HARQ-ACK DELAY TO SUPPORT 14 HARQ PROCESSES IN EXTENDED MACHINE TYPE COMMUNICATIONS - Patent application

Abstract

[0009] A method, apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium are provided for joint encoding of downlink control information (DCI) fields to support hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) delays of 11 or more HARQ processes (e.g., 14 HARQ processes) in a user equipment. In an example implementation, the method may include a user equipment (UE) determining a number of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes configured in the UE, and determining a HARQ acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) delay value based at least on the number of HARQ processes configured in the UE and downlink control information (DCI) received from a network node.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This description relates to wireless communications, and in particular to hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) techniques. [Background technology]

[0002] A communication system may be a facility that enables communication between two or more nodes or devices, such as fixed or mobile communication devices. Signals may be carried over wired or wireless carriers.

[0003] An example of a cellular communication system is the architecture standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Recent developments in this field are often referred to as the long-term evolution (LTE) of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio access technology. E-UTRA (evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access) is the air interface of 3GPP's Long Term Evolution (LTE) upgrade path for mobile networks. In LTE, base stations or access points (APs), called enhanced nodes APs or evolved nodes Bs (eNBs), provide wireless access within a coverage area or cell. In LTE, mobile devices or mobile stations are called user equipment (UEs). LTE has included several improvements or developments.

[0004] The development of 5G New Radio (NR) is part of the ongoing evolution of mobile broadband to meet 5G requirements, similar to the evolution of previous 3G and 4G wireless networks. Furthermore, 5G targets emerging use cases in addition to mobile broadband. The goal of 5G is to achieve significant improvements in radio performance, which may include new levels of data rate, latency, reliability, and security. 5G NR may be scaled to efficiently connect to the massive Internet of Things (IoT) and provide new types of mission-critical services. Ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) devices may require high reliability and extremely low latency. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Various exemplary implementations are described and / or illustrated. The details of one or more example implementations are set forth in the accompanying drawings and description below. Other features will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

[0006] A method, apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium are provided for joint encoding of downlink control information (DCI) fields to support hybrid automatic request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) delay for 11 or more HARQ processes (e.g., 14 HARQ processes) in a user equipment. In an example implementation, the method may include a user equipment (UE) determining a number of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes configured in the UE and determining a HARQ-ACK delay value based at least on the number of HARQ processes configured in the UE and downlink control information (DCI) received from a network node. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram of a wireless network according to an example implementation. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 illustrates a HARQ-ACK procedure for supporting at least 14 HARQ processes according to an exemplary implementation. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 illustrates a jointly encoded state table supporting HARQ-ACK delay for at least 14 HARQ processes according to an exemplary implementation. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart illustrating a HARQ-ACK delay procedure for supporting at least 14 HARQ processes according to an example implementation. [Figure 5] 1 is a block diagram of a node or wireless station (e.g., a base station / access point or a mobile station / user device / UE) according to an example implementation. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a wireless network 130 according to an example implementation. In the wireless network 130 of Figure 1, user devices (UDs) 131, 132, 133, and 135, sometimes referred to as mobile stations (MSs) or user equipment (UEs), may be connected to (and communicate with) a base station (BS) 134, sometimes referred to as an access point (AP), enhanced Node B (eNB), next-generation Node B (gNB), or network node. At least some of the functionality of an access point (AP), base station (BS), (e)Node B (eNB), or gNB may be performed by any node, server, or host that may be operatively coupled to a transceiver, such as a remote radio head. The BS (or AP) 134 provides wireless coverage within a cell 136, including to the user devices 131, 132, 133, and 135. Although only four user devices are shown connected or attached to BS 134, any number of user devices may be provided. BS 134 is also connected to core network 150 via S1 interface 151. This is just one simple example of a wireless network and other wireless networks may be used.

[0009] A user device (user terminal, user equipment (UE)) may refer to a portable computing device, including a wireless mobile communication device that operates with or without a subscriber identification module (SIM), examples of which include, but are not limited to, devices of the following types: mobile station (MS), mobile phone, cell phone, smartphone, personal digital assistant (PDA), handset, device using a wireless modem (such as an alarm or measurement device), laptop computer and / or touchscreen computer, tablet, phablet, game console, notebook, and multimedia device, or any other wireless device. It should be understood that a user device may also be an almost exclusively uplink-only device, an example of which would be a camera or camcorder that loads images or video clips into the network.

[0010] In LTE (as an example), the core network 150 may be referred to as an Evolved Packet Core (EPC), which may include a mobility management entity (MME) that may handle or assist mobility / handover of user devices between BSs, one or more gateways that may forward data and control signals between the BSs and a packet data network or the Internet, and other control functions or blocks.

[0011] Additionally, by way of example, various exemplary implementations or techniques described herein may be applied to different types of user devices or data service types, or to user devices on which multiple applications, which may be different data service types, may be executed. New radio (5G) developments may support multiple different applications or multiple different data service types, examples of which include machine type communications (MTC), enhanced machine type communications (eMTC), Internet of Things (IoT) and / or narrowband IoT user devices, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), and ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC).

[0012] The IoT may refer to a growing group of objects that may include internet or network connectivity, allowing these objects to send information to and receive information from other network devices. For example, many sensor-type applications or devices can monitor physical conditions or states and send reports to servers or other network devices, e.g., when an event occurs. Machine-type communication (MTC or machine-to-machine communication) may be characterized, for example, by the fully automatic generation, exchange, processing, and action of data between intelligent machines, with or without human intervention. Enhanced Multimedia Broadcasting (eMBB) may support data rates much higher than those currently available with LTE.

[0013] Ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) is a new data service type or new usage scenario that may be supported for new radio (5G) systems. URLLC enables emerging applications and services, such as industrial automation, autonomous driving, vehicle safety, and e-health services. 3GPP targets, for example, providing connectivity with a reliability of 1 to 1e-5, with a U-plane (user / data plane) latency of up to 1 ms. Therefore, for example, a URLLC user device / UE may require lower latency in addition to a significantly lower block error rate than other types of user devices / UE. Therefore, for example, a URLLC UE (or a URLLC application on a UE) may require much lower latency compared to an eMBB UE (or an eMBB application running on a UE).

[0014] Various example implementations may be applied to a wide variety of wireless technologies or wireless networks, such as LTE, LTE-A, 5G, IoT, MTC, eMTC, eMBB, URLLC, etc., or any other wireless network or wireless technology. These example networks, technologies, or types of data services are provided merely as examples.

[0015] Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO) may refer to a technique for using multiple transmit and receive antennas to take advantage of multipath propagation and increase the capacity of a wireless link. MIMO may include the use of multiple antennas at the transmitter and / or receiver. MIMO may include a multidimensional approach to transmitting and receiving two or more unique data streams over a single wireless channel. For example, MIMO may refer to a technique for simultaneously transmitting and receiving two or more data signals over the same wireless channel by taking advantage of multipath propagation. According to an example, multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (multi-user MIMIO or MU-MIMO) improves on MIMO technology by allowing a base station (BS) or other wireless node to simultaneously transmit or receive multiple streams to different user devices or UEs, which transmission may include transmitting a first stream to a first UE and simultaneously transmitting a second stream to a second UE over the same (or shared) set of physical resource blocks (PRBs) (e.g., where each PRB may include a set of time-frequency resources).

[0016] The BS may also transmit data to the UE using precoding (based on the UE's precoder matrix or precoder vector). For example, the UE may receive a reference signal or pilot signal, determine a quantized DL channel estimate, and then provide an indication of the quantized DL channel estimate to the BS. The BS may determine a precoder matrix based on the quantized channel estimate, which may be used to focus or direct the transmitted signal energy toward the best channel for the UE. Each UE may also use a decoder matrix, which may be determined, for example, when the UE receives a reference signal from the BS, determines a channel estimate for the DL channel, and then determines a decoder matrix for the DL channel based on the DL channel estimate. For example, the precoder matrix may indicate antenna weights (e.g., amplitude / gain and phase for each weight) to be applied to the antenna array of the transmitting wireless device. Similarly, the decoder matrix may indicate antenna weights (e.g., amplitude / gain and phase for each weight) to be applied to the antenna array of the receiving wireless device. This also applies to the UL when the UE is transmitting data to the BS.

[0017] For example, according to an exemplary aspect, a receiving wireless user device may determine a precoder matrix using interference rejection combining (IRC), in which the user device may receive reference signals (or other signals) from multiple BSs (e.g., measure the signal strength, signal power, or other signal parameters of the signals received from each BS) and generate a decoder matrix that can suppress or reduce signals from one or more interference sources (or interfering cells or BSs), e.g., by providing a null (or very low antenna gain) in the direction of the interfering signals to increase the signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR) of the desired signal. To reduce the overall interference from multiple different interference sources, the receiver may determine a decoding matrix using, e.g., a linear minimum mean square error interference rejection combining (LMMSE-IRC) receiver. IRC receivers and LMMSE-IRC receivers are merely examples, and other types of receivers or techniques may be used to determine the decoder matrix. After the decoder matrix is ​​determined, the receiving UE / user device may apply antenna weights (e.g., each antenna weight including an amplitude and phase) to multiple antennas at the receiving UE or device based on the decoder matrix. Similarly, the precoder matrix may include antenna weights that may be applied to antennas of the transmitting wireless device or node, which may also be applied to the receiving BS.

[0018] 3GPP R17 introduces 14 HARQ processes to support machine type communication (MTC), enhanced MTC (eMTC), and Internet of Things (IoT) improvements. Increasing the number of HARQ processes to 14 (from 10) can significantly increase peak data rates and throughput. However, support for 14 HARQ processes may require additional bits in the DCI to support the HARQ-ACK delay for 14 HARQ processes.

[0019] Several procedures have been proposed to support 14 HARQ processes. However, these procedures have drawbacks. For example, if 14 HARQ processes are configured and 4 to 8 transport blocks (TBs) are transmitted, the user equipment (UE) may be required to transmit three bundled ACK responses (instead of the optimal two bundled ACK responses). If all TBs of the 14 HARQ processes are used to achieve the peak data rate, some of the HARQ process IDs may be out of order. When an HARQ process ID (0 to 9) appears, the delay length may not be sufficient to utilize the next batch of ACK-NACK responses due to the limited range of delays associated with the conventional HARQ process IDs (e.g., 0 to 9). In addition, retransmissions of conventional process IDs may not use certain (new) subframes for retransmission due to the limited range of delays. Therefore, an increased number of DCI bits needs to be used to support more efficient scheduling and to prevent degradation of DCI scheduling performance.

[0020] Thus, a demand and / or need exists for supporting HARQ-ACK delays of more than 10 HARQ processes (e.g., 14 HARQ processes) without increasing the number of DCI bits required for such support. In other words, a demand and / or need exists for supporting HARQ-ACK delays of 14 HARQ processes while not increasing the size of the HARQ-ACK delay field to 4 bits and / or avoiding the need for an additional 1 bit to support 7 physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) offsets. The PDSCH offset may refer to the time offset between the transmission of a machine-type communication (MTC) physical downlink control channel (MPDCCH) and a PDSCH. The HARQ-ACK delay may be defined as the time delay or offset between the reception of the PDSCH and the transmission of the HARQ-ACK.

[0021] This disclosure describes an example implementation that includes joint encoding of DCI fields to support (at least) one additional HARQ-ACK delay value (e.g., a HARQ-ACK delay value of 8) without increasing the size of the DCI. In the example implementation, the method may include a UE determining a number (e.g., a maximum number) of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes configured at the UE and determining a HARQ-ACK delay value based at least on the number of HARQ processes configured at the UE and downlink control information (DCI) received from a network node. In some implementations, for example, the HARQ-ACK delay value may be determined from multiple fields of a DCI that may be jointly encoded. The multiple DCI fields may include one or more of a PDSCH offset field, a HARQ-ACK delay field, a number of HARQ processes, and / or a HARQ-ACK bundling flag.

[0022] FIG. 2 illustrates a HARQ-ACK procedure 200 for supporting at least 14 HARQ processes (or 11 or more HARQ processes) according to an example implementation.

[0023] At 212, an eNB (e.g., eNB 202) may broadcast information that the eNB may support 14 HARQ processes. In some implementations, for example, the eNB may broadcast a message that the eNB supports 14 HARQ processes within a radio resource control (RRC) information element (IE) of a system information block (SIB).

[0024] At 214, a UE (e.g., UE 204) may respond in response to receiving the broadcast message from the eNB that the UE can also support 14 HARQ processes. It should be noted that the UE may support 14 HARQ processes (e.g., a 14 HARQ process configuration) in addition to the 10 HARQ process configuration. In some implementations, for example, the UE may send this information via UE capability information as part of the initial access procedure.

[0025] At 216, in response to receiving information from the UE that the UE can support 14 HARQ processes, the eNB 202 may send a configuration message to the UE so that the UE may be configured to support 14 HARQ processes. In some implementations, for example, the eNB may configure the UE to use 14 HARQ processes via an RRC message (e.g., an RRC Connection Set or RRC Connection Reconfiguration message).

[0026] At 218, the UE 204 may configure the UE to support 14 HARQ processes upon receipt of the configuration message from the eNB.

[0027] At 220, the eNB 202 may transmit downlink control information (DCI) to the UE. In an example implementation, the DCI may be transmitted to the UE via a PDCCH or an MPDCCH. In some implementations, for example, the DCI may include multiple fields, such as a new data indicator (ND), a number of HARQ processes, a HARQ-ACK bundling flag, a HARQ-ACK delay, etc.

[0028] At 222, the UE 204 may determine the HARQ-ACK delay and PDSCH offset for the 14 HARQ processes upon receiving the DCI from the eNB. In some implementations, the UE 204 may interpret multiple fields of the DCI as being jointly encoded, for example, because the UE knows that the UE is configured to support 14 HARQ processes (as described above with reference to 218). In an example implementation, the multiple fields that the UE may consider to be jointly encoded include one or more of the HARQ-ACK bundling flag, HARQ-ACK delay, PDSCH offset, and / or number of HARQ processes. In some implementations, the sizes of the HARQ-ACK bundling flag, HARQ-ACK delay, PDSCH offset, and number of HARQ processes may be 1 bit, 3 bits, 1 bit, and 4 bits, respectively.

[0029] The UE may decode the jointly encoded fields of the aforementioned DCI and determine jointly encoded index values ​​that indicate the HARQ-ACK delays and PDSCH offsets for the 14 HARQ processes, as described in further detail with reference to Figure 3. In some implementations, for example, the UE may send an ACK / NACK to the eNB accordingly using the determined HARQ-ACK delays and PDSCH offsets.

[0030] Optionally, in some implementations, at 224, the eNB 202 may send a message to the UE to switch the UE from a 14 HARQ process configuration to a 10 HARQ process configuration. In some implementations, for example, a spare state of the jointly encoded state table (shown in FIG. 3) may be used by the eNB to signal such an RRC reconfiguration, for example, to switch to 10 HARQ processes without requiring longer RRC signaling. In an example implementation, this switch may be based on the UE's coverage extension level (e.g., not requiring the UE to use all HARQ processes due to repetition). In another example implementation, the UE may be switched back to 14 HARQ processes via an RRC reconfiguration message.

[0031] At 226, the UE 202 may determine the HARQ-ACK delay and PDSCH offset for the 10 HARQ processes upon receiving the DCI with the spare bit of the jointly encoded table value enabled. In some implementations, for example, the UE may determine the HARQ-ACK delay for the 10 HARQ processes based at least on the HARA-ACK delay field of the DCI received from the eNB.

[0032] Therefore, the UE may be configured to support 14 HARQ processes without increasing the size of the DCI or increasing the number of bits.

[0033] FIG. 3 illustrates a jointly encoded state table 300 that supports HARQ-ACK delay for at least 14 HARQ processes according to an exemplary implementation.

[0034] In some implementations, for example, an eNB (e.g., eNB 202) may perform joint encoding of multiple fields of a DCI to support additional HARQ-ACK delay values. Additional HARQ-ACK delay values ​​may be supported without increasing the size of the DCI to convey the HARQ-ACK delay and PDSCH offset to a UE (e.g., UE 204). In some implementations, for example, joint encoding may refer to one field that indicates multiple pieces of information. For example, an entry in a jointly encoded field may provide information about multiple parameters (e.g., HARQ process ID, PDSCH offset, HARQ-ACK delay as shown in 300 of FIG. 3).

[0035] In an example implementation, the eNB may perform joint encoding of multiple DCI fields, which may include a PDSCH offset, a HARQ-ACK delay, and / or a number of HARQ processes, to generate a jointly encoded index value 302, which may then be conveyed to the UE to indicate the HARQ-ACK delay 308 and the PDSCH offset 306 of the HARQ process 304. In some implementations, for example, the size (or length) of the PDSCH offset flag may be 1 bit, the size of the HARQ-ACK delay field may be 3 bits, and the size of the number of HARQ processes field may be 4 bits, and the eNB may perform joint encoding of these three fields to a total of 8 bits, for a total of 256 (256) to support additional HARQ-ACK delay values ​​and / or PDSCH offsets. 8 ) unique states (or index values). It should be noted that an extended HARQ-ACK delay of 8 is also supported to support an additional HARQ-ACK delay of 14 HARQ processes. In some implementations, for example, the jointly encoded multiple DCI fields may include a HARQ-ACK bundle flag field.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 3, the jointly encoded index values ​​302 may include unique index values ​​(0-255), which may be used to support HARQ-ACK delay values ​​and PDSCH offsets for 14 HARQ processes. Each index value may be associated with a HARQ process ID 304, a PDSCH offset 306, and / or a HARQ-ACK delay 308. For example, a jointly encoded index value of 6 may indicate a HARQ-ACK delay of 11 and a PDSCH offset of 2 for HARQ process 0. In a further example, a jointly encoded index value of 13 may indicate a HARQ-ACK delay of 8 and a PDSCH offset of 7 for HARQ process 0. In another further example, a jointly encoded index value of 243 may indicate a HARQ-ACK delay of 4 and a PDSCH offset of 7 for HARQ process 13. It should be noted that the example implementations described in this disclosure may include support for a HARQ-ACK delay of 8, which may not have been previously supported. Additionally, PDSCH offsets of 2 and 7 for each of the 14 HARQ processes are also supported.

[0037] In some implementations, for example, four jointly encoded index values ​​(e.g., 252-255) may be considered "reserved" and may be used, if necessary, for efficient signaling of RRC reconfiguration, e.g., instead of very lengthy RRC level signaling. In an example implementation, eNB 202 may use one of the reserved fields (e.g., the reserved field with an index value of 252) to indicate a switch to a 10 HARQ process configuration (from a 14 HARQ process configuration).

[0038] Upon receiving a switch message from the eNB, the UE may interpret the 8 bits of the aforementioned three DCI fields separately (or independently) to determine the HARQ-ACK delay and PDSCH offset for the 10 HARQ processes.

[0039] In some implementations, for example, if a UE is configured to support 14 HARQ processes and the DCI indicates a new transmission, HARQ-ACK delay values ​​of 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15 may be supported, similar to Table 7.3.1-2 of 36.213 for HARQ-ACK delay. In some other implementations, for example, if a UE is configured to support 10 HARQ processes and the DCI indicates a retransmission, HARQ-ACK delay values ​​of 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, and 13, as well as 15 may be supported (with the HARQ-ACK delay of 15 replaced by 8). In other words, a HARQ-ACK delay of 8 may be supported for a retransmission.

[0040] FIG. 4 is a flowchart 400 illustrating a HARQ-ACK delay procedure for supporting at least 14 HARQ processes according to an example implementation.

[0041] At block 410, a UE (e.g., UE 204) may determine the number of HARQ processes configured on the UE. In some implementations, for example, the number of HARQ processes may be configured by an eNB (e.g., eNB 202). In an example implementation, the eNB may configure the UE to support 14 HARQ processes. In some implementations, for example, the number of HARQ processes configured on the UE may be the maximum number of HARQ processes configured on the UE.

[0042] At block 420, the UE may determine a HARQ-ACK delay value based at least on the number of HARQ processes configured at the UE and the DCI received from the eNB. In some implementations, for example, the UE may determine the HARQ-ACK delay based at least on jointly encoded index values ​​of multiple fields of the DCI, as described above.

[0043] In this way, an additional HARQ-ACK delay and PDSCH offset for 14 HARQ processes may be supported to support higher throughput without increasing the size of the DCI.

[0044] Additional example implementations are described herein.

[0045] Example 1 1. A method of communication comprising: determining, by a user equipment (UE), a number of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes configured in the UE; and determining, by the UE, a HARQ acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) delay value based at least on the number of HARQ processes configured in the UE and downlink control information (DCI) received from a network node.

[0046] Example 2 2. The method of embodiment 1, wherein the number of configured HARQ processes is the maximum number of HARQ processes configured in the UE.

[0047] Example 3 3. The method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 2, wherein determining the HARQ-ACK delay value further includes: determining that a first number of HARQ processes are configured in the UE; and determining the first HARQ-ACK delay value from a plurality of fields of the jointly encoded DCI in response to the first number of HARQ processes being configured in the UE.

[0048] Example 4 4. The method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 3, wherein the plurality of fields includes a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) offset field, a HARQ-ACK delay field, and a number of HARQ processes.

[0049] Example 5 5. The method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 4, wherein the first number of HARQ processes is 14.

[0050] Example 6 6. A method as in any one of embodiments 1-5, wherein the joint encoding of multiple fields comprises joint encoding of multiple bits of DCI associated with the multiple fields.

[0051] Example 7 7. A method as in any one of embodiments 1 to 6, wherein the plurality of fields includes 8 bits of DCI.

[0052] Example 8 8. The method of any of examples 1-7, wherein the joint encoding provides 256 index values.

[0053] Example 9 9. The method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 8, further comprising determining a first HARQ-ACK delay value, a number of HARQ processes, and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) offset from the index value.

[0054] Example 10 10. The method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 9, wherein the first HARQ-ACK delay value comprises a HARQ-ACK delay value of 8.

[0055] Example 11 11. The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 10, wherein the 256 index values ​​include at least four reserved fields.

[0056] Example 12 12. The method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 11, further comprising receiving radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration information from a network node, wherein the RRC reconfiguration information indicates switching to 10 HARQ processes.

[0057] Example 13 13. The method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 12, wherein RRC reconfiguration information indicating a switch to 10 HARQ processes is received via at least one of the at least four reserved fields.

[0058] Example 14 2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the HARQ-ACK delay value further includes: determining that a second number of HARQ processes is configured in the UE; and determining a second HARQ-ACK delay value from a parameter of the DCI in response to determining that the second number of HARQ processes is configured in the UE.

[0059] Example 15 15. The method of any one of embodiments 1 and 14, wherein the second HARQ-ACK delay value is determined from a HARQ-ACK delay parameter in the DCI.

[0060] Example 16 16. The method of any one of embodiments 1 and 14-15, wherein the second number of HARQ processes is 10.

[0061] Example 17 2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the HARQ-ACK delay value further includes: determining that a first number of HARQ processes are configured in the UE; and, in response to the first number of HARQ processes being configured in the UE, determining the HARQ-ACK delay value from a HARQ-ACK delay field and a new data identifier (NDI) field of the DCI.

[0062] Example 18 18. The method of any one of embodiments 1 and 17, wherein the first number of HARQ processes is 14.

[0063] Example 19 19. The method according to any one of embodiments 1 and 17-18, wherein a value in an NDI field indicates whether the transmission is a new transmission or a retransmission.

[0064] Example 20 2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the HARQ-ACK delay value further includes: determining that a second number of HARQ processes is configured in the UE; and determining the HARQ-ACK delay value from a HARQ-ACK delay field of the DCI in response to the second number of HARQ processes being configured in the UE.

[0065] Example 21 21. The method of any one of embodiments 1 and 20, wherein the second number of HARQ processes is 14.

[0066] Example 22 22. A method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 21, wherein the network node is an eNB.

[0067] Example 23 An apparatus comprising means for carrying out the method according to any one of Examples 1 to 22.

[0068] Example 24 23. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing stored instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, are configured to cause a computing system to perform the method of any of Examples 1-22.

[0069] Example 25 An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory containing computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code, together with the at least one processor, are configured to cause the apparatus to perform at least the method described in any of Examples 1 to 22.

[0070] 5 is a block diagram of a wireless station (e.g., user equipment (UE) / user device or AP / gNB / MgNB / SgNB) 500 according to an example implementation. The wireless station 500 may include, for example, one or more RF (radio frequency) or wireless transceivers 502A, 502B, each including a transmitter for transmitting signals and a receiver for receiving signals. The wireless station also includes a processor or control unit / entity (controller) 504 / 508 for executing instructions or software and controlling the transmission and reception of signals, and a memory 506 for storing data and / or instructions.

[0071] The processor 504 may make decisions or determinations, generate frames, packets, or messages for transmission, and decode received frames or messages for further processing and other tasks or functions described herein. The processor 504, which may be a baseband processor, may generate, for example, messages, packets, frames, or other signals for transmission via the wireless transceiver 502 (502A or 502B). The processor 504 may control the transmission of signals or messages over the wireless network and may control the reception of signals or messages (e.g., after being downconverted by the wireless transceiver 502) over the wireless network. The processor 504 may be programmable and may be capable of executing software or other instructions stored in memory or other computer media to perform various tasks and functions described above, such as one or more of the tasks or methods described above. The processor 504 may be (or include), for example, hardware, programmable logic, a programmable processor executing software or firmware, and / or any combination thereof. Using other terminology, the processor 504 and the transceiver 502 may together be considered, for example, a wireless transmitter / receiver system.

[0072] 5, controller (or processor) 508 may execute software and instructions and may provide overall control of wireless station 500, control other systems not shown in FIG. 5, such as controlling input / output devices (e.g., display, keypad), and / or execute software for one or more applications that may be provided on wireless station 500, such as, for example, an email program, an audio / video application, a word processor, a voice-over-IP application, or other application or software. Further, a storage medium may be provided containing stored instructions that, when executed by a controller or processor, may cause processor 504 or other controllers or processors to perform one or more of the functions or tasks described above.

[0073] According to another exemplary implementation, the RF or wireless transceiver 502A / 502B may receive signals or data and / or transmit signals or data. The processor 504 (and possibly the transceiver 502A / 502B) may control the RF or wireless transceiver 502A or 502B to receive, transmit, broadcast, or transmit signals or data.

[0074] However, the embodiments are not limited to the system given as an example, and those skilled in the art may apply the solutions to other communication systems. Another example of a suitable communication system is the 5G concept. The network architecture in 5G is expected to be quite similar to that of LTE-Advanced. 5G will likely use multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, more base stations or nodes than LTE (the so-called small cell concept), include macro sites operating in cooperation with smaller base stations, and will likely also employ different radio technologies for better coverage and improved data rates.

[0075] It should be understood that future networks will likely utilize network functions virtualization (NFV), a network architecture concept that proposes virtualizing the functions of network nodes into “building blocks” or entities that can be operatively connected or linked together to provide services. A virtualized network function (VFN) may include one or more virtual machines that execute computer program code using standard or generic types of servers instead of customized hardware. Cloud computing or data storage may also be utilized. In wireless communications, this may mean that the operation of a node may be performed at least in part on a server, host, or node operatively coupled to a remote radio head. It is also possible that the operation of a node may be distributed among multiple servers, nodes, or hosts. It should also be understood that the distribution of work between the operation of the core network and the operation of the base stations may differ from or even not exist in LTE.

[0076] Implementations of the various techniques described herein may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or combinations of them. Implementations may be implemented as a computer program product, i.e., as a computer program tangibly embodied in an information medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage device) or in a propagated signal for execution by or controlling the operation of a data processing apparatus (e.g., a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple computers). Implementations may also be provided on a computer-readable medium or computer-readable storage medium, which may be a non-transitory medium. Implementations of the various techniques may include implementations provided via a transitory signal or medium and / or program and / or software downloadable via the Internet or other networks (either wired and / or wireless). Additionally, implementations may be provided via machine-type communications (MTC) or the Internet of Things (IoT).

[0077] The computer program may be in the form of source code, object code, or some intermediate form and may be stored on some kind of carrier, distribution medium, or computer-readable medium, which may be any entity or device capable of carrying a program. Such carriers include, for example, recording media, computer memory, read-only memory, optical-electronic and / or electrical carrier signals, telecommunications signals, and software distribution packages. Depending on the processing power required, the computer program may be executed in a single electronic digital computer or distributed among several computers.

[0078] Furthermore, implementations of various technologies described herein may use cyber-physical systems (CPSs) (systems of computing elements working together to control physical entities). CPSs may enable the implementation and utilization of vast amounts of interconnected ICT devices (sensors, actuators, processors, microcontrollers, etc.) embedded in objects at various locations. Mobile cyber-physical systems, in which the physical systems in question possess inherent mobility, are a subcategory of cyber-physical systems. Examples of mobile physical systems include mobile robotics and electronic devices carried by humans or animals. The increasing popularity of smartphones has sparked interest in the area of ​​mobile cyber-physical systems. Accordingly, various implementations of the technologies described herein may be provided via one or more of these technologies.

[0079] A computer program such as the one described above can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, and can be deployed in any form suitable for use in a computing environment, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit or portion thereof. A computer program can be deployed to run on one computer or on multiple computers, either at one site or distributed across multiple sites, and interconnected by a communications network.

[0080] The method steps may be performed by one or more programmable processors running computer programs or portions of computer programs to perform functions by operating on input data and generating output. The method steps may also be performed by, and an apparatus may be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit).

[0081] Examples of processors suitable for executing a computer program include both general-purpose and special-purpose microprocessors, as well as any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer, chip, or chipset. Typically, a processor receives instructions and data from a read-only memory or a random-access memory, or both. Elements of a computer may include at least one processor for executing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Typically, a computer will also include one or more mass storage devices (e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical, or optical disks) for storing data, or may be operatively coupled to receive data from or transmit data to such mass storage devices, or both. Information media suitable for embodying computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, such as, for example, semiconductor memory devices (e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices), magnetic disks (e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks), magneto-optical disks, and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and memory may be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special-purpose logic circuitry.

Claims

1. determining, by a user equipment (UE), a number of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes configured in the UE; determining, by the UE, a HARQ acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) delay value based at least on the number of HARQ processes configured in the UE and downlink control information (DCI) received from a network node.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the number of HARQ processes configured is the maximum number of HARQ processes configured in the UE.

3. said determining said HARQ-ACK delay value: determining that a first number of HARQ processes are configured for the UE; and determining a first HARQ-ACK delay value from a plurality of jointly encoded fields of the DCI in response to the first number of HARQ processes being configured in the UE.

4. The plurality of fields are: A physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) offset field; a HARQ-ACK delay field, and The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, including the number of HARQ processes.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first number of HARQ processes is 14.

6. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the joint encoding of the plurality of fields comprises a joint encoding of a plurality of bits of the DCI associated with the plurality of fields.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the plurality of fields comprises 8 bits of the DCI.

8. The method of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the joint encoding provides 256 index values.

9. The method of any of claims 1 to 8, further comprising determining a first HARQ-ACK delay value, a number of HARQ processes, and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) offset from the index value.

10. The method of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the first HARQ-ACK delay value comprises a HARQ-ACK delay value of 8.

11. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the 256 index values ​​include at least four reserved fields.

12. 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration information from the network node, the RRC reconfiguration information indicating switching to 10 HARQ processes.

13. The method according to any of claims 1 to 12, wherein the RRC reconfiguration information indicating the switch to 10 HARQ processes is received via at least one of the at least four reserved fields.

14. said determining said HARQ-ACK delay value: determining that a second number of HARQ processes is configured for the UE; and 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a second HARQ-ACK delay value from parameters of the DCI in response to determining that the second number of HARQ processes is configured for the UE.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second HARQ-ACK delay value is determined from a HARQ-ACK delay parameter in the DCI.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 and 14 to 15, wherein the second number of HARQ processes is 10.

17. said determining said HARQ-ACK delay value: determining that a first number of HARQ processes are configured for the UE; 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: in response to the first number of HARQ processes being configured in the UE, determining a HARQ-ACK delay value from a HARQ-ACK delay field and a new data identifier (NDI) field of the DCI.

18. 18. The method of claim 1, wherein the first number of HARQ processes is 14.

19. The method of any of claims 1 and 17-18, wherein the value in the NDI field indicates whether the transmission is a new transmission or a retransmission.

20. said determining said HARQ-ACK delay value: determining that a second number of HARQ processes is configured for the UE; and 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: in response to the second number of HARQ processes being configured in the UE, determining a HARQ-ACK delay value from a HARQ-ACK delay field of the DCI.

21. 21. The method of claim 1, wherein the second number of HARQ processes is 14.

22. The method according to any of claims 1 to 21, wherein the network node is an eNB.

23. Apparatus comprising means for carrying out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 22.

24. 23. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium containing instructions stored thereon, the instructions being configured to, when executed by at least one processor, cause a computing system to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 22.

25. at least one processor; at least one memory containing computer program code, Apparatus, wherein said at least one memory and said computer program code, together with said at least one processor, are configured to cause said apparatus to perform at least the method of any of claims 1 to 22.

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