Maintaining phase continuity in uplink transmission for joint channel estimation

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to maintaining phase continuity in uplink transmissions for joint channel estimation. The present invention provides a user equipment (UE) configured to send an uplink transmission with a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) bundle; send the uplink transmission; receive a downlink control information (DCI) transmission from a base station between repetitions of the uplink transmission, wherein the DCI indicates a transmission power control (TPC) information element (IE), the TPC IE indicating that the remaining repetitions in the repetition of the uplink transmission should be sent using a new transmission power; and determine whether the DCI is a group common (GC)-DCI format 2_2.

Description

[0001] Priority Claim / Incorporation by Reference

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 63 / 199,642, filed on January 14, 2021, entitled “Maintaining Phase Continuity in Uplink Transmissions for Joint Channel Estimation,” which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Background Art

[0003] In 5G New Radio (NR) wireless communications, demodulation reference signal (DMRS) bundling in the time domain across one or more repetitions may be configured to allow a user equipment (UE) to perform joint channel estimation based on the DMRS received across the repetitions (as opposed to performing channel estimation for each repetition separately based on the DMRS received in that repetition). During DMRS bundling, it may be advantageous for the UE to maintain transmit power consistency and phase continuity across physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and / or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) repetitions. Summary of the invention

[0004] Some exemplary embodiments relate to a processor of a user equipment (UE) configured to perform operations. The operations include sending an uplink transmission with a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) bundle; sending the uplink transmission; receiving a downlink control information (DCI) transmission from a base station between repetitions of the uplink transmission, wherein the DCI indicates a transmit power control (TPC) information element (IE), the TPC IE indicating that remaining repetitions of the repetition of the uplink transmission should be sent using a new transmit power; and determining whether the DCI is a group common (GC)-DCI format 2_2.

[0005] Other exemplary embodiments relate to a user equipment (UE) having: a transceiver configured to communicate with a network; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations. The operations include sending an uplink transmission with a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) bundle; sending the uplink transmission; receiving a downlink control information (DCI) transmission from a base station between repetitions of the uplink transmission, wherein the DCI indicates a transmission power control (TPC) information element (IE), the TPC IE indicating that the remaining repetitions in the repetition of the uplink transmission should be sent using a new transmission power; and determining whether the DCI is a group common (GC)-DCI format 2_2.

[0006] Further exemplary embodiments relate to a processor of a user equipment (UE) configured to perform operations including sending a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission with a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) bundled, sending a second PUCCH, determining that the second PUCCH overlaps one or more repetitions of the first PUCCH, and dropping a predetermined one of the first PUCCH or the second PUCCH in an opportunity corresponding to the one or more repetitions. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Figure 1 Exemplary network arrangements are shown according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0008] Figure 2 An exemplary UE according to various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0009] Figure 3 Methods for maintaining phase continuity across Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) repetitions according to various exemplary embodiments are shown.

[0010] Figure 4 Methods for maintaining phase continuity across Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) repetitions according to various exemplary embodiments are shown.

[0011] Figure 5 Methods for processing received transmit power control (TPC) to maintain phase continuity across PUSCH / PUCCH repetitions according to various exemplary embodiments are shown.

[0012] Figure 6 Methods of prioritizing power allocation to UEs across component carriers (CCs) to maintain phase continuity are shown according to various exemplary embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] The exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference to the following description and related drawings, wherein similar elements have the same reference numerals. The exemplary embodiments relate to a user equipment (UE) that maintains phase continuity across physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and / or physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission repetitions.

[0014] The exemplary embodiments are described with respect to UE. However, the use of UE is for illustration purposes only. The exemplary embodiments can be utilized with any electronic component that can establish a connection with a network and is configured with hardware, software and / or firmware for exchanging information and data with the network. Therefore, the UE described herein is used to represent any electronic component.

[0015] The exemplary embodiments are also described with reference to a network including a 5G New Radio (NR) radio access technology (RAT). However, although the exemplary embodiments are described with reference to a 5G NR RAT, it should be understood that the exemplary embodiments may also be implemented for other types of networks, such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, a next generation network, etc.

[0016] In current 5G NR wireless communications, if a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission collides with a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, the uplink control information (UCI) of the PUCCH is multiplexed with the PUSCH repetitions and the PUCCH is dropped. However, the transmit power of the UCI-multiplexed PUSCH repetitions can be changed by a higher layer deltaMCS information element (IE) relative to other PUSCH repetitions that are not multiplexed. This deltaMCS is intended to mitigate the difference in the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) of the PUCCH and PUSCH. As a result, phase continuity in the transmit power at the UE is lost.

[0017] According to some exemplary embodiments, when PUCCH collides with PUSCH repetition, the UE multiplexes UCI with PUSCH repetition and is configured to maintain the same transmission power used for the previous PUSCH repetition or change the transmission power based on the higher layer deltaMCS information element (IE) for the PUSCH repetition multiplexed with UCI and each subsequent PUSCH repetition. Thus, phase continuity is maximized.

[0018] Another issue that adversely affects phase continuity is the dropping of one PUCCH when two (or more) PUCCH transmissions overlap on one or more occasions (e.g., one or more slots or repetitions). The dropping of one PUCCH is based on a predefined UCI priority (HARQ-ACK>SR>CSI) or the time when the PUCCH transmission starts. Because one of the PUCCHs with its corresponding repetition is dropped (lost), phase continuity is lost.

[0019] In accordance with some exemplary embodiments, when two or more PUCCH transmissions overlap at one or more occasions (e.g., one or more time slots or repetitions), the UE is configured to (a) discard one or more PUCCHs without DMRS bundling, (b) discard PUCCHs with DMRS bundling but maintain the transmission power associated with the PUCCHs with DMRS bundling for the PUCCHs without DMRS bundling, or (c) discard PUCCHs with DMRS bundling but restart the remaining repetitions (if any) at a subsequent occasion (e.g., time slot) after a conflict.

[0020] Another issue that adversely affects phase continuity is that in current 5G NR communications, a transmit power control (TPC) command is applied for each transmission opportunity. If the UE receives subsequent DCI between PUSCH / PUCCH repetitions, the TPC value in the DCI results in different transmit powers for some repetitions. Therefore, phase continuity is lost.

[0021] According to some exemplary embodiments, the UE is configured to ignore the group common (GC) DCI format 2_2 including the TPC command and only utilize the TPC command contained in the unicast (UE-specific) DCI. The utilized TPC command is applied to all remaining PUSCH repetitions, regardless of whether those repetitions are configured with DMRS bundling.

[0022] Another issue that adversely affects phase continuity is when the total transmit power exceeds the maximum transmit power capability of the UE. Likewise, the UE will prioritize the transmit power allocation. Current priority rules based on data priority of the transmission (e.g., enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC)) and component carrier (CC) index may result in inconsistent power across repetitions of PUSCH with DMRS bundling. As a result, phase continuity is lost.

[0023] In accordance with some exemplary embodiments, the UE is configured to prioritize the allocation of transmission power for PUSCH transmissions with DMRS bundling over the allocation of transmission power for PUSCH transmissions without DMRS bundling, regardless of which CC the PUSCH transmissions are on when both PUSCHs have the same data priority (e.g., two eMBBs or two URLLCs).

[0024] Figure 1 An exemplary network arrangement 100 according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. The exemplary network arrangement 100 includes a UE 110. It should be noted that any number of UEs may be used in the network arrangement 100. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the UE 110 may alternatively be any type of electronic component configured to communicate via a network, such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, a smart phone, a phablet, an embedded device, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc. It should also be appreciated that an actual network arrangement may include any number of UEs used by any number of users. Therefore, for illustrative purposes, only an example with a single UE 110 is provided.

[0025] UE 110 may be configured to communicate with one or more networks. In the example of network arrangement 100, the networks with which UE 110 may wirelessly communicate are 5G New Radio (NR) radio access network (5G NR-RAN) 120, LTE radio access network (LTE-RAN) 122, and wireless local area network (WLAN) 124. However, it should be understood that UE 110 may also communicate with other types of networks, and UE 110 may also communicate with the network via a wired connection. Thus, UE 110 may include a 5G NR chipset that communicates with 5G NR-RAN 120, an LTE chipset that communicates with LTE-RAN 122, and an ISM chipset that communicates with WLAN 124.

[0026] 5G NR-RAN 120 and LTE-RAN 122 may be parts of cellular networks that may be deployed by cellular providers (e.g., Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.). These networks 120, 122 may include, for example, cells or base stations (NodeB, eNodeB, HeNB, eNBS, gNB, gNodeB, macrocell base stations, microcell base stations, small cell base stations, femtocell base stations, etc.) configured to send and receive traffic from UEs equipped with appropriate cellular chipsets. WLAN 124 may include any type of wireless local area network (WiFi, hotspot, IEEE 802.11x network, etc.).

[0027] UE 110 may be connected to 5G NR-RAN 120 via gNB 120A and / or gNB 120B. gNB 120A and 120B may be configured with necessary hardware (e.g., antenna arrays), software and / or firmware to perform massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) functionality. Massive MIMO may refer to a base station configured to generate multiple beams for multiple UEs. During operation, UE 110 may be within range of multiple gNBs. Therefore, simultaneously or alternatively, UE 110 may be connected to 5G NR-RAN 120 via gNB 120A and 120B. In this example, gNB 120A may be considered to be part of CG1 and gNB 120B may be considered to be part of CG2. Therefore, in DC operation, UE 110 may be simultaneously connected to gNB 120A (CG1) and gNB 120B (CG2). Reference to two gNBs 120A, 120B is for illustrative purposes only. The exemplary embodiments may be applied to any suitable number of gNBs. In addition, UE 110 may communicate with eNB 122A of LTE-RAN 122 to transmit and receive control information for downlink and / or uplink synchronization with respect to 5G NR-RAN 120 connection.

[0028] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any relevant process may be performed for the UE 110 to connect to the 5G NR-RAN 120. For example, as described above, the 5G NR-RAN 120 may be associated with a particular cellular provider, where the UE 110 and / or its user has protocol and credential information (e.g., stored on a SIM card). Upon detecting the presence of the 5G NR-RAN 120, the UE 110 may transmit corresponding credential information in order to associate with the 5G NR-RAN 120. More specifically, the UE 110 may be associated with a particular base station (e.g., gNB 120A of the 5G NR-RAN 120).

[0029] In addition to networks 120 and 122, network arrangement 100 also includes a cellular core network 130. Cellular core network 130 may be considered as an interconnected collection of components that manages the operation and traffic of a cellular network.

[0030] Figure 2 An exemplary UE 110 is shown according to various exemplary embodiments. Figure 1 100 is used to describe the UE 110. The UE 110 may represent any electronic device and may include a processor 205, a memory arrangement 210, a display device 215, an input / output (I / O) device 220, a transceiver 225, and other components 230. The other components 230 may include, for example, an audio input device, an audio output device, a battery providing a limited power source, a data acquisition device, a port for electrically connecting the UE 110 to other electronic devices, one or more antenna panels, etc. For example, the UE 110 may be coupled to industrial equipment via one or more ports.

[0031] Processor 205 may be configured to execute multiple engines of UE 110. For example, the engines may include phase continuity management engine 235. Phase continuity management engine 235 may perform various operations related to maximizing phase continuity across PUSCH and / or PUCCH transmissions configured with DMRS bundling to ensure accurate joint channel estimation at gNB 120A (or 120B).

[0032] The above-described engine as an application (e.g., program) executed by the processor 205 is merely exemplary. The functions associated with the engine may also be represented as an independent combined component of the UE 110, or may be a modular component coupled to the UE 110, for example, an integrated circuit with or without firmware. For example, an integrated circuit may include an input circuit for receiving a signal and a processing circuit for processing the signal and other information. The engine may also be embodied as an application or multiple separate applications. In addition, in some UEs, the functionality described for the processor 205 is shared between two or more processors such as a baseband processor and an application processor. The exemplary embodiments may be implemented in any of these or other configurations of the UE.

[0033] The memory arrangement 210 may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by the UE 110. The display device 215 may be a hardware component configured to display data to a user, and the I / O device 220 may be a hardware component that enables user input. The display device 215 and the I / O device 220 may be separate components or may be integrated together (such as a touch screen). The transceiver 225 may be a hardware component configured to establish a connection with the 5G NR-RAN 120, LTE-RAN 122, WLAN 124, etc. Thus, the transceiver 225 may operate on multiple different frequencies or channels (e.g., a continuous set of frequencies).

[0034] Figure 3 A method 300 for maintaining phase continuity across physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) repetitions according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. At 305, UE 110 sends a PUSCH transmission with multiple repetitions and with DMRS bundling. At 310, UE 110 determines that a configured PUCCH transmission overlaps with one of the repetitions of the PUSCH. To maintain phase continuity, at 315, UE 110 discards at least a portion of the PUCCH. At 320, UE 110 multiplexes uplink control information (UCI) with the PUSCH repetitions with which the PUCCH overlaps, and discards the remainder of the PUCCH. At 325, UE 110 maintains a constant power level across a predetermined number of repetitions of the PUSCH.

[0035] In some embodiments, UCI is partially multiplexed with PUSCH repetitions. For example, in some embodiments, only the hybrid automatic repeat request confirmation (HARQ-ACK) and / or the scheduling request (SR) of UCI are multiplexed with PUSCH repetitions. In some embodiments, the entire UCI may be multiplexed with PUSCH repetitions. In some embodiments, the resulting deltaMCS signaling does not result in a change in the transmission power of the UCI-multiplexed PUSCH. Similarly, the predetermined number of PUSCH repetitions for which the transmission power level is maintained are all PUSCH repetitions. In some embodiments, the deltaMCS is zero. In some embodiments, the deltaMCS may result in a change in the transmission power of the UCI-multiplexed PUSCH. However, in such scenarios, UE110 maintains the same transmission power for the remaining PUSCH repetitions, if any, as the UCI-multiplexed PUSCH repetitions. Similarly, the predetermined number of PUSCH repetitions for which the transmission power level is maintained are the PUSCH repetitions after the UCI-multiplexed PUSCH.

[0036] In some embodiments, if the deltaMCS results in a transmit power change, the UE 110 may determine whether to maintain phase continuity based on the UE capabilities. In some embodiments, the gNB 120A may indicate to the UE 110 that phase continuity is no longer required, and likewise, the UE 110 may incorporate the transmit power change based on the deltaMCS IE. In some embodiments, the gNB 120A is not allowed to send a non-zero deltaMCS to the UE 110. In some embodiments, the method 300 may end at 315, having discarded the entire PUCCH and avoiding any UCI multiplexing.

[0037] Figure 4 A method 400 for maintaining phase continuity across physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) repetitions according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. At 405, UE 110 transmits a first PUCCH with DMRS bundling. At 410, UE 110 determines that a second PUCCH overlaps with one or more of the repetitions of the first PUCCH. At 415, UE 110 drops a predetermined one of the first PUCCH or the second PUCCH in the overlapping opportunity.

[0038] Based on current 3GPP standards, PUCCHs with lower UCI priority and / or later starting time slots will be discarded. At 415, however, in some embodiments, UE 110 discards a second PUCCH that is not DMRS bundled regardless of its UCI type or starting time slot. In some embodiments, gNB 120A is not allowed to configure a second PUCCH with a higher priority UCI type than the first PUCCH, or to schedule the second PUCCH in an earlier time slot than the first PUCCH (if both PUCCHs have the same UCI priority).

[0039] In some embodiments, UE 110 may follow the current 3GPP standard, but if doing so results in the first PUCCH (with DMRS bundling) being dropped, UE 110 maintains the transmission power for the first PUCCH when sending the second PUCCH. That is, even if UE 110 drops the first PUCCH and instead sends the second PUCCH, the transmission power does not change.

[0040] In some embodiments, UE 110 may follow the current 3GPP standard, but if doing so causes the first PUCCH (with DMRS bundling) to be dropped, UE 110 restarts the remaining repetitions of the first PUCCH (if any). In some embodiments, UE 110 may use the transmission power corresponding to the second PUCCH when restarting the transmission of the remaining repetitions of the first PUCCH to maintain phase continuity after the overlapping opportunity. In some embodiments, UE 110 may not maintain phase continuity after a collision between two PUCCHs. In some embodiments, UE 110 may maintain phase continuity for the repetitions of the first PUCCH after a collision (if any). For example, if the first PUCCH is configured with four repetitions and a collision with the second PUCCH occurs at the second repetition, the third and fourth repetitions restart the phase continuity of the first PUCCH.

[0041] Figure 5A method 500 for processing received transmit power control (TPC) to maintain phase continuity across PUSCH / PUCCH repetitions is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments. At 505, the UE 110 transmits a PUCCH (or PUSCH) with DMRS bundling. At 510, the UE 110 begins transmitting the PUCCH (or PUSCH). At 515, the UE 110 receives a DCI including a transmit power control (TPC) value between repetitions of the PUCCH (or PUSCH). At 515, the UE 110 determines whether the received DCI is a UE-specific (unicast) DCI or a group common (GC)-DCI format 2_2 (used to indicate TPC). If the received DCI is a UE-specific DCI, then at 525, the UE 110 applies the new TPC indicated in the DCI. In some embodiments, the new TPC may be used as an indication to the gNB 120A that the UE 110 no longer needs to maintain phase continuity and that DMRS bundling ceases from the instance of applying the new TPC. In some embodiments, UE 110 applies the new TPC and the new DMRS bundling based on the new TPC for the remaining repetitions until another new TPC is received. That is, phase continuity is continued at the new transmission power for the remaining repetitions. However, if at 520, UE 110 determines that the received DCI is GC-DCI format 2_2, then at 520, UE 110 can ignore the received DCI.

[0042] Figure 6 A method 600 of prioritizing power allocation of UEs across component carriers (CCs) to maintain phase continuity according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. At 605, UE 110 transmits a first PUSCH on a first component carrier (CC). At 610, UE 110 transmits a second PUSCH on a second CC. At 615, UE 110 determines that a first PUSCH with DMRS bundling on a first CC overlaps with a second PUSCH without DMRS bundling on a second CC at one or more times (e.g., one or more time slots or repetitions). At 620, UE 110 determines whether the data priority of the first PUSCH is the same as the data priority of the second PUSCH. If the data priorities of the two PUSCHs are the same (e.g., both are eMBB or URLLC), then at 630, UE 110 gives the first PUSCH (with DMRS bundling) a higher priority for power allocation without considering the CC index of the PUSCH.

[0043] However, if at 620, the UE 110 determines that the data priority of the first PUSCH with DMRS bundling is different from the data priority of the second PUSCH, then at 625, the UE 110 assigns priority to a predetermined one of the first and second PUSCHs for power allocation. In some embodiments, if the data priority (e.g., URLLC) of the first PUSCH (with DMRS bundling) is higher than the data priority (e.g., eMBB) of the second PUSCH, the UE 110 assigns the first PUSCH a higher priority for power allocation regardless of the CC index on which the PUSCH is transmitted. In some embodiments, if the data priority (e.g., eMBB) of the first PUSCH (with DMRS bundling) is lower than the data priority (e.g., URLLC) of the second PUSCH, the UE 110 may drop the second PUSCH if it is sent on a configuration grant (CG). In some embodiments, if the first PUSCH (with DMRS bundling) has a lower data priority, the UE 110 may drop the first PUSCH only for overlapping opportunities or for all opportunities starting with overlapping opportunities. In some embodiments, gNB 120A does not allow URLLC PUSCH to overlap with eMBB PUSCH that is instructed to maintain phase continuity. In some embodiments, UE 110 may prioritize PUSCH for power allocation purposes based on CC index (e.g., CCs with lower indexes have higher priority).

[0044] Example

[0045] In a first embodiment, a processor of a user equipment (UE) is configured to perform operations including sending a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission with a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) bundled; determining that a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission overlaps with one or more repetitions of the PUSCH transmission; discarding at least a portion of the PUCCH transmission; multiplexing uplink control information (UCI) with one or more repetitions of the PUSCH transmission; and maintaining a transmit power level for a predetermined number of repetitions of the PUSCH transmission.

[0046] In a second embodiment, the processor according to the first embodiment, wherein the UCI is multiplexed with one or more repetition parts of PUSCH transmission, and wherein at least one of a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) and a scheduling request (SR) of the UCI is multiplexed with one or more repetitions of PUSCH transmission.

[0047] In a third embodiment, the processor according to the first embodiment, wherein the entirety of the UCI is multiplexed with one or more repetitions of PUSCH transmissions, and wherein the operation further includes ignoring power variations that would result from a received deltaMCS information element (IE) having a non-zero value.

[0048] In a fourth embodiment, the processor according to the first embodiment, wherein the predetermined number of repetitions of the PUSCH transmission includes all repetitions of the PUSCH transmission.

[0049] In a fifth embodiment, the processor according to the first embodiment, wherein the predetermined number of repetitions of the PUSCH transmission includes those repetitions in the repetitions subsequent to one or more repetitions where the PUCCH overlaps with the PUSCH.

[0050] In a sixth embodiment, a processor of a user equipment (UE) is configured to perform operations including sending a first physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission with a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) bundled on a first component carrier; sending a second PUSCH on a second CC; determining that the second PUSCH overlaps with one or more repetitions of the first PUSCH; determining data priority of the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH; and prioritizing a predetermined one of the first PUSCH or the second PUSCH for power allocation.

[0051] In a seventh embodiment, according to the processor of the sixth embodiment, when data priorities of the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH are the same, the first PUSCH is given priority for power allocation.

[0052] In an eighth embodiment, according to the processor of the sixth embodiment, when the data priority of the first PUSCH is greater than the data priority of the second PUSCH, the first PUSCH is given priority for power allocation.

[0053] In a ninth embodiment, the processor according to the sixth embodiment, wherein when the data priority of the first PUSCH is less than the data priority of the second PUSCH, if the second PUSCH is sent on a configuration grant (CG), the second PUSCH is discarded.

[0054] In a tenth embodiment, the processor according to the sixth embodiment, wherein when a data priority of the first PUSCH is less than a data priority of the second PUSCH, repetitions of the first PUSCH are discarded for overlapping opportunities.

[0055] In an eleventh embodiment, the processor according to the sixth embodiment, wherein when the data priority of the first PUSCH is less than the data priority of the second PUSCH, all remaining repetitions of the first PUSCH after overlapping are discarded.

[0056] In a twelfth embodiment, a user equipment (UE) includes a transceiver configured to communicate with a network and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to perform operations including sending a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission with a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) bundle; determining that a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission overlaps with one or more repetitions of the PUSCH transmission; discarding at least a portion of the PUCCH transmission; multiplexing uplink control information (UCI) with one or more repetitions of the PUSCH transmission; and maintaining a transmission power level for a predetermined number of repetitions of the PUSCH transmission.

[0057] In a thirteenth embodiment, the UE is according to the twelfth embodiment, wherein the UCI is multiplexed with one or more repetition parts of PUSCH transmission, and wherein at least one of a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) and a scheduling request (SR) of the UCI is multiplexed with one or more repetitions of PUSCH transmission.

[0058] In a fourteenth embodiment, the UE is according to the twelfth embodiment, wherein the entirety of the UCI is multiplexed with one or more repetitions of PUSCH transmissions, and wherein the operation further includes ignoring power variations that would result from a received deltaMCS information element (IE) having a non-zero value.

[0059] In a fifteenth embodiment, according to the UE described in the twelfth embodiment, the predetermined number of repetitions of PUSCH transmission includes all repetitions of PUSCH transmission.

[0060] In a sixteenth embodiment, according to the UE of the twelfth embodiment, the predetermined number of repetitions of PUSCH transmissions include those in the repetitions following one or more repetitions where PUCCH overlaps with PUSCH.

[0061] In a seventeenth embodiment, a user equipment (UE) includes a transceiver configured to communicate with a network and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to perform operations including sending a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission with a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) bundled; sending a second PUCCH; determining that the second PUCCH overlaps with one or more repetitions of the first PUCCH; and discarding a predetermined one of the first PUCCH or the second PUCCH at a timing corresponding to the one or more repetitions.

[0062] In an eighteenth embodiment, according to the UE described in the seventeenth embodiment, the second PUCCH is discarded in the opportunities corresponding to the one or more repetitions.

[0063] In a nineteenth embodiment, the UE is according to the seventeenth embodiment, wherein the operation further includes determining a UCI priority corresponding to each PUCCH in a first PUCCH and a second PUCCH, wherein when the UCI priority of the first PUCCH is less than the UCI priority of the second PUCCH, a predetermined one of the first PUCCH or the second PUCCH is the first PUCCH, and wherein if the UCI priority of the first PUCCH is the same as the UCI priority of the second PUCCH, the predetermined one of the first PUCCH or the second PUCCH is a PUCCH starting in an earlier time slot.

[0064] In a twentieth embodiment, according to the UE described in the nineteenth embodiment, when the first PUCCH is dropped, the transmission power used to send the second PUCCH is the same as the transmission power used to send the first PUCCH.

[0065] In a twenty-first embodiment, according to the UE described in the nineteenth embodiment, when the first PUCCH is discarded, the operation also includes restarting the remaining repetitions of the first PUCCH after the overlapping opportunity.

[0066] In a twenty-second embodiment, according to the UE of the twenty-first embodiment, remaining repetitions of the first PUCCH are sent using the same transmission power used to send the PUCCH in overlapping opportunities.

[0067] In a twenty-third embodiment, according to the UE described in the twenty-first embodiment, the UE does not maintain phase continuity for the remaining repetitions of the first PUCCH.

[0068] In a twenty-fourth embodiment, according to the UE described in the twenty-first embodiment, the UE maintains the phase continuity of the first PUCCH for the remaining repetitions of the first PUCCH.

[0069] In a twenty-fifth embodiment, a user equipment (UE) includes a transceiver configured to communicate with a network and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to perform operations including sending a first physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission with a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) bundled on a first component carrier; sending a second PUSCH on a second CC; determining that the second PUSCH overlaps with one or more repetitions of the first PUSCH; determining data priority of the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH; and prioritizing a predetermined one of the first PUSCH or the second PUSCH for power allocation.

[0070] In a twenty-sixth embodiment, according to the UE described in the twenty-fifth embodiment, when the data priorities of the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH are the same, the first PUSCH is given priority for power allocation.

[0071] In a twenty-seventh embodiment, according to the UE described in the twenty-fifth embodiment, when the data priority of the first PUSCH is greater than the data priority of the second PUSCH, the first PUSCH is given priority for power allocation.

[0072] In a twenty-eighth embodiment, according to the UE described in the twenty-fifth embodiment, when the data priority of the first PUSCH is lower than the data priority of the second PUSCH, if the second PUSCH is sent on the configuration grant (CG), the second PUSCH is discarded.

[0073] In a twenty-ninth embodiment, according to the UE described in the twenty-fifth embodiment, when the data priority of the first PUSCH is lower than the data priority of the second PUSCH, the repetition of the first PUSCH is discarded for overlapping opportunities.

[0074] In a thirtieth embodiment, according to the UE described in the twenty-ninth embodiment, when the data priority of the first PUSCH is less than the data priority of the second PUSCH, all remaining repetitions of the first PUSCH after overlapping are discarded.

[0075] Although this patent application describes various combinations of various embodiments each having different features, those skilled in the art will understand that any feature of an embodiment may be combined with features of other embodiments in any manner not publicly denied or with features that are not functionally or logically inconsistent with the operation or function of the device of the embodiments disclosed in the present invention.

[0076] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0077] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the exemplary embodiments described above may be implemented with any suitable software configuration or hardware configuration or combination thereof. Exemplary hardware platforms for implementing the exemplary embodiments may include, for example, Intel x86-based platforms with compatible operating systems, Windows OS, Mac platforms and MAC OS, mobile devices with operating systems such as iOS, Android, etc. In other examples, the exemplary embodiments of the above methods may be embodied as a program including lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which, when compiled, may be executed on a processor or microprocessor.

[0078] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is intended to cover modifications and variations of the present disclosure, provided that these modifications and variations are within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A processor of a user equipment UE, the processor being configured to perform operations, the operations comprising: Sending an uplink transmission with a demodulation reference signal DMRS bundle; sending the uplink transmission; receiving a downlink control information (DCI) transmission from a base station between repetitions of the uplink transmission, wherein the DCI indicates a transmit power control (TPC) information element (IE), the TPC IE indicating that remaining ones of the repetitions of the uplink transmission should be sent using a new transmit power; and determining whether the DCI is a group-common GC-DCI format 2_2 or a UE-specific DCI, when the DCI is the GC-DCI format 2_2, ignoring the DCI and maintaining the repeated transmission power used to send the uplink transmission before receiving the DCI, When the DCI is the UE-specific DCI, the new transmission power is applied to remaining ones of the repetitions of the uplink transmission after receiving the DCI.

2. The processor of claim 1, wherein the UE does not maintain phase continuity after receiving the DCI.

3. The processor of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise: After receiving the DCI, a new DMRS bundling is applied using the new transmission power for remaining ones of the repetitions of the uplink transmission.

4. The processor of claim 1, wherein the uplink transmission is one of a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission or a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission.

5. A user equipment UE, comprising: a transceiver configured to communicate with a network; as well as a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations including: Sending an uplink transmission with a demodulation reference signal DMRS bundle; sending the uplink transmission; receiving a downlink control information (DCI) transmission from a base station between repetitions of the uplink transmission, wherein the DCI indicates a transmit power control (TPC) information element (IE), the TPC IE indicating that remaining ones of the repetitions of the uplink transmission should be sent using a new transmit power; and determining whether the DCI is a group-common GC-DCI format 2_2 or a UE-specific DCI, when the DCI is the GC-DCI format 2_2, ignoring the DCI and maintaining the repeated transmission power used to send the uplink transmission before receiving the DCI, When the DCI is the UE-specific DCI, the new transmission power is applied to remaining ones of the repetitions of the uplink transmission after receiving the DCI. The UE according to claim 5 , wherein the UE does not maintain phase continuity after receiving the DCI.

7. The UE according to claim 5, wherein the operations further comprise: After receiving the DCI, a new DMRS bundling is applied using the new transmission power for remaining ones of the repetitions of the uplink transmission.

8. The UE of claim 5, wherein the uplink transmission is one of a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission or a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission.

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