Apparatus and method for HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast service

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and a method for supporting hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) feedback for multicast service. In some aspects, a user equipment (UE) device may include at least one antenna; at least one radio coupled to the at least one antenna and configured to perform wireless communications using at least one radio access technology (RAT); and one or more processors coupled to the at least one radio, where the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE device to: receive radio resource control (RRC) signaling from a base station, the RRC signaling indicates that the semi-static codebook is configured for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) feedback for both multicast and unicast and the HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast is disabled; and generating a HARQ-ACK feedback report in which HARQ-ACK bits for the multicast are excluded by configuring the semi-static codebook using time domain resource allocation (TDRA) for the unicast.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application generally relates to wireless communication systems, including apparatus and methods for supporting hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) feedback for multicast services. Background Art

[0002] Wireless mobile communication technology uses various standards and protocols to transmit data between base stations and wireless communication devices. Wireless communication system standards and protocols may include, for example, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) (e.g., 4G), 3GPP New Radio (NR) (e.g., 5G), and the IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless local area networks (WLANs) (commonly referred to within industry organizations as WLANs). ).

[0003] As envisioned by 3GPP, different wireless communication system standards and protocols may use various radio access networks (RANs) to communicate between base stations of the RAN (which may also sometimes be referred to as RAN nodes, network nodes, or simply nodes) and wireless communication devices referred to as user equipment (UE). 3GPP RANs may include, for example, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) RAN (GERAN), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), and / or Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN).

[0004] Each RAN may use one or more radio access technologies for communication between base stations and UEs. For example, GERAN implements GSM and / or EDGE RAT, UTRAN implements Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) RAT or other 3GPP RAT, E-UTRAN implements LTE RAT (sometimes referred to as LTE), and NG-RAN implements NR RAT (sometimes referred to herein as 5G RAT, 5G NR RAT, or simply NR). In some deployments, E-UTRAN may also implement NR RAT. In some deployments, NG-RAN may also implement LTE RAT.

[0005] The base stations used by the RAN may correspond to the RAN. An example of an E-UTRAN base station is an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node B (also commonly denoted as an evolved Node B, enhanced Node B, eNodeB, or eNB). An example of an NG-RAN base station is a Next Generation Node B (also sometimes referred to as a gNodeB or gNB).

[0006] The RAN provides its communication services together with external entities through its connection with the Core Network (CN). For example, E-UTRAN may utilize the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) while NG-RAN may utilize the 5G Core Network (5GC).

[0007] NR may support multicast and broadcast services (MBS) for UEs. Therefore, uplink (UL) feedback (e.g., HARQ-ACK feedback) is required to improve the reliability of MBS. The reliability level may be based on the requirements of the application / service provided. HARQ-ACK feedback may typically include feedback based on negative acknowledgement (NACK) only and feedback based on acknowledgement (ACK) / negative acknowledgement (NACK). For multicast services, it is proposed to support both feedback based on NACK only and feedback based on ACK / NACK in order to improve multicast physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception reliability. Therefore, a technology for supporting HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast services is needed. Summary of the invention

[0008] In some aspects, a user equipment (UE) device may include: at least one antenna; at least one radio component, the at least one radio component coupled to the at least one antenna and configured to perform wireless communications using at least one radio access technology; and one or more processors, the one or more processors coupled to the at least one radio component, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE device to: receive radio resource control (RRC) signaling from a base station, the RRC signaling indicating that a semi-static codebook is configured for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) feedback for both multicast and unicast and that HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast is disabled; and generate a HARQ-ACK feedback report that excludes HARQ-ACK bits for the multicast by configuring the semi-static codebook using a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) for the unicast.

[0009] In some aspects, a user equipment (UE) device may include: at least one antenna; at least one radio component, the at least one radio component coupled to the at least one antenna and configured to perform wireless communications using at least one radio access technology; and one or more processors, the one or more processors coupled to the at least one radio component, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE device to: receive radio resource control (RRC) signaling from a base station, the RRC signaling indicating that a semi-static codebook is configured for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) feedback for both multicast and unicast; receive downlink control information (DCI) from the base station, the DCI indicating that HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast is disabled; and generate a HARQ-ACK feedback report, the HARQ-ACK feedback report including ACK / negative acknowledgement (NACK)-based HARQ-ACK bits for the multicast or NACK-only-based HARQ-ACK bits for the multicast in the semi-static codebook configured by using actual ACK or NACK feedback.

[0010] In some aspects, a user equipment (UE) device may include: at least one antenna; at least one radio component, the at least one radio component coupled to the at least one antenna and configured to perform wireless communications using at least one radio access technology; and one or more processors, the one or more processors coupled to the at least one radio component, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE device to: receive radio resource control (RRC) signaling from a base station, the RRC signaling indicating that a semi-static codebook is configured for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) feedback for a multicast; receive downlink control information (DCI) from the base station, the DCI indicating that when the semi-static codebook is configured via an indication field for the HARQ-ACK feedback for the multicast, the HARQ-ACK feedback for the multicast is not disabled; and generate a HARQ-ACK feedback report, the HARQ-ACK feedback report including HARQ-ACK bits for the multicast.

[0011] In some aspects, a user equipment (UE) device may include: at least one antenna; at least one radio component, the at least one radio component coupled to the at least one antenna and configured to perform wireless communications using at least one radio access technology; and one or more processors, the one or more processors coupled to the at least one radio component, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE device to: determine that the UE device supports hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback based on acknowledgement (ACK) / negative acknowledgement (NACK) for multicast dynamic scheduling and for multicast semi-persistent scheduling (SPS); receive radio resource control (RRC) signaling from a base station, the RRC signaling indicating that a semi-static codebook is configured for the ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for the multicast dynamic scheduling and the ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for the multicast SPS is disabled; and generate a HARQ-ACK feedback report excluding HARQ-ACK bits for the multicast SPS by configuring the semi-static codebook using a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) for multicast.

[0012] In some aspects, a user equipment (UE) device may include: at least one antenna; at least one radio component, the at least one radio component coupled to the at least one antenna and configured to perform wireless communications using at least one radio access technology; and one or more processors, the one or more processors coupled to the at least one radio component, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE device to: determine that the UE device supports hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback based on acknowledgement (ACK) / negative acknowledgement (NACK) for multicast dynamic scheduling and for multicast semi-persistent scheduling (SPS); receive radio resource control (RRC) signaling from a base station, the RRC signaling indicating that a semi-static codebook is configured for the ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for the multicast SPS and that the ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for the multicast dynamic scheduling is disabled; determine whether a unicast physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is received; and in response to determining that the unicast PDSCH is not received, generate a HARQ-ACK feedback report that includes only HARQ-ACK bits for the multicast SPS.

[0013] In some aspects, a user equipment (UE) device may include: at least one antenna; at least one radio component, the at least one radio component coupled to the at least one antenna and configured to perform wireless communications using at least one radio access technology; and one or more processors, the one or more processors coupled to the at least one radio component, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE device to: determine that the UE device supports hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback based on acknowledgement (ACK) / negative acknowledgement (NACK) for multicast dynamic scheduling and for multicast semi-persistent scheduling (SPS); receive a radio resource control ( The method comprises: receiving a downlink control information (DCI) from the base station, the DCI indicating that either the ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for the multicast dynamic scheduling or the ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for the multicast SPS is disabled; and generating a HARQ-ACK feedback report, the HARQ-ACK feedback report including ACK / NACK based HARQ bits for the multicast dynamic scheduling and for the multicast SPS in the semi-static codebook configured by using actual ACK or NACK feedback.

[0014] In some aspects, a user equipment (UE) device may include: at least one antenna; at least one radio component, the at least one radio component coupled to the at least one antenna and configured to perform wireless communications using at least one radio access technology; and one or more processors, the one or more processors coupled to the at least one radio component, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE device to: determine that the UE device supports acknowledgement (ACK) / negative acknowledgement (NACK)-based hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback for multicast dynamic scheduling and for multicast semi-persistent scheduling (SPS); and receive a message from a base station indicating that both the ACK / NACK-based HARQ feedback for the multicast dynamic scheduling and the ACK / NACK-based HARQ feedback for the multicast SPS are enabled or both are disabled.

[0015] In some aspects, a user equipment (UE) device may include: at least one antenna; at least one radio component, the at least one radio component coupled to the at least one antenna and configured to perform wireless communications using at least one radio access technology; and one or more processors, the one or more processors coupled to the at least one radio component, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE device to: report to a base station the UE device's ability to support the following operating mode: transforming a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback bit based on negative acknowledgement (NACK) only into an acknowledgement (ACK) / NACK based HARQ feedback bit to support more than one bit for NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast; receiving from the base station information about a codebook type configured for the NACK-only based HARQ feedback for the multicast for the operating mode; and constructing, based on the configured codebook type, a codebook for the NACK-only based HARQ feedback for the multicast in the same manner as a codebook for the ACK / NACK based HARQ feedback for the multicast.

[0016] In some aspects, a user equipment (UE) device may include: at least one antenna; at least one radio component, the at least one radio component coupled to the at least one antenna and configured to perform wireless communications using at least one radio access technology; and one or more processors, the one or more processors coupled to the at least one radio component, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE device to: report to a base station the UE device's ability to support the following operating mode: using a predefined mapping rule that defines a mapping between one or more hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback bits for correspondingly received one or more transport blocks (TBs) and multiple physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource sets to support more than one bit for multicast HARQ feedback based on only negative acknowledgment (NACK); receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling from the base station, the RRC signaling indicating the PUCCH configuration for the HARQ feedback based on only NACK for the multicast; generating a HARQ feedback report including HARQ feedback bits, the HARQ feedback bits including ACK or NACK bits for each scheduled TB; selecting a PUCCH resource set from the multiple PUCCH resource sets according to the predefined mapping rule, wherein for a specific PUCCH resource set in the predefined mapping rule, if another TB is scheduled, a NACK bit is appended on top of one or more existing HARQ feedback bits; and transmitting the HARQ feedback report using the selected PUCCH resource set.

[0017] The techniques described herein may be implemented in and / or used with a plurality of different types of devices, including, but not limited to, any of cellular base stations, cellular telephones, tablet computers, wearable computing devices, portable media players, and a variety of other computing devices.

[0018] This disclosure is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the topics described in this document. Therefore, it should be understood that the above features are only examples and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or essence of the topics described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the topics described herein will become apparent through the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, the most significant digit(s) in a reference number refers to the drawing number that first introduces the element.

[0020] Figure 1 An example architecture of a wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects disclosed herein is shown.

[0021] Figure 2

[0013] A system for performing signaling between a wireless device and a network device in accordance with various aspects disclosed herein is shown.

[0022] Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating a first example method for generating a HARQ-ACK feedback report by a UE device in accordance with various aspects disclosed herein.

[0023] Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating a second example method for generating a HARQ-ACK feedback report by a UE device in accordance with various aspects disclosed herein.

[0024] Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating a third example method for generating a HARQ-ACK feedback report by a UE device according to various aspects disclosed herein.

[0025] Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating a fourth example method for generating a HARQ-ACK feedback report by a UE device according to various aspects disclosed herein.

[0026] Figure 7 is a flow chart illustrating a fifth example method for generating a HARQ-ACK feedback report by a UE device according to various aspects disclosed herein.

[0027] Figure 8is a flow chart illustrating a sixth example method for generating a HARQ-ACK feedback report by a UE device according to various aspects disclosed herein.

[0028] Fig. 9 is a flow chart illustrating a seventh example method for determining, by a UE device, a configuration for HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast in accordance with aspects disclosed herein.

[0029] Fig.10 is a flow chart illustrating an eighth example method for constructing a codebook by a UE device according to aspects disclosed herein.

[0030] Fig.11 is a flow chart illustrating a ninth example method for transmitting a HARQ-ACK feedback report by a UE device in accordance with various aspects disclosed herein.

[0031] Although the features described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereof are not intended to be limited 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

[0032] Various embodiments are described with reference to UE. However, reference to UE is provided for illustrative purposes only. The example embodiments may be used with any electronic component that can establish a connection with a network and is configured with hardware, software and / or firmware for exchanging information and data with the network. Therefore, UE as described herein is used to represent any appropriate electronic component. Examples of UE may include mobile devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet computers, laptop computers, personal computers, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, or machine type communication (MTC) devices, etc., which may be implemented in various objects such as appliances or vehicles, meters, etc.

[0033] Figure 1 An example architecture of a wireless communication system 100 according to an embodiment disclosed herein is shown. The description provided below is for an example wireless communication system 100 operating in conjunction with the LTE system standard and / or the 5G or NR system standard provided in the 3GPP technical specifications.

[0034] like Figure 1As shown, wireless communication system 100 includes UE 102 and UE 104 (although any number of UEs may be used). In this example, UE 102 and UE 104 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touch screen mobile computing devices capable of connecting to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device configured for wireless communication.

[0035] UE 102 and UE 104 may be configured to be communicatively coupled to RAN 106. In an embodiment, RAN 106 may be NG-RAN, E-UTRAN, etc. UE 102 and UE 104 utilize connections (or channels) (shown as connection 108 and connection 110, respectively) with RAN 106, where each connection (or channel) includes a physical communication interface. RAN 106 may include one or more base stations, such as base station 112 and base station 114, to implement connection 108 and connection 110.

[0036] In this example, connection 108 and connection 110 are air interfaces that enable such communicative coupling and may conform to the RAT used by RAN 106 , such as, for example, LTE and / or NR.

[0037] In some embodiments, UE 102 and UE 104 may also directly exchange communication data via side link interface 116. UE 104 is shown as being configured to access an access point (shown as AP 118) via connection 120. By way of example, connection 120 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection conforming to any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein AP 118 may include In this example, AP 118 may be connected to another network (eg, the Internet) without going through CN 124.

[0038] In an embodiment, UE 102 and UE 104 may be configured to communicate with each other or with base station 112 and / or base station 114 over a multi-carrier communication channel using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals according to various communication techniques, such as but not limited to orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication techniques (e.g., for downlink communication) or single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) communication techniques (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communication), although the scope of the embodiment is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signal may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0039] In some embodiments, all or part of base station 112 or base station 114 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network. In addition, or in other embodiments, base station 112 or base station 114 may be configured to communicate with each other via interface 122. In an embodiment where wireless communication system 100 is an LTE system (e.g., when CN124 is EPC), interface 122 may be an X2 interface. The X2 interface may be defined between two or more base stations (e.g., two or more eNBs, etc.) connected to EPC and / or between two eNBs connected to EPC. In an embodiment where wireless communication system 100 is an NR system (e.g., when CN 124 is 5GC), interface 122 may be an Xn interface. The Xn interface is defined between two or more base stations (e.g., two or more gNBs, etc.) connected to 5GC, between base station 112 (e.g., gNB) and eNB connected to 5GC, and / or between two eNBs connected to 5GC (e.g., CN 124).

[0040] The RAN 106 is shown as being communicatively coupled to the CN 124. The CN 124 may include one or more network elements 126 configured to provide various data and telecommunication services to customers / subscribers (e.g., UE 102 and users of UE 104) connected to the CN 124 via the RAN 106. The components of the CN 124 may be implemented in one physical device or separate physical devices including components for reading and executing instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium).

[0041] In an embodiment, CN 124 may be an EPC, and RAN 106 may be connected to CN 124 via an S1 interface 128. In an embodiment, S1 interface 128 may be divided into two parts: an S1 user plane (S1-U) interface that carries traffic data between base station 112 or base station 114 and a serving gateway (S-GW); and an S1-MME interface that is a signaling interface between base station 112 or base station 114 and a mobility management entity (MME).

[0042] In an embodiment, CN 124 may be a 5GC, and RAN 106 may be connected to CN 124 via an NG interface 128. In an embodiment, NG interface 128 may be divided into two parts: an NG user plane (NG-U) interface that carries service data between base station 112 or base station 114 and a user plane function (UPF); and an S1 control plane (NG-C) interface that is a signaling interface between base station 112 or base station 114 and an access and mobility management function (AMF).

[0043] Generally speaking, application server 130 may be an element that provides applications (e.g., packet-switched data services) that use Internet Protocol (IP) bearer resources with CN 124. Application server 130 may also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., VoIP sessions, group communication sessions, etc.) for UE 102 and UE 104 via CN 124. Application server 130 may communicate with CN 124 via IP communication interface 132.

[0044] Figure 2 A system 200 for performing signaling 234 between a wireless device 202 and a network device 218 according to embodiments disclosed herein is shown. The system 200 may be part of a wireless communication system as described herein. The wireless device 202 may be, for example, a UE of a wireless communication system. The network device 218 may be, for example, a base station (e.g., an eNB or a gNB) of a wireless communication system.

[0045] The wireless device 202 may include one or more processors 204. The processor 204 may execute instructions to perform various operations of the wireless device 202, as described herein. The processor 204 may include one or more baseband processors implemented using, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a controller, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) device, another hardware device, a firmware device, or any combination thereof configured to perform the operations described herein.

[0046] The wireless device 202 may include a memory 206. The memory 206 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions 208 (which may include, for example, instructions executed by the processor 204). The instructions 208 may also be referred to as program code or a computer program. The memory 206 may also store data used by the processor 204 and results calculated by the processor.

[0047] The wireless device 202 may include one or more transceivers 210 that may use radio frequency (RF) transmitter and / or receiver circuitry that uses an antenna 212 of the wireless device 202 to facilitate signaling (e.g., signaling 234) to and / or from the wireless device 202 with other devices (e.g., network device 218) in accordance with a corresponding RAT.

[0048] The wireless device 202 may include one or more antennas 212 (e.g., one, two, four, or more). For embodiments with multiple antennas 212, the wireless device 202 may utilize the spatial diversity of such multiple antennas 212 to transmit and / or receive multiple different data streams on the same time-frequency resource. This behavior may be referred to as, for example, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) behavior (referring to multiple antennas used at each of the transmitting device and the receiving device to implement this aspect). MIMO transmission by the wireless device 202 may be implemented based on precoding (or digital beamforming) applied at the wireless device 202, which multiplexes the data streams across the antennas 212 based on known or assumed channel characteristics, so that each data stream is received at an appropriate signal strength relative to the other streams and at a desired location in the spatial domain (e.g., the location of the receiver associated with the data stream). Certain embodiments may use a single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) approach (where the data streams are all directed to a single receiver) and / or a multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) approach (where separate data streams may be directed to separate (different) receivers in different locations in the spatial domain).

[0049] In certain embodiments with multiple antennas, the wireless device 202 may implement analog beamforming techniques whereby the phases of signals transmitted by the antennas 212 are relatively adjusted so that the (joint) transmissions of the antennas 212 can be directed (this is sometimes referred to as beam steering).

[0050] The wireless device 202 may include one or more interfaces 214. The interfaces 214 may be used to provide input to the wireless device 202 or output from the wireless device. For example, a wireless device 202 that is a UE may include an interface 214, such as a microphone, a speaker, a touch screen, buttons, etc., to allow a user of the UE to input and / or output to the UE. Other interfaces of such a UE may be composed of transmitters, receivers, and other circuit systems that allow communication between the UE and other devices (e.g., in addition to the transceiver 210 / antenna 212 described above), and may be based on known protocols (e.g., etc.) to perform the operation.

[0051] The network device 218 may include one or more processors 220. The processor 220 may execute instructions to perform various operations of the network device 218, as described herein. The processor 204 may include one or more baseband processors implemented using, for example, a CPU, a DSP, an ASIC, a controller, an FPGA device, another hardware device, a firmware device, or any combination thereof configured to perform the operations described herein.

[0052] The network device 218 may include a memory 222. The memory 222 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions 224 (which may include, for example, instructions executed by the processor 220). The instructions 224 may also be referred to as program code or a computer program. The memory 222 may also store data used by the processor 220 and results calculated by the processor.

[0053] The network device 218 may include one or more transceivers 226, which may include RF transmitter and / or receiver circuitry that uses an antenna 228 of the network device 218 to facilitate signaling (e.g., signaling 234) to and / or from the network device 218 with other devices (e.g., wireless device 202) according to a corresponding RAT.

[0054] The network device 218 may include one or more antennas 228 (eg, one, two, four, or more). In embodiments with multiple antennas 228, the network device 218 may perform MIMO, digital beamforming, analog beamforming, beamsteering, etc. as described.

[0055] The network device 218 may include one or more interfaces 230. The interface 230 may be used to provide input to or output from the network device 218. For example, the network device 218 as a base station may include an interface 230 composed of a transmitter, a receiver, and other circuit systems (e.g., in addition to the transceiver 226 / antenna 228 described above), which enables the base station to communicate with other equipment in the core network and / or enables the base station to communicate with external networks, computers, databases, etc., in order to achieve the purpose of performing operations, management, and maintenance of the base station or other equipment operably connected to the base station.

[0056] Construction of Type 1 HARQ-ACK feedback codebook if HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast is disabled

[0057] The BS may inform the UE of the codebook type used for ACK / NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast via the RRC parameter pdsch-HARQ-ACK-Codebook-Multicast. There are two codebook types: semi-static codebook (also known as type 1 codebook) and dynamic codebook (also known as type 2 codebook). The UE may be configured with a pdsch-HARQ-ACK-Codebook or a pdsch-HARQ-ACK-CodebookList. This configuration applies to all group radio network temporary identifiers (G-RNTIs) configured to the UE.

[0058] HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast may be dynamically enabled or disabled per G-RNTI through RRC signaling or through downlink control information (DCI). Figure 3 and Figure 4 It is shown how the UE device constructs a type 1 HARQ-ACK feedback codebook when HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast is disabled through RRC signaling and through DCI, respectively.

[0059] Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating a first example method for generating, by a UE device, a HARQ-ACK feedback report when HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast is disabled by RRC signaling in accordance with various aspects disclosed herein.

[0060] In 301, the UE device may receive RRC signaling from a base station, the RRC signaling indicating that a semi-static codebook is configured for HARQ-ACK feedback for both multicast and unicast. The RRC signaling also indicates that HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast is disabled.

[0061] In 302, by configuring the semi-static codebook using the time domain resource allocation (TDRA) for unicast, the UE device may generate a HARQ-ACK feedback report excluding the HARQ-ACK bits for multicast. Therefore, the UE device removes the HARQ-ACK bits for multicast from the HARQ-ACK feedback report, and then uses the TDRA table for unicast to determine the type 1 codebook size, thereby constructing a type 1 HARQ-ACK feedback codebook.

[0062] Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating a second example method for generating, by a UE device, a HARQ-ACK feedback report when HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast is disabled by DCI in accordance with aspects disclosed herein.

[0063] In 401, the UE device may receive RRC signaling from the BS, the RRC signaling indicating that a semi-static codebook is configured for HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast and unicast.

[0064] In 402, the UE device may receive DCI from the BS, the DCI indicating that HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast is disabled. The DCI may be DCI format 4_2 specifically for multicast services.

[0065] In 403, the UE device may generate a HARQ-ACK feedback report including HARQ-ACK feedback bits for multicast in a semi-static codebook configured with actual ACK or NACK feedback. The HARQ-ACK feedback may be ACK / NACK based HARQ feedback or NACK-only based HARQ feedback.

[0066] Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating a third example method for generating, by a UE device, a HARQ-ACK feedback report based on DCI received from a BS in accordance with aspects disclosed herein.

[0067] In 501, the UE may receive RRC signaling from the BS, the RRC signaling indicating that a semi-static codebook is configured for HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast.

[0068] In 502, the UE may receive DCI from the base station, the DCI indicating that HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast is not disabled when a semi-static codebook is configured via an indication field for HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast.

[0069] The DCI (e.g., DCI format 4_2) may include an enable / disable HARQ-ACK feedback indication field, which may indicate whether HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast is enabled or disabled. If the high-level parameter harq-FeedbackEnablerMulticast indicates dci-enabler, the enable / disable HARQ-ACK feedback indication field includes 1 bit; otherwise, it is 0 bits.

[0070] In some aspects, if the Type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook is configured, the UE may not expect the Enable / Disable HARQ-ACK Feedback Indication field in the DCI format to indicate disabled. In other words, the BS configures the HARQ-ACK Feedback Indication field to be enabled only.

[0071] In other aspects, the enable / disable HARQ-ACK feedback indication field is only applied to the type 2 codebook for multicast. That is, the enable / disable HARQ-ACK feedback indication field can be configured to indicate enablement or disablement for the type 2 codebook for multicast. However, for the type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook, the BS should not configure / include the HARQ-ACK feedback indication field in the DCI.

[0072] In 503, the UE may generate a HARQ-ACK feedback report including HARQ-ACK bits for multicast.

[0073] Construction of Type 1 HARQ-ACK feedback codebook for multiplexing multicast dynamic scheduling and multicast SPS

[0074] Multicast downlink scheduling may include multicast dynamic scheduling and multicast semi-persistent scheduling (SPS). Unlike dynamic scheduling that allocates radio resources to UEs per transmission time interval (TTI), SPS allows semi-static configuration of radio resources and periodic allocation of resources to UEs. Currently, HARQ-ACK enablement / disablement for multicast dynamic scheduling and for multicast semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) are separate UE features. Therefore, HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast dynamic scheduling and multicast SPS can be enabled / disabled separately. Figures 6 to 9 Operations of a UE or BS in various scenarios of enabling or disabling HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast dynamic scheduling or multicast SPS via RRC signaling or DCI are illustrated.

[0075] Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating a fourth example method for generating, by a UE device, a HARQ-ACK feedback report when ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast SPS is disabled via RRC signaling in accordance with aspects disclosed herein.

[0076] In 601, the UE may determine that it supports ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast dynamic scheduling and multicast SPS.

[0077] In 602, the UE may receive RRC signaling from the BS, the RRC signaling indicating that a semi-static codebook is configured for ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast dynamic scheduling and ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast SPS is disabled.

[0078] In 603, by configuring the semi-static codebook using TDRA for multicast, the UE may generate a HARQ-ACK feedback report excluding the HARQ-ACK bits for the multicast SPS. Therefore, the UE device removes the HARQ-ACK bits for the multicast SPS from the HARQ-ACK feedback report, and then uses the TDRA table for multicast to determine the type 1 codebook size, thereby constructing a type 1 HARQ-ACK feedback codebook.

[0079] Figure 7 is a flow chart illustrating a fifth example method for generating, by a UE device, a HARQ-ACK feedback report when ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast dynamic scheduling is disabled via RRC signaling in accordance with aspects disclosed herein.

[0080] In 701, the UE may determine that the UE device supports ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast dynamic scheduling and multicast SPS.

[0081] In 702, the UE may receive RRC signaling from the BS indicating that a semi-static codebook is configured for ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast SPS and ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast dynamic scheduling is disabled.

[0082] In 703, the UE may determine whether a unicast PDSCH is received.

[0083] In response to determining that the unicast PDSCH is not received, the UE may generate a HARQ-ACK feedback report including only HARQ-ACK bits for the multicast SPS in 704. That is, a fallback operation is performed for the type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook.

[0084] If a unicast PDSCH is received, a fallback operation is also performed for the type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook.

[0085] Figure 8 is a flow chart illustrating a sixth example method for generating, by a UE device, a HARQ-ACK feedback report when ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast SPS is disabled via DCI in accordance with aspects disclosed herein.

[0086] In 801, the UE may determine that it supports ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast dynamic scheduling and for multicast SPS.

[0087] In 802, the UE may receive RRC signaling from a BS indicating that a semi-static codebook is configured for HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast.

[0088] In 803 , the UE may receive a DCI from the BS, the DCI indicating that either ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast dynamic scheduling or ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast SPS is disabled.

[0089] In 804, the UE may generate a HARQ feedback report including ACK / NACK based HARQ bits or NACK-only based HARQ bits for multicast dynamic scheduling and for multicast SPS in the semi-static codebook configured by using actual ACK or NACK feedback.

[0090] In particular, if ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast SPS is disabled via DCI in SPS activation, HARQ-ACK (ie, ACK or NACK) for SPS is still generated in the codebook. Alternatively, NACK-only based HARQ bits for SPS are generated.

[0091] If ACK / NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast dynamic scheduling is disabled via DCI, the codebook construction is the same as when the feedback mode is ACK / NACK based HARQ feedback. That is, by using actual ACK or NACK feedback, ACK / NACK based HARQ bits for multicast dynamic scheduling are configured in a semi-static codebook.

[0092] The above aspects discuss various scenarios where HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast dynamic scheduling or for multicast SPS is disabled. However, according to other aspects, the UE may not expect the multicast dynamically scheduled PDSCH and the multicast SPS PDSCH to have different enable / disable configurations.

[0093] Fig. 9 is a flow chart illustrating a seventh example method for determining, by a UE device, a configuration for HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast in accordance with aspects disclosed herein.

[0094] In 901, the UE may determine that it supports ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast dynamic scheduling and for multicast SPS.

[0095] In 902, the UE may receive a message from a base station, the message indicating that both ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast dynamic scheduling and ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast SPS are enabled or both are disabled.

[0096] More than one bit for NACK-only based HARQ-ACK feedback

[0097] Typically, only one bit will be reported for NACK-only based feedback, and the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resources are shared among users. It has been proposed to support more than one NACK-only HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast in the same PUCCH transmission. Two operating modes for supporting more than one bit for NACK-only based HARQ-ACK feedback are discussed below: one operating mode is to transform the NACK-only based HARQ bits into ACK / NACK based HARQ bits, and the other operating mode is to use a predefined mapping rule to map the NACK-only based HARQ bits to the PUCCH resource set. The operating mode to be used for the UE is signaled via an RRC message. Fig.10 and Fig.11 Operation of the UE in either of two modes is shown.

[0098] Fig.10 is a flow chart illustrating an eighth example method for constructing a codebook by a UE device according to aspects disclosed herein.

[0099] In 1001, the UE may report to the BS the capability of the UE device to support the following operation mode: transforming NACK-only based HARQ feedback bits into ACK / NACK based HARQ feedback bits to support more than one bit for NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast.

[0100] In 1002, the UE may receive information about a codebook type configured for NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast for an operation mode from a BS.

[0101] The codebook type can be configured according to various strategies.

[0102] As option 1, a type 1 codebook or a type 2 codebook may be selectively determined with respect to NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast.

[0103] As option 2, the codebook type for NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast can be determined by the codebook type for ACK / NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast with the same priority (if configured). Two priority indexes are introduced for multicast of DCI format 4_2, where index 0 (index0) indicates low priority and index 1 (index1) indicates high priority.

[0104] As option 3, the codebook type used for NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast may be determined by depending on the codebook type used for HARQ-ACK feedback for unicast PDSCH having the same priority.

[0105] As option 4, a codebook type for NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast may be determined by combining option 1, option 2, or option 3 above.

[0106] As option 5, the UE may assume that a type 2 codebook will be applied in the case of a mode of transforming NACK-based HARQ bits to ACK / NACK-based HARQ bits. In other words, the UE may not need to receive information about a codebook type for NACK-based HARQ feedback for multicast from the BS.

[0107] In 1003 , according to the configured codebook type, the UE may construct a codebook for NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast in the same manner as the codebook for ACK / NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast.

[0108] Generally speaking, PUCCH resources for NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast are shared among users to be configured with the same G-RNTI.Since NACK-only based HARQ feedback falls back to ACK / NACK based HARQ feedback, the UE needs to adaptively determine the PUCCH resources to be used for transmitting the constructed codebook.

[0109] According to some aspects, a UE may receive a configuration of PUCCH resources from a BS, the configuration including two PUCCH resource sets for use by the UE: a first PUCCH resource set for NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast, and a second PUCCH resource set for ACK / NACK-based HARQ feedback for multicast. The DCI received by the UE may include a PUCCH resource indicator (PRI), which may indicate the PUCCH resources of the second PUCCH resource set if there are more than one bit for NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast, and the PRI is retained if there is one bit for NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast. Thus, the transformed ACK / NACK-based HARQ feedback may be transmitted by the UE using the second PUCCH resource set.

[0110] According to other aspects, the BS may not configure a set of PUCCH resources dedicated to NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast. Instead, the UE may use the PUCCH resources used for ACK / NACK-based HARQ feedback for NACK-only based HARQ feedback. In this case, the UE may receive a separate PUCCH-Config / PUCCH-ConfigurationList for NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast, or receive RRC signaling including a PUCCH configuration for ACK / NACK-based HARQ feedback for multicast (if configured). The PUCCH configuration for ACK / NACK-based HARQ feedback for multicast may be signaled via the RRC parameter pucch-Config-Multicast1, which indicates the PUCCH configuration for ACK / NACK-based HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast for one bandwidth part (BWP) of the normal UL or supplementary uplink (SUL) of the serving cell.

[0111] According to further aspects, the BS may not configure a set of PUCCH resources dedicated for NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast.Instead, the UE may use the PUCCH configuration for unicast for NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast.

[0112] Fig.11 is a flow chart illustrating a ninth example method for transmitting, by a UE device, a HARQ-ACK feedback report when an operation mode using a predefined mapping rule of NACK-only based HARQ bits to PUCCH resource sets is applied in accordance with various aspects disclosed herein.

[0113] In 1101, the UE may report to the BS the UE's ability to support the following operating mode: using a predefined mapping rule that defines the mapping between HARQ-ACK feedback bits for corresponding received TBs and multiple PUCCH resource sets to support more than one bit for NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast.

[0114] In 1102, the UE may receive RRC signaling from the BS indicating a PUCCH configuration for NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast. For example, the UE may receive an RRC parameter pucch-Config-Multicast2 indicating a PUCCH configuration for NACK-only based HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast for one BWP of a normal UL or SUL of a serving cell. It is UE-specific and configured per UL BWP.

[0115] In 1103, the UE may generate a HARQ feedback report including HARQ feedback bits including ACK or NACK bits for each scheduled TB. For example, if the BS transmits only one TB (e.g., TB1), then if the UE does not receive TB1, the UE will feedback NACK, and if the UE receives TB1, the UE will not feedback ACK. In other words, the UE performs HARQ-ACK feedback based on only NACK. But if the BS transmits two TBs (e.g., TB1 and TB2), there are three combinations of feedback bits, namely (N, N), (N, A) and (A, N). Even if there are ACKs, they still belong to HARQ-ACK feedback based on only NACK.

[0116] In 1104, the UE may select a PUCCH resource set from a plurality of PUCCH resource sets according to a predefined mapping rule. For the same PUCCH resource set in the predefined mapping rule, if one more TB is scheduled, a NACK bit is appended on top of one or more existing HARQ feedback bits. Table 1 below shows an example of a predefined mapping rule.

[0117] Table 1

[0118]

[0119]

[0120] In this table, up to 15 orthogonal PUCCH resources are defined for combinations of up to 4 TBs. TB1 is transmitted first, followed by TB2, TB3, TB4. Alternatively, a counter downlink allocation index (DAI) is used, and the TB is associated with a DAI index. In this table, A means ACK, and N means NACK or discontinuous transmission (DTX).

[0121] In this table, for the same PUCCH resource, if one more TB is scheduled, a NACK bit is appended to the existing HARQ feedback. Taking the first PUCCH resource as an example, one or more HARQ feedback bits are N for TB1, (N,N) for (TB1, TB2), (N,N,N) for (TB1, TB2, TB3), and (N,N,N,N) for (TB1, TB2, TB3, TB4).

[0122] This type of mapping has the benefit that if the last scheduled TB is DTX, i.e. the PDCCH is missed for that TB, the gNB can detect this error autonomously. For example, the gNB schedules three TBs but the UE misses the last TB. If the UE reports the second PUCCH resource as (N,A), the gNB will detect the second PUCCH resource and thus know that the third TB is also not correctly received by the UE.

[0123] In 1105, the UE may transmit a HARQ feedback report including HARQ feedback bits using the selected set of PUCCH resources.

[0124] For this operation mode, the maximum number of TBs to be supported is 4 TBs. When the number of scheduled TBs is greater than 4, the UE may report HARQ feedback bits only for the first 4 scheduled TBs. For the second option, the UE may consider this to be an error condition and use the sixteenth PUCCH resource for feedback. For the third option, the operation mode is switched to ACK / NACK-based HARQ feedback, i.e., the UE may generate a HARQ feedback report by transforming the NACK-only based HARQ feedback bits into ACK / NACK-based HARQ feedback bits. For the fourth option, the UE does not expect to be scheduled with more than 4 TBs, i.e., the BS should not schedule more than 4 TBs for NACK-only based feedback.

[0125] This mode of using predefined mapping rules for NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast can support only one G-RNTI or more than one G-RNTI. To support different number of G-RNTIs will result in different HARQ-ACK bits for PUCCH resource mapping.

[0126] According to some aspects, in this mode, for NACK-only based HARQ feedback, the UE is not expected to be configured with more than one G-RNTI. That is, in this mode, the BS shall configure at most one G-RNTI for the UE for NACK-only based HARQ feedback.

[0127] According to other aspects, the UE may support up to two G-RNTIs for NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast. In this case, each G-RNTI is associated with two TBs, as shown in Table 2 below.

[0128] Table 2

[0129]

[0130] In the table, the first G-RNTI (G-RNTI1) having a lower index among the two G-RNTIs is associated with the first two TBs among the four scheduled TBs, and the second G-RNTI (G-RNTI2) having a higher index among the two G-RNTIs is associated with the last two TBs among the four scheduled TBs.

[0131] Alternatively, the gNB may configure the association of the TB with the G-RNTI. The UE may receive the configuration of the association of the G-RNTI with the TB from the base station. If the UE device receives only the PDSCH associated with one G-RNTI, the UE reports the ACK bits for one or more TBs associated with another G-RNTI.

[0132] According to some further aspects, the UE may support more than two G-RNTIs for NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast. In this case, the UE may generate a HARQ feedback report by transforming the NACK-only based feedback bits into ACK / NACK based HARQ feedback bits, i.e., falling back to a mode of transforming the NACK-only based HARQ bits into ACK / NACK based HARQ bits.

[0133] To determine the total number of HARQ-ACK bits for either mode, the number of scheduled PDSCHs is counted using the Downlink Assignment Index (DAI) field. The gNB may communicate the DAI to the UE in the DCI.

[0134] In some aspects, the DAI may have two bits for NACK-only based HARQ feedback. The HARQ feedback bits may have the same total number as the value of the DAI.

[0135] In other aspects, the DAI may have four bits for NACK-only based HARQ feedback. The two most significant bits (MBS) of the four bits are used as a counter DAI indicating the count of scheduled PDSCHs for the current G-RNTI, and the two least significant bits (LBS) of the four bits are used as a total DAI indicating the total count of scheduled PDSCHs for all G-RNTIs. The HARQ feedback bits may have the same total number as the value of the total DAI.

[0136] The number of bits contained in the DAI may be defined as follows. If more than one serving cell is configured in DL for multicast and the higher layer parameter pdsch-HARQ-ACK-Codebook-Multicast indicates dynamic, it may include 4 bits, of which 2 MSB bits are counter DAI and 2 LSB bits are total DAI. If only one serving cell is configured in DL for multicast and the higher layer parameter pdsch-HARQ-ACK-Codebook-Multicast indicates dynamic, it may include 2 bits, of which 2 bits are counter DAI. Otherwise, it includes 0 bits.

[0137] Special domain bundling in time slots can be applied to the above-mentioned mode of NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast to reduce the reported HARQ-ACK bit overhead. For example, the HARQ bits for TB1 and TB2 in DCI format 4_2 are bundled together, that is, an "AND" operation is applied. In this case, the UE device can support NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast for up to 8 scheduled TBs.

[0138] Embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus including means for performing one or more elements of one or more methods discussed above. The apparatus may be, for example, an apparatus of a UE (such as wireless device 202 as a UE, as described herein).

[0139] The embodiments contemplated herein include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, which include instructions that, when one or more processors of an electronic device execute the instructions, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of one or more methods as described above. The non-transitory computer-readable medium can be, for example, a memory of a UE (such as the memory 206 of the wireless device 202 as a UE, as described herein).

[0140] The embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus including a logical component, module, or circuit system for performing one or more elements of one or more methods as above. The apparatus may be, for example, an apparatus of a UE (such as a wireless device 202 as a UE, as described herein).

[0141] Embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media, the computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more elements of one or more methods as described above. The apparatus may be, for example, an apparatus of a UE (such as a wireless device 202 as a UE, as described herein).

[0142] Embodiments contemplated herein include a signal as described in or associated with one or more elements of one or more methods as above.

[0143] The embodiments contemplated herein include a computer program or computer program product including instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processor causes the processor to perform one or more elements of one or more methods as above. The processor may be a processor of a UE (such as the processor 204 of the wireless device 202 as a UE, as described herein). These instructions may be located, for example, in a processor and / or on a memory of a UE (such as the memory 206 of the wireless device 202 as a UE, as described herein).

[0144] Embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus including means for performing one or more elements of one or more methods as described above. The apparatus may be, for example, an apparatus of a base station (such as network device 218 as a base station, as described herein).

[0145] The embodiments contemplated herein include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, which include instructions that, when one or more processors of an electronic device execute the instructions, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of one or more methods as above. The non-transitory computer-readable medium can be, for example, a memory of a base station (such as the memory 222 of the network device 218 as a base station, as described herein).

[0146] The embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus including a logical component, module, or circuit system for performing one or more elements of one or more methods as above. The apparatus may be, for example, an apparatus of a base station (such as a network device 218 as a base station, as described herein).

[0147] Embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media, the computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more elements of one or more methods as described above. The apparatus may be, for example, an apparatus of a base station (such as network device 218 as a base station, as described herein).

[0148] Embodiments contemplated herein include a signal as described in or associated with one or more elements of one or more methods as above.

[0149] The embodiments contemplated herein include a computer program or computer program product including instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element causes the processing element to perform one or more elements of one or more methods as above. The processor may be a processor of a base station (such as processor 220 of network device 218 as a base station, as described herein). These instructions may be located, for example, in a processor and / or in a memory of a UE (such as memory 222 of network device 218 as a base station, as described herein).

[0150] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components set forth in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods as described herein. For example, a baseband processor as described herein in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples set forth herein. For another example, a circuit system associated with a UE, a base station, a network element, etc. as described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples set forth herein.

[0151] Unless otherwise expressly stated, any of the above embodiments may be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments). The foregoing description of one or more specific implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. In view of the above teachings, modifications and variations are possible or can be obtained from the practice of various embodiments.

[0152] Embodiments and implementations of the systems and methods described herein may include various operations that may be embodied in machine executable instructions to be executed by a computer system. A computer system may include one or more general or special purpose computers (or other electronic devices). A computer system may include hardware components that include specific logic components for performing operations; or may include a combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0153] It should be appreciated that the systems described herein include descriptions of specific embodiments. These embodiments may be combined into a single system, partially combined into other systems, separated into multiple systems, or otherwise divided or combined. In addition, it is contemplated that parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. of another embodiment may be used in one embodiment. For clarity, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. are described only in one or more embodiments, and it should be appreciated that these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. may be combined with or substituted for parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. of another embodiment unless expressly stated herein.

[0154] 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 the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0155] Although the foregoing has been described in considerable detail for the sake of clarity, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be made without departing from the principles of the invention. It should be noted that there are many alternative ways to implement both the processes and the apparatus described herein. Therefore, the embodiments of the present invention should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive, and the specification is not limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A user equipment (UE) device, the UE device include: at least one antenna; at least one radio coupled to the at least one antenna and configured to perform wireless communications using at least one radio access technology; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being coupled to the at least one radio component, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE device to: receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling from a base station, the RRC signaling indicating that a semi-static codebook is configured for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) feedback for both multicast and unicast and that HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast is disabled; as well as A HARQ-ACK feedback report excluding HARQ-ACK bits for the multicast is generated by configuring the semi-static codebook using a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) for the unicast.

2. A user equipment (UE) device, the UE device include: at least one antenna; at least one radio coupled to the at least one antenna and configured to perform wireless communications using at least one radio access technology; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being coupled to the at least one radio component, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE device to: receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling from a base station indicating that a semi-static codebook is configured for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) feedback for both multicast and unicast; receiving downlink control information (DCI) from the base station, the DCI indicating that HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast is disabled; as well as A HARQ-ACK feedback report is generated, the HARQ-ACK feedback report including ACK / negative acknowledgement (NACK) based HARQ-ACK bits for the multicast or NACK-only based HARQ-ACK bits for the multicast in the semi-static codebook configured by using actual ACK or NACK feedback.

3. A user equipment (UE) device, the UE device include: at least one antenna; at least one radio coupled to the at least one antenna and configured to perform wireless communications using at least one radio access technology; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being coupled to the at least one radio component, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE device to: receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling from a base station, the RRC signaling indicating that a semi-static codebook is configured for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) feedback for multicast; receiving downlink control information (DCI) from the base station, the DCI indicating that HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast is not disabled when the semi-static codebook is configured via an indication field for HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast; and A HARQ-ACK feedback report is generated, the HARQ-ACK feedback report comprising HARQ-ACK bits for the multicast.

4. The UE device according to claim 3, wherein when the semi-static codebook is configured, the DCI includes the indication field configured to be enabled.

5. The UE device according to claim 3, wherein when the semi-static codebook is configured, the DCI does not include the indication field.

6. A user equipment (UE) device, the UE device include: at least one antenna; at least one radio coupled to the at least one antenna and configured to perform wireless communications using at least one radio access technology; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being coupled to the at least one radio component, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE device to: Determining that the UE device supports ACK / NACK based hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback for multicast dynamic scheduling and multicast semi-persistent scheduling (SPS); receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling from a base station, the RRC signaling indicating that a semi-static codebook is configured for the ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for the multicast dynamic scheduling and the ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for the multicast SPS is disabled; and A HARQ-ACK feedback report excluding HARQ-ACK bits for the multicast SPS is generated by configuring the semi-static codebook using a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) for multicast.

7. A user equipment (UE) device, the UE device include: at least one antenna; at least one radio coupled to the at least one antenna and configured to perform wireless communications using at least one radio access technology; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being coupled to the at least one radio component, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE device to: Determining that the UE device supports ACK / NACK based hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback for multicast dynamic scheduling and multicast semi-persistent scheduling (SPS); receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling from a base station, the RRC signaling indicating that a semi-static codebook is configured for the ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for the multicast SPS and the ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for the multicast dynamic scheduling is disabled; determining whether a unicast physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is received; In response to determining that the unicast PDSCH is not received, a HARQ-ACK feedback report including only HARQ-ACK bits for the multicast SPS is generated.

8. A user equipment (UE) device, the UE device include: at least one antenna; at least one radio coupled to the at least one antenna and configured to perform wireless communications using at least one radio access technology; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being coupled to the at least one radio component, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE device to: Determining that the UE device supports ACK / NACK based hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback for multicast dynamic scheduling and multicast semi-persistent scheduling (SPS); receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling from a base station, the RRC signaling indicating that a semi-static codebook is configured for HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast; receiving downlink control information (DCI) from the base station, the DCI indicating that the ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for the multicast dynamic scheduling or the ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for the multicast SPS is disabled; and A HARQ-ACK feedback report is generated, the HARQ-ACK feedback report including ACK / NACK based HARQ bits for the multicast dynamic scheduling and for the multicast SPS in the semi-static codebook configured by using actual ACK or NACK feedback.

9. A UE device according to claim 8, wherein the DCI is carried in an SPS activation message to indicate that the ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast SPS is disabled, or the DCI is carried in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to indicate that the ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast SPS is disabled.

10. A UE device according to claim 9, wherein when the DCI is carried in an SPS activation message to indicate that the ACK-NACK based HARQ feedback for the multicast SPS is disabled, the HARQ-ACK feedback report includes NACK-only based HARQ bits for the multicast SPS instead of ACK / NACK based HARQ bits.

11. A user equipment (UE) device, the UE device include: at least one antenna; at least one radio coupled to the at least one antenna and configured to perform wireless communications using at least one radio access technology; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being coupled to the at least one radio component, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE device to: Determining that the UE device supports ACK / NACK based hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback for multicast dynamic scheduling and multicast semi-persistent scheduling (SPS); as well as A message is received from a base station, the message indicating that both the ACK / NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast dynamic scheduling and the ACK / NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast SPS are enabled or both are disabled.

12. A user equipment (UE) device, the UE device include: at least one antenna; at least one radio coupled to the at least one antenna and configured to perform wireless communications using at least one radio access technology; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being coupled to the at least one radio component, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE device to: Reporting to a base station the capability of the UE device to support the following operation mode: transforming a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback bit based on negative acknowledgement (NACK) only into an acknowledgement (ACK) / NACK based HARQ feedback bit to support more than one bit for NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast; receiving, from the base station, information about a codebook type configured for the operating mode for the NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast; as well as According to the configured codebook type, a codebook for the NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast is constructed in the same manner as a codebook for the ACK / NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast.

13. The UE device according to claim 12, wherein the codebook type is configured according to one of the following: 1) selectively determining a semi-static codebook or a dynamic codebook for the NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast; 2) determining the codebook type for the NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast to be the same as the codebook type for the ACK / NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast having the same priority; 3) determining the codebook type for the NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast to be the same as the codebook type for HARQ-ACK feedback for a unicast physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) with the same priority; or 4) A combination of 1), 2) or 3).

14. The UE device according to claim 12, wherein the codebook type used for the NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast is configured by the UE device as a dynamic codebook by default.

15. The UE device according to claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE device to: A configuration of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource is received from the base station, wherein the PUCCH resource includes a set of PUCCH resources for the NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast and a set of PUCCH resources for the ACK / NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast.

16. The UE device according to claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE device to: receiving a configuration of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource from the base station; and According to the configuration of the PUCCH resources, a set of PUCCH resources for the ACK / NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast to be used for the NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast is determined.

17. The UE device of claim 16, wherein the determining comprises receiving a separate PUCCH configuration parameter for the NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast, or receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling including a PUCCH configuration for the ACK / NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast.

18. The UE device according to claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE device to: A physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) configuration for unicast is applied to the NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast.

19. The UE device according to claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE device to: A PUCCH resource indicator (PRI) is received in downlink control information (DCI), wherein the PRI indicates the PUCCH resource set used for the ACK / NACK based HARQ feedback for multicast when more than one bit is present for the NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast, and the PRI is reserved when one bit is present for the NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast.

20. A user equipment (UE) device, the UE device include: at least one antenna; at least one radio coupled to the at least one antenna and configured to perform wireless communications using at least one radio access technology; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being coupled to the at least one radio component, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE device to: reporting to a base station a capability of the UE device to support the following operating mode: using a predefined mapping rule that defines a mapping between one or more hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback bits for corresponding received one or more transport blocks (TBs) and a plurality of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource sets to support more than one bit for negative acknowledgement (NACK)-only based HARQ feedback for multicast; receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling from the base station, the RRC signaling indicating a PUCCH configuration for the NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast; generating a HARQ feedback report including HARQ feedback bits, the HARQ feedback bits including an ACK or NACK bit for each scheduled TB; selecting a PUCCH resource set from the multiple PUCCH resource sets according to the predefined mapping rule, wherein for a specific PUCCH resource set in the predefined mapping rule, if one TB is rescheduled, appending a NACK bit on top of one or more existing HARQ feedback bits; and The HARQ feedback report is transmitted using the selected PUCCH resource set.

21. The UE device of claim 20, wherein the NACK bit indicates NACK or discontinuous transmission (DTX).

22. The UE device of claim 20, wherein the UE device supports the NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast for up to 4 scheduled TBs.

23. The UE device according to claim 22, wherein when the number of the scheduled TBs is greater than 4, the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE device to perform one of the following: Report the HARQ feedback bits for the first 4 scheduled TBs; reporting an error by using an additional set of PUCCH resources other than the plurality of sets of PUCCH resources; The HARQ feedback report is generated by transforming the NACK-only based HARQ feedback bits into ACK / NACK based HARQ feedback bits.

24. The UE device of claim 22, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE device to support a Group Radio Network Temporary Identifier (G-RNTI) for the NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast.

25. The UE device of claim 22, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to enable the UE device to support up to two group radio network temporary identifiers (G-RNTIs) for the NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast, and wherein each G-RNTI is associated with two TBs.

26. A UE device according to claim 25, wherein a first G-RNTI with a lower index among the two G-RNTIs is associated with first two TBs among the four scheduled TBs, and a second G-RNTI with a higher index among the two G-RNTIs is associated with last two TBs among the four scheduled TBs.

27. The UE device of claim 25, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE device to receive a configuration of an association of a G-RNTI with a TB from the base station.

28. The UE device of claim 27, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE device to: If the UE device receives only a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) associated with one G-RNTI, ACK bits for one or more TBs associated with another G-RNTI are reported.

29. A UE device according to claim 22, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to enable the UE device to support more than two group radio network temporary identifiers (G-RNTIs) for the NACK-only based HARQ feedback for multicast, and generate the HARQ feedback report by transforming the NACK-only based feedback bits into the ACK / NACK based HARQ feedback bits.

30. A UE device according to claim 20, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE device to receive a downlink allocation index (DAI) in the downlink control information (DCI), wherein the DAI has two bits and indicates a count of scheduled physical downlink shared channels (PDSCH), and wherein the HARQ feedback bits have a total number that is the same as the value of the DAI.

31. A UE device according to claim 20, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to enable the UE device to receive a downlink allocation index (DAI) in downlink control information (DCI), wherein the DAI has four bits, the two most significant bits (MBS) of the four bits indicate the count of physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) used for scheduling of a current group radio network temporary identifier (G-RNTI), the two least significant bits (LBS) of the four bits indicate the total count of PDSCHs used for scheduling of all G-RNTIs, and wherein the HARQ feedback bits have a total number that is the same as the value of the total count.

32. A UE device according to claim 20, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to enable the UE device to perform special domain bundling in a time slot on the generated HARQ feedback bits, and wherein the UE device supports the NACK-only based HARQ feedback for the multicast for up to 8 scheduled TBs.

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