration of the first DRX timer. The terminal device 310-1 monitors 4050 the PDCCH during running time of the first DRX timer. After the PDCCH is received, the terminal device 310-1 may retransmit 4060 the HARQ-ACK feedback on a new PUCCH resource indicated by the PDCCH to the network device 120. In this way, the network device can flexible transmit the PDCCH for requesting HARQ-ACK retransmission, and the terminal device can quickly complete the retransmission of the cancelled HARQ-ACK information, it improves reliability and reduces latency of the HARQ-ACK feedback.

In some embodiments, the first DRX timer can be stopped in a set of symbols after receiving the PDCCH for requesting the retransmission of the HARQ-ACK. Alternatively, the terminal device 310-1 may not stop the first DRX timer before the expiration of the first DRX timer. Alternatively, if the PDCCH for requesting the retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback is received before the start of the first DRX timer, the terminal devices 310-1 may not start the first DRX timer.

Embodiments of the present disclosure for retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback are described in details with the reference to Figs. 5A-6B. It should be noted the embodiments of the present disclosure shown in Figs. 5A-6B are only examples not limitations.

Figs. 5A and 5B show schematic diagrams of retransmissions of HARQ-ACK feedback for dynamic scheduled transmissions in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, respectively.

As shown in Fig. 5A, within the on-duration timer 550, the terminal device 310-1 can monitor the downlink control channel. For example, the terminal device 310-1 can receive the DCI 510-1 within the on-duration timer 550 for scheduling the PDSCH 520-1. The terminal device 310-1 can start a drx-inactivity timer which has a length 560 after the DCI 510-1 for possible subsequent data scheduling. The terminal device 310-1 can also receive the PDSCH 520-1. The drx-inactivity timer can be restarted after the DCI 510-2 scheduling PDSCH 120-2. HARQ feedback of the PDSCH 520-1 and PDSCH 520-2 can be transmitted on the PUCCH 530-1. The terminal device 310-1 can receive the DCI 510-3 and the PDSCH 520-3. The HARQ-ACK feedback of the PDSCH 520-3 can be transmitted on the PUCCH 530-2. In this case, the PUCCH 530-1 collides with the PUCCH 530-2. Since the PUCCH 530-2 has a higher priority than the PUCCH 530-1, the PUCCH 530-1 needs to be cancelled. The terminal device 310-1 may start the first DRX timer 5010 in the first symbol after the PUCCH 530-1. The terminal device 310-1 may also start the drx HARQ RTT timer 590 after the PUCCH 530-2 for each HARQ processes of the PDSCH. During the running time of the first DRX timer 5010, the terminal device 310-1 can monitor the PDCCH 510-4 for requesting the retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback. After the PDCCH 510-4 is received, the terminal device 310-1 may retransmit the HARQ-ACK feedback on the PUCCH 530-3 based on the control information carried on PDCCH 510-4. As shown in Fig. 5A, during the DRX cycle 540, the terminal device 310-1 can be active in DRX active time 570-1 and 570-2. The terminal device 330-1 can sleep in sleep time 580-1 and 580-2. Table 1 shows an example procedure for the retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback according to Fig. 5A.

Table 1

Alternatively, as shown in Fig. 5B, the terminal device 310-1 may start the first DRX timer 5020 in the first symbol after the PDCCH 510-3. During the running time of the first DRX timer 5020, the terminal device 310-1 can monitor the PDCCH 511-4 for requesting the retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback. After the PDCCH 511-4 is received, the terminal device 310-1 may retransmit the HARQ-ACK feedback on the PUCCH 530-3 based on the control information carried in the PDCCH 510-3. The terminal device 310-1 may start the drx HARQ RTT timer 590 after the PUCCH 530-3. The terminal device 310-1 may also start the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL 595 after the expiration of the drx HARQ RTT timer 590. As shown in Fig. 5B, during the DRX cycle 541, the terminal device 310-1 can be active in DRX active time 571-1 and 571-2. The terminal device 330-1 can sleep in sleep time 581. Table 2 shows an example procedure for the retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback according to Fig. 5B.

Table 2

Figs. 6A and 6B show schematic diagrams of retransmissions of HARQ-ACK feedback for SPS transmissions in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, respectively.

As shown in Fig. 6A, , the terminal device 310-1 can receive the SPS PDSCH 610-1 within the on-duration timer 650. A HARQ feedback of the SPS PDSCH 610-1 can be transmitted on the PUCCH 620-1. The terminal device 310-1 can also receive SPS PDSCH 610-2, while the PUCCH 620-2 configured for transmitting the HARQ-ACK feedback of the SPS PDSCH 610-2 is cancelled due to overlapping with DL symbols. The terminal device 310-1 can start a drx HARQ RTT timer for the HARQ process of SPS PDSCH 510-1 which has a length 690 after the PUCCH 620-1. The terminal device 310-1 may start the first DRX timer 6010 in the first symbol after the PUCCH 620-2. During the running time of the first DRX timer 6010, the terminal device 310-1 can monitor the PDCCH 630 for requesting the retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback. After the PDCCH 630 is received, the terminal device 310-1 may retransmit the HARQ-ACK feedback on the PUCCH 620-3 based on the control information carried on PDCCH 630. The terminal device 310-1 may start the drx HARQ RTT timer 690 after the PUCCH 620-3. The terminal device 310-1 may also start the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL 695 after the expiration of the drx HARQ RTT timer 690. As shown in Fig. 6A, during the DRX cycle 640, the terminal device 310-1 can be active in DRX active time 670-1, 670-2 and 670-3. The terminal device 330-1 can sleep in sleep time 680-1 and 680-2. Table 3 shows an example procedure for the retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback according to Fig. 6A.

Table 3

Alternatively, as shown in Fig. 6B, the terminal device 310-1 may start the second DRX timer 695 in the first symbol after the PUCCH 620-2. After the expiration of the second DRX timer 695, the terminal device 310-1 may start the first DRX timer 6020. During the running time of the first DRX timer 6020, the terminal device 310-1 can monitor the PDCCH 630 for requesting the retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback. After the PDCCH 630 is received, the terminal device 310-1 may retransmit the HARQ-ACK feedback on the PUCCH 620-3. The terminal device 310-1 may start the drx HARQ RTT timer 690 after the PUCCH 620-3. The terminal device 310-1 may also start the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL 695 after the expiration of the drx HARQ RTT timer 690. As shown in Fig. 6B, during the DRX cycle 640, the terminal device 310-1 can be active in DRX active time 671-1, 671-2 and 671-3. The terminal device 330-1 can sleep in sleep time 681-1 and 681-2. Table 4 shows an example procedure for the retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback according to Fig. 6B.

Table 4

Fig. 7 shows a signaling chart illustrating process 700 among devices according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Only for the purpose of discussion, the process 700 will be described with reference to Fig. 3. The process 700 may involve the terminal device 310-1 and the network device 320 in Fig. 3. It should be noted that the process 700 is only an example not limitation.

In some embodiments, the network device 320 may transmit 7010 a SPS transmission configuration. The configuration may comprise allocating a PUCCH resource for HARQ-ACK for SPS PDSCH in each SPS period. The terminal device 310-1 may also receive a TDD configuration may comprise a slot pattern which indicates which slot (s) are uplink slots, which slot (s) are downlink slots, which slot (s) are flexible slots.

The terminal device 310-1 determines 7020 a HARQ-ACK feedback for the PDSCH. In some embodiments, the terminal device 310-1 may determine an ACK for the PDSCH if the PDSCH is successfully decoded. Alternatively, the terminal device 310-1 may determine a non-acknowledgement (NACK) for the PDSCH. For example, if the terminal device 310-1 cannot decode the PDSCH correctly, the terminal device 310-1 can determine the NACK for the PDSCH.

The terminal device 310-1 may determine whether a transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback on a PUCCH collides with other transmissions. The terminal device 310-1 may determine whether the PUCCH transmission for HARQ-ACK feedback for SPS PDSCH collides with DL symbol based on TDD configuration, SSB or CORESET 0. For example, if the PUCCH locates in a downlink slot, the terminal device 310-1 may determine to cancel the PUCCH transmission for the HARQ-ACK. In other embodiments, if the PUCCH locates in an uplink slot, the PUCCH transmission for the HARQ-ACK feedback can be transmitted.

If the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback on a PUCCH is cancelled, the network device 320 transmits 7030 a PDCCH for requesting a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback within a configured duration after the PUCCH. The terminal device 310-1 monitors 7040 the PDCCH for requesting the retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback within the configured duration after the PUCCH. After the PDCCH is received, the terminal device 310-1 may retransmit 7050 the HARQ-ACK feedback to the network device 120. In this way, the network device can flexible transmit the PDCCH for requesting HARQ-ACK retransmission, and the terminal device can quickly complete the retransmission of the cancelled HARQ-ACK information, it improves reliability and reduces latency of the HARQ-ACK feedback.

In some embodiments, the configured duration may be a subsequent downlink slot configured with a control resource set (CORESET) after the PUCCH. Alternatively, the configured duration may be a subsequent downlink slot configured with a COREST after the SPS PDSCH reception. In other embodiments, the configured duration may be a downlink slot configured with a SPS PDSCH reception. In other embodiments, the configured duration may be a set of downlink slot configured by RRC.

Embodiments of the present disclosure for retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback are described in details with the reference to Fig. 8. It should be noted the embodiments of the present disclosure shown in Fig. 8 are only examples not limitations.

As shown in Fig. 8, the terminal device 310-1 can receive the SPS PDSCH 810-1. A HARQ feedback of the SPS PDSCH 810-1 can be transmitted on the PUCCH 820-1. The terminal device 310-1 can also receive SPS PDSCH 810-2, while the PUCCH 820-2 configured for transmitting the HARQ-ACK feedback of the SPS PDSCH 810-2 is cancelled due to overlapping with the slot 840-1 which is the downlink slot. The terminal device 310-1 may monitor the PDCCH 830 in the slot 840-2 after the PUCCH 820-2. After receiving the PDCCH 830, the terminal device 310-1 may retransmit the HARQ-ACK feedback on the PUCCH 820-3 in the slot 840-2.

Alternatively, there may be no PDCCH 830. In this case, after the collision is detected, the terminal device 310-1 can delay the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback to a next available PUCCH (for example, the PUCCH 820-3) . Table 5 shows an example procedure for delaying the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback.

Table 5

Fig. 9 shows a flowchart of an example method 900 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the method 900 can be implemented at a terminal device 310-1 as shown in Fig. 3.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 310-1 may receive a configuration from the network device 320. In other embodiments, the configuration may indicate a first DRX timer. If the first DRX timer is a newly introduced timer, the configuration may also indicate the length or value of the first DRX timer. For example, the length of the first DRX timer can be one or more symbols. In other embodiments, the length of the first DRX timer can be one or more slots. Alternatively, if a specific timer can be reused for the first DRX timer, the configuration may indicate the specific timer as the first DRX timer.

The configuration may indicate whether an enhanced DRX mechanism can be enabled. For example, the enabling or disabling of the DRX operation may be indicated by whether the new DRX timer parameter is present or not, the configuration may indicate a parameter associated with enabling or disabling of the DRX operation. In this case, if the configuration indicates that the enhanced DRX mechanism is disabled, the terminal device 310-1 may not run the first DRX timer. The configuration can be transmitted via RRC signaling. It should be noted that the configuration can be transmitted via any proper signaling.

At block 910, the terminal device 310-1 receives a PDSCH from the network device 320. In some embodiments, the PDSCH can be a dynamic scheduled PDSCH. Alternatively or in addition, the PDSCH can be a SPS PDSCH. The term “SPS based resource allocation” refers to a transmission mode in which the serving base station allocates at least a part of resources and transport formats to the terminal device semi-statically over a certain time interval.

At block 920, the terminal device 310-1 determines a HARQ-ACK feedback for the PDSCH. In some embodiments, the terminal device 310-1 may determine an ACK for the PDSCH if the PDSCH is successfully decoded. Alternatively, the terminal device 310-1 may determine a non-acknowledgement (NACK) for the PDSCH. For example, if the terminal device 310-1 cannot decode the PDSCH correctly, the terminal device 310-1 can determine the NACK for the PDSCH.

At block 930, if the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback on a PUCCH is cancelled, the terminal device 310-1 starts the first DRX timer. The terminal device 310-1 is in active state during the running of the first DRX timer. In some embodiments, the first DRX timer can be a newly introduced timer, for example, a DRX HARQ-ACK retransmission timer, the timer can be per HARQ process or per UE. Alternatively, the first DRX timer can reuse other DRX timer. For example, the DRX downlink retransmission timer (drx-RetransmissionTimerDL) can be reused as the first DRX timer. In an example embodiment, the terminal device 310-1 may start the first DRX timer in a first symbol after the PUCCH. In other words, the terminal device 310-1 may start the first DRX timer in the first symbol after the corresponding cancelled transmission for the corresponding HARQ process associated with each cancelled HARQ-ACK bit (HARQ process specific timer) .

At block 940, the terminal device 310-1 monitors the PDCCH during running time of the first DRX timer. After the PDCCH is received, the terminal device 310-1 may retransmit 4060 the HARQ-ACK feedback on a new PUCCH resource indicated by the PDCCH to the network device 120. In this way, the network device can flexible transmit the PDCCH for requesting HARQ-ACK retransmission, and UE can quickly complete the retransmission of the cancelled HARQ-ACK information, it improves reliability and reduce latency of the HARQ-ACK feedback.

Fig. 10 shows a flowchart of an example method 1000 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the method 1000 can be implemented at a terminal device 310-1 as shown in Fig. 3.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 310-1 may receive a SPS transmission configuration. The configuration may comprise allocating a PUCCH resource for HARQ-ACK for SPS PDSCH in each SPS period. The terminal device 310-1 may also receive a TDD configuration may comprise a slot pattern which indicates which slot (s) are uplink slots, which slot (s) are downlink slots, which slot (s) are flexible slots.

At block 1010, the terminal device 310-1 determines a HARQ-ACK feedback for the PDSCH. In some embodiments, the terminal device 310-1 may determine an ACK for the PDSCH if the PDSCH is successfully decoded. Alternatively, the terminal device 310-1 may determine a non-acknowledgement (NACK) for the PDSCH. For example, if the terminal device 310-1 cannot decode the PDSCH correctly, the terminal device 310-1 can determine the NACK for the PDSCH.

At block 1020, if the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback on a PUCCH is cancelled, the terminal device 310-1 monitors the PDCCH for requesting the retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback within the configured duration after the PUCCH. After the PDCCH is received, the terminal device 310-1 may retransmit the HARQ-ACK feedback to the network device 120. In this way, the network device can flexible transmit the PDCCH for requesting HARQ-ACK retransmission, and the terminal device can quickly complete the retransmission of the cancelled HARQ-ACK information, it improves reliability and reduces latency of the HARQ-ACK feedback.

In some embodiments, the configured duration may be a subsequent downlink slot configured with a control resource set (CORESET) after the PUCCH. Alternatively, the configured duration may be a subsequent downlink slot configured with a COREST after the SPS PDSCH reception. In other embodiments, the configured duration may be a downlink slot configured with a SPS PDSCH reception.

Fig. 11 shows a flowchart of an example method 1100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the method 1100 can be implemented at a network device 320 as shown in Fig. 3.

In some embodiments, the network device 320 may transmit a configuration to the terminal device 310-1. In other embodiments, the configuration may indicate a first DRX timer. If the first DRX timer is a newly introduced timer, the configuration may also indicate the length or value of the first DRX timer. For example, the length of the first DRX timer can be one or more symbols. In other embodiments, the length of the first DRX timer can be one or more slots. Alternatively, if a specific timer can be reused for the first DRX timer, the configuration may indicate the specific timer as the first DRX timer.

At block 1110, the network device 320 transmits a PDSCH to the terminal device 310-1. In some embodiments, the PDSCH can be a dynamic scheduled PDSCH. Alternatively or in addition, the PDSCH can be a SPS PDSCH. The term “SPS based resource allocation” refers to a transmission mode in which the serving base station allocates at least a part of resources and transport formats to the terminal device semi-statically over a certain time interval.

At block 1120, the network device 320 transmits a PDCCH to the terminal device 310-1 within a configured duration after the PUCCH. The PDCCH can request a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK. For example, the network device 320 may transmit the PDCCH before an expiration of the first DRX timer.

Fig. 12 shows a flowchart of an example method 1200 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the method 1200 can be implemented at a network device 320 as shown in Fig. 3.

In some embodiments, at block 1210, the network device 320 may transmit a SPS transmission configuration. The configuration may comprise allocating a PUCCH resource for HARQ-ACK for SPS PDSCH in each SPS period. The terminal device 310-1 may also receive a TDD configuration may comprise a slot pattern which indicates which slot (s) are uplink slots, which slot (s) are downlink slots, which slot (s) are flexible slots.

At block 1220, if the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback on a PUCCH is cancelled, the network device 320 transmits a PDCCH for requesting a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback within a configured duration after the PUCCH. In some embodiments, the configured duration may be a subsequent downlink slot configured with a control resource set (CORESET) after the PUCCH. Alternatively, the configured duration may be a subsequent downlink slot configured with a COREST after the SPS PDSCH reception. In other embodiments, the configured duration may be a downlink slot configured with a SPS PDSCH reception.

In some embodiments, a terminal device comprises circuitry configured to receive from a network device, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) ; determine a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) for the PDSCH; in accordance with a determination that a transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) is cancelled, start a first discontinuous reception (DRX) timer; and monitor a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for requesting a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback during running time of the first DRX timer.

In some embodiments, the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback is cancelled if the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback collides with an uplink transmission scheduled by a second PDCCH, wherein the uplink transmission has a higher priority than the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback.

In some embodiments, the terminal device comprises configured to start the first DRX timer by starting the first DRX timer in a first symbol after the second PDCCH.

In some embodiments, the terminal device comprises configured to in accordance with a determination that the uplink transmission comprises HARQ-ACK bits of a plurality of PDSCHs scheduled by a plurality of PDCCHs, start the first DRX timer in a first symbol after a last PDCCH in the plurality of PDCCHs.

In some embodiments, the terminal device comprises configured to start the first DRX timer by: starting the first DRX timer in a first symbol after the uplink transmission.

In some embodiments, the terminal device comprises configured to start the first DRX timer by: starting the first DRX timer in a first symbol after the PUCCH.

In some embodiments, the PDSCH is a semi persist scheduling (SPS) PDSCH reception, and the terminal device comprises configured to start the first DRX timer by: starting the first DRX timer in a first symbol after the SPS PDSCH reception.

In some embodiments, the first DRX timer comprises one of: a DRX downlink retransmission timer, or a DRX HARQ-ACK retransmission timer.

In some embodiments, the terminal device comprises configured to start the first DRX timer by: starting a second DRX timer in a first symbol after the PUCCH; starting the first DRX timer in a first symbol after an expiration of the second DXR timer.

In some embodiments, the first DRX timer is a DRX downlink retransmission timer, wherein the second DRX timer is a DRX HARQ downlink Round Trip Time (RTT) timer.

In some embodiments, the terminal device comprises configured to stop the first DRX timer in a set of symbols after receiving the first PDCCH.

In some embodiments, the terminal device comprises configured to receive, from the network device, a configuration via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, wherein the configuration indicates at least one of: the first DRX timer, or a parameter associated with enabling or disabling of DRX operation.

In some embodiments, a terminal device comprises circuitry configured to determine a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) for a semi persist scheduling physical downlink shared channel (SPS PDSCH) ; and in accordance with a determination that a transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) overlaps with a downlink symbol, monitor, within a configured duration after the PUCCH, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for requesting a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK.

In some embodiments, the configured duration is a subsequent downlink slot configured with a control resource set (CORESET) after the PUCCH.

In some embodiments, the configured duration is a subsequent downlink slot configured with a CORESET after the SPS PDSCH.

In some embodiments, the configured duration is a downlink slot configured with a SPS PDSCH reception.

In some embodiments, a network device comprises circuitry configured to transmit, to a terminal device, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) ; and in accordance with a determination that a transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) for the PDSCH is cancelled, transmit a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for requesting a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback during running time of a DRX timer.

In some embodiments, the network device comprises circuitry configured to transmit, to the terminal device, a configuration via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, wherein the configuration indicates at least one of: the DRX timer, or a parameter associated with enabling or disabling of DRX operation.

In some embodiments, a network device comprises circuitry configured to in accordance with a determination that a transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) for a semi persistent scheduling physical downlink shared channel (SPS PDSCH) on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) overlaps with a downlink symbol, transmit, within a configured duration after the PUCCH, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for requesting a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK.

Fig. 13 is a simplified block diagram of a device 1300 that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 1300 can be considered as a further example implementation of the network device 320, or the terminal device 310 as shown in Fig. 3. Accordingly, the device 1300 can be implemented at or as at least a part of the terminal device 310, or the network device 320.

As shown, the device 1300 includes a processor 1310, a memory 1320 coupled to the processor 1310, a suitable transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) 1340 coupled to the processor 1310, and a communication interface coupled to the TX/RX 1340. The memory 1310stores at least a part of a program 1330. The TX/RX 1340 is for bidirectional communications. The TX/RX 1340 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, though in practice an Access Node mentioned in this application may have several ones. The communication interface may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements, such as X2 interface for bidirectional communications between eNBs, S1 interface for communication between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) /Serving Gateway (S-GW) and the eNB, Un interface for communication between the eNB and a relay node (RN) , or Uu interface for communication between the eNB and a terminal device.

The program 1330 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 1310, enable the device 1300 to operate in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, as discussed herein with reference to Figs. 4 to 12. The embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 1310 of the device 1300, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 1310 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure. Furthermore, a combination of the processor 1310 and memory 1320 may form processing means adapted to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.

The memory 1320 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory, as non-limiting examples. While only one memory 1320 is shown in the device 1300, there may be several physically distinct memory modules in the device 1300. The processor 1310 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 1300 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representation, it will be appreciated that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor, to carry out the process or method as described above with reference to Figs. 2 to 12. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

The above program code may be embodied on a machine readable medium, which may be any tangible medium that may contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine readable medium may be a machine readable signal medium or a machine readable storage medium. A machine readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the machine readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM) , a read-only memory (ROM) , an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) , an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) , an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

As used herein, the term ‘terminal device’ refers to any device having wireless or wired communication capabilities. Examples of the terminal device include, but not limited to, user equipment (UE) , personal computers, desktops, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) , portable computers, tablets, wearable devices, internet of things (IoT) devices, Ultra-reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) devices, Internet of Everything (IoE) devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, device on vehicle for V2X communication where X means pedestrian, vehicle, or infrastructure/network, devices for Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) , Space borne vehicles or Air borne vehicles in Non-terrestrial networks (NTN) including Satellites and High Altitude Platforms (HAPs) encompassing Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) , eXtended Reality (XR) devices including different types of realities such as Augmented Reality (AR) , Mixed Reality (MR) and Virtual Reality (VR) , the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) commonly known as a drone which is an aircraft without any human pilot, devices on high speed train (HST) , or image capture devices such as digital cameras, sensors, gaming devices, music storage and playback appliances, or Internet appliances enabling wireless or wired Internet access and browsing and the like. The ‘terminal device’ can further has ‘multicast/broadcast’ feature, to support public safety and mission critical, V2X applications, transparent IPv4/IPv6 multicast delivery, IPTV, smart TV, radio services, software delivery over wireless, group communications and IoT applications. It may also incorporated one or multiple Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) as known as Multi-SIM. The term “terminal device” can be used interchangeably with a UE, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile terminal, a user terminal or a wireless device.

The term “network device” refers to a device which is capable of providing or hosting a cell or coverage where terminal devices can communicate. Examples of a network device include, but not limited to, a Node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a next generation NodeB (gNB) , a transmission reception point (TRP) , a remote radio unit (RRU) , a radio head (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , an IAB node, a low power node such as a femto node, a pico node, a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) , and the like.

The terminal device or the network device may have Artificial intelligence (AI) or Machine learning capability. It generally includes a model which has been trained from numerous collected data for a specific function, and can be used to predict some information.

The terminal or the network device may work on several frequency ranges, e.g. FR1 (410 MHz –7125 MHz) , FR2 (24.25GHz to 71GHz) , frequency band larger than 100GHz as well as Tera Hertz (THz) . It can further work on licensed/unlicensed/shared spectrum. The terminal device may have more than one connections with the network devices under Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity (MR-DC) application scenario. The terminal device or the network device can work on full duplex, flexible duplex and cross division duplex modes.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed in test equipment, e.g. signal generator, signal analyzer, spectrum analyzer, network analyzer, test terminal device, test network device, channel emulator

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed according to any generation communication protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples of the communication protocols include, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, 5.5G, 5G-Advanced networks, or the sixth generation (6G) networks.

Claims

A communication method, comprising:

receiving, at a terminal device and from a network device, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) ;

determining a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) feedback for the PDSCH;

in accordance with a determination that a transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) is cancelled, starting a first discontinuous reception (DRX) timer; and

monitoring a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for requesting a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback during running time of the first DRX timer.
The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback is cancelled if the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback collides with an uplink transmission scheduled by a second PDCCH, wherein the uplink transmission has a higher priority than the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback.
The method of claim 2, wherein starting the first DRX timer comprises:

starting the first DRX timer in a first symbol after the second PDCCH.
The method of claim 2, further comprising:

in accordance with a determination that the uplink transmission comprises HARQ-ACK bits of a plurality of PDSCHs scheduled by a plurality of PDCCHs,

starting the first DRX timer in a first symbol after a last PDCCH in the plurality of PDCCHs; or

starting the first DRX timer in a first symbol after each PDCCH in the plurality of PDCCHs for corresponding HARQ process of each PDSCH.
The method of claim 2, wherein starting the first DRX timer comprises:

starting the first DRX timer in a first symbol after the uplink transmission.
The method of claim 1, wherein starting the first DRX timer comprises:

starting the first DRX timer in a first symbol after the PUCCH.
The method of claim 1, wherein the PDSCH is a semi persist scheduling (SPS) PDSCH reception, and wherein starting the first DRX timer comprises:

starting the first DRX timer in a first symbol after the SPS PDSCH reception.
The method of any one of claim 1-7, wherein the first DRX timer comprises one of:

a DRX downlink retransmission timer, or

a DRX HARQ-ACK retransmission timer.
The method of claim 1, wherein starting the first DRX timer comprises:

starting a second DRX timer in a first symbol after the PUCCH; and

starting the first DRX timer in a first symbol after an expiration of the second DXR timer.
The method of any one of claim 9, wherein the first DRX timer is a DRX downlink retransmission timer, wherein the second DRX timer is a DRX HARQ downlink Round Trip Time (RTT) timer.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

stopping the first DRX timer in a set of symbols after receiving the first PDCCH.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the network device, a configuration via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, wherein the configuration indicates at least one of:

the first DRX timer, or

a parameter associated with enabling or disabling of DRX operation.
Acommunication method, comprising:

determining a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) feedback for a semi persist scheduling physical downlink shared channel (SPS PDSCH) ; and

in accordance with a determination that a transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) overlaps with a downlink symbol, monitoring, within a configured duration after the PUCCH, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for requesting a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK.
The method of claim 13, wherein the configured duration is a subsequent downlink slot configured with a control resource set (CORESET) after the PUCCH.
The method of claim 13, wherein the configured duration is a subsequent downlink slot configured with a CORESET after the SPS PDSCH.
The method of claim 13, wherein the configured duration is a downlink slot configured with a SPS PDSCH reception.
A communication method, comprising:

transmitting, at a network device and to a terminal device, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) ; and

in accordance with a determination that a transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) for the PDSCH is cancelled, transmitting a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for requesting a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback during running time of a DRX timer.
The method of claim 17, further comprising:

transmitting, to the terminal device, a configuration via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, wherein the configuration indicates at least one of:

the DRX timer, or

a parameter associated with enabling or disabling of DRX operation.
A communication method, comprising:

in accordance with a determination that a transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) for a semi persistent scheduling physical downlink shared channel (SPS PDSCH) on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) overlaps with a downlink symbol, transmitting, within a configured duration after the PUCCH, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for requesting a retransmission of the HARQ-ACK.
The method of claim 19, wherein the configured duration is a subsequent downlink slot configured with a control resource set (CORESET) after the PUCCH.
The method of claim 19, wherein the configured duration is a subsequent downlink slot configured with a CORESET after the SPS PDSCH.
The method of claim 19, wherein the configured duration is a downlink slot configured with a SPS PDSCH reception.
A terminal device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor and storing instructions thereon, the instructions, when executed by the processor, causing the terminal device to perform the method according to any of claims 1-12 or any of claims 13-16.
A network device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor and storing instructions thereon, the instructions, when executed by the processor, causing the network device to perform the method according to any of claims 17-18 or any of claims 19-22.
A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method according to any of claims 1-12 or any of claims 13-16 or any of claims 17-18 or any of claims 19-22.