Computer-readable storage medium and user equipment for uplink control information reporting

Abstract

A computer-readable storage medium, a user equipment, a method, and an integrated circuit for performing operations. The operations include receiving, from a network, multiple physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmissions in time slots of a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) window, decoding each of the PDSCH transmissions in the time slots of the HARQ window, determining HARQ-ACK feedback for each of the PDSCH transmissions in the HARQ-ACK window, bundling the HARQ-ACK feedback for at least two of the PDSCH transmissions, and reporting the bundled HARQ-ACK feedback for the HARQ window to the network.

Description

Background Art

[0001] A user equipment (UE) may establish a connection with at least one of multiple different networks or network types. For example, the UE may connect to a 5G New Radio (NR) network. When connected to a network, the UE may utilize additional network capabilities. For example, the UE may utilize carrier aggregation (CA) functionality, where data is transmitted over various network bands using a primary component carrier (PCC) and at least one secondary component carrier (SCC). Since downlink (DL) CA increases the bandwidth by which the UE can receive information from the network, CA may be one of the network functions that helps support ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (URLLC). URLLC aims to serve applications with strict latency and reliability requirements.

[0002] However, in any network scenario, the UE may have to feedback information to the network for various purposes. This feedback information may be uplink control information (UCI). To support URLLC or any other high-speed communication, a new way to effectively transmit UCI information from the UE to the network is needed. Summary of the Invention

[0003] According to some exemplary embodiments, a computer-readable storage medium including an instruction set is described. The instruction set, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform operations including receiving multiple physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmissions in a time slot of a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) window from a network, decoding each of the PDSCH transmissions in the time slot of the HARQ window, determining HARQ-ACK feedback for each PDSCH transmission in the HARQ-ACK window, bundling the HARQ-ACK feedback for at least two of the PDSCH transmissions, and reporting the bundled HARQ-ACK feedback for the HARQ window to the network.

[0004] Another exemplary embodiment includes a user equipment having a transceiver and a processor. The transceiver is configured to connect to a network and receive multiple PDSCH transmissions in a time slot from the network. The processor is configured to decode each of the PDSCH transmissions in the time slot of a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) window, determine HARQ acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback for each PDSCH transmission in the HARQ-ACK window, and bundle the HARQ-ACK feedback for at least two of the PDSCH transmissions. The transceiver is further configured to transmit the bundled HARQ-ACK feedback for the HARQ window to the network.

[0005] Some additional exemplary embodiments include a computer-readable storage medium having an instruction set. The instruction set, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform operations including: receiving, from a network, a plurality of physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmissions in a time slot, wherein the plurality of PDSCH transmissions in the time slot includes a first set of PDSCH transmissions corresponding to a first service in the time slot and a second set of PDSCH transmissions corresponding to a second service in the time slot; decoding each of the PDSCH transmissions in the time slot in a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) window; determining a HARQ acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback for each of the PDSCH transmissions in the HARQ-ACK window; and reporting the HARQ-ACK feedback for the HARQ window to the network. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] Figure 1 An exemplary network arrangement in accordance with various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0007] Figure 2 An exemplary UE in accordance with various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0008] Figure 3 An example of a first transmission schedule for bundling HARQ-ACK information based on per component carrier (CC) in accordance with various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0009] Figure 4 An example of a second transmission schedule for bundling HARQ-ACK information across CCs in accordance with various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0010] Figure 5 An exemplary table showing the HARQ-ACK feedback status based on feedback from a UE in accordance with various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0011] Figure 6 An example of a third transmission schedule for bundling HARQ-ACK information in the CC domain in accordance with various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0012] Figure 7 An example of a fourth transmission schedule 700 for handling HARQ-ACK feedback when there are two different types of PDSCH time slots within a HARQ-ACK window in accordance with various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0013] Figure 8 An example of UCI conflict in an uplink (UL) time slot in accordance with various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0014] Figures 9A - 9BShows additional examples of UCI collisions in UL slots according to various exemplary embodiments. Detailed Description

[0015] The exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference to the following description and the related drawings, in which like elements are assigned the same reference numerals. These exemplary embodiments relate to combining hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgment (ACK) information to be included in UCI transmissions to provide a more efficient way to convey UCI information from a UE to a network.

[0016] The exemplary embodiments are described with respect to a UE. However, the use of the UE is for illustrative purposes only. The exemplary embodiments can be utilized with any electronic component capable of establishing a connection with a network and configured with hardware, software, and / or firmware for exchanging information and data with the network. Thus, the UE described herein is used to represent any electronic component.

[0017] The exemplary embodiments are also described with respect to a network as a fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) network and various types of information and transmissions related to the 5G NR network, such as downlink allocation index (DAI), physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), etc. It should be understood that any reference to 5G NR or specific information or transmissions related to the 5G NR network is provided for illustrative purposes only. Other types of networks may refer to the same concepts in different ways, and the exemplary embodiments may be applicable to any network having the exemplary network characteristics described herein.

[0018] Throughout the specification, it will be described that uplink control information (UCI) will be reported back to the network. The UCI information will be described as being "bundled", "combined", "concatenated", "compressed", or "multiplexed". It should be understood that each of these terms describes one or more ways of combining multiple UCI information into a format that is less than the sum of the individual pieces of information. Exemplary ways of combining UCI information will be provided below.

[0019] Additionally, a general description of carrier aggregation (CA) is provided below. However, the exemplary embodiments do not require activation of carrier aggregation. As will be described in more detail below, the exemplary embodiments are described with respect to a UE receiving downlink (DL) communications on at least two component carriers (CCs). CA is an exemplary way for a UE to receive DL communications on two or more CCs. Those skilled in the art will understand that the exemplary embodiments can be applied to any scenario in which a UE receives DL communications on two or more CCs (e.g., any dual connectivity (DC) scenario).

[0020] In some exemplary embodiments, a network may support carrier aggregation (CA) with multiple component carriers (CCs). Each CC may represent a channel that facilitates communication between a UE and the network on a specific frequency band. The multiple CCs may correspond to the same frequency band, or each CC may correspond to a different frequency band or combination of frequency bands. Additionally, each CC has a specific bandwidth, and the more CCs the UE is configured with, the more bandwidth is available for communication with the network. CA may include a primary component carrier (PCC) and at least one secondary component carrier (SCC), where the PCC and the at least one SCC correspond to the same radio access technology (RAT) used to facilitate communication with the network. The PCC may be used in part for control information such as scheduling requests, uplink grants, downlink grants, etc. CA functionality enables the PCC and at least one SCC to combine bandwidths to exchange data with the UE. Thus, with CA, the PCC may provide a first portion of the total bandwidth for the data to be exchanged, while the SCC may provide a second portion of the total bandwidth. The combination of a PCC and a single SCC may be characterized as a CC combination that includes two carriers. To further increase the total available bandwidth of the data to be exchanged with the UE, additional SCCs may be incorporated.

[0021] As described above, a UE may provide feedback information to the network for various purposes. The feedback information may include uplink control information (UCI). In a 5G NR network, UCI is typically transmitted via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). UCI may include hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgment (ACK) information. Those skilled in the art will understand that HARQ is a form of error correction that may include encoding an original transmission with a forward error correction (FEC) code and, when the receiver detects a problem with the UL transmission, sending parity bits later used for error correction, such as a HARQ retransmission. Thus, for each data transmission from the network, the UE may send a corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback to the network, allowing the network to understand whether the UE correctly received the communication and whether the network should send a HARQ retransmission for an incorrectly received communication.

[0022] According to some exemplary embodiments, the HARQ-ACK communication of a UE may be spatially bundled by bundling or combining the ACKs and NACKs of multiple codewords. This spatial bundling of HARQ-ACK information across codewords may reduce the amount of HARQ-ACK bits transmitted back to the network. This reduction in the amount of data transmitted back to the network may reduce network traffic and latency of the communication. In some exemplary embodiments, a format for downlink control information (DCI) is provided to support the UE in bundling HARQ-ACK information. In some exemplary embodiments, ways to resolve conflicts between different types of UCI information are also described.

[0023] Figure 1FIG. 0 shows an exemplary network arrangement 100 in accordance with various exemplary embodiments. The exemplary network arrangement 100 includes a UE 110. Those skilled in the art will understand that the UE 110 can be any type of electronic component configured to communicate via a network, such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, a smart phone, a phablet, an embedded device, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc. It should also be understood that an actual network arrangement may include any number of UEs used by any number of users. Therefore, for illustrative purposes, only an example with a single UE 110 is provided.

[0024] The UE 110 can be configured to communicate with one or more networks. In the example of network configuration 100, the networks with which the UE 110 can communicate wirelessly are a 5G New Radio (NR) Radio Access Network (5G NR-RAN) 120 and an LTE Radio Access Network (LTE-RAN) 122. However, it should be understood that the UE 110 can also communicate with other types of networks (such as traditional cellular networks, WLANs, etc.), and the UE 110 can also communicate with a network via a wired connection. Referring to the exemplary embodiments, the UE 110 can establish a connection with the 5G NR-RAN 120 and / or the LTE-RAN 122. Therefore, the UE 110 can have both a 5G NR chipset for communicating with the 5G NR-RAN 120 and an LTE chipset for communicating with the LTE-RAN 122.

[0025] The 5G NR-RAN 120 and the LTE-RAN 122 can be part of a cellular network that can be deployed by a cellular provider (such as Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc.). These networks 120 and 122 can include, for example, cells or base stations (Node B, eNodeB, HeNB, eNB, gNB, gNodeB, macro cell base stations, micro cell base stations, small cell base stations, femto cell base stations, etc.) configured to send and receive traffic from UEs equipped with appropriate cellular chipsets.

[0026] The use of the standalone 5G NR-RAN 120 and LTE-RAN 122 is provided only for illustrative purposes. An actual network arrangement may include a radio access network that includes an architecture capable of providing both 5G NR RAT and LTE RAT services. For example, a Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) can include Next Generation Node Bs (gNBs) that provide 5G NR services and Next Generation evolved Node Bs (ng-eNBs) that provide LTE services. The NG-RAN can be connected to at least one of an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or a 5G Core (5GC).

[0027] The UE 110 can be connected to the 5G NR-RAN 120 via at least one of the next-generation Node B (gNB) 120A or gNB 120B. The UE 110 can be connected to the LTE-RAN 122 via at least one of the evolved Node B (eNB) 122A or eNB 122B. Those skilled in the art will understand that any relevant processes for connecting the UE 110 to the 5G NR-RAN 120 or the LTE-RAN 122 can be performed. For example, as described above, the 5G NR-RAN 120 can be associated with a specific cellular provider where the UE 110 and / or its user has protocol and credential information (e.g., stored on the SIM card). When the presence of the 5G NR-RAN 120 is detected, the UE 110 can transmit the corresponding credential information to be associated with the 5G NR-RAN 120. More specifically, the UE 110 can be associated with a specific cell (e.g., gNB 120A of the 5G NR-RAN 120). Similarly, for accessing LTE services, the UE 110 can be associated with the eNB 122A. However, as described above, the use of the 5G NR-RAN 120 and the LTE-RAN 122 is for illustrative purposes, and any appropriate type of RAN network can be used.

[0028] In addition to the RANs 120 and 122, the network arrangement 100 further includes a cellular core network 130, the Internet 140, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) 150, and a network service backbone 160. The cellular core network 130 can be regarded as an interconnected collection of components that manage the operations and traffic of the cellular network. It can include the EPC and / or 5GC. The cellular core network 130 also manages the traffic flowing between the cellular network and the Internet 140. The IMS 150 can generally be described as an architecture for delivering multimedia services to the UE 110 using IP protocols. The IMS 150 can communicate with the cellular core network 130 and the Internet 140 to provide multimedia services to the UE 110. The network service backbone 160 communicates directly or indirectly with the Internet 140 and the cellular core network 130. The network service backbone 160 can generally be described as a set of components (e.g., servers, network storage arrangements, etc.) that implement a set of services that can be used to extend the functions for the UE 110 to communicate with various networks.

[0029] Figure 2 An exemplary UE 110 is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments. It will be referred to Figure 1The UE 110 is described with reference to the network arrangement 100. The UE 110 may represent any electronic device and may include a processor 205, a memory arrangement 210, a display device 215, an input / output (I / O) device 220, a transceiver 225, and other components 230. The other components 230 may include, for example, an audio input device, an audio output device, a battery providing a limited power source, a data acquisition device, a port for electrically connecting the UE 110 to other electronic devices, a sensor for detecting the condition of the UE 110, etc.

[0030] The processor 205 may be configured to execute multiple engines of the UE 110. For example, the engines may include a UCI feedback engine 235. The UCI feedback engine 235 may perform bundling of HARQ-ACK information within the UCI and resolve UCI conflicts, as will be described in more detail below.

[0031] Each of the above engines being an application (e.g., program) executed by the processor 205 is merely exemplary. The functionality associated with the engines may also be represented as separate integrated components of the UE 110 or may be modular components coupled to the UE 110, e.g., integrated circuits with or without firmware. For example, an integrated circuit may include an input circuit for receiving signals and a processing circuit for processing the signals and other information. The engines may also be embodied as one application or separate multiple applications. Additionally, in some UEs, the functionality described for the processor 205 is shared between two or more processors such as a baseband processor and an application processor. The exemplary embodiments may be implemented in any of these or other configurations of the UE.

[0032] The memory 210 may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by the UE 110. The display device 215 may be a hardware component configured to display data to a user, while the I / O device 220 may be a hardware component enabling a user to make inputs. The display device 215 and the I / O device 220 may be separate components or may be integrated together (such as a touchscreen). The transceiver 225 may be a hardware component configured to establish connections with a 5G NR-RAN 120, an LTE-RAN 122, etc. Thus, the transceiver 225 may operate on various different frequencies or channels (e.g., a continuous frequency band).

[0033] In the following example, it can be considered that UE 110 is connected to a CA-active 5G NR-RAN 120. gNB 120A can be considered to serve the PCC (hereinafter also referred to as CC0), while gNB 120B can be considered to serve the SCC (hereinafter also referred to as CC1). Thus, the control information transmitted to UE 110 will be transmitted from gNB 120A via the PCC. Similarly, the UCI information sent from UE 110 to the network will be sent to gNB 120A. Those skilled in the art will understand that this is only one possible arrangement among many and is provided only to provide context for the description of exemplary embodiments.

[0034] As described above, in some exemplary embodiments, UE 110 may spatially bundle the ACKs and NACKs of multiple codewords in the HARQ-ACK feedback reported to gNB 120A. To achieve such bundling, UE 110 may receive from gNB 120A information about the number of transmissions that UE 110 is going to receive and that are associated with a single PUCCH for HARQ-ACK feedback.

[0035] In some exemplary embodiments, this information may be provided to UE 110 via a downlink allocation index (DAI) and more specifically, via a counter DAI (C-DAI). The DAI provides an indication to UE 110 for each of the downlink data transmissions scheduled on the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The C-DAI provides the number of scheduled PDSCH transmissions.

[0036] Figure 3 An example of a first transmission schedule 300 for bundling HARQ-ACK information based on per-component carrier (CC) is shown according to the description of various exemplary embodiments. Throughout the specification, multiple transmission schedules are described. It should be understood that each of these transmission schedules is provided to illustrate the description of exemplary embodiments. The exemplary embodiments are not limited to the exemplary transmission schedules, as those of ordinary skill in the art will understand how to apply the principles described herein to many different transmission scenarios.

[0037] Transmission scheduling 300 shows PDSCH time slots 311 - 314 for CC0 310 and PDSCH time slots 321 - 324 for CC1 320. The shaded time slots 311, 312, 314, 321, and 323 are the scheduled PDSCH transmission time slots, while the remaining time slots 313, 322, and 324 are not scheduled. As described, the DAI transmitted by gNB 120A on the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in DCI will indicate the scheduled time slots to UE 110. Similarly, C-DAI provides the UE with the number of scheduled time slots. Thus, it should be understood that the scheduled time slots will be those in which PDSCH transmission is scheduled, and throughout this specification, the term time slot may also be used to refer to the PDSCH transmission scheduled for that time slot.

[0038] In this example, the count provided in C-DAI is based on the CC. For example, as shown by the numbers in the scheduled time slots 311, 312, and 314, the C-DAI for CC0 310 is updated from one to three (3), and as shown by the numbers in the scheduled time slots 321 and 323, the C-DAI for CC0 320 is updated from one to two (2). C-DAI represents the cumulative number of PDCCHs with allocated PDSCH transmission and PDCCHs indicating downlink SPS release up to the current time slot within the HARQ-ACK window. It should be understood that in this example, the HARQ-ACK window is four (4) time slots. For this example and other examples described herein, the size of the HARQ-ACK window can be configured for UE 110 via radio resource control (RRC) signaling with 5G NR-RAN 120. Additionally, C-DAI may be updated depending on the monitoring occasion.

[0039] Transmission scheduling 300 also shows PUCCH time slot 330 transmitted by UE 110 to gNB 120A for providing HARQ-ACK feedback. As described above, the HARQ-ACK feedback in PUCCH time slot 330 includes spatially bundled ACKs and NACKs for multiple codewords. In some exemplary embodiments, the ACK and NACK may be bundled using a logical "AND" operation. However, those skilled in the art will understand that there may be other operations for bundling ACK and NACK.

[0040] In Figure 3In the example of, the HARQ-ACK feedback for time slots 311 and 312 will be bundled and reported in PUCCH time slot 330. In this exemplary embodiment, since the HARQ-ACK feedback is reported based on each CC, only one remaining scheduled time slot 314 is left for CC0 310. Therefore, the HARQ-ACK feedback for time slot 314 does not have a corresponding time slot to be bundled with it, and thus the HARQ-ACK feedback for time slot 314 in PUCCH time slot 330 will be only an ACK or NACK for this time slot 314. The HARQ-ACK feedback for CC1 320 will be the bundled HARQ-ACK for time slots 321 and 323. Therefore, as can be seen from this example, if there are an even number of scheduled time slots, the HARQ-ACK feedback information can be reduced by 1 / 2 based on the bundling performed by UE 110. Alternatively, the HARQ-ACK bits associated with all the PDSCHs (e.g., the PDSCHs in time slots 311 / 312 and 314) on a single CC are bundled together to generate a single bit for CC1 320.

[0041] Figure 4 FIG. shows an example of a second transmission schedule 400 that illustrates the bundling of HARQ-ACK information across CCs according to various exemplary embodiments. Transmission schedule 400 is substantially similar to transmission schedule 300, except that C-DAI is accumulated across CCs rather than being restricted to per CC as in Figure 3 described. This accumulation across CCs will be described in more detail below. Transmission schedule 400 shows PDSCH time slots 411 - 414 for CC0 410 and PDSCH time slots 421 - 424 for CC1 420. The shaded time slots 411, 412, 414, 421, and 423 are scheduled PDSCH time slots, while the remaining time slots 413, 422, and 424 are not scheduled.

[0042] In this example, the count provided in C-DAI is accumulated across CCs. In this example, the HARQ-ACK window can also be considered to be 4 time slots. However, as described above, gNB 120A can signal to UE 110 to use a HARQ-ACK window of any size. Therefore, in this example, the scheduled time slots are accumulated and numbered corresponding to the window size from 1 - 4, and then the next window starts again from 1. It can be seen that the accumulation is performed in time slot order, where the CC with a smaller index (e.g., CC0 410) has a higher priority than any CC with a larger index (e.g., CC1 420). Thus, in the example, C-DAI indicates that there are five (5) scheduled time slots, numbered 1 - 4 and 1.

[0043] Transmission scheduling 400 also shows the PUCCH time slot 430 transmitted by the UE 110 to the gNB 120A that provides HARQ-ACK feedback. Similar to the example described above regarding Figure 3 In the example described, the HARQ-ACK feedback in the PUCCH time slot 430 includes spatially bundled ACKs and NACKs for multiple codewords based on C-DAI. For example, the HARQ-ACK information for the PDSCH time slot 411 of CC0 410 can be bundled with the HARQ-ACK information for the PDSCH time slot 421 of CC1 420 using, for example, a logical "AND" operation (or any other data combination operation).

[0044] Figure 5 Exemplary table 500 showing the HARQ-ACK feedback status based on feedback from the UE 110 according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. From the above description, it should be understood that the HARQ-ACK feedback status indicates the number of consecutive PDSCH time slots that have been successfully decoded by the UE 110 starting from the first scheduled PDSCH subframe with C-DAI = 1. For example, referring to table 500, status 1 indicates that one (1) PDSCH time slot (e.g., the first PDSCH time slot in the HARQ-ACK window) has been successfully decoded. In another example shown in table 500, status 4 indicates that four (4) consecutive PDSCH time slots (starting from the first time slot in the HARQ-ACK window) have been successfully decoded.

[0045] Therefore, after receiving the HARQ-ACK feedback, the gNB 120A can determine how many PDSCH time slots starting from the first scheduled PDSCH time slot with C-DAI = 1 have been successfully decoded by the UE. Then, the gNB 120A can retransmit only the PDSCH time slots with a C-DAI higher than the last successfully decoded time slot.

[0046] In other exemplary embodiments, instead of reporting individual ACKs and NACKs to the gNB 120A, the UE 110 can report the status as shown in Figure 5 Table 500. For example, referring to the example of Figure 4 It can be considered that the HARQ-ACK window is 4 time slots, and the UE 110 successfully decodes the first three (3) time slots of the window (e.g., C-DAI = 1 to C-DAI = 3). In this example, the UE 110 can report the status 3 shown in table 500 to the gNB 120A in the PUCCH. This will indicate to the gNB 120A that the first three (3) scheduled PDSCH time slots starting with C-DAI = 1 have been successfully decoded. Then, the gNB 120A can retransmit the scheduled PDSCH time slots with C-DAI > 3 (e.g., the time slot with C-DAI = 4 for this example).

[0047] In other exemplary embodiments, time-domain HARQ-ACK bundling may be provided. For example, HARQ-ACK bits may be bundled across time slots within a HARQ-ACK bundling window. This bundling may be performed by a logical "AND" operation based on all corresponding individual HARQ-ACK bits for each codeword. This time-domain HARQ-ACK bundling may be performed per CC. For example, if a CC includes a single codeword, the HARQ-ACK feedback for each scheduled time slot in the HARQ-ACK window of the CC may be combined, for example, using a logical "AND" operation. Thus, this bundling will result in one HARQ-ACK bit being generated per CC. Then, UE 110 may report the single HARQ-ACK bit of the CC to gNB 120A. As another example, if a CC includes two codewords, the HARQ-ACK feedback for each codeword for each scheduled time slot in the HARQ-ACK window of the CC may be combined, for example, using a logical "AND" operation. Thus, this bundling will result in two HARQ-ACK bits being generated per CC.

[0048] Figure 6 An example of a third transmission schedule 600 that illustrates the bundling of HARQ-ACK information in the CC domain according to the description of various exemplary embodiments is shown. Transmission schedule 600 will be used to describe exemplary embodiments related to CC-domain HARQ-ACK bundling. Transmission schedule 600 shows PDSCH time slots 611 - 614 for CC0 610 and PDSCH time slots 621 - 624 for CC1 620. The shaded time slots 611, 612, 614, 621, and 623 are scheduled PDSCH time slots, while the remaining time slots 613, 622, and 624 are not scheduled.

[0049] CC-domain HARQ-ACK bundling may include two separate bundling operations. In the first operation, spatial HARQ-ACK bundling may be performed across multiple codewords within each PDSCH transmission. For example, referring to Figure 6 , the HARQ-ACK feedback for each codeword for each individual PDSCH time slot (e.g., time slot 611) may be bundled. Thus, in the Figure 6 example, after the first operation, there may be five (5) bundled HARQ-ACKs corresponding to the five (5) scheduled PDSCH time slots 611, 612, 614, 621, and 623. As described above, this bundling is based on the bundling of two or more codewords within each PDSCH time slot.

[0050] In a second operation, the bundled HARQ-ACKs generated in the first operation are further bundled across CCs within each time slot. For example, the bundled HARQ-ACK for time slot 611 in CC0 610 can be bundled with the corresponding time slot 621 in CC1 620. In some exemplary embodiments, C-DAI can be accumulated across CCs based on each monitoring occasion in a CA scenario.

[0051] Figure 7 An example of a fourth transmission schedule 700 is shown that illustrates the handling of HARQ-ACK feedback when there are two different types of PDSCH time slots within a HARQ-ACK window, according to various exemplary embodiments. The transmission schedule 700 will be used to describe exemplary embodiments related to associating HARQ-ACKs with PDSCH time slots having two different PDSCH groups. For example, each PDSCH group can be associated with a type of service. In one exemplary embodiment, a first PDSCH group is associated with a URLCC service, and a second PDSCH group is associated with an enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) service. The group index of the PDSCH can be explicitly signaled as part of the DCI format. For example, a bit of the DCI can be set to 0 to indicate that the PDSCH time slot is a member of the first group, and the bit can also be set to 1 to indicate that the PDSCH time slot is a member of the second group.

[0052] Refer to Figure 7 , the transmission schedule 700 shows time slots 711 - 713 for CC0 710, and time slots 721 - 723 for CC1 720 are used for the first group of PDSCH transmissions. Similarly, the shaded time slots 711, 712, 721, and 723 are scheduled for the first group of PDSCH transmissions, while the remaining time slots 713 and 722 are not scheduled. Additionally, the transmission schedule 700 shows time slot 719 for CC0 710, and time slot 729 for CC1 720 is used for the second group of PDSCH.

[0053] In some exemplary embodiments, the HARQ-ACK feedback can be bundled in the same manner as described above for other exemplary embodiments, and the UE 110 can then report the HARQ-ACK feedback to the gNB 120A via the PUCCH time slot 730.

[0054] However, there may be some special cases with respect to multiple groups of PDSCH. For example, there may be a case where the corresponding PUCCH resources carrying HARQ-ACK bits in the two groups overlap. In this case, the DCI providing scheduling information for the second group of PDSCH time slots to the UE 110 can be modified. In Figure 7In the example of, the DCI providing this scheduling information is shown in transmission schedule 700 as DCI 740 for CC0 710 and DCI 750 for CC1 720.

[0055] Examples of DCI 740 and 750 are shown above transmission schedule 700. As Figure 7 shown, the DCI formats of DCI 740 and 750 include a first part 760 and a second part 770. The second part 770 includes information for a second set of PDSCH time slots, such as C-DAI and total-DAI (T-DAI). However, the DCI format also includes a first part 760 that includes the T-DAI for a first set of PDSCH time slots scheduled by other DCI formats transmitted in other time slots 711 / 712 / 713 / 721 / 723. This provides the UE110 with the PDSCH scheduling information for the first set, which includes the DL SPS release up to time slot i (e.g., up to and including time slots 719 and 729 in this example). As shown in transmission schedule 700, this information can be signaled explicitly in time slot i using, for example, a 2-bit T-DAI 760.

[0056] In some exemplary embodiments, the value of T-DAI 760 can be equal to or greater than the total number of group 1 PDSCH time slots scheduled in the HARQ-ACK bundling window. This can provide the gNB 120A with an opportunity to schedule additional first group PDSCH transmissions after the second set of PDSCH time slots scheduled via DCI 740 / 750. For example, Figure 7 the T-DAI in the example of can be set to six (6), thus allowing two additional first group PDSCH transmissions to be scheduled later while still feeding back HARQ-ACK on PUCCH 730.

[0057] In the above example, it is described that if UCI feedback is transmitted via PUCCH, the UCI feedback (e.g., including bundled HARQ-ACK operations) will be performed and reported back to the gNB 120A. However, in some exemplary embodiments, the gNB 120A can configure the UE 110 to perform UCI multiplexing, including Figure 3 the HARQ-ACK bundling operations in / 4 / 5 / 6, and Figure 7The HARQ-ACK concatenation operation in PUCCH and / or PUSCH described in . This configuration can be signaled to the UE 110 via higher layers (e.g., RRC signaling or MAC CE) or via PDCCH signaling. In some embodiments, common signaling can be specified to indicate that UCI is enabled on both PUCCH and PUSCH. However, in other embodiments, separate signaling can be used to independently control the UCI multiplexing operation for transmissions on PUCCH and PUSCH.

[0058] In some exemplary embodiments, if UCI multiplexing for different service types is not enabled, the UE 110 can discard UCI information associated with lower-priority services (e.g., eMBB traffic).

[0059] According to other aspects of the exemplary embodiments, additional fields can be specified. The first new field can be the PDSCH packet index (DGI). The DGI field can be used to indicate the group index of a scheduled PDSCH transmission or SPS release. The second field can be the HARQ-ACK request (AR). The AR field transmitted in slot i can trigger the UE to retransmit the detected HARQ-ACK bits corresponding to the DCI format, with each DCI format providing the same value as the DGI field indicated in an earlier slot. The UE 110 can append the HARQ-ACK information associated with the PDSCH group indicated by the DGI field to the newly generated HARQ-ACK information for the multiplexed UCI transmission occasion.

[0060] Figure 8 An example of UCI conflict in an uplink (UL) slot 805 according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. In Figure 8 the example, it can be considered that there are two PUCCH transmissions scheduled for slot 805. The first PUCCH transmission can be, for example, PUCCH transmission 810, which includes the HARQ-ACK feedback for the URLLC service that the UE 110 is using. The second PUCCH transmission can be, for example, PUCCH transmission 820, which includes the HARQ-ACK feedback for the eMBB service that the UE 110 is using. In this example, the URLLC PUCCH transmission 810 is shown as two (2) symbols and can be considered to "truncate" the eMBB PUCCH transmission 820.

[0061] Exemplary embodiments can provide various ways to handle such UCI conflicts. Generally, the ways to handle UCI conflicts can be based on the priority of the service for the PUCCH transmission. In Figure 8In the example of [[ID=]], it can be considered that the URLLC service has a higher priority than the eMBB service. However, it should be noted that the use of these two services is only exemplary, and the UE 110 can access other types of services with various priorities. To resolve UCI conflicts, the UE 110 can learn the relative priorities between the PUCCH transmissions of the two services in conflict.

[0062] In some exemplary embodiments, to resolve conflicts, the UE 110 can skip PUCCH transmissions associated with lower-priority services, such as eMBB PUCCH transmission 820.

[0063] In some exemplary embodiments, to resolve conflicts, the UE 110 can partially transmit PUCCH transmissions associated with lower-priority services. For example, as Figure 8 shown, the eMBB PUCCH transmission 820 can start after the completion of the URLLC PUCCH transmission 810, such as during time 830. This partial transmission example can depend on a predefined processing time (e.g., N2 value). For example, if the processing time exceeds the amount of time remaining in the time slot 805 after the completion of the URLCC PUCCH transmission 810, the UE 110 can skip the eMBB PUCCH transmission 820 completely.

[0064] In some exemplary embodiments, the UE 110 can decide to skip or partially transmit lower-priority PUCCH transmissions (e.g., eMBB transmission 820) based on various conditions. These conditions can include, for example, the ratio of the resources truncated by the URLCC PUCCH transmission 810 to the total number of resource elements of the eMBB PUCCH transmission 820. If this ratio is higher than a predefined threshold, the UE110 can skip the eMBB PUCCH transmission 820 completely.

[0065] Other exemplary conditions can include the PUCCH format type, the transmission power difference between non-overlapping symbols of the PUCCH transmission, and whether the reference symbols of the lower-priority PUCCH transmission are truncated. It should be understood that these conditions can be used alone or in any combination with other conditions of the UE to make a transmission decision regarding the lower-priority PUCCH transmission.

[0066] Figure 9A -B shows additional examples of UCI conflicts in UL time slots 905 and 955 according to various exemplary embodiments. In Figure 9AIn the example, it can be considered that there are two PUCCH transmissions scheduled for time slot 905. These PUCCH transmissions can be, for example, a PUCCH transmission 910 with a higher priority (e.g., for URLLC services) and a PUCCH transmission 920 with a lower priority that the UE 110 is using (e.g., for eMBB services). In this example, the URLLC PUCCH transmission 910 is shown to truncate the eMBB PUCCH transmission 920.

[0067] In Figure 9A the example, the PUCCH transmission with a lower priority (e.g., the eMBB PUCCH transmission 920) can be postponed from time slot 905 to the next UL time slot 908. This postponement of the PUCCH transmission with a lower priority can be autonomous. For example, when there is such a UCI conflict, the transmission with a lower priority is autonomously postponed to the next UL time slot.

[0068] In Figure 9B the example, it can be considered that there are two PUCCH transmissions scheduled for time slot 955. These PUCCH transmissions can be, for example, a PUCCH transmission 960 with a higher priority (e.g., for URLLC services) and a PUCCH transmission 970 with a lower priority that the UE 110 is using (e.g., for eMBB services). In this example, the URLLC PUCCH transmission 960 is shown to truncate the eMBB PUCCH transmission 970.

[0069] In Figure 9B the example, the PUCCH transmission with a lower priority (e.g., the eMBB PUCCH transmission 970) can be postponed until the PUCCH transmission with a higher priority (e.g., the URLLC PUCCH transmission 960) is completed. Therefore, in this example, the eMBB PUCCH transmission 970 still starts in the originally scheduled time slot 955, but it is postponed until the higher-priority transmission is completed. If the eMBB PUCCH transmission 970 is not completed within time slot 955, the remaining part of the transmission can be completed in the next UL time slot 958.

[0070] According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, a set of beta offset values can be preconfigured for a UE via RRC signaling, and one or more beta offset values can be dynamically selected based at least on PUSCH transmissions using a beta offset indicator field in DCI format. For example, two beta offset values can be configured for each UE via RRC signaling. Depending on the scheduled PUSCH type (e.g., eMBB service type or URLLC service type), one of the two configured values can be dynamically signaled via the beta offset indicator field in DCI format. As an example, if the PUSCH is for URLLC, a smaller beta offset value can be configured for the UCI carried on the PUSCH to avoid degradation of PUSCH performance due to UCI transmissions.

[0071] Those skilled in the art will understand that the above-described exemplary embodiments can be implemented with any suitable software configuration or hardware configuration or a combination thereof. Exemplary hardware platforms for implementing the exemplary embodiments can include, for example, an Intel x86-based platform with a compatible operating system, Windows OS, Mac platform, and MAC OS, and mobile devices with operating systems such as iOS, Android, etc. In other examples, the exemplary embodiments of the above methods can be embodied as a program including lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which, when compiled, can be executed on a processor or microprocessor.

[0072] Although this patent application describes various combinations of various embodiments each having different features, those skilled in the art will understand that any feature of one embodiment can be combined with the features of other embodiments in any manner not negated by the disclosure or features that are not functionally or logically inconsistent with the operation of the devices of the embodiments disclosed in the present invention or the functions thereof.

[0073] It is well known that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of inadvertent or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly explained to the user.

[0074] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to the present disclosure without departing from the essence or scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is intended to cover modifications and variations of the present disclosure, provided that these modifications and variations are within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium including an instruction set, wherein the instruction set, when executed by a processor, causes a processor of a user equipment to perform operations, the operations including: Receiving, from a network, multiple physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmissions in a time slot of a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) window, wherein at least one of the multiple PDSCH transmissions includes a PDSCH packet index (DGI) field configured to indicate a group index of a scheduled PDSCH transmission or a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS); Decoding each of the PDSCH transmissions in the time slot of the HARQ-ACK window; Determining HARQ-ACK feedback for each of the PDSCH transmissions in the HARQ-ACK window; Bundling the HARQ-ACK feedback for at least two of the PDSCH transmissions; And Reporting the bundled HARQ-ACK feedback for the HARQ-ACK window to the network.

2. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the multiple PDSCH transmissions in the time slot include a first group of PDSCH transmissions in a time slot received via a first component carrier (CC) and a second group of PDSCH transmission time slots received via a second CC, wherein the bundling of the HARQ-ACK feedback for the at least two PDSCH transmissions is based on each CC.

3. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the multiple PDSCH transmissions in the time slot include a first group of PDSCH transmissions in a time slot received via a first component carrier (CC) and a second group of PDSCH transmission time slots received via a second CC, wherein the bundling of the HARQ-ACK feedback for the at least two PDSCH transmissions is performed across the first CC and the second CC.

4. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the operations further include: Receiving, from the network, an identification of the number of PDSCH transmissions in a time slot of the HARQ-ACK window.

5. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the HARQ-ACK feedback is reported as part of uplink control information (UCI) reported to the network.

6. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the bundling includes determining, starting from a first scheduled PDSCH transmission in the HARQ-ACK window, the number of consecutive PDSCH transmissions successfully decoded within the HARQ-ACK window, and reporting the HARQ-ACK feedback includes reporting the number.

7. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 6, wherein reporting the quantity includes reporting a Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest - ACKnowledgment (HARQ-ACK) status to the network, where multiple HARQ-ACK statuses are defined to represent the quantity of consecutive Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmissions that have been successfully decoded starting from the first scheduled PDSCH transmission in the HARQ-ACK window.

8. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the bundling includes a logical "AND" operation.

9. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the multiple PDSCH transmissions in a time slot include a first set of PDSCH transmissions in the time slot received via a first Component Carrier (CC) and a second set of PDSCH transmissions in the time slot received via a second CC, and wherein the bundling of the HARQ-ACK feedback includes bundling the HARQ-ACK feedback for each PDSCH transmission in the first set of PDSCH transmissions received on the first CC based on each codeword.

10. A User Equipment (UE) comprising: a transceiver configured to connect to a network and receive multiple PDSCH transmissions in a time slot of a Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest - ACKnowledgment (HARQ-ACK) window from the network, wherein at least one PDSCH transmission of the multiple PDSCH transmissions includes a Physical Downlink Shared Channel Packet Index (DGI) field configured to indicate a group index of the scheduled PDSCH transmission or Semi-Persistent Scheduling (SPS); a processor configured to decode each PDSCH transmission in the time slot of the HARQ-ACK window, determine HARQ-ACK feedback for each PDSCH transmission in the HARQ-ACK window, and bundle the HARQ-ACK feedback for at least two of the PDSCH transmissions; wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit the bundled HARQ-ACK feedback for the HARQ-ACK window to the network.

11. The UE according to claim 10, wherein the multiple PDSCH transmissions in a time slot include a first set of PDSCH transmissions in the time slot received via a first Component Carrier (CC) and a second set of PDSCH transmissions in the time slot received via a second CC.

12. The UE according to claim 11, wherein the first set of PDSCH transmissions is encoded based on a first codeword, and wherein the bundled HARQ-ACK feedback includes one bit.

13. The UE according to claim 11, wherein the first set of PDSCH transmissions is encoded based on a first codeword and a second codeword, and wherein the bundled HARQ-ACK feedback includes two bits.

14. A computer-readable storage medium comprising an instruction set, wherein the instruction set, when executed by a processor, causes a processor of a user equipment to perform operations, the operations including: Receiving a plurality of Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmissions in a time slot from a network, wherein the plurality of PDSCH transmissions in the time slot include a first set of PDSCH transmissions corresponding to a first service in the time slot and a second set of PDSCH transmissions corresponding to a second service in the time slot, and wherein at least one PDSCH transmission of the plurality of PDSCH transmissions includes a PDSCH Packet Index (DGI) field configured to indicate a group index of the scheduled PDSCH transmission or Semi-Persistent Scheduling (SPS); Decoding each of the PDSCH transmissions in the time slot in a Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest - ACK (HARQ - ACK) window; Determining HARQ - ACK feedback for each of the PDSCH transmissions in the HARQ - ACK window; and Reporting the HARQ - ACK feedback for the HARQ - ACK window to the network.

15. The computer - readable storage medium according to claim 14, wherein the operations further include: Receiving scheduling information for the second set of PDSCH transmissions, wherein the scheduling information includes information for the first set of PDSCH transmissions in the HARQ - ACK window; Sequentially concatenating the HARQ - ACK information for the first set of PDSCH transmissions and the second set of PDSCH transmissions into one HARQ - ACK feedback.

16. The computer - readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the information for the first set of PDSCH transmissions includes the total number of Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and PDSCH transmissions, the PDCCH indicating a Downlink (DL) Semi - Persistent Scheduling (SPS) release of the first set of PDSCH transmissions within the HARQ - ACK window, and the last PDSCH transmission of the first set of PDSCH transmissions will be transmitted in the HARQ - ACK window.

17. The computer - readable storage medium according to claim 14, wherein the HARQ - ACK feedback for the first set of PDSCH transmissions is transmitted to the network in a first message, and the HARQ - ACK feedback for the second set of PDSCH transmissions is transmitted to the network in a second message.

18. The computer - readable storage medium according to claim 17, wherein the scheduling for the first message and the second message indicates a conflict between the first message and the second message, and the operations further include: Resolving the conflict based on the priority of the first service relative to the second service.

19. The computer - readable storage medium according to claim 18, wherein the first service has a higher priority than the second service, and wherein the conflict is resolved based on skipping the transmission of the second message.

20. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 18, wherein the first service has a higher priority than the second service, and wherein the conflict is resolved based on transmitting the second message after the transmission of the first message is completed.

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