Soft combination for hybrid automatic repeat request feedback

Abstract

In general, various aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications. In some aspects, a base station can send a multi-user packet including multiple transport blocks combined into a combined transport block to a group of user equipment (UE), wherein each of the multiple transport blocks is individually encoded using a specific encoding process and aggregated into the combined transport block; receive hybrid automatic repeat request feedback indicating a decoding failure of one or more transport blocks of the multi-user packet from one or more UEs in the UE group; and resend one or more packets to transmit the one or more transport blocks affected by the decoding failure. A number of other aspects are provided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001]

[0004] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, aspects of the present disclosure relate to techniques and apparatus for soft combining of hybrid automatic repeat request feedback. Background Art

[0002] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide a variety of telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasts. Typical wireless communication systems may utilize multiple access technologies that are capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). Examples of these multiple access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems, and long term evolution (LTE). LTE / LTE-Advanced is a set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile standard promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

[0003] A wireless network may include multiple base stations (BSs) that support communications for multiple user equipments (UEs). A UE may communicate with a base station (BS) via a downlink and an uplink. A downlink (or forward link) refers to a communication link from a BS to a UE, and an uplink (or reverse link) refers to a communication link from a UE to a BS. As will be described in more detail herein, a BS may be referred to as a Node B, gNB, access point (AP), radio head, transmit receive point (TRP), new radio (NR) BS, 5G Node B, and / or the like.

[0004] The above-mentioned multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different user devices to communicate at the city, country, region and even global level. New Radio (NR) (also known as 5G) is a set of enhancements to the LTE mobile standard released by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). NR is designed to better integrate with other open standards using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) (CP-OFDM) with cyclic prefix (CP) on the downlink (DL), CP-OFDM and / or SC-FDM (e.g., also known as discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM)) on the uplink (UL), and support beamforming, multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna technology and carrier aggregation to better support mobile broadband Internet access. As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, further improvements in LTE, NR and other radio access technologies remain useful. Summary of the invention

[0005] In some aspects, a wireless communication method performed by a base station may include: sending a multi-user packet including multiple transport blocks combined into a combined transport block to a group of user equipment (UE), wherein each of the multiple transport blocks is individually encoded using a specific encoding process and aggregated into the combined transport block; receiving hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback indicating decoding failure of one or more transport blocks of the multi-user packet from one or more UEs in the UE group; and resending one or more packets to transmit the one or more transport blocks that suffered decoding failure.

[0006] In some aspects, a wireless communication method performed by a user device may include: receiving a multi-user packet including multiple transport blocks combined into a combined transport block, wherein each of the multiple transport blocks is individually encoded using a specific encoding process and aggregated into the combined transport block; sending HARQ feedback indicating a decoding failure of a specific transport block of the multi-user packet; and receiving a retransmission of one or more packets to transmit one or more transport blocks including the specific transport block that suffered one or more corresponding decoding failures.

[0007] In some aspects, a base station for wireless communication may include a memory and one or more processors operably coupled to the memory. The memory and the one or more processors may be configured to: send a multi-user packet including a plurality of transport blocks combined into a combined transport block to a UE group, wherein each of the plurality of transport blocks is individually encoded using a specific encoding process and aggregated into the combined transport block; receive HARQ feedback indicating a decoding failure of one or more transport blocks of the multi-user packet from one or more UEs in the UE group; and resend one or more packets to transmit the one or more transport blocks that suffered a decoding failure.

[0008] In some aspects, a user device for wireless communication may include a memory and one or more processors operably coupled to the memory. The memory and the one or more processors may be configured to: receive a multi-user packet including a plurality of transport blocks combined into a combined transport block, wherein each of the plurality of transport blocks is individually encoded using a particular encoding process and aggregated into the combined transport block; send HARQ feedback indicating a decoding failure of a particular transport block of the multi-user packet; and receive a retransmission of one or more packets to transmit one or more transport blocks including the particular transport block that suffered one or more corresponding decoding failures.

[0009] In some aspects, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may store one or more instructions for wireless communication. The one or more instructions, when executed by one or more processors of a base station, may cause the one or more processors to: send a multi-user packet including a plurality of transport blocks combined into a combined transport block to a group of UEs, wherein each of the plurality of transport blocks is individually encoded using a specific encoding process and aggregated into the combined transport block; receive HARQ feedback indicating a decoding failure of one or more transport blocks of the multi-user packet from one or more UEs in the group of UEs; and resend one or more packets to transmit the one or more transport blocks that suffered a decoding failure.

[0010] In some aspects, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may store one or more instructions for wireless communication. The one or more instructions, when executed by one or more processors of a UE, may cause the one or more processors to: receive a multi-user packet including a plurality of transport blocks combined into a combined transport block, wherein each of the plurality of transport blocks is individually encoded using a particular encoding process and aggregated into the combined transport block; send HARQ feedback indicating a decoding failure of a particular transport block of the multi-user packet; and receive a retransmission of one or more packets to transmit one or more transport blocks including the particular transport block that suffered one or more corresponding decoding failures.

[0011] In some aspects, an apparatus for wireless communication may include: a unit for sending a multi-user packet including multiple transport blocks combined into a combined transport block to a UE group, wherein each of the multiple transport blocks is individually encoded using a specific encoding process and aggregated into the combined transport block; a unit for receiving HARQ feedback indicating decoding failure of one or more transport blocks of the multi-user packet from one or more UEs in the UE group; and a unit for resending one or more packets to transmit the one or more transport blocks that suffered decoding failure.

[0012] In some aspects, an apparatus for wireless communication may include: a unit for receiving a multi-user packet including multiple transport blocks combined into a combined transport block, wherein each of the multiple transport blocks is individually encoded using a specific encoding process and aggregated into the combined transport block; a unit for sending HARQ feedback indicating a decoding failure of a specific transport block of the multi-user packet; and a unit for receiving a retransmission of one or more packets for transmitting one or more transport blocks including the specific transport block that suffered one or more corresponding decoding failures.

[0013] Aspects generally include methods, apparatuses, systems, computer program products, non-transitory computer-readable media, user equipment, base stations, wireless communication devices, and / or processing systems as generally described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings and as illustrated in the drawings and the description.

[0014] In order to better understand the specific embodiments below, the foregoing broadly summarizes the features and technical advantages of the examples according to the present disclosure. Additional features and advantages will be described below. The disclosed concepts and specific examples can be easily used as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for achieving the same purpose as the present disclosure. These equivalent structures do not depart from the scope of the attached claims. When considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the characteristics of the concepts disclosed herein (their organizational structures and methods of operation) and related advantages will be better understood from the following description. Each of the drawings is provided for the purpose of illustration and description, and not as a definition of the scope of the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] In order to be able to understand the above-mentioned features of the present disclosure in detail, the brief summary given above can be described in more detail with reference to some aspects, some of which are shown in the accompanying drawings. However, it should be noted that the accompanying drawings only show certain typical aspects of the present disclosure and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of the present disclosure, because the description herein allows other equivalent aspects. The same symbols in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements.

[0016] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless network in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of base station communicating with UE in a wireless network according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 3A-3D is a diagram illustrating an example associated with soft combining for hybrid automatic repeat request feedback in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 4-Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating example processes associated with soft combining for hybrid automatic repeat request feedback in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The various aspects of the present disclosure are described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure can be implemented in a variety of different forms and should not be interpreted as being limited to any specific structure or function given throughout the present disclosure. Instead, these aspects are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and the scope of the present disclosure will be fully conveyed to those skilled in the art. Based on the teachings herein, those skilled in the art should be aware that the scope of the present application is intended to cover any aspect of the content disclosed herein, regardless of whether it is implemented independently of any other aspect of the present application or combined with any other aspect of the present application. For example, any number of aspects set forth herein can be used to implement a device or implementation method. In addition, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover such a device or method implemented using other structures, functions, or structures and functions other than the various aspects of the disclosure given herein or different from the various aspects of the disclosure given herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein can be embodied by one or more elements in the claims.

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

[0022] It should be noted that while various aspects may be described using terminology typically associated with 5G or NR radio access technologies (RATs), aspects of the present disclosure may be applied to other RATs, such as 3G RATs, 4G RATs, and / or RATs beyond 5G (e.g., 6G).

[0023] Figure 1 is a diagram showing an example of a wireless network 100 according to various aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless network 100 may be or may include elements of a 5G (NR) network, an LTE network, etc. The wireless network 100 may include a plurality of base stations 110 (shown as BS 110a, BS 110b, BS 110c, and BS 110d) and other network entities. A base station (BS) is an entity that communicates with a user equipment (UE) and may also be referred to as an NR BS, a Node B, a gNB, a 5G Node B (NB), an access point, a transmit receive point (TRP), and the like. Each BS may provide communication coverage for a specific geographic area. In 3GPP, the term "cell" may refer to a coverage area of ​​a BS and / or a BS subsystem serving the coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

[0024] A BS may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, and / or another type of cell. A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and allow restricted access by UEs associated with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG)). A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. A BS for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto BS or a home BS. In Figure 1 In the example shown, BS 110a may be a macro BS of macro cell 102a; BS 110b may be a pico BS of pico cell 102b; and BS 110c may be a femto BS of femto cell 102c. A BS may support one or more (e.g., three) cells. The terms "eNB", "base station", "NR BS", "gNB", "TRP", "AP", "Node B", "5G NB", and "cell" may be used interchangeably herein.

[0025] In some aspects, the cells may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographic area of ​​the cells may move depending on the location of the mobile BS. In some aspects, the BSs may be interconnected to each other and / or one or more other BSs or network nodes (not shown) in the wireless network 100 via various types of backhaul interfaces (e.g., direct physical connections, virtual networks, and / or the like) using any suitable transport network.

[0026] The wireless network 100 may also include a relay base station. A relay base station is an entity that can receive data transmissions from an uplink station (e.g., a BS or a UE) and send data transmissions to a downlink station (e.g., a UE or a BS). A relay base station may also be a UE that can relay transmissions for other UEs. Figure 1 In the example shown in , a relay base station 110d may communicate with a macro BS 110a and a UE 120d to facilitate communication between the BS 110a and the UE 120d. A relay base station may also be referred to as a relay BS, a relay base station, a relay, and / or the like.

[0027] The wireless network 100 may be a heterogeneous network including different types of BSs (e.g., macro BSs, pico BSs, femto BSs, relay BSs, and / or the like). These different types of BSs may have different transmit power levels, different coverage areas, and different effects on interference in the wireless network 100. For example, a macro BS may have a higher transmit power level (e.g., 5 to 40 watts), while a pico BS, a femto BS, and a relay BS may have a lower transmit power level (e.g., 0.1 to 2 watts).

[0028] The network controller 130 may be coupled to a group of BSs and may provide coordination and control for the BSs. The network controller 130 may communicate with the BSs via a backhaul. The BSs may also communicate with each other, for example, directly or indirectly via a wireless or wired backhaul.

[0029] UE 120 (e.g., 120a, 120b, 120c) can be dispersed throughout the wireless network 100, and each UE can be fixed or mobile. UE can also be referred to as a terminal, a mobile station, a subscriber unit, a station, and / or the like. UE can be a cellular phone (e.g., a smart phone), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet computer, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, a medical device or equipment, a biometric sensor / device, a wearable device (smart watch, smart clothing, smart glasses, smart wristband, smart jewelry (e.g., smart ring, smart bracelet)), an entertainment device (e.g., a music or video device, or a satellite radio), a vehicle component or sensor, a smart meter / sensor, an industrial manufacturing device, a global positioning system device, or any other suitable device configured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium.

[0030] Some UEs may be considered as machine type communication (MTC) or evolved or enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) UEs. MTC and eMTC UEs include, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, location tags, and / or the like that can communicate with a base station, another device (e.g., a remote device), or some other entity. A wireless node may provide, for example, a connection to a network or to a network (e.g., a wide area network such as the Internet or a cellular network) via a wired or wireless communication link. Some UEs may be considered as Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and / or may be implemented as NB-IoT (narrowband Internet of Things) devices. Some UEs may be considered as customer premises equipment (CPE). UE 120 may be included in a housing that houses components of UE 120 (such as a processor component, a memory component, etc.). In some aspects, a processor component and a memory component may be coupled together. For example, a processor component (e.g., one or more processors) and a memory component (e.g., a memory) may be operationally coupled, communicatively coupled, electronically coupled, electrically coupled, and the like.

[0031] In general, any number of wireless networks can be deployed in a given geographic area. Each wireless network can support a specific RAT and can operate on one or more frequencies. RAT can also be referred to as radio technology, air interface, etc. Frequency can also be referred to as carrier, frequency channel, etc. Each frequency can support a single RAT in a given geographic area to avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs. In some cases, NR or 5G RAT networks can be deployed.

[0032] In some aspects, two or more UEs 120 (e.g., shown as UE 120a and UE 120e) may communicate directly (e.g., without using base station 110 as an intermediary to communicate with each other) using one or more side link channels. For example, UE 120 may communicate using peer-to-peer (P2P) communication, device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) protocols (e.g., which may include vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) protocols, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) protocols, etc.), mesh networks, etc. In this case, UE 120 may perform scheduling operations, resource selection operations, and / or other operations described elsewhere herein performed by base station 110.

[0033] As mentioned above, providing Figure 1 As an example. Other examples may be different from the Figure 1 Examples described.

[0034] Figure 2is a diagram illustrating an example 200 of base station 110 communicating with UE 120 in wireless network 100 in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Base station 110 may be equipped with T antennas 234a through 234t and UE 120 may be equipped with R antennas 252a through 452r, where in general T≥1 and R≥1.

[0035] At the base station 110, the transmit processor 220 may receive data for one or more UEs from the data source 212, select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCS) for each UE based at least in part on a channel quality indicator (CQI) received from the UE, process (e.g., encode and modulate) the data for each UE based at least in part on the MCS selected for the UE, and provide data symbols for all UEs. The transmit processor 220 may also process system information (e.g., for semi-static resource partitioning information (SRPI) and / or the like) and control information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, upper layer signaling, and / or the like) and provide overhead symbols and control symbols. The transmit processor 220 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., cell-specific reference signals (CRS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), etc.) and synchronization signals (e.g., primary synchronization signals (PSS) and secondary synchronization signals (SSS)). If applicable, the transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 can perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, overhead symbols, and / or reference symbols, and can provide T output symbol streams to T modulators (MOD) 232a to 232t. Each modulator 232 can process its own output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM and / or the like) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 232 can further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and up-convert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The T downlink signals from modulators 232a to 232t can be sent out via T antennas 234a to 234t, respectively. According to various aspects described in more detail below, position coding can be used to generate synchronization signals to transmit additional information.

[0036] At UE 120, antennas 252a to 252r may receive downlink signals from base station 110 and / or other base stations and may provide received signals to demodulators (DEMOD) 254a to 254r, respectively. Each demodulator 254 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) the received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 254 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM and / or the like) to obtain received symbols. MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from all R demodulators 254a to 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and provide detected symbols. Receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for UE 120 to data sink 260, and provide decoded control information and system information to controller / processor 280. The channel processor may determine a reference signal received power (RSRP), a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a channel quality indicator (CQI), and / or the like. In some aspects, one or more components of UE 120 may be included in a housing.

[0037] The network controller 130 may include: a communication unit 294, a controller / processor 290, and a memory 292. The network controller 130 may include, for example, one or more devices in a core network. The network controller 130 may communicate with the base station 110 via the communication unit 294.

[0038] On the uplink, at the UE 120, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 and control information from a controller / processor 280 (e.g., for reports including RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, and / or the like). The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for one or more reference signals. The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 if applicable, further processed by modulators 254a through 254r (e.g., for DFT-s-OFDM, CP-OFDM, and / or the like), and transmitted to the base station 110. In some aspects, the UE 120 includes a transceiver. The transceiver may include any combination of antennas 252, modulators and / or demodulators 254, MIMO detectors 256, receive processors 258, transmit processors 264, and / or TX MIMO processors 266. The transceiver may be used by a processor (eg, controller / processor 280) and memory 282 to perform aspects of any of the methods described herein (eg, with reference to Figure 3A-Figure 5 described).

[0039] At the base station 110, uplink signals from the UE 120 and other UEs may be received by the antenna 234, processed by the demodulator 232, detected by the MIMO detector 236 if applicable, and further processed by the receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by the UE 120. The receive processor 238 may provide the decoded data to the data sink 239 and the decoded control information to the controller / processor 240. The base station 110 may include a communication unit 244 and communicate to the network controller 130 via the communication unit 244. In some aspects, the base station 110 includes a transceiver. The transceiver may include any combination of antennas 234, modulators and / or demodulators 232, MIMO detectors 236, receive processors 238, transmit processors 220, and / or TX MIMO processors 230. The transceiver may be used by a processor (e.g., the controller / processor 240) and a memory 242 to perform aspects of any of the methods described herein (e.g., with reference to Figure 3A-Figure 5 described).

[0040] As described in more detail elsewhere herein, the controller / processor 240 of the base station 110, the controller / processor 280 of the UE 120, and / or Figure 2 Any other component of the may perform one or more techniques associated with soft combining for hybrid automatic repeat request feedback. For example, the controller / processor 240 of the base station 110, the controller / processor 280 of the UE 120, and / or Figure 2 Any other component may perform or direct e.g. Figure 4 The process of 400 Figure 5 The operations of process 500 and / or other processes as described herein. Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for base station 110 and UE 120, respectively. In some aspects, memory 242 and / or memory 282 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more instructions for wireless communication. For example, the one or more instructions, when executed (e.g., directly, or after compilation, conversion, interpretation, etc.) by one or more processors of base station 110 and / or UE 120, may perform or direct, for example, Figure 4 The process of 400 Figure 5 The operations of the process 500 and / or other processes described herein may include executing instructions, converting instructions, compiling instructions, interpreting instructions, etc. The scheduler 246 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0041] In some aspects, UE 120 may include: means for receiving a multi-user packet including a plurality of transport blocks combined into a combined transport block, wherein each of the plurality of transport blocks is individually encoded using a particular encoding process and aggregated into the combined transport block; means for sending a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback indicating a decoding failure of a particular transport block of the multi-user packet; and means for receiving a retransmission of one or more packets including one or more transport blocks of the particular transport block that suffered one or more corresponding decoding failures, etc. In some aspects, such means may include combining Figure 2 One or more components of UE 120 are depicted, such as controller / processor 280, transmit processor 264, TX MIMO processor 266, MOD 254, antenna 252, DEMOD 254, MIMO detector 256, receive processor 258, and the like.

[0042] In some aspects, the base station 110 may include: means for sending a multi-user packet including a plurality of transport blocks combined into a combined transport block to a UE group, wherein each of the plurality of transport blocks is individually encoded using a particular encoding process and aggregated into the combined transport block; means for receiving HARQ feedback indicating a decoding failure of one or more transport blocks of the multi-user packet from one or more UEs in the UE group; means for resending one or more packets to convey the one or more transport blocks that were affected by the decoding failure, etc. In some aspects, such means may include combining Figure 2 One or more components of base station 110 are depicted, such as antenna 234, demodulator 232, MIMO detector 236, receive processor 238, controller / processor 240, transmit processor 220, TX MIMO processing 230, modulator 232, antenna 234, and the like.

[0043] As mentioned above, providing Figure 2 As an example. Other examples may be different from the Figure 2 Examples described.

[0044] In some communication systems, UE and / or BS may send relatively small data packets. For example, in an industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) deployment, a BS may send data packets that are much smaller than data packets sent to other types of UEs (e.g., smartphones). In order to improve coding gain and increase the efficiency of network resource utilization, a BS may combine multiple packets into a single packet and send the single packet to multiple UEs. A single packet may be referred to as a multi-user packet. For example, a BS may combine a first packet to be sent to a first UE with a second packet to be sent to a second UE into a single multi-user packet. In this case, the BS may send a single multi-user packet to the first UE and the second UE. Then, the first UE and the second UE may recover the corresponding packets cascaded within the single multi-user packet.

[0045] When generating a multi-user packet, the BS may concatenate multiple transport blocks into a single aggregate transport block, thereby merging multiple packets (e.g., for transmitting multiple transport blocks) into a single multi-user packet. The BS may add a physical (PHY) layer header to the aggregate transport block to form a combined transport block. The BS may send the combined transport block via the multi-user packet in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0046] In conjunction with sending the multi-user packet, the BS may send downlink control information (DCI) with a group radio network temporary identifier (G-RNTI) to the UE group, the multi-user packet including the corresponding transport block for the UE group. In this case, each UE in the UE group may use the G-RNTI to decode the multi-user packet of the PDSCH and recover the corresponding transport block. Based at least in part on decoding the multi-user packet and parsing its header, each UE may identify the corresponding transport block. For example, the multi-user packet may have a first header, a second header, etc., the first header being used to indicate that the first transport block is for the first UE, the second header being used to indicate that the second transport block is for the second UE.

[0047] In some cases, when the UE fails to decode a packet, the UE may request a retransmission. For example, when the UE fails to decode a packet, the UE may send a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback message, such as a HARQ NACK, to the BS. The BS may receive the HARQ feedback message and resend the packet. However, resending the entire multi-user packet to ensure that its single transport block is successfully decoded may result in inefficient utilization of network resources.

[0048] Some aspects described herein soft combine HARQ messages for multi-user packet deployments. For example, a BS may encode and send a multi-user packet and may receive a HARQ NACK for the multi-user packet, which may trigger a retransmission. In this case, the BS may retransmit only the transport blocks for which one or more HARQ NACKs are received (rather than the transport blocks for which a HARQ acknowledgement (ACK) is received). In some aspects, the BS may generate a new multi-user packet to transmit the transport blocks for which the HARQ NACK is received, thereby improving the efficiency of network resource utilization relative to sending a dedicated packet for each transport block. Additionally or alternatively, the BS may fill the multi-user packet with a new transport block (along with the retransmitted transport block), thereby further improving the efficiency of network resource utilization.

[0049] Figure 3A-3D is a diagram illustrating examples 300 / 350 / 360 / 370 of soft combining for HARQ feedback in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 3A-3D As shown, examples 300 / 350 / 360 / 370 may include a BS 110 and a group of UEs 120 .

[0050] like Figure 3A As further shown, and by reference numeral 310, the BS 110 may generate a transport block for a multi-user packet. For example, at 312, the BS 110 may identify a set of transport blocks for aggregation, and a set of headers corresponding to the set of transport blocks. In this case, the set of transport blocks may include a first transport block that transmits data for a first UE 120 and is associated with a first subheader, a second transport block that transmits data for a second UE 120 and is associated with a second subheader, a third transport block that transmits data for a third UE 120 and is associated with the first subheader, and so on. At 314, the BS 110 may apply a common coding scheme to each transport block in the set of transport blocks. For example, the BS 110 may perform cyclic redundancy check (CRC) insertion and code block segmentation on each transport block to generate a low-density parity check (LDPC) coded code block. At 316, the BS 110 may apply rate matching and coding bit selection to each LDPC coded code block, generating a set of coded transport blocks for each UE 120 in the group of UEs 120. At 318, BS 110 may aggregate the coded transport blocks into a single combined coded transport block (which may be referred to as a transport block set), and may apply polar coding to the sub-headers to generate a single polar coded code block (which may be referred to as a sub-header set). In this case, as indicated by reference numeral 320, BS 110 may send a PDSCH including the first multi-user packet to convey the sub-header set and the transport block set.

[0051] like Figure 3B As shown in , and in example 350, the first multi-user packet may include a header and a set of aggregated transport blocks with corresponding CRCs, and BS 110 may send the first multi-user packet with DCI (e.g., including a multi-user (MU)-RNTI). As shown by reference numeral 352, transport blocks TB1 and TB2 are successfully decoded (e.g., BS 110 receives HARQ ACK for TB1 and TB2), but transport blocks TB0 and TB3 are not successfully decoded (e.g., BS 110 receives HARQ NACK for TB0 and TB3 from corresponding UE 120).

[0052] In this case, as shown by reference numeral 354, BS 110 may resend the unsuccessfully decoded transport blocks. For example, BS 110 may send a second multi-user packet including a header and unsuccessfully decoded transport blocks with corresponding CRCs, but without successfully decoded transport blocks. In this way, BS 110 reduces the use of network resources. UE 120 may perform soft combining of TB0 from the first multi-user packet (e.g., TB0 redundancy version (rv) 0 (rv0)) with TB0 from the second multi-user packet (TB0 rv1), which may increase the likelihood that UE 120 successfully decodes TB0.

[0053] like Figure 3B 1 and further indicated by reference numeral 356, BS 110 may determine to retransmit TB3 based at least in part on TB0 being successfully decoded using soft combining (e.g., UE 120 may use a circular buffer to perform soft combining and may provide a HARQ ACK to BS 110) and TB3 not being successfully decoded despite the use of soft combining (e.g., when BS 110 receives a HARQ NACK). In this case, BS 110 may transmit a dedicated (e.g., non-multi-user) packet using the MU-RNTI or T-RNTI in the corresponding DCI based at least in part on the presence of a single transport block rather than multiple transport blocks to transmit. In this case, UE 120 may use soft combining for TB3 from the first multi-user packet (e.g., TB3 rv0), the second multi-user packet (e.g., TB3 rv1), and the dedicated packet (e.g., TB3 rv2). In this case, UE 120 successfully decodes TB3.

[0054] like Figure 3CAnd as shown by example 360 ​​and reference numeral 362, in another example, when the respective UE 120 does not successfully decode TB0 and TB3 based at least in part on the transmission of the first multi-user packet, the BS 110 may generate a second multi-user packet including TB0, TB3, and one or more new transport blocks. For example, the BS 110 may include new transport blocks TB4 and TB5 in the second multi-user packet. In this way, the BS 110 ensures efficient utilization of network resources. Similarly, as shown by reference numeral 364, when the respective UE 120 does not successfully decode TB3 and TB5 (e.g., based at least in part on soft combining TB3 rv0 and TB3 rv1), the BS 110 may generate a third multi-user packet including TB3, TB5, and one or more new transport blocks (e.g., TB6 and TB7). In some aspects, the BS 110 may include a single DCI for a multi-user packet including retransmissions and new packets. For example, the BS 110 may include HARQ process identifier information, modulation and coding scheme information, etc., and may include a new subheader to enable a UE 120 receiving the DCI to determine the resource size and resource set within the PDSCH. In some aspects, the subheader of the multi-user packet may include a transport block size and / or other information to enable the UE 120 to determine which transport blocks are for which UEs 120. For example, the BS 110 may include a new data indicator (NDI) in each subheader to enable one or more UEs 120 to identify new packets in a retransmitted multi-user packet. Additionally or alternatively, the BS 110 may include redundancy version information, etc.

[0055] like Figure 3D And as shown by example 370 and reference numeral 372, BS 110 may include transport blocks of different sizes in the second multi-user packet, rather than including multiple new transport blocks (each having the same size) in the second multi-user packet. For example, BS 110 may resend TB0 and TB3 in the second multi-user packet with the same size as in the first multi-user packet, but may include a new transport block TB4 of a different size than TB0 and TB3. As shown by reference numeral 374, when BS 110 generates a third multi-user packet to resend TB3 and TB4 (e.g., based at least in part on the unsuccessful decoding of TB3 and TB4 by the respective UEs 120), TB3 and TB4 are each associated with the same size as in the previous multi-user packet. In other words, TB3 rv0, TB3 rv1, and TB3 rv2 are all associated with the first size, while TB4 rv0 and TB4 rv1 are all associated with the second size.

[0056] As mentioned above, providing Figure 3A-3D As an example. Other examples may be different from the Figure 3A-3D Examples described.

[0057] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating an example process 400, performed, for example, by a BS, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Example process 400 is an example of operations in which a BS (eg, BS 110, etc.) performs soft combining for hybrid automatic repeat request feedback.

[0058] like Figure 4 As shown, in some aspects, process 400 may include: sending a multi-user packet including multiple transport blocks combined into a combined transport block to a UE group, wherein each transport block in the multiple transport blocks is individually encoded using a specific encoding process and aggregated into the combined transport block (block 410). For example, a BS (e.g., using transmit processor 220, receive processor 238, controller / processor 240, memory 242, etc.) may send a multi-user packet including multiple transport blocks combined into a combined transport block to a UE group, as described above. In some aspects, each transport block in the multiple transport blocks is individually encoded using a specific encoding process and aggregated into the combined transport block.

[0059] like Figure 4 As further shown, in some aspects, process 400 may include receiving HARQ feedback indicating a decoding failure of one or more transport blocks of a multi-user packet from one or more UEs in the UE group (block 420). For example, the BS (e.g., using transmit processor 220, receive processor 238, controller / processor 240, memory 242, etc.) may receive HARQ feedback indicating a decoding failure of one or more transport blocks of a multi-user packet from one or more UEs in the UE group, as described above.

[0060] like Figure 4 As further shown, in some aspects, process 400 may include resending one or more packets to transmit one or more transport blocks that suffered a decoding failure (block 430). For example, the BS (e.g., using transmit processor 220, receive processor 238, controller / processor 240, memory 242, etc.) may resend one or more packets to transmit one or more transport blocks that suffered a decoding failure, as described above.

[0061] Process 400 may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of aspects described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.

[0062] In a first aspect, downlink control information of a physical downlink control channel associated with the multi-user packet includes information identifying one or more parameters of a physical downlink shared channel used to transmit the multi-user packet.

[0063] In a second aspect, alone or in combination with the first aspect, downlink control information of a physical downlink control channel associated with the multi-user packet comprises information identifying one or more parameters of a set of subheaders associated with the multi-user packet.

[0064] In a third aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first and second aspects, one or more subheaders in the set of subheaders are jointly encoded using polar coding.

[0065] In a fourth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to third aspects, the plurality of transport blocks are encoded using a low density parity check code for the UE group.

[0066] In a fifth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fourth aspects, resending the one or more packets comprises: resending the one or more packets and avoiding including a new transport block in the retransmission including the one or more packets.

[0067] In a sixth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fifth aspects, the one or more packets include a single packet; and resending the one or more packets includes resending the single packet via unicast transmission.

[0068] In the seventh aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to sixth aspects, the downlink control information sent in association with the multi-user group includes information for at least one of the following: frequency domain resource allocation, time domain resource allocation, a hybrid automatic repeat request process identifier, a modulation and coding scheme, a new data indicator, a redundant version, a downlink allocation index, or a combination of the above.

[0069] In an eighth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to seventh aspects, the downlink control information sent in association with the multi-user packet includes information for identifying a resource size or a resource set for the sub-header set.

[0070] In a ninth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to eighth aspects, a first transport block size of the multiple transport blocks of the multi-user packet and a second transport block size of the one or more transport blocks that suffer from the decoding failure and are included in the one or more packets are a common transport block size.

[0071] In the tenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to ninth aspects, resending the one or more packets includes: resending the one or more packets having the one or more transport blocks suffering from the decoding failure and having one or more new transport blocks for one or more UEs in the UE group in the retransmission.

[0072] In an eleventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to tenth aspects, the retransmission includes a new data indicator to enable the one or more UEs to identify the one or more new transport blocks.

[0073] Although Figure 4 Example blocks of process 400 are shown, but in some aspects, process 400 may include Figure 4 Additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or blocks arranged in a different manner than those shown. Additionally or alternatively, two or more of the blocks of process 400 may be performed in parallel.

[0074] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example process 500, performed, for example, by a UE, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Example process 500 is an example of operations in which a UE (eg, UE 120, etc.) performs soft combining for hybrid automatic repeat request feedback.

[0075] like Figure 5 As shown, in some aspects, process 500 may include: receiving a multi-user packet including a plurality of transport blocks combined into a combined transport block, wherein each of the plurality of transport blocks is individually encoded using a specific encoding process and aggregated into the combined transport block (block 510). For example, a UE (e.g., using receive processor 258, transmit processor 264, controller / processor 280, memory 282, etc.) may receive a multi-user packet including a plurality of transport blocks combined into a combined transport block, as described above. In some aspects, each of the plurality of transport blocks is individually encoded using a specific encoding process and aggregated into the combined transport block.

[0076] like Figure 5 As further shown, in some aspects, process 500 may include sending HARQ feedback indicating a decoding failure of a particular transport block of a multi-user packet (block 520). For example, the UE (e.g., using receive processor 258, transmit processor 264, controller / processor 280, memory 282, etc.) may send HARQ feedback indicating a decoding failure of a particular transport block of a multi-user packet, as described above.

[0077] like Figure 5As further shown, in some aspects, process 500 may include receiving a retransmission of one or more packets to convey one or more transport blocks that are subject to one or more corresponding decoding failures and include the particular transport block (block 530). For example, the UE (e.g., using receive processor 258, transmit processor 264, controller / processor 280, memory 282, etc.) may receive a retransmission of one or more packets to convey one or more transport blocks that are subject to one or more corresponding decoding failures and include the particular transport block, as described above.

[0078] Process 500 may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of aspects described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.

[0079] In a first aspect, downlink control information of a physical downlink control channel associated with the multi-user packet includes information identifying one or more parameters of a physical downlink shared channel used to transmit the multi-user packet.

[0080] In a second aspect, alone or in combination with the first aspect, downlink control information of a physical downlink control channel associated with the multi-user packet comprises information identifying one or more parameters of a set of subheaders associated with the multi-user packet.

[0081] In a third aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first and second aspects, one or more subheaders in the set of subheaders are jointly encoded using polar coding.

[0082] In a fourth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to third aspects, the plurality of transport blocks are encoded using a low density parity check code for the UE group.

[0083] In a fifth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fourth aspects, receiving the one or more packets comprises receiving the one or more packets and avoiding including a new transport block in a retransmission including the one or more packets.

[0084] In a sixth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fifth aspects, the one or more packets comprise a single packet; and receiving the one or more packets comprises receiving the single packet via unicast transmission.

[0085] In a seventh aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to sixth aspects, the downlink control information received in association with the multi-user group includes information for at least one of the following: frequency domain resource allocation, time domain resource allocation, a hybrid automatic repeat request process identifier, a modulation and coding scheme, a new data indicator, a redundant version, a downlink allocation index, or a combination of the above.

[0086] In an eighth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to seventh aspects, downlink control information received in association with the multi-user packet includes information for identifying a resource size or a resource set for the sub-header set.

[0087] In a ninth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to eighth aspects, a first transport block size of the multiple transport blocks of the multi-user packet and a second transport block size of the one or more transport blocks that suffer from the decoding failure and are included in the one or more packets are a common transport block size.

[0088] Although Figure 5 Example blocks of process 500 are shown, but in some aspects, process 500 may include Figure 5 Additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or blocks arranged in a different manner than those shown. Additionally or alternatively, two or more of the blocks of process 500 may be performed in parallel.

[0089] The foregoing disclosure provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the various aspects to the precise forms disclosed. Modifications and changes may be made based on the above disclosure, or may be obtained from the practice of these aspects.

[0090] As used herein, the term "component" is intended to be broadly interpreted as hardware, firmware, and / or a combination of hardware and software.

[0091] As used herein, processors are implemented in hardware, firmware, and / or a combination of hardware and software. It is apparent that the systems and / or methods described herein may be implemented in different forms of hardware, firmware, and / or a combination of hardware and software. The actual dedicated control hardware or software code used to implement these systems and / or methods is not a limitation to these aspects. Therefore, the operation and behavior of the systems and / or methods are described herein without reference to specific software codes, and it should be understood that software and hardware may be designed to implement the systems and / or methods based at least in part on the description herein.

[0092] As used herein, satisfying a threshold may refer to being greater than a threshold, greater than or equal to a threshold, less than a threshold, less than or equal to a threshold, equal to a threshold, not equal to a threshold, etc., depending on the context.

[0093] Although specific combinations of features are listed in the claims and / or disclosed in the specification, these combinations are not intended to limit the disclosure of various aspects. In fact, many of these features can be combined in a manner that is not specifically listed in the claims and / or disclosed in the specification. Although each dependent claim listed below can directly rely on only one claim, the disclosure of various aspects includes the combination of each dependent claim with each other claim in the claim set. The phrase "at least one" mentioned in the list of items refers to any combination of these items, including single members. As an example, "at least one of a, b or c" is intended to cover a, b, c, ab, ac, bc and abc, as well as any combination of multiple identical elements (e.g., aa, aaa, aab, aac, abb, acc, bb, bbb, bbc, cc and ccc, or any other ordering of a, b and c.

[0094] Unless explicitly described, any element, behavior or instruction used in this article should not be interpreted as critical or necessary. And, as used in this article, the articles "one" and "an" are intended to include one or more items and can be used interchangeably with "one or more". In addition, as used in this article, the article "the" is intended to include one or more items related to the article "the", and can be used interchangeably with "one or more". In addition, as used in this article, the terms "set" and "group" are intended to include one or more items (for example, related items, unrelated items, combinations of related items and unrelated items, etc.), and can be used interchangeably with "one or more". In the case of meaning only one item, the phrase "only one" or similar language is used. And, as used in this article, the terms "have", "have", "have" and / or similar expressions are intended to be open terms. In addition, unless otherwise explicitly stated, the phrase "based on" is intended to mean "at least partially based on". Furthermore, as used herein, the term "or" when used in serial form is intended to be inclusive and can be used interchangeably with "and / or" unless expressly stated otherwise (eg, if followed by "either" or "only one of").

Claims

1. A wireless communication method performed by a base station (BS), comprising: sending a multi-user packet comprising a plurality of transport blocks combined into a combined transport block to a group of user equipments (UEs), wherein each transport block of the plurality of transport blocks is individually encoded using a specific encoding process and aggregated into the combined transport block; receiving, from one or more UEs in the group of UEs, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback indicating a decoding failure of one or more transport blocks of the multi-user packet; and One or more packets are resent to convey the one or more transport blocks that suffered the decoding failure.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Downlink control information of a physical downlink control channel associated with the multi-user packet includes information identifying one or more parameters of a physical downlink shared channel with which the multi-user packet is transmitted.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Downlink control information of a physical downlink control channel associated with the multi-user packet includes information identifying one or more parameters of a set of subheaders associated with the multi-user packet.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: One or more subheaders in the subheader set are jointly encoded using polar coding.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The plurality of transport blocks are encoded using a low density parity check code for the group of UEs.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Resending the one or more packets comprises: The one or more packets are resent and new transport blocks are avoided in retransmissions including the one or more packets.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The one or more packets include a single packet; and Wherein, resending the one or more packets comprises: The single packet is resent via unicast transmission.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The downlink control information transmitted in relation to the multi-user packet includes information for at least one of: Frequency domain resource allocation, Time domain resource allocation, Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Process Identifier, modulation and coding schemes, New data indicator, Redundant version, Downlink allocation index, or Its combination.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The downlink control information transmitted in relation to the multi-user packet includes information for identifying a resource size or a resource set for a sub-header set.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein: A first transport block size of the plurality of transport blocks of the multi-user packet and a second transport block size of the one or more transport blocks that suffered the decoding failure and are included in the one or more packets are a common transport block size.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Resending the one or more packets comprises: The one or more packets are resent in a retransmission with the one or more transport blocks suffering from the decoding failure and with one or more new transport blocks for one or more UEs in the group of UEs.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein: The retransmission includes a new data indicator to enable the one or more UEs to identify the one or more new transport blocks.

13. A wireless communication method performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a multi-user packet comprising a plurality of transport blocks combined into a combined transport block, wherein each transport block of the plurality of transport blocks is individually encoded using a specific encoding process and aggregated into the combined transport block; sending a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback indicating a decoding failure of a particular transport block of the multi-user packet; and Retransmissions of one or more packets transmitting one or more transport blocks including the particular transport block that suffered one or more corresponding decoding failures are received.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein: Downlink control information of a physical downlink control channel associated with the multi-user packet includes information identifying one or more parameters of a physical downlink shared channel with which the multi-user packet is transmitted.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein: Downlink control information of a physical downlink control channel associated with the multi-user packet includes information identifying one or more parameters of a set of subheaders associated with the multi-user packet.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein: One or more subheaders in the subheader set are jointly encoded using polar coding.

17. The method according to claim 13, wherein: The plurality of transport blocks are encoded using a low density parity check code.

18. The method according to claim 13, wherein: Receiving the one or more packets comprises: The one or more packets are received and new transport blocks are avoided from being included in retransmissions including the one or more packets.

19. The method according to claim 13, wherein: The one or more packets include a single packet; and The receiving of the one or more packets comprises: The single packet is received via a unicast transmission.

20. The method according to claim 13, wherein: The downlink control information received in relation to the multi-user packet comprises information for at least one of: Frequency domain resource allocation, Time domain resource allocation, Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Process Identifier, modulation and coding schemes, New data indicator, Redundant version, Downlink allocation index, or Its combination.

21. The method according to claim 13, wherein: Downlink control information received in relation to the multi-user packet includes information for identifying a resource size or a resource set for a sub-header set.

22. The method according to claim 13, wherein: A first transport block size of the plurality of transport blocks of the multi-user packet and a second transport block size of the one or more transport blocks that suffered the decoding failure and are included in the one or more packets are a common transport block size.

23. A base station (BS) for wireless communication, comprising: Memory; as well as one or more processors, the one or more processors being operably coupled to the memory, the memory and the one or more processors being configured to: sending a multi-user packet comprising a plurality of transport blocks combined into a combined transport block to a group of user equipments (UEs), wherein each transport block of the plurality of transport blocks is individually encoded using a specific encoding process and aggregated into the combined transport block; receiving, from one or more UEs in the group of UEs, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback indicating a decoding failure of one or more transport blocks of the multi-user packet; and One or more packets are resent to convey the one or more transport blocks that suffered the decoding failure.

24. The BS according to claim 23, wherein: Downlink control information of a physical downlink control channel associated with the multi-user packet includes information identifying one or more parameters of a physical downlink shared channel with which the multi-user packet is transmitted.

25. The BS according to claim 23, wherein: Downlink control information of a physical downlink control channel associated with the multi-user packet includes information identifying one or more parameters of a set of subheaders associated with the multi-user packet.

26. The BS according to claim 25, wherein: One or more subheaders in the subheader set are jointly encoded using polar coding.

27. A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: Memory; as well as one or more processors, the one or more processors being operably coupled to the memory, the memory and the one or more processors being configured to: receiving a multi-user packet comprising a plurality of transport blocks combined into a combined transport block, wherein each transport block of the plurality of transport blocks is individually encoded using a specific encoding process and aggregated into the combined transport block; sending a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback indicating a decoding failure of a particular transport block of the multi-user packet; as well as Retransmissions of one or more packets transmitting one or more transport blocks including the particular transport block that suffered one or more corresponding decoding failures are received.

28. The UE according to claim 27, wherein: Downlink control information of a physical downlink control channel associated with the multi-user packet includes information identifying one or more parameters of a physical downlink shared channel with which the multi-user packet is transmitted.

29. The UE according to claim 27, wherein: Downlink control information of a physical downlink control channel associated with the multi-user packet includes information identifying one or more parameters of a set of subheaders associated with the multi-user packet.

30. The UE according to claim 29, wherein: One or more subheaders in the subheader set are jointly encoded using polar coding.

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