WO2023122996A1

WO2023122996A1 - Method, device and computer readable medium for communication

Info

Publication number: WO2023122996A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/142213
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gang Wang
Original assignee: Nec Corporation
Priority date: 2021-12-28
Filing date: 2021-12-28
Publication date: 2023-07-06

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention disclose methods, devices and computer readable media for communication. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a terminal device receives downlink control information scheduling a plurality of downlink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of downlink data transmissions from a network device and further receives the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions from the network device. Then, the terminal device decodes the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions based on a first value and a second value, wherein the first value being associated with invalid resource elements for a downlink data transmission of the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions for the downlink data transmission, and the second value being associated with allocated symbols for the downlink data transmission and the repetitions for the downlink data transmission.

Description

METHOD, DEVICE AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM FOR COMMUNICATION

FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of communication, and in particular, to a method, device and computer readable medium for communication.

BACKGROUND

In order to improve coverage or reliability performance for data transmission, repetitions for a single downlink data transmission has been proposed. The number of repetitions for the single downlink data transmissions may be scheduled in downlink control information (DCI) within physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) . Further, there may be another DCI for scheduling a plurality of data transmissions, for example, a plurality of downlink data transmissions in physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or uplink data transmissions in physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) . With the development of communication technology, the scheduling of a plurality of data transmissions or the scheduling of the repetitions for a single data transmission in different DCIs may cause unnecessary consumption of resources in time domain, and unnecessary power consumption of frequently PDCCH detection. Moreover, a rate matching for a data transmission with the repetitions is also a key aspect.

SUMMARY

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods, devices and computer readable media for communication.

In a first aspect, there is provided a method implemented by a terminal device. In the method, a terminal device receives downlink control information scheduling a plurality of downlink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of downlink data transmissions from a network device and further receives the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions from the network device. Then, the terminal device decodes the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions based on a first value and a second value, wherein the first value being associated with invalid resource elements for a downlink data transmission of the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions for the downlink data transmission, and the second value being associated with allocated symbols for the downlink data transmission and the repetitions for the downlink data transmission.

In a second aspect, there is provided a method implemented by a terminal device. In the method, a terminal device receives downlink control information scheduling a plurality of uplink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of uplink data transmissions from a network device. The terminal device encodes the plurality of uplink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of uplink data transmissions based on a first value and a second value, wherein the first value being associated with invalid resource elements for a uplink data transmission of the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions for the uplink data transmission, and the second value being associated with allocated symbols for the uplink data transmission and the repetitions for the uplink data transmission. Then, the terminal device transmits the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions to the network device.

In a third aspect, there is provided a method implemented by a network device. In the method, a network device transmits downlink control information scheduling a plurality of downlink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of downlink data transmissions to a terminal device. The network device encodes the plurality of downlink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of downlink data transmissions based on a first value and a second value, wherein the first value being associated with invalid resource elements for a downlink data transmission of the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions for the downlink data transmission, and the second value being associated with allocated symbols for the downlink data transmission and the repetitions for the downlink data transmission. Then, the network device transmits the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions to the terminal device.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a method implemented by a network device. In the method, the network device transmitting downlink control information scheduling a plurality of uplink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of uplink data transmissions to a terminal device. The network device receives the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions from the terminal device. Then, the network device decodes the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions based on a first value and a second value, wherein the first value being associated with invalid resource elements for a uplink data transmission of the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions for the uplink data transmission, and the second value being associated with allocated symbols for the uplink data transmission and the repetitions for the uplink data transmission.

In the seventh aspect, there is provided a terminal device. The terminal device comprises 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 of any one of the first aspect or second aspect.

In the eighth aspect, there is provided a network device. The network device comprises 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 of any one of the third aspect or fourth aspect.

In the ninth aspect, there is provided 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 of any one of the first aspect to the sixth aspect.

It is to be understood that the summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of example embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment in which some embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling process of downlink data transmissions according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a third offset between a first downlink data transmission and a second downlink data transmission according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates an schematic diagram showing a Transport Block Size (TBS) determination procedure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates configurations of actual repetitions with different time granularities according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a signaling process of uplink data transmissions according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of an example method of communication implemented at a terminal device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of an method of communication implemented at a terminal device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of an example method of communication implemented at a network device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of an example method of communication implemented at a network device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 11 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example 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, 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.

As used herein, 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 (24.25 GHz to 71 GHz) , 71 GHz to 114 GHz, and frequency band larger than 100 GHz 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.

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, with the development of communication technology, the scheduling of a plurality of data transmissions or the scheduling of the repetitions for a single data transmission in different DCIs may cause unnecessary consumption of resources in time domain, and unnecessary power consumption of PDCCH detection. Moreover, the TBS determination procedure performed only based on the number of resource elements (RE) in the first repetition which is determined by the configured overhead, may cause a large difference between actual coding rate and indicated coding rate, when there are large difference among REs of repetitions.

The example embodiments of the disclosure propose a mechanism for scheduling a plurality of data transmissions and the repetitions for the plurality of the data transmissions in a single DCI, and determining a TBS for a data transmission of the plurality of the data transmissions. In this mechanism, a terminal device receives a single DCI from a network device, the single DCI schedules a plurality of downlink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of downlink data transmissions. The terminal device further receives the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions from the network device. Then, the terminal device decodes the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions based on a first value and a second value, the first value is associated with invalid resource elements for a downlink data transmission of the plurality of downlink data transmissions and its repetition, the second value is associated with allocated symbols for the downlink data transmission and its repetitions. Moreover, the first value comprises statistic values which reflect the number of invalid resource elements for a data transmission of the plurality of the data transmissions and the repetitions for the data transmission, and the second value comprises statistic values which reflect the number of allocated symbols for the data transmission and the repetitions for the data transmission.

In this way, a plurality of data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of data transmissions may be scheduled in a single DCI, such that the scheduling being more efficient and flexible. Moreover, the first and second values based TBS procedure and a rate matching for a data transmission of the plurality of data transmissions may be more accurate and efficiency.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented.

The environment 100, which may be a part of a communication network, comprises a terminal device 110 and a network device 120. The terminal device 120 may communicate with the network device 110.

It is to be understood that the number of terminal devices and network device is shown in the environment 100 only for the purpose of illustration, without suggesting any limitation to the scope of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the environment 100 may comprise a further terminal device to communicate information with a further network device.

The communications in the environment 100 may follow any suitable communication standards or protocols, which are already in existence or to be developed in the future, such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) , long term evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , the fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) , Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) standards, and employs any suitable communication technologies, including, for example, Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) , Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) , time division multiplexing (TDM) , frequency division multiplexing (FDM) , code division multiplexing (CDM) , Bluetooth, ZigBee, and machine type communication (MTC) , enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) , massive machine type communication (mMTC) , ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) , Carrier Aggregation (CA) , Dual Connection (DC) , and New Radio Unlicensed (NR-U) technologies.

FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling process 200 of downlink data transmissions according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For purpose of discussion, the flowchart 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

In the signaling process 200, the terminal device 110 receives (210) DCI from the network device 120, the DCI schedules a plurality of downlink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of downlink data transmissions. In some embodiments, the DCI indicates the number of the repetitions. In some embodiments, the number of repetitions for different downlink data transmissions of the plurality of downlink data transmissions is the same. In some embodiments, the number of repetitions is specific to a downlink data transmission. In this case, the DCI indicates corresponding numbers of the repetitions for different downlink data transmissions, respectively.

In some embodiments, the DCI may indicate a first offset (for example, offset of slots or offset of symbols) between this DCI and a downlink data transmission of the plurality of the downlink data transmissions. In some embodiments, the DCI may further indicate a second offset between this DCI and another downlink data transmission of the plurality of the downlink data transmissions.

In addition or alternatively, the DCI may indicate the first offset and further indicate a third offset between the downlink data transmission and the another downlink data transmission. In some embodiments, the third offset defines the gap between the last slot of the last repetition for the downlink data transmission and the first slot of the first repetition for the another downlink data transmission.

FIG. 3 illustrates a third offset 300 of between a first downlink data transmission and a second downlink data transmission according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the third offset 300, the third offset indicated by the DCI is the gap between the last slot of the last repetition for the first downlink data transmission and the first slot of the first repetition for the subsequent second downlink data transmission. In this example, the gap is indicated to be 2 slots. In some embodiments, the gap may be any other length of time unit.

In some embodiments, the repetitions for a downlink data transmission in the plurality of the downlink data transmissions may be continuous in time domain. In some embodiments, different downlink data transmissions with the repetitions of the plurality of the downlink transmissions may be continuous or discontinuous in time domain.

The network device 130 determines (220) a first value of invalid resource elements for a downlink data transmission of the plurality of downlink transmissions and the repetitions for the downlink data transmission. The network device 130 further determines (220) a second value of allocated symbols for the downlink data transmission and the repetitions for the downlink data transmission.

For the sake of discussion more clearly, the determination of the first value and second value and a TBS determination procedure will be discussed with reference to a schematic diagram shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram 400 showing a TBS determination procedure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

It is to be understood that the number of any type of resource units in the embodiments as discussed with reference to FIG. 4 is only an example for discussing, and any other number of the resource units may be employed without any limitation.

Conventionally, the TBS of a downlink data transmission with repetitions is determined by determining the number of allocated resource elements within the resource of the first repetition based on the following equation (1) :

wherein

is the number of subcarriers in the frequency domain in a physical resource block,

is the number of allocated symbols of the first repetition for the downlink data transmission,

is the number of resource elements for De-Modulation Reference Signal (DMRS) per PRB in the allocated duration including the overhead of the DM-RS Code Division Multiplexing (CDM) groups without data.

is the overhead configured by higher layer parameter xOverhead in PUSCH-ServingCellConfig or PDSCHY-ServingCellConfig. Usually, this N′ _RE is determined depending on the first slot for the repetitions for the downlink data transmission. Further, other PRBs or resources for the downlink data transmission with the repetitions are assumed to have the same N′ _RE. Then, the rate matching in encoding procedure/decoding procedure for the repetitions of the downlink data transmission will be performed based on this N′ _RE.

However, the numbers of available resource elements per PRB of different repetitions for the downlink data transmission may be different. Under the assumption that the numbers of resource elements are same for different repetitions may cause a failure in encoding procedure/decoding procedure.

With the first value of invalid resource elements for a downlink data transmission with repetitions and the second value of allocated symbols for the downlink data transmission with repetitions, there is provided a more accurate TBS determination procedure and a rate matching procedure according to some embodiments of present disclosure.

The first value is a statistic value reflecting the mean distribution of the number of invalid resource elements in each of resource blocks for each repetition of the downlink data transmission. For example, the first value may be at least one of: average number, median value, a value selected within an interval between the average number plus a variance, and like.

The second value is a statistic value reflecting the mean distribution of the number of allocated symbols for each repetition of the downlink data transmission. For example, the second value may be at least one of: average number, median value, a value selected within an interval between the average number plus a variance, and like.

In the schematic diagram 400, DCI 401 in PDCCH, a first downlink data transmission 410 with repetitions as well as a second downlink data transmission 420 with repetitions are shown. DCI 401 may be the DCI transmitted from the network 120 to the terminal device 110 as discussed with reference to FIG. 1. In the schematic diagram 300, as an example, DCI 401 schedules the first downlink data transmission 410 with repetitions and the second downlink data transmission 420 with repetitions. The first downlink data transmission 410 with repetitions and second downlink data transmission 420 with repetitions may be any two of the plurality downlink data transmissions as discussed with reference to FIG. 1. In some embodiments, the first downlink data transmission 410 may be the first downlink data transmission as shown in the FIG. 2, and the second downlink data transmission 420 may be the second downlink data transmission as shown in the FIG. 2. In this example, “P0-R0” is the first repetition of the first downlink data transmission with repetitions, “P0-R1” is the second repetition of the first downlink data transmission with repetitions and so on. Similarly, “P1-R0” is the first repetition of the second downlink data transmission with repetitions, “P1-R1” is the second repetition of the second downlink data transmission with repetitions and so on. Further, the first data transmission 410 with repetitions is of mapping type A and the second data transmission 420 with repetitions is of mapping type B.

In some embodiments, for a mapping type A downlink data transmission with repetitions, for example, the downlink data transmission 410 with repetitions, resource allocation for different receptions of the downlink data transmission 420 may be different. For example, the whole slots next to the first slot for the first repetition indicated by the first offset, may be allocated for the other repetitions in turn except the first one.

If not specified, the repetition is nominal repetition, which is different with actual repetition.

In some embodiments, for a mapping type B downlink data transmission with repetitions, for example, the downlink data transmission 420 with repetitions, resource allocation for different repetitions of the downlink data transmission 420 may be based on available symbols. For example, the available symbols for different repetitions may be the same and the repetition can across boundaries of a slot. In this way, the difference of actual coding rate for repetitions may be decreased. In some embodiments, the second value is determined only by the available symbols, and the invalid resource doesn’t include the resource of unavailable symbols.

Taking the first downlink data transmission 410 with repetitions as an example, in order to implementing more accurate TBS determination procedure and a rate matching procedure, a TBS is determined based on the first value and the second value which are calculated considering each repetition.

In some embodiments, for calculating the first value, the network device 120 determines the number of invalid resource elements in each of resource blocks for each repetition of the first downlink data transmission 410 with repetitions. The resource block only means the resource in frequency domain. In some embodiments, the invalid resource elements may comprise resource elements for Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) , and/or resource elements for rate matching, and/or resource elements for Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) , and/or resource elements for Control-Resource Set (CORSET) , and/or resource elements for rate matching indicated by high layer parameters RateMatchPattern and related field Rate matching indicator in DCI.

In the first downlink data transmission 410 with repetitions, in the resource block (for example, the resource block is a slot in FIG. 3) for the first repetition (P0-R0) , there are twelve (12) available symbols (the first two symbols are used for PDCCH) comprising 2 symbols for DMRS and 4 collision symbols (for example, for SSB) . In the resource block for the second repetition (P0-R1) , there are 14 available symbols comprising 4 collision symbols (for example, for CORSET) . In the resource block for the third repetition (P0-R2) , there are 14 available symbols comprising 2 symbols for DMRS. In the resource block for the fourth repetition (P0-R3) , there are 14 symbols without any collision symbols.

In this case, the number of invalid resource elements in the first repetition is determined to be

is the collided symbols caused by SSB in the repetition, which is equal to 4 in the example. The number of invalid resource elements in the second repetition is determined to be

is the collided symbols caused by SSB in the repetition, which is equal to 4 in the example. The number of invalid resource elements in the third repetition is determined to be N _inv, 2= 2×12. In some embodiments, the first value may be the average value of the determined number of the invalid resource elements in each of resource blocks for the four repetitions.

In this case, the first value is calculated by the following equation (2) :

In addition or alternatively, in some embodiments, the first value may be the median value of the determined number of the invalid resource elements in each of resource blocks for the four repetitions. In this case, since the number of repetitions is an even number, the first value may be calculated as the average value of N _inv, 1 and N _inv, 2. If the number of repetitions is an odd number, the first value may be calculated as the median value.

In addition or alternatively, in some embodiments, the first value may be any other statistic value reflecting the mean distribution of determined number of the invalid resource elements in each of resource blocks for the repetitions.

In some embodiments, for calculating the second value, the network device 120 determines the number of allocated symbols for each repetition of a downlink data transmission of the plurality of the downlink data transmissions.

In the first downlink data transmission 410 with repetitions, the number of allocated symbols for the first repetition is determined to be L ₀=12 symbols, and the numbers of allocated symbols for the second, third and fourth repetitions are determined to be L ₁=L ₂=L ₃=14 symbols.

In some embodiments, the second value may be an average value of the numbers of the allocated symbols, L ₀, L ₁, L ₂, L ₃. In this case, the second value may be calculated as 13.5 symbols. In addition or alternatively, in some embodiments, the second value may be the median value of the allocated symbols, L ₀, L ₁, L ₂, L ₃. In addition or alternatively, in some embodiments, the second value may be any other statistic value reflecting the mean distribution of determined number of the allocated symbols in each of resource blocks for the repetitions.

With the first value and second value, the TBS of the first downlink data transmission 310 with repetitions may be determined by determining the number of resource elements within a PRB (in frequency domain) based on equation (3) :

In some embodiments, the overhead may be an average value for each repetition of the repetitions. In some embodiments, the overhead is considered when computing the first value, then the equation (3) : may be simplified to be the following equation (4) :

In this way, with the first value and the second value, the TBS determination for the first downlink data transmission 410 with repetitions is performed with considering resource allocation for each repetition. As such, the TBS determination is more accurate and is benefit for the rate matching procedure in subsequent encoding/decoding step.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine the first value and second value corresponding to each of the plurality of the downlink data transmissions with repetitions. Further, the network device 120 may determine more effective TBSs for these downlink data transmissions.

Returning back to FIG. 2, the network device 120 encodes the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions for the downlink data transmissions based on the first value and second value. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine the TBS of each downlink data transmission with repetitions in the plurality of downlink data transmissions based on the first value and second value as calculated above. Then, the network device 120 may generating the signal of the plurality of downlink data transmissions with repetitions by performing encoding and rate matching based on the determined TBS.

In some embodiments, an actual repetition of a downlink data transmission with the repetitions (for example, P0-R0 of the first downlink data transmission 410 with repetitions) cannot across a slot. In this case, the network device 120 may perform, using valid resources within boundaries of a slot, the rate matching per code block (CB) for each repetition, independently, the valid resources are selected based on resource allocated for each repetition, and the valid resources do not comprise: resource element indicated by rate matching pattern, resource elements of reference signal such as DMRS, Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS) or other collided resource elements which can’t be used to transmit data. For example, the network device 120 choses the start point according to the redundancy version (RV) indicated for the current repetition. The network device 120 determines the output length of each CB according to the valid resources of the current repetition. Then, the network device 120 combines the bits of each CB after the rate matching.

In this way, the rate matching in the encoding procedure/decoding procedure can be performed directly without further signaling messages and calculation resources.

In addition or alternatively, an actual repetition of a downlink data transmission with the repetitions (for example, P0-R0 of the first downlink data transmission 410 with repetitions) may across slots. In this case, the boundaries of the actual repetitions may be different with that of the nominal repetitions. New boundaries can be determined. For example, the network device 120 may perform the rate matching using valid resources determined by boundaries of a time period indicated by the DCI. As such, CB may also across slots. An actual repetition of a downlink data transmission with the repetitions (for example, P0-R0 of the first downlink data transmission 410 with repetitions) , therefore, may be not start or end at slot boundary. In some embodiments, alternatively, the time period may also be indicated by a RRC signaling.

In some embodiments, the boundaries of the time period may be chosen to be sub-slot boundary, symbol boundary and other finer granularity within a symbol, such as resource block or even resource element.

In the rate matching which the actual repetition can across slots, the network device 120 may choose the start point according to the RV indicated for the current actual repetition. Then, since the actual repetition may across the slot, the terminal device 120 may determine the real value of parameter “G” based on resource in terms of the time period for the rate matching of each actual repetition. The network device 120 may determine the output bit length according to the real value of parameter “G” for a current actual repetition, and combine the bits of each CB after the rate matching.

For the sake of discussion more clearly, a repetition with boundaries of a slot and a repetition with boundaries of the time period which may across slots will be discussed with reference to a schematic diagram shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 illustrates configurations 500 of actual repetitions with different time granularities according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The downlink data transmission 510 with repetitions, downlink data transmission 520 with repetitions and downlink data transmission 530 with repetitions are shown in FIG. 5. In the configuration 500, assuming that the valid resources for the symbols including collided resources is half of whole scheduled resources of one symbol. Therefore, the valid symbol of the symbols including collided resources is 0.5 symbol actually.

In the downlink data transmission 510, each repetition or nominal repetition are configured within boundaries of a slot, therefore, there are 8 valid symbols for the Repetion 0; 12 valid symbols for the Repetion 1; 12 valid symbols for the Repetion 2; and 14 valid symbols for the Repetion 3. This causes that there is a significant difference among these repetitions, especially between the Repetition 0 and the Repetition 3.

In the

downlink data transmissions

510 and 520, the boundaries of the time period for a repetition are further configured. For example, the granularity of boundaries of the time period may be chosen as 1 symbol in the downlink data transmission 520, and as 2 symbols in the downlink data transmission 530. In this way, in the downlink data transmission 520, there are 12 valid symbols for the actual Repetion 0; 12 valid symbols for the actual Repetion 1; 11 valid symbols for the actual Repetion 2; and 11 valid symbols for the actual Repetion 3. In the downlink data transmission 530, there are 12 valid symbols for the actual Repetion 0; 12 valid symbols for the actual Repetion 1; 12 valid symbols for the actual Repetion 2; and 10 valid symbols for the actual Repetion 3.

As such, the difference between the different parameters G for different actual repetitions of the downlink data transmission may be decreased, such that improving the performance of the rate matching.

In addition or alternatively, in some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine a difference of valid resource elements between repetitions for the downlink data transmission. If the difference is larger than or equal to a difference threshold, the network device 120 may encode the downlink data transmission and the repetitions by performing the rate matching determined by boundaries of a time period indicated by the DCI or a RRC signaling, the duration of the time period is less than the duration of a slot. If the difference is less the difference threshold, the network device 120 may encode the downlink data transmission and the repetitions by performing the rate matching determined by boundaries of a slot. In some embodiments, the difference threshold is predetermined. In some embodiments the difference threshold is dynamically changed on demand.

The duration of time period being used to determine boundary of rate matching may be associated with the difference of valid resources of difference repetitions for the downlink data transmission. In some embodiments, a plurality of threshold intervals and corresponding time granularities are predetermined, as shown in the following Table 1 and Table 2:

Table 1

Table 2

Returning back to FIG. 2, after encoding the plurality of downlink data transmissions with repetitions, the network device transmits (230) the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions to the terminal device 110.

Then, the terminal device 110 determines (240) the first value and the second value and decodes (240) the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions with the determined first value and second value. It is to be understood that the encoding procedure and decoding procedure are reciprocal convolution processes. Therefore, the decoding procedure may be performed in a similar steps as the above encoding procedure by the network device 120. To simplify the discussion, the details of decoding procedure are omitted here.

In order to implement that a single DCI schedules a plurality of downlink data transmissions with repetitions, and more effective TBS determination and rate matching procedure, a Time Domain Resource Assignment (TDRA) table may be further configured by RRC signaling. In some embodiments, for PUSCH (without any limitation to PDSCH) , the TDRA table may be partly configured as the following Table 3:

Table 3

wherein k2Max is determined by SCS: higher SCS, larger k2Max, and the numbers for repetitions for MPUSCH in the Table 1 is just an example. The number may be: {2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 64} . Further, the two repetition fields cannot be configured at the same time. The numberOfRepetitions-r18 is present for pusch…DCI-0-1-r18 or pusch…DCI-0-2-r18 and the numberOfRepetitionsForMPUSCH-r18 is present for pusch…ForMultiPUSCH-r18.

FIG. 6 illustrates a signaling process 600 of uplink data transmissions according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For purpose of discussion, the signaling process 600 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

In the signaling process 600, the terminal device 110 receives (610) DCI from the network device 120, the DCI schedules a plurality of uplink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of uplink data transmissions. In some embodiments, this DCI is DCI as discussed with reference to FIG. 2 in addition to scheduling the uplink data transmissions.

The terminal device 110 determines (620) a first value of invalid resource elements for an uplink data transmission of the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions for the uplink data transmission, and a second value of allocated symbols for the uplink data transmission and the repetitions for the uplink data transmission. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 determines the first and second value in the same way as discussed with reference to FIGs. 2 to 5. Further, the terminal device 110 encodes (620) the plurality of uplink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of uplink data transmissions based on the determined first value and the second value. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 determines the TBS for an uplink data transmission of the plurality of uplink data transmissions with repetitions in the same way as the TBS determination procedure as discussed with reference FIGs. 2 to 5. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 performs the rate matching per repetition of the uplink data transmission in the same way as discussed with reference to FIGs. 2 to 5.

Then, the terminal device 110 transmits (630) the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions to the network device 120. Further, the network device 120 determines (640) a first value of invalid resource elements for a uplink data transmission of the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions for the uplink data transmission, and a second value of allocated symbols for the uplink data transmission and the repetitions for the uplink data transmission. In some embodiments, the network device 120 determines the first and second value in the same way as discussed with reference to FIGs. 2 to 5. The network device 120 decodes (640) the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions based on the determined first value and the second value. In some embodiments, the network device 120 determines the TBS for an uplink data transmission of the plurality of uplink data transmissions with repetitions in the same way as the TBS determination procedure as discussed with reference FIGs. 2 to 5. In some embodiments, the network device 120 performs the rate matching per repetition of the uplink data transmission in the same way as discussed with reference to FIGs. 2 to 5.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 700 of communication implemented at a terminal device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 700 can be implemented at the terminal device 110 shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, the method 700 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. It is to be understood that the method 700may include additional acts not shown and/or may omit some shown acts, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

At block 710, the terminal device 110 receives downlink control information scheduling a plurality of downlink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of downlink data transmissions from a network device 120.

At block 720, the terminal device 110 receives the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions from the network device 120.

At block 730, the terminal device 110 decodes the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions based on a first value and a second value, wherein the first value being associated with invalid resource elements for a downlink data transmission of the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions for the downlink data transmission, and the second value being associated with allocated symbols for the downlink data transmission and the repetitions for the downlink data transmission .

In some embodiments, the downlink control information further indicates a number of the repetitions, and the first value is determined by the terminal device 110 with following operations: determining the number of invalid resource elements in each of resource blocks for each repetition of a downlink data transmission of the plurality of the downlink data transmissions; calculating an average value of the determined number of the invalid resource elements; and determining the calculated average value as the first value.

In some embodiments, the downlink control information further indicates a number of the repetitions, and the second value is determined by the terminal device 110 with following operations: determining the number of allocated symbols for each repetition of a downlink data transmission of the plurality of the downlink data transmissions; calculating an average value of the determined number of the allocated symbols; and determining the calculated average value as the second value.

In some embodiments, the invalid resource elements comprise at least one of: resource elements for Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) , resource elements for rate matching, resource elements for Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) , resource elements for Control-Resource Set (CORSET) .

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 decodes the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions comprises: determining, based on the first value and the second value, a transport block size for the downlink data transmission; and decoding the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions by performing a rate matching based on the transport block size.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 performs the rate matching using valid resources within boundaries of a slot or boundaries of a time period indicated by the downlink control information.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 performs the rate matching comprises: determining a difference of valid resource elements between the repetitions for the downlink data transmission; in accordance with the determination that the difference is larger than or equal to a difference threshold, decoding the downlink data transmission and the repetitions by performing the rate matching within boundaries of a time period, a duration of the time period is less than the duration of a slot; or in accordance with the determination that the difference is less than a difference threshold, decoding the downlink data transmission and the repetitions by performing the rate matching within boundaries of a slot.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method 800 of communication implemented at a terminal device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 800 can be implemented at the terminal device 110 shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, the method 800 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. It is to be understood that the method 800 may include additional acts not shown and/or may omit some shown acts, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

At block 810, the terminal device 110 receives downlink control information scheduling a plurality of uplink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of uplink data transmissions from a network device 120.

At block 820, the terminal device 110 encodes the plurality of uplink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of uplink data transmissions based on a first value and a second value, wherein the first value being associated with invalid resource elements for a uplink data transmission of the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions for the uplink data transmission, and the second value being associated with allocated symbols for the uplink data transmission and the repetitions for the uplink data transmission.

At block 830, terminal device 110 transmits the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions to the network device 120.

In some embodiments, the downlink control information further indicates a number of the repetitions, and the the second value is determined by the terminal device 110 with following operations: determining the number of allocated symbols for each repetition of a downlink data transmission of the plurality of the downlink data transmissions; calculating an average value of the determined number of the allocated symbols; and determining the calculated average value as the second value.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 encodes the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions comprises: determining, based on the first value and the second value, a transport block size for the downlink data transmission; and encoding the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions by performing a rate matching based on the transport block size.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of a method 900 of communication implemented at a network device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 900 can be implemented at the network device 120 shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, the method 900 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. It is to be understood that the method 900 may include additional acts not shown and/or may omit some shown acts, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

At block 910, the network device 120 transmits downlink control information scheduling a plurality of downlink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of downlink data transmissions to the terminal device 110.

At block 920, the network device 120 encodes the plurality of downlink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of downlink data transmissions based on a first value and a second value, wherein the first value being associated with invalid resource elements for a downlink data transmission of the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions for the downlink data transmission, and the second value being associated with allocated symbols for the downlink data transmission and the repetitions for the downlink data transmission.

At block 930, the network device 120 transmits the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions to the terminal device 110.

In some embodiments, the downlink control information further indicates a number of the repetitions, and the first value is determined by the network device 120 with following operations: determining the number of invalid resource elements in each of resource blocks for each repetition of a downlink data transmission of the plurality of the downlink data transmissions; calculating an average value of the determined number of the invalid resource elements; and determining the calculated average value as the first value.

In some embodiments, the downlink control information further indicates a number of the repetitions, and the second value is determined by the network device 120 with following operations: determining the number of allocated symbols for each repetition of a downlink data transmission of the plurality of the downlink data transmissions; calculating an average value of the determined number of the allocated symbols; and determining the calculated average value as the second value.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 encodes the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions comprises: determining, based on the first value and the second value, a transport block size for the downlink data transmission; and encoding the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions by performing a rate matching based on the transport block size.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 performs the rate matching using valid resources within boundaries of a slot or boundaries of a time period indicated by the downlink control information.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 performs the rate matching comprises: determining a difference of valid resource elements between the repetitions for the downlink data transmission; in accordance with the determination that the difference is larger than or equal to a difference threshold, decoding the downlink data transmission and the repetitions by performing the rate matching within boundaries of a time period, a duration of the time period is less than the duration of a slot; or in accordance with the determination that the difference is less than a difference threshold, decoding the downlink data transmission and the repetitions by performing the rate matching within boundaries of a slot.

FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1000 of communication implemented at a network device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 1000 can be implemented at the network device 120 shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1000 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. It is to be understood that the method 1000 may include additional acts not shown and/or may omit some shown acts, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

At block 1010, the network device 120 transmits downlink control information scheduling a plurality of uplink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of uplink data transmissions to a terminal device 110.

At block 1020, the network device 120 receives the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions from the terminal device 110.

At block 1030, the network device 120 decodes the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions based on a first value and a second value wherein the first value being associated with invalid resource elements for a uplink data transmission of the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions for the uplink data transmission, and the second value being associated with allocated symbols for the uplink data transmission and the repetitions for the uplink data transmission.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 decodes the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions comprises: determining, based on the first value and the second value, a transport block size for the downlink data transmission; and encoding the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions by performing a rate matching based on the transport block size.

Fig. 11 is a simplified block diagram of a device 1100 that is suitable for implementing some embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 1100 can be considered as a further example embodiment of the terminal device 110 as shown in FIG. 1 or network device 110 as shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly, the device 1100 can be implemented at or as at least a part of the network device 110 or the terminal device 120.

As shown, the device 1100 includes a processor 1110, a memory 1120 coupled to the processor 1110, a suitable transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) 1140 coupled to the processor 1110, and a communication interface coupled to the TX/RX 1140. The memory 1120 stores at least a part of a program 1130. The TX/RX 1140 is for bidirectional communications. The TX/RX 1140 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 gNBs or eNBs, S1 interface for communication between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) /Serving Gateway (S-GW) and the gNB or eNB, Un interface for communication between the gNB or eNB and a relay node (RN) , or Uu interface for communication between the gNB or eNB and a terminal device.

The program 1130 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 1110, enable the device 1100 to operate in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, as discussed herein with reference to FIGs. 2-8. The embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 1110 of the device 1100, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 1110 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure. Furthermore, a combination of the processor 1110 and memory 1120 may form processing means 1150 adapted to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.

The memory 1120 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 1120 is shown in the device 1100, there may be several physically distinct memory modules in the device 1100. The processor 1110 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 1100 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.

In some embodiments, a terminal device comprises circuitry configured to perform method 700 and/or 800.

In some embodiments, a network device comprises circuitry configured to perform method 900 and/or 1000.

The components included in the apparatuses and/or devices of the present disclosure may be implemented in various manners, including software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, one or more units may be implemented using software and/or firmware, for example, machine-executable instructions stored on the storage medium. In addition to or instead of machine-executable instructions, parts or all of the units in the apparatuses and/or devices may be implemented, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components. For example, and without limitation, illustrative types of hardware logic components that can be used include Field-programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) , Application-specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) , Application-specific Standard Products (ASSPs) , System-on-a-chip systems (SOCs) , Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs) , and the like.

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, techniqterminal devices 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 any of Figs. 3 to 11. 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 embodiment 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.

Claims

A communication method implemented at a terminal device, comprising:

receiving, from a network device, downlink control information scheduling a plurality of downlink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of downlink data transmissions;

receiving, from the network device, the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions;

decoding the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions based on a first value and a second value, wherein the first value being associated with invalid resource elements for a downlink data transmission of the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions for the downlink data transmission, and the second value being associated with allocated symbols for the downlink data transmission and the repetitions for the downlink data transmission.
The method of claim 1, wherein the downlink control information further indicates a number of the repetitions, and the first value is determined by:

determining the number of invalid resource elements in each of resource blocks for each repetition of the downlink data transmission of the plurality of the downlink data transmissions;

calculating an average value of the determined number of the invalid resource elements; and

determining the calculated average value as the first value.
The method of claim 1, wherein the downlink control information further indicates a number of the repetitions, and the second value is determined by:

determining the number of allocated symbols for each repetition of the downlink data transmission of the plurality of the downlink data transmissions;

calculating an average value of the determined number of the allocated symbols; and

determining the calculated average value as the second value.
The method of claim 1, wherein the invalid resource elements comprise at least one of: resource elements for Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) , resource elements for rate matching, resource elements for Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) , resource elements for Control-Resource Set (CORSET) .
The method of claim 1, wherein decoding the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions comprises:

determining, based on the first value and the second value, a transport block size for the downlink data transmission; and

decoding the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions by performing a rate matching based on the transport block size.
The method of claim 5, wherein the rate matching is performed using valid resources within boundaries of a slot or boundaries of a time period indicated by the downlink control information.
The method of claim 5, wherein performing the rate matching comprises:

determining a difference of valid resource elements between the repetitions for the downlink data transmission;

in accordance with the determination that the difference is larger than or equal to a difference threshold, decoding the downlink data transmission and the repetitions by performing the rate matching within boundaries of a time period, a duration of the time period is less than the duration of a slot; or

in accordance with the determination that the difference is less than a difference threshold, decoding the downlink data transmission and the repetitions by performing the rate matching within boundaries of a slot.
A method of communication implemented at a terminal device, comprising:

receiving, from a network device, downlink control information scheduling a plurality of uplink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of uplink data transmissions;

encoding the plurality of uplink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of uplink data transmissions based on a first value and a second value, wherein the first value being associated with invalid resource elements for a uplink data transmission of the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions for the uplink data transmission, and the second value being associated with allocated symbols for the uplink data transmission and the repetitions for the uplink data transmission; and

transmitting, to the network device, the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions.
The method of claim 8, wherein the downlink control information further indicates a number of the repetitions, and the first value is determined by:

determining the number of invalid resource elements in each of resource blocks for each repetition of the uplink data transmission of the plurality of the uplink data transmissions;

calculating an average value of the determined number of the invalid resource elements; and

determining the calculated average value as the first value.
The method of claim 8, wherein the downlink control information further indicates a number of the repetitions, and the second value is determined by:

determining the number of allocated symbols for each repetition of the uplink data transmission of the plurality of the uplink data transmissions;

calculating an average value of the determined number of the allocated symbols; and

determining the calculated average value as the second value.
The method of claim 8, wherein the invalid resource elements comprise at least one of: resource elements for Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) , resource elements for rate matching, resource elements for Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) , resource elements for Control-Resource Set (CORSET) .
The method of claim 8, wherein encoding the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions comprises:

determining, based on the first value and the second value, a transport block size for the uplink data transmission; and

encoding the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions by performing a rate matching based on the transport block size.
The method of claim 12, wherein the rate matching is performed using valid resources within boundaries of a slot or boundaries of a time period indicated by the downlink control information.
The method of claim 12, wherein performing the rate matching comprises:

determining a difference of valid resource elements between the repetitions for the uplink data transmission;

in accordance with the determination that the difference is larger than or equal to a difference threshold, encoding the uplink data transmission and the repetitions by performing the rate matching within boundaries of a time period, a duration of the time period is less than the duration of a slot; or

in accordance with the determination that the difference is less than a difference threshold, encoding the uplink data transmission and the repetitions by performing the rate matching within boundaries of a slot.
A communication method implemented at a network device, comprising:

transmitting, to a terminal device, downlink control information scheduling a plurality of downlink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of downlink data transmissions;

encoding the plurality of downlink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of downlink data transmissions based on a first value and a second value, wherein the first value being associated with invalid resource elements for a downlink data transmission of the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions for the downlink data transmission, and the second value being associated with allocated symbols for the downlink data transmission and the repetitions for the downlink data transmission; and

transmitting, to the terminal device, the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions.
The method of claim 15, wherein the downlink control information further indicates a number of the repetitions, and the first value is determined by:

determining the number of invalid resource elements in each of resource blocks, the resource blocks for each repetition of the downlink data transmission of the plurality of the downlink data transmissions;

calculating an average value of the determined number of the invalid resource elements; and

determining the calculated average value as the first value.
The method of claim 15, wherein the downlink control information further indicates a number of the repetitions, and the second value is determined by:

determining the number of allocated symbols for each repetition of the downlink data transmission of the plurality of the downlink data transmissions;

calculating an average value of the determined number of the allocated symbols; and

determining the calculated average value as the second value.
The method of claim 15, wherein the invalid resource elements comprise at least one of: resource elements for Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) , resource elements for rate matching, resource elements for Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) , resource elements for Control-Resource Set (CORSET) .
The method of claim 15, wherein encoding the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions comprises:

determining, based on the first value and the second value, a transport block size for the downlink data transmission; and

encoding the plurality of downlink data transmissions and the repetitions by performing a rate matching based on the transport block size.
The method of claim 19, wherein the rate matching is performed using valid resources within boundaries of a slot or boundaries of a time period indicated by the downlink control information.
The method of claim 19, wherein performing the rate matching comprises:

determining a difference of valid resource elements between the repetitions for the downlink data transmission;

in accordance with the determination that the difference is larger than or equal to a difference threshold, decoding the downlink data transmission and the repetitions by performing the rate matching within boundaries of a time period, a duration of the time period is less than the duration of a slot; or

in accordance with the determination that the difference is less than a difference threshold, decoding the downlink data transmission and the repetitions by performing the rate matching within boundaries of a slot.
A method of communication implemented at a network device, comprising:

transmitting, to a terminal device, downlink control information scheduling a plurality of uplink data transmissions and repetitions for the plurality of uplink data transmissions;

receiving, from the terminal device, the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions; and

decoding the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions based on the first value and the second value, wherein the first value being associated with invalid resource elements for a uplink data transmission of the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions for the uplink data transmission, and the second value being associated with allocated symbols for the uplink data transmission and the repetitions for the uplink data transmission.
The method of claim 22, wherein the downlink control information further indicates a number of the repetitions, and the first value is determined by:

determining the number of invalid resource elements in each of resource blocks for each repetition of the uplink data transmission of the plurality of the uplink data transmissions;

calculating an average value of the determined number of the invalid resource elements; and

determining the calculated average value as the first value.
The method of claim 22, wherein the downlink control information further indicates a number of the repetitions, and the second value is determined by:

determining the number of allocated symbols for each repetition of the uplink data transmission of the plurality of the uplink data transmissions;

calculating an average value of the determined number of the allocated symbols; and

determining the calculated average value as the second value.
The method of claim 22, wherein the invalid resource elements comprise at least one of: resource elements for Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) , resource elements for rate matching, resource elements for Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) , resource elements for Control-Resource Set (CORSET) .
The method of claim 22, wherein decoding the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions comprises:

determining, based on the first value and the second value, a transport block size for the uplink data transmission; and

decoding the plurality of uplink data transmissions and the repetitions by performing a rate matching based on the transport block size.
The method of claim 26, wherein the rate matching is performed using valid resources within boundaries of a slot or boundaries of a time period indicated by the downlink control information.
The method of claim 26, wherein performing the rate matching comprises:

determining a difference of valid resource elements between the repetitions for the uplink data transmission;

in accordance with the determination that the difference is larger than or equal to a difference threshold, encoding the uplink data transmission and the repetitions by performing the rate matching within boundaries of a time period, a duration of the time period is less than the duration of a slot; or

in accordance with the determination that the difference is less than a difference threshold, encoding the uplink data transmission and the repetitions by performing the rate matching within boundaries of a slot.
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 to 7, or any of claims 8 to 14.
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 15 to 21, or any of claims 22 to 28.
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 to 7, any of claims 8 to 14, any of claims 15 to 21, or any of claims 22 to 28.