Method and apparatus for wireless communication

Abstract

A user equipment (UE) of a wireless communication system determines that a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission of the UE carrying uplink control information (UCI) will conflict with another physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission of the UE when transmitted. The UE then multiplexes the UCI on the PUSCH transmission based on one or more of a beam of the PUCCH transmission and a beam of the specific PUSCH transmission in response to the determination.

Description

Technical Field

[0001]

[0004] The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems and, more particularly, in some examples, to multiplexing uplink control information (UCI) onto various uplink physical channels to avoid collisions between the uplink physical channels. Background Art

[0002] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephone, video, data, messaging and broadcasting. Typical wireless communication systems may use multiple access technologies that can support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources. Examples of such multiple access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems. These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a public protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate in cities, countries, regions, and even around the world. An example telecommunication standard is 5G New Radio (NR). 5G NR is part of the continuous mobile broadband evolution announced by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to meet new requirements associated with latency, reliability, security, scalability (e.g., for the Internet of Things (IoT)) and other requirements. 5G NR includes services associated with enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine type communications (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC). Some aspects of 5G NR may be based on the 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. There is a need for further improvements to 5G NR technology. These improvements may also be applicable to other multiple access technologies and telecommunication standards that use these technologies. Summary of the invention

[0003] A simplified summary of one or more aspects is given below to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not a general overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intended to neither identify the key or critical elements of all aspects, nor to delimit the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to provide some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a preface to the detailed description that will be given later.

[0004] In aspects of the present disclosure, a method, non-transitory computer-readable medium, and apparatus are provided for determining, by a UE of a wireless communication system, that a PUCCH transmission of the UE carrying UCI will conflict with a specific PUSCH transmission of the UE when transmitted. The UE then multiplexes the UCI on the specific PUSCH transmission based on a beam of the PUCCH transmission and a beam of the specific PUSCH transmission in response to the determination.

[0005] In some examples of the techniques disclosed herein, the UE operates to send both PUCCH and PUSCH in repeated transmissions across multiple beams. In such examples, the UE receives downlink control information (DCI) that specifies a beam-dependent rule for multiplexing UCI onto a specific instance of the repeated PUSCH transmission. In such examples, multiplexing includes: multiplexing the UCI onto the specific instance of the repeated PUSCH transmission based on the beam-dependent rule. In some such examples, the beam-dependent rule specifies multiplexing UCI from PUCCH repetitions that overlap only with at least one PUSCH repetition.

[0006] In some examples of the techniques disclosed herein, the UE operates to send both PUCCH and PUSCH in repeated transmissions across multiple beams. In such examples, multiplexing includes: multiplexing the UCI of the PUCCH transmission over a repetition of the particular PUSCH transmission having a common beam with the PUCCH transmission. In some such examples, the repetition of the particular PUSCH transmission having a common beam with the PUCCH transmission is the earliest instance of the particular PUSCH transmission having a common beam with the PUCCH transmission.

[0007] In some examples of the technology disclosed herein, the UE operates to: transmit on any one of a first set of physical channels including a first PUCCH and a first PUSCH on a first beam at a given time, and transmit on any one of a second set of physical channels including a second PUCCH and a second PUSCH on a second beam at the given time. In such examples, determining includes: independently determining, for each specific beam in the first beam and the second beam, that a PUCCH transmission carrying UCI on the specific beam will conflict with a PUSCH transmission on the specific beam of the UE when transmitted. In such examples, multiplexing includes: in response to the corresponding determination, independently multiplexing, for each specific beam, the UCI of the PUCCH of the specific beam on the PUSCH for the specific beam.

[0008] In some such examples, the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH are not set to be transmitted in full overlap in time. In such examples, after multiplexing, the UE may perform any (one) of the following: abandoning the transmission of one of the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH based on priority, the priority being based on one of the content of each PUSCH and the group identifier of each PUSCH; aligning the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH, and sending both the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH; or, under the condition that neither PUSCH includes uplink shared channel data or channel state information, multiplexing the UCI of the first PUCCH and the UCI of the second PUCCH onto one of the first PUSCH or the second PUSCH, and sending the PUSCH carrying the multiplexed UCI. In some such examples, alignment includes one of the following: aligning based on the earliest first symbol and the last latest symbol of the transmission across the first beam and the second beam; and aligning based on the latest first symbol and the earliest last symbol.

[0009] In some examples, the techniques operate in a wireless communication system that includes a UE that operates to send both PUCCH and PUSCH to a base station of the system in repeated transmissions across multiple beams. In such examples, the base station specifies, in downlink control information (DCI) to the UE, a beam-dependent rule for multiplexing UCI of a PUCCH transmission repetition onto a PUSCH transmission repetition when the UE determines that a PUCCH transmission repetition carrying the UCI will conflict with a PUSCH transmission repetition when transmitted. In such examples, the base station receives the PUSCH transmission repetition containing the multiplexed UCI after the specifying.

[0010] Another example includes an apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: a unit for determining, by a UE of a wireless communication system, that a PUCCH transmission carrying UCI of the UE will conflict with a specific PUSCH transmission of the UE when transmitted; and a unit for multiplexing the UCI on the specific PUSCH transmission based on a beam of the PUCCH transmission and a beam of the specific PUSCH transmission in response to the determination.

[0011] To achieve the foregoing and related ends, the one or more aspects include features that are described in detail below 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 some of the various ways in which the principles of the various aspects may be used, and this specification is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system and an access network.

[0013] Figure 2A , 2B , 2C and 2D are diagrams illustrating examples of a first 5G / NR frame, a DL channel within a 5G / NR subframe, a second 5G / NR frame and a UL channel within a 5G / NR subframe, respectively.

[0014] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating a base station and a user equipment (UE) in an access network according to an example of the techniques disclosed herein.

[0015] Figure 4 is a flow chart of an example method of wireless communication according to the technology disclosed herein.

[0016] Figure 5 is a flow chart of an example method of wireless communication according to the technology disclosed herein.

[0017] Figure 6 is a representation of potential conflicts between uplink channels and two example multiplexing solutions according to examples of the techniques disclosed herein.

[0018] Figure 7 is a flow chart of an example method of wireless communication according to the technology disclosed herein.

[0019] Figure 8 is a representation of potential conflicts between uplink channels and two example multiplexing solutions according to examples of the techniques disclosed herein.

[0020] Fig. 9 is a flow chart of an example method of wireless communication according to the technology disclosed herein.

[0021] Fig.10 is a representation of an example conflict scenario and multiplexing solution according to the techniques disclosed herein.

[0022] Fig.11 is a flow chart of an example method of wireless communication according to the technology disclosed herein.

[0023] Fig.12 is a diagram illustrating misalignment and replacement of a second method in post-multiplexing processing of a core network according to an example of the technology disclosed herein.

[0024] Fig.13 is a block diagram of an example user device according to the techniques disclosed herein.

[0025] Fig.14 is a flow chart of an example method of wireless communication according to the technology disclosed herein.

[0026] Fig.15 is a block diagram of a base station according to an example of the technology disclosed herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The detailed description set forth below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations by which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some cases, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring such concepts.

[0028] Each evolved 3GPP standard is structured as a "release". One standard for NR is Release (Rel.) 15 from Q2 2018. In Rel. 15, rules are defined for resolving potential conflicts between transmissions on different uplink channels from a UE and still sending uplink control information (UCI) intended for one or more of the transmissions. Potential conflicts can be between 1) different physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmissions carrying various types of UCI or 2) PUCCH transmissions carrying UCI and physical shared channel (PUSCH) transmissions (usually containing user data). For example, potential conflicts between PUCCH transmissions are resolved based on the type of UCI to be carried in each transmission. As another example, when one of the conflicting transmissions is a PUSCH transmission and the other is a PUCCH transmission with UCI, the UCI intended for the PUCCH transmission is multiplexed onto the PUSCH transmission and the PUCCH is not sent. In the PUCCH / PUSCH case, UCI is sent on the beam used for PUSCH, regardless of the beam that should have been used for PUCCH transmission of UCI.

[0029] However, future evolutions of the 3GPP standards may include various kinds of beam diversity or redundancy, for example, to enhance reliability and increase capacity. In such cases, new techniques for taking beam diversity and redundancy into account may be advantageous.

[0030] In an aspect of the present disclosure, a method, non-transitory computer-readable medium, and apparatus are provided for determining by a UE of a wireless communication system that a PUCCH transmission carrying UCI of the UE will conflict with a PUSCH transmission of the UE when transmitted. The UE then multiplexes the UCI on the PUSCH transmission based on one or more of the beams of the PUCCH transmission and the beams of the specific PUSCH transmission in response to the determination.

[0031] In some examples of the techniques disclosed herein, a UE operates to transmit both a PUCCH and a PUSCH in repeated transmissions across multiple beams. In such examples, the UE receives downlink control information (DCI) that specifies a beam-dependent rule for multiplexing UCI onto a specific instance of a repeated PUSCH transmission. In such examples, the multiplexing includes multiplexing UCI onto a specific instance of a repeated PUSCH transmission based on the beam-dependent rule. In some such examples, the beam-dependent rule specifies multiplexing UCI from a PUCCH repetition that overlaps only with at least one PUSCH repetition.

[0032] In some examples of the techniques disclosed herein, a UE operates to send both PUCCH and PUSCH in repeated transmissions across multiple beams. In such examples, multiplexing includes: multiplexing UCI of the PUCCH transmission on repetitions of a specific PUSCH transmission having a common beam with the PUCCH transmission. In some such examples, the repetition of the specific PUSCH transmission having a common beam with the PUCCH transmission is the earliest instance of the specific PUSCH transmission having a common beam with the PUCCH transmission.

[0033] In some examples of the technology disclosed herein, the UE operates to: transmit on any one of a first set of physical channels including a first PUCCH and a first PUSCH on a first beam at a given time, and transmit on any one of a second set of physical channels including a second PUCCH and a second PUSCH on a second beam at a given time. In such examples, determining includes: independently determining, for each specific beam in the first beam and the second beam, that a PUCCH transmission carrying UCI on a specific beam will conflict with a PUSCH transmission on a specific beam of the UE when transmitted. In such examples, multiplexing includes: in response to the corresponding determination, independently multiplexing, for each specific beam, the UCI of the PUCCH of the specific beam on the PUSCH for the specific beam.

[0034] In some such examples, the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH are not set to be transmitted in full overlap in time. In such examples, after multiplexing, the UE may perform any (one) of the following: abandoning the transmission of one of the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH based on priority, the priority being based on one of the content of each PUSCH and the group identifier of each PUSCH; aligning the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH, and transmitting both the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH; or, under the condition that neither PUSCH includes uplink shared channel data or channel state information, multiplexing the UCI of the first PUCCH and the UCI of the second PUCCH onto one of the first PUSCH or the second PUSCH, and transmitting the PUSCH carrying the multiplexed UCI. In some such examples, the alignment includes one of the following: aligning based on the earliest first symbol and the last latest symbol of the transmission across the first beam and the second beam; and aligning based on the latest first symbol and the earliest last symbol.

[0035] In some examples, the technology operates in a wireless communication system that includes a UE that operates to send both PUCCH and PUSCH to a base station of the system in repeated transmissions across multiple beams. In such examples, the base station specifies in downlink control information (DCI) to the UE a beam-dependent rule for multiplexing UCI of a PUCCH transmission repetition onto a PUSCH transmission repetition when the UE determines that the PUCCH transmission repetition carrying UCI will conflict with the PUSCH transmission repetition when transmitted. In such examples, the base station receives the PUSCH transmission repetition containing the multiplexed UCI after specifying.

[0036] To achieve the foregoing and related ends, the one or more aspects include features that are fully described below 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 some of the various ways in which the principles of the various aspects may be used, and this specification is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.

[0037] Several aspects of telecommunication systems will now be presented with reference to various devices and methods. These devices and methods will be described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, components, circuits, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements"). These elements can be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. As an example, an element or any part of an element or any combination of elements can be implemented as a "processing system" including one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, graphics processing units (GPUs), central processing units (CPUs), application processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, single-chip systems (SoCs), baseband processors, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gate logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform various functions described throughout the present disclosure. One or more processors in a processing system can execute software. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software components, 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.

[0038] Accordingly, in one or more example embodiments, the functions described may be implemented with hardware, software, or any combination thereof. If implemented with software, the functions may be stored or encoded as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media. Storage media may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. As an example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, other magnetic storage devices, a combination of computer-readable media of the types mentioned above, or any other medium that can be used to store computer executable code in the form of instructions or data structures that can be accessed by a computer.

[0039] Figure 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system and access network 100. The wireless communication system (also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) includes a base station 102, a UE 104, an evolved packet core (EPC) 160, and another core network 190 (e.g., a 5G core (5GC)). The base station 102 may include a macro cell (a high-power cellular base station) and / or a small cell (a low-power cellular base station). The macro cell includes a base station. The small cell includes a femto cell, a pico cell, and a micro cell. The base station 102 configured for 4G LTE (collectively referred to as the Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)) can be connected to the EPC 160 via a first backhaul link 132 (e.g., an S1 interface). The base station 102 configured for 5G NR (collectively referred to as the Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)) can be connected to the core network 190 via a second backhaul link 186. The base station 102 may perform, among other functions, one or more of the following functions: transmission of user data, wireless 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), user and device traces, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and distribution of alert messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via EPC 160 or core network 190) via a third backhaul link 134 (e.g., an X2 interface). The first, second, and third backhaul links 132, 186, and 134 may be wired or wireless.

[0040] The base station 102 can communicate wirelessly with the UE 104. Each of the base stations 102 can provide communication coverage for a respective 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 for a restricted group called 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 and multiple output (MIMO) antenna technology (including spatial multiplexing, beamforming and / or transmit diversity). In some examples of the technology disclosed herein, both DL and UL between a base station and a UE use the same set of multiple beams to transmit / receive physical channels. For example, a given set of beams may carry multiple copies of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) described further below on the DL, and may carry multiple copies of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) also described further below on the UL.

[0041] The communication link may be through one or more carriers. The base station 102 / UE 104 may use a spectrum of up to Y MHz (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100, 400, etc. MHz) bandwidth per carrier allocated in a carrier aggregation of up to a total of Yx MHz (x component carriers) for transmission in each direction. The carriers may or may not be 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 to DL than UL). The component carrier may include one primary component carrier and one or more secondary component carriers. The primary component carrier may be referred to as a primary cell (PCell), and the secondary component carrier may be referred to as a secondary cell (SCell).

[0042] Specific 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)). D2D communication may be performed through a variety of wireless D2D communication systems such as, for example, FlashLinQ, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, WiFi based on IEEE 802.11 standards, LTE, or NR. The wireless communication system may further include a Wi-Fi access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a Wi-Fi station (STA) 152 in a 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum via a communication link 154. When communicating in an unlicensed spectrum, STA 152 / AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) to determine whether a channel is available before communicating. The small cell 102' may operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in unlicensed spectrum, the small cell 102' may use NR and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum as used by the Wi-Fi AP 150. The small cell 102' using NR in the unlicensed spectrum may improve coverage of the access network and / or increase capacity of the access network.

[0043] The base station 102 (whether a small cell 102' or a large cell (e.g., a macro base station)) may include and / or be referred to as an eNB, a gNodeB (gNB), or another type of base station. Some base stations (such as, gNB 180) may operate in the traditional sub-6 GHz spectrum, in millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies, and / or near mmW frequencies in communications with the UE 104. When the gNB 180 operates in millimeter wave 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 frequency 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 mmW / near mmW radio frequency bands (e.g., 3 GHz-300 GHz) have extremely high path loss and short range - making mmW transmissions susceptible to blocking and attenuation resulting in, for example, unsuccessful decoding of data. The mmW base station 180 can utilize beamforming 182 with the UE 104 / 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. The base station 180 and the UE 104 can each include multiple antennas (e.g., antenna elements, antenna panels, and / or antenna arrays) to facilitate beamforming.

[0044] The base station 180 may transmit beamformed signals to the UE 104 / 184 in one or more transmit directions 182'. The UE 104 / 184 may receive beamformed signals from the base station 180 in one or more receive directions 182". The UE 104 / 184 may also transmit beamformed signals to the base station 180 in one or more transmit directions. The base station 180 may receive beamformed signals from the UE 104 in one or more receive directions. The base station 180 / UE 104 / 184 may perform beam training to determine the best receive and transmit directions for each of the base stations 180 / UE 104 / 184. The transmit and receive directions for the base station 180 may or may not be the same. The transmit and receive directions for the UE 104 / 184 may or may not be the same.

[0045] 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. In general, 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 IP address allocation and other functions for the UE. The PDN gateway 172 and the BM-SC 170 are connected to IP services 176. The IP services 176 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), a PS streaming service, and / or other IP services. The BM-SC 170 may provide functionality for MBMS user service configuration and distribution. The BM-SC 170 may serve 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.

[0046] The core network 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. The AMF 192 may communicate with a unified data management (UDM) 196. The AMF 192 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 104 and the core network 190. In general, the AMF 192 provides QoS flow and session management. All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transmitted through the UPF 195. The UPF 195 provides IP address allocation and other functions for the UE. The UPF 195 is connected to an IP service 197. The IP service 197 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), a PS streaming service, and / or other IP services.

[0047] Base station 102 may include and / or be referred to as a gNB, Node B, eNB, access point, base transceiver, wireless base station, wireless transceiver, transceiver function, basic service set (BSS), extended service set (ESS), transmit receive point (TRP), or some other suitable term. Base station 102 provides an access point to EPC 160 or core network 190 for UE 104. Examples of UE 104 include cellular phones, smart phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs), satellite radios, global positioning systems, multimedia devices, video devices, digital audio players (e.g., MP3 players), cameras, game consoles, tablet-type devices, smart devices, wearable devices, vehicles, electric meters, gas pumps, large or small kitchen appliances, health care devices, implants, sensors / actuators, displays, or any other similarly functioning devices. Some of UE 104 may be referred to as IoT devices (e.g., parking meters, gas pumps, toasters, vehicles, heart monitors, etc.). In particular, some devices 188, such as electric meters, parking meters, appliances, remote sensors, etc., may be characterized by infrequent and low-volume data packet communications, particularly associated with smart phones. 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 user 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 terminology.

[0048] Continue to refer Figure 1 In certain aspects, a UE 104 (such as UE 184) is configured to determine that a PUCCH transmission of the UE carrying UCI will collide with a specific PUSCH transmission of the UE when transmitted. The UE then multiplexes the UCI on the specific PUSCH transmission based on the beam of the PUCCH transmission and the beam of the specific PUSCH transmission in response to the determination. The UE 104 can use the UE UCI multiplexing component 142 to perform the determination and multiplexing.

[0049] In a similar aspect where the technology operates in a wireless communication system, the wireless communication system includes a UE that operates to send both PUCCH and PUSCH to a base station of the system in repeated transmissions across multiple beams, the base station specifies in downlink control information (DCI) to the UE a beam-dependent rule for multiplexing UCI of the PUCCH transmission repetitions onto the PUSCH transmission repetitions when the UE determines that the PUCCH transmission repetitions carrying UCI will conflict with the PUSCH transmission repetitions when transmitted. In such an example, the base station receives the PUSCH transmission repetitions containing the multiplexed UCI after specifying. The base station can use the base station UCI multiplexing component 144 to perform the functions described in this paragraph.

[0050] Although the following description may focus on 5G NR, the concepts described herein may be applicable to other similar fields such as LTE, LTE-A, CDMA, GSM, and other wireless technologies.

[0051] Figure 2A Figure 200 illustrates an example of the first subframe within a 5G / NR frame structure. Figure 2B FIG230 is a diagram illustrating an example of DL channels within a 5G / NR subframe. Figure 2C Figure 250 illustrates an example of a second subframe within a 5G / NR frame structure. Figure 2D FIG280 is a diagram illustrating an example of an UL channel within a 5G / NR subframe. The 5G / NR frame structure may be FDD, where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within the set of subcarriers are dedicated to either DL or UL, or TDD, where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within the set of subcarriers are dedicated to both DL and UL. Figure 2A , 2C In the example provided, it is assumed that the 5G / NR frame structure is TDD, where subframe 4 is configured to have a slot format 28 (most of which are DL), where D is DL, U is UL, and X is a flexible symbol used between DL / UL, and subframe 3 is configured to have a slot format 34 (most of which are UL). Although subframes 3 and 4 are shown as having slot formats 34 and 28, respectively, any particular subframe can be configured to have any of the various available slot formats 0-61. Slot formats 0 and 1 are all DL and UL, respectively. Other slot formats 2-61 include a mixture of DL, UL and flexible symbols. The UE is configured to have a slot format through the received slot format indicator (SFI) (dynamically through DL control information (DCI) or semi-statically / statically through radio resource control (RRC) signaling). It should be noted that the description below also applies to the 5G / NR frame structure of TDD.

[0052] Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels. A frame (10ms) may be divided into 10 equally sized subframes (1ms). Each subframe may include one or more time slots. A subframe may also include a mini-time slot, which may include 7, 4 or 2 symbols. Depending on the time slot configuration, each time slot may include 7 or 14 symbols. For time slot configuration 0, each time slot may include 14 symbols, and for time slot configuration 1, each time slot may include 7 symbols. The symbol on the DL may be a cyclic prefix (CP) OFDM (CP-OFDM) symbol. The symbol on the UL may be a CP-OFDM symbol (for high throughput scenarios) or a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbol (also known as a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbol) (for power-limited scenarios; limited to single-stream transmission). The number of time slots within a subframe is based on the time slot configuration and the digital scheme. For slot configuration 0, different digital schemes μ0 to 5 allow 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 slots per subframe, respectively. For slot configuration 1, different digital schemes 0 to 2 allow 2, 4 and 8 slots per subframe, respectively. Accordingly, for slot configuration 0 and digital scheme μ, there are 14 symbols / slot and 2 μ time slots / subframe. The subcarrier spacing and symbol length / duration are functions of the digital scheme. The subcarrier spacing can be equal to 2 μ *15kKz, where μ is the digital scheme 0 to 5. Thus, digital scheme μ=0 has a subcarrier spacing of 15kHz, and digital scheme μ=5 has a subcarrier spacing of 480kHz. The symbol length / duration is inversely related to the subcarrier spacing. Figures 2A-2D An example is provided for a slot configuration 0 with 14 symbols per slot and a digital scheme μ=2 with 4 slots per subframe. The slot duration is 0.25 ms, the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz, and the symbol duration is approximately 16.67 μ. s .

[0053] A resource grid can be used to represent the frame structure. Each time slot includes a resource block (RB) (also called a physical RB (PRB)). An RB extends over 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid is divided into multiple resource elements (REs). The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0054] As in Figure 2A As described in , some of the REs carry reference (pilot) signals (RS) for the UE. The RS may include a demodulation RS (DM-RS) (for a specific configuration, indicated as R x, where 100x is the port number, but other DM-RS configurations are possible) and a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) for channel estimation at the UE. The RS may also include a beam measurement RS (BRS), a beam improvement RS (BRRS), and a phase tracking RS (PT-RS). Some examples of the techniques disclosed herein use the DM-RS of the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to assist in channel estimation (and ultimately demodulation of the user data portion) for the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0055] Figure 2B An example of various DL channels within a subframe of a frame is illustrated. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries DCI within one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE including nine RE groups (REGs), each REG including 4 consecutive REs in an OFDM symbol. The primary synchronization signal (PSS) may be located within symbol 2 of a particular subframe of a frame. The PSS is used by the UE 104 to determine the subframe / symbol timing and the physical layer identity. The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) may be located within symbol 4 of a particular subframe of a frame. The SSS is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and the radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE may determine the physical cell identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE may determine the location of the aforementioned DM-RS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the master information block (MIB) may be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form a synchronization signal (SS) / PBCH block. The MIB provides the number of RBs in the system bandwidth and the system frame number (SFN). The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information that is not transmitted through the PBCH (such as System Information Block (SIB)), and paging messages.

[0056] As in Figure 2CAs described in , some of the REs carry DM-RS for channel estimation at the base station (indicated as R for a specific configuration, but other DM-RS configurations are possible). The UE may send DM-RS for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and DM-RS for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The PUSCH DM-RS may be sent in the first one or two symbols of the PUSCH. Depending on whether a short or long PUCCH is sent, and depending on the specific PUCCH format used, the PUCCH DM-RS may be sent in different configurations. The UE may send a sounding reference signal (SRS). The SRS may be sent in the last symbol of a subframe. The SRS may have a comb structure, and the UE may send the SRS on one of the teeth of the comb. The SRS may be used by the base station for channel quality estimation to enable frequency-dependent scheduling on the UL.

[0057] Figure 2D An example of various UL channels within one subframe of a frame is illustrated. The PUCCH may be positioned as indicated in one configuration. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI) such as scheduling requests, channel quality indicators (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), rank indicator (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. The PUSCH carries data and may additionally be used to carry a buffer status report (BSR), a power headroom report (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0058] Figure 33 is a block diagram of a base station 310 in an access network that communicates with a UE 350. In the DL, IP packets from the EPC 160 may be provided to a controller / processor 375. The controller / processor 375 implements layer 3 and layer 2 functions. Layer 3 includes a radio resource control (RRC) layer, and layer 2 includes a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer. The controller / processor 375 provides RRC layer functions associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., MIB, SIB), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-radio access technology (RAT) mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functions associated with transmission of upper layer packet data units (PDUs), error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0059] The transmit (TX) processor 316 and the receive (RX) processor 370 implement layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1 including the physical (PHY) layer may include error detection on the transmission channel, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of the transmission channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The TX processor 316 handles the mapping to the signal constellation diagram based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-order quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols can then be split into parallel streams. Each stream can then be mapped to an OFDM subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time domain and / or frequency domain, and then combined using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM stream is spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator 374 may be used to determine coding and modulation schemes and for spatial processing. Channel estimates may be derived from reference signals and / or channel condition feedback sent by the UE 350. Each spatial stream may then be provided to a different antenna 320 via a separate transmitter 318TX. Each transmitter 318TX may modulate an RF carrier with a separate spatial stream for transmission.

[0060] At the UE 350, each receiver 354RX receives a signal through its respective antenna 352. Each receiver 354RX recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to a receive (RX) processor 356. The TX processor 368 and the RX processor 356 implement layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. The RX processor 356 can perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial stream intended for the UE 350. If multiple spatial streams are intended for the UE 350, they can be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the RX processor 356. The RX processor 356 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols and reference signals on each subcarrier are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point sent by the base station 310. These soft decisions can be based on channel estimates calculated by the channel estimator 358. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally sent on the physical channel by the base station 310. The data and control signals are then provided to the controller / processor 359 which implements layer 3 and layer 2 functions.

[0061] The controller / processor 359 may be associated with a memory 360 that stores program codes and data. The memory 360 may be referred to as a computer readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 359 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the EPC 160. The controller / processor 359 is also responsible for error detection using an ACK and / or NACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

[0062] Similar to the functions described in conjunction with DL transmissions performed by the base station 310, the controller / processor 359 provides RRC layer functions associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) capture, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functions associated with transmission of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto TBs, demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0063] Channel estimates derived by a channel estimator 358 from a reference signal or feedback sent by the base station 310 may be used by a TX processor 368 to select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the TX processor 368 may be provided to different antennas 352 via separate transmitters 354TX. Each transmitter 354TX may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0064] UL transmissions are processed at the base station 310 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver functionality at the UE 350. Each receiver 318RX receives a signal through its respective antenna 320. Each receiver 318RX recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to a RX processor 370.

[0065] The controller / processor 375 may be associated with a memory 376 that stores program codes and data. The memory 376 may be referred to as a computer readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 375 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 350. The IP packets from the controller / processor 375 may be provided to the EPC 160. The controller / processor 375 is also responsible for error detection using ACK and / or NACK protocols to support HARQ operations.

[0066] Continue to refer Figure 3 , and continuing to refer to the previous figures for context, in certain aspects, the UE 350 is configured to determine that a PUCCH transmission of the UE 350 carrying UCI will collide with a specific PUSCH transmission of the UE 350 when transmitted. The UE 350 then multiplexes the UCI on the specific PUSCH transmission based on the beam of the PUCCH transmission and the beam of the specific PUSCH transmission in response to the determination. The UE 350 can use the UE UCI multiplexing component 142 to perform this determination and multiplexing.

[0067] In a similar aspect where the technique operates in a wireless communication system, the wireless communication system includes a UE 350 that operates to transmit both PUCCH and PUSCH to a base station of the system in repeated transmissions across multiple beams, the base station 310 specifies in downlink control information (DCI) to the UE 350 a beam-dependent rule for multiplexing UCI of a PUCCH transmission repetition onto a PUSCH transmission repetition when the UE 350 determines that a PUCCH transmission repetition carrying UCI will conflict with a PUSCH transmission repetition when transmitted. In such an example, the base station 310 receives the PUSCH transmission repetition containing the multiplexed UCI after the specification. The base station 310 can use the base station UCI multiplexing component 144 to perform the functions described in this paragraph.

[0068] refer to Figure 4 , and continuing to refer to the previous figure for context, a flow chart of a wireless communication method 400 according to an example of the technology disclosed herein is shown. In such a method 400, a UE of a wireless communication system determines that a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission of the UE carrying uplink control information (UCI) will conflict with a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission of the UE when transmitting - box 404.

[0069] refer to Fig.13 , and for context continue to refer to the previous figure, a UE 350 for wireless communication according to an example of the technology disclosed herein is shown. In addition to the processor 359 memory 360, the UE 350 also includes as described above in conjunction with Figure 3 UE UCI multiplexing component 142 is described. UE UCI multiplexing component 142 includes a determining component 142a. In some examples, the determining component 142a determines that the PUCCH transmission carrying UCI of the UE 350 will conflict with the PUSCH transmission of the UE 350 when transmitted. Accordingly, the determining component 142a can provide a unit for determining that the PUCCH transmission carrying UCI of the UE 350 will conflict with the PUSCH transmission of the UE 350 when transmitted.

[0070] In response to the determination, the UE multiplexes the UCI on the PUSCH transmission based on one or more of the beams for the PUCCH transmission and the beams for the specific PUSCH transmission - block 406. Referring again to Fig.13 , and for context continuing to refer to the previous figure, the UE UCI multiplexing component 142 includes a multiplexing component 142b. In some examples, the multiplexing component 142b multiplexes UCI on the PUSCH transmission based on one or more of the beams of the PUCCH transmission and the beams of the PUSCH transmission. Accordingly, the multiplexing component 142b can provide a unit for multiplexing UCI on the PUSCH transmission based on one or more of the beams of the PUCCH transmission and the beams of the PUSCH transmission.

[0071] refer to Figure 5 , and continuing to refer to the previous figures for context, a flow chart of a wireless communication method 500 according to an example of the technology disclosed herein is shown. In such a method 500, block 404 is performed as described above. In such a method 500, the UE operates to send both PUCCH and PUSCH in repeated transmissions, and receives downlink control information (DCI) specifying a beam-dependent rule for multiplexing UCI onto a specific instance of repeated PUSCH transmissions - block 502.

[0072] refer to Figure 6 , and with continued reference to the previous figures for context, a representation 600 of a potential collision between one of two PUCCH repetitions containing UCI 610a-610b and a set of four PUSCH repetitions 620a-620d (left side) and two example multiplexing solutions for avoiding the collision (right side) according to an example of the techniques disclosed herein. The UE 184 operates to send repetitions of an uplink physical channel, for example, as a manner to improve reliability. The UE 184 receives DCI that specifies, for example, via a bitmap, that if there is a potential collision, UCI of a first PUCCH repetition is to be multiplexed onto a second repetition of the potentially conflicting PUSCH transmission, and that UCI of the second PUCCH repetition is to be multiplexed onto a third repetition of the potentially conflicting PUSCH transmission. In Figure 6In the example of FIG. 6 , the transmission of PUCCH repetition 610b will be in time ( Figure 6 The horizontal dimension of the PUCCH repetition 610a overlaps with the transmission of the PUSCH repetition 620a, while the PUCCH repetition 610a does not overlap with any PUSCH repetition 620 in time.

[0073] Reference again Fig.13 , and for context continuing to refer to the previous figure, the UE UCI multiplexing component 142 includes a receiving component 142c. In some examples, the receiving component 142c receives downlink control information (DCI) that specifies a beam-dependent rule for multiplexing UCI onto a specific instance of repeated PUSCH transmissions. Accordingly, the receiving component 142c can provide a unit for receiving downlink control information (DCI) that specifies a beam-dependent rule for multiplexing UCI onto a specific instance of repeated PUSCH transmissions.

[0074] Similar to block 406, the UE 184 multiplexes the UCI onto specific instances of repeated PUSCH transmissions based on beam-dependent rules - block 506. Figure 6 In Example 1, the UE multiplexes UCI from the first PUCCH repetition onto the second PUSCH repetition 620b' and multiplexes a copy of UCI from the second PUCCH repetition 610b (which will overlap in time with PUSCH repetition 620a) onto PUSCH repetition 620c'.

[0075] Reference again Fig.13 , and for context continuing to refer to the previous figure, the UE UCI multiplexing component 142 includes a multiplexing component 142b. In some examples, the multiplexing component 142b multiplexes the UCI onto a specific instance of the repeated PUSCH transmission based on a beam-dependent rule. Accordingly, the multiplexing component 142b can provide a unit for multiplexing the UCI onto a specific instance of the repeated PUSCH transmission based on a beam-dependent rule.

[0076] Reference again Figure 6 In Example 2, the beam-dependent rule included in the DCI received by UE 184 specifies multiplexing of UCI from PUCCH transmissions that overlap only with at least one PUSCH transmission. Therefore, PUCCH transmission repetition 610a containing UCI is sent by UE 184, while the UCI that would have been carried by PUCCH 610b is multiplexed onto the third repetition 620" (i.e., PUSCH transmission repetition 620c") of the PUSCH.

[0077] refer to Figure 7, and continuing to refer to the previous figures for context, a flow chart of a wireless communication method 700 according to an example of the technology disclosed herein is shown. In such a method 700, the UE 184 operates to transmit both PUCCH and PUSCH in repeated transmissions across multiple beams, and determines that the UE's physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission carrying uplink control information (UCI) will conflict with the UE's specific physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission when transmitting - box 704.

[0078] refer to Figure 8 , and continuing to refer to the previous figure for context, a representation 800 is shown of a potential collision (left side) and two example multiplexing solutions for avoiding collisions between one of two PUCCH repetitions containing UCI 810a-810b across beams 1 and 2 and a set of four PUSCH repetitions 820a-820d also across beams 1 and 2, according to an example of the techniques disclosed herein. The UE 184 operates to send repetitions of an uplink physical channel across different beams, for example, as a way to improve reliability. Figure 8 In the example of FIG. 1 , the transmission of PUCCH repetition 810b on beam 2 will be in time ( Figure 8 The horizontal dimension of the PUCCH repetition 810a conflicts with the transmission of PUSCH repetition 820a on beam 1, but regardless of the beam, the PUCCH repetition 810a does not overlap in time with any PUSCH repetition 820.

[0079] refer to Fig.13 , and for context continuing to refer to the previous figure, the UE UCI multiplexing component 142 includes a determining component 142a. In some examples, the determining component 142a determines that the PUCCH transmission carrying UCI of the UE 350 will conflict with the PUSCH transmission of the UE 350 when transmitted. Accordingly, the determining component 142a can provide a unit for determining that the PUCCH transmission carrying UCI of the UE 350 will conflict with the PUSCH transmission of the UE 350 when transmitted.

[0080] Reference again Figure 7 , the UE 184 multiplexes the UCI of the PUCCH transmission on a specific instance of a particular PUSCH transmission having a common beam with the PUCCH transmission - block 706. Figure 8 In Example 1, UE 184 multiplexes the UCI from beam 1 transmission 810a of PUCCH onto the first beam 1 transmission 820' of PUSCH, and multiplexes a copy of the UCI from beam 2 transmission 810b of PUCCH onto the earliest beam 2 transmission 820c' of PUSCH. Figure 8In Example 2, UE 184 multiplexes UCI from a PUCCH transmission that overlaps only with at least one PUSCH transmission. Thus, PUCCH transmission repetition 810a containing UCI is sent by UE 184, while UCI that would have been carried by PUCCH 810b is multiplexed onto the third repetition 820" (i.e., PUSCH transmission repetition 820c") of the PUSCH.

[0081] Reference again Fig.13 , and for context continuing to refer to the previous figure, the UE UCI multiplexing component 142 includes a multiplexing component 142b. In some examples, the multiplexing component 142b multiplexes the UCI of the PUCCH transmission on a specific instance of a specific PUSCH transmission having a beam common to the PUCCH transmission. Accordingly, the multiplexing component 142b may provide a unit for multiplexing the UCI of the PUCCH transmission on a specific instance of a specific PUSCH transmission having a beam common to the PUCCH transmission.

[0082] When the UE is configured for concurrent uplink transmission on different uplink beams (conditional on the UE indicating such capability signaling, for example for multi-panel UEs), the uplink channels can be divided into groups based on the intended beams. The beam group ID may represent an implicit UE panel ID or a TRP ID / CORESETPoolIndex (in case of multi-TRP operation). Each uplink channel is associated with one of the groups. The UCI may thus be multiplexed separately and independently per beam. This may include multiplexing different PUCCHs that overlap in time on the same beam, and multiplexing UCI in the PUSCH when the corresponding PUCCH overlaps in time with a PUSCH on the same beam. The UE sends the generated PUCCH and PUSCH in the first group, and concurrently sends the generated PUCCH and PUSCH in the second group.

[0083] refer to Fig. 9 , and continuing to refer to the previous figures for context, a flow chart of a wireless communication method 900 according to an example of the technology disclosed herein is shown. In such a method 900, the UE operates to transmit on a first beam at a given time on any one of a first set of physical channels including a first PUCCH and a first PUSCH, and on a second beam at a given time on any one of a second set of physical channels including a second PUCCH and a second PUSCH. In such a method, the UE independently determines, for each specific beam in the first beam and the second beam, that a given PUCCH transmission carrying UCI on the specific beam will conflict with a PUSCH transmission on the specific beam of the UE when transmitted - box 904.

[0084] refer to Fig.10 , and continuing to refer to the previous figures for context, a representation 1000 of an example collision scenario (left side) and multiplexing solution (right side) according to the techniques disclosed herein is shown. The UE 184 operates to transmit on beam 1 at a given time on any one of a first set of physical channels including PUCCH 1 (carrying UCI1: HARQ-ACK), PUCCH 2 (carrying UCI2: CSI), and PUSCH 1, and concurrently on beam 2 on any one of a second set of physical channels including PUCCH 3 (carrying UCI 3: HARQ-ACK), PUCCH 4 (carrying UCI4: CSI), and PUSCH 2. It should be noted that Fig.10 The first numeric designator after the physical channel name in does not refer to the beam number, but to the channel group associated with, for example, carrier aggregation. The UE 184 operates to transmit concurrently and independently on separate beams, for example, as a way to improve both capacity and reliability. For beam 1, the UE 184 independently determines that PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 (both carrying UCI) will not only not conflict with each other, but also will not conflict with PUSCH 1. For beam 2, the UE 184 independently determines that PUCCH 4 (carrying UCI) will conflict with PUSCH 2, and PUCCH 3 (carrying UCI) will not conflict with PUSCH 2.

[0085] refer to Fig.13 , and for context continuing to refer to the previous figure, the UE UCI multiplexing component 142 includes a determining component 142a. In some examples, the determining component 142a independently determines, for each specific beam in the first beam and the second beam, that a given PUCCH transmission carrying UCI on the specific beam will conflict with a PUSCH transmission on the specific beam of the UE 350 when transmitted. Accordingly, the determining component 142a may provide a unit for independently determining, for each specific beam in the first beam and the second beam, that a given PUCCH transmission carrying UCI on the specific beam will conflict with a PUSCH transmission on the specific beam of the UE 350 when transmitted.

[0086] Reference again Fig. 9 In response to the corresponding determination, the UE independently multiplexes the UCI of the PUCCH of the specific beam on the PUSCH transmission of the specific beam for each specific beam - block 906. Fig.10In the example of , for beam 1, UE 184 multiplexes the UCI of both PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2 onto PUSCH 1, so that PUSCH 1 carries UCI 1: HARQ-ACK and UCI 2: CSI. UE 184 independently multiplexes the UCI of PUCCH 4 onto PUSCH 2 for beam 2, so that PUSCH 2 carries UCI 4. Since PUCCH 3 on beam 1 does not conflict with PUSCH 2 on beam 1, the UE does not multiplex the UCI carried by PUCCH 3 and only sends PUCCH 3. In some examples, UE 184 can receive DCI, which is transmitted, for example, via a bitmap in the same manner as described above. Figure 5 In a similar manner as described, the details on how to multiplex UCI onto PUSCH transmissions if there are expected collisions are specified independently for each concurrent beam.

[0087] Reference again Fig.13 , and for context continuing to refer to the previous figure, the UE UCI multiplexing component 142 includes a multiplexing component 142b. In some examples, the multiplexing component 142b multiplexes UCI on the PUSCH transmission based on one or more of the beams of the PUCCH transmission and the beams of the PUSCH transmission. Accordingly, the multiplexing component 142b can provide a unit for multiplexing UCI on the PUSCH transmission based on one or more of the beams of the PUCCH transmission and the beams of the PUSCH transmission.

[0088] Concurrent transmissions from a UE across multiple beams may be conditioned on supporting two uplink channels to be transmitted on the same OFDM symbol - partially overlapping in time - which may be more difficult than completely overlapping in time due to RF limitations and power control factors, for example. In this case, if two uplink channels belonging to different beams and to be transmitted (after beam-based multiplexing, but before transmission) are not completely overlapping in time (on the same or different resource blocks), one of at least three methods may be used.

[0089] refer to Fig.11 , and for context continuing to refer to the previous figure, a flowchart of a wireless communication method 1100 according to an example of the technology disclosed herein is shown. In such a method 1100, in combination with Fig.10After the described determination and multiplexing, for the first and second PUSCHs that are not set to be transmitted in full overlap in time, the UE performs one of the following: abandoning the transmission of one of the first and second PUSCHs based on the content of each PUSCH and one of the group identifiers of each PUSCH; aligning the first and second PUSCHs and sending both; and multiplexing the UCI of the first PUCCH and the UCI of the second PUCCH onto one of the first or second PUSCHs, and sending the PUSCH carrying the multiplexed UCI, under the condition that neither PUSCH includes uplink shared channel data or channel state information - box 1106.

[0090] In the first approach, one of the PUSCH transmissions may be dropped and another sent based on uplink physical channel priority. The priority may be based on the content of the channel, e.g., UL-SCH, then HARQ-ACK, then SR, then CSI. The priority may be based on the channel group ID associated with a particular beam (e.g., UE panel ID, TRP ID / CORESETPoolIndex in case of multi-TRP operation).

[0091] refer to Fig.12 , and for context continue to refer to the previous figure, showing the misalignment of the second method when multiplexing post-processing (according to Fig.10 ) and alternatives. In a second method, the duration of the PUSCH on each beam can be aligned in time. In a first alternative of the second method, the alignment can be based on the earliest first symbol and the latest last symbol. In this case, the duration of one or both uplink channels is increased, and the UE 184 performs rate matching. In a second alternative of the second method, the alignment can be based on the latest first symbol and the earliest last symbol. In this second alternative, the duration of one or both uplink channels is reduced, and the UE 184 can perform rate matching or puncturing as appropriate.

[0092] In another method, if both beams do not carry channels including UL-SCH and both beams do not include CSI, the channels of one beam may be multiplexed on another beam and only the multiplexed beam may be transmitted.

[0093] Reference again Fig.13, and for context continuing to refer to the previous figure, the UE UCI multiplexing component 142 includes a post-multiplexing component 142d. In some examples, the post-multiplexing component 142d performs one of the following: abandoning the transmission of one of the first and second PUSCHs based on one of the content of each PUSCH and the group identifier of each PUSCH; aligning the first and second PUSCHs and sending both; and multiplexing the UCI of the first PUCCH and the UCI of the second PUCCH onto one of the first or second PUSCHs, and sending the PUSCH carrying the multiplexed UCI. Accordingly, the multiplexing component 142b may provide a unit for performing one of the following: abandoning the transmission of one of the first and second PUSCHs based on one of the content of each PUSCH and the group identifier of each PUSCH; aligning the first and second PUSCHs and sending both; and multiplexing the UCI of the first PUCCH and the UCI of the second PUCCH onto one of the first or second PUSCHs, and sending the PUSCH carrying the multiplexed UCI.

[0094] refer to Fig.14 , and continuing to refer to the previous figure for context, a flow chart of a wireless communication method 1400 according to an example of the technology disclosed herein is shown. In such a method 1400, the base station specifies in a DCI to the UE a beam-dependent rule for multiplexing the UCI of a PUCCH transmission repetition onto a PUSCH transmission repetition when the UE determines that a given PUCCH transmission repetition carrying UCI will conflict with a PUSCH transmission repetition when transmitted - block 1402. Reference Fig.15 , and for context continuing to refer to the previous figure, a base station 310 for wireless communication according to an example of the technology disclosed herein is shown. In addition to the processor 375 and the memory 376, the base station 310 also includes the above combined Figure 3 The base station UCI multiplexing component 144 is described. The base station UE UCI multiplexing component 144 includes a specifying component 144a. In some examples, the specifying component 144a specifies a beam-dependent rule for multiplexing UCI of PUCCH transmission repetitions onto PUSCH transmission repetitions in a DCI to the UE 184. Accordingly, the specifying component 144a can specify a beam-dependent rule for multiplexing UCI of PUCCH transmission repetitions onto PUSCH transmission repetitions in a DCI to the UE 184.

[0095] The base station receives a PUSCH transmission repetition containing the multiplexed UCI from the UE after the designation - block 1404. Fig.15, and for context continuing to refer to the previous figure, the base station UE UCI multiplexing component 144 includes a receiving component 144b. In some examples, the receiving component 144b receives a PUSCH transmission repetition containing multiplexed UCI from the UE after the designation. Accordingly, the receiving component 144b can receive a PUSCH transmission repetition containing multiplexed UCI from the UE after the designation.

[0096] It should be understood that the specific order or layering of the blocks in the disclosed process / flowchart is illustrative of an exemplary method. Based on design preferences, it should be understood that the specific order or layering of the blocks in the process / flowchart can be rearranged. Further, some blocks can be combined or omitted. The accompanying method claims present the elements of the various blocks in a sample order and are not limited to the specific order or layering presented.

[0097] The following examples are merely illustrative, and aspects thereof may be combined with other embodiments or aspects of the teachings described herein without being limited thereto.

[0098] The previous description is provided to enable those skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other aspects. Therefore, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but will conform to the entire scope consistent with the language claims, wherein, unless specifically indicated, the reference to the element in the singular form is not intended to represent "one and only one", but instead represents "one or more". The term "exemplary" is used herein to represent "serving as an example, instance or explanation". Any aspect described as "exemplary" in this article does not have to be interpreted as being preferred or more advantageous than other aspects. Unless otherwise specifically indicated, the term "some" refers to one or more. Combinations such as "at least one of A, B or C", "one or more of A, B or C", "at least one of A, B and C", "one or more of A, B and C" and "A, B, C or any combination thereof" include any combination of A, B and / or C, and may include multiple A, multiple B or multiple C. Specifically, combinations such as "at least one of A, B, or C," "one or more of A, B, or C," "at least one of A, B, and C," "one or more of A, B, and C," and "A, B, C, or any combination thereof" may be A only, B only, C only, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C, wherein any such combination may include one or more members of A, B, or C. All structural and functional equivalents of the elements throughout the various aspects described in the present disclosure that are known or later become known to those skilled in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be included by the claims. In addition, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public, regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly detailed in the claims. The terms "module," "mechanism," "element," "device," and the like may not be substitutes for the term "unit." Therefore, no claim element should be interpreted as a unit plus function unless the element is explicitly detailed using the phrase "unit for..."

Claims

1. A wireless communication method, comprising: Determining, by a user equipment UE of a wireless communication system, that a physical uplink control channel PUCCH transmission of the UE carrying uplink control information UCI will conflict with a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH transmission of the UE during transmission; multiplexing, by the UE and in response to the determining, the UCI on the PUSCH transmission based on one or more of the beam of the PUCCH transmission and the beam of the PUSCH transmission, wherein the UE operates to send both PUCCH and PUSCH in repeated transmissions across multiple beams; and The multiplexing includes multiplexing the UCI of the PUCCH transmission on a specific instance of a particular PUSCH transmission having a common beam with the PUCCH transmission.

2. The method according to claim 1: in, The UE operates to send both the PUCCH and the PUSCH in repeated transmissions; The method further includes: receiving, by the UE, downlink control information (DCI) specifying a beam-dependent rule for multiplexing UCI onto a specific instance of the repeated PUSCH transmission; and The multiplexing includes multiplexing the UCI onto specific instances of the repeated PUSCH transmission based on the beam-dependent rule.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The beam-dependent rule specifies multiplexing of UCI from PUCCH transmissions that overlap only with at least one PUSCH transmission.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The specific instance of the specific PUSCH transmission having a common beam with the PUCCH transmission is an earliest instance of the specific PUSCH transmission having a common beam with the PUCCH transmission.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The UE operates to: transmitting on any one of a first set of physical channels including a first PUCCH and a first PUSCH on a first beam at a given time, and transmitting on any one of a second set of physical channels including a second PUCCH and a second PUSCH on a second beam at the given time; The determining includes: independently determining, for each specific beam in the first beam and the second beam, that a PUCCH transmission carrying UCI on the specific beam will conflict with a PUSCH transmission on the specific beam of the UE when transmitting; and The multiplexing includes: in response to the corresponding determination, independently multiplexing the UCI of the PUCCH of the specific beam on the PUSCH transmission of the specific beam for each specific beam.

6. The method according to claim 5: in, The first PUSCH and the second PUSCH are not configured to be transmitted in a completely overlapping manner in time; and The method further includes, after the multiplexing, performing one of the following: abandoning transmission of one of the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH based on a priority, the priority being based on one of a content of each PUSCH and a group identifier of each PUSCH; aligning the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH, and transmitting both the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH; and Under the condition that neither PUSCH includes uplink shared channel data or channel state information, the UCI of the first PUCCH and the UCI of the second PUCCH are multiplexed onto one of the first PUSCH or the second PUSCH, and the PUSCH carrying the multiplexed UCI is sent.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: Alignment includes one of the following: aligning based on an earliest first symbol and a last latest symbol of transmissions across the first beam and the second beam; as well as The alignment is performed based on a latest first symbol and an earliest last symbol of transmissions across the first beam and the second beam.

8. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: a memory storing computer executable instructions; as well as At least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute the method of any one of claims 1-7.

9. A computer-readable medium storing computer executable code, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: means for determining that a physical uplink control channel PUCCH transmission of a UE carrying uplink control information UCI will conflict with a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH transmission of the UE when transmitting; as well as means for multiplexing the UCI on the PUSCH transmission based on the beam of the PUCCH transmission and the beam of the PUSCH transmission in response to the determining, wherein the UE operates to send both PUCCH and PUSCH in repeated transmissions across multiple beams; and The means for multiplexing includes means for multiplexing the UCI of the PUCCH transmission on a specific instance of a particular PUSCH transmission having a common beam with the PUCCH transmission.

11. The device according to claim 10: in, The apparatus operates to send both PUCCH and PUSCH in repeated transmissions across multiple beams; The apparatus also includes means for receiving downlink control information (DCI) specifying a beam-dependent rule for multiplexing UCI onto a specific instance of a repeated PUSCH transmission; and The means for multiplexing includes means for multiplexing the UCI onto a specific instance of the repeated PUSCH based on the beam-dependent rule.

12. The device according to claim 11, wherein: The beam-dependent rule specifies multiplexing of UCI from PUCCH repetitions that overlap only with at least one PUSCH repetition.

13. The device according to claim 10, wherein: The specific instance of the specific PUSCH transmission having a common beam with the PUCCH transmission is an earliest instance of the specific PUSCH transmission having a common beam with the PUCCH transmission.

14. The device according to claim 10, wherein: The device operates to: transmitting on any one of a first set of physical channels including a first PUCCH and a first PUSCH on a first beam at a given time, and transmitting on any one of a second set of physical channels including a second PUCCH and a second PUSCH on a second beam at the given time; The unit for determining includes: a unit for independently determining, for each specific beam in the first beam and the second beam, that a PUCCH transmission carrying UCI on the specific beam will conflict with a PUSCH transmission on the specific beam of the UE when transmitted; and The means for multiplexing includes means for multiplexing, for each specific beam, independently on the PUSCH transmission of the specific beam, the UCI of the PUCCH of the specific beam in response to the corresponding determination.

15. The device according to claim 14: in, The first PUSCH and the second PUSCH are not configured to be transmitted in a completely overlapping manner in time; and The apparatus further includes means for performing one of the following after the multiplexing: abandoning transmission of one of the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH based on a priority, the priority being based on one of a content of each PUSCH and a group identifier of each PUSCH; aligning the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH, and transmitting both the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH; and Under the condition that neither PUSCH includes uplink shared channel data or channel state information, the UCI of the first PUCCH and the UCI of the second PUCCH are multiplexed onto one of the first PUSCH or the second PUSCH, and the PUSCH carrying the multiplexed UCI is sent.

16. The device according to claim 15, wherein: Alignment includes one of the following: aligning based on an earliest first symbol and a last latest symbol of transmissions across the first beam and the second beam; as well as The alignment is performed based on a latest first symbol and an earliest last symbol of transmissions across the first beam and the second beam.

17. A wireless communication method, comprising: The following are performed in a wireless communication system including a user equipment UE, the UE being operable to send both a physical uplink control channel PUCCH and a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH to a base station of the system in repeated transmissions across multiple beams: The base station specifies, in downlink control information DCI to the UE, a beam-dependent rule for multiplexing the UCI of the PUCCH transmission repetition onto the PUSCH transmission repetition when the UE determines that the PUCCH transmission repetition carrying uplink control information UCI will conflict with the PUSCH transmission repetition when transmitted, wherein the beam-dependent rule specifies: multiplexing the UCI of the PUCCH transmission repetition onto a specific instance of the PUSCH transmission repetition having a common beam with the PUCCH transmission repetition; and The PUSCH transmission repetition including the multiplexed UCI is received by the base station after the designation.

18. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: a memory storing computer executable instructions; as well as At least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute the method of claim 17.

19. A computer readable medium storing computer executable code, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the method of claim 17.

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