Control channel for the new radio

Abstract

This document describes systems, methods, and means for determining one or more control channel operation parameters associated with the transmission of a first uplink control information (UCI) and a second UCI in the same control channel. The parameters may include corresponding repetition factors and / or spread factors associated with the first and second UCIs. The parameters may be determined based on corresponding characteristics of the first and second UCIs. These characteristics may include reliability requirements and / or use cases, etc. Self-contained subframes may be used to transmit data and / or control information. The control information may be transmitted using a different digital configuration than that used for data.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of Chinese Patent Application No. 201780070360.0, filed on June 28, 2019, entitled "Control Channel for a New Radio", the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0002] Cross-references to related applications

[0003] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 401,057, filed September 28, 2016, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Background Technology

[0004] New radio (NR) technologies (e.g., in 5G wireless systems) can include different use cases. These different use cases may imply different latency, reliability, coverage, and / or capacity requirements (e.g., for control channels). Control channel designs can be adapted to meet the different requirements of new radio technologies (including, for example, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine-type communications (mMTC), and ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC)). Summary of the Invention

[0005] This document describes systems, methods, and means for determining a first repetition factor for transmitting a first uplink control information (UCI) in an uplink control channel and a second repetition factor for transmitting a second UCI in the same uplink control channel. The first repetition factor can be determined based on characteristics associated with the first UCI. The second repetition factor can be determined based on characteristics associated with the second UCI. The corresponding characteristics of the first and second UCIs can differ from each other, causing the second repetition factor to differ from the first repetition factor. Once the first and second repetition factors are determined, the first repetition factor can be used to transmit the first UCI in the uplink control channel, and the second repetition factor can be used to transmit the second UCI in the same uplink control channel.

[0006] In the example, the characteristics associated with the first UCI may include at least one of the following associated with the first UCI: a first reliability requirement, a first delay requirement, or a first payload size. The characteristics associated with the second UCI may include at least one of the following associated with the second UCI: a second reliability requirement, a second delay requirement, or a second payload size. In the example, the characteristics associated with the first UCI may include a first beamforming pattern for precoding the first UCI, and the characteristics associated with the second UCI may include a second beamforming pattern for precoding the second UCI.

[0007] In the example, the characteristics associated with the first UCI may include a first use case associated with the first UCI, and the characteristics associated with the second UCI may include a second use case associated with the second UCI. Each of the first and second use cases may be associated with one of Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communication (UR-LLC), Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), or Massive Machine-Type Communication (mMTC). When the first use case is associated with a higher reliability requirement than the second use case, the first repetition factor may be greater than the second repetition factor. When the first use case is associated with UR-LLC and the second use case is associated with eMBB or mMTC, at least a portion of the first UCI, at least a portion of the second UCI, and the reference signal may be multiplexed within an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol. An OFDM symbol may include multiple resource elements. The reference signal, the portion of the first UCI, and the portion of the second UCI may be mapped to corresponding first, second, and third resource element subsets of the OFDM symbol. In such a scenario, the second resource element subset may be closer to the first resource element subset than the third resource element subset.

[0008] The systems, methods, and means described herein can also be associated with: determining a first spreading factor for transmitting the first UCI in an uplink control channel based on characteristics associated with the first UCI, and determining a second spreading factor for transmitting the second UCI in an uplink control channel based on characteristics associated with the second UCI. The second spreading factor may differ from the first spreading factor when the characteristics associated with the first and second UCIs are different from each other. Once determined, the first spreading factor can be used to transmit the first UCI in the uplink control channel, and the second spreading factor can be used to transmit the second UCI in the uplink control channel. Attached Figure Description

[0009] A more detailed understanding can be obtained from the following description, given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are presented by way of example:

[0010] Figure 1A This is a system diagram illustrating an exemplary communication system in which one or more of the disclosed embodiments may be implemented;

[0011] Figure 1B This illustrates the possibility of implementation according to an embodiment. Figure 1A A system diagram of an exemplary wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) used within a communication system shown;

[0012] Figure 1C This illustrates the possibility of implementation according to an embodiment. Figure 1A A system diagram of an exemplary radio access network (RAN) and an exemplary core network (CN) used within the communication system shown;

[0013] Figure 1D This illustrates the possibility of implementation according to an embodiment. Figure 1A A system diagram of another exemplary RAN and another exemplary CN used within the communication system shown;

[0014] Figure 2 This is a diagram illustrating an exemplary control channel construction process;

[0015] Figure 3 This is a diagram showing the first exemplary self-contained subframe;

[0016] Figure 4 This is a diagram illustrating a second exemplary self-contained subframe;

[0017] Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating a first example of a self-contained subframe with a hybrid digital configuration (numerology) for data and control channels;

[0018] Figure 6 This is a diagram illustrating a second example of a self-contained subframe with a hybrid digital configuration for data and control channels;

[0019] Figure 7 This is a diagram illustrating another exemplary control channel construction process;

[0020] Figure 8 This is a diagram illustrating an exemplary control signal overlay and post-processing operation;

[0021] Figure 9 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a flexible new radio resource element group design that includes two resource blocks;

[0022] Figure 10 This is a diagram illustrating an example of reusing control information;

[0023] Figure 11 This is a diagram illustrating an example of control channel and resource symbol multiplexing over two resource blocks in the frequency domain. Detailed Implementation

[0024] Figure 1AThis diagram illustrates an exemplary communication system 100 that can implement the disclosed embodiments. The communication system 100 can be a multiple access system providing voice, data, video, messaging, broadcasting, and other content to multiple wireless users. The communication system 100 enables multiple wireless users to access such content by sharing system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communication system 100 can use one or more channel access methods, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), Single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), Zero-Tail Unique Word DFT Extended OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), Unique Word OFDM (UW-OFDM), Resource Block Filtering OFDM, and Filter Bank Multicarrier (FBMC), etc.

[0025] like Figure 1A As shown, the communication system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, RAN 104 / 113, CN 106 / 115, public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, Internet 110, and other networks 112. However, it should be understood that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network components. Each WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. For example, any WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c, or 102d may be referred to as a “station” and / or “STA”, and may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals. It may include user equipment (UE), mobile stations, fixed or mobile subscriber units, subscription-based units, pagers, cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), smartphones, laptops, netbooks, personal computers, wireless sensors, hotspots or Mi-Fi devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearable devices, head-mounted displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in industrial and / or automated processing chain environments), consumer electronics devices, and devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. Any of WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c, or 102d may be interchangeably referred to as a UE.

[0026] The communication system 100 may also include base stations 114a and / or 114b. Each base station 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to enable its access to one or more communication networks (e.g., CN 106 / 115, Internet 110, and / or other networks 112) by wirelessly interfacing with at least one of WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. For example, base stations 114a, 114b may be base transceiver stations (BTS), node B, e-node B, home node B, home e-node B, gNB, NR node B, site controller, access point (AP), and wireless routers, etc. Although each base station 114a, 114b is described as a single component, it should be understood that base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network components.

[0027] Base station 114a may be part of RAN 104 / 113, and the RAN may also include other base stations and / or network components (not shown), such as base station controllers (BSCs), radio network controllers (RNCs), relay nodes, etc. Base station 114a and / or base station 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive radio signals on one or more carrier frequencies called cells (not shown). These frequencies may be in licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide radio service coverage for a specific geographic area that is relatively fixed or may change over time. A cell may be further divided into cell sectors. For example, a cell associated with base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, base station 114a may include three transceivers, that is, each transceiver corresponds to one sector of the cell. In embodiments, base station 114a may use multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology and may use multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell. For example, by using beamforming, signals can be transmitted and / or received in a desired spatial direction.

[0028] Base stations 114a and 114b can communicate with one or more of WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d via air interface 116, wherein the air interface can be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, micrometer wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). Air interface 116 can be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0029] More specifically, as described above, the communication system 100 can be a multiple access system and can use one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, and SC-FDMA, etc. For example, base station 114a in RAN 104 / 113 and WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can implement a certain radio technology, such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), wherein the technology can use Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) to establish the air interface 115 / 116. WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High-Speed ​​Downlink (DL) Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High-Speed ​​UL Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0030] In an embodiment, base station 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a certain radio technology, such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), wherein the technology may use Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or Advanced LTE (LTE-A) and / or Advanced LTAPro (LTE-APro) to establish air interface 116.

[0031] In an embodiment, base station 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a certain radio technology, such as NR radio access, wherein the radio technology may use a novel radio (NR) to establish air interface 116.

[0032] In this embodiment, base station 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can implement various radio access technologies. For example, base station 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can jointly implement LTE radio access and NR radio access (e.g., using the dual connectivity (DC) principle). Therefore, the air interface used by WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can be characterized by various types of radio access technologies and / or transmissions sent to / from various types of base stations (e.g., eNBs and gNBs).

[0033] In other embodiments, base station 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement the following radio technologies, such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., WiFi), IEEE 802.16 (Global Microwave Access Interoperability (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000EV-DO, Provisional Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Provisional Standard 95 (IS-95), Provisional Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data Rate for GSM Evolution (EDGE), and GSM EDGE (GERAN), etc.

[0034] Figure 1A Base station 114b can be a wireless router, home node B, home e node B, or access point, and can use any suitable RAT to facilitate wireless connectivity in a local area, such as a business premises, residence, vehicle, campus, industrial facility, air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), and road, etc. In one embodiment, base station 114b and WTRUs 102c, 102d can establish a wireless local area network (WLAN) by implementing a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11. In another embodiment, base station 114b and WTRUs 102c, 102d can establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN) by implementing a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15. In yet another embodiment, base station 114b and WTRUs 102c, 102d can establish a picocell or femtocell by using a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-APro, NR, etc.). Figure 1A As shown, base station 114b can be directly connected to the Internet 110. Therefore, base station 114b does not need to access the Internet 110 via CN 106 / 115.

[0035] RAN 104 / 113 can communicate with CN 106 / 115, where CN can be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, application, and / or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services to one or more WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. This data can have different Quality of Service (QoS) requirements, such as different throughput requirements, latency requirements, fault tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, and mobility requirements, etc. CN 106 / 115 can provide call control, billing services, location-based services, prepaid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or can perform advanced security functions such as user authentication. Although in Figure 1AWhile not shown, it should be understood that RAN104 / 113 and / or CN 106 / 115 can communicate directly or indirectly with other RANs that use the same RAT or a different RAT as RAN 104 / 113. For example, in addition to connecting to RAN 104 / 113 which uses NR radio technology, CN 106 / 115 can also communicate with other RANs (not shown) that use GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or WiFi radio technologies.

[0036] CN 106 / 115 may also act as a gateway for WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. PSTN 108 may include a circuit-switched telephone network providing Simple Old-Style Telephone Service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global network of interconnected computer equipment systems using common communication protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), and / or Internet Protocol (IP) from the TCP / IP Internet Protocol suite. Network 112 may include wired and / or wireless communication networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, network 112 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs, wherein the one or more RANs may use the same RAT or a different RAT as RAN 104 / 113.

[0037] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d in the communication system 100 may include multi-mode capability (e.g., WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d may include multiple transceivers communicating with different wireless networks on different wireless links). For example... Figure 1A The WTRU 102c shown can be configured to communicate with base station 114a, which can use cellular-based radio technology, and with base station 114b, which can use IEEE 802 radio technology.

[0038] Figure 1B This is a system diagram illustrating an example of WTRU 102. (See diagram below.) Figure 1B As shown, WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive unit 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keyboard 126, a display / touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power supply 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and other peripheral devices 138. It should be understood that, while remaining consistent with the embodiments, WTRU 102 may also include any sub-combination of the foregoing components.

[0039] Processor 118 can be a general-purpose processor, a special-purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors associated with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) circuit, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), and a state machine, etc. Processor 118 can perform signal encoding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other function that enables WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. Processor 118 can be coupled to transceiver 120, and transceiver 120 can be coupled to transmitting / receiving unit 122. Although Figure 1B While the processor 118 and transceiver 120 are described as separate components, it should be understood that the processor 118 and transceiver 120 can also be integrated into a single electronic component or chip.

[0040] Transmit / receive component 122 may be configured to transmit or receive signals to or from a base station (e.g., base station 114a) via air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, transmit / receive component 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. As an example, in an embodiment, transmit / receive component 122 may be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals. In an embodiment, transmit / receive component 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive RF and optical signals. It should be understood that transmit / receive component 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0041] Although Figure 1B The transmit / receive component 122 is described as a single component, but the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit / receive components 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may use MIMO technology. Thus, in an embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit / receive components 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) that transmit and receive radio signals via the air interface 116.

[0042] Transceiver 120 can be configured to modulate signals to be transmitted by transmitter / receiver 122 and demodulate signals received by transmitter / receiver 122. As described above, WTRU 102 can have multimode capability. Therefore, transceiver 120 can include multiple transceivers that allow WTRU 102 to communicate using various RATs (e.g., NR and IEEE 802.11).

[0043] The processor 118 of WTRU 102 can be coupled to a speaker / microphone 124, a keyboard 126, and / or a display / touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) unit or an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit) and can receive user input data from these components. The processor 118 can also output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, keyboard 126, and / or display / touchpad 128. Furthermore, the processor 118 can access and store information from any suitable memory, such as non-removable memory 130 and / or removable memory 132. Non-removable memory 130 can include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. Removable memory 132 can include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory stick, secure digital card (SD) memory card, etc. In other embodiments, the processor 118 can access and store information from memory that is not actually located in WTRU 102; for example, such memory could be located in a server or home computer (not shown).

[0044] The processor 118 can receive power from the power supply 134 and can be configured to distribute and / or control power for other components in the WTRU 102. The power supply 134 can be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power supply 134 may include one or more dry cell battery packs (such as nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd), nickel-zinc (Ni-Zn), nickel-metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), etc.), solar cells, and fuel cells, etc.

[0045] The processor 118 may also be coupled to a GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) related to the current location of the WTRU 102. As a supplement or replacement to the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information from base stations (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) via the air interface 116, and / or determine its location based on signal timing received from two or more nearby base stations. It should be understood that, while remaining consistent with the embodiments, the WTRU 102 may acquire location information using any suitable positioning method.

[0046] The processor 118 can also be coupled to other peripheral devices 138, which may include one or more software and / or hardware modules providing additional features, functions, and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, peripheral devices 138 may include accelerometers, electronic compasses, satellite transceivers, digital cameras (for photos and / or video), Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports, vibration devices, television transceivers, hands-free headsets, etc. Modules, FM radio units, digital music players, media players, video game console modules, internet browsers, virtual reality and / or augmented reality (VR / AR) devices, and activity trackers, etc. Peripheral devices 138 may include one or more sensors, which may be one or more of the following: gyroscopes, accelerometers, Hall effect sensors, magnetometers, orientation sensors, proximity sensors, temperature sensors, time sensors, geolocation sensors, altimeters, light sensors, touch sensors, magnetometers, barometers, gesture sensors, biometric sensors, and / or humidity sensors.

[0047] WTRU 102 may include a full-duplex wireless device, wherein the reception or transmission of some or all signals (e.g., associated with specific subframes for UL (e.g., for transmission) and downlink (e.g., for reception)) may be concurrent and / or simultaneous for the wireless device. The full-duplex wireless device may include an interference management unit that reduces and / or substantially eliminates self-interference by means of hardware (e.g., choke coils) or by means of a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or by means of processor 118) for signal processing. In embodiments, WTRU 102 may include a half-duplex wireless device that transmits and receives some or all signals (e.g., associated with specific subframes for UL (e.g., for transmission) or downlink (e.g., for reception).

[0048] Figure 1C This is a system diagram illustrating RAN 104 and CN 106 according to an embodiment. As described above, RAN 104 can communicate with WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c using E-UTRA radio technology on air interface 116. RAN 104 can also communicate with CN 106.

[0049] RAN 104 may include eNodeBs 160a, 160b, and 160c; however, it should be understood that RAN 104 may include any number of eNodeBs while remaining consistent with the embodiments. Each eNodeB 160a, 160b, and 160c may include one or more transceivers communicating with WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c on air interface 116. In one embodiment, eNodeBs 160a, 160b, and 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, for example, eNodeB 160a may use multiple antennas to transmit radio signals to and / or receive radio signals from WTRU 102a.

[0050] Each eNodeB 160a, 160b, and 160c can be associated with a specific cell (not shown) and can be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, user scheduling in UL and / or DL, etc. For example... Figure 1C As shown, nodes B160a, 160b, and 160c can communicate with each other via the X2 interface.

[0051] Figure 1C The CN 106 shown may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 162, a Serving Gateway (SGW) 164, and a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (or PGW) 166. While each of the foregoing components is described as part of the CN 106, it should be understood that any of these components may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0052] MME 162 can connect to each eNodeB 160a, 160b, and 160c in RAN 104 via the S1 interface and can act as a control node. For example, MME 162 can be responsible for authenticating users of WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c, performing bearer activation / deactivation processes, and selecting a specific serving gateway during the initial attach process of WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c, etc. MME 162 can also provide control plane functionality for handover between RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) using other radio technologies (such as GSM and / or WCDMA).

[0053] The SGW 164 can connect to each eNodeB 160a, 160b, and 160c in RAN 104 via the S1 interface. The SGW 164 typically routes and forwards user data packets to / from WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c. Furthermore, the SGW 164 can perform other functions, such as anchoring the user plane during handover between eNBs, triggering paging processes when DL data is available to WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c, and managing and storing the context of WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c, etc.

[0054] SGW 164 can be connected to PGW 166, which can provide packet-switched network (e.g., Internet 110) access for WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c to facilitate communication between WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0055] CN 106 can facilitate communication with other networks. For example, CN 106 can provide circuit-switched network (e.g., PSTN 108) access for WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c to facilitate communication between WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c and conventional landline communication equipment. For example, CN 106 may include or communicate with an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server), and the IP gateway may act as an interface between CN 106 and PSTN 108. Furthermore, CN 106 can provide WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0056] Although Figure 1A-1D The WTRU is described as a wireless terminal; however, it should be understood that in some typical embodiments, such a terminal may use a wired communication interface (e.g., temporary or permanent) with the communication network.

[0057] In a typical embodiment, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0058] A WLAN employing an Infrastructure Basic Services Set (BSS) model may have an access point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may access or interface with a distributed system (DS) or other type of wired / wireless network that sends traffic into and / or out of the BSS. Traffic originating outside the BSS and destined for a STA can be delivered to the STA via the AP. Traffic originating from a STA and destined for a destination outside the BSS can be sent to the AP for delivery to the appropriate destination. Traffic between STAs within the BSS can be sent via the AP; for example, a source STA can send traffic to the AP, and the AP can deliver the traffic to the destination STA. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be considered and / or referred to as point-to-point traffic. Point-to-point traffic can be sent between the source and destination STAs (e.g., directly therebetween) using Direct Link Establishment (DLS). In some typical embodiments, the DLS may use 802.11e DLS or 802.11z Channelized DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using the Independent BSS (IBSS) mode may not have an access point (AP), and STAs (STAs) within the IBSS or using the IBSS (e.g., all STAs) can communicate directly with each other. Here, the IBSS communication mode is sometimes referred to as a "self-organizing" communication mode.

[0059] When operating in 802.11ac infrastructure mode or a similar mode, the AP can transmit beacons on a fixed channel (e.g., the primary channel). The primary channel can have a fixed width (e.g., a 20 MHz bandwidth) or a width dynamically set via signaling. The primary channel can be the operating channel of the BSS and can be used by STAs to establish connections with the AP. In some typical embodiments, Carrier-Sensed Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA / CA) can be implemented (e.g., in an 802.11 system). For CSMA / CA, STAs, including the AP (e.g., each STA), can sense the primary channel. If a particular STA senses / detects and / or determines that the primary channel is busy, that particular STA can fall back. Within a given BSS, at any given time, only one STA (e.g., only one station) can be transmitting.

[0060] High-throughput (HT) STAs can communicate using a 40MHz wide channel (e.g., by combining a 20MHz wide main channel with adjacent or non-adjacent 20MHz wide channels to form a 40MHz wide channel).

[0061] Very High Throughput (VHT) STAs can support channels with widths of 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, and / or 160MHz. 40MHz and / or 80MHz channels can be formed by combining consecutive 20MHz channels. A 160MHz channel can be formed by combining eight consecutive 20MHz channels or by combining two non-consecutive 80MHz channels (this combination may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration). For the 80+80 configuration, after channel coding, data is transmitted and passed through a segmented parser that splits the data into two streams. Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) processing and time-domain processing can be performed individually on each stream. The streams can be mapped onto two 80MHz channels, and the data can be transmitted by the STA performing the transmission. On the receiver of the STA performing the reception, the above operations for the 80+80 configuration can be reversed, and the combined data can be sent to the Media Access Control (MAC).

[0062] 802.11af and 802.11ah support sub-1 GHz operating modes. Compared to 802.11n and 802.11ac, the channel operating bandwidth and carrier used in 802.11af and 802.11ah are reduced. 802.11af supports 5 MHz, 10 MHz, and 20 MHz bandwidths in the TV white space (TVWS) spectrum, while 802.11ah supports 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, and 16 MHz bandwidths using non-TVWS spectrum. According to some typical embodiments, 802.11ah can support instrument-type control / machine-type communication (e.g., MTC devices in macro coverage areas). MTCs may have certain capabilities, such as limited capabilities including support (e.g., only support) certain and / or limited bandwidths. MTC devices may include a battery with a battery life exceeding a threshold (e.g., for maintaining a very long battery life).

[0063] For WLAN systems that can support multiple channels and channel bandwidths (e.g., 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11af, and 802.11ah), the WLAN system includes a channel that can be designated as the primary channel. The bandwidth of the primary channel can be equal to the maximum common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel can be set and / or limited by a single STA, which is derived from all STAs operating in the BSS that support the minimum bandwidth operating mode. In the example of 802.11ah, even if the AP and other STAs in the BSS support 2MHz, 4MHz, 8MHz, 16MHz, and / or other channel bandwidth operating modes, the width of the primary channel can be 1MHz for STAs that support (e.g., only support) the 1MHz mode (e.g., MTC type devices). Carrier sensing and / or Network Allocation Vector (NAV) settings can depend on the status of the primary channel. If the primary channel is busy (e.g., because an STA (which only supports the 1MHz operating mode) is transmitting to the AP), then the entire available band can be considered busy even if most of the frequency band remains idle and available.

[0064] In the United States, the available frequency band for 802.11ah is 902MHz to 928MHz. In South Korea, the available frequency band is 917.5MHz to 923.5MHz. In Japan, the available frequency band is 916.5MHz to 927.5MHz. Depending on the country code, the total bandwidth available for 802.11ah is 6MHz to 26MHz.

[0065] Figure 1DThis is a system diagram illustrating RAN 113 and CN 115 according to an embodiment. As described above, RAN 113 can communicate with WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c using NR radio technology on air interface 116. RAN 113 can also communicate with CN 115.

[0066] RAN 113 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c; however, it should be understood that RAN 113 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with the embodiments. Each gNB 180a, 180b, and 180c may include one or more transceivers for communicating with WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c via air interface 116. In one embodiment, gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, gNBs 180a and 180b may use beamforming to transmit and / or receive signals to and / or from gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c. Thus, for example, gNB 180a may use multiple antennas to transmit radio signals to and / or receive radio signals from WTRU 102a. In an embodiment, gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c may implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, gNB 180a can transmit multiple component carriers (not shown) to WTRU 102a. A subset of these component carriers may be on unlicensed spectrum, while the remaining component carriers may be on licensed spectrum. In embodiments, gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c may implement Cooperative Multipoint (CoMP) technology. For example, WTRU 102a can receive cooperative transmissions from gNBs 180a and 180b (and / or gNB 180c).

[0067] WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c using transmissions associated with scalable digital configurations. For example, the OFDM symbol spacing and / or OFDM subcarrier spacing can be different for different transmissions, different cells, and / or different portions of the radio transmission spectrum. WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c using subframes or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of different or scalable lengths (e.g., containing different numbers of OFDM symbols and / or continuously varying absolute time lengths).

[0068] gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c can be configured to communicate with WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c in standalone and / or non-standalone configurations. In standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c without accessing other RANs (e.g., eNodeBs 160a, 160b, and 160c). In standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can use one or more of gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c as mobile anchors. In standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can use signals in unlicensed frequency bands to communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c. In a non-standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c communicate / connect with gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c simultaneously with other RANs (e.g., eNodeBs 160a, 160b, and 160c). For example, WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can communicate substantially simultaneously with one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c, as well as one or more eNodeBs 160a, 160b, and 160c, by implementing DC principles. In a non-standalone configuration, eNodeBs 160a, 160b, and 160c can act as mobile anchors for WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c, and gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c can provide additional coverage and / or throughput to service WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c.

[0069] Each gNB 180a, 180b, and 180c can be associated with a specific cell (not shown) and can be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, user scheduling in UL and / or DL, support network slicing, implement dual connectivity, implement interoperability processing between NR and E-UTRA, route user plane data to User Plane Functions (UPF) 184a and 184b, and route control plane information to Access and Mobility Management Functions (AMF) 182a and 182b, etc. Figure 1D As shown, gNB 180a, 180b, and 180c can communicate with each other via the X2 interface.

[0070] Figure 1DThe CN 115 shown may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one Session Management Function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and may include Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. While each of the foregoing components is described as part of CN 115, it should be understood that any of these components may be owned and / or operated by entities other than the CN operator.

[0071] AMF 182a and 182b can connect to one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c in RAN 113 via the N2 interface and can act as control nodes. For example, AMF 182a and 182b can be responsible for authenticating users of WTRU 102a, 102b, and 102c, supporting network slicing (e.g., handling different PDU sessions with different needs), selecting specific SMF 183a and 183b, managing registration areas, terminating NAS signaling, and mobility management, etc. AMF 182a and 1823b can use network slicing to customize the CN support provided to WTRU 102a, 102b, and 102c based on the service types used by WTRU 102a, 102b, and 102c. For example, different network slices can be established for different use cases, such as services relying on Ultra Reliable Low Latency (URLLC) access, services relying on Enhanced Massive Mobile Broadband (eMBB) access, and / or services for Machine Type Communication (MTC) access, etc. AMF 162 can provide control plane functions for handover between RAN 113 and other RANs (not shown) using other radio technologies (such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-APro, and / or non-3GPP access technologies such as WiFi).

[0072] SMFs 183a and 183b can connect to AMFs 182a and 182b in CN 115 via the N11 interface. SMFs 183a and 183b can also connect to UPFs 184a and 184b in CN 115 via the N4 interface. SMFs 183a and 183b can select and control UPFs 184a and 184b, and can configure traffic routing through UPFs 184a and 184b. SMFs 183a and 183b can perform other functions, such as managing and allocating UE IP addresses, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, and providing downlink data notifications, etc. PDU session types can be IP-based, non-IP-based, and Ethernet-based, etc.

[0073] UPF 184a and 184b can be connected to one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c in RAN 113 via the N3 interface, thus providing WTRU 102a, 102b, and 102c with access to a packet-switched network (e.g., Internet 110) to facilitate communication between WTRU 102a, 102b, and 102c and IP-enabled devices. UPF 184 and 184b can perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multihomed PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering downlink packets, and providing mobility anchoring processing, etc.

[0074] CN 115 can facilitate communication with other networks. For example, CN 115 may include or can communicate with an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that acts as an interface between CN 115 and PSTN 108. Furthermore, CN 115 can provide WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. In one embodiment, WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can be connected to local data networks (DNs) 185a and 185b via the N3 interface connected to UPFs 184a and 184b and the N6 interface between UPFs 184a and 184b and DNs 185a and 185b.

[0075] In view of Figure 1A-1D And about Figure 1A-1D The corresponding descriptions herein refer to one or more of the functions described below, which can be performed by one or more emulation devices (not shown): WTRU 102a-d, Base Station 114a-b, eNodeB 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNB 180a-c, AMF 182a-b, UPF 184a-b, SMF 183a-b, DN 185a-b, and / or any other devices (one or more) described herein. These emulation devices can be one or more devices configured to simulate one or more of the functions described herein. For example, these emulation devices can be used to test other devices and / or simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

[0076] The simulation device can be designed to perform one or more tests on other devices in a laboratory environment and / or a carrier network environment. For example, the one or more simulation devices can perform one or more functions while being implemented and / or deployed, wholly or partially, as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network, to test other devices within the communication network. The one or more simulation devices can perform one or more functions while being temporarily implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. The simulation device can be directly coupled to other devices to perform tests, and / or can use over-the-air wireless communication to perform tests.

[0077] The one or more simulation devices can perform one or more functions, including all functionalities, without being implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. For example, the simulation devices can be used in test laboratories and / or test scenarios where wired and / or wireless communication networks are not deployed (e.g., under test) to perform tests on one or more components. The one or more simulation devices can be test equipment. The simulation devices can transmit and / or receive data using direct RF coupling and / or wireless communication via RF circuitry (which, as an example, may include one or more antennas).

[0078] Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (CP-OFDM) can be used for both DL and UL (e.g., up to 40 GHz for eMBB and URLLC) (e.g., in NR). Control channel design can be unified across DL and UL. Signal structures can be provided for the control channels that enhance commonalities between UL and DL. A unified control channel design approach can improve the efficiency of DL and UL control channel multiplexing (e.g., in self-contained subframes). A unified control channel design approach can simplify WTRU-to-WTRU sidelink transceiver design. A unified control channel design approach can facilitate reciprocity-based communication technologies (e.g., technologies that can leverage commonalities between UL and DL). A unified control channel design approach can reduce standardization efforts.

[0079] The new radio can support a variety of applications. Flexible control signaling designs that support scalable payloads can be implemented (e.g., for forward compatibility). This flexible control channel design approach can avoid design segmentation (e.g., because each control channel format may no longer require dedicated time-frequency resources).

[0080] The Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) (e.g., in LTE) can use the first three or four OFDM symbols in an LTE subframe. This design may result in limited capacity, lack of support for inter-cell interference cancellation (ICIC) and / or cooperative multipoint transmission / reception (CoMP), high overhead (e.g., each OFDM symbol may add approximately 7% overhead), limited payload size, and / or low user throughput (e.g., due to high blocking probability).

[0081] The Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (EDPCCH) (e.g., in Advanced LTE) can partition resources between data and control (e.g., using Frequency Division Duplex (FDD)). Within the frequency tone assigned to the control channel, the EDPCCH can cover the entire subframe (e.g., replacing the first three or four OFDM symbols).

[0082] Utilizing FDD in EPDCCH can lead to higher and / or scalable capacity, support for frequency-domain inter-cell interference coordination, improved spatial reuse (e.g., MIMO), support for beamforming and diversity, support for frequency-selective scheduling, and / or coexistence with traditional wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) on the same carrier.

[0083] For URLLC, the reliability of the control channel can be increased (e.g., to meet the low error rate requirements of URLLC). Strict requirements may be placed on latency. For mMTC, reliability requirements can be relaxed (e.g., for the control channel). For mMTC serving a large number of users, the size of the control channel area may increase, and the possibility of congestion may increase. For eMBB, new radios can be extended to higher frequency bands, which may impact control channel design. With more attenuation in higher frequency bands, beamforming can improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Antenna ports at the transmit / receive point (TRP) can be used for better beamforming.

[0084] Reference symbols (e.g., complex numbers) can be used as pilots. Reference symbols can be fixed and / or known. Reference signals can represent time-domain signals that can be generated after processing one or more reference symbols. For example, in OFDM, reference symbols can be used to represent complex numbers fed into an inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) block, while reference signals can be used to represent the output of that IDFT block.

[0085] A unified control channel design can be applied to both the uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) of a wireless communication system. For example, this unified design may be appropriate when using CP-OFDM as the waveform for both UL and DL (e.g., for frequencies below 40 GHz).

[0086] A unified control channel design reduces complexity. Using this design, base stations and WTRUs can use similar transceiver architectures. Figure 2 An exemplary control channel construction process is illustrated, which may include channel coding, modulation, spreading, scrambling, layer mapping and / or beamforming, and / or new radio resource element group (NR-REG) mapping.

[0087] Flexible control channel multiplexing can be applied to self-contained time slots (e.g., self-contained subframes). Using self-contained time slots (e.g., subframes), transmission (e.g., data transmission) and / or acknowledgment transactions can be completed within a single time slot (e.g., a subframe, a TTI, etc.). Self-contained time slots, such as self-contained subframes, can include one or more reference signals, control channel information, and / or data. In the example, within a self-contained time slot, one or more reference signals and / or control channel information can be transmitted before the data. By using self-contained subframes, latency can be reduced (e.g., reduced to a fraction of the subframe length).

[0088] Figure 3 An exemplary self-contained subframe is illustrated (e.g., which can be used in the downlink and / or uplink). The exemplary subframe may include multiple symbols (e.g., CP-OFDM symbols). The subframe may be used to carry DL and UL information. For example, a first New Radio Physical Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) Indicator Channel (NR-PHICH) may be transmitted in the first symbol of the subframe (e.g., towards the beginning of the subframe) and may carry an ACK / NACK response corresponding to a New Radio Physical Uplink Shared Channel (NR-PUSCH) transmission from a previous subframe. A first NR-PDCCH carrying control information may be transmitted in the second symbol of the subframe. A second NR-PHICH may be transmitted in the third symbol of the subframe (e.g., towards the end of the subframe), which may carry an ACK / NACK response corresponding to an NR-PUSCH transmission in the current subframe. The subframe may also include one or more reference signal symbols and / or one or more gaps. The one or more gaps may be budgeted (e.g., reserved) between the DL and UL to meet timing requirements at the WTRU or base station (e.g., to provide sufficient processing time). Each gap can be equal to approximately one OFDM symbol duration.

[0089] Figure 4 Another exemplary self-contained subframe is shown that can support a variety of use cases (e.g., possibly all use cases).

[0090] Control channels (e.g., NR-PHICH and / or NR-PDCCH) can be direction-agnostic and can be transmitted in both the uplink and / or downlink. For both the downlink and uplink, a uniform and / or flexible design can be employed (e.g., for control channel structures, subframe structures, etc.). For example, a uniform and / or flexible design can span the entire transmission bandwidth or a portion of it. A uniform and / or flexible design can allow frequency division multiplexing of data and / or control channels. For example, a flexible subframe design can allow time division and / or frequency division multiplexing of control, data, and / or reference symbols or signals.

[0091] Figure 4 Another exemplary self-contained subframe is shown that can support a variety of use cases.

[0092] For new radios, the control channel (e.g., NR-PHICH) can be designed to carry HARQ ACK / NACK. This HARQ ACK / NACK can respond to UL NR-PUSCH transmissions or DL ​​New Radio Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmissions. In the former example, the ACK / NACK can be transmitted in the DL to support UL HARQ operation. In the latter example, the ACK / NACK can be transmitted in the UL to support DL HARQ operation. In an exemplary embodiment, a successful transmission can be associated with a positive acknowledgment (ACK) (e.g., encoded as a binary "1"). A failed transmission can be associated with a negative ACK (NACK) (e.g., encoded as a binary "0"). As shown above, Figure 3 An exemplary mapping of 14-symbols in a self-contained subframe for NR-PHICH is shown. A gap (e.g., equal to approximately one OFDM symbol duration) can be budgeted (e.g., reserved) between DL and UL or between UL and DL to meet timing requirements at the WTRU or base station (e.g., to provide sufficient time for the required processing).

[0093] Exemplary control information can be illustrated as follows. The control channel (e.g., NR-PHICH) can carry a HARQ ACK / NACK response corresponding to a PDSCH or PUSCH transmission. The HARQ ACK / NACK response can be sent in the same subframe as the PDSCH or PUSCH transmission (e.g., for a self-contained subframe), or it can be sent in different subframes (e.g., for a non-self-contained subframe). For example, in... Figure 3In the NR-PHICH transmitted in the first symbol of the DL (e.g., an OFDM symbol), the NR-PHICH can carry an ACK / NACK response corresponding to an NR-PUSCH transmission from a previous subframe. The NR-PHICH transmitted in the second symbol of the UL (e.g., an OFDM symbol) can carry an ACK / NACK response corresponding to an NR-PDSCH transmission in the current subframe. Note that the NR-PHICH transmitted in the UL is only used as an example here. The techniques described herein can also be applied to other control channels, and the NR-PHICH can be interchangeably referred to herein as the New Radio Physical Uplink Control Channel (NR-PUCCH).

[0094] As an addition to or alternative to HARQ ACK / NACK, the NR-PHICH described herein can be used (e.g., by the WTRU) to transmit information (e.g., any control information). For example, the NR-PHICH can be used to transmit a scheduling request (SR) in the UL. The scheduling request may include one or more bits of information. In examples (e.g., in a beam-based design), the WTRU (e.g., each WTRU) can send keep-alive or polling information to the TRP so that the TRP knows whether to continue scanning a particular beam.

[0095] Scalable and / or hybrid digital configurations can be used to transmit control channels. For example, NR-PHICH and / or NR-PDCCH carrying control information can be transmitted with a different digital configuration than NR-PDSCH or NR-PUSCH carrying data. Figure 5 An exemplary self-contained subframe with a hybrid digital configuration for data and control channels can be shown. In this example, NR-PHICH and NR-PDCCH can be transmitted with half-symbol duration, while NR-PDSCH can be transmitted with full symbol duration. The subcarrier spacing of NR-PHICH and NR-PDCCH can be twice that of NR-PDSCH. For example, a 30kHz subcarrier spacing can be used for NR-PHICH and NR-PDCCH. A 15kHz subcarrier spacing can be used for NR-PDSCH. This approach increases data throughput. For example, as... Figure 5 As shown, with Figure 3 Compared to the example shown (where a single digital configuration is used for data and control channel transmission), two additional OFDM symbols within a subframe or time slot (e.g., within each subframe or time slot) can be used for data transmission (e.g., for NR-PDSCH transmission).

[0096] NR-PHICH and / or NR-PDCCH transmissions carrying control information can be sent within a subframe with different digital configurations. For example, an NR-PHICH transmitted in the DL at the beginning of a subframe can use larger OFDM symbols (e.g., with smaller subcarrier spacing) than other control or data channels transmitted in another part of the subframe. For example, such an NR-PHICH can carry ACK / NACK corresponding to an NR-PUSCH transmission. A larger cyclic prefix (CP) length can be used to make NR-PHICH transmissions (e.g., NR-PHICH transmissions performed at the beginning of a subframe) more robust to interference. This interference can occur, for example, due to excessive delays exceeding the CP length. An NR-PHICH transmitted in the UL at the end of a subframe (e.g., such an NR-PHICH can carry ACK / NACK corresponding to an NR-PDSCH transmission) can use smaller OFDM symbols (e.g., with larger subcarrier spacing). Using the methods described herein, WTRU and base station turnaround can be efficient (e.g., for applications with at least low latency).

[0097] Figure 6 Another example is shown, illustrating the concept of using a scalable (e.g., flexible) digital configuration for the control channel within a self-contained subframe or time slot. In this example, transmissions performed in the first part of a subframe can use a different digital configuration than those performed in the second part of the subframe. For example, reference signal and / or control channel transmissions (such as NR-PHICH) transmitted near the end of a self-contained subframe can use a different digital configuration (e.g., in terms of symbol duration and / or subcarrier spacing) than NR-PHICH and / or NR-PDCCH transmitted near the beginning of the subframe.

[0098] A unified control channel (e.g., NR-PHICH) design can be used for both UL and DL. An exemplary NR-PHICH build process can be performed... Figure 7 As shown in the diagram. This structure can be based on Figure 2 The exemplary processing is shown in the figure. Figure 2 and 7 In any one or both of the examples shown, channel coding can be implemented using a repeating code (e.g., for reliability purposes). Other channel codes may also be used.

[0099] The reliability of control channels can be improved through coding, repetition, and / or modulation. Flexible repetition coding techniques can be used to encode control information based on one or more characteristics of the control information. These characteristics may include, for example, the use case associated with the control information (e.g., URLLC, eMBB, or mMTC), delay requirements, or payload size. For example, control information bits (e.g., ACK / NACK bits) can be repeated by a repetition factor n, where n can be configurable and / or determined based on the reliability requirements of the control bits. For example, in use cases where higher reliability is desired (e.g., URLLC applications), a higher repetition factor can be configured for both the DL and UL. The repetition factors used for the DL and UL can be the same or different. The repetition factor can be configured independently (e.g., separately), for example, based on the corresponding maximum coupling loss (MCL) associated with the DL or UL link.

[0100] The bit sequence can be modulated. For example, this modulation can be performed after repetition. BPSK or other suitable modulation techniques can be used to perform the modulation. In example cases where more than one control information bit needs to be transmitted (e.g., two ACK / NACK bits corresponding to two transport blocks or two control bits corresponding to four beams), the control information bit can be modulated (e.g., using QPSK) and then repeated. Certain functional blocks in the transport chain can be modified (e.g., Figure 7 The order of the repeating and modulation blocks shown. For example, when there are two control bits corresponding to four beams, Figure 7 The corresponding positions of the repeating block and the modulation block shown can be swapped.

[0101] Data and / or control information multiplexing can be performed (e.g., at WTRUs) through extension. For example, after repetition and modulation, modulation symbols can be extended using orthogonal codes of size m. This extension allows control signals (e.g., ACK / NACK) from multiple WTRUs to be multiplexed (e.g., to improve resource utilization). Parameters associated with the extension (e.g., the size m of the orthogonal code) can determine the maximum capacity of the control channel (e.g., NR-PHICH) in the system. These parameters can be configured based on one or more characteristics of the transmission (such as the use case associated with the transmission (e.g., URLLC, eMBB, or mMTC), payload size, and / or delay requirements). For example, in use cases where many users are expected (e.g., mMTC applications), the extension code length can be increased, for example, to allow multiplexing of transmissions for a large number of users that can share time-frequency resources.

[0102] The spreading sequence can be real or complex. For example, a complex spreading sequence can be used for BPSK modulation control bits (e.g., ACK / NACK bits). In such an example, the number of user transmissions that can be multiplexed on a shared time-frequency resource can be increased (e.g., doubled) because the user transmission can be multiplexed on in-phase and quadrature components. For some use cases (e.g., mMTC applications), the number of transport blocks assigned to the DL and / or UL may be limited to one. BPSK modulation with complex spreading can be used in these cases to increase the user multiplexing capacity of the control channel (e.g., NR-PHICH).

[0103] The functions of repetition, modulation, and / or extension can be combined (e.g., by utilizing complementary pairs of extension sequences into a single functional block). For a WTRU, the first extension sequence can be used to signal ACK, and the second (e.g., another) extension sequence can be used to signal NACK. For example, the length of the extension sequence associated with a transmission can be configurable based on the transmission's use case and / or other characteristics. For example, the length of the extension sequence can be determined based on requirements associated with reliability and / or user multiplexing capacity. A larger sequence length may result in processing gain and / or higher user multiplexing capacity. An example of complementary sequences could be a Golay sequence, the use of which can reduce computational complexity. By utilizing a Golay sequence, two complementary extension sequences can be detected using one (e.g., only one) correlator at the receiver. In one example, two complementary maximum-length sequences (m-sequences) can be applied to signal ACK and NACK, respectively.

[0104] It should be noted that complementary sequences can be used for a variety of purposes. For example, complementary extended sequences can be used for channel estimation at the receiver (e.g., in addition to carrying ACK / NACK information, the sequence can implicitly serve as a reference symbol). This method can reduce reference signal overhead and / or increase transmission throughput.

[0105] Control signals (e.g., ACK / NACK signals) from multiple users can be superimposed (e.g., at the base station and / or for DL ​​transmission) and transmitted for post-processing. This post-processing may include scrambling, layer mapping, precoding, and / or beamforming of the superimposed (e.g., combined) signals. Figure 8 An example of control signal superposition and post-processing is shown. K orthogonal sequences s are used. (k) Superimposing K ACK / NACK signals may result in the following:

[0106]

[0107] Where c can be an L×1 composite signal vector to be mapped onto one or more (e.g., three) resource element groups (REGs). d (k) It can represent the HARQ ACK / NACK symbol of the BPSK modulation of the k-th user.

[0108] For a system with a repetition factor of n and a spread factor of length m, the total length L of the composite signal vector can be L = m × n. Equation (1) can be rewritten in matrix-vector form as:

[0109] c = Sd Equation (2)

[0110] Where S = [s (0) ,s (1) ,…,s (K-1) ] can be an (L×K) extended matrix. d=[d (0) ,d (1) ,…,d (K-1) ] T It can represent a vector containing K ACK / NACK symbols multiplexed on shared time and frequency resources.

[0111] In DL, after the composite signal c is formed, n instances of the signal c can be concatenated and scrambled (e.g., using cell-specific or beam-specific scrambling sequences), and / or layer-mapped and precoded before the instances are mapped to n NR-REGs.

[0112] Flexible resource element grouping designs can be applied to the control channel. An NR-REG (e.g., each NR-REG) can be formed from m consecutive resource elements (REs) of an OFDM symbol. An NR-REG can also be formed from m non-consecutive REs of an OFDM symbol. Parameters associated with the NR-REG (such as the length of the NR-REG and the number of NR-REGs per subframe or slot) can be configurable. For example, this configuration can be set according to the intended application purpose (e.g., eMBB, URLLC, and / or mMTC). NR-REGs can be extended over the allocated bandwidth for control channel transmission (e.g., such as NR-PHICH transmission). Frequency diversity gain can be obtained using this method. The bandwidth allocated to the control channel (e.g., such as NR-PHICH) can be the entire transmission bandwidth or a subset of that transmission bandwidth.

[0113] For example, the number of OFDM symbols used for NR-PHICH transmission in a subframe can be configurable, depending on the use case (e.g., eMBB, URLLC, mMTC, etc.). NR-REGs can be mapped across frequency and / or time domains over multiple resource blocks (RBs), multiple OFDM symbols, and / or multiple beams.

[0114] Figure 9 An example of a flexible NR-REG design for various use cases is shown. This example illustrates an NR-REG comprising two resource blocks, each with 12 subcarriers. As shown, for eMBB applications, the repetition factor (e.g., denoted as n) and the spread factor (e.g., denoted as m) can be equal to 2. For mMTC applications (e.g., which may have a design goal of achieving high user multiplexing capacity), the repetition factor can be 1 (e.g., n = 1) and the spread factor can be equal to 4 (e.g., m = 4). This could mean that when a complex spread sequence is applied in a given example, up to eight users can be multiplexed on the same four REs (e.g., this could be double that of the eMBB application shown in this example). For URLLC applications (e.g., which may have a design goal of high reliability), the repetition factor can be increased to four (e.g., for robustness purposes), which could result in four instances of orthogonal codes being sent for each ACK or NACK. The spread factor for URLLC applications can be kept at 2 to reduce inter-user interference that may be caused by, for example, code multiplexing. A larger spread factor can lead to higher inter-user interference and lower reliability.

[0115] NR-REG dedicated to control information transmission can be multiplexed on the same or different frequency subbands (one or more), on the same or different OFDM symbols (one or more), on the same or different resource blocks (one or more), and / or on the same or different beams (one or more). Figure 10 An example of multiplexing control information (e.g., HARQ ACK / NACK for various applications) over the same subband and an OFDM symbol is illustrated. As shown, different repetition factors (e.g., denoted as n) and / or different spreading factors (e.g., denoted as m) can be used to transmit control information associated with eMBB, mMTC, and URLLC applications. The OFDM symbol may include multiple subcarriers (e.g., 24 subcarriers), and the control information for the various applications can be mapped to different subcarriers of the OFDM symbol. This mapping can be performed based on (e.g., as a function thereof) the corresponding repetition factor and / or spreading factor associated with different control information. For example, a first NR-REG can be defined using a repetition factor of 4 and a spreading sequence length of 1, while a second NR-REG can be defined using a repetition factor of 1 and a spreading sequence length of 4. Using this exemplary method, the utilization efficiency of resources dedicated to control information transmission can be improved.

[0116] NR-REG can be multiplexed with reference symbols in the frequency domain and / or time domain. Figure 11An example of control channel and reference symbol multiplexing over two resource blocks in the frequency domain is shown. Note that in this example, two resource elements are dedicated to the reference symbol for each resource block. In other implementations, a different number of resource elements may be dedicated to the reference symbol.

[0117] Figure 11 The examples illustrate that different repetition factors (e.g., denoted as n) and / or different spreading factors (e.g., denoted as m) can be used to transmit control information associated with eMBB, mMTC, or URLLC applications. Various control information can be multiplexed (e.g., on a single OFDM symbol and / or mapped to different subcarriers of that OFDM symbol). Resource elements used to transmit various control information can be located at different distances (e.g., in the time and / or frequency domains) from resource elements used to transmit reference signals. For example, resource elements used to transmit URLLC control information can be closer to resource elements used to transmit reference signals than resource elements used to transmit eMBB or mMTC control information. Using this approach, transmission reliability for URLLC applications can be improved (e.g., because better channel estimation can be obtained by transmitting URLLC control information closer to the reference signal).

[0118] Unified control channel design can be applied to beam-based transmissions. In beam-based transmissions, control and / or data transmission between the Transmit / Receive Point (TRP) and the WTRU can be performed using a single transmit / receive beam pair (e.g., a Tx-Rx pair) or multiple transmit / receive beam pairs (e.g., relative to broadcasting within a cell). Transmission and reception using a single beam pair are referred to herein as single-beam transmission / reception. Transmission and reception using multiple beam pairs are referred to herein as multi-beam transmission / reception. Assuming a single beam is used at the transmitter and receiver, the Tx-Rx pair can be identical for uplink and downlink transmissions (e.g., at least where the transmission channels are mutual). If the transmission channels are not mutual (e.g., in FDD or non-mutual TDD), different Tx-Rx pairs can be used for uplink and downlink.

[0119] The NR control channel can be designed to support one or more scenarios (e.g., all scenarios) of single-beam and multi-beam transmission / reception. The NR control channel can also support scenarios where one or more transmit beams can be used at the transmitter and an omnidirectional receiver beam can be used at the receiver.

[0120] Control channel parameters can be defined based on the Tx-Rx beamforming patterns associated with transmission and reception (e.g., in addition to the methods based on repetition and spread factors described herein). An example of beamforming-based control channel design can be shown below.

[0121] C~(b1,b2,m,n,p)

[0122] Where C can represent the control channel design or configuration, and m, n, and p can represent the spreading factor, repetition factor, and beamforming mode used in transmission and reception, respectively.

[0123] The beamforming pattern may include a single pair of transmit / receive beams. The beamforming pattern may also include multiple pairs of transmit / receive beams (e.g., it may also indicate a specific combination of transmit and receive beams used in transmission / reception). The beamforming pattern may include half-beam based communication (e.g., one or more transmit beams may be used with an omnidirectional receive beam). For example, assuming p = 1 represents a single pair of transmit and receive beams, C can be determined based on one or more of (b1, b2, m, n, 1), where b1 and b2 may indicate the indices of the corresponding transmit and receive beams. In such an example, the values ​​of b1 and b2 may be different for different beam pairs. The values ​​of b1 and b2 may be different for uplink and downlink transmissions (e.g., at least in the case of non-mutual channels / beams).

[0124] For other values ​​of p (e.g., multi-beam transmission / reception), combinations of b1 and b2, for example based on a table, can indicate the specific transmit and receive beam sets used. The values ​​of p, b1, and b2 for each link can be set statically, semi-statically, or dynamically. In the static case, the values ​​of p, b1, and b2 can be identified by the transmitting device (e.g., WTRU or TRP), for example, from a pre-selected set of values ​​based on channel metric measurements (e.g., during beam discovery and / or beam pairing processes).

[0125] In a semi-static scenario, the values ​​of b1, b2, and p can be set by higher-layer signaling. In a dynamic scenario, the values ​​of b1, b2, and p can be identified by the transmitting device (e.g., WTRU or TRP), for example, based on channel metrics derived during transmission. For instance, these channel metrics can be derived based on the quality of the received control channel and / or beam reference symbols. The quality of the received control channel can be derived implicitly (e.g., based on the success or failure of control channel reception) or explicitly (e.g., based on feedback from the receiver regarding channel quality).

[0126] For low-latency URLLC, control channel parameters can be determined based on (e.g., linked to) the beam pairs used. For example, low-latency transmissions may not wait for optimal Tx-Rx beam pairs, and therefore, the coding factor (e.g., repetition factor) and / or the number of multiplexed control channels can be varied depending on the beam pairs used. In the example, if a non-optimal beam pair is used, the repetition factor can be increased, and the number of user transmissions to be multiplexed can be reduced.

[0127] In the example, the transmit beam (Tx beam) associated with downlink control channel transmission can be wider than the transmit beam associated with downlink data channel transmission. In the example, the beams and control parameters used in the transmission of uplink and downlink data or control information can be mutually or non-mutual (e.g., the downlink data channel transmit beam can be used as the receive beam (Rx beam) for uplink control channel transmission).

[0128] The beams used for the control channel in beam-based transmissions can be advertised. The TRP and / or WTRU can perform a beam discovery process and find a set of transmit-receive (Tx-Rx) beam pairs. For example, if the TRP uses beam combining for transmission in downlink transmissions, the WTRU can determine a suitable receive beam combination (e.g., which may include omnidirectional beams). In some cases, the suitable receive beam may be an empty beam, which may mean that the WTRU may be unreachable on that beam.

[0129] In certain use cases (e.g., to reduce transmission latency while maintaining performance), the TRP may announce the beam combination it intends to use for transmission at a future time (e.g., after a specific number of time instances since the announcement). This announcement can enable WTRUs that may be interested in receiving the transmission to set up a suitable beam combination for reception. The announcement can facilitate one or more WTRUs sending a clearance request at an appropriate time. The announcement can enable one or more WTRUs to receive control / data information from the TRP.

[0130] The TRP may use a large beamwidth for its control channel. The TRP may advertise one or more indices of sub-beams(s) that it may use (e.g., after several time intervals and / or for a certain duration). The time interval between the advertisement frame and the start of the beam index may be set statically (e.g., based on a pre-configured value), semi-statically (e.g., using a combination of pre-configuration and signaling), or dynamically (e.g., via higher-layer signaling).

[0131] While features and elements in specific combinations have been described above, those skilled in the art will recognize that each feature or element can be used alone or in any combination with other features and elements. The methods described herein can be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include electronic signals (transmitted via wired and / or wireless connections) and computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), registers, buffer memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media (e.g., internal hard disks and removable disks), magneto-optical media, and optical media (e.g., CD-ROM discs and / or digital universal discs (DVDs)). A processor associated with the software can be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for a WTRU, UE, terminal, base station, RNC, or any host computer.

Claims

1. A method implemented by a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), the method comprising: The downlink control transmission is received using the first subcarrier interval in the subframe; Downlink data transmission is received using a second subcarrier spacing in the subframe, wherein the second subcarrier spacing is different from the first subcarrier spacing; and A first uplink control transmission is transmitted using either the first subcarrier spacing or the second subcarrier spacing, wherein the first uplink control transmission includes bits indicating Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) Negative Acknowledgment (NACK) feedback for the downlink data transmission, and wherein the bits are repeated a configured number of times in the first uplink control transmission.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The second subcarrier spacing differs from the first subcarrier spacing in that the first subcarrier spacing is twice the second subcarrier spacing.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The configured number of repetitions corresponds to the configured repetition factor.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein, The configured repetition factor is four.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein, The configured repetition factor is one.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein, The method further includes a second uplink control transmission, the second uplink control transmission including a second bit, the second uplink control transmission being repeated a different number of times.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The downlink control transmission is received during a first symbol duration associated with the first subcarrier interval, the downlink data transmission is received during a second symbol duration associated with the second subcarrier interval, and the first symbol duration is twice the second symbol duration.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The first subcarrier interval is used to transmit the first uplink control transmission.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The second subcarrier interval is used to transmit the first uplink control transmission.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The bits indicating the HARQ negative acknowledgment (NACK) feedback for the downlink data transmission are sent via the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH).

11. A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) comprising a receiver, a processor, and a memory, the WTRU being configured to: The downlink control transmission is received using the first subcarrier interval in the subframe, and Downlink data transmission is received using a second subcarrier spacing in the subframe, wherein the second subcarrier spacing is different from the first subcarrier spacing; and The first uplink control transmission is transmitted using either the first subcarrier interval or the second subcarrier interval, wherein... The first uplink control transmission includes bits indicating Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) Negative Acknowledgment (NACK) feedback for the downlink data transmission, wherein the bits are repeated a configured number of times in the first uplink control transmission.

12. The WTRU according to claim 11, wherein, The second subcarrier spacing differs from the first subcarrier spacing in that the first subcarrier spacing is twice the second subcarrier spacing.

13. The WTRU according to claim 11, wherein, The configured number of repetitions corresponds to the configured repetition factor.

14. The WTRU according to claim 13, wherein, The configured repetition factor is four.

15. The WTRU according to claim 13, wherein, The configured repetition factor is one.

16. The WTRU according to claim 13, wherein, The WTRU also includes a second uplink control transmission, which includes a second bit and is repeated a different number of times.

17. The WTRU of claim 11, wherein, The WTRU is further configured as follows: Receive the downlink control transmission during the first symbol duration associated with the first subcarrier interval; and The downlink data transmission is received during a second symbol duration associated with the second subcarrier interval, wherein the first symbol duration is twice the second symbol duration.

18. The WTRU according to claim 11, wherein, The WTRU is further configured to transmit the uplink control transmission in the subframe.

19. The WTRU according to claim 11, wherein, The first subcarrier interval is used to transmit the first uplink control transmission.

20. The WTRU of claim 11, wherein, The second subcarrier interval is used to transmit the first uplink control transmission.

21. The WTRU according to claim 11, wherein, The bits indicating the HARQ negative acknowledgment (NACK) feedback for the downlink data transmission are sent via the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH).

22. A base station for wireless communication, comprising circuitry including a transmitter, a receiver, a processor, and a memory, the base station being configured to: Downlink control transmission is transmitted using the first subcarrier interval in the subframe; Downlink data transmission is performed in the subframe using a second subcarrier interval, wherein the second subcarrier interval is different from the first subcarrier interval; and The first uplink control transmission is received using either the first subcarrier interval or the second subcarrier interval, wherein... The first uplink control transmission includes bits indicating Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) Negative Acknowledgment (NACK) feedback for the downlink data transmission, wherein the bits are repeated a configured number of times in the first uplink control transmission.

23. A method implemented by a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), the method comprising: The downlink control transmission is received using the first subcarrier interval in the subframe; Downlink data transmission is received using a second subcarrier spacing in the subframe, wherein the second subcarrier spacing is different from the first subcarrier spacing; and The first uplink control transmission is transmitted using either the first subcarrier spacing or the second subcarrier spacing, wherein the first uplink control transmission includes bits indicating a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) positive acknowledgment (ACK) feedback or a HARQ negative acknowledgment (NACK) feedback, and wherein the bits are repeated a configured number of times in the first uplink control transmission.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein, The second subcarrier spacing differs from the first subcarrier spacing in that the first subcarrier spacing is twice the second subcarrier spacing.

25. The method according to claim 23, wherein, The configured number of repetitions corresponds to the configured repetition factor.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein, The configured repetition factor is one.

27. A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) comprising circuitry including a transmitter, a receiver, a processor, and a memory, the WTRU being configured to: The downlink control transmission is received using the first subcarrier interval in the subframe; Downlink data transmission is received using a second subcarrier spacing in the subframe, wherein the second subcarrier spacing is different from the first subcarrier spacing; and The first uplink control transmission is transmitted using either the first subcarrier interval or the second subcarrier interval, wherein... The first uplink control transmission includes bits indicating a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) positive acknowledgment (ACK) or a HARQ negative acknowledgment (NACK) feedback, wherein the bits are repeated a configured number of times in the first uplink control transmission.

28. The WTRU according to claim 27, wherein, The second subcarrier spacing differs from the first subcarrier spacing in that the first subcarrier spacing is twice the second subcarrier spacing.

29. The WTRU according to claim 27, wherein, The configured number of repetitions corresponds to the configured repetition factor.

30. The WTRU according to claim 29, wherein, The configured repetition factor is one.

31. A base station, comprising circuitry including a transmitter, a receiver, a processor, and a memory, the base station being configured to: Downlink control transmission is transmitted using the first subcarrier interval in the subframe; Downlink data transmission is performed in the subframe using a second subcarrier interval, wherein the second subcarrier interval is different from the first subcarrier interval; and The first uplink control transmission is received using either the first subcarrier interval or the second subcarrier interval, wherein... The first uplink control transmission includes bits indicating a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) positive acknowledgment (ACK) or a HARQ negative acknowledgment (NACK) feedback, wherein the bits are repeated a configured number of times in the first uplink control transmission.

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