Acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delay

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described in which a physical layer at a user equipment (UE) or base station can generate feedback for one or more communications that will attempt to be received from a transmitting device. This physical layer feedback can be communicated to the transmitting device in a higher layer communication, such as in a medium access control (MAC) layer control element (CE), where the MAC layer is a higher layer than the physical layer in a multi-layer protocol stack of the UE and base station. The physical layer feedback can be conveyed after triggering by one or more conditions at the UE or base station.

Description

[0001] Cross-references

[0002] This patent application claims priority to U.S. patent application No. 17 / 178,083, filed by SHRESTHA et al. on February 17, 2021, entitled “ACKNOWLEDGMENTFEEDBACK TECHNIQUES IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS WITH LARGE PROPAGATION DELAYS,” and U.S. provisional patent application No. 62 / 980,098, filed by SHRESTHA et al. on February 21, 2020, entitled “ACKNOWLEDGMENT FEEDBACK TECHNIQUES IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS WITH LARGE PROPAGATION DELAYS,” each of which is assigned to the assignee of this application and is expressly incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The following relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays. Background Art

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and the like. These systems may be able to support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems (such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, advanced LTE (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems), and fifth generation (5G) systems, which may be referred to as new radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ various technologies, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple access communication system may include one or more base stations or one or more network access nodes, each base station or network access node simultaneously supporting communication with multiple communication devices, which may be further referred to as user equipment (UE).

[0005] In some cases, there can be a large distance between a UE and a base station (e.g., the UE and base station can be part of a non-terrestrial network (NTN), etc.). Due to the distance between the UE and base station in such cases, there can be a relatively long round-trip delay or propagation delay in message transmissions between the UE and base station (e.g., relative to terrestrial networks). Thus, efficient techniques for managing communications with such relatively long round-trip or propagation delays are desirable for such systems.

[0006] SUMMARY

[0007] The described techniques relate to improved methods, systems, devices, and apparatuses that support acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays. According to various aspects, a physical layer at a user equipment (UE) or base station can generate feedback (e.g., hybrid acknowledgement repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement / negative acknowledgement (ACK / NACK) feedback) for one or more communications attempted to be received. This physical layer feedback can be communicated in a higher layer communication, such as in a medium access control (MAC) layer control element (CE), where the MAC layer is a higher layer than the physical layer in a multi-layer protocol stack of the UE and base station. In some cases, the MAC-CE can be a fixed length data or information transmission that provides feedback information for a number of feedback processes. In other cases, the MAC-CE can be a variable length data or information transmission that includes a feedback process identification (ID) and a number of retransmissions associated with the feedback process ID.

[0008] In some cases, physical layer feedback can be disabled and not communicated between the UE and base station unless triggered by one or more conditions at the UE or base station. In some cases, conditions that can trigger a physical layer feedback transmission can include one or more of: an unsuccessful reception of one or more communications at the physical layer, a number of feedback processes with a NACK, a number of retransmissions associated with one or more feedback process IDs, a synchronization error at the physical layer, a configured periodic timing for physical layer feedback, or a request to provide physical layer feedback. Techniques such as those discussed herein can allow for communication of physical layer feedback information, which can enable more efficient data retransmissions, and thereby improve the efficiency and reliability of associated wireless communications systems.

[0009] A method of wireless communication is described at a UE. The method can include receiving one or more downlink transmissions from a base station via a wireless connection with the base station, determining physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, and transmitting the physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with the base station. In some cases, the physical layer feedback is determined at a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer than one or more higher layers used to transmit the higher layer communications.

[0010] An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment terminal (UE) is described. The apparatus may include a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: receive one or more downlink transmissions from a base station via a wireless connection to the base station, determine physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, and transmit the physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with the base station. In some cases, the physical layer feedback is determined at a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE, which is a lower layer compared to one or more higher layers used to transmit the higher layer communications.

[0011] Another apparatus for wireless communication at a UE is described. The apparatus may include means for receiving one or more downlink transmissions from a base station via a wireless connection to the base station, determining physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, and transmitting the physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with the base station. In some cases, the physical layer feedback is determined at a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE, which is a lower layer compared to one or more higher layers used to transmit the higher layer communications.

[0012] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a UE is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to receive one or more downlink transmissions from a base station via a wireless connection with the base station, determine physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, and transmit the physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with the base station. In some cases, the physical layer feedback is determined at a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE, which is a lower layer compared to one or more higher layers used to transmit the higher layer communications.

[0013] In some examples of the methods, apparatuses (equipment) and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the one or more higher layer communications include MAC layer communications, and wherein transmitting the physical layer feedback includes transmitting a MAC-CE indicating feedback of one or more physical layer acknowledgment feedback processes. In some examples of the methods, apparatuses (equipment) and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the MAC-CE may be identified by a reserved logical channel identifier (LCID) or a new extended LCID associated with the UE's acknowledgment feedback. Some examples of the methods, apparatuses (equipment) and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may further include operations, features, means or instructions for the following actions: prior to receiving the one or more downlink transmissions, receiving configuration information from a base station to disable physical layer feedback reporting and enable higher layer communications for transmitting the physical layer feedback.

[0014] Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein can further include operations, features, means for, or instructions for determining to transmit the physical layer feedback in the one or more higher layer communications based on an indication associated with communications between the UE and the base station. In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the indication associated with communications between the UE and the base station includes one or more of a physical layer indication of unsuccessful reception of the one or more downlink transmissions, a number of feedback procedures with negative acknowledgement exceeding a threshold, a number of transmissions of a same feedback procedure exceeding a threshold, a physical layer indication of a synchronization error, expiration of a timer associated with physical layer synchronization, a timing of periodic indication of feedback from the base station, or any combination thereof.

[0015] In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the higher layer communications include one or more fixed size data or information transmissions for reporting a predetermined number of physical layer acknowledgement feedback procedures to the base station. In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the higher layer communications include a channel quality report associated with a number of feedback procedures with negative acknowledgement feedback status. In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the higher layer communications include one or more variable size data or information transmissions, each data or information transmission providing an identification of one or more feedback procedures. In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the higher layer communications further include one or more of a number of times a feedback procedure identification and data associated with the feedback procedure identification are attempted to be decoded at the UE.

[0016] Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein can further include operations, features, means for, or instructions for transmitting one or more uplink communications to the base station, receiving, from the base station via higher layer signaling, one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications, and retransmitting one or more uplink communications based on the one or more physical layer feedback reports. In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, a first MAC-CE format is configured at the UE for transmitting physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, and a second MAC-CE format is configured at the UE for receiving the one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications.

[0017] Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein can further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, to the base station, a capability message indicating that the UE is capable of conveying physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with the base station. Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein can further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving signaling from the base station indicating that a higher layer communication is to be used for the physical layer feedback. In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the signaling indicating that a higher layer communication is to be used for the physical layer feedback is received in broadcast information from the base station, in RRC signaling from the base station, or a combination thereof.

[0018] Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein can further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, after transmitting the physical layer feedback in the one or more higher layer communications, a resource grant for a retransmission of the physical layer feedback; and retransmitting the physical layer feedback in the one or more higher layer communications based on the resource grant.

[0019] A method of wireless communication is described at a UE. The method can include receiving, from a base station via a wireless connection with the base station, one or more downlink transmissions; determining physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, where the physical layer feedback is associated with a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack; identifying one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicating that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station; and transmitting, to the base station, the physical layer feedback in response to the identifying.

[0020] An apparatus for wireless communication at a UE is described. The apparatus can include a processor, memory coupled with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions can be executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to receive, from a base station via a wireless connection with the base station, one or more downlink transmissions; determine physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, where the physical layer feedback is associated with a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack; identify one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicating that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station; and transmit, to the base station, the physical layer feedback in response to the identifying.

[0021] Another apparatus for wireless communication at a UE is described. The apparatus can include means for receiving, from a base station via a wireless connection with the base station, one or more downlink transmissions, determining physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, where the physical layer feedback is associated with a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer compared to one or more higher layers of the protocol stack, identifying one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicating that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station, and transmitting, to the base station, the physical layer feedback in response to the identifying.

[0022] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a UE is described. The code can include instructions executable by a processor to receive, from a base station via a wireless connection with the base station, one or more downlink transmissions, determine physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, where the physical layer feedback is associated with a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer compared to one or more higher layers of the protocol stack, identify one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicating that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station, and transmit, to the base station, the physical layer feedback in response to the identifying.

[0023] Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein can further include operations, features, means, or instructions for disabling physical layer reporting of feedback for the wireless connection between the UE and the base station prior to receiving the one or more downlink transmissions, and transmitting the physical layer feedback in a higher layer communication with the base station. In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the higher layer communication can be a MAC layer communication including a MAC-CE that includes the physical layer feedback.

[0024] In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the identifying can include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from the physical layer, an indication that one or more of the downlink transmissions were not successfully decoded. In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the indication from the physical layer indicates a decoding failure for one or more feedback processes identified, or a number of unsuccessful decoding attempts for the one or more downlink transmissions exceeds a threshold. In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the threshold can be configured by RRC signaling received from the base station.

[0025] In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the identifying can include operations, features, means, or instructions for determining that a number of feedback procedures that unsuccessfully decoded an associated downlink transmission exceeds a threshold number. In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the identifying can include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving a synchronization error indication from a physical layer. In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the identifying can include operations, features, means, or instructions for determining that a timer associated with physical layer synchronization has expired.

[0026] In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the identifying can include operations, features, means, or instructions for determining to transmit a periodic physical layer feedback report to a base station. In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, a periodic reporting interval having a periodicity based on a propagation delay between the UE and the base station can be configured by the base station. In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the identifying can include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving a request from the base station to transmit physical layer feedback.

[0027] Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein can further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting one or more uplink communications to a base station, receiving one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications from the base station via higher layer signaling, and retransmitting one or more uplink communications based on the one or more physical layer feedback reports. In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, a first MAC-CE format can be configured at the UE for transmitting physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, and a second MAC-CE can be configured at the UE for receiving the one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications.

[0028] A method of wireless communication is described at a base station. The method can include transmitting one or more downlink communications to a UE via a wireless connection with the UE, receiving a physical layer feedback report from the UE in a higher layer communication, where the physical layer feedback is associated with a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack, and retransmitting one or more downlink communications to the UE based on the physical layer feedback report.

[0029] An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station is described. The apparatus can include a processor, memory coupled with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions can be executable by the processor to cause the device to transmit one or more downlink communications to a UE via a wireless connection with the UE, receive a physical layer feedback report from the UE in a higher layer communication, where the physical layer feedback is associated with a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE that is a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack, and retransmit the one or more downlink communications to the UE based on the physical layer feedback report.

[0030] Another apparatus for wireless communication at a base station is described. The apparatus can include means for transmitting one or more downlink communications to a UE via a wireless connection with the UE, receiving a physical layer feedback report from the UE in a higher layer communication, where the physical layer feedback is associated with a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE that is a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack, and retransmitting the one or more downlink communications to the UE based on the physical layer feedback report.

[0031] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a base station is described. The code can include instructions executable by a processor to transmit one or more downlink communications to a UE via a wireless connection with the UE, receive a physical layer feedback report from the UE in a higher layer communication, where the physical layer feedback is associated with a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE that is a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack, and retransmit the one or more downlink communications to the UE based on the physical layer feedback report.

[0032] In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer- readable medium described herein, the higher layer communication from the UE can be a MAC layer communication including a MAC-CE indicating feedback of one or more physical layer acknowledgment feedback processes of the UE. In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the MAC-CE includes a reserved LCID or a new extended LCID associated with acknowledgment feedback of the UE.

[0033] Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein can further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting configuration information to the UE that disables physical layer reporting of feedback and enables higher layer communications for transmitting the physical layer feedback report.

[0034] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for configuring the UE to transmit the physical layer feedback report in a higher layer communication based at least in part on one or more of: a physical layer indication of unsuccessful receipt of the one or more downlink transmissions, a number of feedback processes with negative acknowledgments exceeding a threshold, a number of transmissions of the same feedback process exceeding a threshold, a physical layer indication of a synchronization error, expiration of a timer associated with physical layer synchronization, timing for periodic indication of feedback, a request from a base station to transmit the physical layer feedback, or any combination thereof.

[0035] In some examples of the methods, devices, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the higher layer communications include one or more fixed-size data or information transmissions for reporting a predetermined number of physical layer feedback processes of the UE. In some examples of the methods, devices, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the higher layer communications include a channel quality report associated with the number of feedback processes with a negative acknowledgement feedback state. In some examples of the methods, devices, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the higher layer communications include one or more variable-size data or information transmissions, each data or information transmission providing an identification of one or more feedback processes at the UE. In some examples of the methods, devices, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the higher layer communications further include one or more of a feedback process identifier and a number of times decoding of data associated with the feedback process identifier was attempted at the UE.

[0036] Some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for: receiving one or more uplink communications from a UE; determining physical layer feedback associated with the one or more uplink communications; and transmitting one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications to the UE via higher layer signaling. In some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, a first MAC-CE format may be configured at the UE for transmitting physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, and a second MAC-CE format may be configured at the UE for receiving the one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications.

[0037] Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein can further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from the UE, a capability message indicating that the UE is capable of communicating physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with the base station. Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein can further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, to the UE, signaling indicating that a higher layer communication is to be used for physical layer feedback. In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the signaling indicating that a higher layer communication is to be used for physical layer feedback is transmitted in broadcast information from the base station, in RRC signaling from the base station, or a combination thereof.

[0038] Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein can further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, in response to failing to decode the physical layer acknowledgement feedback report in the higher layer communication, a resource grant for a retransmission of the physical layer feedback; and monitoring for the retransmission of the physical layer feedback in the one or more higher layer communications based on the resource grant.

[0039] A method of wireless communication is described at a base station. The method can include transmitting one or more downlink transmissions to a UE via a wireless connection with the UE, identifying one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicating that physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station, and receiving the physical layer feedback from the UE in response to the identifying, where the physical layer feedback is associated with a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE that is a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack of the UE.

[0040] An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station is described. The apparatus can include a processor, memory coupled with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions can be executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to transmit one or more downlink transmissions to a UE via a wireless connection with the UE, identify one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicating that physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station, and receive the physical layer feedback from the UE in response to the identifying, where the physical layer feedback is associated with a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE that is a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack of the UE.

[0041] Another apparatus for wireless communication at a base station is described. The apparatus can include means for transmitting one or more downlink transmissions to a UE via a wireless connection with the UE, identifying that one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicate that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station, and receiving the physical layer feedback from the UE in response to the identifying, where the physical layer feedback is associated with a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE that is a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack of the UE.

[0042] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a base station is described. The code can include instructions executable by a processor to transmit one or more downlink transmissions to a UE via a wireless connection with the UE, identify that one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicate that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station, and receive the physical layer feedback from the UE in response to the identifying, where the physical layer feedback is associated with a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE that is a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack of the UE.

[0043] Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein can further include operations, features, means, or instructions for disabling physical layer reporting of the physical layer feedback prior to transmitting the one or more downlink transmissions to the UE, and receiving the physical layer feedback from the UE in a higher layer communication. In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the higher layer communication can be a MAC layer communication including a MAC-CE that includes the physical layer feedback.

[0044] Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein can further include operations, features, means, or instructions for configuring the UE to transmit the physical layer feedback based on one or more conditions at the UE. In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the physical layer indication is of one or more of the downlink transmissions being unsuccessfully decoded, or, and a number of decoding failures of the one or more feedback processes, or a number of unsuccessful decoding attempts of the one or more of the downlink transmissions exceeding a threshold. In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the one or more conditions at the UE include a number of feedback processes unsuccessfully decoding associated downlink transmissions exceeding a threshold number. In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the one or more conditions at the UE include a synchronization error at a physical layer of the UE. In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the one or more conditions at the UE include an expiration of a timer associated with physical layer synchronization. In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the one or more conditions at the UE include a timing associated with periodic physical layer feedback reporting.

[0045] Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein can further include operations, features, means, or instructions for configuring a timing for periodic physical layer feedback reporting for a UE based on a propagation delay between the UE and the base station. Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein can further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting a request to the UE to transmit the physical layer feedback, and wherein the receiving is performed in response to the request.

[0046] Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein can further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving one or more uplink communications from the UE, determining physical layer feedback associated with the one or more uplink communications, and transmitting, to the UE via higher layer signaling, one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications. In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, a first MAC-CE format can be configured at the UE for transmitting physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, and a second MAC-CE can be configured at the UE for receiving the one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0048] Figure 1 Examples of a portion of a wireless communications system that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure are described.

[0049] Figure 2 Examples of a portion of a wireless communications system that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure are described.

[0050] Figure 3 Examples of a protocol stack that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure are described.

[0051] Figure 4A And 4B Examples of a MAC-CE format that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure are described.

[0052] Figure 5 Examples of a process flow that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure are described.

[0053] Figure 6 And Figure 7 A block diagram of a device that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0054] Figure 8 A block diagram of a communications manager that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0055] Figure 9 A diagram includes a system including a device that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0056] Figure 10 And Figure 11 A block diagram of a device that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0057] Figure 12 A block diagram of a communications manager that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0058] Figure 13 A diagram includes a system including a device that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0059] Figures 14 to 23 A flow diagram illustrating methods that support acknowledgment feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0060] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0061] In some cases, in a wireless communications system, there can be a relatively long distance between a transmitter and a receiver, such as a base station and a user equipment (UE). For example, non-terrestrial networks (sometimes referred to as NTNs) can use high-altitude devices, such as satellites, to provide wireless connectivity, which can act as base stations or relays in a wireless communications system. NTNs can involve using high-altitude platform stations (HAPS) and / or satellites to provide coverage for terrestrial base stations and UEs. The terms HAPS and satellite are used interchangeably herein to refer to a remote NTN device that can provide coverage for one or more other high-altitude or terrestrial devices. Some satellites in an NTN can operate as base stations, and UEs can communicate directly with a serving satellite. In other cases, a base station or other satellite can relay transmissions between a serving satellite and a UE. Satellites operate in various Earth orbits and have a particular distance from the Earth’s surface. For example, a satellite can function in a low Earth orbit (LEO), a medium Earth orbit (MEO), a geostationary orbit (GEO), a geosynchronous orbit (GSO), a high elliptical orbit (HEO), or other types of orbits. Each type of orbit can be defined for a particular range of distances from the Earth’s surface.

[0062] In such systems, the distance between a UE and a serving satellite can be much greater than the typical distance between a UE and a base station in a terrestrial network, and in some cases, the satellite and the UE can be thousands of kilometers apart, and it can take some time for electromagnetic waves to propagate the distance between the satellite and the UE. Thus, the propagation delay for an NTN can be many orders of magnitude greater than the propagation delay for a terrestrial network. As such, the round-trip delay (sometimes referred to as RTD) associated with a signal can also be many orders of magnitude greater for a non-terrestrial network than for a terrestrial network.

[0063] Long round-trip delays associated with NTNs can cause issues with downlink and uplink hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes that can run at the physical layer of a multi-layer protocol stack. For example, because of the long propagation delay of signals and associated round-trip delays, retransmissions associated with HARQ processes can take much longer in NTN communication systems when compared to terrestrial networks. In some wireless communication systems, a UE can support a maximum number of HARQ processes that run in parallel per slot (e.g., sixteen (16) parallel HARQ processes per slot). As the round-trip delay increases, the amount of time it takes to resolve a HARQ process can also increase, and in some instances, a HARQ process can stall while waiting to resolve. Various aspects of the present disclosure provide that physical layer HARQ feedback can be disabled in order to avoid stalling of HARQ processes. However, simply disabling physical layer HARQ feedback can result in an increase in the amount of retransmissions of higher layer data, such as higher layer protocol data units (PDUs). Such higher layer retransmissions can consume additional resources and have longer latency relative to physical layer retransmissions because an entire PDU can be retransmitted instead of a physical layer transport block (TB) or code block (CB) that can be associated with a HARQ process.

[0064] According to various aspects of the present disclosure, physical layer feedback can be generated at a UE or base station for one or more feedback process IDs (e.g., HARQ acknowledgement / negative acknowledgement (ACK / NACK) feedback) and communicated to a transmitting device using higher layer communications. In some cases, the physical layer feedback can be communicated to the transmitting device in a medium access control (MAC) layer control element (CE), where the MAC layer is a higher layer than the physical layer. In some cases, the MAC-CE can be a fixed length data or information transmission that provides feedback information for a number of feedback processes. In other cases, the MAC-CE can be a variable length data or information transmission that includes a feedback process ID and a number of retransmissions associated with the feedback process ID.

[0065] In some cases, physical layer feedback can be disabled and not communicated between a UE and a base station unless triggered by one or more conditions at the UE or base station. In some cases, conditions that can trigger a physical layer feedback transmission can include one or more of: unsuccessful reception of one or more communications at the physical layer, a number of feedback processes with NACKs, a number of retransmissions associated with one or more feedback process IDs, a synchronization error at the physical layer, a configured periodic timing for physical layer feedback, or a request to provide physical layer feedback.

[0066] Particular aspects of the subject matter described herein can be implemented to realize one or more advantages. For example, the described techniques can support improvements in latency and resource usage by providing physical layer feedback and associated retransmissions instead of higher layer retransmissions. Thus, the techniques discussed herein can enhance the reliability and efficiency of wireless communications systems. Such techniques can also reduce power consumption at UEs, among other advantages, by reducing higher layer retransmissions, which can include more data than physical layer retransmissions. As such, the supported techniques can include improved network operations, and in some examples, can promote network efficiency, among other benefits.

[0067] Aspects of the disclosure are initially described in the context of an example wireless communications system. Aspects of the disclosure are also illustrated by protocol stack diagrams, MAC-CE formats, and process flow diagrams. Aspects of the disclosure are further illustrated and described by reference to apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flowcharts related to dynamically configurable acknowledgement procedures.

[0068] Figure 1 An example of a wireless communications system 100 that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The wireless communications system 100 can include one or more base stations 105, one or more UEs 115, and a core network 130. In some examples, the wireless communications system 100 can be a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, an LTE- Advanced (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, or a New Radio (NR) network. In some examples, the wireless communications system 100 can support enhanced broadband communications, ultra-reliable (e.g., mission critical) communications, low latency communications, communications with low-cost and low-complexity devices, or any combination thereof.

[0069] The base stations 105 can be dispersed throughout the geographic area 100 and can be of different forms or have different capabilities. The base stations 105 and UEs 115 can wirelessly communicate via one or more communication links 125. Each base station 105 can provide a coverage area 110 over which UEs 115 and base stations 105 can establish one or more communication links 125. The coverage area 110 can be an example of a geographic area over which base stations 105 and UEs 115 can support signal communication in accordance with one or more radio access technologies.

[0070] The UEs 115 can be dispersed throughout the coverage areas 110 of the wireless communications system 100, and each UE 115 can be stationary or mobile, or both at different times. The UEs 115 can be devices in different forms or having different capabilities. Some UEs 115 can be machine type communication (MTC) devices that are designed to enable communications between Figure 1Some example UEs 115 are illustrated in FIG. 1. The UEs 115 described herein can be able to communicate with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115, base stations 105, or network equipment (e.g., core network nodes, relay devices, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) nodes, or other network equipment), as shown in FIG. 1. Figure 1 as shown in FIG. 1.

[0071] The base stations 105 can communicate with the core network 130, or with one another, or both. For example, the base stations 105 can interface with the core network 130 through one or more backhaul links (e.g., via an SI, N2, N3, or other interface). The base stations 105 can communicate with one another over backhaul links (e.g., via an X2, Xn, or other interface) using a

[0072] One or more of the base stations 105 described herein can include or can be referred to as a base transceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB), a next-generation NodeB or giga-NodeB (either of which can be referred to as a gNB), a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, or other suitable terminology.

[0073] A UE 115 can include or can be referred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitable terminology, where the “device” can also be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, among other examples. A UE 115 can also include or can be referred to as a personal electronic device such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personal computer. In some examples, a UE 115 can include or be referred to as a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or a machine type communications (MTC) device, among other examples, which can be implemented in various objects such as appliances or vehicles, meters or other equipment, among other examples.

[0074] The UEs 115 described herein can be able to communicate with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115, base stations 105, or network equipment such as a core network node, relay device, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, or other network equipment, as shown in FIG. 1. Figure 1 as shown in FIG. 1.

[0075] The UE 115 and the base station 105 may communicate wirelessly with each other via one or more communication links 125 on one or more carriers. The term "carrier" may refer to a set of radio frequency spectrum resources having a defined physical layer structure for supporting the communication link 125. For example, a carrier for the communication link 125 may include a portion of a radio frequency spectrum band (e.g., a bandwidth portion (BWP)) that operates according to one or more physical layer channels for a given radio access technology (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR). Each physical layer channel may carry acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals, system information), control signaling for coordinating carrier operation, user data, or other signaling. The wireless communication system 100 may support communication with the UE 115 using carrier aggregation or multi-carrier operation. The UE 115 may be configured with multiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink component carriers according to a carrier aggregation configuration. Carrier aggregation may be used with both frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD) component carriers.

[0076] The signal waveform transmitted on the carrier may include multiple subcarriers (e.g., using a multicarrier modulation (MCM) technique such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM)). In a system employing MCM techniques, a resource element may include one symbol period (e.g., the duration of one modulation symbol) and one subcarrier, where the symbol period and subcarrier spacing are inversely related. The number of bits carried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme (e.g., the order of the modulation scheme, the coding rate of the modulation scheme, or both). Thus, the more resource elements received by UE 115 and the higher the order of the modulation scheme, the higher the data rate of UE 115 can be. Wireless communication resources may refer to a combination of radio frequency spectrum resources, time resources, and spatial resources (e.g., spatial layers or beams), and the use of multiple spatial layers may further improve the data rate or data integrity of communications with UE 115.

[0077] The time interval of the base station 105 or the UE 115 can be expressed as a multiple of a basic time unit, which can be, for example, a sampling period T s =1 / (Δf max ·N f ) seconds, where Δf max It can represent the maximum supported subcarrier spacing, and N f The maximum supported discrete Fourier transform (DFT) size may be indicated. Time intervals of communication resources may be organized according to radio frames, each having a specified duration (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms)). Each radio frame may be identified by a system frame number (SFN) (e.g., ranging from 0 to 1023).

[0078] Each frame can include a plurality of sequentially numbered subframes or slots, and each subframe or slot can have the same duration. In some examples, a frame can be divided (e.g., in the time domain) into subframes, and each subframe can be further divided into a number of slots. Alternatively, each frame can include a variable number of slots, and the number of slots can depend on the subcarrier spacing. Each slot can include a number of symbol periods (e.g., depending on the length of the cyclic prefix prepended to each symbol period). In some wireless communication systems 100, a slot can be further divided into a number of mini-slots containing one or more symbols. Excluding the cyclic prefix, each symbol period can contain one or more (e.g., N f ) sampling periods. The duration of a symbol period can depend on the subcarrier spacing or the operating band.

[0079] A subframe, a slot, a mini-slot, or a symbol can be the smallest scheduling unit (e.g., in the time domain) of the wireless communications system 100 and can be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI). In some examples, the TTI duration (e.g., the number of symbol periods in a TTI) can be variable. Additionally or alternatively, the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communications system 100 can be dynamically selected (e.g., in bursts of shortened TTIs (sTTIs)).

[0080] Physical channels can be multiplexed on a carrier according to various techniques. A physical control channel and a physical data channel can be multiplexed on a downlink carrier, for example, using one or more of time division multiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency division multiplexing (FDM) techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques. A control region (e.g., a control resource set (CORESET)) for a physical control channel can be defined by a number of symbol periods and can extend across the system bandwidth or a subset of the system bandwidth of the carrier. One or more control regions (e.g., CORESETs) can be configured for a set of UEs 115. For example, one or more of the UEs 115 can monitor or search the control region for control information according to one or more search space sets, and each search space set can include one or more control channel candidates arranged in a cascaded manner in one or more aggregation levels. An aggregation level for a control channel candidate can refer to a number of control channel resources (e.g., control channel elements (CCEs)) associated with encoded information for a control information format having a given payload size. A search space set can include common search space sets configured for sending control information to multiple UEs 115 and UE-specific search space sets configured for sending control information to a specific UE 115.

[0081] In some examples, a base station 105 can be movable and therefore provide communication coverage for a moving geographic coverage area 110. In some examples, different geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies can overlap, but the different geographic coverage areas 110 can be supported by the same base station 105. In other examples, overlapping geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies can be supported by different base stations 105. The wireless communications system 100 can include, for example, a heterogeneous network in which different types of the base stations 105 provide coverage for various geographic coverage areas 110 using the same or different radio access technologies.

[0082] The wireless communications system 100 can be configured to support ultra-reliable communications or low-latency communications, or various combinations thereof. For example, the wireless communications system 100 can be configured to support ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) or mission critical communications. UEs 115 can be designed to support ultra-reliable, low-latency, or mission critical functions (e.g., mission critical function). Ultra-reliable communications can include private communication or group communication and can be supported by one or more mission critical services such as mission critical push-to-talk (MCPTT), mission critical video (MCVideo), or mission critical data (MCData). Support for mission critical functions can include prioritization of services, and mission critical services can be used for public safety or general commercial applications. The terms ultra-reliable, low-latency, mission critical, and ultra-reliable low- latency can be used interchangeably herein.

[0083] In some examples, UEs 115 can also be able to communicate directly with other UEs 115 using a device-to-device (D2D) communication link 135 (e.g., using a peer-to-peer (P2P) or D2D protocol). One or more UEs 115 utilizing D2D communications can be within the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 105. Other UEs 115 in such a group can be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 105, or be otherwise unable to receive transmissions from a base station 105. In some examples, groups of UEs 115 communicating via D2D communications can utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each UE 115 transmits to every other UE 115 in the group. In some examples, a base station 105 facilitates the D2D communications between UEs 115 by transmitting

[0084] The core network 130 can provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 can be an evolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5GC), which can include at least one control plane entity that manages access and mobility (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility management function (AMF)) and at least one user plane entity that routes packets or interconnects to external networks (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW), a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW), or a user plane function (UPF)). The control plane entity can manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions, such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management for UEs 115 served by base stations 105 associated with the core network 130. User IP packets can be transferred through the user plane entity, which can provide IP address allocation as well as other functions. The user plane entity can be connected to the network operators IP services 150. The operators IP services 150 can include access to the Internet, Intranet, IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), or a Packet-Switched Streaming Service.

[0085] Some of the network devices, such as a base station 105, can include subcomponents such as an access network entity 140, which can be an example of an access node controller (ANC). Each access network entity 140 can communicate with UEs 115 through one or more other access network transmission entities 145, which can be referred to as radio heads, smart radio heads, or transmission / reception points (TRPs). Each access network transmission entity 145 can include one or more antenna panels. In some configurations, various functions of each access network entity 140 or base station 105 can be distributed across various network devices (e.g., radio heads and ANCs) or consolidated into a single network device (e.g., a base station 105).

[0086] The wireless communications system 100 can operate using one or more frequency bands, often in the range of 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz). Generally, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is known as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band, since the wavelengths range from approximately one decimeter to one meter in length. The UHF region includes bands such as the 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.4 GHz, 1.9 GHz, and 2.1 GHz bands. The region from 3 GHz to 30 GHz is known as the super-high frequency (SHF) region or centimeter band, since the wavelengths range from approximately one centimeter to one meter in length. The SHF region includes bands such as the 5 GHz band. The region from 30 GHz to 300 GHz is known as the extremely high frequency (EHF) region or millimeter band, since the wavelengths range from approximately one millimeter to one centimeter in length. The EHF region includes bands such as the 38 GHz and 60 GHz bands. The wireless communications system 100 can support millimeter wave (mmW) communications between UEs 115 and base stations 105, and EHF antenna

[0087] The wireless communications system 100 can utilize both licensed and unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands. For example, the wireless communications system 100 can employ License Assisted Access (LAA), LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NR technology in an unlicensed frequency band such as the 5 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band. When operating in unlicensed frequency

[0088] Base stations 105 or UEs 115 can be equipped with multiple antennas, which can be used to employ techniques such as transmit diversity, receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications, or beamforming. Base stations 105 or UEs 115 can use their multiple antennas to improve the reliability and throughput of communications. For instance, base stations 105 can use beamforming to focus energy in a communication signal towards a particular set of UEs 115 that are located within a beam coverage area or cell of the base station 105. This directionality of communications can enable spatial reuse of spectrum, increasing the overall capacity of the wireless communications system 100. A receiving device, such as a UE 115, can determine the beam direction of a communication link with a base station 105 by iterating a beam sweep during initial access. The beam sweep can be performed sequentially in different sets of beams. To reduce the time for

[0089] Beamforming, which can also be referred to as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception, is a signal processing technique that can be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., a base station 105, a UE 115) to shape or steer a beam of energy in a specific direction, such as along a line-of-sight. Beamforming can be achieved by combining the signals communicated by antennas of an array of antennas. The signals can be combined in phase and / or amplitude. The signals can be made to appear to come from a direction that is different from the physical location of the array of antennas. In some examples, the array of antennas can be an array of antenna elements for transmitting wireless signals or an array of antenna elements for receiving wireless signals. In the context of receiving devices such as base stations 105, the array of antenna elements can be used to determine a direction of arrival (DOA) of a received signal. The DOA can be determined by processing received signals at the array of antenna elements to determine a time difference of arrival (TDOA) of the signals at the different antenna elements. The DOA can be used to identify a direction of a signal source, such as a UE 115.

[0090] The wireless communication system 100 includes a base station 105, a UE 115, a satellite 120, and a core network 130. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 can be an LTE network, an LTE-A network, an LTE-A Pro network, or an NR network. In some cases, the wireless communication system 100 can support enhanced broadband communication, ultra-reliable (e.g., mission-critical) communication, low-latency communication, or communication with low-cost and low-complexity devices.

[0091] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more satellites 120. Satellites 120 may communicate with base stations 105 and UEs 115 (or other high-altitude or ground-based communication devices). Satellites 120 may be any suitable type of communication satellite configured to relay communications between different end nodes in a wireless communication system. Satellites 120 may be examples of space satellites, balloons, spacecraft, aircraft, drones, unmanned aerial vehicles, and the like. In some examples, satellites 120 may be in geosynchronous or geostationary orbit, low Earth orbit, or medium Earth orbit. Satellites 120 may be multi-beam satellites configured to provide service to multiple service beam coverage areas within a predefined geographic service area. Satellites 120 may be at any distance from the Earth's surface.

[0092] In some cases, a cellular cell may be provided or established by a satellite 120 as part of a non-terrestrial network. In some cases, a satellite 120 may perform the functions of a base station 105, acting as a bent-pipe satellite, or acting as a regenerative satellite, or a combination thereof. In other cases, a satellite 120 may be an example of an intelligent satellite or a satellite with intelligence. For example, an intelligent satellite may be configured to perform more functions than a regenerative satellite (e.g., it may be configured to perform specific algorithms other than those used in a regenerative satellite, be reprogrammed, etc.). A bent-pipe transponder or satellite may be configured to receive signals from a ground station and transmit those signals to a different ground station. In some cases, a bent-pipe transponder or satellite may amplify a signal or convert from an uplink frequency to a downlink frequency. A regenerative transponder or satellite may be configured to relay signals like a bent-pipe transponder or satellite, but other functions may also be performed using onboard processing. Examples of those other functions may include demodulating received signals, decoding received signals, recoding signals to be transmitted, or modulating signals to be transmitted, or a combination thereof. For example, a bent-pipe satellite (eg, satellite 120) may receive a signal from base station 105 and may relay the signal to UE 115 or base station 105, or vice versa.

[0093] The UEs 115 can communicate with the satellites 120 and / or the base stations 105 using communication links 125. In some cases, a physical layer at the UE 115 can generate feedback (e.g., HARQ ACK / NACK feedback) for one or more communications attempted to be received, and this physical layer feedback can be conveyed to the satellite 120 in a higher layer communication. In some cases, the higher layer communication can include a MAC-CE. In some cases, the MAC-CE can be a fixed length data or information transmission that provides feedback information for a number of feedback processes. In other cases, the MAC-CE can be a variable length data or information transmission that includes a feedback process ID and a number of retransmissions associated with the feedback process ID. In some cases, the MAC-CE can include a channel quality report provided for a number of feedback processes that have failed retransmissions or a maximum number of retransmissions.

[0094] In some cases, physical layer feedback can be disabled and not conveyed between the UE 115 and the satellite 120 unless triggered by one or more conditions at the UE 115 or the satellite 120. In some cases, conditions that can trigger a physical layer feedback transmission can include one or more of: an unsuccessful reception of one or more communications at the physical layer, a number of feedback processes with NACKs, a number of retransmissions associated with one or more feedback process IDs, a synchronization error at the physical layer, a configured periodic timing for physical layer feedback, or a request to provide physical layer feedback.

[0095] Figure 2 A wireless communications system 200 that supports acknowledgment feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays is illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, wireless communications system 200 can implement aspects of wireless communications system 100. Wireless communications system 200 can include base station 105-a, UE 115-a, and satellite 120-a, which can be examples of the base stations 105, UEs 115, and satellites 120 described above with reference to Figure 1 In cases of a terrestrial network, base station 105-a can serve coverage area 110-a, and in cases of an NTN, satellite 120-a can serve coverage area 110-a. UE 115-a can communicate with satellite 120-a by transmitting signaling in a communication link 205 (e.g., a transmission channel), and UE 115-a can optionally communicate with base station 105-a by transmitting signaling in another communication link 210. In some cases providing NTN wireless communications, satellite 120-a can be a serving base station for UE 115-a.

[0096] Satellite 120-a can operate around the surface of the Earth at a particular altitude. The distance between satellite 120-a and UE 115-a can be much greater than the distance between base station 105-a and UE 115-a. The distance between UE 115-a and satellite 120-a can result in increased RTD in communications between UE 115-a and satellite 120-a. UE 115-a can determine to use a random access procedure (e.g., a four-step RACH or a two-step RACH) to connect to base station 105-a and / or satellite 120-a to establish a connection (e.g., to initiate an RRC connection establishment procedure).

[0097] In Figure 2 In an example, UE 115-a can establish a connection with satellite 120-a and can receive control signaling 215 from satellite 120-a. As discussed herein, in some cases, physical layer feedback can be disabled at UE 115-a by control signaling 215. In such cases, UE 115-a can continue to process physical layer communications and determine physical layer feedback (e.g., HARQ ACK / NACK feedback) and determine HARQ feedback for configured HARQ process IDs. Thus, in such cases where physical layer HARQ feedback is disabled, HARQ processes and HARQ retransmission schemes can still be used. In some cases, to provide information to the network of the HARQ processes on which a transmission was successful or unsuccessful and needs to be retransmitted, feedback information 220 can be communicated using higher layer signaling of the protocol stack used at UE 115-a, base station 105-a, and satellite 120-a. Reference is made to Figure 3 for a discussion of examples of protocol stacks and higher layers as compared to lower layers.

[0098] In some cases, a HARQ feedback MAC-CE is defined to report the HARQ feedback in feedback information 220. In some cases, the MAC-CE can include a logical channel ID (LCID) that can be a reserved LCID or a new extended LCID for uplink shared channel communications and indicates that the MAC-CE contains physical layer feedback information. Various examples of MAC-CE formats are discussed with reference to Figure 4A and 4B .

[0099] In some cases, transmission of feedback information 220 can be triggered based on one or more conditions existing at UE 115-a or satellite 120-a. For example, HARQ feedback transmission can be triggered based on one or more of a number of different conditions or combinations thereof. Such conditions can include, for example, when a physical layer at UE 115-a indicates a problem in receiving a downlink transmission (e.g., a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission) for a HARQ process ID, or a problem in receiving a downlink transmission a threshold number of times for retransmission, which can be configured by base station 105-a or satellite 120-a (e.g., by RRC dedicated signaling). A condition that can trigger a physical layer feedback transmission can also include when a threshold number (e.g., a threshold number of HARQ processes with NACK, which can be preconfigured at UE 115-a or provided by satellite 120-a or base station 105-a) of HARQ processes require retransmission. A triggering condition can also include a number of transmissions of the same feedback process exceeding a threshold (e.g., a threshold number of HARQ processes with at least a threshold number of retransmissions, which can be preconfigured at UE 115-a or provided by satellite 120-a or base station 105-a).

[0100] A triggering condition can also include receiving more than a threshold number of “out-of-sync” indications from a physical layer at a higher layer (e.g., a threshold of one or more out-of-sync indications that can be preconfigured or provided to UE 115-a). A triggering condition can also include upon starting a timer (e.g., a T310 timer) upon receiving an “out-of-sync” indication (e.g., N310 of out-of-sync indications) from a physical layer. A triggering condition can also include a periodic configuration, where physical layer feedback can be a periodic transmission, e.g., where the periodicity can be configured by, for example, satellite 120-a or base station 105-a. In some cases, given the propagation delay between UE 115-a and satellite 120-a, the periodicity can be set to correspond to a round trip time, which can allow UE 115-a to use higher layer communications to report physical layer feedback for all feedback processes at the same time. Such feedback transmission can allow satellite 120-a to perform one or more retransmissions on demand. A triggering condition can also include a request from satellite 120-a to transmit a feedback report (e.g., in a dynamic request received via RRC or PDCCH signaling). In some cases, one or more combinations of different triggering conditions can be used.

[0101] Using such techniques, UE 115-a can transmit feedback information for one or more downlink transmissions, which can prompt one or more retransmissions from satellite 120-a. While the above examples are described for providing feedback for downlink communications, such techniques can also be used to provide physical layer feedback for uplink communications, where satellite 120-a can transmit physical layer feedback to UE 115-a in a MAC-CE. In some cases, separate HARQ feedback MAC CE formats, reserved LCIDs, new extended LCIDs, or combinations thereof can be defined for uplink and downlink physical layer feedback. In some cases, UE 115-a can transmit capability information indicating that UE 115-a supports MAC-CE communications for providing physical layer feedback. In this case, satellite 120-a or base station 105-a can configure UE 115-a to use MAC-CEs for physical layer feedback. In some cases, if a higher layer communication with physical layer feedback (e.g., a MAC-CE with physical layer HARQ feedback) is not received by the network, a retransmission grant for the higher layer communication of physical layer feedback can be provided, which can indicate to UE 115-a that the initial physical layer feedback communication was not successfully received at satellite 120-a.

[0102] Figure 3 An example of a protocol stack 300 that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays is illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, the protocol stack 300 can implement aspects of the wireless communications system 100 or 200. Aspects of the protocol stack 300 can be implemented by a base station, a satellite, and / or a UE, which can be examples of the corresponding transmitting and / or receiving devices described herein.

[0103] The protocol stack 300 is shown as having three layers: Layer 1, Layer 2, and Layer 3. The L1 layer is the lowest layer and implements various physical layer signal processing functions and is referred to in this document as the physical layer. L1 can include a physical sublayer 305, which monitors, controls, or otherwise manages aspects of wireless transmissions over the wireless medium. The L2 layer is above (e.g., on top of) the physical sublayer 305 and is responsible for managing aspects of the wireless link between the UE and the network device (or base station) over the physical sublayer 305.

[0104] L2 includes a MAC sublayer 310, an RLC sublayer 315, and a PDCP sublayer 320, which terminate at the network device on the network side. There can be several upper layers above the L2 layer, including a network layer (e.g., IP sublayer 330) that terminates at a PDN gateway on the network side, and an application layer that terminates at the other end of the connection (e.g., a remote UE, a server, etc.).

[0105] The PDCP sublayer 320 provides multiplexing between different radio bearers and logical channels. The PDCP sublayer 320 also provides header compression for upper layer data packets to reduce radio transmission overhead, provides security by encrypting data packets, and provides support for UE handover between various network devices. The PDCP sublayer 320 also manages integrity protection (on the transmitting side) and / or verification (on the receiving side), packet expiration timer operations, packet sorting / reordering operations, etc. The RLC sublayer 315 provides segmentation and reassembly of upper layer data packets, retransmission of lost data packets, and reordering of data packets to compensate for out-of-order reception caused by HARQ. The RLC sublayer 315 passes data to the MAC sublayer 310 as a logical channel.

[0106] Logical channels may define what type of information is transmitted over the air interface (e.g., user traffic, control channels, broadcast information, etc.). In some aspects, two or more logical channels may be combined into a logical channel group (LCG). By comparison, a transport channel defines how information is transmitted over the air interface (e.g., coding, interleaving, etc.), and a physical channel defines where information is transmitted over the air interface (e.g., which symbols in a slot, subframe, frame, etc. carry the information).

[0107] In the control plane, the radio protocol architecture for the UE and network equipment is essentially the same for the physical sublayer 305 and L2, with the difference that there is no header compression function for the control plane. The control plane also includes the RRC sublayer 325 in L3. The RRC sublayer 325 is responsible for obtaining radio resources (i.e., radio bearers) and for configuring the lower layers using RRC signaling between the network equipment and the UE.

[0108] In some examples, the protocol stack 300 may also include a Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) sublayer 335 between the IP sublayer 330 and the PDCP sublayer 320. The SDAP sublayer 335 may perform functions such as mapping between QoS flows and DRBs, marking QoS flow IDs in both downlink and uplink packets, etc. In some aspects, in addition to configuring dual connectivity configurations of the two entities, a single protocol entity for the SDAP sublayer 335 may be configured for each individual PDU session. As discussed, the PDCP sublayer 320 may manage aspects of integrity protection and / or packet sequencing for wireless transmissions.

[0109] According to various aspects described herein, HARQ feedback for one or more transmissions may be determined at the physical sublayer 305 and may be communicated using higher layer communications, such as in the MAC sublayer 310 MAC-CE.

[0110] Figure 4A and 4BExamples of MAC-CE formats 400 and 450 that support acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays are illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, the MAC-CE formats 400 and 450 can be implemented in aspects of the wireless communications system 100 or 200.

[0111] In Figure 4A In the example of the MAC-CE format 400, the MAC-CE format 400 can include MAC-CE feedback data 405 provided in a fixed size MAC-CE 400. The fixed size MAC-CE 400 in this example provides two bytes of information, although this size can be increased or decreased based on the number of configured HARQ processes at the UE, base station, or satellite. In Figure 4A In the two byte example of the MAC-CE format 400, a first octet 410 can include a bitmap for a first group of eight HARQ processes H0-H7, and a second octet 415 can include a bitmap for a second group of eight HARQ processes H8-H 15 In some cases, a zero (0) value in the bitmap can indicate that no problem occurred, while a one (1) value can indicate that there was a problem in the HARQ process.

[0112] In other cases, this physical layer feedback can be provided in other types of MAC-CEs. For example, in some cases, a downlink channel quality report can be provided for the X number of HARQ processes that failed or the X HARQ processes with the highest number of retransmissions.

[0113] In other cases, such as the example illustrated in Figure 4B The MAC-CE format 450 can provide a variable size MAC-CE that provides MAC-CE feedback data 455 that indicates a HARQ process ID (e.g., 4-bit ID) and a corresponding number of attempts to decode data (x > 1 bit), in the example illustrated in Figure 4B In the example of the MAC-CE format 450, a first octet 460 can include a first HARQ process ID and associated number of retransmissions, and one or more initial bits of a second HARQ process ID. A second octet 465 can include the remaining bits of the second HARQ process ID, the associated number of retransmissions, and one or more initial bits of a third HARQ process ID. A third octet 470 can include the remaining bits of the third HARQ process ID, the associated number of retransmissions. In cases where one or more available bits in the associated octet are not used, a last octet of the MAC-CE feedback data 455 (corresponding to the third octet 470 in the example of the MAC-CE format 450) can include one or more padding bits. Figure 4B In the example of the MAC-CE format 450, a first octet 460 can include a first HARQ process ID and associated number of retransmissions, and one or more initial bits of a second HARQ process ID. A second octet 465 can include the remaining bits of the second HARQ process ID, the associated number of retransmissions, and one or more initial bits of a third HARQ process ID. A third octet 470 can include the remaining bits of the third HARQ process ID, the associated number of retransmissions. In cases where one or more available bits in the associated octet are not used, a last octet of the MAC-CE feedback data 455 (corresponding to the third octet 470 in the example of the MAC-CE format 450) can include one or more padding bits.

[0114] Figure 5 An example of a process flow 500 that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. In some examples, process flow 500 can implement aspects of wireless communications system 100 or 200. Process flow 500 can illustrate an example of using higher layer communications to provide physical layer feedback. UE 115-b can be an example of a UE 115 as described with reference to Figure 1 and Figure 2 Satellite 120-b can be an example of a satellite 120 as described with reference to Figure 1 and Figure 2 Satellite 120-b can be an example of a non-terrestrial base station. In some cases, satellite 120-b can instead be a base station 105 in a terrestrial network located at a relatively large distance from UE 115-b, or operations described herein can be performed by a combination of satellite 120-b and a base station. Alternative examples of the following can be implemented, where some steps are performed in a different order than described or not performed at all. In some cases, steps can include additional features not mentioned, or further steps can be added.

[0115] At 505, satellite 120-b and UE 115-b can establish a connection. In some cases, the connection can be established according to connection establishment techniques, such as through a random access request and associated random access response, and transmission of control signaling for RRC connection establishment.

[0116] At 510, satellite 120-b can determine a feedback configuration for UE 115-b. In some cases, satellite 120-b can determine that physical layer HARQ feedback is to be disabled. For example, satellite 120-b can determine that a round trip time associated with communications with UE 115-b exceeds a value for which efficient physical layer feedback communications can be provided (e.g., due to HARQ processes stalling while waiting for a HARQ process to resolve). In some cases, according to techniques discussed herein, satellite 120-b can determine to configure UE 115-b to use higher layer communications to provide physical layer feedback. In some cases, the determination to configure physical layer feedback for transmissions in higher layer communications can be based on one or more conditions, such as conditions identified at satellite 120-b, or that can be reported by UE 115-b, discussed with reference to Figure 2

[0117] ​At 515, satellite 120-b can transmit a configuration message to UE 115-b (e.g., via control signaling, such as DCI, RRC messages, SIBs, and other examples of control signaling). The configuration message can indicate that physical layer feedback reporting is disabled, and can indicate that higher layer communications with physical layer feedback information are to be provided. In some examples, satellite 120-b can determine one or more parameters for conveying higher layer signaling, such as an LCID associated with a MAC-CE to be used for conveying physical layer feedback.

[0118] At 520, UE 115-b can receive the configuration message and disable physical layer HARQ feedback. In some cases, UE 115-b can still perform HARQ procedures at the physical layer according to the number of configured HARQ process IDs, but not transmit physical layer HARQ feedback using physical layer communications. At 525, satellite 120-b can transmit one or more downlink communications to UE 115-b.

[0119] Optionally, at 530, satellite 120-b can transmit a feedback request to UE 115-b. Optionally, at 535, UE 115-b can determine that one or more conditions exist that trigger the use of higher layer communications to transmit physical layer HARQ feedback. Such conditions that can trigger higher layer transmissions can include, such as about Figure 2 the conditions discussed.

[0120] At 540, UE 115-b can determine physical layer HARQ feedback associated with one or more downlink transmissions from satellite 120-b. The physical layer HARQ feedback can be determined for the configured HARQ process IDs based on whether each downlink transmission has been successfully decoded. At 545, UE 115-b can format a MAC-CE with the physical layer feedback. The MAC-CE can have a format such as discussed with reference to Figure 4A and 4B At 550, UE 115-b can transmit the MAC-CE to satellite 120-b.

[0121] At 555, satellite 120-b can receive the MAC-CE with the physical layer feedback, and determine one or more HARQ process IDs that were not successfully received at UE 115-b, and determine whether one or more retransmissions are needed for one or more downlink transmissions. In some cases, satellite 120-b can identify the MAC-CE as having physical layer feedback based on a reserved LCID or an extended reserved LCID of the MAC-CE that indicates the feedback information.

[0122] As discussed, while various examples discuss providing physical layer feedback for downlink transmissions in one or more higher layer communications, such techniques can also be used to provide feedback for uplink communications. In Figure 5 In examples, UE 115-b can optionally transmit one or more uplink transmissions to satellite 120-b at 560. Optionally, at 565, satellite 120-b can determine physical layer feedback for the uplink transmissions and format a MAC-CE with physical layer HARQ feedback. Optionally, at 570, satellite 120-b can transmit the MAC-CE to UE 115-b, which can determine whether to retransmit the one or more uplink transmissions.

[0123] Figure 6 A block diagram 600 of a device 605 that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 605 can be an example of aspects of a UE 115 as described herein. The device 605 can include a receiver 610, a communications manager 615, and a transmitter 620. The device 605 can also include a processor. Each of these components can be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0124] The receiver 610 can receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information related to acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays, etc.). Information can be passed on to other components of the device 605. The receiver 610 can be an example of aspects of the transceiver 920 described with reference to FIG. 9. The receiver 610 can utilize a single antenna or a set of antennas. Figure 9

[0125] The communications manager 615 can receive, from a base station via a wireless connection with the base station, one or more downlink transmissions, determine physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, and transmit the physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with the base station. The physical layer feedback can be determined at a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer compared to one or more higher layers used to transmit the higher layer communications.

[0126] ​The communications manager 615 can also receive, via a wireless connection with a base station, one or more downlink transmissions from the base station, determine physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, where the physical layer feedback is determined at a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack, identify that one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicate that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station, and transmit, to the base station and in response to the identifying, the physical layer feedback. The communications manager 615 can be an example of aspects of the communications manager 910 described herein.

[0127] The communications manager 615 can be implemented to realize one or more potential advantages as described herein. One implementation can allow the device 605 to provide physical layer feedback (e.g., physical layer HARQ feedback) without stalling the physical layer feedback process due to large propagation delays and round trip times between the device 605 and a transmitting device, such as a base station or a satellite. Such physical layer feedback can allow for enhanced reliability and reduced latency as compared to situations in which physical layer feedback can be disabled and higher layer retransmissions are used in situations in which one or more transmissions are not successfully received. Moreover, implementations can allow the device 605 to reduce latency of communications, and increase signaling reliability, throughput, and user experience, while reducing power consumption, among other advantages.

[0128] The communications manager 615, or its sub-components, can be implemented in hardware, code (e.g., software or firmware) executed by a processor, or any combination thereof. If implemented in code executed by a processor, the functions of the communications manager 615, or its sub-components can be executed by a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described in the present disclosure.

[0129] The communications manager 615, or its sub-components, can be physically located at various positions, including being distributed so that functions of a part or the whole are implemented at different physical locations by one or more physical components. In some examples, the communications manager 615, or its sub-components, can be a separate and distinct component in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, the communications manager 615, or its sub-components, can be combined with one or more other hardware components, including but not limited to an input / output (I / O) component, a transceiver, a network server, another computing device, one or more other components described in the present disclosure, or a combination thereof in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0130] The transmitter 620 can transmit signals generated by other components of the device 605. In some examples, the transmitter 620 can be collocated with a receiver 610 in a transceiver module. For example, the transmitter 620 can be a transmitter Figure 9 The transmitter 620 can be an example of a transmitter as described with reference to

[0131] Figure 7 A block diagram 700 of a device 705 that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 705 can be an example of aspects of a device 605 or a UE 115 as described herein. The device 705 can include a receiver 710, a communications manager 715, and a transmitter 740. The device 705 can also include a processor. Each of these components can be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0132] The receiver 710 can receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information related to acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays, etc.). Information can be passed on to other components of the device 705. The receiver 710 can be an example of a receiver as described with reference to Figure 9 The receiver 710 can be an example of a receiver as described with reference to

[0133] The communications manager 715 can be an example of aspects of the communications manager 615 as described herein. The communications manager 715 can include a downlink communications manager 720, an acknowledgement feedback manager 725, a feedback communications manager 730, and a feedback trigger manager 735. The communications manager 715 can be an example of aspects of the communications manager 910 described herein.

[0134] In some cases, the downlink communications manager 720 can receive, via a wireless connection with a base station, one or more downlink transmissions from the base station. The acknowledgement feedback manager 725 can determine physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions. The feedback communications manager 730 can transmit the physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with the base station. The physical layer feedback can be determined at a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE that is a lower layer than one or more higher layers used to transmit the higher layer communications.

[0135] In some cases, the downlink communication manager 720 can receive, via a wireless connection with a base station, one or more downlink transmissions from the base station. The acknowledgment feedback manager 725 can determine physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, where the physical layer feedback is determined at a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack. The feedback trigger manager 735 can identify that one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicate that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station. The feedback communication manager 730 can transmit, to the base station, the physical layer feedback in response to the identifying.

[0136] The transmitter 740 can transmit signals generated by other components of the device 705. In some examples, the transmitter 740 can be collocated with the receiver 710 in a transceiver module. For example, the transmitter 740 can be an example of aspects of the transceiver 920 described with reference to FIG. 9. The transmitter 740 can utilize a single antenna or a set of antennas. Figure 9

[0137] Figure 8 FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of a communications manager 805 that supports acknowledgment feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The communications manager 805 can be an example of aspects of a communications manager 615, a communications manager 715, or a communications manager 910 described herein. The communications manager 805 can include a downlink communication manager 810, an acknowledgment feedback manager 815, a feedback communication manager 820, a configuration manager 825, a feedback trigger manager 830, an uplink communication manager 835, and a capability manager 840. Each of these modules can communicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0138] The downlink communication manager 810 can receive, via a wireless connection with a base station, one or more downlink transmissions from the base station.

[0139] The acknowledgment feedback manager 815 can determine physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions. In some examples, the acknowledgment feedback manager 815 can determine physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, where the physical layer feedback is determined at a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack. In some examples, the acknowledgment feedback manager 815 can receive, from the base station via higher layer signaling, one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications. In some examples, the acknowledgment feedback manager 815 can retransmit one or more uplink communications based on the one or more physical layer feedback reports.

[0140] ​The feedback communication manager 820 can transmit physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with a base station, where the physical layer feedback is determined at a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer as compared to one or more higher layers used to transmit the higher layer communications. In some examples, the feedback communication manager 820 can transmit the physical layer feedback to the base station in response to the identification. In some examples, the feedback communication manager 820 can transmit a MAC-CE indicating feedback for one or more physical layer acknowledgment feedback processes.

[0141] In some examples, the feedback communication manager 820 can receive a resource grant for a retransmission of the physical layer feedback after transmitting the physical layer feedback in the one or more higher layer communications. In some examples, the feedback communication manager 820 can retransmit the physical layer feedback in the one or more higher layer communications based on the resource grant.

[0142] In some cases, the MAC-CE is identified by a reserved logical channel identifier (LCID) or a new extended LCID associated with acknowledgment feedback of the UE. In some cases, the higher layer communications include one or more fixed size data or information transmissions for reporting a predetermined number of physical layer acknowledgment feedback processes to the base station. In some cases, the higher layer communications include a channel quality report associated with a number of feedback processes with a negative acknowledgment feedback status. In some cases, the higher layer communications include one or more variable size data or information transmissions, each data or information transmission providing an identification of one or more feedback processes. In some cases, the higher layer communications further include one or more of a feedback process identification and a number of times data associated with the feedback process identification is attempted to be decoded at the UE. In some cases, a first MAC-CE format is configured at the UE for transmitting physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, and a second MAC-CE format is configured at the UE for receiving the one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications.

[0143] The feedback trigger manager 830 can identify that one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicate that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station. In some examples, the feedback trigger manager 830 can determine that the physical layer feedback is to be transmitted in the one or more higher layer communications based on an indication associated with communications between the UE and the base station. In some examples, the feedback trigger manager 830 can receive, from the physical layer, an indication that one or more of the downlink transmissions in the downlink transmissions were not successfully decoded. In some examples, the feedback trigger manager 830 can determine that a number of feedback procedures that were unsuccessful in decoding associated downlink transmissions exceeds a threshold number. In some examples, the feedback trigger manager 830 can receive, from the physical layer, a synchronization error indication. In some examples, the feedback trigger manager 830 can determine that a timer associated with physical layer synchronization has expired. In some examples, the feedback trigger manager 830 can determine that a periodic physical layer feedback report is to be transmitted to the base station. In some cases, a periodic reporting interval having a periodicity based on a propagation delay between the UE and the base station is configured by the base station. In some examples, the feedback trigger manager 830 can receive, from the base station, a request to transmit the physical layer feedback.

[0144] The configuration manager 825 can receive, from the base station prior to receiving the one or more downlink transmissions, configuration information that disables the physical layer feedback reporting and enables higher layer communications for transmitting the physical layer feedback. In some cases, signaling indicating that higher layer communications are to be used for physical layer feedback is received in broadcast information from the base station, in RRC signaling from the base station, or a combination thereof.

[0145] The uplink communication manager 835 can transmit one or more uplink communications to the base station. The capability manager 840 can transmit, to the base station, a capability message indicating that the UE is capable of conveying physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with the base station.

[0146] Figure 9 A diagram illustrating a system 900 including a device 905 that supports acknowledgment feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 905 can be an example of or include the components of device 605, device 705, or a UE 115 as described herein. The device 905 can include components for bi-directional voice and data communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications, including a communication manager 910, an I / O controller 915, a transceiver 920, an antenna 925, memory 930, and a processor 940. These components can be in electronic communication via one or more buses (e.g., bus 945).

[0147] The communications manager 910 can receive one or more downlink transmissions from a base station via a wireless connection with the base station, determine physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, and transmit the physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with the base station. The physical layer feedback can be determined at a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer than one or more higher layers used to transmit the higher layer communications.

[0148] The communications manager 910 can also receive one or more downlink transmissions from a base station via a wireless connection with the base station, determine physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, where the physical layer feedback is determined at a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack, identify one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicating that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station, and transmit the physical layer feedback to the base station in response to the identifying.

[0149] The communications manager 910 can be implemented to realize one or more potential advantages. One implementation can allow the device 905 to provide physical layer feedback (e.g., physical layer HARQ feedback) without stalling the physical layer feedback process due to large propagation delays and round trip times between the device 905 and a transmitting device, such as a base station or base station. Such physical layer feedback can allow for enhanced reliability and reduced latency as compared to situations in which physical layer feedback can be disabled and higher layer retransmissions are used in situations in which one or more transmissions are not successfully received. Further, an implementation can allow the device 905 to reduce latency of communications, and increase signaling reliability, throughput, and user experience, while reducing power consumption, among other advantages.

[0150] The I / O controller 915 can manage input and output signals for the device 905. The I / O controller 915 can also manage peripherals not integrated into the device 905. In some cases, the I / O controller 915 can represent a physical connection or port to or another known operating system. In some cases, the I / O controller 915 can represent a modulator- demodulator (modem), a keyboard, a mouse, a touchscreen, or a similar device, or interaction with such a device. In some cases, the I / O controller 915 can be implemented as part of a processor. In some cases, a user can interact with the device 905 via the I / O controller 915 or via hardware components controlled by the I / O controller 915.

[0151] The transceiver 920 can communicate bi-directionally, via one or more antennas, wired, or wireless links as described above. For example, the transceiver 920 can represent a wireless transceiver and can communicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 920 can also include a modem to modulate the packets and provide the modulated packets to the antennas for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the antennas.

[0152] In some cases, the wireless device can include a single antenna 925. However, in some cases the device can have more than one antenna 925, which can be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiple wireless transmissions.

[0153] The memory 930 can include RAM and ROM. The memory 930 can store computer-readable, computer-executable code 935 including instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform various functions described herein. In some cases, the memory 930 can contain, among other computer-readable or computer- executable instructions, a BIOS which can control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices.

[0154] The processor 940 can include an intelligent hardware device, (e.g., a general- purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof). In some cases, the processor 940 can be configured to operate a memory array. In other cases, a memory controller can be integrated into the processor 940. The processor 940 can be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 930) to cause the device 905 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays).

[0155] The code 935 can include instructions to implement aspects of the present disclosure, including instructions to support wireless communications. The code 935 can be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or other type of memory. In some cases, the code 935 can not be directly executable by the processor 940 but can cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein.

[0156] Figure 10 A block diagram 1000 of a device 1005 that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 1005 can be an example of aspects of a base station 105 as described herein. The device 1005 can include a receiver 1010, a communications manager 1015, and a transmitter 1020. The device 1005 can also include a processor. Each of these components can be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0157] The receiver 1010 can receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information related to acknowledgment feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays, etc.). Information can be passed on to other components of the device 1005. The receiver 1010 can utilize a single antenna or a set of antennas. Figure 13 The described aspects of the transceiver 1320 can be implemented in a receiver. The receiver 1010 can utilize a single antenna or a set of antennas.

[0158] The communications manager 1015 can transmit one or more downlink communications to a UE via a wireless connection with the UE, receive a physical layer feedback report from the UE in a higher layer communication, where the physical layer feedback can be generated by a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE that is a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack, and retransmit the one or more downlink communications to the UE based on the physical layer feedback report.

[0159] The communications manager 1015 can also transmit one or more downlink transmissions to a UE via a wireless connection with the UE, identify that one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicate that physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station, and receive the physical layer feedback from the UE in response to the identifying, where the physical layer feedback is generated by a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE that is a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack of the UE. The communications manager 1015 can be an example of aspects of the communications manager 1310 described herein.

[0160] The communications manager 1015, or its sub-components, can be implemented in hardware, code (for example, software or firmware) executed by a processor, or any combination thereof. If implemented in code executed by a processor, the functions of the communications manager 1015, or its sub-components can be executed by a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described in the present disclosure.

[0161] The communications manager 1015, or its sub-components, can be physically located in various places in the apparatus. In some examples, the communications manager 1015, or its sub-components, can be in different physical locations within the apparatus, including with different physical components of the apparatus. In some examples, the communications manager 1015, or its sub-components, can be distributed across multiple apparatuses. In some examples, according to various aspects of the present disclosure, the communications manager 1015, or its sub-components, can be a separate and distinct component in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, the communications manager 1015, or its sub-components, can be combined with one or more other hardware components, including but not limited to an input / output (I / O) component, a transceiver, a network server, another computing device, one or more other components described in the present disclosure, or a combination thereof.

[0162] The transmitter 1020 can transmit signals generated by other components of the device 1005. In some examples, the transmitter 1020 can be collocated with a receiver 1010 in a transceiver module. For example, the transmitter 1020 can be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1320 described with reference to FIG. 13. The transmitter 1020 can utilize a single antenna or a set of antennas. Figure 13 The transmitter 1020 can transmit signals generated by other components of the device 1005. In some examples, the transmitter 1020 can be collocated with a receiver 1010 in a transceiver module. For example, the transmitter 1020 can be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1320 described with reference to FIG. 13. The transmitter 1020 can utilize a single antenna or a set of antennas.

[0163] Figure 11 A block diagram 1100 of a device 1105 that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 1105 can be an example of aspects of a device 1005 or a base station 105 as described herein. The device 1105 can include a receiver 1110, a communications manager 1115, and a transmitter 1140. The device 1105 can also include a processor. Each of these components can be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0164] The receiver 1110 can receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information related to acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays, etc.). Information can be passed on to other components of the device 1105. The receiver 1110 can be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1320 described with reference to FIG. 13. The receiver 1110 can utilize a single antenna or a set of antennas. Figure 13 The receiver 1110 can receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information related to acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays, etc.). Information can be passed on to other components of the device 1105. The receiver 1110 can be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1320 described with reference to FIG. 13. The receiver 1110 can utilize a single antenna or a set of antennas.

[0165] The communications manager 1115 can be an example of aspects of the communications manager 1015 as described herein. The communications manager 1115 can include a downlink communications manager 1120, a feedback communications manager 1125, an acknowledgement feedback manager 1130, and a feedback trigger manager 1135. The communications manager 1115 can be an example of aspects of the communications manager 1310 described herein.

[0166] In some cases, the downlink communication manager 1120 can transmit one or more downlink communications to a UE via a wireless connection with the UE. The feedback communication manager 1125 can receive a physical layer feedback report from the UE in a higher layer communication, where the physical layer feedback is generated by a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE that is a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack. The acknowledgment feedback manager 1130 can retransmit one or more downlink communications to the UE based on the physical layer feedback report.

[0167] In some cases, the downlink communication manager 1120 can transmit one or more downlink transmissions to a UE via a wireless connection with the UE. The feedback trigger manager 1135 can identify that one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicate that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station. The feedback communication manager 1125 can receive the physical layer feedback from the UE in response to the identifying, where the physical layer feedback is generated by a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE that is a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack.

[0168] The transmitter 1140 can transmit signals generated by other components of the device 1105. In some examples, the transmitter 1140 can be co-located with a receiver 1110 in a transceiver module. For example, the transmitter 1140 can be a transmitter described with reference to the transceiver 1320. Figure 13 The transmitter 1140 can utilize a single antenna or a set of antennas.

[0169] Figure 12 A block diagram 1200 illustrating a communications manager 1205 that supports acknowledgment feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The communications manager 1205 can be an example of aspects of a communications manager 1015, a communications manager 1115, or a communications manager 1310 as described herein. The communications manager 1205 can include a downlink communication manager 1210, a feedback communication manager 1215, an acknowledgment feedback manager 1220, a configuration manager 1225, a feedback trigger manager 1230, an uplink communication manager 1235, and a capability manager 1240. Each of these modules can communicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0170] The downlink communication manager 1210 can transmit one or more downlink communications to a UE via a wireless connection with the UE.

[0171] The feedback communication manager 1215 can receive, from the UE, a physical layer feedback report in a higher layer communication, where the physical layer feedback is generated by a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE that is a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack. In some examples, the feedback communication manager 1215 can transmit, to the UE via higher layer signaling, one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications. In some cases, the higher layer communication from the UE is a MAC layer communication that includes a MAC-CE indicating feedback for one or more physical layer acknowledgment feedback processes of the UE. In some cases, the MAC-CE includes a reserved logical channel identification (LCID) or a new extended LCID associated with acknowledgment feedback of the UE.

[0172] In some cases, the higher layer communication includes one or more fixed size data or information transmissions for reporting a predetermined number of physical layer feedback processes of the UE. In some cases, the higher layer communication includes a channel quality report associated with a number of feedback processes with a negative acknowledgment feedback status. In some cases, the higher layer communication includes one or more variable size data or information transmissions each providing an identification of one or more feedback processes at the UE. In some cases, the higher layer communication further includes one or more of a feedback process identification and a number of times that data associated with the feedback process identification was attempted to be decoded at the UE.

[0173] In some cases, a first MAC-CE format is configured at the UE for transmitting physical layer feedback reports for the one or more downlink transmissions, and a second MAC-CE format is configured at the UE for receiving the one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications.

[0174] The acknowledgment feedback manager 1220 can retransmit, to the UE, one or more downlink communications based on the physical layer feedback report. In some examples, the acknowledgment feedback manager 1220 can determine physical layer feedback associated with the one or more uplink communications. In some examples, the acknowledgment feedback manager 1220 can transmit, in response to failing to decode the physical layer acknowledgment feedback report in the higher layer communication, a resource grant for a retransmission of the physical layer feedback. In some examples, the acknowledgment feedback manager 1220 can monitor for the retransmission of the physical layer feedback report in the one or more higher layer communications based on the resource grant.

[0175] The feedback trigger manager 1230 can identify that one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicate that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station. In some examples, the feedback trigger manager 1230 can configure the UE to transmit the physical layer feedback report in a higher layer communication based on one or more of: a request for the UE to transmit physical layer feedback, a physical layer indication that one or more of the downlink transmissions were not successfully decoded, a physical layer indication that a number of decoding failures for one or more feedback processes, or a number of unsuccessful decoding attempts for one or more downlink transmissions exceeds a threshold, a number of feedback processes that unsuccessfully decoded an associated downlink transmission exceeds a threshold number, a synchronization error at a physical layer of the UE, an expiration of a timer associated with physical layer synchronization, a timing associated with a periodic physical layer feedback report, or any combination thereof.

[0176] The configuration manager 1225 can transmit configuration information to the UE that disables physical layer reporting of feedback and enables a higher layer communication for transmitting a physical layer feedback report. In some examples, the configuration manager 1225 can disable physical layer reporting of feedback at the physical layer prior to transmitting the one or more downlink transmissions to the UE. In some examples, the configuration manager 1225 can configure the UE for a timing of a periodic physical layer feedback report based on a propagation delay between the UE and the base station. In some cases, signaling indicating that a higher layer communication is to be used for physical layer feedback is transmitted in broadcast information from the base station, in RRC signaling from the base station, or a combination thereof.

[0177] The uplink communication manager 1235 can receive one or more uplink communications from the UE. The capability manager 1240 can receive a capability message from the UE indicating that the UE is capable of conveying physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with the base station.

[0178] Figure 13 A diagram illustrating a system 1300 including a device 1305 that supports acknowledgment feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 1305 can be an example of or include the components of device 1005, device 1105, or a base station 105 as described herein. The device 1305 can include components for bi-directional voice and data communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications, including a communication manager 1310, a network communications manager 1315, a transceiver 1320, an antenna 1325, memory 1330, a processor 1340, and an inter-station communications manager 1345. These components can be in electronic communication via one or more buses (e.g., bus 1350).

[0179] The communications manager 1310 can transmit one or more downlink communications to a UE via a wireless connection with the UE, receive a physical layer feedback report from the UE in a higher layer communication, where the physical layer feedback is generated by a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE that is a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack, and retransmit one or more downlink communications to the UE based on the physical layer feedback report.

[0180] The communications manager 1310 can also transmit one or more downlink transmissions to a UE via a wireless connection with the UE, identify that one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicate that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station, and receive the physical layer feedback from the UE in response to the identifying, where the physical layer feedback is generated by a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE that is a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack of the UE.

[0181] The network communications manager 1315 can manage communications with the core network (e.g., via one or more wired backhaul links). For example, the network communications manager 1315 can manage the transfer of data communications for client devices, such as one or more UEs 115.

[0182] The transceiver 1320 can communicate bi-directionally, via one or more antennas, wired, or wireless links as described above. For example, the transceiver 1320 can represent a wireless transceiver and can communicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 1320 can also include a modem to modulate the packets and provide the modulated packets to the antennas for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the antennas.

[0183] In some cases, the wireless device can include a single antenna 1325. However, in some cases the device can have more than one antenna 1325, which can be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiple wireless transmissions.

[0184] The memory 1330 can include RAM, ROM, or a combination thereof. The memory 1330 can store computer-readable code 1335 including instructions that, when executed by a processor (e.g., the processor 1340), cause the device to perform various functions described herein. In some cases, the memory 1330 can include, for example, a BIOS, which can control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices.

[0185] The processor 1340 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof). In some cases, the processor 1340 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some cases, the memory controller may be integrated into the processor 1340. The processor 1340 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 1330) to cause the device 1305 to perform various functions (e.g., various functions or tasks of supporting an acknowledgment feedback technique in wireless communications with large propagation delays).

[0186] The inter-site communication manager 1345 can manage communications with other base stations 105 and can include a controller or scheduler for controlling communications with the UE 115 in coordination with the other base stations 105. For example, the inter-site communication manager 1345 can coordinate the scheduling of transmissions to the UE 115 for various interference mitigation techniques, such as beamforming or joint transmission. In some examples, the inter-site communication manager 1345 can provide an X2 interface within an LTE / LTE-A wireless communication network technology to provide communications between the base stations 105.

[0187] The code 1335 may include instructions for implementing various aspects of the present disclosure, including instructions for supporting wireless communications. The code 1335 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as system memory or other types of memory. In some cases, the code 1335 may not be directly executed by the processor 1340, but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform the functions described herein.

[0188] Figure 14 A flow chart illustrating a method 1400 for supporting acknowledgment feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1400 may be implemented by a UE 115 or components thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1400 may be implemented by a UE 115 or components thereof as described herein. Figures 6 to 9 In some examples, the UE may execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the following functions. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the following functions.

[0189] Optionally, at 1405, the UE may receive configuration information that disables physical layer feedback reporting and enables higher layer communications for transmitting the physical layer feedback. The operations of 1405 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1405 may be as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 The configuration manager described here is executed.

[0190] At 1410, the UE can receive, via the wireless connection with the base station, one or more downlink transmissions from the base station. The operations of 1410 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1410 can be performed by a downlink communications manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9

[0191] At 1415, the UE can determine physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions. The operations of 1415 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1415 can be performed by an acknowledgment feedback manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9

[0192] At 1420, the UE can transmit the physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with the base station. In some cases, the physical layer feedback is determined at a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer than the one or more higher layers used to transmit the higher layer communications. The operations of 1420 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1420 can be performed by a feedback communications manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9

[0193] Figure 15 A method 1500 that supports acknowledgment feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays is shown. The operations of method 1500 can be implemented by a UE 115 or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of method 1500 can be performed by a communications manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIGs. 7 through 9. In some examples, a UE can execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the UE can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0194] At 1505, the UE can transmit, to a base station, a capability message indicating that the UE is capable of conveying physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with the base station. The operations of 1505 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1505 can be performed by a capability manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9

[0195] At 1510, the UE can receive, from the base station, signaling indicating that a higher layer communication is to be used for physical layer feedback. The operations of 1510 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1510 can be performed by a configuration manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 At 1510, the UE can receive, from the base station, signaling indicating that a higher layer communication is to be used for physical layer feedback. The operations of 1510 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1510 can be performed by a configuration manager as described with reference to​​​​

[0196] At 1515, the UE can receive, via the wireless connection with the base station, one or more downlink transmissions from the base station. The operations of 1515 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1515 can be performed by a downlink communications manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIG. 16.

[0197] At 1520, the UE can determine physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions. The operations of 1520 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1520 can be performed by an acknowledgement feedback manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIG. 16.

[0198] At 1525, the UE can transmit the physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with the base station, where the physical layer feedback is determined at a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer than one or more higher layers used to transmit the higher layer communications. The operations of 1525 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1525 can be performed by a feedback communications manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIG. 16.

[0199] At 1530, the UE can transmit one or more uplink communications to the base station. The operations of 1530 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1530 can be performed by an uplink communications manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIG. 16.

[0200] At 1535, the UE can receive, via higher layer signaling from the base station, one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications. The operations of 1535 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1535 can be performed by an acknowledgement feedback manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIG. 16.

[0201] At 1540, the UE can retransmit one or more uplink communications based on the one or more physical layer feedback reports. The operations of 1540 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1540 can be performed by an acknowledgement feedback manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIG. 16.

[0202] Figure 16A flow diagram illustrating a method 1600 that supports acknowledgment feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of method 1600 can be implemented by a UE 115 or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of method 1600 can be performed by a communications manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIGS. 13 through 15 as described herein. In some examples, a UE can execute a set of instructions to control its functional elements to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, a UE can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0203] At 1605, the UE can receive, via a wireless connection with a base station, one or more downlink transmissions from the base station. The operations of 1605 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1605 can be performed by a downlink communications manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIGS. 13 through 15 as described herein. In some examples, a UE can execute a set of instructions to control its functional elements to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, a UE can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0204] At 1610, the UE can determine physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions. The operations of 1610 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1610 can be performed by an acknowledgment feedback manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIGS. 13 through 15 as described herein. In some examples, a UE can execute a set of instructions to control its functional elements to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, a UE can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0205] At 1615, the UE can transmit the physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with the base station, where the physical layer feedback is determined at a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE that is a lower layer than one or more higher layers used to transmit the higher layer communications. The operations of 1615 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1615 can be performed by a feedback communications manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIGS. 13 through 15 as described herein. In some examples, a UE can execute a set of instructions to control its functional elements to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, a UE can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0206] At 1620, the UE can receive, after transmitting the physical layer feedback in the one or more higher layer communications, a resource grant for a retransmission of the physical layer feedback. The operations of 1620 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1620 can be performed by a feedback communications manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIGS. 13 through 15 as described herein. In some examples, a UE can execute a set of instructions to control its functional elements to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, a UE can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0207] At 1625, the UE can retransmit the physical layer feedback in the one or more higher layer communications based on the resource grant. The operations of 1625 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1625 can be performed by a feedback communications manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIGS. 13 through 15 as described herein. In some examples, a UE can execute a set of instructions to control its functional elements to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, a UE can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0208] Figure 17A flow diagram illustrating a method 1700 that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of method 1700 can be implemented by a UE 115 or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of method 1700 can be performed by a communications manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIGS. 13 through 17 as described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the UE can execute instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the UE can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0209] At 1705, the UE can receive, via a wireless connection with a base station, one or more downlink transmissions from the base station. The operations of 1705 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1705 can be performed by a downlink communications manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIGS. 13 through 17 as described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the UE can execute instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the UE can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0210] At 1710, the UE can determine physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, where the physical layer feedback is determined at a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack. The operations of 1710 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1710 can be performed by an acknowledgement feedback manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIGS. 13 through 17 as described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the UE can execute instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the UE can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0211] At 1715, the UE can identify that one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicate that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station. The operations of 1715 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1715 can be performed by a feedback trigger manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIGS. 13 through 17 as described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the UE can execute instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the UE can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0212] At 1720, the UE can transmit, to the base station, the physical layer feedback in response to the identifying. The operations of 1720 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1720 can be performed by a feedback communications manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIGS. 13 through 17 as described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the UE can execute instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the UE can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0213] Figure 18 A flow diagram illustrating a method 1800 that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of method 1800 can be implemented by a UE 115 or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of method 1800 can be performed by a communications manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9The described communication manager performs. In some examples, the UE can execute a set of instructions to control its functional elements to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the UE can perform various aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0214] Optionally, at 1805, the UE can disable physical layer reporting of feedback for a wireless connection between the UE and the base station prior to receiving the one or more downlink transmissions. The operations of 1805 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1805 can be performed by a configuration manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9

[0215] At 1810, the UE can receive, via the wireless connection with the base station, one or more downlink transmissions from the base station. The operations of 1810 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1810 can be performed by a downlink communication manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9

[0216] At 1815, the UE can determine physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, where the physical layer feedback is determined at a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack. The operations of 1815 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1815 can be performed by an acknowledgement feedback manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9

[0217] At 1820, the UE can identify that one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicate that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station. The operations of 1820 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1820 can be performed by a feedback trigger manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9

[0218] At 1825, the UE can transmit the physical layer feedback in a higher layer communication with the base station. The operations of 1825 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1825 can be performed by a feedback communication manager as described with reference to Figure 19

[0219] Figures 6 to 9 A method 1900 that supports acknowledgement feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of method 1900 can be implemented by a UE 115 or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of method 1900 can be performed by a UE as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 ​​​​​The described communication manager performs. In some examples, the UE can execute a set of instructions to control its functional elements to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the UE can perform various aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0220] At 1905, the UE can receive, via a wireless connection with a base station, one or more downlink transmissions from the base station. The operations of 1905 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1905 can be performed by a downlink communication manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIG. 16.

[0221] At 1910, the UE can determine physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, where the physical layer feedback is determined at a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack. The operations of 1910 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1910 can be performed by an acknowledgement feedback manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIG. 16.

[0222] At 1915, the UE can identify that one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicate that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station. The operations of 1915 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1915 can be performed by a feedback trigger manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIG. 16.

[0223] At 1920, the UE can transmit, to the base station, the physical layer feedback in response to the identifying. The operations of 1920 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1920 can be performed by a feedback communication manager as described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 FIG. 16.

[0224] At 1925, the UE can transmit one or more uplink communications to the base station. The operations of 1925 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1925 can be performed by an uplink communication manager as described with reference to Figure 20 FIG. 16.

[0225] At 1930, the UE can receive, via higher layer signaling from the base station, one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications. The operations of 1930 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1930 can be performed by an acknowledgement feedback manager as described with reference to Figures 10 to 13 FIG. 16.

[0226] At 1935, the UE can retransmit the one or more uplink communications based on the one or more physical layer feedback reports. The operations of 1935 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1935 can be performed by a feedback manager as described with reference to FIG. 10. Figures 10 to 13

[0227] Figures 10 to 13 A method 2000 that supports feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays is shown. The operations of method 2000 can be implemented by a base station 105 or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of method 2000 can be performed by a communications manager as described with reference to FIG. 10. In some examples, a base station can execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the base station to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the base station can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware. Figures 10 to 13

[0228] Optionally, at 2005, the base station can transmit, to the UE, configuration information that disables physical layer reporting of feedback and enables higher layer communications for transmitting the physical layer feedback report. The operations of 2005 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2005 can be performed by a configuration manager as described with reference to FIG. 10. Figures 10 to 13

[0229] At 2010, the base station can transmit, to the UE via the wireless connection with the UE, one or more downlink communications. The operations of 2010 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2010 can be performed by a downlink communications manager as described with reference to FIG. 10. Figure 21

[0230] At 2015, the base station can receive, from the UE, a physical layer feedback report in a higher layer communication. In some cases, the physical layer feedback is generated by a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer compared to one or more higher layers of the protocol stack. The operations of 2015 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2015 can be performed by a feedback communications manager as described with reference to FIG. 10. Figures 10 to 13

[0231] At 2020, the base station can retransmit, to the UE, the one or more downlink communications based on the physical layer feedback report. The operations of 2020 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2020 can be performed by a feedback manager as described with reference to FIG. 10. Figures 10 to 13

[0232] ​​​​​​Figures 10 to 13 A flow diagram illustrating a method 2100 that supports acknowledgment feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of method 2100 can be implemented by a base station 105 or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of method 2100 can be performed by a communications manager as described with reference to Figures 10 to 13 FIGS. 13 through 15 as described herein. In some examples, a base station can execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the base station to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the base station can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0233] At 2105, the base station can transmit one or more downlink communications to a UE via a wireless connection with the UE. The operations of 2105 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2105 can be performed by a downlink communications manager as described with reference to Figures 10 to 13 FIGS. 13 through 15 as described herein. In some examples, a base station can execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the base station to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the base station can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0234] At 2110, the base station can receive, from the UE, a physical layer feedback report in a higher layer communication, where the physical layer feedback is generated by a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer compared to one or more higher layers of the protocol stack. The operations of 2110 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2110 can be performed by a feedback communications manager as described with reference to Figures 10 to 13 FIGS. 13 through 15 as described herein. In some examples, a base station can execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the base station to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the base station can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0235] At 2115, the base station can retransmit the one or more downlink communications to the UE based on the physical layer feedback report. The operations of 2115 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2115 can be performed by an acknowledgment feedback manager as described with reference to Figures 10 to 13 FIGS. 13 through 15 as described herein. In some examples, a base station can execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the base station to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the base station can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0236] At 2120, the base station can receive one or more uplink communications from the UE. The operations of 2120 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2120 can be performed by an uplink communications manager as described with reference to Figure 22 FIGS. 13 through 15 as described herein. In some examples, a base station can execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the base station to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the base station can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0237] At 2125, the base station can determine physical layer feedback associated with the one or more uplink communications. The operations of 2125 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2125 can be performed by an acknowledgment feedback manager as described with reference to Figures 10 to 13 FIGS. 13 through 15 as described herein. In some examples, a base station can execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the base station to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the base station can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0238] At 2130, the base station can transmit, to the UE via higher layer signaling, one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications. The operations of 2130 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2130 can be performed by a feedback communication manager as described with reference to Figures 10 to 13

[0239] Figures 10 to 13 A methodology 2200 that supports acknowledgment feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays is shown and described in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of methodology 2200 can be implemented by a base station 105 or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of methodology 2200 can be performed by a communications manager as described with reference to Figures 10 to 13 In some examples, a base station can execute a set of instructions to control its functional elements to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the base station can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0240] At 2205, the base station can transmit, to a UE via a wireless connection with the UE, one or more downlink transmissions. The operations of 2205 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2205 can be performed by a downlink communication manager as described with reference to Figure 23

[0241] At 2210, the base station can identify that one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicate that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station. The operations of 2210 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2210 can be performed by a feedback trigger manager as described with reference to Figures 10 to 13

[0242] At 2215, the base station can receive, from the UE in response to the identifying, the physical layer feedback, where the physical layer feedback is generated by a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack of the UE. The operations of 2215 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2215 can be performed by a feedback communication manager as described with reference to Figures 10 to 13

[0243] Figures 10 to 13 A methodology 2300 that supports acknowledgment feedback techniques in wireless communications with large propagation delays is shown and described in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of methodology 2300 can be implemented by a base station 105 or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of methodology 2300 can be performed by a communications manager as described with reference to Figures 10 to 13 ​​​​The described communication manager performs. In some examples, the base station can execute a set of instructions to control its functional elements to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the base station can perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

[0244] At 2305, the base station can disable physical layer reporting of physical layer feedback prior to transmitting the one or more downlink transmissions to the UE. The operations of 2305 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2305 can be performed by a configuration manager as described with reference to Figures 10 to 13 FIG. 19.

[0245] At 2310, the base station can transmit one or more downlink transmissions to the UE via the wireless connection with the UE. The operations of 2310 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2310 can be performed by a downlink communications manager as described with reference to Figures 10 to 13 FIG. 19.

[0246] At 2315, the base station can identify that one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicate that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station. The operations of 2315 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2315 can be performed by a feedback trigger manager as described with reference to ​ FIG. 19.

[0247] At 2320, the base station can receive the physical layer feedback from the UE in response to the identifying, where the physical layer feedback is generated by a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE that is a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack of the UE. The operations of 2320 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2320 can be performed by a feedback communications manager as described with reference to ​ FIG. 19.

[0248] At 2325, the base station can receive the physical layer feedback from the UE in a higher layer communication. The operations of 2325 can be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2325 can be performed by a feedback communications manager as described with reference to ​ FIG. 19.

[0249] implementations, and that the operations and / or steps can be rearranged or otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible. Further, aspects from two or more of the methods can be combined.

[0250] The following provides an overview of aspects of the disclosure:

[0251] Aspect 1 : A method for wireless communication at a UE, comprising: receiving, via a wireless connection with a base station, one or more downlink transmissions from the base station; determining physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, the physical layer feedback being associated with a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE; and transmitting the physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with the base station using a higher layer of the protocol stack than the physical layer.

[0252] Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, wherein the one or more higher layer communications comprise medium access control (MAC) layer communications; and wherein transmitting the physical layer feedback comprises: transmitting a MAC control element (MAC-CE) indicating feedback for one or more physical layer acknowledgment feedback processes.

[0253] Aspect 3: The method of aspect 2, wherein the MAC-CE is identified by a reserved logical channel identifier (LCID) or extended LCID associated with acknowledgment feedback for the UE.

[0254] Aspect 4: The method of any of aspects 1-3, further comprising: receiving, from the base station prior to receiving the one or more downlink transmissions, configuration information disabling the physical layer feedback reporting and enabling higher layer communications for transmitting physical layer feedback.

[0255] Aspect 5: The method of any of aspects 1-4, further comprising: determining to transmit the physical layer feedback in the one or more higher layer communications based at least in part on an indication associated with communications between the UE and the base station.

[0256] Aspect 6: The method of aspect 5, wherein the indication associated with communications between the UE and the base station comprises one or more of: a physical layer indication of unsuccessful reception of the one or more downlink transmissions, a number of feedback processes with negative acknowledgments exceeding a threshold, a number of transmissions of a same feedback process exceeding a threshold, a physical layer indication of a synchronization error, a timer associated with physical layer synchronization expiring, a timing of a periodic indication for feedback, a request from the base station to transmit physical layer feedback, or any combination thereof.

[0257] Aspect 7: The method of any of aspects 1-6, wherein the higher layer communications comprise one or more fixed size data or information transmissions for reporting a predetermined number of physical layer acknowledgment feedback processes to the base station.

[0258] Aspect 8: The method of any of aspects 1-7, wherein the higher layer communications comprise a channel quality report associated with a number of feedback processes with negative acknowledgment feedback status.

[0259] Aspect 9: The method of any of aspects 1 through 8, wherein the higher layer communication comprises one or more variable size data or information transmissions, each variable size data or information transmission providing an identification of one or more feedback processes.

[0260] Aspect 10: The method of aspect 9, wherein

[0261] the higher layer communication further comprises one or more of a feedback process identification and a number of times that data associated with the feedback process identification is attempted to be decoded at the UE.

[0262] Aspect 11 : The method of any of aspects 1 through 10, further comprising: transmitting one or more uplink communications to the base station; receiving, from the base station via higher layer signaling, one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications; and retransmitting the one or more uplink communications based at least in part on the one or more physical layer feedback reports.

[0263] Aspect 12: The method of aspect 11, wherein a first medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) format is configured at the UE for transmitting physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, and a second MAC-CE is configured at the UE for receiving the one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications.

[0264] Aspect 13: The method of any of aspects 1 through 12, further comprising: transmitting a capability message to the base station, the capability message indicating that the UE is capable of conveying physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with the base station.

[0265] Aspect 14: The method of any of aspects 1 through 13, further comprising: receiving signaling from the base station indicating that higher layer communications are to be used for physical layer feedback.

[0266] Aspect 15: The method of aspect 14, wherein the signaling indicating that higher layer communications are to be used for physical layer feedback is received in broadcast information from the base station, in RRC signaling from the base station, or a combination thereof.

[0267] Aspect 16: The method of any of aspects 1 through 15, further comprising: receiving a resource grant for a retransmission of the physical layer feedback after transmitting the physical layer feedback in the one or more higher layer communications; and retransmitting the physical layer feedback in the one or more higher layer communications based at least in part on the resource grant.

[0268] Aspect 17: A method for wireless communication at a UE, comprising: receiving, via a wireless connection with a base station, one or more downlink transmissions from the base station; determining physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, wherein the physical layer feedback is determined at a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer than one or more higher layers of the protocol stack; identifying that one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicate that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station; and transmitting, to the base station, the physical layer feedback in response to the identifying.

[0269] Aspect 18: The method of aspect 17, further comprising: disabling physical layer reporting of feedback for the wireless connection between the UE and the base station prior to receiving the one or more downlink transmissions; and transmitting the physical layer feedback in a higher layer communication with the base station.

[0270] Aspect 19: The method of aspect 18, wherein the higher layer communication is a medium access control (MAC) layer communication comprising a MAC control element (MAC-CE), the MAC-CE comprising the physical layer feedback.

[0271] Aspect 20: The method of any of aspects 17 through 19, wherein the identifying comprises: receiving an indication from the physical layer that one or more of the downlink transmissions were not successfully decoded.

[0272] Aspect 21: The method of aspect 20, wherein the indication from the physical layer indicates a decoding failure for one or more feedback processes identified, or a number of unsuccessful decoding attempts for the one or more downlink transmissions exceeds a threshold.

[0273] Aspect 22: The method of aspect 21, wherein the threshold is configured by RRC signaling received from the base station.

[0274] Aspect 23: The method of any of aspects 17 through 22, wherein the identifying comprises: determining a number of feedback processes that unsuccessfully decoded an associated downlink transmission exceeds a threshold number;

[0275] Aspect 24: The method of any of aspects 17 through 23, wherein the identifying further comprises: receiving a synchronization error indication from the physical layer.

[0276] Aspect 25: The method of any of aspects 17 through 24, wherein the identifying further comprises: determining a timer associated with physical layer synchronization has expired.

[0277] Aspect 26: The method of any of aspects 17 through 25, wherein the identifying further comprises: determining a periodic physical layer feedback report is to be transmitted to the base station.

[0278] Aspect 27: The method of Aspect 26, wherein the periodic reporting interval having a periodicity based at least in part on a propagation delay between the UE and the base station is configured by the base station.

[0279] Aspect 28: The method of any one of Aspects 17 to 27, wherein the identifying further comprises: receiving, from the base station, a request to transmit physical layer feedback.

[0280] Aspect 29: The method of any one of Aspects 17 to 28, further comprising: transmitting, to the base station, one or more uplink communications; receiving, from the base station via higher layer signaling, one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications; and retransmitting the one or more uplink communications based at least in part on the one or more physical layer feedback reports.

[0281] Aspect 30: The method of Aspect 29, wherein a first medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) format is configured at the UE for transmitting physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, and a second MAC-CE is configured at the UE for receiving the one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications.

[0282] Aspect 31: A method for wireless communication at a base station, comprising: transmitting, to a UE via a wireless connection with the UE, one or more downlink communications; receiving, from the UE in a higher layer communication, a physical layer feedback report, wherein the physical layer feedback is associated with a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer compared to one or more higher layers of the protocol stack; and retransmitting, to the UE, the one or more downlink communications based at least in part on the physical layer feedback report.

[0283] Aspect 32: The method of Aspect 31, wherein the higher layer communication from the UE is a medium access control (MAC) layer communication including a MAC control element (MAC-CE) indicating feedback for one or more physical layer acknowledgement feedback processes of the UE.

[0284] Aspect 33: The method of Aspect 32, wherein the MAC-CE includes a reserved logical channel identifier (LCID) or an extended LCID associated with acknowledgement feedback of the UE.

[0285] Aspect 34: The method of any one of Aspects 31 to 33, further comprising: transmitting, to the UE, configuration information disabling physical layer reporting of feedback and enabling higher layer communications for transmitting the physical layer feedback report.

[0286] Aspect 35: The method of any of aspects 31 through 34, wherein the UE is configured to transmit the physical layer feedback report in the higher layer communication based at least in part on one or more of: a physical layer indication at the UE that the one or more downlink transmissions were not successfully received, a number of feedback procedures at the UE with negative acknowledgements exceeding a threshold, a physical layer indication at the UE of a synchronization error, a timer associated with physical layer synchronization at the UE expiring, a periodic indication of timing for feedback, a request from the base station to transmit the physical layer feedback report, or any combination thereof.

[0287] Aspect 36: The method of any of aspects 31 through 35, wherein the higher layer communication includes one or more fixed size data or information transmissions for reporting a predetermined number of physical layer feedback procedures of the UE.

[0288] Aspect 37: The method of any of aspects 31 through 36, wherein the higher layer communication includes a channel quality report associated with a number of feedback procedures with negative acknowledgement feedback status.

[0289] Aspect 38: The method of any of aspects 31 through 37, wherein the higher layer communication includes one or more variable size data or information transmissions, each variable size data or information transmission providing an identification of one or more feedback procedures at the UE.

[0290] Aspect 39: The method of aspect 38, wherein the higher layer communication further includes one or more of a feedback procedure identification and a number of times data associated with the feedback procedure identification was attempted to be decoded at the UE.

[0291] Aspect 40: The method of any of aspects 31 through 39, further comprising: receiving one or more uplink communications from the UE; determining physical layer feedback associated with the one or more uplink communications; and transmitting one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications to the UE via higher layer signaling.

[0292] Aspect 41: The method of aspect 40, wherein a first medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) format is configured at the UE for transmitting the physical layer feedback report for the one or more downlink transmissions, and a second MAC-CE is configured at the UE for receiving the one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications.

[0293] Aspect 42: The method of any of aspects 31 through 41, further comprising: receiving a capability message from the UE, the capability message indicating that the UE is capable of communicating physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with the base station.

[0294] Aspect 43: The method of any of aspects 31 through 42, further comprising transmitting, to the UE, signaling indicating that higher layer communications are to be used for the physical layer feedback.

[0295] Aspect 44: The method of aspect 43, wherein the signaling indicating that higher layer communications are to be used for the physical layer feedback is transmitted in broadcast information from the base station, in RRC signaling from the base station, or a combination thereof.

[0296] Aspect 45: The method of any of aspects 31 through 44, further comprising transmitting, in response to failing to decode the physical layer acknowledgement feedback report in the higher layer communication, a resource grant for a retransmission of the physical layer feedback; and monitoring for the retransmission of the physical layer feedback in the one or more higher layer communications based at least in part on the resource grant.

[0297] Aspect 46: A method for wireless communication at a base station, comprising: transmitting, to a UE via a wireless connection with the UE, one or more downlink transmissions; identifying that one or more conditions associated with the wireless connection indicate that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the base station; and in response to the identifying, receiving the physical layer feedback from the UE, wherein the physical layer feedback is generated by a physical layer of a protocol stack of the UE that is a lower layer compared to one or more higher layers of the protocol stack of the UE.

[0298] Aspect 47: The method of aspect 46, further comprising disabling physical layer reporting of the physical layer feedback prior to transmitting the one or more downlink transmissions to the UE; and receiving the physical layer feedback from the UE in a higher layer communication.

[0299] Aspect 48: The method of aspect 47, wherein the higher layer communication is a medium access control (MAC) layer communication comprising a MAC control element (MAC-CE) that includes the physical layer feedback.

[0300] Aspect 49: The method of any of aspects 46 through 48, further comprising configuring the UE to transmit the physical layer feedback based at least in part on one or more conditions at the UE.

[0301] Aspect 50: The method of aspect 49, wherein the one or more conditions at the UE comprise one or more of: a physical layer indication that one or more of the downlink transmissions were not successfully decoded, or a physical layer indication of a decoding failure for one or more feedback process identifications, or a number of unsuccessful decoding attempts for one or more downlink transmissions exceeding a threshold.

[0302] Aspect 51 : The method of any of aspects 49 through 50, wherein the one or more conditions at the UE further comprise a number of feedback procedures for unsuccessfully decoding associated downlink transmissions exceeding a threshold number.

[0303] Aspect 52: The method of any of aspects 49 through 51, wherein the one or more conditions at the UE further comprise a synchronization error at a physical layer of the UE.

[0304] Aspect 53: The method of any of aspects 49 through 52, wherein the one or more conditions at the UE further comprise expiration of a timer associated with physical layer synchronization.

[0305] Aspect 54: The method of any of aspects 49 through 53, wherein the one or more conditions at the UE further comprise a timing associated with a periodic physical layer feedback report.

[0306] Aspect 55: The method of aspect 54, further comprising configuring the UE with a timing for the periodic physical layer feedback report based at least in part on a propagation delay between the UE and a base station.

[0307] Aspect 56: The method of any of aspects 46 through 55, further comprising transmitting a request to the UE for transmitting the physical layer feedback, and wherein the receiving is performed in response to the request.

[0308] Aspect 57: The method of any of aspects 46 through 56, further comprising receiving one or more uplink communications from the UE; determining physical layer feedback associated with the one or more uplink communications; and transmitting, via higher layer signaling, one or more physical layer feedback reports to the UE associated with the one or more uplink communications.

[0309] Aspect 58: The method of aspect 57, wherein a first medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) format is configured at the UE for transmitting physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, and a second MAC-CE is configured at the UE for receiving the one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications.

[0310] Aspect 59: An apparatus for wireless communication at a UE, comprising a processor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of aspects 1 through 16.

[0311] Aspect 60: An apparatus for wireless communication at a UE, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 1 through 16.

[0312] Aspect 61 : A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications at a UE, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform a method of any of aspects 1 through 16.

[0313] Aspect 62 : An apparatus for wireless communications at a UE, comprising a processor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform a method of any of aspects 17 through 30.

[0314] Aspect 63 : An apparatus for wireless communications at a UE, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 17 through 30.

[0315] Aspect 64 : A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications at a UE, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform a method of any of aspects 17 through 30.

[0316] Aspect 65 : An apparatus for wireless communications at a base station, comprising a processor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform a method of any of aspects 31 through 45.

[0317] Aspect 66 : An apparatus for wireless communications at a base station, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 31 through 45.

[0318] Aspect 67 : A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications at a base station, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform a method of any of aspects 31 through 45.

[0319] Aspect 68 : An apparatus for wireless communications at a base station, comprising a processor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform a method of any of aspects 46 through 58.

[0320] Aspect 69 : An apparatus for wireless communications at a base station, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 46 through 58.

[0321] Aspect 70 : A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications at a base station, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform a method of any of aspects 46 through 58.

[0322] Although aspects of an LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR system can be described for purposes of illustration, and the majority of the description can be in the context of LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR technology, other wireless communication systems such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, and others can also employ aspects of the described technology.

[0323] Information and signals described herein can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that can be referenced throughout the description can be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0324] The various illustrative blocks and components described herein can be implemented or performed with a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a CPU, a FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor can be any processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration).

[0325] The functions described herein can be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions can be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations fall within the scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, functions described herein can be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or combinations thereof. Features implementing functions can also be physically located at various positions, including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations.

[0326] Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A non-transitory storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, non-transitory computer-readable media can include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transitory medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of computer-readable medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include CD, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0327] As used herein, including in the claims “or” as used in a list of items (for example, a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of’ or “one or more of’) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Also, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an example step that is described as “based on condition A” can be based on both a condition A and a condition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall be construed in the same manner as the phrase “based at least in part on.”

[0328] In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like components throughout the several views. Additionally, the various components can be distinguished in various embodiments by the use of different reference numerals. If only the first reference numeral is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the like components having the same first reference numeral.

[0329] The description set forth herein, in connection with the appended drawings, describes example configurations and does not represent all the examples that can be implemented or that are within the scope of the claims. The term “example” used herein means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration,” and not “preferred” over other examples. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques. These techniques, however, can be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described examples.

[0330] The description herein is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein can be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not to be limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving one or more downlink transmissions from an access network entity via a wireless connection with the access network entity; determining physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, the physical layer feedback being associated with a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE; as well as communicating the physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with the access network entity using a higher layer in the protocol stack than the physical layer; wherein the one or more higher layer communications comprise medium access control (MAC) layer communications, and wherein transmitting the physical layer feedback comprises transmitting a MAC control element (MAC-CE) indicating feedback for one or more physical layer acknowledgment feedback procedures; and The MAC-CE is a variable-length data or information transmission including a feedback process identifier (ID) and the number of attempts to decode data associated with the feedback process identifier at the UE.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the MAC-CE is identified by a reserved logical channel identifier (LCID) or an extended LCID associated with an acknowledgment feedback of the UE.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: Prior to receiving the one or more downlink transmissions, configuration information is received that disables physical layer feedback reporting and enables the higher layer communications for transmitting the physical layer feedback.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: A determination is made based at least in part on an indication associated with communications between the UE and the access network entity to transmit the physical layer feedback in the one or more higher layer communications.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the indication associated with the communication between the UE and the access network entity comprises one or more of the following: a physical layer indication of unsuccessful receipt of the one or more downlink transmissions, The number of feedback processes with negative acknowledgments exceeds a threshold, The number of transmissions of the same feedback process exceeds the threshold, Physical layer indication of synchronization errors, The timer associated with physical layer synchronization expires, Timing of periodic indications for feedback, a request from the access network entity to transmit the physical layer feedback, or any combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the higher layer communications further comprise one or more of: One or more fixed-size data or information transmissions for reporting a predetermined number of physical layer acknowledgment feedback processes to the access network entity, a channel quality report associated with the number of feedback processes having a negative acknowledgement feedback state, or any combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting one or more uplink communications to the access network entity; receiving, via higher layer signaling, one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications; as well as One or more uplink communications are retransmitted based at least in part on the one or more physical layer feedback reports.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein a first media access control (MAC) control element (CE) format is configured at the UE for transmitting the physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, and a second MAC-CE is configured at the UE for receiving the one or more physical layer feedback reports associated with the one or more uplink communications.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting a capability message indicating that the UE is capable of communicating physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications; as well as Receive signaling indicating that higher layer communications are to be used for physical layer feedback, wherein the signaling indicating that higher layer communications are to be used for physical layer feedback is received in broadcast information from the access network entity, in radio resource control (RRC) signaling from the access network entity, or a combination thereof.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: Identifying that one or more conditions associated with the radio connection indicate that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the access network entity, wherein the physical layer feedback is transmitted in response to the identification.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: Prior to receiving the one or more downlink transmissions, physical layer reporting of feedback for the radio connection between the UE and the access network entity is disabled.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the identification comprises: An indication is received from the physical layer that one or more of the downlink transmissions was not successfully decoded, indicating a decoding failure for one or more feedback process identifiers, or a number of unsuccessful decoding attempts for one or more of the downlink transmissions exceeds a threshold.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the identification comprises one or more of the following: determining that a number of feedback processes that failed to successfully decode an associated downlink transmission exceeds a threshold number, receiving a synchronization error indication from the physical layer, determining that a timer associated with physical layer synchronization has expired, determining that periodic physical layer feedback reports are to be transmitted to the access network entity, wherein a periodic reporting interval having a periodicity based at least in part on a propagation delay between the UE and the access network entity is configured by the access network entity, receiving a request from the access network entity to transmit the physical layer feedback, or any combination thereof.

14. A method for wireless communication at an access network entity, comprising: transmitting one or more downlink communications to a user equipment (UE) via a wireless connection with the UE; receiving physical layer feedback in a higher layer communication from the UE, wherein the physical layer feedback is associated with a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer compared to one or more higher layers of the protocol stack; as well as retransmitting one or more of the downlink communications to the UE based at least in part on the physical layer feedback; wherein the higher layer communication from the UE is a medium access control (MAC) layer communication, the MAC layer communication including a MAC control element (MAC-CE) indicating feedback of one or more physical layer acknowledgment feedback procedures for the UE; and The MAC-CE is a variable-length data or information transmission including a feedback process identifier (ID) and the number of attempts to decode data associated with the feedback process identifier at the UE.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising: Configuring the UE to transmit the physical layer feedback in the higher layer communication based at least in part on one or more of: a physical layer indication at the UE of unsuccessful receipt of the one or more downlink transmissions, the number of feedback processes with negative acknowledgements at the UE exceeds a threshold, A physical layer indication of a synchronization error at the UE, a timer associated with physical layer synchronization at the UE expires, Timing of periodic indications for feedback, A request to transmit said physical layer feedback report, or any combination thereof.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising: Identifying that one or more conditions associated with the radio connection indicate that physical layer feedback is to be provided to the access network entity, wherein the physical layer feedback is received in response to the identification.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: disabling physical layer reporting of the physical layer feedback before transmitting the one or more downlink transmissions to the UE; as well as The physical layer feedback is received in a higher layer communication from the UE.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising: The UE is configured to transmit the physical layer feedback based at least in part on one or more conditions at the UE.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the one or more conditions at the UE include one or more of the following: a physical layer indication that one or more of the downlink transmissions was not successfully decoded, A physical layer indication of a decoding failure for one or more feedback process identifiers, a number of unsuccessful decoding attempts for one or more of the downlink transmissions exceeds a threshold, the number of feedback processes that failed to successfully decode the associated downlink transmission exceeds a threshold number, synchronization error at the physical layer of the UE, The timer associated with physical layer synchronization expires, timing associated with periodic physical layer feedback reporting based at least in part on a propagation delay between the UE and the access network entity, or any combination thereof.

20. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: means for receiving one or more downlink transmissions from an access network entity via a wireless connection with the access network entity; means for determining physical layer feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions, and means for transmitting the physical layer feedback in one or more higher layer communications with the access network entity, wherein the physical layer feedback is determined at a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer compared to the one or more higher layers used to transmit the higher layer communications; wherein the one or more higher layer communications comprise medium access control (MAC) layer communications, and wherein the physical layer feedback is transmitted in a MAC control element (MAC-CE) indicating feedback for one or more physical layer acknowledgment feedback procedures; and The MAC-CE is a variable-length data or information transmission including a feedback process identifier (ID) and the number of attempts to decode data associated with the feedback process identifier at the UE.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising: Means for receiving, prior to the one or more downlink transmissions, from the access network entity configuration information that disables the physical layer feedback reporting and enables the higher layer communications for transmitting the physical layer feedback.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising: means for identifying that one or more conditions associated with the radio connection indicate that the physical layer feedback is to be provided to the access network entity, wherein the physical layer feedback is transmitted in response to the identification.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising: means for disabling physical layer reporting of feedback for the radio connection between the UE and the access network entity prior to the one or more downlink transmissions.

24. An apparatus for performing wireless communication at an access network entity, comprising: means for transmitting one or more downlink communications to a user equipment (UE) via a wireless connection with the UE; means for receiving physical layer feedback in higher layer communications from the UE, wherein the physical layer feedback is associated with a physical layer of a protocol stack at the UE, the physical layer being a lower layer compared to one or more higher layers of the protocol stack; as well as means for retransmitting one or more of the downlink communications to the UE based at least in part on the physical layer feedback report; wherein the higher layer communication from the UE is a medium access control (MAC) layer communication, the MAC layer communication including a MAC control element (MAC-CE) indicating feedback of one or more physical layer acknowledgment feedback procedures for the UE; and The MAC-CE is a variable-length data or information transmission including a feedback process identifier (ID) and the number of attempts to decode data associated with the feedback process identifier at the UE.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising: means for identifying that one or more conditions associated with the radio connection indicate that physical layer feedback is to be provided to the access network entity, wherein the physical layer feedback is received in response to the identification.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, further comprising: means for disabling physical layer reporting of the physical layer feedback prior to the one or more downlink transmissions to the UE.

27. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: processor; a memory coupled to the processor; as well as The instructions are stored in the memory and are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

28. An apparatus for wireless communication at an access network entity, comprising: processor; a memory coupled to the processor; as well as Instructions stored in the memory, and the instructions can be executed by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of claims 14 to 19.

Images