Systems and methods for improving reliability of nr multicast transmissions, and for group scheduling of single-cell nr multicast transmissions

Abstract

A gNodeB apparatus, a system, a method, and a machine-readable medium are provided. The apparatus includes one or more processors to encode a message for a single-cell multicast, broadcast, or groupcast transmission to a group of user equipment (UEs), the message to configure the UEs for at least one of channel quality indicator (CQI) feedback or hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ / ACK) feedback such that at least one of CQI feedback or HARQ / ACK feedback can be turned off or such that both CQI feedback and HARQ / ACK feedback can be used, and to transmit the message to a communication resource of the gNB for transmission to the UEs. The one or more processors can further encode a multicast, broadcast, or groupcast physical layer transmission mapped by a higher layer to a common service for transmission to the UEs.

Description

[0001] Cross Reference to Related Applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 062,928, filed August 7, 2021, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RELIABILITY IMPROVEMENTS IN NR MULTICAST,” and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 063,109, filed August 7, 2021, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GROUP SCHEDULING IN SINGLE CELL MULTICAST IN NR.” BACKGROUND

[0003] Various embodiments can generally relate to the field of wireless communications, and in particular, to the field of communications in cellular networks conforming to one or more Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specifications. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0004] In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numerals can describe similar components in different views. Like numerals having different letter suffixes can represent different instances of similar components. The drawings illustrate generally, by way of example, various embodiments discussed in the present document.

[0005] Figure 1 An NR network is shown that includes a gNB and a group of UEs, where an initial groupcast transmission is sent to 4 UEs, including code blocks CB1 and CB2.

[0006] Figure 2A An initial groupcast transmission is shown according to some embodiments, in Figure 1 An NR network is shown according to various embodiments. Figure 1 An initial groupcast transmission is shown according to some embodiments, in

[0007] Figure 2B A UE is shown according to some embodiments, in Figure 2A An initial groupcast transmission is shown according to some embodiments, in Figure 2B A UE is shown according to some embodiments, in

[0008] Figure 3 A wireless network is shown according to various embodiments.

[0009] Figure 4 A user equipment (UE) and a radio access node (RAN) in wireless communications are shown according to various embodiments.

[0010] Figure 5Components are shown that are capable of reading instructions from a machine- or computer-readable medium and performing any one or more of the methods discussed herein, in accordance with some example embodiments.

[0011] Figure 6 A flowchart of a process in accordance with the first embodiment is shown.

[0012] Figure 7 A flowchart of a process in accordance with the second embodiment is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] The following detailed description references the drawings, wherein like numerals indicate the same or similar elements. In this description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of the various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that aspects of the various embodiments can be practiced in other examples that depart from these specific details. In other instances, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and

[0014] Embodiments relate to 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) Rel-17 work, which involves support of broadcast and multicast services within a single cell, primarily targeting groupcast operation for mission critical and commercial use cases purposes, such as popular video / application download.

[0015] Rel-17 publication RP-193248, “New Work Item on NR Support of Multicast and Broadcast Services” (Huawei, RAN#86, Seville, Spain, December 2019) (hereinafter RP-193248) has the following objectives for physical layer enhancements to support reliability improvements for multicast and broadcast transmissions in NR:

[0016] • Specify, for RAN 1, RAN 2, and RAN 3 [RAN1, RAN2, RAN3], radio access network (RAN) basic functions for broadcast / multicast for UEs in radio resource control (RRC) connected (RRC_CONNECTED) state; and / or

[0017] • Specify needed changes to improve reliability of broadcast / multicast services, e.g., through uplink (UL) feedback. The level of reliability should be based on the requirements of the offered application / service. [RAN1, RAN2].

[0018] Based on the above objectives, some embodiments described herein aim to improve the reliability of the in-NR cell multicast and broadcast operation without the need for single frequency network (SFN) type of operation.

[0019] RP-193248 has the following objectives to support multicast and broadcast transmission in NR, further to the physical layer enhancements:

[0020] • Specify RAN basic functions for broadcast / multicast for user equipments (UEs) in RRC CONNECTED state [RAN1, RAN2, RAN3]:

[0021] • Specify group scheduling mechanisms to allow UEs to receive broadcast / multicast services [RAN1, RAN2]. This objective includes specifying the necessary enhancements needed to enable simultaneous operation with unicast reception.

[0022] Based on the above objectives, some embodiments described herein aim to enable group scheduling for in-NR cell multicast and broadcast operation without the need for single frequency network (SFN) type of operation.

[0023] The embodiments described herein advantageously enable group scheduling for in-NR cell multicast and broadcast operation without the need for single frequency network (SFN) type of operation. Furthermore, detailed information is provided regarding multi-user scheduling and co-scheduling for multicast and unicast transmissions.

[0024] Technical information:

[0025] The objectives of the new work item on NR support for multicast and broadcast services are to provide support for broadcast and multicast services within a single NR cell, mainly targeting groupcast operation for critical communications and commercial use cases such as popular video / application download purposes.

[0026] Reliability improvements in NR multicast

[0027] In Rel-13 Long Term Evolution (LTE), support for single-cell multicast / broadcast was introduced in the form of SC-PTM (Single Cell - Point To Multipoint). See 3GPP TR 36.890 v13.0.0, “Study on Single Cell Point-to-Multipoint Transmission” (Release 13) (hereinafter TR 36.890). However, no additional mechanisms were specified for uplink feedback or reliability improvements.

[0028] Some embodiments described herein support reliable transmission of configuration and data for single-cell multicast or broadcast.

[0029] In one set of embodiments, 5G NR groupcast can support multiple modes of operation in which uplink feedback of channel quality indicator (CQI) and hybrid automatic repeat request / acknowledgement (HARQ / ACK) using physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources of a group of UEs receiving a groupcast or broadcast transmission within an NR cell can be either configured by higher layers or dynamically configured using downlink control information (DCI). The modes of operation can include:

[0030] • no uplink feedback mode;

[0031] • HARQ / ACK only feedback mode;

[0032] • CQI only feedback mode; and / or

[0033] • CQI and HARQ / ACK feedback mode.

[0034] In the case where CQI feedback is not available, the NR NodeB (gNB) can select a fixed modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for all UEs in the group receiving a multicast transmission based on providing the minimum required data rate to the UE in the group with the worst coverage or channel conditions.

[0035] In one set of embodiments, the multicast transmission can operate such that UEs not expected to provide uplink feedback (CQI + HARQ / ACK) and based on the time domain duration of the PDSCH, the downlink multicast transmission is configured to be repeated possibly multiple times within an NR slot or across multiple NR slots. In this case, the repetition of the PDSCH can not cross a slot boundary.

[0036] In another embodiment, repetition across a slot boundary is also allowed.

[0037] In another embodiment, repetition based downlink transmission with uplink CQI feedback but no HARQ / ACK feedback is possible in which the MCS of the groupcast transmission is adjusted based on the CQI feedback.

[0038] In another embodiment, the multicast transmission can be configured with a fixed number of repetitions, after which the HARQ / ACK feedback is generated and transmitted in the uplink. In one example of an embodiment, such HARQ / ACK feedback can be configured such that it is UE specific, where the default option for all UEs in the group is not the HARQ / ACK feedback. In this case, if the group contains a mix of RRC CONNECTED and RRC IDLE / INACTIVE UEs, the RRC IDLE UEs can not transmit the HARQ / ACK by configuration, while the RRC CONNECTED UEs can be able to transmit the HARQ feedback.

[0039] In another embodiment set, for HARQ feedback using uplink PUCCH resources, the UEs receiving the groupcast transmission can transmit ACK and NACK based on the status of the received PDSCH.

[0040] In another embodiment, the UEs receiving the groupcast can send NACK only in case of PDSCH failure. In this case, in one example, the UEs can transmit the NACK in UE specific PUCCH resources, while in another example, the NACK can be transmitted over shared PUCCH resources. The NACKs from different UEs within the group transmitted over shared PUCCH resources can be multiplexed using UE specific cyclic shifts.

[0041] Reference is now made to Figure 1 , which illustrates a NR network comprising a gNB 102 and a group of UEs 104. Figure 1 Especially, an initial groupcast transmission to 4 UEs 104 is shown, where the transmission comprises two code blocks CB1 and CB2. When using HARQ based feedback, according to one embodiment, a retransmission of the failed transport block is needed even if only one UE 104 in the group transmits a NACK. To cope with such retransmissions, advanced retransmission techniques using outer codes on top of channel codes can be used.

[0042] Reference is now made to Figure 2A and Figure 2B , which relate to groupcast retransmission schemes according to exemplary embodiments.

[0043] In particular, Figure 2A is shown after an initial groupcast transmission according to some embodiments and during decoding of a retransmission. Figure 1 is shown after an initial groupcast transmission according to some embodiments and during decoding of a retransmission. Figure 1 is shown after an initial groupcast transmission according to some embodiments and during decoding of a retransmission. Figure 2B is shown after receiving the retransmission shown in Figure 2A and during decoding thereof. Figure 2B is shown after receiving the retransmission shown in

[0044] In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 2A and 2B A network code such as index coding can be used to jointly transmit failed code blocks (CBs) to multiple UEs in a group, as shown in Figure 2A and 2B If, out of four UEs 104 in the network of Figure 2A two UEs report NACK for the first CB (CB1) of the transport block, while the remaining two UEs report NACK for the second CB (CB2) of the transport block, then Figure 2A The retransmission by the gNB 102, as shown in

[0045] Group scheduling in NR single-cell multicast

[0046] One of the objectives of the new work item on NR support for multicast and broadcast services is to provide support for broadcast and multicast services within a single NR cell, mainly targeting groupcast operation for mission critical and commercial use cases such as popular video / application download purposes.

[0047] In Rel-13 LTE, support for single-cell multicast / broadcast was introduced in the form of SC-PTM (Single-Cell Point-to-Multipoint). See TR 36.890. Single-Carrier (SC) Point-to-Multipoint (PTM, SC-PTM) is more flexible than Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) because it allows frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) of unicast, and it uses PDSCH instead of Physical Multicast Channel (PMCH). Furthermore, because of the single-cell operation, there is no mandatory requirement to use large cyclic prefix (CP), so the overhead is similar to unicast transmission. See reception of Rel-13 SC-PTM support in RRC CONNECTED and RRC IDLE modes. No UL feedback mechanism (Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) and HARQ / ACK) is specified. Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service (MBMS) control information including SC-PTMConfiguration is obtained from a higher layer logical channel Single-Carrier Multicast Control Channel (SC-MCCH), and the actual SC-PTM traffic is carried in the logical channel Single-Carrier Multicast Traffic Channel (SC-MTCH). Both SC-MCCH and SC-MTCH are mapped to PDSCH at the physical layer. The PDSCH carrying SC-MCCH is scheduled by Downlink Control Information (DCI) format 1A with Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) scrambled by Single-Carrier Radio Network Temporary Identifier (SC-RNTI); the PDSCH carrying Multicast Traffic Channel (MTCH) is scheduled by DCI format 1A with CRC scrambled by Group RNTI (G-RNTI) provided in the form of a part of the SC-PTMConfiguration message. In addition, configuration change notifications are also indicated by PDCCH (without associated PDSCH) using DCI format 1C with CRC scrambled by Single-Carrier Notification RNTI (SC-N-RNTI).

[0048] In 5G-NR, support for such single-cell PTM services has not been defined, and embodiments described herein relate to some methods for support of multicast within an NR cell.

[0049] In one embodiment, the group of UEs receiving groupcast and or broadcast transmissions within an NR cell is determined by higher layers, and can include UEs in RRC CONNECTED mode or RRC IDLE / RRC INACTIVE mode or a combination of UEs in both states.

[0050] In one embodiment, a new multicast SC-RNTI is introduced in NR, named M-RNTI, such that this RNTI is used to scramble the CRC of the DCI scheduling the PDSCH containing the multicast configuration information for the group of UEs. In another embodiment, this RNTI can also be referred to as SC-RNTI for NR.

[0051] In one embodiment, a new RNTI called a group RNTI or G-RNTI is introduced in the NR, such that the RNTI is used to CRC scramble the DCI of the scheduling PDSCH containing multicast data to be transmitted to UEs that are part of a group of UEs receiving multicast transmissions within the NR cell.

[0052] In one implementation set, an additional RNTI, either MN-RNTI or SC-M-RNTI, can be defined to CRC scramble the DCI that notifies the UE of multicast transmission configuration changes. This PDDCH does indeed schedule any additional PDSCH transmissions.

[0053] In one embodiment set, the multicast PDSCH that includes multicast configuration or multicast data scheduling supports at least PDSCH mapping type A with demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) type 1, and optionally supports PDSCH mapping type B with DM-RS type 1 and type 2.

[0054] In one embodiment set, a common search space can be configured to monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) containing the scheduled DCI containing multicast configuration or data. In this case, the Type3-PDCCH CSS set defined in NR 3GPP TS 38.213 v16.2.0 “NRPhysical Layer Procedures for Control” (Release 16) can be used to add support for M-RNTI / SC-RNTI, G-RNTI, and MN-RNTI / SC-M-RNTI. In another embodiment of this example, the Type3-PDCCH CSS set configuration is extended to support DCI format 1_1 in addition to DCI format 1_0. In yet another embodiment, a new CSS type can also be defined for multicast purposes, wherein the CSS set is configured by SearchSpace in PDCCH-Config with searchSpaceType=common for DCI formats scrambled by CRCs of M-RNTI / SC-RNTI, G-RNTI, and MN-RNTI / SC-M-RNTI. This CSS should also support monitoring of DCI formats 1_0 and 1_1.

[0055] In one implementation set, the UE-dedicated search space (USS) can also be used to monitor PDCCHs containing DCI formats associated with any multicast / broadcast transmissions within the cell. This may only apply to RRC_CONNECTED UEs.

[0056] In one set of embodiments, the aggregation level (AL) or number of PDCCH candidates to monitor within a configured search space set will be determined based on the UE within the group receiving the multicast or broadcast transmission that has the worst coverage or channel conditions. Similarly, the configuration of the CORESET related to the search space set including the determination of the precoder granularity is also based on the UE with the worst coverage.

[0057] In one set of embodiments, NR multicast supports at least DCI format 1_0 as the basis for scheduling of multicast related transmissions. In addition, DCI format 1_1 can also be supported. In a variant of this embodiment, a new compact DCI format for multicast scheduling can also be defined in NR.

[0058] In one set of embodiments, a RRC CONNECTED UE can simultaneously receive both unicast and multicast transmissions within the same slot. In one example, such transmissions to the UE can be time division multiplexing (TDM) or frequency division multiplexing (FDM) within a slot. In another example, such transmissions can be simultaneously received on orthogonal DM-RS ports with potentially different precoding. In this example, the UE should be able to simultaneously receive two parallel data streams.

[0059] In one set of embodiments, NR multicast transmissions can use multiple multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers as supported in the case of unicast transmissions. Each layer of the multicast is transmitted on orthogonal DM-RS ports.

[0060] In one set of embodiments, in order to receive a multicast or broadcast transmission, the UEs within the group receiving the transmission share the same DM-RS ports. In another embodiment, other unicast UEs are also supported to be multiplexed on other orthogonal DM-RS ports not used by the multicast transmission, for example, supporting both unicast and multicast transmissions in a multi-user mode in NR.

[0061] In another embodiment, multi-user superposition coding can be used for multicast transmissions. As an example, the UEs in the group of users receiving the multicast transmission can be divided into two subgroups with good and disadvantaged channel conditions or coverage, respectively. The most significant bits (MSBs) of the modulation mapping are reserved for the so-called disadvantaged UE subgroup. The UE subgroup with good channel conditions can also additionally receive the least significant bits (LSBs), which can result in additional information. For example, the same video stream can be transmitted using MUST, where the MSBs correspond to a low resolution video for low coverage users, while the LSBs add high resolution content for high coverage users. From a physical layer perspective, this transmission scheme can improve the groupcast quality, as well as improve the group spectral efficiency.

[0062] Embodiment procedure:

[0063] Figure 6 A process 600 according to an embodiment is shown. At operation 602, the process includes encoding a message for single-cell multicast, broadcast, or groupcast transmission to a group of user equipment (UEs), the message configured to configure the UEs with at least one of channel quality indicator (CQI) feedback or hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ / ACK) feedback such that at least one of CQI feedback or HARQ / ACK feedback can be turned off, or such that both CQI feedback and HARQ / ACK feedback can be used. At operation 604, the process includes transmitting the message to a communication resource of a gNB for transmission to the UEs.

[0064] Systems and implementations

[0065] Figures 3-5 Various systems, devices, and components can implement various aspects of the disclosed embodiments.

[0066] Figure 3 A network 300 according to various embodiments is shown. The network 300 can operate in a manner consistent with the 3GPP specifications for LTE or 5G / NR systems. However, the example embodiments are not limited in this regard and the described embodiments can apply to other networks, such as future 3GPP systems, or similar networks that benefit from the principles described herein.

[0067] The network 300 can include a UE 302 that can include any mobile or non- mobile computing device designed to communicate over the air with a RAN 304. The UE 302 can be communicatively coupled to the RAN 304 over a Uu interface. The UE 302 can be, but is not limited to, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a wearable computer device, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, an in-vehicle infotainment device, an in-vehicle entertainment device, an instrument cluster, a head-up display device, an on-board diagnostic device, a mobile data terminal, an electronic engine management system, an electronic / engine control unit, an electronic / engine control module, an embedded system, a sensor, a microcontroller, a control module, an engine management system, a connected appliance, a machine-type communication device, a M2M or D2D device, an loT device, etc.

[0068] In some embodiments, the network 300 can include multiple UEs coupled directly to each other via a sidelink interface. The UEs can be M2M / D2D devices that communicate using a physical sidelink channel, such as, but not limited to, PSBCH, PSDCH, PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH, etc.

[0069] In some embodiments, UE 302 can additionally communicate with AP 306 via an over-the-air connection.

[0070] AP 306 can manage the WLAN connection, which can be used to offload some / all network traffic from RAN 304. The connection between UE 302 and AP 306 can be consistent with any IEEE 302.11 protocol, where the AP 306 can be a wireless fidelity In some embodiments, UE 302, RAN 304, and AP 306 can utilize cellular-WLAN aggregation (e.g., LWA / LWIP). Cellular-WLAN aggregation can involve UE 302 being configured to utilize both cellular radio resources and WLAN resources by the RAN 304.

[0071] RAN 304 can include one or more access nodes, such as AN 308. AN 308 can terminate the air interface protocol for the UE 302 and can be the point of attachment for the UE 302 to the rest of the CN 320. AN 308 can be a station that communicates to the UE 302 through the use of space-based or terrestrial-based communication links. AN 308 can provide data and voice connectivity between the UE 302 and the CN 320. In some embodiments, AN 308 can be implemented as a software entity in a server computer that operates as part of a virtual network, which can be referred to as a CRAN or virtual baseband unit pool. AN 308 is also referred to as BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, ng-eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP, TRP, and / or the like. AN 308 can be a macrocell, a femtocell, or a low power base station for providing a millimeter wave, microcell, or other like cell with smaller coverage area, smaller user capacity, or a higher bandwidth than a macrocell.

[0072] In embodiments where RAN 304 includes multiple ANs, they can be coupled to each other via an X2 interface (if RAN 304 is an LTE RAN) or an Xn interface (if RAN 304 is a 5G RAN). The X2 / Xn interface (which can be split into control / user plane interfaces in some embodiments) can allow the ANs to communicate information related to handovers, data / content delivery, mobility, load balancing, interference coordination, and / or the like.

[0073] The ANs of the RAN 304 can each manage one or more cells, cell groups, component carriers, etc., to provide the UEs 302 with access to the air interface for network access. A UE 302 can be simultaneously connected to multiple cells provided by the same or different ANs of the RAN 304. For example, the UEs 302 and the RAN 304 can use carrier aggregation to allow the UEs 302 to use multiple component carriers, each corresponding to a Pcell or a Scell. In a dual connectivity scenario, a first AN can be a master node that provides a MCG and a second AN can be a secondary node that provides a SCG. The first / second ANs can be any combination of eNBs, gNBs, ng-eNBs, etc.

[0074] The RAN 304 can provide the air interface over a licensed spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum. To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, a node can use LAA, eLAA, and / or feLAA mechanisms based on CA techniques with PCells / Scells. Before accessing the unlicensed spectrum, a node can perform a medium / carrier sensing operation based on, for example, a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

[0075] In V2X scenarios, a UE 302 or an AN 308 can be or function as an RSU, which can refer to any transportation infrastructure entity for V2X communication. An RSU can be implemented in or by a suitable AN or fixed (or relatively fixed) UE. An RSU implemented in or by a UE can be referred to as a “UE-type RSU”; an RSU implemented in or by an eNB can be referred to as an “eNB-type RSU”; an RSU implemented in or by a gNB can be referred to as a “gNB-type RSU”; and the like. In one example, an RSU is a computing device coupled with radio-frequency circuitry located on a roadside that provides connectivity support for passing vehicle UEs. The RSU can also include internal data storage circuitry to store geometrical shapes of intersection maps, traffic statistics, media, and applications / software to sense and control the vehicular and pedestrian traffic that is travelling. The RSU can provide the extremely low latency communications needed for high-speed events such as collision avoidance, traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally, or alternatively, the RSU can also provide other cellular / WLAN network communication services. The components of the RSU can be packaged in a weather-sealed enclosure suitable for outdoor installation and can include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller or backhaul network.

[0076] In some embodiments, the RAN 304 can be an LTE RAN 310 with eNBs, e.g., eNB 312. The LTE RAN 310 can provide an LTE air interface with the following characteristics: SCS of 15 kHz; CP-OFDM waveform for DL and SC-FDMA waveform for UL; turbo codes for data and TBCC for control, etc. The LTE air interface can rely on CSI-RS for CSI acquisition and beam management; PDSCH / PDCCH DMRS for PDSCH / PDCCH demodulation; and CRS for cell search and initial acquisition, channel quality measurement, and channel estimation for coherent demodulation / detection by UEs. The LTE air interface can operate on sub-6 GHz bands.

[0077] In some embodiments, the RAN 304 can be an NG-RAN 314 with gNBs, e.g., gNB 316, or ng-eNBs, e.g., ng-eNB 318. The gNB 316 can connect with 5G-capable UEs using a 5G NR interface. The gNB 316 can connect with a 5G core through an NG interface, which can include an N2 interface or an N3 interface. The ng-eNB 318 can also connect with a 5G core through an NG interface, but can connect with UEs via an LTE air interface. The gNB 316 and ng-eNB 318 can connect with each other through an Xn interface.

[0078] In some embodiments, the NG interface can be split into two parts: an NG user plane (NG-U) interface, which carries traffic data between nodes of the NG-RAN 314 and the UPF 348 (e.g., the N3 interface), and an NG control plane (NG-C) interface, which is a signaling interface between nodes of the NG-RAN 314 and the AMF 344 (e.g., the N2 interface).

[0079] The NG-RAN 314 can provide a 5G-NR air interface that has the following characteristics: variable SCS; CP-OFDM for DL and CP-OFDM with DFT-s-OFDM for UL; polar, repetition, and Reed-Muller codes for control and LDPC for data; similar to the LTE air interface, the 5G-NR air interface can rely on CSI-RS, PDSCH / PDCCH DMRS. The 5G-NR air interface can not use CRS but can use PBCH DMRS for PBCH demodulation; use PTRS for PDSCH phase tracking; and use tracking reference signals for time tracking. The 5G-NR air interface can operate on the FR1 frequency range, which includes sub-6 GHz bands, or on the FR2 frequency range, which includes from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz bands. The 5G-NR air interface can include SSB, which is a region of downlink resource grid that includes PSS / SSS / PBCH.

[0080] In some embodiments, the 5G-NR air interface can utilize BWPs for various purposes. For example, BWPs can be used for dynamic adaptation of SCS. For example, a UE 302 can be configured with multiple BWPs, where each BWP is configured with a different SCS. When a BWP change is indicated to the UE 302, the SCS of the transmissions changes as well. Another use case example for BWPs is related to power saving. In particular, a UE 302 can be configured with multiple BWPs that have different number of frequency resources (e.g., PRBs) to support data transmission in different traffic load situations. A BWP containing a smaller number of PRBs can be used for data transmission in a small traffic load, while allowing the UE 302 and in some cases the gNB 316 to save power. A BWP containing a larger number of PRBs can be used for situations with higher traffic load.

[0081] The RAN 304 is communicatively coupled to the CN 320, which includes network elements providing various functions to support data and telecommunications services to customers / users (e.g., subscribers of the UE 302). The components of the CN 320 can be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes. In some embodiments, NFV can be utilized to virtualize any or all of the functions provided by the network elements of the CN 320 onto physical computing and / or storage resource(s) in servers, switches, etc. A logical instance of the CN 320 can be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instance of a portion of the CN 320 can be referred to as a network sub-slice.

[0082] In some embodiments, the CN 320 can be an LTE CN 322, which can also be referred to as an EPC. As illustrated, the LTE CN 322 can include a MME 324, a SGW 326, a SGSN 328, a HSS 330, a PGW 332, and a PCRF 334, which are coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”). The functions of the elements of the LTE CN 322 can be briefly described as follows.

[0083] The MME 324 can implement mobility management functions to keep track of the current location of UEs 302 to facilitate paging, bearer activation / deactivation, handover, gateway selection, authentication, etc.

[0084] The SGW 326 can terminate the SI interface to the RAN and route data packets between the RAN and the LTE CN 322. The SGW 326 can be a local mobility anchor for inter-RAN handovers, and also can be an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities can include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement and charging.

[0085] The SGSN 328 can track the location of UEs 302 and perform security functions and access control. In addition, the SGSN 328 can perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between different RAT networks; make PDN and S-GW selection as specified by the MME 324; and perform MME selection for handovers. The S3 reference point between the MME 324 and the SGSN 328 can enable exchange of subscriber and context information for inter-3GPP access network mobility.

[0086] The HSS 330 can include a database that contains subscriber information for the network, including subscription-related information to support the network entities’ communication session handling. The HSS 330 can provide support for routing / roaming, authentication, authorization, naming / addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc. The S6a reference point between the HSS 330 and the MME 324 can enable transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating / authorizing user access to the LTE CN 320.

[0087] The PGW 332 can terminate a SGi interface toward a data network (DN) 336, which can include an application / content server 338. The PGW 332 can route data packets between the LTE CN 322 and the data network 336. The PGW 332 can be coupled with the SGW 326 over an S5 reference point to facilitate user plane tunneling and tunnel management. The PGW 332 can further include a node (e.g., PCEF) for policy enforcement and charging data collection. Additionally, the SGi reference point between the PGW 332 and the data network 336 can be a public, private PDN, or intra operator data network, for example, for providing IMS services. The PGW 332 can be coupled via a Gx reference point to the PCRF 334.

[0088] The PCRF 334 is the policy and charging control element for the LTE CN 322. The PCRF 334 can be communicatively coupled to the application / content server 338 to determine appropriate QoS and charging parameters for service flows. The PCRF 332 can provide relevant rules to the PCEF (via Gx reference point) with appropriate TFTs and QCIs.

[0089] In some embodiments, the CN 320 can be a 5GC 340. As illustrated, the 5GC 340 can include an AUSF 342, an AMF 344, a SMF 346, a UPF 348, a NSSF 350, a NEF 352, a NRF 354, a PCF 356, a UDM 358, and an AF 360 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”). The functions of the elements of the 5GC 340 can be briefly introduced as follows.

[0090] The AUSF 342 can store data used for authentication of the UE 302 and handle authentication related functionality. The AUSF 342 can facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. The AUSF 342 can exhibit Nausf service-based interfaces in addition to communicating with other elements of the 5GC 340 as illustrated over reference points.

[0091] The AMF 344 can allow other functions of the 5GC 340 to communicate with the UE 302 and the RAN 304, and subscribe to be notified about mobility events related to the UE 302. The AMF 344 can be responsible for registration management (e.g., registering the UE 302), connection management, availability management, mobility management, lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 344 can provide transport for SM messages between the UE 302 and the SMF 346, and serve as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. The AMF 344 can also provide transport for SMS messages between the UE 302 and the SMSF. The AMF 344 can interact with the AUSF 342 and the UE 302 to perform various security anchor and context management functions. Moreover, the AMF 344 can be a termination point for the RAN CP interface, which can include or be the N2 reference point between the RAN 304 and the AMF 344; and the AMF 344 can be a termination point for the NAS (Nl) signaling and perform NAS ciphering and integrity protection. The AMF 344 can also support NAS signaling with the UE 302 over the N3 IWF interface.

[0092] The SMF 346 can be responsible for SM (e.g., session establishment, tunnel management between UPF 348 and AN 308); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of UP function; configuring traffic steering at UPF 348 to route traffic to proper destination; termination of interfaces toward policy control functions; controlling part of policy enforcement, charging, and QoS; lawful intercept (for SM events and interface to LI system); termination of SM parts of NAS messages; downlink data notification; initiating AN specific SM information, sent over N2 to AN 308 via AMF 344; and determining SSC mode of a session. SM can refer to management of a PDU session, while a PDU session or “session” can refer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or enables exchange of PDUs between the UE 302 and a data network 336.

[0093] The UPF 348 can serve as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, a external PDU session point of interconnect to data networks 336, and a branching point to support multi-homed PDU session. The UPF 348 can also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, enforce the user plane part of policy rules, lawfully intercept packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS handling for user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement), perform Uplink Traffic verification (e.g., SDF to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. The UPF 348 can include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to the data network.

[0094] The NSSF 350 can select a set of network slice instances that serve the UE 302. The NSSF 350 can also determine the allowed NSSAI and mapping of the subscribed S-NSSAIs, if needed. The NSSF 350 can also determine the set of AMF(s) or a list of candidate AMF(s) for the UE 302 based on suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF 354. The selection of the set of network slice instances for the UE 302 can be triggered by the AMF 344 with which the UE 302 is registered by interacting with the NSSF 350, which can lead to a change of AMF. The NSSF 350 can interact with the AMF 344 via an N22 reference point; and can communicate with another NSSF in a visited network via an N31 reference point (not shown). Also, the NSSF 350 can exhibit an Nnssf service-based interface.

[0095] The NEF 352 can securely expose services and capabilities provided by 3 GPP network functions to third parties, internal exposure / reexposure, AFs (such as the AF 360), edge computing or fog computing systems, and the like. In these embodiments, the NEF 352 can authenticate, authorize, or throttle the AFs. NEF 352 can also translate information exchanged with the AF 360 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, the NEF 352 can translate between an AF-service-identifier and internal 5GC information. NEF 352 can also receive information from other NFs based on exposed capabilities of other NFs. This information can be stored at the NEF 352 as structured data, or at a data storage NF using standardized interfaces. The stored information can then be re-exposed by the NEF 352 to other NFs and AFs, or used for other purposes such as analytics. Moreover, the NEF 352 can exhibit an Nnef service-based interface.

[0096] The NRF 354 can support service discovery functions, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide the information of discovered NF instances to the NF instances. The NRF 354 also maintains information of available NF instances and their supported services. As used herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like can refer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” can refer to a concrete occurrence of an object, for example, as can occur during execution of program code. Additionally, the NRF 354 can exhibit an Nnrf service-based interface.

[0097] The PCF 356 can provide policy rules to control plane functions to enforce these policy rules, and also can support a unified policy framework to manage network behavior. The PCF 356 can also implement a front end to access subscription information relevant for policy decisions in a UDR of a UDM 358. In addition to communicating with functions through reference points as shown, the PCF 356 exhibits an Npcf service-based interface.

[0098] The UDM 358 can handle information related to subscriptions to support communication session handling by network entities, and can store subscription data for UE 302. For example, subscription data can be communicated via an N8 reference point between the UDM 358 and AMF 344. The UDM 358 can include two parts, an application front end and a UDR. The UDR can store subscription data and policy data for the UDM 358 and PCF 356, and / or structured data for exposure and application data (including PFDs for application detection, application request information for multiple UEs 302) for the NEF 352. The UDR 221 can exhibit an Nudr service-based interface to allow the UDM 358, PCF 356, and NEF 352 to access a particular set of the stored data, as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to notification of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDM can include a UDM-FE, which is responsible for processing credentials, location management, subscription management, and the like. Several different front ends can serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication credential processing, user identification processing, access authorization, registration / mobility management, and subscription management. In addition to communicating with other NFs over reference points as shown, the UDM 358 can exhibit an Nudm service-based interface.

[0099] The AF 360 can influence service routing by applications, provide access to the NEF, and interact with the policy framework for policy control.

[0100] In some embodiments, the 5GC 340 can implement edge computing by selecting operator / third-party services to be geographically close to where the UE 302 attaches to the network. This can reduce latency and load on the network. To provide edge computing implementations, the 5GC 340 can select a UPF 348 close to the UE 302 and perform traffic steering via an N6 interface from the UPF 348 to the data network 336. This can be based on UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by AF 360. In this way, the AF 360 can influence UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. Based on operator’s deployment, when the AF 360 is considered a trusted entity, the network operator can allow the AF 360 to interact directly with the relevant NFs. Also, the AF 360 can exhibit an Naf service-based interface.

[0101] The data network 336 can represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third-party services, which can be provided by one or more servers including, for example, application / content server 338.

[0102] Figure 4A wireless network 400 is shown schematically in accordance with various embodiments. The wireless network 400 can include a UE 402 in wireless communication with an AN 404. The UE 402 and AN 404 can be similar to, and substantially interchangeable with, like-named components described elsewhere herein.

[0103] The UE 402 can be communicatively coupled to the AN 404 via a connection 406. The connection 406 is shown as an over-the-air interface that enables the communicative coupling, and can conform to a cellular communication protocol, such as an LTE protocol or a 5G NR protocol operating at millimeter wave or sub-6 GHz frequencies.

[0104] The UE 402 can include a host platform 408 coupled with a modem platform 410. The host platform 408 can include an application processing circuit 412 that can be coupled with a protocol processing circuit 414 of the modem platform 410. The application processing circuit 412 can run various applications of the UE 402 that obtain / incoming application data. The application processing circuit 412 can further implement one or more layer operations to transmit / receive application data to / from a data network. These layer operations can include transport (e.g., UDP) operations and Internet (e.g., IP) operations.

[0105] The protocol processing circuit 414 can implement one or more of the layer operations to facilitate transmission or reception of data over the connection 406. The layer operations implemented by the protocol processing circuit 414 can include, for example, MAC operations, RLC operations, PDCP operations, RRC operations, and NAS operations.

[0106] The modem platform 410 can further include digital baseband circuitry 416 that can implement one or more layer operations “below” the layer operations performed by the protocol processing circuit 414 in the network protocol stack. These operations can include, for example, PHY operations including one or more of: HARQ-ACK functions, scrambling / descrambling, encoding / decoding, layer mapping / demapping, modulation symbol mapping, received symbol / bit metric determination, multiple antenna port precoding / decoding that can include one or more of space-time, space-frequency, or spatial encoding, reference signal generation / detection, preamble sequence generation and / or decoding, synchronization sequence generation / detection, control channel signal blind decoding, and other related functions.

[0107] The modem platform 410 can further include transmit circuitry 418, receive circuitry 420, RF circuitry 422, and a radio-frequency front-end (RFFE) 424, which can include or connect to one or more antenna panels 426. Briefly, the transmit circuitry 418 can include digital-to-analog converters, mixers, intermediate frequency (IF) components, etc.; the receive circuitry 420 can include analog-to-digital converters, mixers, IF components, etc.; the RF circuitry 422 can include low-noise amplifiers, power amplifiers, power- tracking components, etc.; the RFFE 424 can include filters (e.g., surface / bulk acoustic wave filters), switches, antenna tuners, beamforming components (e.g., phase array antenna components), etc. The selection and arrangement of components of the transmit circuitry 418, receive circuitry 420, RF circuitry 422, RFFE 424, and antenna panels 426 (generally referred to as “transmission / reception components”) can be specific to details of implementation, such as, for example, whether communications are time-division multiplexed (TDM) or frequency-division multiplexed (FDM), at millimeter-wave or sub-6 GHz frequencies, etc. In some embodiments, the transmission / reception components can be arranged in multiple parallel transmission / reception chains, can be disposed in the same or different chips / modules, etc.

[0108] In some embodiments, the protocol processing circuitry 414 can include one or more control circuit instances (not shown) to provide control functions for the transmission / reception components.

[0109] UE reception can be established by and via the antenna panels 426, RFFE 424, RF circuitry 422, receive circuitry 420, digital baseband circuitry 416, and protocol processing circuitry 414. In some embodiments, the antenna panels 426 can receive transmissions from the AN 404 through receive beamformed signals received by multiple antennas / antenna elements of the one or more antenna panels 426.

[0110] UE transmission can be established by the protocol processing circuitry 414, digital baseband circuitry 416, transmit circuitry 418, RF circuitry 422, RFFE 424, and antenna panels 426. In some embodiments, the transmission components of the UE 404 can apply a spatial filter to data to be transmitted to form a transmission beam emitted by the antenna elements of the antenna panels 426.

[0111] Similar to UE 402, AN 404 can include a host platform 428 coupled with a modem platform 430. Host platform 428 can include application processing circuitry 432 coupled with protocol processing circuitry 434 of modem platform 430. Modem platform can further include digital baseband circuitry 436, transmit circuitry 438, receive circuitry 440, radio frequency circuitry 442, RFFE circuitry 444, and antenna panel 446. The components of AN 404 can be similar to, and substantially inter- changeable with, the like-named components of UE 402. In addition to performing data transmission / reception as described above, the components of AN 408 can perform various logical functions including, for example, RNC functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management, and data packet scheduling.

[0112] Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Specifically, the Figure 5 A diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 500 including one or more processors (or processor cores) 510, one or more memory / storage devices 520, and one or more communication resources 530 each of which can be communicatively coupled via bus 540 or other interface circuitry. For embodiments utilizing node virtualization (e.g., NFV), a virtual machine monitor 502 can be

[0113] Processors 510 can include, among other things, processors 512 and processors 514. Processors 510 can be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof.

[0114] Memory / storage devices 520 can include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. Memory / storage devices 520 can include, but are not limited to, any type of volatile, non-volatile, or semi-volatile memory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

[0115] The communication resources 530 can include interconnection or network interface controllers, components, or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 504 or one or more databases 506 or other network elements via a network 508. For example, the communication resources 530 can include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB, Ethernet, etc.), cellular communication components, NFC components, (or low power) components, components, and other communication components.

[0116] The instructions 550 can include software, a program, an app, an applet, an application, or other executable code that aat least any of the processors 510 executes to perform any one or more of the methods disclosed herein. The instructions 550 can reside entirely within at least one of the processors 510 (e.g., within the processor’s cache memory), the memory / storage devices 520, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions 550 can be transferred to and from the peripheral devices 504 or databases 506 from / through any of the communication resources 530. Thus, the memory of processors 510, the memory / storage devices 520, the peripheral devices 504, and the databases 506 are examples of computer- and machine-readable media.

[0117] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components set forth in one or more of the preceding figures can be configured to perform one or more of the operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods set forth in the following embodiments section. For example, the baseband circuitry as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures can be configured to operate according to one or more of the embodiments set forth below. For another example, circuitry related to a UE, base station, network element, etc. as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures can be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples set forth below in the example section.

[0118] Examples:

[0119] Example 1 includes an apparatus of a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB), the apparatus comprising a memory that stores instructions and one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors to implement the instructions to: encode a message for a single-cell multicast, broadcast, or groupcast transmission to a group of user equipment (UEs), the message to configure the UEs with respect to at least one of channel quality indicator (CQI) feedback or hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ / ACK) feedback, such that at least one of the CQI feedback or the HARQ / ACK feedback can be turned off, or such that both the CQI feedback and the HARQ / ACK feedback can be used; and transmit the message to a communication resource of the gNB for transmission to the UEs.

[0120] Example 2 includes the subject matter of Example 1, wherein, for the groupcast transmission, the one or more processors are further to configure the UE to receive multiple repetitions within a slot, across slots, or across slot boundaries.

[0121] Example 3 includes the subject matter of Example 2, wherein the multiple repetitions are within a slot, across slots, or across slot boundaries based on a length of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) of the groupcast transmission.

[0122] Example 4 includes the subject matter of Example 2, wherein the message is to configure the UE to provide no uplink feedback to the gNB.

[0123] Example 5 includes the subject matter of Example 2, wherein the message is a first message, and the one or more processors are further to configure the UE to receive the multiple repetitions by encoding a second message to the UE, the second message to configure the UE to receive the multiple repetitions.

[0124] Example 6 includes the subject matter of Example 2, wherein the message is to configure the UE to provide HARQ / ACK feedback.

[0125] Example 7 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-6, wherein the one or more processors are to decode acknowledgement (ACK) and negative acknowledgement (NACK) feedback from the UE for the groupcast transmission in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH).

[0126] Example 8 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-6, wherein the one or more processors are to decode negative acknowledgement (NACK) feedback, but not acknowledgement (ACK) feedback, for the groupcast transmission, the NACK from one or more UEs of the group that did not receive a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission of the groupcast transmission.

[0127] Example 9 includes the subject matter of Example 8, wherein the NACK feedback is on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource shared by the UEs.

[0128] Example 10 includes the subject matter of Example 9, wherein the NACK feedback from the one or more UEs is multiplexed using a cyclic shift specific to the UE.

[0129] Example 11 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-7, wherein, for code block (CB)-based HARQ retransmission, the one or more processors are to implement network coding across retransmitted CBs, a UE of the UEs retransmitting a CB using network coding with CB information that the UE has already received to decode a desired CB corresponding to a CB that the UE did not receive in an initial transmission associated with the HARQ retransmission.

[0130] Example 12 includes the subject matter of Example 11, wherein the network coding comprises an exclusive OR (XOR) function applied to the CBs of the initial transmission in the retransmission.

[0131] Example 13 includes the subject matter of Example 1, wherein the one or more processors are to: encode, for transmission to the UEs, a multicast, broadcast, or groupcast physical layer transmission mapped by a higher layer to a common service.

[0132] Example 14 includes the subject matter of Example 13, wherein the group comprises UEs that are in a radio resource control connected (RRC CONNECTED), RRC IDLE / RRC INACTIVE, or both.

[0133] Example 15 includes the subject matter of Example 13, wherein the one or more processors are to: encode a downlink control information (DCI) comprising a radio network temporary identifier scrambled for a cyclic redundancy check of the DCI, the DCI being for a multicast or broadcast physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) related to one of: a transmission of a configuration or data; or an update of a previous multicast configuration.

[0134] Example 16 includes the subject matter of Example 13, wherein the one or more processors are to: encode, for transmission to the UEs, a message configuring a common search space to monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) containing scheduling DCI of a multicast or broadcast physical layer transmission.

[0135] Example 17 includes the subject matter of Example 16, wherein the common search space (CSS) corresponds to one of: a Type 3-PDCCH CSS set along with a multicast RNTI; or a Type 4-PDCCH CSS set specific to monitoring multicast DCI.

[0136] Example 18 includes the subject matter of Example 17, wherein the scheduling DCI is one of DCI 1_0 or 1_1.

[0137] Example 19 includes the subject matter of Example 13, wherein the one or more processors are to: encode, for transmission to the UEs, a message configuring a UE-specific search space to monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) containing scheduling DCI of a multicast or broadcast physical layer transmission.

[0138] Example 20 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 13-19, wherein the one or more processors are to: configure, for the UEs of the group, an aggregation level for PDCCH monitoring and a precoder granularity for a related control resource set (CORESET) configuration based on a UE of the group having a worst coverage.

[0139] Example 21 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 13-19, wherein the physical layer transmission is one of unicast or multicast, is one of frequency division multiplexing, time division multiplexing, or is transmitted simultaneously to the UEs on orthogonal demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) ports within a time slot.

[0140] Example 22 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 13-19, wherein the physical layer transmission is multicast and uses multiple multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers with rank adaptation.

[0141] Example 23 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 13-19, wherein the physical layer transmission is a multicast transmission to be received by the UEs on one or more of the same demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) ports.

[0142] Example 24 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 13-19, wherein the one or more processors are to: jointly schedule a unicast physical layer transmission to at least one of the UEs and the multicast physical transmission using orthogonal demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) ports that are not used for the multicast physical layer transmission.

[0143] Example 25 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 13-19, wherein the one or more processors are to use multi-user superposition coding for the multicast physical layer transmission.

[0144] Example 26 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-6 and Examples 13-19, further including a communication resource for transmitting the message to the UEs.

[0145] Example 27 includes a method performed at a new radio (NR) Node B (gNB), the method comprising: encoding a message for single-cell multicast, broadcast, or groupcast transmission to a group of user equipment (UEs), the message for configuring the UEs regarding at least one of channel quality indicator (CQI) feedback or hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ / ACK) feedback, such that at least one of the CQI feedback or the HARQ / ACK feedback can be turned off, or such that both the CQI feedback and the HARQ / ACK feedback can be used; and transmitting the message to a communication resource of the gNB for transmission to the UEs.

[0146] Example 28 includes the subject matter of Example 27, wherein, for the groupcast transmission, the method further includes configuring the UEs to receive multiple repetitions of the groupcast transmission within a time slot, across time slots, or across time slot boundaries.

[0147] Example 29 includes the subject matter of Example 28, wherein the multiple repetitions are within a time slot, across time slots, or across time slot boundaries based on a length of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) of the groupcast transmission.

[0148] Example 30 includes the subject matter of Example 28, wherein the message is to configure the UE to provide no uplink feedback to the gNB.

[0149] Example 31 includes the subject matter of Example 28, wherein the message is a first message, the method further comprising configuring the UE to receive the multiple repetitions by encoding a second message for transmission to the UE, the second message to configure the UE to receive the multiple repetitions.

[0150] Example 32 includes the subject matter of Example 28, wherein the message configures the UE to provide HARQ / ACK feedback.

[0151] Example 33 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 27-32, further comprising acknowledgment (ACK) and negative acknowledgment (NACK) feedback from the UE in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) for the groupcast transmission.

[0152] Example 34 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 27-32, further comprising decoding negative acknowledgment (NACK) feedback for the groupcast transmission instead of acknowledgment (ACK) feedback, the NACK from one or more UEs of the group that did not receive a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission of the groupcast transmission.

[0153] Example 35 includes the subject matter of Example 34, wherein the NACK feedback is on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource shared by the UEs.

[0154] Example 36 includes the subject matter of Example 35, wherein the NACK feedback from one or more UEs is multiplexed using a cyclic shift that is specific to the UE.

[0155] Example 37 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 27-33, wherein for code block (CB)-based HARQ retransmission, the method further comprises implementing network coding across retransmitted CBs, a UE of the UEs retransmitting CBs using network coding in addition to CB information that the UE has already received to decode a desired CB corresponding to a CB that the UE did not receive in an initial transmission associated with the HARQ retransmission.

[0156] Example 38 includes the subject matter of Example 37, wherein the network coding comprises an exclusive OR (XOR) function applied to CBs of the initial transmission in the retransmission.

[0157] Example 39 includes the subject matter of Example 27, the method further comprising encoding, encoding a multicast, broadcast, or groupcast physical layer transmission mapped by a higher layer to a common service for transmission to the UEs.

[0158] Example 40 includes the subject matter of Example 39, wherein the group comprises UEs that are radio resource control connected (RRC CONNECTED), RRC IDLE / RRC INACTIVE, or both.

[0159] Example 41 includes the subject matter of Example 39, the method further comprising encoding downlink control information (DCI) comprising a radio network temporary identifier scrambled for a cyclic redundancy check of the DCI for a multicast or broadcast physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) related to one of: a transmission of a configuration or data; or an update of a previous multicast configuration.

[0160] Example 42 includes the subject matter of Example 39, further comprising:

[0161] encoding a message for configuring a common search space to monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) containing scheduling DCI for a multicast or broadcast physical layer transmission to the UE.

[0162] Example 43 includes the subject matter of Example 42, wherein the common search space (CSS) corresponds to one of: a Type 3-PDCCH CSS set along with a multicast RNTI; or a Type 4-PDCCH CSS set specific to monitoring multicast DCI.

[0163] Example 44 includes the subject matter of Example 43, wherein the scheduling DCI is one of DCI 1_0 or 1_1.

[0164] Example 45 includes the subject matter of Example 39, the method further comprising: encoding a message for configuring a UE dedicated search space to monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) containing scheduling DCI for a multicast or broadcast physical layer transmission to the UE.

[0165] Example 46 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 39-45, wherein a UE of the group with a worst coverage is configured for PDCCH monitoring with an aggregation level and a precoder granularity for a related control resource set (CORESET) configuration.

[0166] Example 47 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 39-45, wherein the physical layer transmission is one of unicast or multicast, is one of frequency division multiplexing, time division multiplexing, or is transmitted simultaneously to the UE on orthogonal demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) ports within a slot.

[0167] Example 48 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 39-45, wherein the physical layer transmission is multicast and uses multiple multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers with rank adaptation.

[0168] Example 49 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 39-45, wherein the physical layer transmission is a multicast transmission to be received by the UE on one or more of the same demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) ports.

[0169] Example 50 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 39-45, further including co-scheduling, using orthogonal demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) ports not used for the multicast physical layer transmission, a unicast physical layer transmission to at least one of the UEs and the multicast physical transmission.

[0170] Example 51 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 39-45, further including using multi-user superposition coding for the multicast physical layer transmission.

[0171] Example 52 includes an apparatus of a new radio (NR) user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising a memory and one or more processors coupled to the memory, the memory storing instructions and the one or more processors to implement the instructions to: decode a message for a single-cell multicast, broadcast, or groupcast transmission by a NR NodeB (gNB) to a group of user equipments (UEs), the message to configure the UEs for at least one of channel quality indicator (CQI) feedback or hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ / ACK) feedback, such that at least one of the CQI feedback or the HARQ / ACK feedback can be turned off, or such that both the CQI feedback and the HARQ / ACK feedback can be used; and configure the UEs based on the message.

[0172] Example 53 includes the subject matter of Example 52, wherein, for the groupcast transmission, the one or more processors are further to configure the UEs to receive multiple repetitions of the groupcast transmission within a slot, across slots, or across slot boundaries.

[0173] Example 54 includes the subject matter of Example 53, wherein the multiple repetitions are based on a length of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) of the groupcast transmission, within a slot, across slots, or across slot boundaries.

[0174] Example 55 includes the subject matter of Example 54, wherein the message is to configure the UEs to not provide any uplink feedback to the gNB.

[0175] Example 56 includes the subject matter of Example 53, wherein the message is a first message, the one or more processors are further to configure the UEs to receive the multiple repetitions by encoding a second message from the gNB.

[0176] Example 57 includes the subject matter of Example 53, wherein the message is to configure the UEs to provide HARQ / ACK feedback.

[0177] Example 58 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 52-57, wherein the one or more processors are to encode acknowledgement (ACK) or negative acknowledgement (NACK) feedback for the groupcast transmission in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) for transmission to the gNB.

[0178] Example 59 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 52-57, wherein the one or more processors are to encode negative acknowledgement (NACK) feedback, but not acknowledgement (ACK) feedback, for the groupcast transmission for transmission to the gNB.

[0179] Example 60 includes the subject matter of Example 59, wherein the NACK feedback is on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource shared by the UEs.

[0180] Example 61 includes the subject matter of Example 60, wherein the NACK feedback is multiplexed using a cyclic shift that is specific to the UE.

[0181] Example 62 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 52-58, wherein for code block (CB)-based HARQ retransmission, the one or more processors are to retransmit CBs using network coding transmitted by the gNB and CB information already received by the UE to decode expected CBs corresponding to CBs not received by the UE in an initial transmission associated with the HARQ retransmission.

[0182] Example 63 includes the subject matter of Example 62, wherein the network coding for the network coded retransmitted CBs comprises an exclusive OR (XOR) function applied to the CBs of the initial transmission in the retransmission.

[0183] Example 64 includes the subject matter of Example 52, the one or more processors to decode a multicast, broadcast, or groupcast physical layer transmission by the gNB mapped from an upper layer to a common service.

[0184] Example 65 includes the subject matter of Example 64, wherein the UE is a resource control connected (RRC_CONNECTED) or RRC_IDLE / RRC_INACTIVE.

[0185] Example 66 includes the subject matter of Example 64, wherein the one or more processors are to decode a downlink control information (DCI) comprising a radio network temporary identifier scrambled for a cyclic redundancy check of the DCI for a multicast or broadcast physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) related to one of: a delivery of configuration or data; or an update of a previous multicast configuration.

[0186] Example 67 includes the subject matter of Example 64, wherein the one or more processors are to decode information from the gNB to configure a common search space to monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) containing scheduling DCI for a multicast or broadcast physical layer transmission.

[0187] Example 68 includes the subject matter of Example 67, wherein the common search space (CSS) corresponds to one of: a Type 3-PDCCH CSS set along with a multicast RNTI; or a Type 4-PDCCH CSS set specific to monitoring multicast DCI.

[0188] Example 69 includes the subject matter of Example 68, wherein the scheduling DCI is one of DCI 1_0 or 1_1.

[0189] Example 70 includes the subject matter of Example 64, wherein the one or more processors are to decode a message from the gNB to configure a UE-specific search space to monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) containing scheduling DCI for a multicast or broadcast physical layer transmission.

[0190] Example 71 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 64-70, wherein the one or more processors are to configure, for UEs of the group with the worst coverage, an aggregation level for PDCCH monitoring and a precoder granularity for a related control resource set (CORESET) configuration.

[0191] Example 72 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 64-70, wherein the physical layer transmission is one of unicast or multicast, is one of frequency-division multiplexing, time-division multiplexing, or is transmitted simultaneously to the UEs on orthogonal demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) ports within a slot.

[0192] Example 73 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 64-70, wherein the physical layer transmission is multicast and uses multiple multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers with rank adaptation.

[0193] Example 74 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 64-70, wherein the physical layer transmission is a multicast transmission to be received by the UEs on one or more of the same demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) ports.

[0194] Example 75 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 64-70, wherein the one or more processors are to decode a unicast physical layer transmission to at least one of the UEs and the multicast physical transmission using orthogonal demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) ports that are not used for the multicast physical layer transmission.

[0195] Example 76 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 64-70, wherein the one or more processors are to use multi-user superposition coding for the multicast physical layer transmission.

[0196] Example 77 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 52-57 and 64-70, further including a communication resource to transmit a message to the UE.

[0197] Example 78 includes a method performed at a new radio (NR) user equipment (UE), the method comprising: decoding, by the UE, a message transmitted by a NR NodeB (gNB) to a group of user equipments (UEs) for a single-cell multicast, broadcast, or groupcast transmission, the message to configure the UEs with at least one of channel quality indicator (CQI) feedback or hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ / ACK) feedback that can be turned off or both CQI feedback and HARQ / ACK feedback can be used; and configuring the UEs based on the message.

[0198] Example 79 includes the subject matter of Example 78, wherein, for the groupcast transmission, the method further comprises configuring the UEs to receive multiple repetitions of the groupcast transmission within a slot, across slots, or across slot boundaries.

[0199] Example 80 includes the subject matter of Example 79, wherein the multiple repetitions are within a slot, across slots, or across slot boundaries based on a length of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) of the groupcast transmission.

[0200] Example 81 includes the subject matter of Example 80, wherein the message is to configure the UEs to not provide any uplink feedback to the gNB.

[0201] Example 82 includes the subject matter of Example 79, wherein the message is a first message, the method further comprising configuring the UEs to receive the multiple repetitions by encoding a second message from the gNB.

[0202] Example 83 includes the subject matter of Example 79, wherein the message is to configure the UEs to provide HARQ / ACK feedback.

[0203] Example 84 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 78-83, further comprising encoding in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) to transmit acknowledgement (ACK) or negative acknowledgement (NACK) feedback to the gNB for the groupcast transmission.

[0204] Example 85 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 78-83, further comprising encoding for negative acknowledgement (NACK) feedback instead of acknowledgement (ACK) feedback for the groupcast transmission.

[0205] Example 86 includes the subject matter of Example 85, wherein the NACK feedback is on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource shared by the UEs.

[0206] Example 87 includes the subject matter of Example 86, wherein the NACK feedback is multiplexed using a cyclic shift dedicated to the UE.

[0207] Example 88 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 78-84, wherein for code block (CB) based HARQ retransmission, the method further comprises using a network coded retransmitted CB transmitted by the gNB and CB information already received by the UE to decode an expected CB corresponding to a CB not received by the UE in an initial transmission associated with the HARQ retransmission.

[0208] Example 89 includes the subject matter of Example 88, wherein the network coding for the network coded retransmitted CB comprises an exclusive OR (XOR) function applied to the CB of the initial transmission in the retransmission.

[0209] Example 90 includes the subject matter of Example 78, further comprising decoding a multicast, broadcast, or groupcast physical layer transmission from the gNB mapped by an upper layer to a common service.

[0210] Example 91 includes the subject matter of Example 90, wherein the UE is radio resource control connected (RRC CONNECTED) or RRC IDLE / RRC INACTIVE.

[0211] Example 92 includes the subject matter of Example 90, further comprising decoding a downlink control information (DCI) comprising a radio network temporary identifier scrambled for a cyclic redundancy check of the DCI, the DCI for a multicast or broadcast physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) related to one of: a delivery of configuration or data; or an update of a previous multicast configuration.

[0212] Example 93 includes the subject matter of Example 90, further comprising decoding a message from the gNB to configure a common search space to monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) containing scheduling DCI for a multicast or broadcast physical layer transmission.

[0213] Example 94 includes the subject matter of Example 93, wherein the common search space (CSS) corresponds to one of: a Type 3-PDCCH CSS set along with a multicast RNTI; or a Type 4-PDCCH CSS set specific to monitoring multicast DCI.

[0214] Example 95 includes the subject matter of Example 94, wherein the scheduling DCI is one of DCI 1_0 or 1_1.

[0215] Example 96 includes the subject matter of Example 90, the method further comprising decoding a message from the gNB to configure a search space dedicated to the UE to monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) containing scheduling DCI for a multicast or broadcast physical layer transmission.

[0216] Example 96 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 90-96, further comprising configuring the UE for PDCCH monitoring with an aggregation level and a precoder granularity for a related control resource set (CORESET) configuration based on the group of UEs with the worst coverage.

[0217] Example 97 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 90-96, wherein the physical layer transmission is one of unicast or multicast, one of frequency division multiplexing, time division multiplexing, or transmitted simultaneously to the UE on orthogonal demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) ports within a slot.

[0218] Example 98 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 90-96, wherein the physical layer transmission is multicast and uses multiple multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers with rank adaptation.

[0219] Example 99 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 90-96, wherein the physical layer transmission is a multicast transmission to be received by the UE on one or more of the same demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) ports.

[0220] Example 100 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 90-96, further comprising decoding a unicast physical layer transmission co-scheduled with a multicast physical layer transmission using orthogonal demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) ports not used for the multicast physical layer transmission.

[0221] Example 101 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 90-96, wherein the multicast physical layer transmission uses multi-user superposition coding.

[0222] Example 102 includes a machine-readable medium comprising code that, when executed, cause a machine to perform an example of X, Example 102 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 27-51 and 78-101.

[0223] Example 103 includes an apparatus comprising means for performing the method of any of Examples 27-51 and 78-101.

[0224] Example 1A can include systems and methods for single-cell multicast, broadcast, or groupcast transmission in NR, where a group of UEs within the coverage of a cell receive the same downlink transmission.

[0225] Example 2A can include the method of example 1A or some other embodiment herein, wherein uplink feedback of CQI and HARQ / ACK can be used to facilitate group transmission.

[0226] Example 3A can include the method of examples 1A-2A or some other example herein, wherein both CQI and HARQ / ACK are configurable such that they can be turned off and used individually or in combination with each other.

[0227] Example 4A can include the method of examples 1A-3A or some other example herein, wherein UEs in a group receiving a groupcast can not provide any uplink feedback and they can be configured to receive multiple repetitions of a downlink groupcast transmission, wherein the repetitions can be within a slot, across slots, or can cross slot boundaries depending on the PDSCH length.

[0228] Example 5A can include the method of example 4A or some other example herein, wherein UEs configured to receive multiple repetitions of a downlink groupcast PDSCH can also be configured to provide HARQ / ACK feedback.

[0229] Example 6A can include the method of examples 1A-3A or some other example herein, wherein UEs in a group receiving a groupcast can transmit ACK and NACK feedback in the uplink using PUCCH resources.

[0230] Example 7A can include the method of examples 1A-3A or some other example herein, wherein UEs in a group receiving a groupcast can only transmit NACK feedback if a downlink PDSCH transmission fails.

[0231] Example 8A can include the method of example 7A or some other example herein, wherein the NACK can be transmitted by all UEs in the group over a shared PUCCH resource.

[0232] Example 9A can include the method of example 8A or some other example herein, wherein a UE specific cyclic shift can be used to multiplex the NACK of UEs over the shared PUCCH resource.

[0233] Example 10A can include the method of examples 1A-9A or some other example herein, wherein for CBG based HARQ retransmission, network coding across retransmission CBs can be used to reduce retransmission overhead such that UEs in a group can use the received CBs as side information to decode their desired CB from the retransmission similar to the examples provided.

[0234] Example 11A is a method for implementing gNB groupcast transmission in NR, the method comprising: identifying a downlink transmission; encoding a signal for transmission, the transmission including the identified downlink transmission; and transmitting the encoded signal including the downlink transmission to a group of UEs within a coverage area of a cell.

[0235] Example 12A can include the method of Example 11A or of any other example herein, further comprising: identifying uplink feedback of CQI and HARQ / ACK; and wherein, wherein transmitting the encoded signal to the group of UEs further comprises: transmitting the encoded signal to the group of UEs based at least in part on the identified uplink feedback.

[0236] Example 13A can include the method of Example 11A or of any other example herein, wherein CQI and HARQ / ACK are configurable.

[0237] Example 14A can include the method of Example 13A or of any other example herein, wherein CQI and HARQ / ACK are configurable, the method further comprising: turning off CQI and HARQ / ACK.

[0238] Example 15A can include the method of Example 13A or of any other example herein, wherein CQI and HARQ / ACK are configurable, the method further comprising: a selected one of using CQI alone, using HARQ / ACK alone, or using CQI and ARQ / ACK in combination with each other.

[0239] Example 16A can include the method of Example 11A or of any other example herein, further comprising: encoding a second signal for transmission to the UEs, the second signal including configuration instructions to receive multiple repetitions of the downlink transmission to the group of UEs.

[0240] Example 17A can include the method of Example 16A or of any other example herein, wherein the multiple repetitions of the downlink transmission are performed using a selected one of: within a slot, across slots, across slot boundaries.

[0241] Example 18A can include the method of Example 17A or of any other example herein, wherein the selection depends at least in part on a PDSCH length.

[0242] Example 19A can include the method of Example 16A or of any other example herein, wherein the configuration instructions include instructions for providing HARQ / ACK feedback.

[0243] Example 20A can include the method of example 19A or the method of any other example herein, further comprising receiving a signal from one of the group of UEs using the PUCCH resource, the signal including ACK and / or NACK feedback.

[0244] Example 21A can include a method for implementing a UE of a plurality of UEs in groupcast transmission in NR, the method comprising: receiving a groupcast downlink transmission from a gNB; encoding a signal including uplink feedback for CQI and HARQ / ACK based on the received groupcast downlink transmission; and transmitting the signal to the gNB.

[0245] Example 22A can include the subject matter of example 21A or the subject matter of any other example herein, wherein the groupcast downlink transmission includes configuration information for the UE to receive multiple repetitions of a downlink groupcast transmission.

[0246] Example 23A can include the subject matter of example 22A or the subject matter of any other example herein, wherein the multiple repetitions of the downlink groupcast transmission can occur on a selected one of: within a slot, across slots, or across slot boundaries.

[0247] Example 24A can include the subject matter of example 23A or the subject matter of any other example herein, wherein the selection of the multiple repetitions of the downlink groupcast transmission is based at least in part on a PDSCH link.

[0248] Example 25A can include the subject matter of example 22A or the subject matter of any other example herein, wherein the configuration information includes configuration information for providing HARQ / ACK feedback.

[0249] Example IB can include systems and methods for supporting multicast, broadcast or groupcast within a 5G NR cell, wherein a group of users within the cell receive simultaneously the same physical layer transmission mapped by higher layers to a common service.

[0250] Example 2B can include the method of example IB or some other example herein, wherein the grouping of UEs is determined by higher layers and can contain RRC CONNECTED or RRC IDLE / RRC INACTIVE UEs or a combination of both types of UEs.

[0251] Example 3B can include the method of examples IB-2B or some other example herein, wherein a new RNTI is defined as NR, for scrambling the CRC of DCI scheduling PDSCH related to delivery of multicast / broadcast configuration and / or data or DCI providing and updating previous multicast configuration.

[0252] Example 4B can include the method of examples 1B-3B or some other example herein, wherein the common search space is used to monitor for multicast DCI and the NR Type3-PDCCH CSS set configuration is reused with the addition of a specific multicast RNTI or a new Type4-PDCCH CSS set configuration is defined specifically for monitoring for multiple DCI.

[0253] Example 5B can include the method of example 4B or some other example herein, wherein the PDCCH CSS set configuration shall allow monitoring for DCI 1_0 and 1_1 or alternatively, monitoring for any new multicast DCI format defined in NR.

[0254] Example 6B can include the method of examples 1B-3B or some other example herein, wherein the user-specific search space can also be used to monitor for multicast DCI format.

[0255] Example 7B can include the method of examples 1B-6B or some other example herein, wherein the AL for PDCCH monitoring and the precoder granularity for the related CORESET configuration are determined based on the UEs in the group with the worst coverage.

[0256] Example 8B can include the method of examples 1B-7B or some other example herein, wherein the RRC CONNECTED UE is capable of receiving both unicast and multicast transmissions in FDM, TDM or simultaneously on orthogonal DM-RS ports within a slot.

[0257] Example 9B can include the method of examples 1B-8B or some other example herein, wherein the multicast transmission can use multiple MIMO layers with rank adaptation.

[0258] Example 10B can include the method of examples 1B-9B or some other example herein, wherein the UEs receiving the multicast transmission share the same DM-RS port.

[0259] Example 11B can include the method of examples 1B-10B or some other example herein, wherein the orthogonal DM-RS port not used for multicast can be used for co-scheduling unicast transmissions to the same or other UEs.

[0260] Example 12B can include the method of examples 1B-10B or some other example herein, wherein multi-user superposition coding can be used to improve the efficiency of the multicast delivery.

[0261] Example 13B can be a method for implementing a gNB to support multicast, broadcast, or groupcast transmission within NR, the method comprising: encoding a signal for simultaneous transmission to a group of UEs within a cell; and transmitting the encoded signal to the group of UEs, wherein a physical layer transmission is mapped by a higher layer to a common service.

[0262] Example 14B can include the method of example 13B or the method of any other example herein, wherein the group of UEs is determined by a higher layer.

[0263] Example 15B can include the method of example 14B or the method of any other example herein, wherein each of the UEs comprises a selected one of: RRC CONNECTED, RRC IDLE / RRC INACTIVE, or a combination of both.

[0264] Example 16B can include the method of example 13B or the method of any other example herein, further comprising defining an RNTI used to scramble a CRC of the DCI.

[0265] Example 17B can include the method of example 16B or the method of any other example herein, wherein the DCI schedules a PDSCH related to the transmission encoded signal.

[0266] Example 18B can include the method of example 16B or the method of any other example herein, wherein the DCI provides and updates a previous configuration for the UEs.

[0267] Example 19B can include the method of example 16B or the method of any other example herein, further comprising a common search space for monitoring the multicast DCI.

[0268] Example 20B can include the method of example 19B or the method of any other example herein, a user-specific search space for monitoring the multicast DCI format.

[0269] Example 21B can include the method of example 15B or the method of any other example herein, wherein the RRC CONNECTED UEs will receive the unicast and multicast transmissions in a selected one of: FDM, TDM, or simultaneously on orthogonal DM-RS ports within a slot.

[0270] Example 22B can include the method of example 13B or the method of any other example herein, wherein the transmission encoded signal uses a number of MIMO layers with rank adaptation.

[0271] Example Z01 can include an apparatus comprising means for performing one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 12-23 and 26-45, or any other method or process described herein.

[0272] Example Z02 can include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of the electronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 12-23 and 26-45, or any other method or process described herein.

[0273] Example Z03 can include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, or circuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 12-23 and 26-45, or any other method or process described herein.

[0274] Example Z04 can include a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of the aforementioned examples, or portions or parts thereof.

[0275] Example Z05 can include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions to, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of the aforementioned examples, or portions or parts thereof.

[0276] Example Z06 can include a signal as described in or related to any of examples 1-8, or portions or parts thereof.

[0277] Example Z07 can include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of examples 1-8, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0278] Example Z08 can include a signal encoded with data as described in or related to any of examples 1-8, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0279] Example Z09 can include a signal encoded with a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of examples 1-8, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0280] Example Z10 can include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors is to cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-8, or portions thereof.

[0281] Example Z11 can include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element is to cause the processing element to carry out a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-8, or portions thereof.

[0282] Example Z11 can include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element is to cause the processing element to carry out a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-8, or portions thereof.

[0283] Example Z12 can include a signal in a wireless network as described and illustrated herein.

[0284] Example Z13 can include a method of communicating in a wireless network as described and illustrated herein.

[0285] Example Z14 can include a system for providing wireless communication as described and illustrated herein.

[0286] Example Z15 can include an apparatus for providing wireless communication as described and illustrated herein.

[0287] Any of the embodiments described above can be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments), unless explicitly stated otherwise. The description of one or more specific implementations should not be construed to mean that various alternatives are not contemplated. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or can be acquired from practice of the various embodiments.

[0288] Any of the embodiments described above can be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments), unless explicitly stated otherwise. The aspects described herein can also implement a tiered application of schemes, e.g., by introducing a tiered priority of usage for different types of users based on their priority access to the spectrum (e.g., low / medium / high priority, etc.), e.g., first tier users have the highest priority, second tier users next, third tier users, etc. Some of the features in the present disclosure are defined for network elements (or network devices), such as access points (APs), eNBs, gNBs, core network elements (or network functions), application servers, application functions, etc. Any of the embodiments discussed herein as being performed by a network element can additionally or alternatively be performed by a UE, or a UE can play the role of a network element (e.g., some or all of the functionality defined for a network device can be implemented by a UE).

[0289] Although these specific facilities have been described with reference to specific exemplary aspects, it will be apparent that various modifications and variations can be made to these aspects without departing from the broader scope of this disclosure. Many of the arrangements and processes described herein can be combined or implemented in parallel to provide greater bandwidth / throughput and support edge service options available to the edge systems being served. Therefore, this specification and the accompanying drawings should be viewed in an illustrative rather than restrictive sense. The accompanying drawings, which form part of this document, illustrate specific aspects of the subject matter by way of illustration rather than limitation. The illustrated aspects are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed herein. Other aspects may be utilized and derived from the illustrated aspects, allowing for structural and logical substitutions and changes without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Therefore, this detailed description should not be considered restrictive, and the scope of the aspects is defined only by the appended claims and all their equivalents.

[0290] These aspects of the subject matter of the invention may be mentioned individually and / or collectively herein, merely for convenience, and the fact that more than one aspect is disclosed does not imply a voluntary limitation of the scope of this application to any single aspect or inventive concept.

[0291] Therefore, although specific aspects have been described and illustrated herein, it should be understood that any arrangement intended to achieve the same purpose may substitute for the specific aspects shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all modifications or variations of the aspects. Combinations of the foregoing aspects, as well as other aspects not specifically described herein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the foregoing description.

Claims

1. An apparatus for a novel radio node B, the apparatus comprising a memory and one or more processors coupled to the memory, the memory storing instructions, and the one or more processors implementing the instructions for: Messages for single-cell multicast, broadcast, or multicast transmission to a group of user equipments are encoded to configure the user equipment with regard to at least one of channel quality indicator feedback or hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment feedback, such that at least one of channel quality indicator feedback or hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment feedback can be turned off, or that both channel quality indicator feedback and hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment feedback can be used. The message is sent to the communication resources of node B for transmission to the user equipment; Based on the length of the physical downlink shared channel of the multicast transmission, the user equipment is configured to receive the multicast transmission multiple times within a time slot, across time slots, or across time slot boundaries. Encode multicast, broadcast, or multicast physical layer transmissions mapped from higher layers to public services for transmission to the user equipment; as well as Messages for configuring a common search space to monitor scheduling downlink control information containing the multicast or broadcast physical layer transmissions are encoded and transmitted to the user equipment.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, The message is a first message, and the one or more processors are further configured to: configure the user equipment to receive the multiple repetitions by encoding a second message transmitted to the user equipment, the second message being used to configure the user equipment to receive the multiple repetitions.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, The message is used to configure the user equipment to provide confirmation feedback for hybrid automatic repeat request.

4. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, The one or more processors are configured to: decode negative acknowledgment feedback, rather than acknowledgment feedback, for the multicast transmission, the negative acknowledgment originating from one or more user equipments of the group that have not received physical downlink shared channel transmission of the multicast transmission.

5. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, For a block-based Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Retransmission, the one or more processors are configured to: implement network coding across retransmitted blocks, wherein, in addition to the block information already received by the user equipment, the user equipment in the user equipment uses network coding to retransmit blocks to decode the desired block corresponding to a block not received by the user equipment in the initial transmission associated with the Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Retransmission.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein, The network coding includes an XOR function applied to the code block in the initial transmission during the retransmission.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, The one or more processors are configured to: encode downlink control information, the downlink control information including a scrambled radio network temporary identifier for cyclic redundancy check of the downlink control information, the downlink control information being used for multicast or broadcast physical downlink shared channel in association with one of the following: The transfer of configuration or data; or Update to previous multicast configuration.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, The public search space corresponds to one of the following: Together with the Type 3-PDCCH CSS set of multicast radio network temporary identifiers; or A Type 4-PDCCH CSS set specifically for monitoring multicast downlink control information.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein, The scheduling downlink control information is one of downlink control information 1_0 or 1_1.

10. The apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein, The one or more processors are configured to: configure an aggregation level for physical downlink control channel monitoring and a precoder granularity for the user equipment of the group with the worst coverage.

11. A method performed at a new radio node B, the method comprising: Encode a message for single-cell multicast, broadcast, or multicast transmission to a group of user equipments, the message being configured to configure the user equipment with respect to at least one of channel quality indicator feedback or hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment feedback, such that at least one of channel quality indicator feedback or hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment feedback can be turned off, or that both channel quality indicator feedback and hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment feedback can be used. The message is sent to the communication resources of node B for transmission to the user equipment; Based on the length of the physical downlink shared channel of the multicast transmission, the user equipment is configured to receive the multicast transmission multiple times within a time slot, across time slots, or across time slot boundaries. Encode multicast, broadcast, or multicast physical layer transmissions mapped from higher layers to public services for transmission to the user equipment; as well as The message used to configure the common search space to monitor the scheduling downlink control information containing the multicast or broadcast physical layer transmissions is encoded and transmitted to the user equipment.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein, The message is used to configure the user equipment not to provide any uplink feedback to the node B.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein, The message is a first message, and the method further includes: configuring the user equipment to receive the multiple repetitions by encoding a second message transmitted to the user equipment, the second message being used to configure the user equipment to receive the multiple repetitions.

14. The method according to claim 11, wherein, For Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Retransmission based on code blocks, the method further includes: implementing network coding across retransmitted code blocks, wherein, in addition to the code block information already received by the user equipment, the user equipment in the user equipment will use network coding to retransmit code blocks to decode the expected code blocks corresponding to code blocks not received by the user equipment in the initial transmission associated with the Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Retransmission.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein, The network coding includes an XOR function applied to the code block in the initial transmission during the retransmission.

16. The method according to claim 11, further comprising: Encode multicast, broadcast, or multicast physical layer transmissions mapped from higher layers to public services for transmission to the user equipment; as well as The downlink control information is decoded, including a scrambled radio network temporary identifier used for cyclic redundancy check of the downlink control information, which is used for multicast or broadcast physical downlink shared channel in association with one of the following: The transfer of configuration or data; or Update to previous multicast configuration.

17. The method according to claim 11, wherein, The public search space corresponds to one of the following: Together with the Type 3-PDCCH CSS set of multicast radio network temporary identifiers; or A Type 4-PDCCH CSS set specifically for monitoring multicast downlink control information.

18. A machine-readable medium comprising code that, when executed, causes a machine to perform the method according to any one of claims 11 to 17.

19. A novel radio node B device, the device comprising means for performing the method according to any one of claims 11 to 17.

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