Techniques for reliable physical data channel reception in wireless communications

Abstract

The present invention provides improved solutions for reliable physical channel, such as physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception during wireless communications, such as 3GPP New Radio (NR) communications, including: continuous channel repetition across slot boundaries, channel repetition with multiple frequency hopping, and joint repetition channel estimation using demodulation reference signals from at least two channel repetitions for channel estimation. In one aspect, reliable PDSCH reception can have the benefit of helping target UEs and serving base stations achieve reliable multicast and broadcast services (MBS).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to wireless communications, including techniques for reliable physical data channel (e.g., physical downlink shared channel) reception during wireless communications, such as during 3GPP NR communications. Background Art

[0002] The use of wireless communication systems is growing rapidly. In recent years, wireless devices such as smartphones and tablet computers have become increasingly sophisticated. In addition to supporting phone calls, many mobile devices (i.e., user equipment devices or UEs) now also provide access to the Internet, email, text messaging and navigation using the Global Positioning System (GPS), and are capable of operating sophisticated applications that utilize these capabilities. In addition, there are many different wireless communication technologies and wireless communication standards. Some examples of wireless communication standards include GSM, UMTS (WCDMA, TDS-CDMA), LTE, LTE Advanced (LTE-A), HSPA, 3GPP2CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE802.11 (WLAN or Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), BLUETOOTH, etc. TM The proposed telecommunications standard, which goes beyond the International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced (IMT-Advanced) standard, is the fifth generation mobile network or wireless system, known as 3GPP NR (also known as 5G-NR for 5G New Radio, or simply NR). NR provides higher capacity for a higher density of mobile broadband users while supporting device-to-device, ultra-reliable, and massive machine-to-machine communications, as well as lower latency and lower battery consumption than the LTE standard.

[0003] One aspect of cellular communication systems relates to physical control and data channel reception. Improvements in this area are desired. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In particular, various aspects of techniques for implementing solutions for reliable physical channel, such as physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), reception during wireless communications, such as during 3GPP New Radio (NR) communications are presented herein. Various aspects of techniques for wireless communication systems are also presented herein that include user equipment (UE) devices and / or base stations communicating with each other within the wireless communication system as proposed herein to implement reliable physical channel reception, such as for implementing reliable physical data channel (such as PDSCH) reception. In one aspect, reliable PDSCH reception can have the benefit of helping the target UE and the serving base station implement reliable multicast and broadcast service (MBS) or multimedia broadcast and multicast service (MBMS). In some aspects, reliable physical channel reception (including PDSCH reception) can be implemented through various methods of channel transmission / reception repetition, frequency hopping, and channel estimation as disclosed herein.

[0005] In accordance with the foregoing, a device (e.g., a UE) may receive multiple repetitions of a physical channel (e.g., a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)), wherein at least a first repetition is a repetition of a specified type that is continuous across a slot boundary between a first time slot and a second time slot, and the first repetition is received within the slot boundary. Prior to receiving the multiple repetitions, the UE may indicate to the base station that it is capable of receiving repetitions of the specified type. In some aspects, the UE may receive at least a second repetition in a time slot that includes invalid symbols that cannot be used for repetitions, wherein the second repetition is separated by invalid symbols while maintaining the same length as other repetitions. In other words, the repetition may not use invalid symbols in the time slot, but may still maintain the same length as other repetitions. Therefore, the repetition may not be continuous between all symbols used in the time slot, but may still be received using valid symbols in the time slot while maintaining the same length as other repetitions. Invalid symbols may include, but are not limited to, symbols overlapping with synchronization signal block transmissions, symbols used for the physical downlink control channel, guard period symbols, uplink symbols, symbols in a time division duplex uplink time slot, and / or symbols indicated by the slot format indicator as uplink symbols or guard period symbols.

[0006] Before transmitting a repetition, the base station may indicate to the UE that the repetition is a specified type of repetition. The indication may be transmitted via radio resource control signaling, or in a specially allocated field in a downlink control indication, or in a time domain resource allocation field in a downlink control indication, or in a medium access control (MAC) control element. In addition, the UE may receive each repetition of the subset of repetitions in a different corresponding frequency domain location. The first corresponding frequency domain location may be specified according to the indication in the frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field, and the remaining frequency domain locations may be specified according to the corresponding offsets added to the first corresponding frequency domain location.

[0007] In some aspects, the UE may receive more than one repetition of a subset of repetitions within a single time slot. In addition, the UE may perform joint repetition channel estimation using reference signals from at least two different repetitions for channel estimation. The UE may provide an indication to the base station that the UE is capable of performing joint repetition channel estimation for channel estimation before performing channel estimation. In response to receiving the indication from the UE, the UE may perform channel estimation in response to the joint repetition channel estimation enabled by the base station. In addition, the UE may perform channel estimation based on a channel estimation window, which may be defined based on the number of repetitions and may be provided to the UE by the base station.

[0008] Note that the techniques described herein may be implemented in and / or used with a number of different types of devices, including but not limited to base stations, access points, cellular telephones, portable media players, tablet computers, wearable devices, and various other computing devices.

[0009] This summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described in this document. Therefore, it should be understood that the above-described features are merely examples and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, accompanying drawings, and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Figure 1 An exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system according to some aspects is shown;

[0011] Figure 2 An exemplary base station in communication with an exemplary wireless user equipment (UE) device according to some aspects is shown;

[0012] Figure 3 An exemplary block diagram of a UE according to some aspects is shown;

[0013] Figure 4 An exemplary block diagram of a base station according to some aspects is shown;

[0014] Figure 5 shows an exemplary simplified block diagram of an exemplary cellular communication circuit according to some aspects;

[0015] Figure 6 An exemplary diagram illustrating an example group-common PDSCH repetition type B according to some aspects is shown;

[0016] Figure 7A diagram illustrating group-common PDSCH repetition type B with null symbols is shown according to some aspects;

[0017] Figure 8 A diagram illustrating PDSCH repetition with frequency hopping, wherein the hopping granularity is once per repetition, according to some aspects is shown;

[0018] Figure 9 A diagram illustrating PDSCH repetition with frequency hopping, wherein the hopping granularity is once per slot, according to some aspects is shown;

[0019] Figure 10 A diagram illustrating PDSCH repetition with joint repetition channel estimation according to some aspects is shown; and

[0020] Figure 11 A diagram illustrating PDSCH repetition with inter-slot frequency hopping and joint repetition channel estimation is shown in accordance with some aspects.

[0021] While the features described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific aspects thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and described in detail herein. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereof are not intended to limit this disclosure to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, are intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] Acronyms

[0023] Various acronyms are used throughout this patent application. The definitions of the most prominent acronyms used that may appear throughout this patent application are as follows:

[0024] ACK: Acknowledgement

[0025] AMF: Access Mobility and Management Function

[0026] APR: Application Processor

[0027] AUL: Autonomous Uplink Transmission

[0028] BLER: Block Error Rate

[0029] BS: Base Station

[0030] BSR: Buffer Status Report

[0031] BWP: Bandwidth Part

[0032] CAPC: Channel Access Priority Class

[0033] CG: Configuration authorization

[0034] CMR: Change Mode Request

[0035] CORESET: Control Channel Resource Set

[0036] COT: Channel Occupancy Time

[0037] CRC: Cyclic Redundancy Check

[0038] CS-RNTI: Configured Scheduling Radio Network Temporary Identifier

[0039] CSI: Channel State Information

[0040] DCI: Downlink Control Information

[0041] DG: Dynamic Authorization

[0042] DL: Downlink (from BS to UE)

[0043] DMRS: Demodulation Reference Signal

[0044] DYN: Dynamic

[0045] ED: Energy Detection

[0046] FDM: Frequency Division Multiplexing

[0047] FT: frame type

[0048] GC-PDCCH: Group Common Physical Downlink Control Channel GPRS: General Packet Radio Service

[0049] GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications

[0050] GTP: GPRS Tunneling Protocol

[0051] HARQ: Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request

[0052] IR: Initialization and refresh status

[0053] LAN: Local Area Network

[0054] LMF: Location Management Function

[0055] LPP: LTE Positioning Protocol

[0056] LTE: Long Term Evolution

[0057] MAC: Media Access Control

[0058] MAC-CE: MAC Control Element

[0059] MCS: Modulation and Coding Scheme

[0060] MIB: Master Information Block

[0061] MIMO: Multiple Input Multiple Output

[0062] NDI: New Data Indicator

[0063] OFDM: Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

[0064] OSI: Open Systems Interconnection

[0065] PBCH: Physical Broadcast Channel

[0066] PDCCH: Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0067] PDCP: Packet Data Convergence Protocol

[0068] PDN: Packet Data Network

[0069] PDSCH: Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0070] PDU: Protocol Data Unit

[0071] PRB: Physical Resource Block

[0072] PUCCH: Physical Uplink Control Channel

[0073] PUSCH: Physical Uplink Shared (Data) Channel QCL: Quasi Co-location

[0074] RACH: Random access process

[0075] RAT: Radio Access Technology

[0076] RB: Resource Block

[0077] RE: Resource Element

[0078] RF: Radio Frequency

[0079] RMSI: Remaining Minimum System Information

[0080] RNTI: Radio Network Temporary Identifier

[0081] ROHC: Robust Header Compression

[0082] RRC: Radio Resource Control

[0083] RS: Reference signal (symbol)

[0084] RSI: Root Sequence Indicator

[0085] RTP: Real-time Transport Protocol

[0086] RV: Redundant Version

[0087] RX: Receive

[0088] SDM: Space Division Multiplexing

[0089] SID: System Identification Number

[0090] SGW: Serving Gateway

[0091] SR: Scheduling Request

[0092] SRS: Sounding Reference Signal

[0093] SS: Search Space

[0094] SSB: Synchronous Signal Block

[0095] TBS: Transport Block Size

[0096] TCI: Transmission Configuration Indicator

[0097] TDM: Time Division Multiplexing

[0098] TRS: Tracking Reference Signal

[0099] TX: Transmit

[0100] UCI: Uplink Control Information

[0101] UE: User Equipment

[0102] UL: Uplink (from UE to BS)

[0103] UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

[0104] Wi-Fi: Wireless local area network (WLAN) RAT based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard

[0105] WLAN: Wireless LAN

[0106] the term

[0107] The following is a glossary of terms that will appear in this application:

[0108] Memory Medium—Any of various types of memory devices or storage devices. The term "memory medium" is intended to include installation media, such as CD-ROMs, floppy disks, or tape devices; computer system memory or random access memory, such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; non-volatile memory, such as flash memory, magnetic media, such as hard drives or optical storage devices; registers, or other similar types of memory elements; and the like. Memory media may also include other types of memory or a combination thereof. Furthermore, a memory medium may be located in a first computer system executing a program, or in a different second computer system connected to the first computer system via a network, such as the Internet. In the latter example, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer system for execution. The term "memory medium" may include two or more memory media that may reside in different locations, such as in different computer systems connected via a network. A memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., represented as a computer program) that may be executed by one or more processors.

[0109] Carrier Media—storage media as described above, and physical transmission media such as a bus, network, and / or other physical transmission media that carry signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals.

[0110] Programmable hardware elements—include various hardware devices that include multiple programmable function blocks connected via programmable interconnects. Examples include FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), PLDs (programmable logic devices), FPOAs (field programmable object arrays), and CPLDs (complex PLDs). Programmable function blocks can range from fine-grained (combinational logic units or lookup tables) to coarse-grained (arithmetic logic units or processor cores). Programmable hardware elements may also be referred to as "configurable logic units."

[0111] Computer system (or computer)—any of various types of computing or processing systems, including a personal computer system (PC), a mainframe computer system, a workstation, a network appliance, an Internet appliance, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a television system, a grid computing system, or other devices or combinations of devices. In general, the term "computer system" can be broadly defined as any device (or combination of devices) that includes at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

[0112] User Equipment (UE) (or "UE device") – Any of various types of computer system devices that perform wireless communications. Also known as wireless communication devices, many of which may be mobile and / or portable. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smartphones (e.g., iPhones). TM, based on Android TM phones) and tablets such as iPads TM 、Samsung Galaxy TM etc., gaming devices (such as Sony PlayStation TM , Microsoft XBox TM etc.), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS TM PlayStation Portable TM 、Gameboy Advance TM iPod TM ), laptops, wearable devices (e.g., Apple Watch TM , Google Glass TM ), PDAs, portable internet devices, music players, data storage devices or other handheld devices, unmanned aerial vehicles (e.g., drones) and drone controllers, etc. Various other types of devices that include Wi-Fi communication capabilities or both cellular and Wi-Fi communication capabilities and / or other wireless communication capabilities (e.g., via short-range radio access technologies (SRAT) such as BLUETOOTH TM In general, the term "UE" or "UE device" can be broadly defined to cover any electronic device, computing device and / or telecommunication device (or combination of devices) capable of wireless communication and which may also be portable / mobile.

[0113] Wireless device (or wireless communication device) – Any of various types of computer system devices that perform wireless communications using WLAN communications, SRAT communications, Wi-Fi communications, etc. As used herein, the term "wireless device" may refer to a UE device as defined above or a fixed device such as a fixed wireless client or a wireless base station. For example, a wireless device may be a wireless station of any type of 802.11 system, such as an access point (AP) or a client station (UE), or a wireless station of any type of cellular communication system that communicates according to a cellular radio access technology (e.g., LTE, CDMA, GSM), such as a base station or a cellular phone.

[0114] Communication Device—Any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform communication, where the communication may be wired or wireless. A communication device may be portable (or mobile), or may be stationary or fixed in place. A wireless device is one example of a communication device. A UE is another example of a communication device.

[0115] Base Station (BS)—The term “base station” has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station installed at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of a wireless telephone system or radio system.

[0116] Processor – refers to any element (e.g., circuitry) or combination of elements that is capable of performing functions in a device (e.g., in a user equipment device or in a cellular network device). Processors may include, for example, general-purpose processors and associated memory, portions or circuitry of individual processor cores, entire processor cores or processing circuit cores, arrays of processing circuits or processors, circuits such as ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), programmable hardware elements such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and any combination of the foregoing.

[0117] Channel - the medium used to transmit information from a sender (transmitter) to a receiver. It should be noted that since the characteristics of the term "channel" may vary according to different wireless protocols, the term "channel" as used in the present invention may be considered to be used in a manner that is consistent with the standard of the type of device to which the term is used. In some standards, the channel width may be variable (e.g., depending on device capabilities, frequency band conditions, etc.). For example, LTE may support scalable channel bandwidths of 1.4 MHz to 20 MHz. In contrast, a WLAN channel may be 22 MHz wide, while a Bluetooth channel may be 1 MHz wide. Other protocols and standards may include different definitions of channels. In addition, some standards may define and use multiple types of channels, such as different channels for uplink or downlink and / or different channels for different purposes such as data, control information, etc.

[0118] Band (or frequency band)—The term "band" has the full range of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a section of the spectrum (e.g., radio frequency spectrum) in which channels are used or set aside for the same purpose. Furthermore, "band" is used to refer to any interval in the frequency domain bounded by lower and upper frequencies. The term can refer to a radio frequency band or some other interval of spectrum. A radio communication signal can occupy a frequency range over which the signal is carried (or within which the signal is carried). This frequency range is also referred to as the bandwidth of the signal. Thus, bandwidth refers to the difference between the upper and lower frequencies in a continuous frequency band. A band can represent a single communication channel, or it can be subdivided into multiple communication channels. The allocation of radio frequency ranges for different uses is a primary function of radio spectrum allocation.

[0119] Wi-Fi—The term "Wi-Fi" has the full scope of its ordinary meaning and includes at least wireless communication networks, or RATs, that are served by wireless LAN (WLAN) access points and provide connectivity to the Internet through those access points. Most modern Wi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and are marketed under the name "Wi-Fi." Wi-Fi (WLAN) networks are distinct from cellular networks.

[0120] Automatic—refers to an action or operation being performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or a device (e.g., a circuit, a programmable hardware element, an ASIC, etc.) without requiring user input to directly specify or execute the action or operation. Thus, the term "automatic" is in contrast to manual execution or specification of an action by a user, where the user provides input to directly perform the action. An automatic process may be initiated by user-provided input, but subsequent actions performed "automatically" are not specified by the user, i.e., they are not performed "manually," where the user specifies each action to be performed. For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing information, selecting checkboxes, radio selections, etc.) is manually filling out the form, even though the computer system must update the form in response to the user's actions. The form can be automatically filled out by a computer system, where the computer system (e.g., software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills it out without requiring any user input to specify the answers to the fields. As indicated above, a user can invoke automatic filling of a form without participating in the actual filling out of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify the answers to the fields; they are automatically completed). This specification provides various examples of operations that are automatically performed in response to actions that a user has taken.

[0121] About—refers to a value that is close to the correct or exact value. For example, about can refer to a value that is within 1% to 10% of the exact (or desired) value. However, it should be noted that the actual threshold (or tolerance) may depend on the application. For example, in some aspects, "about" may mean within 0.1% of some specified or desired value, while in various other aspects, the threshold may be, for example, 2%, 3%, 5%, etc., depending on the desires or requirements of the particular application.

[0122] Concurrency - refers to parallel execution or implementation, where tasks, processes, or programs are executed in an at least partially overlapping manner. For example, concurrency can be achieved using "strong" or strict parallelism, where tasks are executed (at least partially) in parallel on respective computing elements, or using "weak parallelism," where tasks are executed in an interleaved manner (e.g., by time multiplexing of execution threads).

[0123] Station (STA)—The term "station" herein refers to any device capable of communicating wirelessly (e.g., using the 802.11 protocol). A station can be a laptop, desktop PC, PDA, access point, or Wi-Fi phone, or any other type of device similar to a UE. A STA can be fixed, mobile, portable, or wearable. Generally speaking, in wireless networking terminology, a station (STA) broadly encompasses any device capable of wireless communication, and the terms station (STA), wireless client (UE), and node (BS) are often used interchangeably.

[0124] Configured to—Various components may be described as being “configured to” perform one or more tasks. In such contexts, “configured to” is a broad statement that generally means “having the structure” to perform one or more tasks during operation. Thus, a component can be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently performing the task (e.g., a set of electrical conductors can be configured to electrically connect a module to another module even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, “configured to” can be a broad statement that generally means “having the circuitry” to perform one or more tasks during operation. Thus, a component can be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently turned on. Generally, the circuitry that forms the structure corresponding to “configured to” may include hardware circuitry.

[0125] Transmission Scheduling—refers to the scheduling of transmissions (such as wireless transmissions). In some implementations of cellular radio communications, signal transmissions and data transmissions may be organized according to designated time units of a specific duration during which the transmission occurs. As used herein, the term "time slot" has the full range of its ordinary meaning and refers to at least the smallest (or shortest) scheduled time unit in wireless communications. For example, in 3GPP LTE, transmissions are divided into radio frames, each of which has an equal (time) duration (e.g., 10 ms). Radio frames in 3GPP LTE can be further divided into a specified number (e.g., ten) of subframes, each of which has an equal duration, with subframes designated as the smallest (shortest) scheduled unit, or a designated time unit for transmission. Thus, in the 3GPP LTE example, a "subframe" can be considered an example of a "time slot" as defined above. Similarly, the smallest (or shortest) scheduled time unit for 5G NR (or simply NR) transmissions is called a "time slot." The smallest (or shortest) scheduled time unit may also be named differently in different communication protocols.

[0126] Resources—The term "resource" has the full scope of its ordinary meaning and may refer to both frequency and time resources used during wireless communications. As used herein, a resource element (RE) refers to a specific quantity or number of resources. For example, in the context of time resources, a resource element may be a time period of a specific length. In the context of frequency resources, a resource element may be a specific frequency bandwidth or a specific amount of frequency bandwidth centered on a specific frequency. As a specific example, a resource element may refer to a unit of resources having one symbol (in reference to a time resource, e.g., a time period of a specific length) per one subcarrier (in reference to a frequency resource, e.g., a specific frequency bandwidth, which may be centered on a specific frequency). A resource element group (REG) has the full scope of its ordinary meaning and refers to at least a specified number of contiguous resource elements. In some implementations, a resource element group may not include resource elements reserved for reference signals. A control channel element (CCE) refers to a group of a specified number of contiguous REGs. A resource block (RB) refers to a specified number of resource elements consisting of a specified number of subcarriers per a specified number of symbols. Each RB may include a specified number of subcarriers. A resource block group (RBG) refers to a unit that includes multiple RBs. The number of RBs in one RBG may vary according to the system bandwidth.

[0127] For ease of description, various components may be described as performing one or more tasks. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including the phrase "configured to." Representing a component as being configured to perform one or more tasks expressly does not invoke the sixth paragraph of section 112 of title 35 of the United States Code for that component.

[0128] Figure 1 and Figure 2 -Exemplary Communication System

[0129] 3GPP LTE / NR defines multiple downlink (DL) physical channels, classified as transport or control channels, to carry information blocks received from MAC and higher layers. 3GPP LTE / NR also defines physical layer channels for the uplink (UL). The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) is a DL transport channel and is the primary data-bearing channel allocated to users on a dynamic and opportunistic basis. The PDSCH carries data in transport blocks (TBs) corresponding to medium access control protocol data units (MAC PDUs), which are passed from the MAC layer to the physical (PHY) layer once per transmission time interval (TTI). The PDSCH is also used to transmit broadcast information such as system information blocks (SIBs) and paging messages.

[0130] The Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) is a DL control channel that carries the resource allocation of the UE contained in the Downlink Control Information (DCI) message. For example, the DCI may include a Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) related to beamforming, where the TCI includes configurations such as the quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship between the downlink reference signal (DL-RS) and the PDSCH demodulation reference signal (DMRS) ports in a channel state information RS (CSI-RS) set. Each TCI state can contain parameters for configuring the QCL relationship between one or two downlink reference signals and the DMRS ports of the PDSCH, the DMRS ports of the PDCCH, or the CSI-RS ports of the CSI-RS resources. Multiple PDCCHs can be transmitted in the same subframe using control channel elements (CCEs), each of which is a set of resource elements called a resource element group (REG). The PDCCH can be modulated using quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), where a specific number (e.g., four) of QPSK symbols are mapped to each REG. Furthermore, depending on the channel conditions, the UE may use a specified number (eg, 1, 2, 4, or 8) of CCEs to ensure sufficient robustness.

[0131] The Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) is an UL channel shared by all devices (user equipment, UE) in a radio cell to transmit user data to the network. Scheduling for all UEs is under the control of the base station (e.g., eNB or gNB). The base station uses uplink scheduling grants (e.g., in DCI) to inform the UEs about resource block (RB) allocations and the modulation and coding scheme to be used. The PUSCH typically supports QPSK and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). In addition to user data, the PUSCH also carries any control information required to decode the information, such as the transport format indicator and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) parameters. The control data is multiplexed with the information data before digital Fourier transform (DFT) expansion.

[0132] Figure 1 An exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system according to some aspects is shown. Note that Figure 1 The system is only one example of a possible system, and aspects may be implemented in any of a variety of systems as desired.

[0133] As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes base stations 102A through 102N, also collectively referred to as a plurality of base stations 102 or base stations 102. Figure 1As shown, base station 102A communicates with one or more user equipment 106A to 106N via a transmission medium. Each user equipment may be referred to herein as a "user equipment" (UE) or a UE device. Thus, user equipment 106A to 106N are referred to as UEs or UE devices, and are also collectively referred to as multiple UEs 106 or UEs 106. Various of the UE devices may implement solutions for reliable physical channels (e.g., physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception), as disclosed herein.

[0134] Base station 102A may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or cell site and may include hardware that enables wireless communications with UEs 106A through 106N. Base station 102A may also be configured to communicate with network 100, such as a cellular service provider's core network, a telecommunications network such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and / or the Internet, a neutral host, or various CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) deployments, among other possibilities. Thus, base station 102A may facilitate communications between user devices and / or between user devices and network 100. In particular, cellular base station 102A may provide UEs 106 with various communication capabilities, such as voice, SMS, and / or data services. The communication area (or coverage area) of a base station may be referred to as a "cell." It should also be noted that a "cell" may also refer to a logical identity for a given coverage area at a given frequency. Generally, any independent cellular wireless coverage area may be referred to as a "cell." In such a case, a base station may be located at a particular intersection of three cells. In this uniform topology, a base station may serve three 120-degree beamwidth areas, referred to as cells. Moreover, for carrier aggregation, small cells, relays, etc. may all represent cells. Thus, in particular in carrier aggregation, there may be primary cells and secondary cells that may serve at least partially overlapping coverage areas but on different respective frequencies. For example, a base station may serve any number of cells, and the cells served by a base station may or may not be collocated (e.g., a remote radio head). Also as used herein, with respect to a UE, a base station may sometimes be considered to represent a network in view of the uplink and downlink communications of the UE. Thus, a UE communicating with one or more base stations in a network may also be interpreted as a UE communicating with the network, and may also be considered to be at least a portion of a UE communicating on or through a network.

[0135] Base station 102 and user equipment may be configured to communicate over a transmission medium utilizing any of a variety of radio access technologies (RATs), also referred to as wireless communication technologies or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA), LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LAA / LTE-U, 5G-NR (abbreviated as NR), 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and the like. It should be noted that if base station 102 is implemented in the context of LTE, it may alternatively be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB." It should be noted that if base station 102A is implemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternatively be referred to as a "gNodeB" or "gNB." In some aspects, base station 102 may implement signaling for provisioning positioning resources requested by a UE via physical layer signaling, as described herein. Depending on a given application or specific considerations, some different RATs may be functionally grouped according to overall defining characteristics for convenience. For example, all cellular RATs may be collectively considered to represent a first (form / type) RAT, while Wi-Fi communications may be considered to represent a second RAT. In other cases, each cellular RAT may be individually considered a different RAT. For example, when distinguishing between cellular and Wi-Fi communications, "first RAT" may collectively refer to all cellular RATs under consideration, while "second RAT" may refer to Wi-Fi. Similarly, different forms of Wi-Fi communications (e.g., above 2.4 GHz versus above 5 GHz) may be considered to correspond to different RATs, where applicable. Furthermore, cellular communications performed according to a given RAT (e.g., LTE or NR) may be distinguished from one another based on the spectrum in which those communications occur. For example, LTE or NR communications may be performed on both primary licensed spectrum and secondary spectrum, such as unlicensed spectrum and / or spectrum assigned to Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS). Overall, the use of various terms and expressions will always be clearly noted in relation to and within the context of the various applications / aspects under consideration.

[0136] As shown, base station 102A may also be configured to communicate with network 100 (e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunications network such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN), and / or the Internet, among other possibilities). Thus, base station 102A may facilitate communications between user devices and / or between user devices and network 100. In particular, cellular base station 102A may provide UE 106 with various communication capabilities, such as voice, SMS, and / or data services. Base station 102A and other similar base stations (such as base stations 102B...102N) operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards may thus be provided as a network of cells that may provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping services to UEs 106A-106N and similar devices over a geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

[0137] Thus, although base station 102A may function as Figure 1 106N, each UE 106 may also be capable of receiving signals from (and possibly within communication range of) one or more other cells (which may be provided by base stations 102B-102N and / or any other base stations), which may be referred to as "neighboring cells." Such cells may also be capable of facilitating communications between user devices and / or between user devices and network 100. Such cells may include "macro" cells, "micro" cells, "pico" cells, and / or cells of any other variety of granularities of service area size. For example, in Figure 1 The base stations 102A-102B shown in FIG may be macro cells, while the base station 102N may be a micro cell. Other configurations are also possible.

[0138] In some aspects, base station 102A can be a next-generation base station, such as a 5G New Radio (5GNR) base station or "gNB." In some aspects, a gNB can be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or to an NR core (NRC) network. Furthermore, a gNB cell can include one or more transmit and receive points (TRPs). Furthermore, a UE capable of operating in accordance with 5G NR can connect to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

[0139] As described above, the UE 106 may be capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, the UE may be configured to communicate using any or all of the 3GPP cellular communication standards (such as LTE or NR) or 3GPP2 cellular communication standards (such as a cellular communication standard in the CDMA2000 family of cellular communication standards). The base station 102 and other similar base stations operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards may thus be provided as one or more cell networks that may provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping services to the UE 106 and similar devices over a wide geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

[0140] UE 106 may also or alternatively be configured to use WLAN, BLUETOOTH TM 、BLUETOOTH TM Low-Energy, one or more Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS, such as GPS or GLONASS), one and / or more mobile television broadcast standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H or DVB-H), etc. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible. In addition, the UE 106 may also communicate with the network 100 through one or more base stations or through other devices, stations, or any appliances not explicitly shown but considered to be part of the network 100. Therefore, the UE 106 communicating with the network can be interpreted as the UE 106 communicating with one or more network nodes that are considered to be part of the network, and can interact with the UE 106 to communicate with the UE 106, and in some cases affect at least some communication parameters and / or the use of communication resources of the UE 106.

[0141] In addition, Figure 1 As shown in FIG, at least some of the UEs 106 (e.g., UEs 106D and 106E) may represent vehicles communicating with each other and with base station 102A via cellular communications such as 3GPP LTE and / or 5G-NR. Additionally, UE 106F may similarly represent pedestrians communicating and / or interacting with the vehicles represented by UEs 106D and 106E. In the context of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications (such as those specified by 3GPP TS 22.185 V 14.3.0), the disclosure in FIG. Figure 1 Other aspects of vehicles communicating in the network illustrated in FIG.

[0142] Figure 2An exemplary user equipment 106 (e.g., one of devices 106A through 106N) is shown in communication with a base station 102 and an access point 112 according to some aspects. The UE 106 may be a device having cellular communication capabilities and non-cellular communication capabilities (e.g., BLUETOOTH TM , Wi-Fi, etc.), such as a mobile phone, a handheld device, a computer or tablet computer, or virtually any type of wireless device. UE 106 may include a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in a memory. UE 106 may perform any of the methods described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or in addition, UE 106 may include a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), which is configured to perform any method described herein or any part of any method described herein. UE 106 may be configured to communicate using any of a plurality of wireless communication protocols. For example, UE 106 may be configured to communicate using two or more of CDMA2000, LTE, LTE-A, NR, WLAN, or GNSS. Other combinations of wireless communication standards are also possible.

[0143] The UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols according to one or more RAT standards, such as those previously described above. In some aspects, the UE 106 may share one or more portions of a receive chain and / or transmit chain between multiple wireless communication standards. The shared radio components may include a single antenna, or may include multiple antennas for performing wireless communication (e.g., for MIMO). Alternatively, the UE 106 may include independent transmit chains and / or receive chains (e.g., including independent antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol it is configured to communicate with. As another alternative, the UE 106 may include one or more radio components or radio circuits shared between multiple wireless communication protocols, as well as one or more radio components used exclusively by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, the UE 106 may include shared radio components for communicating using one of LTE or CDMA2000 1xRTT or NR, and shared radio components for communicating using Wi-Fi and BLUETOOTH. TM Independent radio components for each of the communications. Other configurations are also possible.

[0144] Figure 3 -Block diagram of an exemplary UE

[0145] Figure 3A block diagram of an exemplary UE 106 according to some aspects is shown. As shown, the UE 106 may include a system on a chip (SOC) 300, which may include components for various purposes. For example, as shown, the SOC 300 may include a processor 302 that may execute program instructions for the UE 106, and a display circuit 304 that may perform graphics processing and provide display signals to a display 360. The processor 302 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 340, and / or other circuits or devices (such as the display circuit 304, the radio circuit 330, the connector I / F 320, and / or the display 360). The MMU may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 302 and convert those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., the memory 306, the read-only memory (ROM) 350, the NAND flash memory 310). The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some aspects, the MMU 340 may be included as part of the processor 302.

[0146] As shown, the SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuits of the UE 106. For example, the UE 106 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 310), a connector interface 320 (e.g., for coupling to a computer system), a display 360, and wireless communication circuitry (e.g., for LTE, LTE-A, NR, CDMA2000, BLUETOOTH, etc.). TM , Wi-Fi, GPS, etc.). The UE device 106 may include at least one antenna (e.g., 335a), and may include multiple antennas (e.g., as shown by antennas 335a and 335b), for performing wireless communications with base stations and / or other devices. Antennas 335a and 335b are shown by way of example, and the UE device 106 may include fewer or more antennas. Generally speaking, one or more antennas are collectively referred to as antennas 335. For example, the UE device 106 may use antennas 335 to perform wireless communications with the radio circuitry 330. As described above, in some aspects, the UE may be configured to perform wireless communications using multiple wireless communication standards.

[0147] As further described herein, the UE 106 (and / or the base station 102) may include hardware and software components for operating using control signaling that enhances reliability of transmission and reception of physical control channels (e.g., PDSCH), as described in further detail herein. The processor 302 of the UE device 106 may be configured to implement a portion or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). In other aspects, the processor 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). In addition, the processor 302 may be coupled to an ASIC such as a processor 102 or a processor 102. Figure 3 Other components shown and / or can interoperate with other components as shown in this figure to implement reliable physical channel reception in accordance with various aspects disclosed herein, for example, for implementing reliable physical data channel (such as PDSCH) reception. Processor 302 can also implement various other applications and / or end-user applications running on UE 106.

[0148] In some aspects, the radio circuitry 330 may include separate controllers dedicated to controlling communications for various corresponding RAT standards. Figure 3 As shown, the radio circuit 330 may include a Wi-Fi controller 356, a cellular controller (e.g., LTE and / or NR controller) 352, and a BLUETOOTH controller. TM Controller 354, and in at least some aspects, one or more or all of these controllers can be implemented as respective integrated circuits (ICs or chips) that communicate with each other and with SOC 300 (more specifically, with processor 302). For example, Wi-Fi controller 356 can communicate with cellular controller 352 via a cell-ISM link or WCI interface, and / or BLUETOOTH controller 354 can communicate with cellular controller 352 via a cell-ISM link or WCI interface. TM The controller 354 may communicate with the cellular controller 352 via a cell-ISM link, etc. Although three separate controllers are shown within the radio circuit 330, other aspects have fewer or more similar controllers for various different RATs that may be implemented in the UE device 106. For example, in Figure 5 At least one exemplary block diagram illustrating some aspects of the cellular controller 352 is shown in FIG, and will be further described below.

[0149] Figure 4 - Block diagram of an exemplary base station

[0150] Figure 4 1 shows a block diagram of an exemplary base station 102 according to some aspects. Figure 4The base station 102 is only one example of a possible base station. As shown, the base station 102 may include a processor 404 that may execute program instructions for the base station 102. The processor 404 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 440 or other circuit or device that may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 404 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450).

[0151] The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. The network port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide access to the telephone network as described above. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The network port 470 may be configured to couple to a plurality of devices such as the UE device 106 to the telephone network described in the embodiment of the present invention. The network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also or alternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, such as a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to a plurality of devices such as the UE device 106. In some cases, the network port 470 may be coupled to the telephone network via the core network, and / or the core network may provide the telephone network (e.g., in other UE devices served by the cellular service provider).

[0152] The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434, and may include multiple antennas (e.g., shown by antennas 434a and 434b), for wirelessly communicating with mobile devices and / or other devices. Antennas 434a and 434b are shown as examples, and the base station 102 may include fewer or more antennas. In general, one or more antennas, including antenna 434a and / or antenna 434b, may be collectively referred to as antennas 434. Antennas 434 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with the UE device 106 via radio circuitry 430. Antennas 434 may communicate with the radio circuitry 430 via a communication chain 432. The communication chain 432 may be a receive chain, a transmit chain, or both. The radio circuitry 430 may be designed to communicate via various wireless telecommunication standards, including, but not limited to, LTE, LTE-A, 5G-NR (or simply NR), WCDMA, CDMA2000, and the like. The processor 404 of the base station 102 can be configured to implement some or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium) for causing the base station 102 to implement the signaling disclosed herein for provisioning positioning resources requested by a UE via physical layer signaling. Alternatively, the processor 404 can be configured as a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit), or a combination thereof. In the case of certain RATs (e.g., Wi-Fi), the base station 102 can be designed as an access point (AP), in which case the network port 470 can be implemented to provide access to a wide area network and / or one or more local area networks, for example, it can include at least one Ethernet port, and the radio component 430 can be designed to communicate according to the Wi-Fi standard. The base station 102 can operate according to the various methods and aspects thereof disclosed herein to achieve reliable physical channel reception, for example, to achieve reliable physical data channel (such as PDSCH) reception.

[0153] Figure 5 - Block diagram of an exemplary cellular communication circuit

[0154] Figure 5 1 shows an exemplary simplified block diagram of an example cellular controller 352 according to some aspects. Note that Figure 5The block diagram of the cellular communication circuitry is only one example of possible cellular communication circuitry; other circuitry, such as circuitry that includes or is coupled to sufficient antennas for different RATs to perform uplink activities using separate antennas, or circuitry that includes or is coupled to fewer antennas, such as circuitry that can be shared between multiple RATs, is also possible. According to some aspects, the cellular communication circuitry 352 can be included in a communication device such as the communication device 106 described above. As described above, the communication device 106 can be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or station, a wireless device or station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device), a tablet computer, and / or a combination of devices, among other devices.

[0155] The cellular communication circuitry 352 may be coupled (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 335a-b and 336 as shown. In some aspects, the cellular communication circuitry 352 may include dedicated receive chains for multiple RATs (including and / or coupled (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to dedicated processors and / or radio components (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR). For example, Figure 5 As shown, the cellular communication circuitry 352 may include a first modem 510 and a second modem 520. The first modem 510 may be configured for communication according to a first RAT (e.g., such as LTE or LTE-A), and the second modem 520 may be configured for communication according to a second RAT (e.g., such as 5G NR).

[0156] As shown, the first modem 510 may include one or more processors 512 and a memory 516 in communication with the processor 512. The modem 510 may be in communication with a radio frequency (RF) front end 530. The RF front end 530 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, the RF front end 530 may include receive circuitry (RX) 532 and transmit circuitry (TX) 534. In some aspects, the receive circuitry 532 may be in communication with a downlink (DL) front end 550, which may include circuitry for receiving radio signals via the antenna 335a.

[0157] Similarly, the second modem 520 may include one or more processors 522 and a memory 526 in communication with the processor 522. The modem 520 may be in communication with an RF front end 540. The RF front end 540 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, the RF front end 540 may include receive circuitry 542 and transmit circuitry 544. In some aspects, the receive circuitry 542 may be in communication with a DL front end 560, which may include circuitry for receiving radio signals via the antenna 335b.

[0158] In some aspects, the switch 570 can couple the transmit circuitry 534 to an uplink (UL) front end 572. Furthermore, the switch 570 can couple the transmit circuitry 544 to the UL front end 572. The UL front end 572 can include circuitry for transmitting radio signals via the antenna 336. Thus, when the cellular communication circuitry 352 receives an instruction to transmit according to a first RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain including the transmit circuitry 534 and the UL front end 572), the switch 570 can be switched to a first state that allows the first modem 510 to transmit signals according to the first RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain including the transmit circuitry 534 and the UL front end 572). Similarly, when the cellular communication circuitry 352 receives an instruction to transmit according to a second RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain including the transmit circuitry 544 and the UL front end 572), the switch 570 can be switched to a second state that allows the second modem 520 to transmit signals according to the second RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain including the transmit circuitry 544 and the UL front end 572).

[0159] As described herein, the first modem 510 and / or the second modem 520 may include hardware and software components for implementing any of the various features and techniques described herein. For example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium), the processors 512, 522 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein. Alternatively (or in addition), the processors 512, 522 may be configured as programmable hardware elements, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). Alternatively (or in addition), in combination with one or more of the other components 530, 532, 534, 540, 542, 544, 550, 570, 572, 335, and 336, the processors 512, 522 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein.

[0160] Furthermore, as described herein, processors 512, 522 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, processors 512, 522 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processors 512, 522. Furthermore, each integrated circuit may include circuits (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processors 512, 522.

[0161] In some aspects, the cellular communication circuitry 352 may include only one transmit / receive chain. For example, the cellular communication circuitry 352 may not include the modem 520, the RF front end 540, the DL front end 560, and / or the antenna 335b. As another example, the cellular communication circuitry 352 may not include the modem 510, the RF front end 530, the DL front end 550, and / or the antenna 335a. In some aspects, the cellular communication circuitry 352 may also not include the switch 570, and the RF front end 530 or the RF front end 540 may communicate with the UL front end 572, for example, directly.

[0162] Physical channel reception reliability and transmit / receive repetition

[0163] Multicast and Broadcast Service (MBS) or Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service (MBMS) refers to a point-to-multipoint communication scheme that transmits data packets simultaneously from a single source to multiple destinations. Broadcast refers to the delivery of content to all users, while multicast refers to the distribution of content among a specific group of users who have subscribed to a given multicast service. The geographical area where multicast and broadcast content is transmitted is called a zone. An MBS zone is typically a collection of one or more base stations that transmit the same content, and each base station with MBS service capability can belong to one or more MBS zones, each identified by a unique zone identifier. When the UE is in a connected state (e.g., RRC connected mode), a mobile station (or UE) can receive MBS content within an MBS zone. UEs in an MBS zone are typically assigned a public multicast site identifier.

[0164] PDSCH reception reliability is important from a system perspective, especially for URLLC (Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communication) services, and is also important in the 3GPP standard development for NR as a new work item (WI) related to Multicast and Broadcast Services (MBS). One of the goals is to specify basic RAN functionality for broadcast / multicast for UEs in the Radio Resource Control (RRC) connected state, and to specify the changes required to improve the reliability of MBS, for example through UL feedback. The reliability level may be determined by or may be based on the requirements of the provided application / service. Many relevant agreements on these and other issues have been reached. One agreement includes support for at least slot-level repetition of the group common physical downlink control channel (PDSCH) for RRC connected UEs. Further studies on additional enhancements are expected.

[0165] One example of MBS transmission is called single cell peer-to-multipoint or single cell point-to-multipoint (SCPTM), which is a radio access method dedicated to multicasting over PDSCH in a single cell. In a sense, SCPTM can be regarded as a combination of PDSCH and evolved MBMS (eMBMS). For SCPTM transmission, the UEs in the group receive group data over a common radio resource region in the PDSCH. Generally speaking, MBS can serve a group of UEs to save system resources, and MBS reception reliability is important in achieving this goal. Generally speaking, improved reliability may require additional resources, which raises various problems.

[0166] The first issue is related to slot-level repetition, which has been supported since Rel. 15 / 16, but with some limitations. One notable limitation is that downlink (DL) symbols in specific slots, known as special slots (e.g., downlink to uplink switching slots, UL to DL switching slots in time division duplexing), cannot be used for repetition. Special slots can include some DL symbols, some UL symbols, and gaps. The starting and ending symbols of a repetition are always fixed. For example, if a repetition starts from symbol #4 to symbol #10, then for that repetition, each slot always uses the same resources (7 symbols). Other symbols cannot be used for the repetition.

[0167] The second problem is that the PDSCH frequency hopping scheme is defined at the slot level. If there are several PDSCH repetitions in a slot, it is necessary to consider how frequency hopping can be performed in order to obtain the desired frequency diversity gain. Therefore, further enhancement of PDSCH reception reliability is required.

[0168] Channel duplication

[0169] Various PDSCH repetition enhancements are applicable to MBS and may also be applied to at least unicast PDSCH. For example, by enhancing channel (e.g., PDSCH) repetition, channel reception reliability and MBS coverage may be increased. A group common PDSCH is scheduled for a group of users to receive the same MBS service. The currently (or already) supported slot-level PDSCH repetition (e.g., as defined in the legacy version) is referred to herein as repetition type A, e.g., PDSCH repetition type A (more generally, the first type of channel repetition), while the newly proposed repetition scheme is referred to herein as repetition type B, e.g., PDSCH repetition type B (more generally, the second type of channel repetition).

[0170] According to the above, in some aspects, group-common PDSCH repetition type B can be implemented as a continuous and cross-slot boundary PDSCH repetition. More generally, a second type of channel repetition is proposed, representing a continuous and cross-slot boundary channel repetition. The repetition can therefore maintain a single continuous repetition across the slot boundary. The UE can report to the base station whether the UE has the ability to support PDSCH repetition type B (or more generally support the second type of repetition). The base station can determine whether to schedule the second type of repetition to the UE based on the indication. Therefore, in some aspects, repetition type B can be applied to PDSCH mapping type B, where the DMRS is located in the first symbol of the PDSCH. Currently, PDSCH mapping type B supports the length of PDSCH in the symbol range {2…13}. In some aspects, the length of PDSCH mapping type B can be extended to 14 symbols for at least group-common PDSCH.

[0171] Because the second type of repetition is continuous and can cross time slot boundaries, the repetition can cross the time slot boundaries of special time slots (e.g., time slots that include both DL symbols and UL symbols). However, not all symbols can be used for repetition in such special time slots. That is, in special time slots, some symbols can be considered invalid symbols for repetition. For example, UL symbols may not be used for DL ​​retransmission / repetition. Therefore, validation rules can be defined to provide an indication of symbols that are invalid for repetition, that is, they are invalid for use in repetition. According to some aspects, for repetitions that are continuous across time slot boundaries, the following symbols can be defined as invalid:

[0172] Symbols that overlap with synchronization signal block (SSB) transmissions;

[0173] Symbols used for PDCCH;

[0174] Guard period (GP) symbols or UL symbols in special time slots of TDD;

[0175] ·· symbols in a TDD UL slot; and

[0176] • A symbol indicated as a UL symbol or a GP symbol via a slot format indicator (SFI).

[0177] In the event that some of these symbols are invalid for repetition, the UE can skip the invalid symbols while still keeping the length of the repetition the same as the other repetitions. The repetition can still cross slot boundaries and keep the same length as other repetitions, for example, repetitions where invalid symbols do not cause problems. Optionally, the repetition can be divided by invalid symbols and can be split across slot boundaries, with a transport block (TB) being transmitted in each repetition.

[0178] PDSCH repetition type B or second type of repetition can be enabled in different ways. In some aspects, RRC signaling can be used to indicate whether the PDSCH repetition is type A or type B, or more generally, whether the channel repetition is of the first type or the second type. Alternatively (or additionally), the repetition type can be indicated in an allocation field in a downlink control indication (DCI) specifically for indicating the repetition type, or the indication can be embedded in a TDRA (time domain resource allocation) field in the DCI. The repetition type can also be indicated via a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE). The RV (redundancy version) of the first repetition can be indicated by the DCI, and the RV can then be cycled through a specific order {e.g., 0, 2, 3, 1}.

[0179] Frequency Hopping

[0180] The reliability of channel reception and MBS coverage can also be improved through expanded frequency hopping support. Supporting multiple hops can result in a wider overall bandwidth, thereby improving the reliability of channel repetition reception. Therefore, the network (e.g., a base station) can configure a specified number of frequency hops (e.g., two (2) hops or four (4) hops) and a frequency offset for channel repetition. In some aspects, at least two different types of hops can be configured for the UE.

[0181] As proposed herein, frequency hopping may be implemented on a per-repetition basis. Depending on each repetition of the frequency hopping, each copy of the repetition may be transmitted in a different corresponding frequency domain location. The frequency domain location of the first repetition may be selected / specified based on an indication in the frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field, and a frequency hopping offset may be added to that frequency point for the other corresponding repetitions. For example, in the case of four hops, the first repetition occurs in the first frequency location, the second repetition occurs in the second frequency location, the third repetition occurs in the third frequency location, and the fourth repetition occurs in the fourth frequency location, and the fifth repetition (if applicable) may then loop back to occur in the first frequency location, and so on. Support for inter-slot frequency hopping may also be provided, where the PDSCH in the same slot may be in the same frequency domain location regardless of whether the repetition is completed. However, while previously only a single repetition could occur within a given slot, as proposed herein, multiple repetitions may occur within the same slot.

[0182] Joint Repeated Channel Estimation

[0183] In some aspects, channel estimation accuracy can be increased by performing joint repetition channel estimation to improve channel decoding performance, such as PDSCH decoding performance. Each repetition includes a demodulation reference signal (DMRS). Thus, multiple repetitions provide multiple DMRS. Multiple DMRS can be used together to improve the accuracy of channel estimation. The UE can indicate its joint repetition channel estimation capability to the network (e.g., to the base station). The base station can determine whether to enable joint repetition channel estimation based on the indication. For repetitions with joint repetition channel estimation, the base station (e.g., gNB) can indicate a joint repetition channel estimation window, for example, the window can be two repetitions, and the UE can operate under the assumption that the same precoding (or precoder) is applied to the bundling window.

[0184] Frequency hopping operation within a time slot can be used in conjunction with joint repetition channel estimation. For the joint repetition channel estimation of the transmission in each time slot, the corresponding DMRS from several repetitions can be used to perform joint repetition channel estimation. In some aspects, joint repetition channel estimation can be performed for time slot aggregation of frequency hopping. Each hop for inter-frequency hopping can occupy a configured number of time slots. A channel (e.g., PDSCH) can be repeated in a configured time slot, and the PDSCH transmission can hop to another frequency domain position and repeat in a configured time slot. For example, for a total of 16 repetitions of an MBS with 4 hops, PDSCH repetition can occur in 2 time slots for each hop. Repetitions in two time slots can be used for joint repetition channel estimation.

[0185] Example code for improved MBS reception reliability

[0186] From a signaling perspective, the resources allocated to MBS, such as for PDSCH transmission / reception and repetition, are shown below by way of exemplary code segments. The parameters shown below reflect (and correspond to) the proposed enhancements discussed above with respect to repetition, frequency hopping, and joint repetition channel estimation.

[0187] MBS-Config::=SEQUENCE{ ...

[0189] group-commonPdsch-AggregationFactorENUMERATED{n2, n4, n8, n16}OPTIONAL

[0190] dedicatedPdsch-AggregationFactor ENUMERATED{n2, n4, n8, n16}OPTIONAL

[0191] frequencyHopping ENUMERATED{per-repetition,interSlot}OPTIONAL

[0192] pdsch-RepTypelndicato r SEQUENCE{pdsch-RepTypeA, pdsch-RepTypeB}OPTIONAL

[0193] frequencyHoppingOffsetLists SEQUENCE(SIZE(1.4))OF INTEGER(1.

[0194] maxNrofPhysicalResourceBlocks-1)OPTIONAL

[0195] RepetitionNumberslnjointChanneIEstimationWindow ENUMERATED{n1, n2, n4, n8}OPTIONAL

[0196] slotslnJointChannelEstimationWindowENUMERATED{n0,n2,n4}OpTIONAL

[0197] }

[0198] Example of repetition across slot boundaries for PDSCH reception reliability

[0199] Figure 6 The slot-level repetition defined by Rel. 15 ("Rel. 15 repetition") and the proposed repetition that allows repetition across slot boundaries ("proposed repetition") are shown. Figure 6 The example shown indicates a PDCCH transmission (indicated as "PDCCH") and a repetition of the PDSCH (indicated as "1st repetition", "2nd repetition", etc.). The length of the PDSCH in this example is 7 symbols. Three time slots are shown, each with 14 symbols. In the Rel.15 scheme, PDSCH is transmitted in symbol #3 to symbol #9 in each time slot, even if other symbols (e.g., symbol #10 to symbol #13) are available for data transmission. In the Rel.15 repetition, those unused symbols cannot be used for repetition. In the proposed repetition scheme, all available symbols can be used for repetition. Therefore, the three time slots shown accommodate 5 repetitions instead of only 3 repetitions, where the 2nd repetition spans the time slot boundary between time slot 0 and time slot 1, and the 4th repetition spans the boundary between time slot 1 and time slot 2. In Figure 6In , all symbols are indicated as valid symbols for repetition.

[0200] Figure 7 An example of the proposed repetition scheme including null symbols is provided. For example, slot 0 is shown as a special slot, where symbols #10 to #13 are used for GP or UL transmission and are therefore null symbols. Symbols #4 to #7 of slot 1 are occupied by SSB transmission and are therefore also null symbols. PDSCH repetitions skip null symbols, but the length of each repetition remains the same. In this case, repetition 2 is thus broken up by null symbols, but the length of repetition 2 is still 7 symbols, occupying symbols #0 to #3 and #8 to #10 of slot 1. Figure 7 One benefit of the repetition scheme shown in is that the transport block (TB) encoding process remains the same as the other repetitions and no additional implementation effort is required on the part of the UE.

[0201] Example of frequency hopping for PDSCH reception reliability

[0202] Figure 8 and Figure 9 Two different frequency hopping schemes based on the above are shown. Figure 8 A diagram illustrating PDSCH repetition with frequency hopping is shown, where the hopping granularity is once per repetition. As indicated, each repetition occupies a different frequency domain resource, and even when the repetition is discontinuous, it is still in the same frequency domain location. Figure 8 As shown, symbols #10 to #13 of slot 0 and symbols #4 to #7 of slot 1 are invalid symbols for repetition. The first and third repetitions occur at the first frequency position (frequency position 1), while the second and fourth repetitions occur at the second frequency position (frequency position 2). The second repetition is separated by the invalid symbols in slot 1, but still occurs entirely in slot 1. In addition, the third repetition also straddles the boundary between slots 1 and 2.

[0203] Figure 9 FIG2 shows a diagram illustrating PDSCH repetition with inter-slot frequency hopping, where the frequency hopping granularity is defined by the slot and repetitions in the same slot occupy the same frequency domain resources. Figure 9 As shown, symbols #10 to #13 of slot 0 and symbols #4 to #7 of slot 1 are also invalid symbols for repetition. The first and fourth repetitions, as well as the second portion of the third repetition, occur at the first frequency position (frequency position 1), while the second and third repetitions occur at the second frequency position (frequency position 2). The second repetition is also divided by invalid symbols in slot 1, but still occurs entirely in slot 1. In addition, the third repetition also straddles the boundary between slots 1 and 2.

[0204] Example of joint repeated channel estimation for PDSCH reception reliability

[0205] Figure 10 A diagram illustrating PDSCH repetition with joint repetition channel estimation is shown. Figure 10 As shown, DMRS from two repetitions are used for channel estimation. The base station (e.g., gNB) can indicate a joint repetition channel estimation window, which is two repetitions in this example, where the UE operates under the assumption that the same precoding is applied to the bundling window. Figure 10 As shown, symbols #10 to #13 of slot 0 and symbols #4 to #7 of slot 1 are also invalid symbols for repetition. The second repetition is also divided by the invalid symbols in slot 1, but still occurs entirely in slot 1. In addition, the third repetition straddles the boundary between slots 1 and 2. The DMRS from the first and second repetitions are used to perform joint repetition channel estimation for the first and second repetitions, while the DMRS from the third and fourth repetitions are used to perform joint repetition channel estimation for the third and fourth repetitions. Since the resource elements (REs) used for DMRS are doubled in each case, channel estimation accuracy can be increased and PDSCH performance can be improved thereby.

[0206] Figure 11 A diagram illustrating PDSCH repetition with inter-slot frequency hopping and joint repetition channel estimation is shown. Figure 11 In the example of , the length of each repetition is four symbols, and symbols #10 to #13 of time slot 0 and symbols #4 to #7 of time slot 1 are also invalid symbols for repetition. The first repetition, the second repetition, the second part of the fifth repetition, and the sixth and seventh repetitions occur at the first frequency position (frequency position 1), while the third repetition, the fourth repetition and the first part of the fifth repetition occur at the second frequency position (frequency position 2). In addition, the fifth repetition also crosses the boundary between time slot 1 and time slot 2. For joint repetition channel estimation of transmissions in each time slot, DMRSs from several repetitions are used for joint repetition channel estimation. Joint channel estimation is performed for repetitions in the same time slot, while for repetitions divided into two frequency domain positions, the channel estimation is based on the DMRS from a single repetition.

[0207] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0208] Aspects of the present disclosure can be implemented in any of a variety of forms. For example, in some aspects, the present disclosure can be implemented as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable storage medium, or a computer system. In other aspects, the present disclosure can be implemented using one or more custom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs. In other aspects, the present disclosure can be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs.

[0209] In some aspects, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory memory element) may be configured to store program instructions and / or data, wherein the program instructions, if executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform a method, such as any of the methods described herein, or any combination of the methods described herein, or any subset of any method described herein, or any combination of such subsets.

[0210] In some aspects, a device (e.g., a UE) may be configured to include a processor (or a group of processors) and a memory medium (or a memory element), wherein the memory medium stores program instructions, wherein the processor is configured to read and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement any of the various methods described herein (or any combination of the methods described herein, or any subset of any method described herein, or any combination of such subsets). The device may be implemented in any of various forms.

[0211] By interpreting each message / signal X received by a user equipment (UE) or device in the downlink as a message / signal X transmitted by the base station / network node, and interpreting each message / signal Y transmitted by the UE in the uplink as a message / signal Y received by the base station / network node, any of the methods described herein for operating a UE may form the basis for a corresponding method for operating the base station or appropriate network node.

[0212] Although the above aspects have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to encompass all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A baseband processor of a user equipment (UE), the baseband processor being configured to perform operations comprising: wireless communications within a wireless network; receiving, while wirelessly communicating within the wireless network, a plurality of repetitions of a physical channel, wherein at least one repetition of the plurality of repetitions is a repetition of a specified type that is continuous across a time slot boundary between a first time slot and a second time slot, the at least one repetition being received within the first time slot and the second time slot; performing the channel estimation using reference signals from at least two different repetitions of the plurality of repetitions used for channel estimation; as well as providing information to a base station before performing the channel estimation, wherein the information indicates to the base station that the UE is capable of performing the channel estimation using reference signals from at least two different repetitions of the plurality of repetitions used for channel estimation, The channel estimation is performed in response to joint repeated channel estimation enabled by the base station, the joint repeated channel estimation being enabled in response to the information.

2. The baseband processor of claim 1, wherein the physical channel is a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

3. The baseband processor of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise: Before receiving the plurality of repetitions, information indicating that the UE is capable of receiving the repetitions of the specified type is transmitted to a base station.

4. The baseband processor of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise: At least a second repetition of the plurality of repetitions is received in a time slot including a null symbol that is unusable for repetition, wherein the at least second repetition does not use the null symbol in the time slot while maintaining the same length as other repetitions of the plurality of repetitions.

5. The baseband processor of claim 4 , wherein the invalid symbols include one or more of the following: Symbols that overlap with synchronization signal block transmissions; Symbols used for the physical downlink control channel; Protection period symbol; Uplink symbols; symbols in a time division duplex uplink time slot; or Symbols indicated by the slot format indicator as uplink symbols or guard period symbols.

6. The baseband processor of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise: Information is received from a base station prior to receiving the plurality of repetitions, wherein the information indicates to the UE that the plurality of repetitions are repetitions of the designated type.

7. The baseband processor of claim 6, wherein the operations further comprise: The indication is received in one or more of: Radio resource control signaling; Specially allocated fields in downlink control indications; The time domain resource allocation field in the downlink control indication; or Medium Access Control (MAC) control element.

8. The baseband processor of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise: Each repetition of the subset of the plurality of repetitions is received in a different respective frequency domain location among a plurality of frequency domain locations.

9. The baseband processor of claim 8, wherein the first corresponding frequency domain position of the plurality of frequency domain positions is designated according to an indication in a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field.

10. The baseband processor of claim 9, wherein remaining corresponding frequency domain positions of the plurality of frequency domain positions are designated according to corresponding offsets added to the first corresponding frequency domain position.

11. The baseband processor of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise: More than one repetition of the subset of the plurality of repetitions is received within a single time slot.

12. The baseband processor of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise: The channel estimation is performed based on a channel estimation window defined by a number of repetitions.

13. The baseband processor of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise: An indication of the channel estimation window is received from a base station.

14. The baseband processor according to claim 1, further comprising: The channel estimation is performed for frequency-hopped slot aggregation.

15. A user equipment (UE), the UE comprising: memory components; and The baseband processor of any one of claims 1 to 14, the baseband processor being communicatively coupled to the memory element.

16. The UE according to claim 15, further comprising: Radio circuitry is communicatively coupled to the baseband processor and configured to facilitate wireless communications of the UE.

17. A non-transitory memory element storing instructions executable by a processor to perform the operations of any one of claims 1 to 14.

18. A baseband processor of a base station, the baseband processor being configured to perform operations, the operations comprising: wireless communications within a wireless network; while wirelessly communicating within the wireless network, transmitting a plurality of repetitions of a physical channel, wherein at least one repetition of the plurality of repetitions is a repetition of a specified type that is continuous across a time slot boundary between a first time slot and a second time slot, the at least one repetition being transmitted within the first time slot and the second time slot; receiving information from a user equipment (UE), wherein the information indicates to the base station that the UE is capable of performing channel estimation using a reference signal from at least two different repetitions of the plurality of repetitions used for channel estimation; and In response to receiving the information, joint repetitive channel estimation for the UE is enabled.

19. The baseband processor of claim 18, wherein the physical channel is a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

20. The baseband processor of claim 18, the operations further comprising: Prior to receiving the plurality of repetitions, information is received from a user equipment (UE) indicating that the UE is capable of receiving repetitions of the specified type.

21. The baseband processor of claim 18, the operations further comprising: At least a second repetition of the plurality of repetitions is transmitted in a time slot including a null symbol that is unusable for repetition, wherein the at least second repetition does not use the null symbol in the time slot while maintaining the same length as other repetitions of the plurality of repetitions.

22. The baseband processor of claim 21 , wherein the invalid symbols include one or more of: Symbols that overlap with synchronization signal block transmissions; Symbols used for the physical downlink control channel; Protection period symbol; Uplink symbols; symbols in a time division duplex uplink time slot; or Symbols indicated by the slot format indicator as uplink symbols or guard period symbols.

23. The baseband processor of claim 18, the operations further comprising: Information is transmitted to a user equipment (UE) prior to transmitting the plurality of repetitions, wherein the information indicates to the UE that the plurality of repetitions are repetitions of the designated type.

24. The baseband processor of claim 23, the operations further comprising: The indication is transmitted in one or more of the following: Radio resource control signaling; Specially allocated fields in downlink control indications; The time domain resource allocation field in the downlink control indication; or Medium Access Control (MAC) control element.

25. The baseband processor of claim 18, the operations further comprising: Each repetition of the subset of the plurality of repetitions is transmitted in a different respective frequency domain location among a plurality of frequency domain locations.

26. The baseband processor of claim 25, wherein the first corresponding frequency domain position of the plurality of frequency domain positions is designated according to an indication in a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field.

27. The baseband processor of claim 26, wherein remaining respective ones of the plurality of frequency domain locations are designated according to corresponding offsets added to the first respective frequency domain location.

28. The baseband processor of claim 25, the operations further comprising: More than one repetition of the subset of the plurality of repetitions is transmitted in a single time slot.

29. The baseband processor of claim 18, the operations further comprising: determining a channel estimation window for the channel estimation; as well as Second information is transmitted to the UE to provide the channel estimation window to the UE.

30. The baseband processor of claim 29, wherein the channel estimation window is defined by a number of repetitions.

31. A base station, comprising: memory components; and A baseband processor according to any one of claims 18 to 30, the baseband processor being communicatively coupled to the memory element.

32. The base station according to claim 31 , further comprising: Radio circuitry is communicatively coupled to the baseband processor and is configured to facilitate wireless communications with the base station.

33. A non-transitory memory element storing instructions executable by a processor to perform the operations of any one of claims 18 to 30.

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