Intra-UE traffic prioritization on uplink with medium access control-physical (MAC-PHY) layer interaction

Abstract

A method for wireless communication by a UE (user equipment) includes receiving a first configured Grant PDU (Protocol Data Unit) from a MAC (Medium Access Control) layer. The method also includes receiving a second configured Grant PDU from the MAC layer. The method also includes determining whether there is a conflict between the first configured Grant PDU and the second configured Grant PDU. The method also includes triggering a retransmission procedure for the second configured Grant PDU at the MAC layer when there is a conflict. The triggering may occur in response to receiving a message indicating a failure to transmit.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. patent application No. 17 / 215,337, filed on March 29, 2021, and entitled “INTRA-USER EQUIPMENT TRAFFIC PRIORITIZATION ON UPLINK WITH MEDIUM ACCESS CONTROL-PHYSICAL (MAC-PHY) LAYER INTERACTION,” which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 003,792, filed on April 1, 2020, and entitled “INTRA-USER EQUIPMENT TRAFFIC PRIORITIZATION ON UPLINK WITH MEDIUM ACCESS CONTROL-PHYSICAL (MAC-PHY) LAYER INTERACTION,” the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Technical Field

[0003] Generally speaking, aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications, and more specifically, aspects of the present disclosure relate to techniques and apparatus for intra-user equipment traffic prioritization on an uplink with medium access control-physical (MAC-PHY) layer interactions. Background Art

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide a variety of telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasts. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems, and long term evolution (LTE). Long term evolution (LTE) / LTE-Advanced is a set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile standard promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

[0005] A wireless communication network may include multiple base stations (BSs) capable of supporting communications for multiple user equipment (UEs). User equipment (UEs) may communicate with a base station (BS) via downlinks and uplinks. A downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the BS to the UE, and an uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the UE to the BS. As will be described in more detail, a BS may be referred to as a Node B, gNB, access point (AP), radio head, transmit receive point (TRP), new radio (NR) BS, 5G Node B, etc.

[0006] The above multiple access technology has been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different user devices to communicate at a city, country, region, and even global level. New Radio (NR) (which may also be referred to as 5G) is a set of enhancements to the LTE mobile standard released by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). NR is designed to better integrate with other open standards by improving spectrum efficiency, reducing costs, improving services, utilizing new spectrum, and using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) (CP-OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP) on the downlink (DL) and CP-OFDM and / or SC-FDM (e.g., also known as discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM)) on the uplink (UL), thereby better supporting mobile broadband Internet access, as well as supporting beamforming, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation. Summary of the Invention

[0007] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for wireless communication by a UE (user equipment) includes receiving a first configured Grant PDU (Protocol Data Unit) from a MAC (Medium Access Control) layer. The method also includes receiving a second configured Grant PDU from the MAC layer. The method includes sending a failure indication for the second configured Grant PDU from a PHY (Physical) layer to the MAC layer when a conflict exists between the first configured Grant PDU and the second configured Grant PDU. The failure indication triggers a retransmission process at the MAC layer for the second configured Grant PDU.

[0008] In another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus of a UE (user equipment) for wireless communication includes a memory and at least one processor operatively coupled to the memory. The apparatus is configured to receive a first configured Grant PDU (Protocol Data Unit) and a second configured Grant PDU from a MAC (Media Access Control) layer. The apparatus is further configured to send a failure indication for the second configured Grant PDU from a PHY (Physical) layer to the MAC layer when a conflict exists between the first configured Grant PDU and the second configured Grant PDU. The failure indication triggers a retransmission process for the second configured Grant PDU at the MAC layer.

[0009] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a UE includes means for receiving a first configured Grant PDU (Protocol Data Unit) from a MAC (Medium Access Control) layer. The UE also includes means for receiving a second configured Grant PDU from the MAC layer. The UE also includes means for sending a failure indication for the second configured Grant PDU from a PHY (Physical) layer to the MAC layer when a conflict exists between the first configured Grant PDU and the second configured Grant PDU. The failure indication triggers a retransmission procedure for the second configured Grant PDU at the MAC layer.

[0010] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon is disclosed. The program code is executed by a UE and includes program code for receiving a first configured Grant PDU (Protocol Data Unit) and a second configured Grant PDU from a MAC (Medium Access Control) layer. The UE also includes program code for sending a failure indication for the second configured Grant PDU from a PHY (Physical) layer to the MAC layer when a conflict exists between the first configured Grant PDU and the second configured Grant PDU. The failure indication triggers a retransmission process for the second configured Grant PDU at the MAC layer.

[0011] Generally speaking, aspects include methods, apparatus, systems, computer program products, non-transitory computer-readable media, user equipment, base stations, wireless communication devices, and processing systems as generally described with reference to and as illustrated by the figures and description.

[0012] The foregoing has outlined quite broadly the features and technical advantages of the examples according to the present disclosure so that the specific embodiments below may be better understood. Additional features and advantages will be described below. The disclosed concepts and specific examples may be readily used as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for achieving the same purpose of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. The characteristics of the disclosed concepts (both their organization and method of operation) and the associated advantages will be better understood from the description below when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Each of the figures in the drawings is provided for the purpose of illustration and description and not as a definition of limitations to the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] By referring to various aspects (some of which are shown in the accompanying drawings), a detailed description can be obtained so that the features of the present disclosure can be understood in detail. However, it should be noted that the accompanying drawings only illustrate certain aspects of the present disclosure and are therefore not to be considered as limiting the scope of the present disclosure, as the description may recognize other equally effective aspects. The same reference numerals in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements.

[0014] Figure 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a wireless communication network in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0015] Figure 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a base station in communication with a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication network according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 3 An example call flow illustrating PHY (physical) layer conflict handling in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0017] Figure 4 is a timing diagram illustrating a timeline for PHY layer conflict handling in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 5 is a timing diagram illustrating a timeline for PHY layer conflict handling in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process for PHY (physical) layer collision handling in a user equipment (UE) according to aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The various aspects of the present disclosure are described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure can be embodied in many different forms and should not be interpreted as being limited to any specific structure or function presented throughout the present disclosure. More precisely, these aspects are provided so that the present disclosure will be comprehensive and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. Based on the teachings, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the scope of the present disclosure is intended to encompass any aspect of the disclosure, whether that aspect is implemented independently of any other aspect of the disclosure or is implemented in combination with any other aspect. For example, using any number of aspects set forth, a device can be implemented or a method can be practiced. In addition, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to encompass such devices or methods that are practiced using other structures, functions, or structures and functions other than or different from the various aspects of the disclosure set forth. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosed disclosure can be embodied by one or more elements of the claims.

[0021] Several aspects of telecommunications systems will now be presented with reference to various devices and techniques. These devices and techniques will be described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by means of various blocks, modules, components, circuits, steps, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements"). These elements may be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0022] It should be noted that while aspects may be described using terminology typically associated with 5G and later wireless technologies, aspects of the present disclosure may be applicable to communication systems based on other generations (e.g., and including 3G and / or 4G technologies).

[0023] In summary, the present disclosure relates to handling conflicts in scheduled wireless communications. In certain wireless communication technologies, such as 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR), etc., a base station may schedule devices for communication via configuration of one or more resource grants. There may be multiple types of resource grants defined and available in a given wireless communication technology, such as configured grants (CGs) and dynamic grants (DGs). For example, in 5G, a base station (e.g., a gNB) may use radio resource control (RRC) signaling to semi-statically schedule CGs for devices (e.g., user equipment (UE)). CGs may be defined on certain resources and may be associated with periodic or other trigger-based allocations. LTE similarly defines semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) grants.

[0024] In response to receiving a grant (e.g., a configured grant), the UE prepares protocol data units (PDUs) for uplink transmission to the base station. The UE generates the PDUs in the medium access control (MAC) layer, provides the PDUs to the physical (PHY) layer, processes the PDUs for transmission in the PHY layer, and ultimately sends the PDUs on the uplink. With the increased use of prioritization within the UE, an increasing number of PDUs may be preempted during processing by the PHY layer. For example, PDU processing may be interrupted due to receiving a higher priority grant for the same grant opportunity, the UE sending a new scheduling request with a higher priority for the same grant opportunity, etc.

[0025] Sometimes, the MAC layer processes a grant and delivers it to the PHY layer, but due to processing, timeline, or other constraints, de-prioritization occurs later at the PHY layer. For example, a grant with a high priority may be delivered to the PHY layer, but the PHY layer may not be able to send a PDU because the PHY layer is sending a lower (or equal) priority grant for which it is too late to stop or cancel transmission. In this example, although the de-prioritized grant is actually the higher priority grant at the MAC layer, the two grants may have the same priority at the PHY layer. This difference in priority may occur because the PHY layer has two levels of priority, while the MAC layer has multiple levels of priority.

[0026] To resolve PHY layer conflicts, according to some aspects of the present disclosure, the PHY layer in the UE sends a "failure" indication to the MAC layer of the UE, causing the UE to use the next configured grant opportunity to send the PDU. The "failure" indication allows the MAC layer to recover the PDU for the grant that the PHY layer was unable to send.

[0027] In some aspects of the present disclosure, the PHY layer determines that a configured grant transmission is not possible due to a conflict with another transmission in progress or in preparation. Accordingly, the PHY layer may send an indication of the failure to the MAC layer. In other aspects of the present disclosure, a timeline is defined for generating and sending a second PDU (e.g., associated with a second configured opportunity with the same priority). The PHY layer or the MAC layer may use this timeline to determine whether a failure or conflict has occurred. Thus, the UE is able to recover PDUs at the MAC layer for the preempted PDUs that the PHY layer was unable to send.

[0028] Figure 1is a diagram illustrating a network 100 in which aspects of the present disclosure may be practiced. The network 100 may be a 5G or NR network or some other wireless network (e.g., an LTE network). The wireless network 100 may include multiple BSs 110 (illustrated as BS 110a, BS 110b, BS 110c, and BS 110d) and other network entities. A BS is an entity that communicates with a user equipment (UE) and may also be referred to as a base station, NR BS, Node B, gNB, 5G Node B (NB), access point, transmit receive point (TRP), etc. Each BS may provide communication coverage for a specific geographic area. In 3GPP, the term "cell" may refer to the coverage area of a BS and / or a BS subsystem serving that coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

[0029] A BS may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, and / or another type of cell. A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a residence) and may allow restricted access by UEs associated with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG)). A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. A BS for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto BS or a home BS. In Figure 1 In the example shown in FIG, BS 110a may be a macro BS for macrocell 102a, BS 110b may be a pico BS for picocell 102b, and BS 110c may be a femto BS for femtocell 102c. A BS may support one or more (e.g., three) cells. The terms "eNB," "base station," "NR BS," "gNB," "TRP," "AP," "Node B," "5G NB," and "cell" may be used interchangeably herein.

[0030] In some aspects, cells may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographic area of a cell may move depending on the location of a mobile BS. In some aspects, BSs may be interconnected with each other and / or with one or more other BSs or network nodes (not shown) in wireless network 100 via various types of backhaul interfaces (e.g., direct physical connections using any suitable transport network, virtual networks, etc.).

[0031] The wireless network 100 may also include a relay station. A relay station is an entity that can receive data transmissions from an upstream station (e.g., a BS or a UE) and send data transmissions to a downstream station (e.g., a UE or a BS). A relay station may also be a UE that is capable of relaying transmissions for other UEs. Figure 1 In the example shown in , a relay station 110d may communicate with a macro BS 110a and a UE 120d to facilitate communication between the BS 110a and the UE 120d. A relay station may also be referred to as a relay BS, a relay base station, a relay, etc.

[0032] The wireless network 100 may be a heterogeneous network including different types of BSs (e.g., macro BSs, pico BSs, femto BSs, relay BSs, etc.). These different types of BSs may have different transmit power levels, different coverage areas, and different impacts on interference in the wireless network 100. For example, a macro BS may have a high transmit power level (e.g., 5 to 40 watts), while a pico BS, a femto BS, and a relay BS may have a lower transmit power level (e.g., 0.1 to 2 watts).

[0033] The network controller 130 may be coupled to a set of BSs and may provide coordination and control for these BSs. The network controller 130 may communicate with the BSs via a backhaul. The BSs may also communicate with each other directly or indirectly, for example, via a wireless or wired backhaul.

[0034] UEs 120 (e.g., 120a, 120b, 120c) may be dispersed throughout the wireless network 100, and each UE may be stationary or mobile. A UE may also be referred to as an access terminal, terminal, mobile station, subscriber unit, station, etc. A UE may be a cellular phone (e.g., a smartphone), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet device, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, a medical device or apparatus, a biometric sensor / device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, smart clothing, smart glasses, a smart wristband, smart jewelry (e.g., a smart ring, a smart bracelet, etc.)), an entertainment device (e.g., a music or video device, or a satellite radio unit, etc.), an in-vehicle component or sensor, a smart meter / sensor, industrial manufacturing equipment, a global positioning system device, or any other suitable device configured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium.

[0035] Some UEs may be considered to be machine type communication (MTC) or evolved or enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) UEs. MTC and eMTC UEs include, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, location tags, etc., which may communicate with a base station, another device (e.g., a remote device), or some other entity. A wireless node may provide a connection to or to a network (e.g., a wide area network such as the Internet or a cellular network) via, for example, a wired or wireless communication link. Some UEs may be considered to be Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and / or may be implemented as NB-IoT (narrowband Internet of Things) devices. Some UEs may be considered to be customer premises equipment (CPE). UE 120 may be included inside a housing that houses components of UE 120 (such as a processor component, a memory component, etc.).

[0036] In general, any number of wireless networks can be deployed in a given geographic area. Each wireless network can support a specific RAT and can operate on one or more frequencies. RAT can also be referred to as radio technology, air interface, etc. Frequency can also be referred to as carrier, frequency channel, etc. Each frequency can support a single RAT in a given geographic area to avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs. In some cases, NR or 5G RAT networks can be deployed.

[0037] In some aspects, two or more UEs 120 (e.g., shown as UE 120a and UE 120e) can communicate directly using one or more sidelink channels (e.g., without using base station 110 as an intermediary to communicate with each other). For example, the UEs 120 can communicate using peer-to-peer (P2P) communication, device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) protocols (e.g., which may include vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) protocols, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) protocols, etc.), mesh networks, etc. In this case, the UEs 120 can perform scheduling operations, resource selection operations, and / or other operations described elsewhere as being performed by the base station 110.

[0038] UE 120 may include a deprioritization module 140. Although a single UE 120 is shown as including the deprioritization module, any number of UEs 120 may include the deprioritization module 140. The deprioritization module 140 may receive a first configured grant PDU (protocol data unit) and a second configured grant PDU from a MAC (medium access control) layer. When a conflict occurs between the first configured grant PDU and the second configured grant PDU, the deprioritization module 140 may send a failure indication for the second configured grant PDU from the PHY (physical) layer to the MAC layer. The failure indication triggers a retransmission process for the second configured grant PDU at the MAC layer.

[0039] As pointed out above, Figure 1 This is provided as an example only. Other examples may differ from those described above. Figure 1 Examples described.

[0040] Figure 2 A base station 110 and a UE 120 (which may be Figure 1 1. Base station 110 may be equipped with T antennas 234a through 234t, and UE 120 may be equipped with R antennas 252a through 252r, where in general, T ≥ 1 and R ≥ 1.

[0041] At base station 110, transmit processor 220 may receive data for one or more UEs from data source 212, select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCS) for each UE based at least in part on a channel quality indicator (CQI) received from the UE, process (e.g., encode and modulate) the data for each UE based at least in part on the MCS selected for the UE, and provide data symbols for all UEs. Transmit processor 220 may also process system information (e.g., for semi-static resource partitioning information (SRPI) and control information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, upper layer signaling, etc.), and provide overhead symbols and control symbols. Transmit processor 220 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., cell-specific reference signals (CRS)) and synchronization signals (e.g., primary synchronization signals (PSS) and secondary synchronization signals (SSS)). A transmit (TX) multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on data symbols, control symbols, overhead symbols, and / or reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide T output symbol streams to T modulators (MODs) 232a through 232t. Each modulator 232 may process a corresponding output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 232 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The T downlink signals from modulators 232a through 232t may be transmitted via T antennas 234a through 234t, respectively. In accordance with various aspects described in greater detail below, position coding may be utilized to generate synchronization signals to convey additional information.

[0042] At UE 120, antennas 252a through 252r may receive downlink signals from base station 110 and / or other base stations and may provide received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 254a through 254r, respectively. Each demodulator 254 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) the received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 254 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from all R demodulators 254a through 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols (if applicable), and provide detected symbols. A receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for UE 120 to a data sink 260, and provide decoded control information and system information to a controller / processor 280. The channel processor may determine reference signal received power (RSRP), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), channel quality indicator (CQI), etc. In some aspects, one or more components of UE 120 may be included in a housing.

[0043] On the uplink, at the UE 120, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 and control information from a controller / processor 280 (e.g., for reports including RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, etc.). The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for one or more reference signals. The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 (if applicable), further processed by modulators 254a through 254r (e.g., for DFT-s-OFDM, CP-OFDM, etc.), and transmitted to the base station 110. At the base station 110, uplink signals from the UE 120 and other UEs may be received by the antennas 234, processed by the demodulators 254, detected by the MIMO detector 236 (if applicable), and further processed by the receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by the UE 120. The receive processor 238 may provide the decoded data to the data sink 239 and the decoded control information to the controller / processor 240. The base station 110 may include a communication unit 244 and communicate with the network controller 130 via the communication unit 244. The network controller 130 may include a communication unit 294, a controller / processor 290, and a memory 292.

[0044] The controller / processor 280 of the UE 120 and / or Figure 2Any other components in the UE 120 may perform one or more techniques associated with deprioritization, as described in more detail elsewhere. For example, the controller / processor 280 of the UE 120 and / or Figure 2 Any other component in may perform or direct e.g. Figure 6 Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for base station 110 and UE 120, respectively. Scheduler 246 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0045] In some aspects, the UE 120 may include means for receiving, means for determining, means for triggering, means for sending, means for signaling, and means for interrupting. Such means may include means for incorporating Figure 2 One or more components of UE 120 are described.

[0046] As pointed out above, Figure 2 This is provided as an example only. Other examples may differ from those described above. Figure 2 Examples described.

[0047] As described above, the MAC layer of the UE processes the grant and delivers the grant and associated protocol data unit (PDU) to the physical (PHY) layer of the UE. However, due to processing (or other) limitations, de-prioritization of PDUs may occur at the PHY layer. In order to resolve PHY layer conflicts, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, the PHY layer sends a failure indication to the MAC layer. The failure indication may be triggered by the complete or partial failure of the PHY layer to send a PDU. The failure indication causes the UE to use the next configured grant opportunity to send the PDU. The failure indication allows the PDU to be recovered at the MAC layer for PDUs that the PHY layer was unable to send using the initial configured grant opportunity.

[0048] In various aspects of the present disclosure, the PHY layer in the UE determines that a configured grant transmission is not possible due to a conflict with another transmission in progress or in preparation. Figure 3 As can be seen in FIG, the PHY layer in the UE sends an indication of failure to the MAC layer of the UE.

[0049] Figure 3 An example call flow for PHY layer conflict handling in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 3 Failure indication and subsequent retransmission are shown. At time 1, the MAC layer sends a PDU associated with configured grant 1 (CG-1). At time 2, the PHY layer processes the PDU and prepares it for transmission in the next available CG opportunity. Figure 3In the example of , the PDU for CG-1 is a low priority PDU. At time 3, before the PHY layer completes transmission of the PDU associated with CG-1, the MAC layer sends a PDU related to CG-2 to the PHY layer. Due to the collision, at time 4, the PHY layer sends a failure indication for the PDU associated with CG-2.

[0050] At time 5, the MAC layer invokes a retransmission (ReTx) procedure for the PDU associated with CG-2. That is, the MAC layer of the UE uses a failure indication to trigger a retransmission procedure for the configured grant that was preempted. At time 6, the MAC layer sends the PDU associated with CG-2 to the PHY layer for transmission in the next available CG opportunity. Each configured grant has its own period (e.g., 5 or 10 milliseconds). Therefore, the MAC layer can attempt to retransmit a failed configured grant transmission on the next occurrence.

[0051] In other aspects of the present disclosure, a timeline for generating and sending a second PDU with the same RRC (Radio Resource Control) priority (e.g., associated with a second CG-PUSCH (Configured Grant - Physical Uplink Shared Channel) opportunity) is defined. The PHY layer can use this timeline to determine whether a failure or collision has occurred.

[0052] Figure 4 is a timing diagram illustrating a timeline for PHY layer conflict handling according to aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 4 As can be seen in FIG, if a second PDU (eg, associated with PUSCH#2) is received from the MAC layer before a pre-specified time 40 relative to the first PDU (eg, associated with PUSCH#1), the second PDU may be sent by the PHY layer.

[0053] More specifically, at time 1, the MAC layer sends a PDU for PUSCH#1 to the PHY layer. The PDU for PUSCH#1 is associated with the first CG PUSCH opportunity 45 (CG PUSCH#1). The PDU for PUSCH#1 has a priority of X. Figure 4 A pre-specified time (prioritization time) Np before the start of the first CG PUSCH opportunity 45 (CG PUSCH#1) is shown by reference numeral 40 in FIG. Figure 4 In the example of , the prioritization time Np=N2, where N2 is defined in the standard as the minimum processing timeline for the carrier of interest. N2 is a constant that depends on the characteristics of the PHY layer.

[0054] The prioritization time Np is not limited to this value and may have other values. In one configuration, the time Np is explicitly signaled from the network device to the UE. For example, the time Np may be signaled as a multi-level quantized value (e.g., using RRC signaling). If a single value is to be signaled (e.g., if Np=N2), the time Np may be implicitly signaled.

[0055] Refer again Figure 4 In the first example, the MAC layer sends a PDU for PUSCH#2 to the PHY layer at time 2. The PDU for PUSCH#2 is associated with the second CG opportunity 47 (CG PUSCH#2) and has the same priority X as the PDU for PUSCH#1. Figure 4 In the first example, at time 2, the MAC layer sends the PDU for PUSCH#2 before the pre-specified time 40 (e.g., in region 42). In this example, because the PHY layer does not start processing PUSCH#1 before receiving the PDU for PUSCH#2, PUSCH#1 does not have to be interrupted. Therefore, the PDU for PUSCH#2 can be sent in the second CG opportunity 47 (CG PUSCH#2). However, if for some reason the transmission of the PDU for PUSCH#1 fails, the MAC layer can recover the PDU for PUSCH#1 using the de-prioritized granted retransmission, as described with respect to Figure 3 Descriptive.

[0056] By defining a time constraint, ongoing transmissions do not have to be interrupted. Figure 4 In the second example shown, when the MAC layer sends a PDU for PUSCH#2 to the PHY layer at time 3 (which is after the pre-specified time 40) (e.g., at Figure 4 The PHY layer does not send a PDU for PUSCH#2. Therefore, the MAC layer may be prevented from sending a PDU for PUSCH#2. In other aspects, the MAC layer may send a PDU for PUSCH#2 and may use a failure indication (regarding Figure 3 Description), so that the ongoing transmission of PUSCH#1 is not interrupted and the PDU for PUSCH#2 is not lost.

[0057] According to various aspects of the present disclosure, the MAC layer can know the time Np. Therefore, the MAC layer can re-prioritize the PDUs on its own. In this case, the MAC layer can trigger a retransmission process based on when the second PDU will be sent. In another configuration, the MAC layer does not send the second PDU if it calculates that the second PDU will fall into region 44.

[0058] The capabilities of the UEs may be taken into account, such as capabilities related to timelines. In this case, different UEs may have different values of the prioritization time Np. A small time Np results in a very small (or non-existent) area 44.

[0059] Figure 5 is a timing diagram illustrating a timeline for PHY layer conflict handling according to aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 5 As can be seen in FIG, the prioritization time Np can have a negative value. In this case, the region 52 overlaps in time with the first CG opportunity 45 (CG PUSCH#1), as indicated by reference numeral 50. Figure 5 In the example shown, the MAC layer sends the first and second PDUs at times 1 and 2, respectively, as described with respect to Figure 4 However, in Figure 5 In the example of FIG, the MAC layer transmits the second PDU during the first CG opportunity 45 (CGPUSCH#1). In this case, the prepared or ongoing transmission of PUSCH#1 is interrupted. The MAC layer can use the de-prioritized granted retransmission to recover the PDU for PUSCH#1, as described in relation to FIG. Figure 3 Descriptive.

[0060] For a small prioritization time Np (with Figure 5 For UEs with negative time Np as shown, PUSCH#2 may arrive late from the MAC layer to the PHY layer, thereby interrupting the prepared or ongoing PUSCH#1 transmission. The MAC layer may use the retransmission procedure for deprioritized grants to recover the PDU for PUSCH#1.

[0061] The capability associated with the prioritization time Np may be specific to the case where PUSCH#1 and PUSCH#2 have the same priority at the PHY layer but different priorities at the MAC layer, as previously discussed. In other words, if the priorities are different, the time Np may have different values. Signaling the capability to a network entity, such as a base station, may take different forms. For example, support for prioritization time Np=0 may be a binary value for signaling purposes. In another configuration, a three-level indicator may be signaled, such as less than zero, zero, or greater than zero.

[0062] As pointed out above, Figure 3-5 is provided as an example. Other examples may differ from those described in relation to Figure 3-5 Examples described.

[0063] Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process for PHY (physical) layer conflict handling in a user equipment (UE) according to aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 6, a method 600 for handling collisions at the PHY layer is shown. The operations of the method 600 may be performed as described with reference to Figure 2 In some examples, the UE 120 or its components may implement the described embodiments. In some examples, the UE 120 may execute code sets to control functional elements of the device to perform the functions described below.

[0064] At box 602, the PHY layer of the UE may receive a first configured grant PDU from the MAC layer of the UE. In some aspects, the MAC layer may deliver the PDU associated with the first configured grant (CG-1) for transmission at the next available CG opportunity. At box 604, the PHY layer may receive a second configured grant PDU from the MAC layer. In some aspects, the MAC layer may deliver the PDU associated with the second configured grant before the PHY layer completes transmission of the PDU associated with the first configured grant CG-1. The conflict arises due to the timing of the MAC layer sending the PDU associated with the second configured grant PDU. For example, the UE may determine when to send the second configured grant PDU relative to the first CG opportunity. If the second configured grant PDU is sent more than the prioritized time Np before the first CG opportunity, there is no conflict. If the second configured grant is sent less than the time Np before the first CG opportunity, there is a conflict.

[0065] At block 606, when a collision is detected, the PHY layer sends a failure indication for the second configured grant PDU to the MAC layer. When a collision exists, the failure indication triggers a retransmission process at the MAC layer for the second configured grant PDU. For example, the MAC layer may send the PDU associated with the second configured grant to the PHY layer for transmission at the next available configured grant opportunity. Thus, the UE is able to recover PDUs at the MAC layer for PDUs that the PHY layer was unable to send.

[0066] Examples of implementations are described in the numbered clauses below.

[0067] 1. A method for wireless communication at a UE (user equipment), comprising:

[0068] receiving a first configured grant PDU (Protocol Data Unit) from a MAC (Medium Access Control) layer;

[0069] receiving a second configured grant PDU from the MAC layer; and

[0070] When there is a conflict between the first configured grant PDU and the second configured grant PDU, a failure indication for the second configured grant PDU is sent from the PHY (physical) layer to the MAC layer, and the failure indication triggers a retransmission process for the second configured grant PDU at the MAC layer.

[0071] 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the MAC layer receives the failure indication in response to a partial transmission of the second configured grant PDU by the PHY layer.

[0072] 3. The method of clause 1 or 2, wherein the PHY layer determines that the conflict exists when the second configured grant PDU is received while the PHY layer is transmitting the first configured grant PDU.

[0073] 4. The method of clause 1 or 2, wherein the PHY layer determines that the conflict exists when the second configured grant PDU is received while the PHY layer is preparing the first configured grant PDU for transmission.

[0074] 5. The method of clause 1 or 2, wherein the PHY layer determines that the conflict exists when the second configured grant PDU is received less than a prioritization time Np before an opportunity associated with the first configured grant PDU.

[0075] 6. A method according to clause 1, 2 or 5, wherein the prioritization time Np is a minimum processing timeline for the carriers of interest.

[0076] 7. A method according to any of clauses 1, 2, 5 or 6, wherein the prioritization time Np is different for different UEs.

[0077] 8. A method as described in any of clauses 1, 2, 5, 6 or 7, wherein the prioritization time Np depends on whether the first configured grant PDU and the second configured grant PDU have the same PHY priority but different MAC priorities.

[0078] 9. A method according to any of clauses 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 or 8, further comprising signalling to a network node the UE capabilities associated with the prioritization time Np.

[0079] 10. A method as set forth in any of clauses 1, 2, 6, 7, 8 or 9, wherein the PHY layer determines that the conflict exists when the second configured grant PDU is received less than a prioritization time Np before an opportunity associated with the first configured grant PDU, the method further comprising:

[0080] interrupting PHY layer transmission of the first configured grant PDU;

[0081] sending the second configured grant PDU; and

[0082] The retransmission process for the first configured grant PDU is triggered.

[0083] 11. A UE (User Equipment) apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

[0084] Memory, and

[0085] at least one processor operatively coupled to the memory, the memory and the at least one processor configured to:

[0086] receiving a first configured grant PDU (Protocol Data Unit) from a MAC (Medium Access Control) layer;

[0087] receiving a second configured grant PDU from the MAC layer; and

[0088] When there is a conflict between the first configured grant PDU and the second configured grant PDU, a failure indication for the second configured grant PDU is sent from the PHY (physical) layer to the MAC layer, and the failure indication triggers a retransmission process for the second configured grant PDU at the MAC layer.

[0089] 12. The apparatus of clause 11, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the failure indication at the MAC layer in response to partial transmission of the second configured grant PDU by the PHY layer.

[0090] 13. The apparatus of clause 11 or 12, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine that the conflict exists when the second configured grant PDU is received while the PHY layer is transmitting the first configured grant PDU.

[0091] 14. The apparatus of clause 11 or 12, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine that the conflict exists when the second configured grant PDU is received while the PHY layer is preparing the first configured grant PDU for transmission.

[0092] 15. The apparatus of clause 11 or 12, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine that the conflict exists when the second configured grant PDU is received less than a prioritization time Np before an opportunity associated with the first configured grant PDU.

[0093] 16. Apparatus according to clause 11, 12 or 15, wherein the prioritization time Np is a minimum processing timeline for carriers of interest.

[0094] 17. An apparatus as described in any of clauses 11, 12, 15 or 16, wherein the prioritization time Np is different for different UEs.

[0095] 18. An apparatus as described in any of clauses 11, 12, 15, 16 or 17, wherein the prioritization time Np depends on whether the first configured grant PDU and the second configured grant PDU have the same PHY priority but different MAC priorities.

[0096] 19. An apparatus as set out in any of clauses 11, 12, 15, 16, 17 or 18, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to signal to a network node the UE capabilities associated with the prioritization time Np.

[0097] 20. An apparatus as set forth in any of clauses 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19, wherein the PHY layer determines that the conflict exists when the second configured grant PDU is received less than a prioritization time Np before an opportunity associated with the first configured grant PDU, and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

[0098] interrupting PHY layer transmission of the first configured grant PDU;

[0099] sending the second configured grant PDU; and

[0100] The retransmission process for the first configured grant PDU is triggered.

[0101] The foregoing disclosure provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the aspects to the precise forms disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above disclosure or may be acquired from practice of the various aspects.

[0102] As used, the term "component" is intended to be broadly interpreted as hardware, firmware, and / or a combination of hardware and software. As used, a processor is implemented in hardware, firmware, and / or a combination of hardware and software.

[0103] Some aspects are described in conjunction with thresholds. As used, satisfying a threshold can refer to a value being greater than the threshold, greater than or equal to the threshold, less than the threshold, less than or equal to the threshold, equal to the threshold, not equal to the threshold, etc., depending on the context.

[0104] It will be apparent that the described systems and / or methods can be implemented in various forms of hardware, firmware, and / or combinations of hardware and software. The actual specialized control hardware or software code used to implement these systems and / or methods does not limit the aspects. Thus, the operation and behavior of the systems and / or methods are described without reference to specific software code, with the understanding that software and hardware can be designed to implement the systems and / or methods based, at least in part, on the description.

[0105] Even if the specific combination of features is recorded in the claims and / or disclosed in the specification, these combinations are not intended to limit the disclosure of each aspect. In fact, many of these features can be combined in a manner not specifically recorded in the claims and / or specifically disclosed in the specification. Although each dependent claim listed below may only be directly subordinate to one claim, the disclosure of each aspect includes the combination of each dependent claim and each other claim in the claim set. The phrase "at least one of" the list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. For example, "at least one of a, b or c" is intended to cover any combination of a, b, c, ab, ac, bc and abc, and with multiples of the same element (for example, aa, aaa, aab, aac, abb, acc, bb, bbb, bbc, cc and ccc or any other sorting of a, b and c).

[0106] None of the elements, actions or instructions used should be interpreted as critical or essential unless explicitly described as such. In addition, as used, the articles "a" and "an" are intended to include one or more items and can be used interchangeably with "one or more". In addition, as used, the terms "set" and "group" are intended to include one or more items (e.g., related items, unrelated items, a combination of related items and unrelated items, etc.) and can be used interchangeably with "one or more". In the case of only one item being expected, the phrase "only one" or similar language is used. In addition, as used, the terms "has", "have", "having" etc. are intended to be open terms. In addition, unless otherwise explicitly stated, the phrase "based on" is intended to mean "based at least in part on".

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication at a UE (User Equipment), comprising: receiving a first configured grant PDU (Protocol Data Unit) from a MAC (Medium Access Control) layer; receiving a second configured grant PDU from the MAC layer; as well as When there is a conflict between the first configured grant PDU and the second configured grant PDU, a failure indication for the second configured grant PDU is sent from the PHY (physical) layer to the MAC layer, and the failure indication triggers a retransmission process for the second configured grant PDU at the MAC layer, wherein the conflict occurs when the PHY layer receives the second configured grant PDU less than a prioritization time Np before the timing associated with the first configured grant PDU.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The MAC layer receives the failure indication in response to the PHY layer's partial transmission of the second configured grant PDU.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein When the second configured grant PDU is received while the PHY layer is sending the first configured grant PDU, the PHY layer determines that the conflict exists.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein The PHY layer determines that the conflict exists when the second configured grant PDU is received while the PHY layer is preparing the first configured grant PDU for transmission.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein The prioritization time Np is the minimum processing timeline for the carriers of interest.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein The prioritization time Np is different for different UEs.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein The prioritization time Np depends on whether the first configured grant PDU and the second configured grant PDU have the same PHY priority but different MAC priorities.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The UE capabilities associated with the prioritization time Np are signaled to the network node.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: interrupting PHY layer transmission of the first configured grant PDU; sending the second configured grant PDU; as well as The retransmission process for the first configured grant PDU is triggered.

10. A UE (User Equipment) apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: Memory, and at least one processor operatively coupled to the memory, the memory and the at least one processor configured to: receiving a first configured grant PDU (Protocol Data Unit) from a MAC (Medium Access Control) layer; receiving a second configured grant PDU from the MAC layer; as well as When there is a conflict between the first configured grant PDU and the second configured grant PDU, a failure indication for the second configured grant PDU is sent from the PHY (physical) layer to the MAC layer, and the failure indication triggers a retransmission process for the second configured grant PDU at the MAC layer, wherein the conflict occurs when the PHY layer receives the second configured grant PDU less than a prioritization time Np before the timing associated with the first configured grant PDU.

11. The device according to claim 10, wherein The at least one processor is further configured to receive the failure indication at the MAC layer in response to partial transmission of the second configured grant PDU by the PHY layer.

12. The device according to claim 10, wherein The at least one processor is further configured to determine that the conflict exists when the second configured grant PDU is received while the PHY layer is transmitting the first configured grant PDU.

13. The device according to claim 10, wherein The at least one processor is further configured to determine that the conflict exists when the second configured grant PDU is received while the PHY layer is preparing the first configured grant PDU for transmission.

14. The device according to claim 10, wherein The prioritization time Np is the minimum processing timeline for the carriers of interest.

15. The device according to claim 10, wherein The prioritization time Np is different for different UEs.

16. The device according to claim 10, wherein The prioritization time Np depends on whether the first configured grant PDU and the second configured grant PDU have the same PHY priority but different MAC priorities.

17. The device according to claim 10, wherein The at least one processor is further configured to signal UE capabilities associated with the prioritization time Np to a network node.

18. The device according to claim 10, wherein The at least one processor is further configured to: interrupting PHY layer transmission of the first configured grant PDU; sending the second configured grant PDU; as well as The retransmission process for the first configured grant PDU is triggered.

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