Techniques for on-demand soft ACK / NAK in wireless communication systems

Abstract

Various aspects described herein relate to on-demand soft acknowledgement (ACK) / negative acknowledgement (NACK) in radio access and other wireless networks such as fifth generation new radio (5G NR), 3GPP long term evolution (LTE), 3GPP LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wi-Fi, etc. In an example, these aspects may include receiving a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback from a network entity; enabling soft ACK / NACK feedback based on the request, wherein the soft ACK / NACK feedback includes at least a link quality metric per diversity branch; and sending soft ACK / NACK feedback to the network entity based on a determination to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 63 / 018,421, filed on April 30, 2020, entitled “TECHNIQUES FOR ON-DEMAND SOFTACK / NACK IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM,” and U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 302,072, filed on April 22, 2021, entitled “TECHNIQUES FOR ON-DEMAND SOFT ACK / NACK IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM,” the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Background Art

[0003] Various aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to on-demand soft acknowledgement (ACK) / negative acknowledgement (NACK) in wireless communication systems such as fifth generation new radio (5G NR), 3GPP long term evolution (LTE), 3GPP LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wi-Fi, etc.

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems 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, and single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems.

[0005] These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate at municipal, national, regional, and even global levels. For example, the fifth generation (5G) wireless communication technology (which may be referred to as NR) is envisioned to extend and support various usage scenarios and applications for current mobile network generations. On the one hand, 5G communication technology may include: enhanced mobile broadband addressing people-centric use cases for accessing multimedia content, services, and data; ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC) with certain specifications for latency and reliability; and massive machine type communications, which may allow very large numbers of connected devices and the transmission of relatively small amounts of non-delay-sensitive information.

[0006] For example, for various communication technologies such as, but not limited to, NR, some embodiments may improve transmission speed and flexibility as well as transmission complexity. Therefore, it may be desirable to improve wireless communication operations. Summary of the invention

[0007] A simplified summary of one or more aspects is presented below to provide a basic understanding of these aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is neither intended to identify key or important elements of all aspects, nor to delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description that is presented later.

[0008] Example embodiments include a method of wireless communication, which includes receiving a request to enable soft acknowledgement (ACK) / negative acknowledgement (NACK) feedback from a network entity; determining to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback based on the request; and sending soft ACK / NACK feedback to the network entity based on the determination to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback.

[0009] Another example embodiment includes a method of wireless communication, comprising determining whether to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback; sending a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback to a user equipment (UE) based on the determination to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback; and receiving a soft ACK / NACK transmission from the UE in response to sending the request.

[0010] In another example, an apparatus for wireless communication is provided, comprising: a transceiver; a memory configured to store instructions; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions to perform the operations of the methods described herein.

[0011]

[0013] In another aspect, an apparatus for wireless communication is provided, comprising means for performing the operations of the methods described herein.

[0012] In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code executable by one or more processors to perform the operations of the methods described herein is provided.

[0013] To accomplish the foregoing and related ends, the one or more aspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the accompanying drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of the one or more aspects. However, these features are indicative of only a few of the various ways in which the principles of the various aspects may be employed, and this description is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] The disclosed aspects will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are provided to illustrate and not to limit the disclosed aspects, wherein like reference numerals represent like elements, and wherein:

[0015] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an example of a wireless communication system according to various aspects of the present disclosure;

[0016] Figure 2 is a block diagram of an example of a network entity according to various aspects of the present disclosure;

[0017] Figure 3 is a block diagram of an example of a user equipment (UE) according to various aspects of the present disclosure;

[0018] Figure 4 is a call flow diagram with soft acknowledgment (ACK) / negative acknowledgment (NACK) enabled on demand;

[0019] Figure 5 is a flow chart of an example method of wireless communication, and more specifically, on-demand soft acknowledgement (ACK) / negative acknowledgement (NACK) at a UE;

[0020] Figure 6 is a flow chart of an example method of wireless communication (and more specifically, on-demand soft ACK / NACK at a network entity); and

[0021] Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a MIMO communication system including a base station and a UE according to various aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] Various aspects are now described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, for the purpose of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of one or more aspects. However, it may be apparent that these aspects can be practiced without these specific details.

[0023] The described features generally relate to on-demand soft ACK / NACK in wireless communication systems such as fifth generation new radio (5G NR, or simply referred to as NR). For example, a user equipment (UE) may use soft ACK / NACK to report soft information about link quality on top of ACK / NACK. Based on the soft ACK / NACK information, a network entity (e.g., a gNB) may adapt a transmission scheme and / or parameters to improve reliability. In an example, in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission based on multiple beams / transmit reception points (TRPs), the UE decodes the PDSCH by combining all copies from different beams / TRPs. In addition to the final ACK / NACK, the UE may also report PDSCH quality from separate beams and / or TRPs, including ACK / NACK, log likelihood ratio (LLR), signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR), reference signal received power (RSRP), channel quality indicator (CQI), and a recommended modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for each number of layers of the corresponding PDSCH. In addition, the UE may also recommend new candidate beams / TRPs and their soft information (e.g., their quality metrics). Therefore, in order to improve the reliability of transmission, the network entity may schedule the next transmission based on the soft ACK / NACK information.

[0024] However, in some aspects, due to the additional information to be sent from the UE, soft ACK / NACK may increase overhead and reduce uplink reliability if soft ACK / NACK is always enabled.

[0025] The present disclosure generally relates to a solution to overcome the current problem of always enabling soft ACK / NACK feedback. In some aspects, a network entity may dynamically request soft ACK / NACK feedback instead of always enabling soft ACK / NACK. For example, when the number of errors detected by the network entity in data reception (e.g., PDSCH reception) or recent data reception (e.g., recent PDSCH reception) meets an error threshold level, the network entity may dynamically request soft ACK / NACK feedback. Similarly, the network entity may also dynamically request soft ACK / NACK when the current link quality does not meet the threshold of one or more beams and / or TRPs. Otherwise, the UE may provide feedback with normal ACK / NACK. Soft ACK / NACK may include link quality metrics per diversity branch, per beam, and / or per TRP (e.g., separate PDSCH quality per beam and / or TRP). As described herein, a diversity branch refers to a beam and / or TRP that carries a copy of the same data stream from a transmitter as another beam or TRP. In an example, link quality metrics may include ACK / NACK based on separate decoding, LLR, SINR, RSRP, CQI, and recommended MCS and / or number of layers. As described herein, the recommended MCS may be an MCS based on the signal quality of one or more beams and / or TRPs. For example, the recommended MCS may be an MCS based on block error rate (BLER), LLR, SINR, RSRP, CQI, etc. The reported diversity branch may be all or a subset of the branches used for downlink reception associated with the soft ACK / NACK and / or candidate branches for potential future reception. As described herein, a candidate branch refers to a beam and / or TRP recommended for future reception when the link quality of one or more of the current beams and / or TRPs used for reception does not meet a threshold link quality level.

[0026] In one aspect, the present disclosure includes a method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium for wireless communication, which are used to: receive a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback from a network entity; determine to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback based on the request; and send soft ACK / NACK feedback to the network entity based on the determination to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback.

[0027] In another aspect, the present disclosure includes a method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium for wireless communication, which are used to: determine whether to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback; send a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback to a UE based on the determination to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback; and receive a soft ACK / NACK transmission from the UE in response to sending the request.

[0028] The following will refer to Figure 1-7 The features are described in more detail.

[0029] As used in this application, the terms "component", "module", "system", etc. are intended to include computer-related entities, such as but not limited to hardware, software, a combination of hardware and software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be but not limited to a process, a processor, an object, an executable program, an execution thread, a program and / or a computer running on a processor. As an illustration, both an application running on a computing device and a computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside in a process and / or an execution thread, and a component can be located on a computer and / or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can be executed from various computer-readable media having various data structures stored thereon. These components can communicate through local and / or remote processes, such as according to a signal with one or more data packets, such as data from a component, the component interacts with another component in a local system, a distributed system, and / or interacts with other systems through a network such as the Internet by means of a signal. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subroutines, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

[0030] The technology described herein can be used for various wireless communication systems, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA and other systems. The terms "system" and "network" are usually used interchangeably. A CDMA system can implement radio technologies such as CDMA2000, Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), etc. CDMA2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. IS-2000 versions 0 and A are commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1X, 1X, etc. IS-856 (TIA-856) is commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. A TDMA system can implement radio technologies such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). OFDMA systems can implement technologies such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM TMRadio technologies such as LTE and GSM. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are new versions of UMTS using E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A and GSM are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). The techniques described herein can be used for the above-mentioned systems and radio technologies as well as other systems and radio technologies, including cellular (e.g., LTE) communications on shared radio spectrum bands. However, the following description describes an LTE / LTE-A system for example purposes, and LTE terminology is used in most of the following descriptions, although these techniques are applicable outside of LTE / LTE-A applications (e.g., applicable to fifth generation (5G) NR networks or other next generation communication systems).

[0031] The following description provides examples and does not limit the scope, applicability or examples set forth in the claims. The functions and arrangements of the elements discussed may be changed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Various examples may appropriately omit, replace or add various processes or components. For example, the described methods may be performed in a different order than described, and various steps may be added, omitted or combined. In addition, the features described with respect to some examples may be combined in other examples.

[0032] Various aspects or features will be presented in terms of systems that may include multiple devices, components, modules, etc. It should be understood and appreciated that the various systems may include additional devices, components, modules, etc., and / or may not include all of the devices, components, modules, etc. discussed in conjunction with the figures. Combinations of these methods may also be used.

[0033] refer to Figure 1 , an example of a wireless communication system and access network 100 (also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include a base station 102, a UE 104, an evolved packet core (EPC) 160, and / or a 5G core (5GC) 190. The base station 102 (which may also be referred to as a network entity) may include a macro cell (a high-power cellular base station) and / or a small cell (a low-power cellular base station). A macro cell may include a base station. A small cell may include a femto cell, a pico cell, and a micro cell. In an example, the base station 102 may also include a gNB 180, as further described herein.

[0034] In one example, as described herein, some nodes such as base station 102 / gNB 180 can have a modem 240 and a communication component 242. For example, base station 102 and / or communication component 242 can determine whether to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback; send a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback to UE 104 based on the determination to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback; and receive a soft ACK / NACK transmission from UE 104 in response to sending the request. Although base station 102 / gNB 180 is shown as having modem 240 and communication component 242, this is an illustrative example, and substantially any node can include modem 240 and communication component 242 for providing corresponding functionality as described herein.

[0035] In another example, some nodes such as UE 104 of a wireless communication system may have a modem 340 and a communication component 342 for receiving a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback from a network entity (e.g., base station 102); determining to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback based on the request; and sending soft ACK / NACK feedback to the network entity based on the determination to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback. Although UE 104 is shown as having a modem 340 and a communication component 342, this is an illustrative example, and substantially any node or node type may include a modem 340 and a communication component 342 for providing the corresponding functionality described herein.

[0036] A base station 102 configured for 4G LTE (which may be collectively referred to as an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)) may interface with the EPC 160 via a backhaul link 132 (e.g., using an S1 interface). A base station 102 configured for 5G NR (which may be collectively referred to as a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)) may interface with the 5GC 190 via a backhaul link 184. The base station 102 may perform one or more of the following functions, among other functions: transmission of user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network (RAN) sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and device tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. Base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC 160 or 5GC 190) via backhaul links 134 (e.g., using an X2 interface). Backhaul links 132, 134, and / or 184 may be wired or wireless.

[0037] The base station 102 can communicate wirelessly with one or more UEs 104. Each base station 102 can provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. There can be overlapping geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell 102' can have a coverage area 110' that overlaps with the coverage area 110 of one or more macro base stations 102. A network including both small cells and macro cells can be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network can also include a home evolved Node B (eNB) (HeNB), which can provide services to a restricted group that can be referred to as a closed subscriber group (CSG). The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 can include an uplink (UL) (also referred to as a reverse link) transmission from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or a downlink (DL) (also referred to as a forward link) transmission from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 can use multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming and / or transmit diversity. The communication link can be through one or more carriers. Base station 102 / UE 104 can use spectrum with up to Y MHz (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100, 400, etc. MHz) bandwidth per carrier, which is allocated in carrier aggregation up to a total of Yx MHz (e.g., for x component carriers) for transmission in the DL and / or UL direction. Carriers may be adjacent or non-adjacent to each other. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for DL ​​than for UL). Component carriers may include a primary component carrier and one or more secondary component carriers. A primary component carrier may be referred to as a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary component carrier may be referred to as a secondary cell (SCell).

[0038] In another example, some UEs 104 may communicate with each other using a device-to-device (D2D) communication link 158. The D2D communication link 158 may use DL / UL WWAN spectrum. The D2D communication link 158 may use one or more sidelink channels, such as a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). The D2D communication may be through various wireless D2D communication systems, such as, for example, FlashLinQ, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi based on IEEE 802.11 standards, LTE, or NR.

[0039] The wireless communication system may also include a Wi-Fi access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a Wi-Fi station (STA) 152 in the 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum via a communication link 154. When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the STA 152 / AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) prior to communication to determine whether the channel is available.

[0040] The small cell 102' may operate in a licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed spectrum, the small cell 102' may employ NR and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum used by the Wi-Fi AP 150. The small cell 102' employing NR in the unlicensed spectrum may enhance coverage of the access network and / or increase capacity of the access network.

[0041] The base station 102, whether a small cell 102' or a large cell (e.g., a macro base station), may include an eNB, a gNodeB (gNB), or other types of base stations. Some base stations, such as gNB 180, may operate in the traditional sub-6 GHz spectrum, in millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies, and / or in near-mmW frequencies in communicating with UE 104. When the gNB 180 operates in mmW or near-mmW frequencies, the gNB 180 may be referred to as a mmW base station. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 mm and 10 mm. Radio waves in the band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 mm. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz and is also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using the mmW / near-mmW radio bands have extremely high path loss and short distances. The mmW base station 180 can utilize beamforming 182 with the UE 104 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short distance. The base station 102 referred to herein may include a gNB 180.

[0042] The EPC 160 may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, other MMEs 164, a serving gateway 166, a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) gateway 168, a broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC) 170, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway 172. The MME 162 may communicate with a home subscriber server (HSS) 174. The MME 162 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 104 and the EPC 160. Typically, the MME 162 provides bearer and connection management. All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transmitted through the serving gateway 166, which itself is connected to the PDN gateway 172. The PDN gateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation and other functions. The PDN gateway 172 and the BM-SC 170 are connected to the IP service 176. The IP service 176 may include the Internet, the intranet, the IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), the PS streaming service, and / or other IP services. The BM-SC 170 may provide functions for MBMS user service provision and delivery. The BM-SC 170 may be used as an entry point for content provider MBMS transmissions, may be used to authorize and initiate MBMS bearer services within a public land mobile network (PLMN), and may be used to schedule MBMS transmissions. The MBMS Gateway 168 may be used to distribute MBMS services to base stations 102 belonging to a multicast broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) area that broadcasts specific services, and may be responsible for session management (start / stop) and collecting eMBMS related billing information.

[0043] 5GC 190 may include an access and mobility management function (AMF) 192, other AMFs 193, a session management function (SMF) 194, and a user plane function (UPF) 195. AMF 192 may communicate with unified data management (UDM) 196. AMF 192 may be a control node that handles signaling between UE 104 and 5GC 190. Typically, AMF 192 may provide QoS flow and session management. User Internet Protocol (IP) packets (e.g., from one or more UEs 104) may be transmitted through UPF 195. UPF 195 may provide UE IP address allocation for one or more UEs and other functions. UPF 195 is connected to IP services 197. IP services 197 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), a PS streaming service, and / or other IP services.

[0044] A base station may also be referred to as a gNB, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), an access point, a base transceiver station, a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), a transmit receive point (TRP), or some other suitable term. Base station 102 provides an access point to EPC 160 or 5GC 190 for UE 104. Examples of UE 104 include cellular phones, smart phones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), satellite radios, positioning systems (e.g., satellite, terrestrial), multimedia devices, video devices, digital audio players (e.g., MP3 players), cameras, game consoles, tablet computers, smart devices, robots, drones, industrial / manufacturing equipment, wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart clothing, smart glasses, virtual reality goggles, smart wristbands, smart jewelry (e.g., smart rings, smart bracelets)), vehicle / transportation equipment, meters (e.g., parking meters, electricity meters, gas meters, water meters, flow meters), gas pumps, large or small kitchen appliances, medical / health care equipment, implants, sensors / actuators, displays, or any other similarly functional device. Some UE 104 may be referred to as IoT devices (e.g., meters, pumps, monitors, cameras, industrial / manufacturing equipment, appliances, vehicles, robots, drones, etc.). IoT UEs may include MTC / enhanced MTC (eMTC, also known as CAT-M, Cat M1) UEs, NB-IoT (also known as CAT NB1) UEs, and other types of UEs. In the present disclosure, eMTC and NB-IoT may refer to future technologies that may evolve from or may be based on these technologies. For example, eMTC may include FeMTC (further eMTC), eFeMTC (enhanced further eMTC), mMTC (massive MTC), etc., and NB-IoT may include eNB-IoT (enhanced NB-IoT), FeNB-IoT (further enhanced NB-IoT), etc. UE 104 may also be referred to as a station, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communication device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable term.

[0045] Now go to Figure 2-7, various aspects are described with reference to one or more components and one or more methods that can perform the actions or operations described herein, wherein the aspects in dashed lines may be optional. Although the operations described below are presented in a particular order and / or as being performed by example components, it should be understood that the order of the actions and the components that perform the actions may vary depending on the implementation. In addition, it should be understood that the following actions, functions, and / or described components may be performed by a specially programmed processor, a processor executing specially programmed software, or a computer-readable medium, or by any other combination of hardware components and / or software components that can perform the described actions or functions.

[0046] refer to Figure 2 , base station 102 (e.g., base station 102 and / or gNB 180 as described above) may include various components, some of which have been described above and are further described herein, including components such as one or more processors 212 and memory 216 that communicate via one or more buses 244 and a transceiver 202, which may operate in conjunction with a modem 240 and / or a communication component 242 to perform CLI measurements based on an enhanced SRS.

[0047] In one aspect, the one or more processors 212 may include the modem 240 and / or may be part of the modem 240 using one or more modem processors. Thus, various functions associated with the communication component 242 may be included in the modem 240 and / or the processor 212, and in one aspect, may be performed by a single processor, while in other aspects, different ones of these functions may be performed by a combination of two or more different processors. For example, in one aspect, the one or more processors 212 may include any one or any combination of a modem processor, or a baseband processor, or a digital signal processor, or a transmit processor, or a receiver processor, or a transceiver processor associated with the transceiver 202. In other aspects, some features of the one or more processors 212 and / or the modem 240 associated with the communication component 242 may be performed by the transceiver 202.

[0048] In addition, the memory 216 can be configured to store local versions of data and / or applications 275 used herein or one or more of the communication components 242 and / or its subcomponents executed by the at least one processor 212. The memory 216 can include any type of computer-readable medium usable by a computer or the at least one processor 212, such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), tape, disk, optical disk, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, and any combination thereof. In one aspect, for example, when the base station 102 operates the at least one processor 212 to execute one or more of the communication components 242 and / or its subcomponents, the memory 216 can be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores one or more computer-executable codes defining one or more of the communication components 242 and / or its subcomponents and / or data associated therewith.

[0049] The transceiver 202 may include at least one receiver 206 and at least one transmitter 208. The receiver 206 may include hardware and / or software executable by a processor for receiving data, the code including instructions and stored in a memory (e.g., a computer-readable medium). The receiver 206 may be, for example, a radio frequency (RF) receiver. In one aspect, the receiver 206 may receive a signal transmitted by at least one base station 102. In addition, the receiver 206 may process such received signals and may also obtain measurements of the signal, such as but not limited to Ec / Io, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), reference signal received power (RSRP), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), etc. The transmitter 208 may include hardware and / or software executable by a processor for transmitting data, the code including instructions and stored in a memory (e.g., a computer-readable medium). Suitable examples of the transmitter 208 may include, but are not limited to, an RF transmitter.

[0050] In addition, in one aspect, the base station 102 may include an RF front end 288 that may operate in communication with one or more antennas 265 and the transceiver 202 to receive and send radio transmissions, such as wireless communications sent by at least one base station 102 or wireless transmissions sent by the UE 104. The RF front end 288 may be connected to the one or more antennas 265 and may include one or more low noise amplifiers (LNAs) 290, one or more switches 292, one or more power amplifiers (PAs) 298, and one or more filters 296 for sending and receiving RF signals. The antenna 265 may include one or more antennas, antenna elements, and / or antenna arrays.

[0051] In one aspect, the LNA 290 can amplify the received signal at a desired output level. In one aspect, each LNA 290 can have a specified minimum and maximum gain value. In one aspect, the RF front end 288 can use one or more switches 292 to select a particular LNA 290 and its specified gain value based on the desired gain value for a particular application.

[0052] Further, for example, the RF front end 288 can use one or more PAs 298 to amplify the signal of the RF output at a desired output power level. In one aspect, each PA 298 can have a specified minimum and maximum gain value. In one aspect, the RF front end 288 can use one or more switches 292 to select a particular PA 298 and its specified gain value based on the desired gain value for a particular application.

[0053] In addition, for example, the RF front end 288 can use one or more filters 296 to filter the received signal to obtain an input RF signal. Similarly, in one aspect, for example, the output from the corresponding PA 298 can be filtered using a corresponding filter 296 to produce an output signal for transmission. In one aspect, each filter 296 can be connected to a specific LNA 290 and / or PA 298. In one aspect, the RF front end 288 can use one or more switches 292 to select a transmit or receive path using a specified filter 296, LNA 290, and / or PA 298 based on a configuration specified by the transceiver 202 and / or the processor 212.

[0054] As such, the transceiver 202 can be configured to transmit and receive wireless signals through one or more antennas 265 via the RF front end 288. In one aspect, the transceiver can be tuned to operate at a specified frequency so that the UE 104 can communicate with, for example, one or more base stations 102 or one or more cells associated with the one or more base stations 102. In one aspect, the modem 240 can configure the transceiver 202 to operate at a specified frequency and power level based on, for example, a UE configuration of the UE 104 and a communication protocol used by the modem 240.

[0055] On the one hand, modem 240 can be a multi-band multi-mode modem that can process digital data and communicate with transceiver 202 so that digital data is sent and received using transceiver 202. On the one hand, modem 240 can be multi-band and configured to support multiple frequency bands for a specific communication protocol. On the one hand, modem 240 can be multi-mode and configured to support multiple operating networks and communication protocols. On the one hand, modem 240 can control one or more components (e.g., RF front end 288, transceiver 202) of UE 104 to enable sending and / or receiving signals from the network based on a specified modem configuration. On the one hand, the modem configuration can be based on the mode of the modem and the frequency band in use. On the other hand, the modem configuration can be based on UE configuration information associated with UE 104 provided by the network during cell selection and / or cell reselection.

[0056] In one aspect, processor 212 may correspond to combining Figure 6 Similarly, the memory 216 may correspond to one or more of the processors described in the base station in the embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6 The memory described by the base station in.

[0057] refer to Figure 3 , an example of an implementation of the UE 104 may include various components, some of which have been described above and are further described herein, including components such as one or more processors 312 and memory 316 communicating via one or more buses 344 and the transceiver 302, which may operate in conjunction with the modem 340. In one aspect, for example, when the UE 104 operates at least one processor 312 to execute one or more of the communication components 342 and / or its subcomponents to perform CLI measurements based on enhanced SRS, the memory 316 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores one or more computer-executable codes defining one or more of the communication components 342 and / or its subcomponents, and / or data associated therewith.

[0058] The transceiver 302, receiver 306, transmitter 308, one or more processors 312, memory 316, application 375, bus 344, RF front end 388, LNA 390, switch 392, filter 396, PA 398, and one or more antennas 365 may be the same as or similar to corresponding components of the base station 102 as described above, but are configured or otherwise programmed for UE operation as opposed to base station operation.

[0059] In one aspect, processor 312 may correspond to combining Figure 6Similarly, the memory 316 may correspond to one or more of the processors described in the UE. Figure 6 The memory described by the UE in .

[0060] refer to Figure 4 , shows an example call flow diagram with soft ACK / NACK enabled on demand. Base station 404 may provide a cell serving UE 402. For example, in Figure 1 In the context of , base station 404 may correspond to base station 102 / 180, and accordingly, a cell may include a geographic coverage area 110 in which communication coverage is provided and / or a small cell 102' having a coverage area 110'. Further, UE 402 may correspond to at least UE 104.

[0061] At 406, the base station 404 determines to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback. The base station 404 may determine to enable soft ACK / NACK when the number of errors detected by the base station 404 in data reception (e.g., PDSCH reception) or in the most recent data reception (e.g., most recent PDSCH reception) meets an error threshold level. Similarly, the base station 404 may also determine to enable soft ACK / NACK when the current link quality does not meet a threshold quality level for one or more beams and / or TRPs.

[0062] At 408, the base station 404 determines the soft ACK / NACK feedback content and format. The soft ACK / NACK feedback content and format may include information related to the quality of the data channel (e.g., PDSCH) from a separate beam and / or TRP, including ACK / NACK, log likelihood ratio (LLR), signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR), reference signal received power (RSRP), channel quality indicator (CQI), and a recommended modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for each layer number of the corresponding data channel (e.g., PDSCH). In addition, in some aspects, the soft ACK / NACK feedback may also recommend new candidate beams / TRPs and their soft information (e.g., their quality metrics).

[0063] At 410, the base station 404 sends a request to enable soft ACK / NACK to the UE 402. In some aspects, the base station 404 may indicate the request to enable soft ACK / NACK in the DCI, and the request to enable soft ACK / NACK to the UE 402 is sent as part of the DCI. For example, the base station 404 may set a bit within the DCI to indicate a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback or reporting, and send the DCI via a control channel (e.g., PDCCH). In some aspects, the bit indicating whether to enable soft ACK / NACK within the bit string of the DCI may be predetermined. In some aspects, the BS 404 may be configured to set a bit to high to indicate that a soft ACK / NACK is requested. Similarly, in some aspects, the BS 404 may be configured to set a bit to low to indicate that a soft ACK / NACK is requested.

[0064] In some aspects, the content and / or format of the soft ACK / NACK feedback may be pre-configured by a radio resource control (RRC) (e.g., an RRC message) or a medium access control (MAC) common element (CE) (e.g., one or more bits corresponding to a MAC CE in a MAC PDU). In some aspects, the format of the soft ACK / NACK feedback configured by the RRC or MAC CE may maintain the format for a determined and / or predetermined amount of time. For example, the base station 404 may determine the amount of time that the format of the soft ACK / NACK feedback will maintain the format, and indicate the determined amount of time to the UE 402 (e.g., via DCI, MAC CE, RRC, etc.). Similarly, the amount of time may be predetermined, and the UE 404 may be configured to send the soft ACK / NACK feedback using the indicated format within the predetermined amount of time. In some aspects, the format of the soft ACK / NACK feedback configured by the RRC or MAC CE may be semi-static. The format of the soft ACK / NACK feedback configured by the MAC CE may change within a shorter period of time than the format configured by the RRC. The format configuration of the soft ACK / NACK feedback may indicate to the base station the information to be included in the feedback or report. For example, the format configuration of the soft ACK / NACK feedback sent from the base station 404 to the UE 402 may indicate to the UE 402 a link quality metric including LLRs based on each beam and / or TRP. Similarly, the format configuration may indicate to the UE 402 a link quality metric including at least one of decoding based on each diversity branch of the UE 402, LLRs, SINRs, CQIs, and / or a recommended MCS for each layer.

[0065] In some aspects, the base station 404 may indicate the content and / or format of the soft ACK / NACK to the UE 402 in the same DCI that includes a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback. This allows the content and / or format of the soft ACK / NACK feedback to change more dynamically than when the feedback content and / or format is configured by RRC or MAC CE. For example, the content and / or format of the soft ACK / NACK may be changed per DCI. In some aspects, one DCI may specify a soft ACK / NACK feedback content and / or format different from another DCI based on the information desired by the base station sending the DCI.

[0066] If the base station 404 sends a request for soft ACK / NACK via a DCI, in some aspects the base station 404 may be configured to indicate the request to enable soft ACK / NACK in the same DCI used to schedule downlink (DL) or uplink (UL) transmissions between the UE 402 and the base station 404 or in the same DCI used to activate semi-persistent scheduling of DL or UL transmissions between the UE 402 and the base station 404. Similarly, the base station 404 may send content and / or format configuration in the same DCI used to schedule DL or UL transmissions or in the same DCI used to activate semi-persistent scheduling of DL or UL transmissions.

[0067] In some aspects, the base station 404 may be configured to indicate a request to enable soft ACK / NACK in a DCI that is different from a DCI used to schedule DL or UL transmissions between the UE 402 and the base station 404 or a DCI used to activate semi-persistent scheduling of DL or UL transmissions between the UE 402 and the base station 404. The base station 404 may indicate the content and / or format of the soft ACK / NACK feedback in such DCI. In response to receiving such DCI from the base station 404, the UE 402 may send a dedicated ACK / NACK in response.

[0068] In some aspects, the base station 404 may indicate a request to enable soft ACK / NACK via a MAC CE. For example, the base station 404 may indicate a request to enable soft ACK / NACK via a bit corresponding to a MAC CE in a MAC protocol data unit (PDU) sent to the UE 402. In some aspects, in the case where the request to enable soft ACK / NACK is indicated via a MAC CE, the content and / or format of the soft ACK / NACK feedback may be pre-configured by RRC (e.g., an RRC message) or by a MAC CE (e.g., one or more bits corresponding to a MAC CE in a MAC PDU). In some aspects, in the case where the request to enable soft ACK / NACK is indicated via a MAC CE, the format of the soft ACK / NACK feedback configured by the RRC or MAC CE may be semi-static. In some aspects, in the case where a request to enable soft ACK / NACK is indicated via a MAC CE, the content and / or format of the soft ACK / NACK may not be pre-configured, and the base station 404 may indicate the content and / or format of the soft ACK / NACK to the UE 402 via a MAC CE using the same MAC PDU that includes the MAC CE indicating a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback.

[0069] In some aspects, the base station 404 may indicate a request to enable soft ACK / NACK via RRC. For example, the base station 404 may indicate the request to enable soft ACK / NACK in an RRC message sent to the UE 402. In some aspects, when the request to enable soft ACK / NACK is indicated via an RRC message, the content and / or format of the soft ACK / NACK may be configured in the same RRC message.

[0070] In some aspects, whether the base station may indicate the request to enable soft ACK / NACK via DCI, MAC CE, or RRC may be based on whether the UE is configured for a type 1 ACK / NACK codebook, a type 2 ACK / NACK codebook, or a type 3 ACK / NACK codebook. For example, if the UE is configured for a type 2 codebook or a type 3 codebook, the base station may only indicate the request to enable soft ACK / NACK via DCI, and if the UE is configured for a type 1 codebook, the base station may only indicate the request to enable soft ACK / NACK via MAC CE or RRC.

[0071] At 412, in response to receiving a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback from the base station 404, the UE 402 enables soft ACK / NACK feedback. In some aspects where the base station 404 indicates the request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback in the DCI, the UE 402 may enable soft ACK / NACK feedback only for ACK / NACK transmissions associated with the DCI indicating the request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback or for a time period associated with the DCI indicating the request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback. In these aspects, if the DCI activates DL semi-persistent scheduling of DL transmissions, soft ACK / NACK may be enabled for each ACK / NACK transmission per SPS opportunity. In some aspects, where the base station 404 indicates the request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback in the DCI, the UE 402 may enable soft ACK / NACK feedback for all ACK / NACK transmissions after receiving the request indicating the DCI until the UE 402 receives an indication to disable soft ACK / NACK. In some aspects, in the case where the base station 404 indicates a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback in the DCI, the UE 402 can enable soft ACK / NACK feedback for a subset of ACK / NACK transmissions after receiving the DCI including the request to enable soft ACK / NACK. For example, the UE 402 can enable soft ACK / NACK transmissions only for the first 5 or 10 ACK / NACK transmissions after receiving the DCI indicating the request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback. The size or number of subsets of transmissions for which soft ACK / NACK is enabled can be determined and / or indicated by the base station 404 (e.g., via DCI, MAC CE, RRC). In some aspects, the size or number of subsets of ACK / NACK transmissions for which soft ACK / NACK is enabled can be predetermined. Similarly, in some aspects, in the case where the base station 404 indicates a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback in the DCI, the UE 402 can enable soft ACK / NACK feedback for ACK / NACK transmissions during a certain time window after receiving the DCI including the request to enable soft ACK / NACK. Such a time window may be indicated by the base station 404 (e.g., via DCI, MAC CE, RRC) or may be predetermined. For example, it may be predetermined that after the UE 402 receives a soft ACK / NACK request, soft ACK / NACK will be enabled for each ACK / NACK transmission in the next 50 time slots or 100 time slots or other time period.

[0072] In some aspects, in the event that the base station 404 indicates a request to enable soft ACK / NACK in a MAC CE, the UE 402 may enable soft ACK / NACK feedback for all ACK / NACK transmissions after receiving the request indicating the MAC CE until the UE 402 receives an indication to disable soft ACK / NACK. In some aspects, in the event that the base station 404 indicates a request to enable soft ACK / NACK in a MAC CE, the UE 402 may enable soft ACK / NACK feedback for all ACK / NACK transmissions after 3 milliseconds from the end of sending ACK in response to receiving the request indicating the MAC CE until the UE 402 receives an indication to disable soft ACK / NACK.

[0073] In some aspects, in the case where the base station 404 indicates a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback in a MAC CE, the UE 402 may enable soft ACK / NACK feedback for a subset of ACK / NACK transmissions after receiving a MAC CE including a request to enable soft ACK / NACK. The size or number of subsets of transmissions for which soft ACK / NACK is enabled may be determined and / or indicated by the base station 404 (e.g., via DCI, MAC CE, RRC). For example, after the UE 402 receives the request to enable soft ACK / NACK, the base station 404 may indicate to the UE 402 that soft ACK / NACK feedback is enabled only for the first 7 ACK / NACK transmissions, and the UE 402 enables soft ACK / NACK transmissions only for the first 7 ACK / NACK transmissions based on the indication of the base station 404 after receiving the MAC CE indicating the request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback. In some aspects, the size or number of subsets of ACK / NACK transmissions for which soft ACK / NACK is enabled may be predetermined. For example, it can be predetermined that soft ACK / NACK feedback is enabled for the first 5 ACK / NACK transmissions after the UE receives a request to enable soft ACK / NACK in the MAC CE, and therefore, the UE 402 can be pre-configured to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback for the first 5 ACK / NACK transmissions after receiving a request to enable soft ACK / NACK in the MAC CE.

[0074] In some aspects, in the case where the base station 404 indicates a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback in the MAC CE, the UE 402 may enable soft ACK / NACK feedback for ACK / NACK transmission during a certain time window after receiving the MAC CE indicating the request to enable soft ACK / NACK. Such a time window may be indicated by the base station 404 (e.g., via DCI, MAC CE, RRC) or may be predetermined. For example, it may be predetermined that after the UE receives the soft ACK / NACK request, soft ACK / NACK is enabled for each ACK / NACK transmission in the next 50 time slots or 100 time slots or other time period, and the UE 402 may be preconfigured accordingly.

[0075] In some aspects, in the event that the base station 404 indicates a request in the RRC (e.g., via an RRC message) to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback, the UE 402 may enable soft ACK / NACK feedback for all ACK / NACK transmissions after receiving the request indicating the RRC until the UE 402 receives an indication to disable soft ACK / NACK. In some aspects, in the event that the base station 404 indicates a request in the RRC to enable soft ACK / NACK, the UE 402 may enable soft ACK / NACK feedback for all ACK / NACK transmissions after 3 milliseconds from sending an ACK end in response to receiving the request indicating the RRC until the UE 402 receives an indication to disable soft ACK / NACK.

[0076] In some aspects, in the case where the base station 404 indicates a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback in the RRC, the UE 402 may enable soft ACK / NACK feedback for a subset of ACK / NACK transmissions after receiving the RRC including the request to enable soft ACK / NACK. The size or number of subsets of transmissions for which soft ACK / NACK is enabled may be determined and / or indicated by the base station 404 (e.g., via DCI, MAC CE, RRC). For example, after the UE 402 receives the request to enable soft ACK / NACK, the base station 404 may indicate to the UE 402 that soft ACK / NACK feedback is enabled only for the first 7 ACK / NACK transmissions, and the UE 402 enables soft ACK / NACK transmissions only for the first 7 ACK / NACK transmissions based on the indication of the base station 404 after receiving the RRC indicating the request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback. In some aspects, the size or number of subsets of ACK / NACK transmissions for which soft ACK / NACK is enabled may be predetermined. For example, it can be predetermined that soft ACK / NACK feedback is enabled for the first 5 ACK / NACK transmissions after the UE receives a request to enable soft ACK / NACK in the RRC, and therefore, the UE 402 can be pre-configured to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback for the first 5 ACK / NACK transmissions after receiving a request to enable soft ACK / NACK in the RRC.

[0077] In some aspects, in the case where the base station 404 indicates a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback in the RRC, the UE 402 may enable soft ACK / NACK feedback for ACK / NACK transmission during a certain time window after receiving the RRC indicating the request to enable soft ACK / NACK. Such a time window may be indicated by the base station 404 (e.g., via DCI, MACCE, RRC) or may be predetermined. For example, it may be predetermined that after the UE receives the soft ACK / NACK request, soft ACK / NACK is enabled for each ACK / NACK transmission in the next 50 time slots or 100 time slots or other time period, and the UE 402 may be preconfigured accordingly.

[0078] At 414, the UE 402 generates soft ACK / NACK feedback based on the content and / or format configuration received from the base station 404 or based on the pre-configured soft ACK / NACK feedback content and / or format as described above. At 416, the UE 402 sends the soft ACK / NACK feedback to the base station 404. In some aspects, for an ACK / NACK codebook having a plurality of ACK / NACK bits sent to the base station 404 via an uplink control channel (e.g., PUCCH) and / or an uplink data channel (e.g., PUSCH), the UE 402 may be configured to send soft ACK / NACK feedback for each ACK / NACK bit corresponding to the reception of a transport block (TB) or a code block group (CBG) in the ACK / NACK codebook. In some aspects, for an ACK / NACK codebook having multiple ACK / NACK bits sent to a base station 404 via an uplink control channel (e.g., PUCCH) and / or an uplink data channel (e.g., PUSCH), the UE 402 may be configured to generate and / or send soft ACK / NACK feedback for a subset of the ACK / NACK bits in the ACK / NACK codebook. In some aspects, a subset of ACK / NACK bits (e.g., the last M ACK / NACK bits in the codebook) may be configured by the base station 404. In some aspects, a subset of ACK / NACK bits may be predetermined. For example, the UE 402 may be preconfigured to send soft ACK / NACK feedback for the last ACK / NACK bit. Similarly, the UE 402 may be preconfigured to send soft ACK / NACK feedback for ACK / NACK bits that are repeatedly received from multiple beams and / or TRPs for its TB and / or CBG.

[0079] refer to Figure 5 , you can use Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 6 One or more components of UE 104 described in may be used to perform an example of method 500 for wireless communication at a UE such as UE 104.

[0080] At block 502, method 500 includes receiving a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback from a network entity. In an aspect, communication component 342 (e.g., in combination with processor 312, memory 316, and / or transceiver 302) may be configured to receive a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback from a network entity. Thus, UE 104, processor 312, and / or communication component 342 may define means for receiving a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback from a network entity.

[0081] At block 504, method 500 includes determining to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback based on the request. In an aspect, communication component 342 (e.g., in combination with processor 312, memory 316, and / or transceiver 302) may be configured to determine to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback based on the request. Thus, UE 104, processor 312, and / or communication component 342 may define means for determining to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback based on the request.

[0082] At block 506, method 500 includes sending soft ACK / NACK feedback to a network entity based on the determination to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback. In an aspect, communication component 342 (e.g., in combination with processor 312, memory 316, and / or transceiver 302) may be configured to send soft ACK / NACK feedback to a network entity based on the determination to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback. Thus, UE 104, processor 312, and / or communication component 342 may define means for sending soft ACK / NACK feedback to a network entity based on the determination to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback.

[0083] In some aspects of method 500, the request corresponds to an on-demand dynamic soft ACK / NACK.

[0084] In some aspects of method 500, soft ACK / NACK feedback includes at least a link quality metric per diversity branch. As described above, link quality metrics may include but are not limited to ACK / NACK based on individual decoding, LLR, SINR, RSRP, CQI, and recommended MCS and / or number of layers.

[0085] In some aspects of method 500, the link quality metric for each diversity branch corresponds to an individual PDSCH quality for each at least one of the beams and TRPs.

[0086] In some aspects of method 500, the link quality metric for each diversity branch includes ACK / NACK based on at least one of individual decoding, LLR, SINR, RSRP, CQI, and recommended MCS per number of layers.

[0087] In some aspects of method 500, the diversity branches correspond to branches used for at least one of downlink (DL) receptions associated with a soft ACK / NACK and at least a subset of one or more candidate branches for potential future receptions.

[0088] In some aspects of the method 500, receiving the request further comprises receiving the request in an indicator in downlink control information (DCI).

[0089] In some aspects of method 500, the indicator corresponds to a single bit requesting soft ACK / NACK feedback.

[0090] In some aspects of the method 500, the soft ACK / NACK feedback is pre-configured by at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) or a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0091] In some aspects of method 500, the soft ACK / NACK feedback includes one or more link quality metrics associated with one or more diversity branches.

[0092] In some aspects of method 500, the indicator includes content and format information of the request and report.

[0093] In some aspects of the method 500, the DCI schedules at least one of a DL / uplink (UL) transmission or activates a semi-persistent DL / UL transmission.

[0094] In some aspects of method 500, the DCI forgoes scheduling all transmissions and is dedicated to sending soft ACK / NACKs.

[0095] In some aspects of method 500, soft ACK / NACK feedback is enabled for ACK / NACK transmissions associated with the DCI.

[0096] In some aspects, method 500 may include enabling soft ACK / NACK feedback for each ACK / NACK transmission per semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) opportunity based on a determination that the DCI activates DL SPS transmission.

[0097] In some aspects, method 500 may include enabling soft ACK / NACK feedback for subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions after the DCI.

[0098] In some aspects, method 500 may include disabling soft ACK / NACK feedback for subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions.

[0099] In some aspects, method 500 may include enabling a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions following a DCI.

[0100] In some aspects of method 500, the subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions corresponds to a portion of the ACK / NACK transmissions following the DCI.

[0101] In some aspects of the method 500, enabling a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions following the DCI includes enabling a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions during a time window.

[0102] In some aspects of the method 500, a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions is indicated by a network entity via at least one of a DCI, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), a radio resource control (RRC).

[0103] In some aspects of method 500, the subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions is based on a predefined rule.

[0104] In some aspects of method 500, receiving the request further comprises sending the request in a MAC CE.

[0105] In some aspects of method 500, the indicator corresponds to a single bit requesting soft ACK / NACK feedback.

[0106] In some aspects of method 500, soft ACK / NACK feedback is preconfigured by at least one of RRC or MAC CE.

[0107] In some aspects of method 500, the soft ACK / NACK feedback includes one or more link quality metrics associated with one or more diversity branches.

[0108] In some aspects of method 500, the indicator includes content and format information of the request and report.

[0109] In some aspects, method 500 may include enabling soft ACK / NACK feedback for subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions after at least one of a MAC CE or an end of ACK transmission for the MAC CE.

[0110] In some aspects, method 500 may include disabling soft ACK / NACK feedback for subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions.

[0111] In some aspects, method 500 may include enabling a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions after at least one of a MAC CE or an end of ACK transmission for the MAC CE.

[0112] In some aspects of method 500, the subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions corresponds to a portion of ACK / NACK transmissions subsequent to at least one of a MAC CE or an end of ACK transmission for the MAC CE.

[0113] In some aspects of the method 500, enabling a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions after the DCI includes enabling the subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions during the time window. In some aspects of the method 500, the network entity indicates the subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions via at least one of DCI, MAC CE, RRC.

[0114] In some aspects of method 500, the subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions is based on a predefined rule.

[0115] In some aspects of method 500, sending the request further comprises sending the request in an RRC message.

[0116] In some aspects of method 500, the indicator includes content and format information of the request and report.

[0117] In some aspects, method 500 may include enabling soft ACK / NACK feedback for subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions after the RRC message.

[0118] In some aspects, method 500 may include disabling soft ACK / NACK feedback for subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions.

[0119] In some aspects, method 500 may include enabling a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions following the RRC message.

[0120] In some aspects of method 500, the subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions corresponds to a portion of ACK / NACK transmissions following the RRC message.

[0121] In some aspects of method 500, enabling a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions after the RRC message includes enabling a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions during a time window.

[0122] In some aspects of method 500, the network entity indicates a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions via at least one of DCI, MAC CE, RRC.

[0123] In some aspects of method 500, the subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions is based on a predefined rule.

[0124] In some aspects of method 500, soft ACK / NACK feedback is applied to one or more types of ACK / NACK codebooks.

[0125] In some aspects of method 500, the one or more types of ACK / NACK codebooks include a type-2 or type-3 codebook corresponding to a request in an indicator in the DCI.

[0126] In some aspects of method 500, the one or more types of ACK / NACK codebooks include a type-1 codebook corresponding to a request in a MAC CE or RRC message.

[0127] In some aspects of the method 500, the soft ACK / NACK feedback comprises an ACK / NACK codebook having a plurality of ACK / NACK bits in at least one of the PUCCH and a physical uplink shared channel.

[0128] In some aspects of the method 500, the ACK / NACK codebook includes soft ACK / NACK feedback for each ACK / NACK bit of the plurality of ACK / NACK bits corresponding to reception of a transport block (TB) or code block group (CBG) in the ACK / NACK codebook.

[0129] In some aspects of method 500, the ACK / NACK codebook includes a subset of the plurality of ACK / NACK bits in the ACK / NACK codebook.

[0130] In some aspects of method 500, the subset of the plurality of ACK / NACK bits is preconfigured by a network entity.

[0131] In some aspects of method 500, the preconfigured subset corresponds to a last portion of ACK / NACK bits in the ACK / NACK codebook.

[0132] In some aspects of method 500, the subset of the plurality of ACK / NACK bits is determined based on an implicit rule.

[0133] In some aspects of method 500, the implicit rule corresponds to at least one of the last ACK / NACK bit in the ACK / NACK codebook or one or more ACK / NACK bits of a TB or CBG having repeated reception from multiple beams or TRPs.

[0134] Reference Figure 6 , you can use Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 7 One or more of the components of the base station 102 described in may be used to perform an example of a method 600 for wireless communication at a base station such as the base station 102.

[0135] At block 602, method 600 includes determining whether to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback. In an aspect, communication component 242 (e.g., in conjunction with processor 212, memory 216, and / or transceiver 202) may be configured to determine whether to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback. Thus, BS 102, processor 212, and / or communication component 242 may define means for determining whether to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback.

[0136] At block 604, method 600 includes sending a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback to the UE based on the determination to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback. In an aspect, communication component 242 (e.g., in combination with processor 212, memory 216, and / or transceiver 202) may be configured to send a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback to the UE based on the determination to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback. Thus, BS 102, processor 212, and / or communication component 242 may define a means for sending a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback to the UE based on the determination to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback.

[0137] At block 606, method 600 includes receiving a soft ACK / NACK transmission from the UE in response to the transmit request. In an aspect, communication component 242 (e.g., in combination with processor 212, memory 216, and / or transceiver 202) may be configured to receive a soft ACK / NACK transmission (e.g., soft ACK / NACK feedback) from the UE in response to the transmit request. Thus, BS 102, processor 212, and / or communication component 242 may define means for receiving a soft ACK / NACK transmission from the BS in response to the transmit request.

[0138] In some aspects of method 600, the request corresponds to an on-demand dynamic soft ACK / NACK.

[0139] In some aspects of method 600, the soft ACK / NACK transmission includes at least a link quality metric for each diversity branch.

[0140] In some aspects of method 600, the link quality metric for each diversity branch corresponds to an individual PDSCH quality for each at least one of the beams and TRPs.

[0141] In some aspects of method 600, the link quality metric for each diversity branch includes ACK / NACK based on at least one of individual decoding, LLR, SINR, RSRP, CQI, and recommended MCS per number of layers.

[0142] In some aspects of method 600, the diversity branches correspond to branches used for at least one of the DL receptions associated with the soft ACK / NACK and at least a subset of the one or more candidate branches for potential future receptions.

[0143] In some aspects of method 600, sending the request further comprises sending the request in an indicator in the DCI.

[0144] In some aspects of method 600, the indicator corresponds to a single bit requesting soft ACK / NACK feedback.

[0145] In some aspects of method 600, soft ACK / NACK feedback is preconfigured by at least one of RRC or MAC CE.

[0146] In some aspects of method 600, the soft ACK / NACK feedback includes one or more link quality metrics associated with one or more diversity branches.

[0147] In some aspects of method 600, the indicator includes content and format information of the request and report.

[0148] In some aspects of the method 600, the DCI schedules at least one of a DL / uplink (UL) transmission or activates a semi-persistent DL / UL transmission.

[0149] In some aspects of method 600, the DCI forgoes scheduling all transmissions and is dedicated to sending soft ACK / NACK.

[0150] In some aspects of method 600, soft ACK / NACK feedback is enabled for ACK / NACK transmissions associated with the DCI.

[0151] In some aspects, method 600 may include enabling soft ACK / NACK feedback for each ACK / NACK transmission per SPS opportunity based on a determination that the DCI activates DL SPS transmission.

[0152] In some aspects, method 600 may include enabling soft ACK / NACK feedback for subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions after the DCI.

[0153] In some aspects, method 600 may include disabling soft ACK / NACK feedback for subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions.

[0154] In some aspects, method 600 may include enabling a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions following a DCI.

[0155] In some aspects of method 600, the subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions corresponds to a portion of the ACK / NACK transmissions following the DCI.

[0156] In some aspects of the method 600, enabling a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions following the DCI includes enabling a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions during a time window.

[0157] In some aspects of method 600, the network entity indicates a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions via at least one of DCI, MAC CE, RRC.

[0158] In some aspects of method 600, the subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions is based on a predefined rule.

[0159] In some aspects of method 600, receiving the request further comprises sending the request in a MAC CE.

[0160] In some aspects of method 600, the indicator corresponds to a single bit requesting soft ACK / NACK feedback.

[0161] In some aspects of method 600, soft ACK / NACK feedback is preconfigured by at least one of RRC or MAC CE.

[0162] In some aspects of method 600, the soft ACK / NACK feedback includes one or more link quality metrics associated with one or more diversity branches.

[0163] In some aspects of method 600, the indicator includes content and format information of the request and report.

[0164] In some aspects, method 600 may include enabling soft ACK / NACK feedback for subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions after at least one of a MAC CE or an end of ACK transmission for the MAC CE.

[0165] In some aspects, method 600 may include disabling soft ACK / NACK feedback for subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions.

[0166] In some aspects, method 600 may include enabling a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions after at least one of a MAC CE or an end of ACK transmission for the MAC CE.

[0167] In some aspects of method 600, the subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions corresponds to a portion of ACK / NACK transmissions subsequent to at least one of a MAC CE or an end of ACK transmission for the MAC CE.

[0168] In some aspects of method 600, enabling a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions after the DCI includes enabling the subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions during a time window. In some aspects of method 600, the network entity indicates the subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions via at least one of DCI, MAC CE, RRC.

[0169] In some aspects of method 600, the subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions is based on a predefined rule.

[0170] In some aspects of method 600, sending the request further comprises sending the request in an RRC message.

[0171] In some aspects of method 600, the indicator includes content and format information of the request and report.

[0172] In some aspects, method 600 may include enabling soft ACK / NACK feedback for subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions after the RRC message.

[0173] In some aspects, method 600 may include disabling soft ACK / NACK feedback for subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions.

[0174] In some aspects, method 600 may include enabling a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions following the RRC message.

[0175] In some aspects of method 600, the subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions corresponds to a portion of ACK / NACK transmissions following the RRC message.

[0176] In some aspects of method 600, enabling a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions after the RRC message includes enabling a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions during a time window.

[0177] In some aspects of method 600, the network entity indicates a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions via at least one of DCI, MAC CE, RRC.

[0178] In some aspects of method 600, the subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions is based on a predefined rule.

[0179] In some aspects of method 600, soft ACK / NACK feedback is applied to one or more types of ACK / NACK codebooks.

[0180] In some aspects of method 600, the one or more types of ACK / NACK codebooks include a type-2 or type-3 codebook corresponding to a request in an indicator in the DCI.

[0181] In some aspects of method 600, the one or more types of ACK / NACK codebooks include a type-1 codebook corresponding to a request in a MAC CE or RRC message.

[0182] In some aspects of the method 600, the soft ACK / NACK feedback comprises an ACK / NACK codebook having a plurality of ACK / NACK bits in at least one of the PUCCH and a physical uplink shared channel.

[0183] In some aspects of the method 600, the ACK / NACK codebook includes soft ACK / NACK feedback for each ACK / NACK bit of the plurality of ACK / NACK bits corresponding to reception of a transport block (TB) or code block group (CBG) in the ACK / NACK codebook.

[0184] In some aspects of method 600, the ACK / NACK codebook includes a subset of the plurality of ACK / NACK bits in the ACK / NACK codebook.

[0185] In some aspects of method 600, the subset of the plurality of ACK / NACK bits is preconfigured by a network entity.

[0186] In some aspects of method 600, the preconfigured subset corresponds to a last portion of ACK / NACK bits in the ACK / NACK codebook.

[0187] In some aspects of method 600, the subset of the plurality of ACK / NACK bits is determined based on an implicit rule.

[0188] In some aspects of method 600, the implicit rule corresponds to at least one of the last ACK / NACK bit in the ACK / NACK codebook or one or more ACK / NACK bits of a TB or CBG having repeated reception from multiple beams or TRPs.

[0189] refer to Figure 7 , the example of MIMO communication system 700 includes base station 102 and UE 104, where base station 102 can act as an IAB node or parent node. Base station 102 and UE 104 can be the same as described above and can include reference Figure 7 The MIMO communication system 700 may be described with reference to Figure 1 1 and 1 . An aspect of a wireless communication access network 100 is described. Base station 102 may be equipped with antennas 734 and 735, and UE 104 may be equipped with antennas 752 and 753. In MIMO communication system 700, base station 102 may be able to send data on multiple communication links simultaneously. Each communication link may be referred to as a "layer", and the "rank" of a communication link may indicate the number of layers used for communication. For example, in a 2x2 MIMO communication system where base station 102 sends two "layers", the rank of the communication link between base station 102 and UE 104 is two.

[0190] At the base station 102, a transmit (Tx) processor 720 may receive data from a data source. The transmit processor 720 may process data. The transmit processor 720 may also generate control symbols or reference symbols. The transmit MIMO processor 730 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, or reference symbols (if applicable), and may provide an output symbol stream to transmit modulators / demodulators 732 and 733. Each modulator / demodulator 732 to 733 may process a corresponding output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator / demodulator 732 to 733 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and up-convert) the output sample stream to obtain a DL signal. In an example, the DL signals from modulators / demodulators 732 and 733 may be transmitted via antennas 734 and 735, respectively.

[0191] At the UE 104, the UE antennas 752 and 753 may receive DL signals from the base station 102 and may provide received signals to the modulators / demodulators 754 and 755, respectively. Each modulator / demodulator 754 to 755 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a corresponding received signal to obtain input samples. Each modulator / demodulator 754 to 755 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. The MIMO detector 756 may obtain received symbols from the modulators / demodulators 754 and 755, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols (if applicable), and provide detected symbols. The receive (Rx) processor 758 may process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for the UE 104 to the data output, and provide decoding control information to the processor 780 or the memory 782.

[0192] In some cases, processor 740 can execute stored instructions to instantiate communication component 242 (see, e.g., Figure 1 and Figure 2 ). In some cases, processor 780 can execute stored instructions to instantiate communication component 342 (see, e.g. Figure 1 and Figure 3 ).

[0193] On the uplink (UL), at the UE 104, a transmit processor 764 may receive and process data from a data source. The transmit processor 764 may also generate reference symbols for a reference signal. The symbols from the transmit processor 764 may be precoded by a transmit MIMO processor 766 (if applicable), further processed by modulators / demodulators 754 and 755 (e.g., for SC-FDMA, etc.), and transmitted to the base station 102 based on the communication parameters received from the base station 102. At the base station 102, the UL signals from the UE 104 may be received by antennas 734 and 735, processed by modulators / demodulators 732 and 733, detected by a MIMO detector 736 (if applicable), and further processed by a receive processor 738. The receive processor 738 may provide decoded data to a data output and processor 740 or memory 742.

[0194] The components of UE 104 may be implemented individually or collectively with one or more ASICs adapted to perform some or all applicable functions in hardware. Each of the modules may be a component for performing one or more functions related to the operation of MIMO communication system 1000. Similarly, the components of base station 102 may be implemented individually or collectively with one or more ASICs adapted to perform some or all applicable functions in hardware. Each of the components may be a component for performing one or more functions related to the operation of MIMO communication system 700.

[0195] Some additional examples

[0196] Aspects described herein also include one or more of the following implementation examples described in the following numbered clauses.

[0197] 1. A method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:

[0198] receiving a request to enable soft acknowledgement (ACK) / negative acknowledgement (NACK) feedback from a network entity;

[0199] enabling the soft ACK / NACK feedback based on the request, wherein the soft ACK / NACK feedback comprises at least a link quality metric per diversity branch; and

[0200] The soft ACK / NACK feedback is sent to the network entity based on a determination to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback.

[0201] 2. A method according to clause 1, wherein the link quality metric per diversity branch corresponds to an individual physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) quality for each at least one of a beam and a transmit receive point (TRP).

[0202] 3. The method of clause 2, wherein the link quality metric for each diversity branch comprises ACK / NACK based on at least one of individual decoding, log likelihood ratio (LLR), signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR), reference signal received power (RSRP), channel quality indicator (CQI), or a recommended modulation and coding scheme (MCS) per number of layers.

[0203] 4. A method as described in clause 2, wherein the diversity branches correspond to branches used for at least one of downlink (DL) receptions associated with the soft ACK / NACK and at least a subset of one or more candidate branches for potential future receptions.

[0204] 5. The method of clause 1, wherein receiving the request further comprises receiving the request in at least one of an indicator in downlink control information (DCI), a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a radio resource control (RRC).

[0205] 6. The method of clause 5, wherein the indicator corresponds to a single bit requesting the soft ACK / NACK feedback.

[0206] 7. The method of clause 5, wherein the soft ACK / NACK feedback is configured via at least one of the RRC or the MAC CE.

[0207] 8. The method of clause 5, further comprising enabling the soft ACK / NACK feedback for subsequent ACK / NACK transmission after at least one of the DCI, the MAC CE, or the RRC.

[0208] 9. A method as described in clause 5, further comprising enabling a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions after at least one of the DCI, the MAC CE or the RRC.

[0209] 10. The method of clause 1, wherein the soft ACK / NACK feedback is applied to one or more types of ACK / NACK codebooks.

[0210] 11. A method for wireless communication at a network entity, comprising:

[0211] Determine whether to enable soft acknowledgment (ACK) / negative acknowledgment (NACK) feedback;

[0212] sending a request to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback to a user equipment (UE) based on the determination to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback; and

[0213] A soft ACK / NACK transmission is received from the UE in response to sending the request.

[0214] 12. The method of clause 11, wherein determining whether to enable further comprises at least one of the following:

[0215] detecting a recent increase in Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) reception errors; or

[0216] Determine whether the current link quality of one or more beams / transmit receive points (TRPs) does not meet a quality threshold.

[0217] 13. A method according to clause 12, wherein sending the request to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback based on the determination to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback also includes sending the request to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback based on detecting the error increase of the most recent PDSCH reception and based on a determination that the current link quality of the one or more beams / TRPs does not meet the quality threshold.

[0218] 14. The method of clause 11, wherein the request corresponds to on-demand dynamic soft ACK / NACK feedback.

[0219] 15. The method of clause 11, further comprising continuing an ACK / NACK feedback procedure with the UE based on the determination not to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback.

[0220] 16. The method of clause 11, wherein the soft ACK / NACK feedback comprises at least a link quality metric per diversity branch.

[0221] 17. A method according to clause 16, wherein the link quality metric per diversity branch corresponds to an individual physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) quality for each at least one of a beam and a transmit receive point (TRP).

[0222] 18. A method according to clause 16, wherein the link quality metric for each diversity branch includes ACK / NACK based on at least one of individual decoding, log likelihood ratio (LLR), signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR), reference signal received power (RSRP), channel quality indicator (CQI), and recommended modulation and coding scheme (MCS) per number of layers.

[0223] 19. A method as recited in clause 16, wherein the diversity branches correspond to branches used for at least one of downlink (DL) receptions associated with the soft ACK / NACK and at least a subset of one or more candidate branches for potential future receptions.

[0224] 20. The method of clause 11, wherein sending the request further comprises sending the request in at least one of an indicator in downlink control information (DCI), a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a radio resource control (RRC).

[0225] 21. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus being a user equipment (UE), comprising:

[0226] Memory; and

[0227] at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to:

[0228] receiving a request to enable soft acknowledgement (ACK) / negative acknowledgement (NACK) feedback from a network entity;

[0229] Determining to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback based on the request; and

[0230] The soft ACK / NACK feedback is sent to the network entity based on a determination to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback.

[0231] 22. An apparatus according to clause 21, wherein the soft ACK / NACK feedback comprises at least a link quality metric for each diversity branch, and the link quality metric for each diversity branch corresponds to a separate physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) quality for each at least one of a beam and a transmit receive point (TRP).

[0232] 23. An apparatus according to clause 22, wherein the link quality metric for each diversity branch includes ACK / NACK based on at least one of individual decoding, log likelihood ratio (LLR), signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR), reference signal received power (RSRP), channel quality indicator (CQI), or recommended modulation and coding scheme (MCS) per number of layers.

[0233] 24. An apparatus as recited in clause 22, wherein the diversity branch corresponds to a branch used for at least one of downlink (DL) receptions associated with the soft ACK / NACK and at least a subset of one or more candidate branches for potential future receptions.

[0234] 25. The apparatus of clause 21, wherein receiving the request further comprises receiving the request in at least one of an indicator in downlink control information (DCI), a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a radio resource control (RRC).

[0235] 26. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus being a network entity, comprising:

[0236] Memory; and

[0237] at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to:

[0238] Determine whether to enable soft acknowledgment (ACK) / negative acknowledgment (NACK) feedback;

[0239] sending a request to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback to a user equipment (UE) based on the determination to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback; and

[0240] A soft ACK / NACK transmission is received from the UE in response to sending the request.

[0241] 27. An apparatus as recited in clause 26, wherein to determine whether to enable soft ACK / NACK, the at least one processor is configured to:

[0242] detecting a recent increase in physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception errors; and

[0243] Determine whether the current link quality of one or more beams / transmit receive points (TRPs) does not meet a quality threshold.

[0244] 28. An apparatus according to clause 27, wherein sending the request to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback based on the determination to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback also includes sending the request to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback based on detecting the error increase of the most recent PDSCH reception and based on a determination that the current link quality of the one or more beams / TRPs does not meet the quality threshold.

[0245] 29. The apparatus of clause 26, wherein the request corresponds to on-demand dynamic soft ACK / NACK feedback.

[0246] 30. An apparatus as recited in clause 26, wherein the soft ACK / NACK feedback comprises at least a link quality metric per diversity branch.

[0247] In another aspect, an apparatus for wireless communication is provided, comprising means for performing the operations of the method according to any of clauses 1 to 20.

[0248] In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code executable by one or more processors to perform the operations of the method of any of clauses 1 to 20 is provided.

[0249] The above detailed description set forth above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings describes examples and does not represent the only examples that can be implemented or within the scope of the claims. When used in this specification, the term "example" means "used as an example, instance, or illustration," rather than "preferred" or "better than other examples." The detailed description includes specific details for providing an understanding of the described techniques. However, these techniques may be practiced without these specific details. In some cases, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described examples.

[0250] Information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, computer executable codes or instructions stored on a computer-readable medium, or any combination thereof.

[0251] The various illustrative blocks and components described in conjunction with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a specially programmed device such as, but not limited to, a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The specially programmed processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The specially programmed processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0252] The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored or sent on a non-transitory computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Other examples and embodiments are within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, the above functions may be implemented using software executed by a specially programmed processor, hardware, hard wiring, or a combination of any of these. The features that implement the functions may also be physically located in various locations, including being distributed so that parts of the functions are implemented at different physical locations. In addition, the term "or" is intended to represent an inclusive "or" rather than an exclusive "or". That is, unless otherwise specified, or clearly seen from the context, phrases such as "X adopts A or B" are intended to represent any natural inclusive arrangement. That is, for example, any of the following situations satisfies the phrase "X adopts A or B": X adopts A; X adopts B; or X adopts both A and B. Furthermore, as used herein, including in the claims, “or” used in a list of items beginning with “at least one of” means a disjunctive list, so that, for example, a list of “at least one of A, B, or C” means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (A and B and C).

[0253] Computer readable medium includes both computer storage medium and communication medium, and communication medium includes any medium that is convenient for transmitting computer program from one place to another place. Storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by general or special computer. As an example and not limitation, computer readable medium can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or can be used to carry or store the required program code parts of instruction or data structure form and can be accessed by general or special computer or general or special processor any other medium. Moreover, any connection is appropriately referred to as computer readable medium. For example, if software is sent from website, server or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL) or wireless technology such as infrared, radio and microwave, then coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technology such as infrared, radio and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and optical disk as used herein include compact disk (CD), laser disk, optical disk, digital versatile disk (DVD), floppy disk and blue optical disk, wherein disk usually reproduces data magnetically, and optical disk reproduces data optically with laser. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0254] The previous description of the present disclosure is provided to enable those skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate the various modifications to the present disclosure, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. In addition, although the elements of the described aspects and / or embodiments may be described or claimed in singular form, plural forms are encompassed unless explicitly stated to be limited to the singular form. In addition, unless otherwise stated, all or part of any aspect and / or embodiment may be used together with all or part of any other aspect and / or embodiment. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein, but conforms to the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication at a user equipment UE, comprising: receiving a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback from a network entity; enabling the soft ACK / NACK feedback based on the request, wherein the soft ACK / NACK feedback comprises at least a link quality metric per diversity branch, and wherein the diversity branch comprises a beam carrying a copy of the same data stream as another beam or a transmission reception point TRP and / or a TRP carrying a copy of the same data stream as another beam or TRP; as well as The soft ACK / NACK feedback is sent to the network entity based on a determination to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the link quality metric of each diversity branch corresponds to a separate physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) quality of each at least one of the beams and the TRP.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the link quality metric for each diversity branch includes ACK / NACK based on at least one of individual decoding, log likelihood ratio (LLR), signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR), reference signal received power (RSRP), channel quality indicator (CQI), or a recommended modulation and coding scheme (MCS) per number of layers.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the diversity branch corresponds to a branch used for at least one of downlink (DL) receptions associated with the soft ACK / NACK and at least a subset of one or more candidate branches for potential future receptions.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request further comprises receiving the request in at least one of an indicator in downlink control information (DCI), a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a radio resource control (RRC). The method of claim 5 , wherein the indicator corresponds to a single bit requesting the soft ACK / NACK feedback.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the soft ACK / NACK feedback is configured via at least one of the RRC or the MAC CE.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising enabling the soft ACK / NACK feedback for subsequent ACK / NACK transmission after at least one of the DCI, the MAC CE, or the RRC.

9. The method of claim 5, further comprising enabling a subset of subsequent ACK / NACK transmissions after at least one of the DCI, the MAC CE, or the RRC.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the soft ACK / NACK feedback is applied to one or more types of ACK / NACK codebooks.

11. A method for wireless communication at a network entity, comprising: Determine whether to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback; Sending a request to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback to a user equipment UE based on a determination to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback, wherein the soft ACK / NACK feedback comprises at least a link quality metric per diversity branch, and wherein the diversity branch comprises a beam carrying a copy of the same data stream as another beam or a transmission reception point TRP and / or a TRP carrying a copy of the same data stream as another beam or TRP; and A soft ACK / NACK transmission is received from the UE in response to sending the request.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining whether to enable further comprises at least one of the following: Detecting a recent increase in Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) reception errors; or Determine whether the current link quality of one or more beams / TRPs does not meet the quality threshold.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein sending the request to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback based on the determination to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback further comprises sending the request to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback based on detecting an increase in errors in the most recent PDSCH reception and based on a determination that the current link quality of the one or more beams / TRPs does not meet the quality threshold.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the request corresponds to on-demand dynamic soft ACK / NACK feedback.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising continuing an ACK / NACK feedback procedure with the UE based on the determination not to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the soft ACK / NACK feedback comprises at least a link quality metric for each diversity branch.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the link quality metric for each diversity branch corresponds to a separate physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) quality for each at least one of the beams and TRPs.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the link quality metric for each diversity branch comprises ACK / NACK based on at least one of individual decoding, log likelihood ratio (LLR), signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR), reference signal received power (RSRP), channel quality indicator (CQI), and recommended modulation and coding scheme (MCS) per number of layers.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the diversity branch corresponds to a branch used for at least one of downlink (DL) receptions associated with the soft ACK / NACK and at least a subset of one or more candidate branches for potential future receptions.

20. The method of claim 11, wherein sending the request further comprises sending the request in at least one of an indicator in downlink control information (DCI), a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a radio resource control (RRC).

21. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus being a user equipment UE, comprising: Memory; as well as at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to: receiving a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback from a network entity; Determining to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback based on the request, wherein the soft ACK / NACK feedback comprises at least a link quality metric per diversity branch, and wherein the diversity branch comprises a beam carrying a copy of the same data stream as another beam or a transmission reception point TRP and / or a TRP carrying a copy of the same data stream as another beam or TRP; as well as The soft ACK / NACK feedback is sent to the network entity based on a determination to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback.

22. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the soft ACK / NACK feedback includes at least a link quality metric for each diversity branch, and the link quality metric for each diversity branch corresponds to a separate physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) quality of each at least one of the beams and the TRP.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the link quality metric for each diversity branch comprises ACK / NACK based on at least one of individual decoding, log likelihood ratio (LLR), signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR), reference signal received power (RSRP), channel quality indicator (CQI), or a recommended modulation and coding scheme (MCS) per number of layers.

24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the diversity branch corresponds to a branch used for at least one of downlink (DL) receptions associated with the soft ACK / NACK and at least a subset of one or more candidate branches for potential future receptions.

25. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein receiving the request further comprises receiving the request in at least one of an indicator in downlink control information (DCI), a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a radio resource control (RRC).

26. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus being a network entity, comprising: Memory; as well as at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to: Determine whether to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback; Sending a request to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback to a user equipment UE based on a determination to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback, wherein the soft ACK / NACK feedback comprises at least a link quality metric per diversity branch, and wherein the diversity branch comprises a beam carrying a copy of the same data stream as another beam or a transmission reception point TRP and / or a TRP carrying a copy of the same data stream as another beam or TRP; and A soft ACK / NACK transmission is received from the UE in response to sending the request.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein to determine whether to enable soft ACK / NACK, the at least one processor is configured to: detecting a recent increase in physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception errors; and Determine whether the current link quality of one or more beams / TRPs does not meet the quality threshold.

28. An apparatus according to claim 27, wherein sending the request to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback based on the determination to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback also includes sending the request to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback based on detecting the error increase of the most recent PDSCH reception and based on a determination that the current link quality of the one or more beams / TRPs does not meet the quality threshold.

29. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the request corresponds to on-demand dynamic soft ACK / NACK feedback.

30. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the soft ACK / NACK feedback comprises at least a link quality metric per diversity branch.

31. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment UE, comprising: means for receiving a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback from a network entity; means for enabling the soft ACK / NACK feedback based on the request, wherein the soft ACK / NACK feedback comprises at least a link quality metric per diversity branch, and wherein the diversity branch comprises a beam carrying a copy of the same data stream as another beam or a transmit-receive point TRP and / or a TRP carrying a copy of the same data stream as another beam or TRP; as well as means for sending the soft ACK / NACK feedback to the network entity based on a determination to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback.

32. An apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity, comprising: A component for determining whether to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback; means for sending a request to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback to a user equipment UE based on a determination to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback, wherein the soft ACK / NACK feedback comprises at least a link quality metric per diversity branch, and wherein the diversity branch comprises a beam carrying a copy of the same data stream as another beam or a transmission reception point TRP and / or a TRP carrying a copy of the same data stream as another beam or TRP; as well as Means for receiving a soft ACK / NACK transmission from the UE in response to sending the request.

33. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code executable by one or more processors to: receiving a request to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback from a network entity; enabling the soft ACK / NACK feedback based on the request, wherein the soft ACK / NACK feedback comprises at least a link quality metric per diversity branch, and wherein the diversity branch comprises a beam carrying a copy of the same data stream as another beam or a transmission reception point TRP and / or a TRP carrying a copy of the same data stream as another beam or TRP; as well as The soft ACK / NACK feedback is sent to the network entity based on a determination to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback.

34. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code executable by one or more processors to: Determine whether to enable soft ACK / NACK feedback; Sending a request to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback to a user equipment UE based on a determination to enable the soft ACK / NACK feedback, wherein the soft ACK / NACK feedback comprises at least a link quality metric per diversity branch, and wherein the diversity branch comprises a beam carrying a copy of the same data stream as another beam or a transmission reception point TRP and / or a TRP carrying a copy of the same data stream as another beam or TRP; and A soft ACK / NACK transmission is received from the UE in response to sending the request.

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