Method, communication device and infrastructure equipment

Abstract

A method of operating a communication device configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from a wireless communication network via a radio wireless interface provided by the wireless communication network is provided. The method comprises determining that a communication device has uplink data to be transmitted to a wireless communication network, determining, independently of the wireless communication network, a plurality of periodically occurring instances of uplink resources of a radio wireless interface in which the uplink data is to be transmitted, each instance of the uplink resources comprises at least a data resource, in at least one of the instances of the uplink resources, transmitting a first portion of the uplink data and the full control information to the wireless communication network, and in at least one other of the instances of the uplink resources, transmitting a second portion of the uplink data and the full control information to the wireless communication network. The second portion of the uplink data and the partial control information are transmitted to the wireless communication network. Here, the full control information indicates a value of each of a plurality of scheduling parameters according to which a first portion of the uplink data is to be transmitted, and the partial control information indicates a value of one or more of the plurality of scheduling parameters according to which a second portion of the uplink data is to be transmitted. A second portion of the uplink data is to be transmitted according to one or more scheduling parameters, where at least one of the values indicated by the partial control information is a changed value.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to communication devices, infrastructure equipment, and methods for more efficiently operating communication devices in a wireless communication network.

[0002] This application claims the Paris Convention priority of European patent application No. EP22180836.3 filed on June 23, 2022, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Background Art

[0003] The "background" description provided herein is to generally present the context of the present disclosure. To the extent described in this background section, the work of the presently named inventors and aspects of the description that may not have been considered prior art at the time of filing are neither explicitly nor implicitly admitted to be prior art against the present invention.

[0004] Last generation mobile telecommunication systems (e.g., those based on the UMTS and Long Term Evolution (LTE) architectures defined by 3GPP) are capable of supporting a wider range of services than the simple voice and messaging services provided by previous generations of mobile telecommunication systems. For example, through the improved radio interface and enhanced data rates provided by LTE systems, users are able to enjoy high data rate applications, such as mobile video streaming and mobile video conferencing, which were previously only available via fixed line data connections. As a result, there is a great demand for the deployment of such networks, and the coverage areas of these networks (i.e., the geographic locations where the networks can be accessed) are expected to continue to increase rapidly.

[0005] It is expected that current and future wireless communication networks routinely and efficiently support communications with a wider range of devices than current systems are optimized to support, which are associated with a wider range of data traffic profiles and types. For example, it is expected that future wireless communication networks will efficiently support communications with devices, including reduced complexity devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, high-resolution video displays, virtual reality headsets, extended reality (XR), etc. Some of these different types of devices may be deployed in large quantities, for example, low-complexity devices used to support the "Internet of Things", and may generally be associated with the transmission of smaller amounts of data with higher delay tolerance. Other types of devices, such as those supporting high-definition video streaming, may be associated with the transmission of relatively large amounts of data with relatively low delay tolerance. Other types of devices, such as those used for autonomous vehicle communications and for other critical applications, may be characterized by data that should be transmitted over the network with low latency and high reliability. Depending on the application being run, a single device type may also be associated with different traffic profiles / characteristics. For example, different considerations may apply to effectively support data exchange with a smartphone when it is running a video streaming application (high downlink data) compared to when the smartphone is running an Internet browsing application (sporadic uplink and downlink data) or is being used for voice communications by emergency responders in an emergency situation (data subject to strict reliability and latency requirements).

[0006] In view of this, current wireless communication networks, such as those that may be referred to as 5G or New Radio (NR) systems / New Radio Access Technology (RAT) systems, or indeed future 6G wireless communications, as well as future iterations / versions of existing systems, are expected to support connectivity for a wide range of devices efficiently associated with different applications and different feature data service profiles and requirements.

[0007] One example of a new service is called an Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) service, which, as the name implies, requires data units or packets to be communicated with high reliability and low communication latency. Another example of a new service is Extended Reality (XR), which can be provided by various user devices such as wearable devices. XR combines the real world and the virtual environment, combining aspects such as augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR) and virtual reality (VR), and therefore requires high quality and minimized interaction latency. Therefore, services such as URLLC and XR represent a challenging example for both LTE-type communication systems and 5G / NR communication systems, as well as future generation communication systems.

[0008] The increasing use of different types of network infrastructure equipment and terminal devices associated with different traffic profiles presents new challenges for efficiently handling communications in wireless communication systems that need to be addressed. Summary of the invention

[0009] The present disclosure may help solve or alleviate at least some of the problems discussed above.

[0010] Embodiments of the present technology may provide a method for operating a communication device, which is configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from a wireless communication network via a radio wireless interface provided by the wireless communication network. The method includes: determining that the communication device has uplink data to be transmitted to the wireless communication network; independently of the wireless communication network, determining multiple periodically occurring instances of uplink resources of the radio wireless interface in which the uplink data is to be transmitted, wherein each of the instances of the uplink resources includes at least a data resource; in at least one instance of the instances of the uplink resources, transmitting a first portion of the uplink data and full control information to the wireless communication network; and in at least one other instance of the instances of the uplink resources, transmitting a second portion of the uplink data and partial control information to the wireless communication network. Here, the full control information indicates the value of each of a plurality of scheduling parameters, according to which the first portion of the uplink data will be transmitted, and the partial control information indicates the value of one or more scheduling parameters of a plurality of scheduling parameters, according to which the second portion of the uplink data will be transmitted, wherein at least one of the values ​​indicated by the partial control information is a changed value.

[0011] In addition to methods for operating communication devices, embodiments of the present technology also relate to methods for operating infrastructure equipment, communication devices and infrastructure equipment, circuits for communication devices and infrastructure equipment, wireless communication systems, computer programs, and computer-readable storage media, which can allow communication devices operating in a wireless communication network to use radio resources more efficiently.

[0012] Various aspects and features of the present disclosure are defined in the appended claims.

[0013] It should be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are illustrative rather than restrictive of the present technology. The described embodiments and further advantages will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] A more complete understanding of the present disclosure and many of its attendant advantages will be readily obtained by referring to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which:

[0015] Figure 1 schematically represents some aspects of an LTE-type wireless telecommunications system that may be configured to operate in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0016] Figure 2 schematically represents some aspects of a new radio access technology (RAT) wireless telecommunications system that may be configured to operate in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0017] Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of exemplary infrastructure equipment and communications devices that may be configured to operate in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0018] Figure 4 shows how separate spatial layer resources can be allocated to different UEs;

[0019] Figure 5 It shows how separate frequency domain resources can be allocated to different UEs;

[0020] Figure 6 shows how separate time domain resources can be allocated to different UEs;

[0021] Figure 7 An example of pre-allocated dedicated resources for UE-based scheduling is shown, which includes separate control resources and data resources;

[0022] Figure 8 A partially schematic, partially message flow diagram representation of a wireless communication system including a communication apparatus and infrastructure equipment according to an embodiment of the present technology is shown;

[0023] Fig. 9 An example of adaption of the control information (payload) size based on UE scheduling according to an embodiment of the present technology is shown; and

[0024] Fig.10 A flowchart showing a communication process in a communication system according to an embodiment of the present technology is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] Long Term Evolution Advanced Radio Access Technology (4G)

[0026] Figure 1 A schematic diagram is provided showing some basic functions of a mobile telecommunication network / system 6, which typically operates according to LTE principles, but may also support other radio access technologies, and may be suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure described herein. Figure 1Certain aspects of the various elements and their corresponding operating modes are well known and defined in the relevant standards managed by the 3GPP (RTM) body and are also described in a number of books on the subject, for example, Holma H. ​​and Toskala A [1]. It should be understood that operational aspects of the telecommunications network not specifically described herein (e.g., regarding specific communication protocols and physical channels used for communication between different elements) may be implemented in accordance with any known techniques, for example, in accordance with the relevant standards and known proposed modifications and additions to the relevant standards.

[0027] The network 6 comprises a plurality of base stations 1 connected to a core network 2. Each base station provides a coverage area 3 (ie, a cell) within which data can be communicated with a communication device 4. Although each base station 1 is Figure 1 Although shown as a single entity in the figure, those skilled in the art will appreciate that some functions of a base station may be performed by different, interconnected elements, such as an antenna (or antennas), a remote radio head, amplifiers, etc. In general, one or more base stations may form a radio access network.

[0028] Data is transmitted from the base station 1 to the communication device 4 within its corresponding coverage area 3 via a radio downlink. Data is transmitted from the communication device 4 to the base station 1 via a radio uplink. The core network 2 routes data to and from the communication device 4 via the corresponding base station 1, and provides functions such as authentication, mobility management, billing, etc. The terminal device may also be referred to as a mobile station, user equipment (UE), user terminal, mobile radio, communication device, etc. The services provided by the core network 2 may include a connection to the Internet or to an external telephone service. The core network 2 may further track the location of the communication device 4 so that it can effectively contact (i.e., page) the communication device 4 for transmitting downlink data to the communication device 4.

[0029] A base station is an example of a network infrastructure device, which may also be referred to as a transceiver station, nodeB, e-nodeB, eNB, g-nodeB, gNB, etc. In this regard, different terms are often associated with different generations of wireless telecommunication systems for elements that provide broadly comparable functionality. However, certain embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented equally in different generations of wireless telecommunication systems, and for simplicity, specific terms may be used regardless of the underlying network architecture. That is, the use of specific terms in connection with specific example embodiments is not intended to indicate that these implementations are limited to the specific generation of networks to which the specific terms are most associated.

[0030] New radio access technology (5G)

[0031] like Figure 2An exemplary configuration of a wireless communication network is shown using some of the terminology proposed and used for NR and 5G. Figure 2 In the figure, a plurality of transmission and reception points (TRPs) 10 are connected to distribution control units (DUs) 41, 42 via connection interfaces represented by lines 16. Each of the TRPs 10 is arranged to transmit and receive signals via a wireless access interface within a radio frequency bandwidth available to the wireless communication network. Therefore, within a range for performing radio communications via the wireless access interface, each of the TRPs 10 forms a cell of the wireless communication network represented by a circle 12. In this way, a wireless communication device 14 within the radio communication range provided by the cell 12 can transmit and receive signals to and from the TRP 10 via the wireless access interface. Each of the distribution units 41, 42 is connected to a central unit (CU) 40 (which may be referred to as a control node) via an interface 46. The central unit 40 is then connected to a core network 20, which may contain all other functions required for transmitting data for communicating with wireless communication devices, and the core network 20 may be connected to other networks 30.

[0032] Figure 2 The elements of the wireless access network shown in FIG. 1 may be used in the same manner as described with respect to FIG. Figure 1 The corresponding elements of the LTE network described in the examples operate in a similar manner. It will be appreciated that Figure 2 Operational aspects of the represented telecommunications network, as well as operational aspects of other networks discussed herein according to embodiments of the present disclosure, which are not described in detail (e.g., with respect to specific communication protocols and physical channels used for communication between different elements), may be implemented in accordance with any known techniques, for example, in accordance with currently used methods for implementing such operational aspects of wireless telecommunications systems, for example in accordance with relevant standards.

[0033] Figure 2 The TRP 10 of the new RAT network may have, in part, functionality corresponding to a base station or eNodeB of an LTE network. Similarly, the communication device 14 may have functionality corresponding to a UE device 4 known for operation on an LTE network. It will therefore be understood that operational aspects of the new RAT network (e.g., with respect to specific communication protocols and physical channels used for communication between different elements) may differ from those known from LTE or other known mobile telecommunication standards. However, it will also be understood that each of the core network components, base stations, and communication devices of the new RAT network will be functionally similar to the core network components, base stations, and communication devices of the LTE wireless communication network, respectively.

[0034] In terms of broad top-level functionality, Figure 2 The core network 20 shown connected to the new RAT telecommunication system may be broadly considered to correspond to Figure 1The core network 2 shown, and the central unit and its associated distributed units / TRP 10 can be broadly considered to provide corresponding Figure 1 The term network infrastructure equipment / access node may be used to encompass both these elements of a wireless telecommunications system and more conventional base station type elements. Depending on the application at hand, the responsibility for scheduling transmissions scheduled over the radio interface between the respective distributed units and the communication devices may lie with the control node / central unit and / or the distributed units / TRP. Figure 2 In FIG. 1 , a communication device 14 is represented within the coverage area of ​​the first communication cell 12. The communication device 14 can therefore exchange signaling with a first central unit 40 in the first communication cell 12 via one distributed unit / TRP 10 associated with the first communication cell 12.

[0035] It should also be understood that Figure 2 It only represents one example of a proposed architecture of a new RAT-based telecommunication system, in which the method according to the principles described herein may be employed, and the functionalities disclosed herein may also be applied to wireless telecommunication systems having different architectures.

[0036] Thus, certain embodiments of the present disclosure discussed herein may be implemented in accordance with a variety of different architectures (e.g., Figure 1 and 2 The example architecture shown) is implemented in a wireless telecommunications system / network. Therefore, it should be understood that the specific wireless telecommunications architecture in any given implementation is not of primary significance to the principles described herein. In this regard, certain embodiments of the present disclosure may be generally described in the context of communications between network infrastructure equipment / access nodes and communication devices, wherein the specific nature of the network infrastructure equipment / access nodes and communication devices will depend on the network infrastructure to be implemented. For example, in some cases, the network infrastructure equipment / access nodes may include base stations, such as, Figure 1 The illustrated LTE-type base station 1 is suitable for providing functionality according to the principles described herein, and in other examples, network infrastructure equipment may include Figure 2 A control unit / control node 40 and / or TRP 10 of the type shown is suitable for providing functionality according to the principles described herein.

[0037] Figure 3 Provided Figure 2 A more detailed diagram of some of the network components shown in . Figure 3 In Figure 2The illustrated TRP 10 includes, as a simplified representation, a wireless transmitter 30, a wireless receiver 32, and a controller or control processor 34, which is operable to control the transmitter 30 and the wireless receiver 32 to transmit and receive radio signals to one or more UEs 14 within the cell 12 formed by the TRP 10. Figure 3 As shown, the example UE 14 is shown to include a corresponding transmitter 49, a receiver 48 and a controller 44, and the controller 44 is configured to control the transmitter 49 and the receiver 48 to transmit signals representing uplink data to the wireless communication network via the wireless access interface formed by the TRP 10, and to receive downlink data as signals transmitted by the transmitter 30 and received by the receiver 48 according to normal operation.

[0038] Transmitters 30, 49 and receivers 32, 48 (as well as other transmitters, receivers, and transceivers described with respect to examples and embodiments of the present disclosure) may include radio frequency filters and amplifiers as well as signal processing components and devices to transmit and receive radio signals in accordance with, for example, 5G / NR standards. Controllers 34, 44 (as well as other controllers described with respect to examples and embodiments of the present disclosure) may be, for example, microprocessors, CPUs, or dedicated chipsets, etc., configured to execute instructions stored on a computer-readable medium (e.g., non-volatile memory). The processing steps described herein may be performed by, for example, a microprocessor in combination with a random access memory, operating in accordance with instructions stored on a computer-readable medium. For ease of representation, the transmitters, receivers, and controllers are shown in FIG. Figure 3 Schematically shown as separate elements in the figure. However, it should be understood that the functions of these elements can be provided in various different ways, for example, using one or more appropriately programmed programmable computers or one or more appropriately configured application specific integrated circuits / circuitry / chips / chip sets. It should be understood that the infrastructure equipment / TRP / base station and UE / communication device will typically include various other elements associated with their operating functions.

[0039] like Figure 3 As shown, the TRP 10 also includes a network interface 50 connected to the DU 42 via the physical interface 16. Thus, the network interface 50 provides a communication link for data and signaling traffic from the TRP 10 via the DU 42 and the CU 40 to the core network 20.

[0040] The interface 46 between the DU 42 and the CU 40 is referred to as the F1 interface, which may be a physical interface or a logical interface. The F1 interface 46 between the CU and the DU may operate in accordance with the specifications 3GPP TS 38.470 and 3GPP TS 38.473, and may be formed by optical fiber or other wired or wireless high-bandwidth connections. In one example, the connection 16 from the TRP 10 to the DU 42 is connected via an optical fiber. The connection between the TRP 10 and the core network 20 may generally be referred to as a backhaul, which includes an interface 16 from the network interface 50 of the TRP 10 to the DU 42 and an F1 interface 46 from the DU 42 to the CU 40.

[0041] URLLC and eURLLC

[0042] Systems using NR technology are expected to support different services (or service types), which may be characterized by different requirements for latency, data rate and / or reliability. For example, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services are characterized by high capacity and require support for up to 20Gb / s. Requirements for ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC) services are: transmission of a 32-byte packet from the radio protocol layer 2 / 3 SDU ingress point to the radio protocol layer 2 / 3 SDU egress point of the radio interface within 1ms, with a reliability of 1-10 -5 (99.999%) or higher 99.9999%[2].

[0043] Massive machine type communications (mMTC) is another example of a service that can be supported by NR-based communication networks. In addition, the system is expected to support further enhancements related to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to support new requirements for high availability, high reliability, low latency, and in some cases, high-precision positioning.

[0044] In 5G systems, enhanced URLLC (eURLLC) [3] specifies features that require high reliability and low latency, such as factory automation, transportation, power distribution, etc. eURLLC is further enhanced to IIoT-URLLC [4], one of the goals of which is to enhance UE feedback for hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) for physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmissions.

[0045] Future 6G wireless communications

[0046] As described above, several generations of mobile communications have been standardized worldwide so far, with each generation taking about ten years from launch to development and launch of another new generation. For example, several generations of mobile communications have evolved from Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) (2G) to Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) (3G), from WCDMA (3G) to LTE (4G), and recently from LTE (4G) to NR (5G).

[0047] The latest generation of mobile communications is 5G, as referenced above Figure 2 and Figure 3 As discussed in the example configurations of , a number of additional features have been incorporated into the different releases to provide new services and capabilities. Such services include eMBB, IIoT, and URLLC as described above, but also include services such as 2-step random access (RACH), license-free NR (NR-U), cross-link interference (CLI) handling for time division duplex (TDD), positioning, small data transfer (SDT), multicast and broadcast service (MBS), low capacity UE, vehicular communication (V2X), integrated access and backhaul (IAB), UE energy saving, non-terrestrial network (NTN), NR operation up to 71GHz, IoT on NTN, non-public network (NPN), and radio access network (RAN) slicing.

[0048] However, as with every decade, a new generation (e.g., 6G) is expected to be developed and deployed in the near future (around 2030) and is expected to provide new services and capabilities that the current 5G cannot provide.

[0049] One of the research areas for future mobile communication networks is uplink (UL) scheduling enhancement, which is expected to be needed due to the increase in the number of services that require low-latency communication and high reliability, as well as high-throughput UL data transmission from terminals, such as tactile Internet, audio-video live production, and extended reality (XR). In essence, it is proposed that the mobile terminal should be able to schedule unrestricted UL resources as soon as data arrives in its buffer for transmission, taking into account link adaptation parameters to ensure that the transmission is mostly successful.

[0050] A typical use case (e.g., for broadcast TV production) is a camera that transmits a video stream using a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) / Internet Protocol (IP) protocol stack. In layer 2 of this protocol stack (L2), the Radio Link Control - Unacknowledged Mode (RLC-UM) mode will be configured for UDP. Therefore, dedicated (and possibly regular) resources may be configured by the network using techniques such as periodic UL grants or configured grants. Such techniques have already been developed and are available.

[0051] As an example scenario, there may be a video algorithm that requires that if the view does not change, the camera does not transmit any uplink video frames. But once the view changes, the video codec will have data available for transmission in the L2 buffer. If relying on traditional techniques, the camera / UE must request UL resources before transmitting on the uplink. This may involve additional signaling and latency, which is detrimental to real-time production.

[0052] In this case, the UE must wait for an UL time slot to send a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) including a scheduling request (SR), and then must wait again for the network to receive the SR, allocate resources for the UE, and indicate the resource allocation within the downlink control information (DCI) carried by the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). In addition, the network does not necessarily know how much data is in the UE's buffer, so it can only schedule the UE for limited data until the UE sends a buffer status report (BSR) via, for example, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), and must wait again to schedule a larger amount of data based on the BSR.

[0053] Further aspects of UL scheduling may be found in co-pending European patent application published under number EP3837895 [5], the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0054] Link Adaptation in Existing Mobile Communication Networks

[0055] The lower layers (MAC and physical layers) of mobile communication systems are designed to create radio waveforms for transmitting data between a transmitter and a receiver given some expected radio propagation conditions between the communicating gNB and the UE. In traditional link layer designs, these layers are designed to allow the radio communication system to cope with a given degree of radio propagation impairments. The success of mobile communication systems over the past few decades is largely due to the adoption of link adaptation, which helps maximize throughput. In mobile communication systems such as 3G, 4G, and 5G, there are multiple choices for the link layer forward error correction (FEC) code rate, modulation constellation, waveform type, transmit power level, etc. These can be jointly selected into a set of transmission parameters. Each set can be thought of as a parameterization of the generated transmission signal, which is generated by the joint selection of the constituent sets. A given set is expected to generate a different waveform or signal for transmission than another set will generate. Therefore, a particular set of transmission parameters can be thoughtfully selected with the expectation that it will generate a transmission signal that is somewhat more suitable for the prevailing radio channel propagation conditions than another set.

[0056] This approach to designing a link layer is rather tedious and laborious because it is difficult to intentionally determine a set of choices for all configuration parameters. First, in particular, this is because the process of selecting between specific communication signal processing techniques such as FEC coding schemes (e.g., low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes, Turbo codes, or Polar codes) is not simple. Second, this is because even after a specific communication signal processing technique is selected, deciding on the set of possible configurations of the selected technique that must be designed and standardized is also a cumbersome process. As an example, if we only consider FEC, then the radio communication system designer may have to first select an FEC scheme (LDPC, Turbo or Polar codes, etc.), then select an FEC scheme, and then need to decide what block sizes and code rates to support, etc. before doing similar processing on the modulation constellation, etc.

[0057] Assuming that the radio communication system has been designed, such system design has already selected the coding scheme. In addition, it supports a designed number of possible codeword block sizes, a designed number of code rates per block size, a designed number of modulation constellations, etc. Link adaptation allows the UE and gNB to work together to automatically determine:

[0058] 1. The prevailing radio propagation conditions that will affect the transmitted data; and

[0059] 2. The most appropriate set of link layer configuration parameters (block size, code rate, modulation constellation, etc.) to maximize the throughput of transmitted data and / or transmission resource utilization within the target reliability and / or delay range under the prevailing radio propagation conditions.

[0060] The selection of an appropriate set of such link layer configuration parameters is also not trivial, as it presents a multi-dimensional problem where the decision depends on, for example, a given transport block size and the prevailing radio propagation channel conditions. Link adaptation in 4G and 5G systems is limited to selecting a configuration from a set of designed choices. For link adaptation in the downlink (DL), the UE measures channel quality parameters while receiving a reference signal sent by the BS. The channel quality is then signaled to the BS as a channel quality indicator (CQI), which can be narrowband or wideband, depending on the bandwidth of the reference signal used for its measurement. Based on this CQI report from the UE, the BS can adjust its DL transmissions to maximize throughput. Similarly, for the UL, the BS measures channel quality parameters by receiving a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmitted by the UE, and uses the results of these measurements to instruct the UE how to adapt the UL transmission to maximize throughput. In 4G and 5G systems, since the FEC type for the data channel is fixed, link adaptation only involves selecting from a set of possible FEC code rates and modulation constellations - that is, the modulation and coding scheme (MCS). Transmit power can also be considered an aspect of link adaptation, but is typically not adjusted per transport block.

[0061] Traditional Scheduling Methods in NR (5G)

[0062] In cellular wireless communications, the channel between a mobile terminal and a base station typically undergoes rapid and significant variations, which can affect the received signal quality. In small-scale variations, the channel undergoes frequency-selective fading, which results in rapid and random variations in channel attenuation. In large-scale variations, there are shadowing and distance-dependent path losses that affect the average received signal strength. In addition, there is interference caused by transmissions from nearby cells and terminals, which distorts the signal at the receiver side.

[0063] In practice, central to mitigating and exploiting the variations in channel conditions are scheduling mechanisms that implement link adaptation algorithms, such as adaptive modulation and coding schemes (AMCS), dynamic power control, and channel-dependent scheduling.

[0064] In NR, the downlink and uplink multi-user scheduler is located at the base station (gNB), where, in principle, the scheduler allocates resources to the user with the best channel conditions at a given instance in both UL and DL, while also considering fairness among users. There are two types of scheduling mechanisms, these are called dynamic scheduling (or dynamic grant) and semi-persistent scheduling (or configured grant).

[0065] In dynamic multi-user scheduling for downlink transmission, based on the instantaneous channel conditions fed back by the terminal at regular time intervals to the gNB via a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) derived from a downlink Reference Signal (RS), the scheduler at the gNB, after receiving the CQI, decides on the best modulation and coding scheme (MCS), the best “available” frequency resources (physical resource blocks (PRBs)), and sufficient power for downlink data transmission of some users at a given subframe / time slot. The downlink scheduling decision, which is called a scheduling assignment, is carried by the Downlink Control Information (DCI), which is transmitted in the downlink to the scheduled users.

[0066] Similarly, for dynamic multi-user scheduling for uplink transmission, based on the instantaneous channel conditions where the terminal sends channel SRS to the gNB at regular time intervals, the scheduler at the gNB decides the best modulation and coding scheme, best frequency resources (PRBs) for uplink data transmission from some users at a given subframe / time slot after deriving the CQI based on the last received SRS. The uplink scheduling decision (which is also called scheduling assignment) is carried by DCI, which is transmitted in the downlink to the scheduled users.

[0067] However, with semi-persistent scheduling (SPS), resources are pre-configured semi-statically (e.g., via radio resource control (RRC) signaling) with a certain periodicity that is aligned with the data arrival rate of a specific service. There is an SPS for the downlink (called DL SPS) and an SPS for the uplink (called Configuration Grant (CG)).

[0068] CG resources are primarily intended for timely delivery of multiple service classes from terminals, where such service classes have low data rates and some periodicity, as specified in URLLC / IIoT in NR Rel-16 / 17. Some examples of different service classes include industrial automation (factory of the future), energy distribution and intelligent transport systems, voice.

[0069] Problems with Traditional Scheduling Methods

[0070] As mentioned above, CG resources are primarily intended for services with low data rates and some periodicity, as specified in URLLC / IIoT in NR Rel-16 / 17. However, for services with high data rates and requiring low latency, larger resources will be required. In this case, the UE may be pre-configured with dedicated larger resources for such uplink data transmission. These resources may be allocated by one of the following methods (or by a combination of these methods):

[0071] · Airspace allocation: In this method, the gNB pre-allocates specific spatial layers to the UE, where different UEs are assigned to different spatial layers in a bandwidth part (BWP), similar to Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO). This means that the UE has pre-allocated resources in the spatial domain for both control and data. Therefore, when the UE has data to transmit, the UE uses the resources in the spatial layers reserved for it. The spatial resources can be configured for the full set or a subset of the BWP resources during a given transmission time interval. Figure 4 As shown in the example in, in the time slot, the first UE may be allocated the first spatial layer 61a, the second UE may be allocated the second spatial layer 62a, the third UE may be allocated the third spatial layer 63a, and the fourth UE may be allocated the fourth spatial layer 64a;

[0072] · Frequency Domain Allocation : Similarly, for spatial domain resources, dedicated frequency domain resources can be pre-allocated to UEs, where different UEs are allocated different frequency resources within the system bandwidth or BWP during a given transmission time interval. Therefore, when data arrives at the UE's buffer, the UE uses the frequency resources allocated to it. Figure 5 As shown in the example in , the first UE may be allocated a first frequency resource set 61b (i.e., frequency range f0-f1), the second UE may be allocated a second frequency resource set 62b (i.e., frequency range f1-f2), the third UE may be allocated a third frequency resource set 63b (i.e., frequency range f2-f3), and the fourth UE may be allocated a fourth frequency resource set 64b (i.e., frequency range f3-f4); and

[0073] · Time Domain Allocation Similarly, for both spatial and frequency domain resources, dedicated time domain resources may be pre-allocated to UEs, where different UEs are allocated different time resources (e.g., different sub-slots or time slots) in a component carrier or BWP. Figure 6 As shown in the example, the first UE can be allocated a first time resource set 61c (i.e., time range t0-t1), the second UE2 can be allocated a second time resource set 62c (i.e., time range t1-t2), the third UE can be allocated a third time resource set 63c (i.e., time range t2-t3), and the fourth UE can be allocated a fourth time resource set 64c (i.e., time range t3-t4).

[0074] The first problem with using preconfigured dedicated resources for uplink data transmission is that resources are always reserved in advance, regardless of whether the UE actually has data to transmit. Even if the UE is able to release these preconfigured resources after completing its UL data transmission, the concern is that the signaling and commands for reallocating / reactivating resources will come from the network, which may cause some intolerable delays for various services that require high-capacity URLLC on the uplink, for example, and will also involve signaling from the UE to request resources via a scheduling request (SR) or initiating a RACH procedure, or will involve resources that are configured for idle periods (i.e., during which no transmission is scheduled for the UE, but the UE can wake up from this period immediately if necessary).

[0075] The second problem with preconfigured resources is that the UE may not have full control over the link adaptation parameters, such as frequency domain scheduling to select the best frequency resource (PRB) among BWP, modulation and coding scheme (MCS), etc. Since after sending its measurements and / or SRS to the network, the UE has to wait for the network to determine and signal such link adaptation parameters to the UE, this both introduces latency and means that the most appropriate parameters may not be selected, since channel conditions may have changed between the time the UE performs measurements and / or transmits SRS and the time the UE receives the link adaptation parameters from the gNB.

[0076] A third problem with preconfigured resources is that the UE may have to use all resources whenever it has data to transmit, since the gNB and the UE must each have knowledge of the allocated resources. This may mean that the UE has to add padding bits in order to fill the remaining resources. This is obviously undesirable, as it unnecessarily increases the UE's transmit power consumption and also creates interference to other UEs located in the same or adjacent cells.

[0077] Therefore, future mobile communication networks (such as 5G Advanced and 6G) ​​will require some enhancements for UL scheduling. A set of requirements for such enhanced UL scheduling can be envisioned as listed below:

[0078] ■ Immediate transmission of UL data to reduce latency, such as for applications that require large amounts of UL data with low latency;

[0079] ■Select appropriate link adaptation parameters, such as optimal frequency resources (PRB), MCS, power, etc.;

[0080] ■Flexible resource allocation schemes, such as frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) and / or time domain resource allocation (TDRA);

[0081] ■ An efficient way to dynamically identify UEs and their resource allocations at the gNB receiver; and

[0082] ■ Improve the spectral efficiency of a cell so that when a UE does not use its allocated resources, another UE can in principle use such resources.

[0083] A solution to support UE-based scheduling according to such requirements is provided in [5], where a UE is pre-allocated dedicated uplink resources for UL control and data transmission, where these resources include UE-specific control resources and associated data resources. Figure 7 An example of such separate control resources 71 and data resources 72 within pre-allocated dedicated resources for a UE as described in [5] is shown.

[0084] Here, the UE controls its own scheduling decision (or allocation) for UL data transmission, which will be restricted to pre-allocated dedicated resources. UE-specific control resources 71 are always available for scheduling UL data on a specific BWP. Thus, the solution addresses the above requirements, including ensuring instant UL data transmission, providing suitable link adaptation and flexible resource allocation schemes, providing an efficient way to identify UEs, and improving the spectral efficiency of the cell. Figure 7 As described in [5], if the gNB decodes the PUCCH 73 received in the control resources 71 but does not decode the PUSCH 74 received in the data resources 72, the gNB shall send a negative acknowledgement (NACK) to the UE. Otherwise, the gNB shall transmit a positive acknowledgement (ACK) to the UE indicating successful decoding of the PUSCH.

[0085] Such solutions allow minimizing delays at the UE when it has data to transmit relative to traditional scheduling methods, since it does not have to wait to receive an uplink grant from the network (and does not need to transmit a BSR, for example in order to receive a grant large enough to transmit all the data in its buffer). Some such solutions are described in co-pending European patent application number EP 21204071.1 [6], the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The concept of UE-based scheduling in [6] utilizes configured grant (CG) resources, and such CG resources may include both a control portion (e.g., for uplink control information (UCI) or other control information) and a data portion. Here, as described in [6], the control portion may be embedded in the CG PUSCH, or may be carried separately on the PUCCH while the data portion is transmitted on the CG PUSCH. However, one problem with this solution is that the transmission of the control part in each instance of the CG resource (as in the case of [6]) introduces a constant overhead for the uplink transmission, since the control information (UCI) is always included in each CG resource instance used to schedule the UL data transmitted in that instance, thereby reducing the overall efficiency. As mentioned above, this may be a particular problem for delay-sensitive services such as URLLC and XR.

[0086] Therefore, embodiments of the present disclosure seek to address and provide a solution to the above-mentioned problem of control information overhead associated with UE-based scheduling.

[0087] Control information size adaptation for UE-based scheduling

[0088] Figure 8 A partially schematic, partially message flow diagram representation of a first wireless communication system including a communication device 81 and an infrastructure device 82 according to at least some embodiments of the present technology is shown. The communication device 81 is configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from a wireless communication network, for example, to and from the infrastructure device 82. Specifically, the communication device 81 can be configured to transmit data to and / or receive data from the wireless communication network (for example, to / from the infrastructure device 82) via a radio wireless interface provided by the wireless communication network (for example, a Uu interface between the communication device 81 and a radio access network (RAN) including the infrastructure device 82). The communication device 81 and the infrastructure device 82 each include a transceiver (or transceiver circuit) 81.1, 82.1 and a controller (or controller circuit) 81.2, 82.2. For example, each of the controllers 81.2, 82.2 can be a microprocessor, a CPU, a dedicated chipset, etc.

[0089] like Figure 8As shown in the example of , the transceiver circuit 81.1 and the controller circuit 81.2 of the communication device 81 are configured in combination to determine 83 that the communication device 81 has uplink data to be transmitted to the wireless communication network (e.g., to the infrastructure equipment 82); independently of the wireless communication network (e.g., without receiving any instructions or scheduling information from the infrastructure equipment 82), determine 84 multiple periodically occurring instances of uplink resources of the radio wireless interface in which the uplink data is to be transmitted (e.g., preconfigured uplink resources, such as configured grant (CG) resources), wherein each of the instances of the uplink resources includes at least a data resource; in at least one of the instances of the uplink resources, transmit 85 the uplink data to the wireless communication network (e.g., to the infrastructure equipment 82); and transmitting 86 a first portion of uplink data and full control information to a wireless communication network (e.g., to infrastructure device 82) in at least one other instance in an instance of an uplink resource, a second portion of uplink data and partial control information, wherein the full control information indicates a value for each of a plurality of scheduling parameters according to which the first portion of the uplink data is to be transmitted, and the partial control information indicates a value for one or more of the plurality of scheduling parameters according to which the second portion of the uplink data is to be transmitted, wherein at least one of the values ​​indicated by the partial control information is a changed value (i.e., these one or more values ​​have changed from a previous time when at least one of the values ​​indicated by the communication device 81 in the full control information or the partial control information was changed).

[0090] In essence, embodiments of the present technology propose that, for UE-based scheduling, the UE (independently of any instructions from the network) decides that it should transmit "full control information" on the control part / resources of the configured authorized opportunity at the start of data transmission. In other words, the transmission of full control information to the wireless communication network can be performed based on determining that a first predetermined condition has been met, where the first predetermined condition can be that the first part of uplink data transmitted in at least one instance of the uplink resource on which the full control information is transmitted is the start of the uplink data. However, for subsequent transmissions, where possible, the UE transmits "partial control information" instead of full control information, where the partial control information contains limited information compared to the full control information; for example, at least those parameters that are most likely to change between adjacent time slots.

[0091] Such parameters may include resource allocation and MCS for those subsequent parts of the data transmission, and when they do change, it may actually be necessary to transmit only the control information (and in this case, partial control information). Alternatively, partial control information may be transmitted under certain other conditions of arrangements according to embodiments of the present technology, such as any changes in the channel, changes in the size of the data, or at the end of a data transmission, but these conditions are not limited to this. In fact, in some arrangements of embodiments of the present technology, in some instances, partial control information may even be transmitted at the beginning of a data transmission instead of full control information; and in this case, the network may assume in such arrangements that all other parameters not included in the partial control information are therefore unchanged since the last data transmission was received from the UE.

[0092] In other words, transmitting the portion of control information to the wireless communication network is performed based on determining that a second predetermined condition has been met, wherein the second predetermined condition may be a determination by the communication device that a value of at least one of the scheduling parameters is to be changed from a previous instance of an uplink resource in which a portion of the uplink data was transmitted. Alternatively or additionally, the second predetermined condition may be a determination by the communication device that more than a predetermined number of instances have passed since the communication device last transmitted the portion of control information. Alternatively or additionally, the second predetermined condition may be a determination by the communication device that more than a predetermined amount of time has passed since the communication device last transmitted the portion of control information—although such a condition may not be configured for a fixed UE such as a smart meter, which does not move and therefore may not need to change the scheduling parameters even if a long period of time has passed.

[0093] Therefore, embodiments of the present disclosure propose to define at least two different payload sizes for control information transmitted by a UE operating according to a UE-based scheduling mode. Here, the control information can be carried on a control portion / resource embedded in the data portion of an uplink resource instance (PUSCH), or transmitted separately in a PUCCH (e.g., as Figure 7 Those skilled in the art will appreciate that some parameters associated with uplink data transmission of a UE may be configured by RRC signaling, but in this proposal, only dynamically changing parameters that may be independently determined and indicated by a UE operating according to a UE-based scheduling mode are considered.

[0094] Obviously, assuming that the UE operates in a UE-based scheduling mode independently of the network, the network / gNB does not know which uplink control information (UCI) size the UE has transmitted in each slot / opportunity. As such, the gNB must monitor and blindly decode (at least, since multiple different sizes of partial control information may be transmitted) two possible payload sizes in each slot / opportunity. In other words, the infrastructure equipment may be configured to monitor both full control information and partial control information in each of the instances of uplink resources.

[0095] If UCI of a first payload size and including full control information is received within an uplink transmission opportunity, the gNB will store and maintain the control information in its entirety for decoding current and subsequent data (PUSCH). In other words, the infrastructure equipment may be configured to overwrite the previously stored configuration of the full control information with the newly received full control information upon receiving the full control information from the communication device. However, if UCI of a second payload size and including partial control information is received within an uplink transmission opportunity, the gNB will only replace or update the changed transmission parameters with new corresponding new values ​​for decoding current and subsequent data (PUSCH). In other words, the infrastructure equipment may be configured to overwrite one or more portions of the previously stored configuration of the full control information with the newly received partial control information upon receiving the partial control information from the communication device, wherein the overwritten one or more portions of the previously stored configuration of the full control information correspond to one or more scheduling parameters of the plurality of scheduling parameters indicated by the newly received partial control information. In order to enable the gNB to test confirm successful blind decoding, the UE may attach a cyclic redundancy code (CRC) checksum (e.g., an 8-bit CRC) in the UCI payload to enable detection of errors at the gNB.

[0096] As an example, the full control information may include the following parameters (although in embodiments of the present technology, the full control information is not limited to / required to include all such parameters listed below):

[0097] ■ FDRA: Frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) according to the number of PRBs (i.e., start and end PRBs) in which uplink data is transmitted;

[0098] ■ TDRA: Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) according to the number of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols (ie, start and end symbols) in which uplink data is transmitted;

[0099] ■ Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS): The modulation (QPSK, 16QAM, etc.) and coding rate used for uplink data;

[0100] ■New Data Indicator (NDI): Indicates whether the uplink data is new data or a retransmission of previously transmitted data;

[0101] ■ Redundancy Version (RV): indicates which group of bits in the coded codeword are transmitted (via the indicated RV);

[0102] ■HARQ related: For example, the HARQ process number of the HARQ process used for uplink data;

[0103] ■Multi-antenna correlation: indication of demodulation reference signals (DMRS, antenna port, precoding information, SRS, etc.); and

[0104] ■Continue / End of Data: After the UE transmits uplink data in the current instance, it informs the gNB whether it will continue to schedule subsequent data in subsequent instances of uplink resources.

[0105] As an example of partial control information, the partial control information may include a smaller (fewer) number of parameters than the full control information. These parameters may be at least those parameters that are most likely to change between adjacent transmissions, or indeed those parameters that have changed since the previous transmission. Likewise, although in embodiments of the present technology, the partial control information is not limited to / required to include all such parameters listed below, and in fact there may be multiple sizes of partial control information including more or fewer parameters than those listed below, such parameters indicated by the partial control information may include, for example:

[0106] ■ FDRA: Frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) according to the number of PRBs (i.e., start and end PRBs) in which uplink data is transmitted;

[0107] ■ Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS): The modulation (QPSK, 16QAM, etc.) and coding rate used for uplink data;

[0108] ■New Data Indicator (NDI): Indicates whether the uplink data is new data or a retransmission of previously transmitted data;

[0109] ■Continue / End of Data: After the UE has transmitted uplink data in the current instance, it informs the gNB whether it will continue to schedule subsequent data in subsequent instances of uplink resources; and

[0110] ■ Indicators of included parameters: A bitmap (which may be at the beginning of the partial control information payload) indicates which parameters or parameter sets are included in the payload, ie those parameters that have changed.

[0111] Fig. 9An example of adaptive control information (payload) size based on UE scheduling according to an embodiment of the present technology is shown. Fig. 9 As shown in , the CG resource opportunity is configured to have a periodicity of every two time slots; wherein those time slots (e.g., time slot n+1, time slot n+3) that are not configured with CG resource opportunities are Fig. 9 Those time slots configured with CG resource opportunities are not shaded, and are shaded black when the UE utilizes them to transmit uplink data (e.g., time slot n, time slot n+2), or have a dashed outline when the UE does not use them to transmit data or no data is available (e.g., time slot n+22, time slot n=22).

[0112] exist Fig. 9 In the example of , at time slot n, in addition to starting the transmission of uplink data, the UE also transmits full control information in the control part / resource of the CG resource in time slot n, wherein the full control information transmitted in the control part informs the network about the resource allocation of PUSCH, and in fact, the control part can be embedded in the PUSCH. The control information also indicates the scheduling parameters of the part of the data transmission transmitted in the CG resource in time slot n.

[0113] Then, in this example, the UE continues to transmit only the uplink data portion in subsequent resources (or time slots) with the same parameters as indicated by the full control information and used to start the transmission. However, at time slot n+6, the UE notices that it must transmit more data than in the previous resource instance in order to keep up with the throughput / latency of the data. Therefore, the UE allocates more resources for the data portion and includes the new resource allocation in the control portion, where the control portion contains partial control information (e.g., it includes an indication of the updated resource allocation, the updated MCS, and the data end indication set to false).

[0114] Then, in Fig. 9 In the example of , the UE continues to transmit data parts only in subsequent resources with the same parameters as the last control information. However, at time slot n+12, the UE notices that the channel has changed (e.g., in a TDD system, due to the channel reciprocity properties of such TDD systems, or based on being notified so by the network), and it must update the MCS. Therefore, the UE changes the MCS and includes the new MCS in the control part, where the control part contains part of the control information (which may again include an indication of the updated resource allocation, the new MCS, and the end-of-data indication set to false).

[0115] The UE then continues again to transmit only the data portion in subsequent resources with the same parameters as the partial control information last transmitted in time slot n+12. However, at time slot n+18, the UE notices that this is the last portion of data to be transmitted and must set the data end indicator to true in the partial control information (which may again include an indication of the resource allocation and MCS, and set the data end indication to true). Therefore, in order for the network to schedule resources in subsequent resource opportunities, and to schedule the remaining resources in this opportunity to other UEs in time slot n+18 (if necessary), the UE transmits partial control information and the data portion in this last transmission. In time slots n+20 and n+22, the UE has no data to transmit in this opportunity. However, after the silent period, the UE has data to transmit again on time slot n+24, and repeats the same process as before by transmitting the full control information and the first portion of the data in the resource opportunities in this time slot.

[0116] In some arrangements of embodiments of the present disclosure, full control information and partial control information may be carried on the same or different physical control resources (in terms of resource elements (REs)). In other words, full control information and / or partial control information may be transmitted within the same control resource of an instance of uplink resources or within different control resources of an instance of uplink resources. Here, in the case where the same control resource is used to transmit full control information and / or partial control information, partial control information may be transmitted in a (smaller) portion of the control resource used for full UCI. In some arrangements of embodiments of the present technology, it is also possible that the full control information (implicitly or explicitly) informs the network / gNB where (in terms of resources) the partial control information will be transmitted in subsequent uplink resource instances / time slots, i.e., the full control information may include a pointer to the resource of the partial control information. In other words, the full control information may include an indication of a location within at least one other instance (one or more) of the instances of uplink resources within which the partial control information will be transmitted.

[0117] In some arrangements of embodiments of the present disclosure, the partial control information may include a descriptor / header / field, such as a bitmap, for notifying the gNB which parameters are present in the partial control information. In other words, the partial control information may include an indicator indicating one or more scheduling parameters among the plurality of scheduling parameters whose values ​​are indicated by the partial control information.

[0118] Such a descriptor / header / field can increase the flexibility of the partial control information to allow inclusion / exclusion of at least some parameters each time the partial control information is transmitted, and more generally to achieve a flexible and changeable size of the partial control information payload. The descriptor / header / field can always be included in the partial UCI (e.g., at the beginning of the payload). For example, a 2-bit bitmap can indicate four different sets of parameters listed in the full control information. In other words, the partial control information can be one of a plurality of sets of partial control information, each of the sets of partial control information including a different one or more of a plurality of scheduling parameters, where the indicator can be a bitmap defining the set of partial control information.

[0119] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that multiple parameters (i.e., those parameters that change most often and therefore need to be signaled in the partial control information) can be included in multiple sets to address potential issues in the UE where multiple parameters need to be updated that would otherwise be included in different predefined sets of partial control information. In other words, one or more of the multiple scheduling parameters can be included in at least two of the multiple sets of partial control information. In some cases, if two less frequently changing parameters need to be updated, the UE may have to transmit two different sets of partial control information, which may be inefficient.

[0120] In an alternative to this situation according to some arrangements of embodiments of the present technology, where, for example, a certain number of scheduling parameters change (but not at a time when full control information could otherwise be transmitted), the UE may determine that it should transmit full control information anyway. In other words, transmitting full control information to the wireless communication network may be performed based on determining that a first predetermined condition has been met, where the first predetermined condition may be a communication device determining that the value of a threshold number of scheduling parameters will change from a previous instance of an uplink resource for which a portion of uplink data was transmitted.

[0121] Another alternative solution to the arrangement according to embodiments of the present technology is that, instead of (or indeed in addition to) configuring such a predetermined set, the UE may be configured to determine which parameters need to be signaled, and to construct its own partial control information signal of any desired size including these determined parameters. In other words, the communication device may be configured to select one or more of a plurality of scheduling parameters (e.g., based on one or more parameters that have changed, or based on a determined coverage change, or based on receiving one or more NACKs from the wireless communication network), whose values ​​will be indicated by the partial control information.

[0122] The UE may then include an N-bit indicator as a descriptor / header / field in the constructed partial control information, where there are N possible parameters that the partial control information may indicate (which may be the same N parameters indicated by the full control information), and thus each of the N bits indicates, for that parameter, whether such a changed value of that parameter is included in the constructed partial control information. In other words, the indicator may be a bit string comprising a plurality of bits, each of the bits being associated with one of a plurality of scheduling parameters, and indicating whether one of the scheduling parameters is included within the partial control information. Likewise, this bit indicator may always be included in the partial UCI (e.g., at the beginning of the payload) in order to ensure maximum flexibility from the perspective of the UE constructing the partial control information. In some arrangements, it may be the case that not all N parameters have bits associated with them in the indicator, in which case the indicator may therefore be considered to be an M-bit indicator (where M is the bit value) if such a feature (e.g., FDRA) is always included in the partial control information and therefore does not need to be signaled. <N)。

[0123] In order to handle error propagation, for example, if part of the information cannot be decoded at the gNB for continued transmission, in some arrangements of embodiments of the present technology, the UE may be required to monitor DL ​​confirmation feedback. In other words, the communication device may be configured to monitor for a confirmation signal to be received from the wireless communication network, which indicates that part of the control information has been successfully received by the wireless communication network.

[0124] For example, such DL confirmation feedback may be implemented in a manner similar to the downlink feedback information (DFI) signaling defined for NR-U (NR-Unlicensed) and transmitted by the gNB for the corresponding HARQ process. The UE may be configured to determine whether there are consecutive NACKs based on the received (or unreceived) DL confirmation feedback. If so, in at least some arrangements of the embodiments of the present technology, the UE may switch to transmitting full control information in the next resource instance (or the next resource instance in which the UE also transmits UL data). In other words, the communication device may be configured to determine that the confirmation signal has not been received and therefore determines that the partial control information has not been successfully received by the wireless communication network, and then transmits the full control information to the wireless communication network instead of the partial control information that has not been successfully received by the wireless communication network.

[0125] In other arrangements of embodiments of the present technology, the UE may be able to implement error control handling by periodically maintaining the transmission of full control information. In other words, the transmission of full control information to the wireless communication network may be performed according to a set periodicity. This periodic transmission of full control information may be a period defined according to time, and / or a period defined according to an UL resource opportunity, and / or a period defined by the transmission of partial control information; that is, the full control information may be transmitted at least after several transmissions of partial control information (i.e., every N transmissions). In other words, setting the periodicity may define a predetermined number of instances of uplink resources between instances of uplink resources for transmitting full control information by a communication device. Alternatively or additionally, setting the periodicity may define a predetermined amount of time between transmissions of full control information by a communication device. Alternatively or additionally, setting the periodicity may define a predetermined number of times that a communication device transmits partial control information between transmissions of full control information by the communication device.

[0126] In some such arrangements of embodiments of the present technology where full control information is periodically transmitted by the UE, the transmission periodicity of the full control information may be configured by the network / gNB so that the UE and gNB are aligned with when the transmission of the full control information is expected, thereby enabling more direct and efficient monitoring and decoding of the full control information at the gNB. In other words, the communication device may be configured to receive an indication of setting the periodicity from the wireless communication network. In other such arrangements of embodiments of the present technology where full control information is periodically transmitted by the UE, the transmission periodicity of the full control information may be determined by the UE independently of the network. The UE may then provide the network / gNB with an indication of the setting periodicity, but alternatively, the UE may inform the network / gNB of the setting periodicity, which means that the network / gNB is required to perform blind decoding of the transmitted control information. Those skilled in the art will understand that in the event that the UE receives an indication of setting the periodicity from the network / gNB, it will not independently determine (i.e., differently) the setting periodicity itself.

[0127] Fig.10 A flowchart illustrating an example communication process in a communication system according to an embodiment of the present technology is shown. Fig.10 The process shown is a method of operating a communication device, which is configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from a wireless communication network (e.g., to or from infrastructure equipment of the wireless communication network), and the communication device operates according to a scheduling mode-based communication device to transmit uplink data.

[0128] The method starts at step S1. The method comprises, in step S2, determining that the communication device has uplink data to be transmitted to the wireless communication network. In step S3, the process comprises, independently of the wireless communication network, determining a plurality of periodically occurring instances of uplink resources of a radio wireless interface in which the uplink data is to be transmitted, wherein each of the instances of the uplink resources comprises at least a data resource. In step S4, the method comprises, in at least one of the instances of the uplink resources, transmitting to the wireless communication network a first portion of the uplink data and full control information, wherein the full control information indicates a value of each of a plurality of scheduling parameters, according to which the first portion of the uplink data is to be transmitted. Then, in step S5, the process comprises, in at least one other instance of the instances of the uplink resources, transmitting to the wireless communication network a second portion of the uplink data and partial control information, wherein the partial control information indicates a value of one or more scheduling parameters in a plurality of scheduling parameters, according to which the second portion of the uplink data is to be transmitted, wherein at least one of the values ​​indicated by the partial control information is a changed value. The process ends at step S6.

[0129] Those skilled in the art will understand that Fig.10 The method shown can be adjusted according to the implementation of the present technology. For example, other intermediate steps can be included in the method, or the steps can be performed in any logical order. Figure 8 The example communication systems shown in are used to describe embodiments of the present technology, but it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that they may be equally applicable to other systems than those described herein.

[0130] Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that such infrastructure equipment and / or communication devices as defined herein may be further defined according to the various arrangements and implementations discussed in the preceding paragraphs. Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that such infrastructure equipment and communication devices as defined and described herein may form part of a communication system other than those defined in the present disclosure.

[0131] The following numbered paragraphs provide further example aspects and features of the present technology:

[0132] Paragraph 1. A method of operating a communication device, the communication device being configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from a wireless communication network via a radio wireless interface provided by the wireless communication network, the method comprising:

[0133] determining that the communication device has uplink data to transmit to the wireless communication network,

[0134] determining, independently of the wireless communication network, a plurality of periodically occurring instances of uplink resources of a radio wireless interface in which uplink data is to be transmitted, wherein each instance of the uplink resources comprises at least data resources,

[0135] transmitting, in at least one of the instances of the uplink resource, a first portion of uplink data and full control information to a wireless communication network, and

[0136] transmitting, in at least one other of the instances of the uplink resource, a second portion of the uplink data and a portion of the control information to the wireless communication network,

[0137] The full control information indicates a value of each of a plurality of scheduling parameters, and a first portion of uplink data is to be transmitted according to the plurality of scheduling parameters, and the partial control information indicates a value of one or more scheduling parameters of the plurality of scheduling parameters, and a second portion of uplink data is to be transmitted according to the one or more scheduling parameters, wherein at least one of the values ​​indicated by the partial control information is a changed value.

[0138] Paragraph 2. A method according to paragraph 1, wherein the full control information and / or the partial control information are each transmitted within a control resource embedded within a data resource.

[0139] Paragraph 3. A method according to paragraph 1 or paragraph 2, wherein the full control information and / or the partial control information are each transmitted within a control resource separate from the data resource.

[0140] Paragraph 4. A method according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 3, wherein transmitting the full control information to the wireless communication network is performed based on determining that the first predetermined condition has been met.

[0141] Paragraph 5. A method according to paragraph 4, wherein the first predetermined condition is that the first part of the uplink data transmitted in at least one instance of the uplink resource transmitting the full control information is the beginning of the uplink data.

[0142] Paragraph 6. A method according to paragraph 4 or paragraph 5, wherein the first predetermined condition is that the communication device determines that the value of the threshold amount of the scheduling parameter will change from a previous instance of the uplink resource in which a portion of the uplink data was transmitted.

[0143] Paragraph 7. A method according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 6, wherein transmitting the full control information to the wireless communication network is performed according to a set periodicity.

[0144] Paragraph 8. A method according to paragraph 7, wherein the setting periodically defines a predetermined number of instances of uplink resources between instances of uplink resources in which full control information is transmitted by the communication device.

[0145] Paragraph 9. A method according to paragraph 7 or paragraph 8, wherein setting a periodicity defines a predetermined amount of time between transmissions of full control information by the communication device.

[0146] Paragraph 10. A method according to any one of paragraphs 7 to 9, wherein setting a periodicity defines a predetermined number of times that the communication device transmits partial control information between transmissions of full control information by the communication device.

[0147] Paragraph 11. A method according to any one of paragraphs 7 to 10, comprising:

[0148] An indication to set the periodicity is received from the wireless communication network.

[0149] Paragraph 12. The method according to any one of paragraphs 7 to 11, comprising:

[0150] The periodicity is set independently of the wireless communication network determination.

[0151] Paragraph 13. A method according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 12, wherein transmitting part of the control information to the wireless communication network is performed based on determining that a second predetermined condition has been met.

[0152] Paragraph 14. A method according to paragraph 13, wherein the second predetermined condition is that the communication device determines that the value of at least one of the scheduling parameters is to be changed from a previous instance of the uplink resource in which a portion of the uplink data was transmitted.

[0153] Paragraph 15. A method according to paragraph 13 or paragraph 14, wherein the second predetermined condition is: the communication device determines that more than a predetermined number of instances have passed since the communication device last transmitted the portion of control information.

[0154] Paragraph 16. A method according to any of paragraphs 13 to 15, wherein the second predetermined condition is that the communication device determines that more than a predetermined amount of time has passed since the communication device last transmitted the portion of control information.

[0155] Paragraph 17. A method according to any of paragraphs 1 to 16, wherein the full control information and the partial control information are transmitted within the same control resource of an instance of uplink resources.

[0156] Paragraph 18. A method according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 17, wherein the full control information and the partial control information are transmitted within different control resources of an instance of uplink resources.

[0157] Paragraph 19. A method according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 18, wherein the full control information includes an indication of a location within at least one other of the instances of uplink resources within which the partial control information is to be transmitted.

[0158] Paragraph 20. A method according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 19, wherein the portion of the control information includes an indicator, the indicator indicating one or more scheduling parameters among the plurality of scheduling parameters whose values ​​are indicated by the portion of the control information.

[0159] Paragraph 21. A method according to paragraph 20, wherein the partial control information is one of a plurality of sets of partial control information, each of the sets of partial control information comprising different one or more scheduling parameters of a plurality of scheduling parameters.

[0160] Paragraph 22. A method according to paragraph 21, wherein the indicator is a bitmap defining a set of partial control information.

[0161] Paragraph 23. A method according to paragraph 21 or paragraph 22, wherein one or more scheduling parameters of the plurality of scheduling parameters are included in at least two sets of the plurality of sets of partial control information.

[0162] Paragraph 24. A method according to any of paragraphs 20 to 23, wherein the communication device selects one or more scheduling parameters from the plurality of scheduling parameters whose values ​​are to be indicated by the portion of the control information.

[0163] Paragraph 25. A method according to paragraph 24, wherein the indicator is a bit string comprising a plurality of bits, each of the bits being associated with one of a plurality of scheduling parameters, and each of the bits indicating whether one of the scheduling parameters is included in the portion of control information.

[0164] Paragraph 26. The method according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 25, comprising:

[0165] Monitoring is performed for an acknowledgement signal to be received from the wireless communication network, the acknowledgement signal indicating that the portion of the control information has been successfully received by the wireless communication network.

[0166] Paragraph 27. The method according to paragraph 26, comprising:

[0167] determining that the confirmation signal was not received and therefore determining that the portion of the control information was not successfully received by the wireless communication network, and

[0168] The complete control information is transmitted to the wireless communication network instead of the partial control information that was not successfully received by the wireless communication network.

[0169] Paragraph 28. A method according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 27, wherein the plurality of periodically occurring instances of uplink resources are pre-configured uplink resource instances.

[0170] Paragraph 29. A method according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 28, wherein the pre-configured uplink resource instance is a configured authorized resource instance.

[0171] Paragraph 30. A communication device comprising:

[0172] a transceiver circuit configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from a wireless communication network via a radio wireless interface provided by the wireless communication network, and

[0173] A controller circuit configured in combination with the transceiver circuit to:

[0174] determining that the communication device has uplink data to transmit to the wireless communication network,

[0175] determining, independently of the wireless communication network, a plurality of periodically occurring instances of uplink resources of a radio wireless interface in which uplink data is to be transmitted, wherein each of the instances of the uplink resources comprises at least data resources,

[0176] transmitting, in at least one of the instances of the uplink resource, a first portion of uplink data and full control information to a wireless communication network, and

[0177] transmitting, in at least one other of the instances of the uplink resource, a second portion of the uplink data and a portion of the control information to the wireless communication network,

[0178] wherein the full control information indicates a value of each of a plurality of scheduling parameters, a first portion of uplink data is to be transmitted according to the plurality of scheduling parameters, and the partial control information indicates a value of one or more scheduling parameters among the plurality of scheduling parameters, a second portion of uplink data is to be transmitted according to the one or more scheduling parameters, wherein at least one of the values ​​indicated by the partial control information is a changed value.

[0179] Paragraph 31. A circuit for a communication device, comprising:

[0180] a transceiver circuit configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from a wireless communication network via a radio wireless interface provided by the wireless communication network, and

[0181] A controller circuit is configured, in combination with the transceiver circuit, to:

[0182] determining that the communication device has uplink data to transmit to the wireless communication network,

[0183] determining, independently of the wireless communication network, a plurality of periodically occurring instances of uplink resources of a radio wireless interface in which uplink data is to be transmitted, wherein each instance of the uplink resources comprises at least data resources,

[0184] transmitting, in at least one of the instances of the uplink resource, a first portion of uplink data and full control information to a wireless communication network, and

[0185] transmitting, in at least one other of the instances of the uplink resource, a second portion of the uplink data and a portion of the control information to the wireless communication network,

[0186] The full control information indicates a value of each of a plurality of scheduling parameters, and a first portion of uplink data is to be transmitted according to the plurality of scheduling parameters, and the partial control information indicates a value of one or more scheduling parameters of the plurality of scheduling parameters, and a second portion of uplink data is to be transmitted according to the one or more scheduling parameters, wherein at least one of the values ​​indicated by the partial control information is a changed value.

[0187] Paragraph 32. A method of operating infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communication network, the infrastructure equipment being configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from a communication device via a radio wireless interface provided by the infrastructure equipment, the method comprising:

[0188] receiving, from a communication device, a first portion of uplink data and full control information in at least one of a plurality of periodically occurring instances of uplink resources of a radio interface, wherein each of the instances of uplink resources includes at least data resources, and

[0189] receiving, in at least one other of the instances of the uplink resource, a second portion of the uplink data and a portion of the control information from the communication device,

[0190] The full control information indicates a value of each of a plurality of scheduling parameters, and a first portion of uplink data is to be transmitted according to the plurality of scheduling parameters, and the partial control information indicates a value of one or more scheduling parameters of the plurality of scheduling parameters, and a second portion of uplink data is to be transmitted according to the one or more scheduling parameters, wherein at least one of the values ​​indicated by the partial control information is a changed value.

[0191] Paragraph 33. A method as described in paragraph 32, wherein the full control information and / or the partial control information are each received within a control resource embedded within the data resource.

[0192] Paragraph 34. A method according to paragraph 32 or paragraph 33, wherein the full control information and / or the partial control information are each received within a control resource separate from the data resource.

[0193] Paragraph 35. A method according to any of paragraphs 32 to 34, wherein full control information is received from the communication device when a first predetermined condition has been met.

[0194] Paragraph 36. A method according to paragraph 35, wherein the first predetermined condition is that the first part of the uplink data received in at least one instance of the uplink resource receiving the full control information is the beginning of the uplink data.

[0195] Paragraph 37. A method according to paragraph 35 or paragraph 36, wherein the first predetermined condition is that a threshold number of scheduling parameters are to be changed from a previous instance of an uplink resource at which a portion of uplink data was received.

[0196] Paragraph 38. A method according to any one of paragraphs 32 to 37, wherein the full control information is received from the communication device periodically according to a setting.

[0197] Paragraph 39. A method according to paragraph 38, wherein the setting periodically defines a predetermined number of instances of uplink resources between instances of uplink resources in which full control information is transmitted by the communication device.

[0198] Paragraph 40. A method as described in paragraph 38 or paragraph 39, wherein setting a periodicity defines a predetermined amount of time between transmissions of full control information by the communication device.

[0199] Paragraph 41. A method according to any of paragraphs 38 to 40, wherein setting a periodicity defines a predetermined number of times that the communication device transmits partial control information between transmissions of full control information by the communication device.

[0200] Paragraph 42. The method according to any one of paragraphs 38 to 41, comprising:

[0201] An indication to set the periodicity is transmitted to the communication device.

[0202] Paragraph 43. A method according to any of paragraphs 38 to 42, wherein the setting periodicity is determined by the communication device independently of the wireless communication network.

[0203] Paragraph 44. A method according to any of paragraphs 32 to 43, wherein the partial control information is received from the communication device when a second predetermined condition has been met.

[0204] Paragraph 45. A method according to paragraph 44, wherein the second predetermined condition is that the value of at least one of the scheduling parameters is to be changed from a previous instance of the uplink resource at which a portion of the uplink data was received.

[0205] Paragraph 46. A method according to paragraph 44 or paragraph 45, wherein the second predetermined condition is that more than a predetermined number of instances have passed since the communication device last transmitted the portion of control information.

[0206] Paragraph 47. A method according to any of paragraphs 44 to 46, wherein the second predetermined condition is that more than a predetermined amount of time has passed since the communication device last transmitted the partial control information.

[0207] Paragraph 48. A method according to any of paragraphs 32 to 47, wherein the full control information and the partial control information are received within the same control resource of an instance of uplink resources.

[0208] Paragraph 49. A method according to any of paragraphs 32 to 48, wherein the full control information and the partial control information are received within different control resources of an instance of uplink resources.

[0209] Paragraph 50. A method according to any of paragraphs 32 to 49, wherein the full control information includes an indication of a location within at least one other of the instances of uplink resources within which the partial control information is to be transmitted.

[0210] Paragraph 51. A method according to any one of paragraphs 32 to 50, wherein the portion of the control information includes an indicator, the indicator indicating that the value of one or more scheduling parameters of the plurality of scheduling parameters is indicated by the portion of the control information.

[0211] Paragraph 52. A method according to paragraph 51, wherein the partial control information is one of a plurality of sets of partial control information, each of the sets of partial control information comprising different one or more scheduling parameters of a plurality of scheduling parameters.

[0212] Paragraph 53. A method as described in paragraph 52, wherein the indicator is a bitmap defining a set of partial control information.

[0213] Paragraph 54. A method according to paragraph 52 or paragraph 53, wherein one or more scheduling parameters of the plurality of scheduling parameters are included in at least two sets of the plurality of sets of partial control information.

[0214] Paragraph 55. A method according to any one of paragraphs 51 to 54, wherein the value of one or more scheduling parameters of the plurality of scheduling parameters is selected by the communication device to be indicated by part of the control information.

[0215] Paragraph 56. A method according to paragraph 55, wherein the indicator is a bit string comprising a plurality of bits, each of the bits being associated with one of a plurality of scheduling parameters, and each of the bits indicating whether one of the scheduling parameters is included in the portion of control information.

[0216] Paragraph 57. The method according to any one of paragraphs 32 to 56, comprising:

[0217] If the portion of the control information has been successfully received by the infrastructure equipment, an acknowledgement signal is transmitted to the communication device, the acknowledgement signal indicating that the portion of the control information has been successfully received by the infrastructure equipment.

[0218] Paragraph 58. The method according to paragraph 57, comprising:

[0219] Based on the communication device not receiving an acknowledgement signal in response to the communication device having transmitted the partial control information, receiving the full control information from the communication device instead of the partial control information.

[0220] Paragraph 59. The method according to any one of paragraphs 32 to 58, comprising:

[0221] Both full control information and partial control information in each of the instances of uplink resources are monitored.

[0222] Paragraph 60. The method according to any one of paragraphs 32 to 59, comprising:

[0223] When full control information is received from the communication device, the previously stored configuration of the full control information is overwritten with the newly received full control information.

[0224] Paragraph 61. The method according to any one of paragraphs 32 to 60, comprising:

[0225] Upon receiving partial control information from a communication device, overwriting one or more portions of a previously stored configuration of full control information with the newly received partial control information, wherein the overwritten one or more portions of the previously stored configuration of the full control information correspond to one or more scheduling parameters of a plurality of scheduling parameters indicated by the newly received partial control information.

[0226] Paragraph 62. A method according to any one of paragraphs 32 to 61, wherein the multiple periodically occurring instances of uplink resources are pre-configured uplink resource instances.

[0227] Paragraph 63. A method according to any one of paragraphs 32 to 62, wherein the pre-configured uplink resource instance is a configured authorized resource instance.

[0228] Paragraph 64. An infrastructure device forming part of a wireless communication network, the infrastructure device comprising:

[0229] transceiver circuitry configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from a communication device via a radio wireless interface provided by the infrastructure equipment, and

[0230] A controller circuit is configured, in combination with the transceiver circuit, to:

[0231] receiving, from a communication device, a first portion of uplink data and full control information in at least one of a plurality of periodically occurring instances of uplink resources of a radio interface, wherein each of the instances of uplink resources includes at least data resources, and

[0232] receiving, in at least one other of the instances of the uplink resource, a second portion of the uplink data and a portion of the control information from the communication device,

[0233] The full control information indicates a value of each of a plurality of scheduling parameters, and a first portion of uplink data is to be transmitted according to the plurality of scheduling parameters, and the partial control information indicates a value of one or more scheduling parameters of the plurality of scheduling parameters, and a second portion of uplink data is to be transmitted according to the one or more scheduling parameters, wherein at least one of the values ​​indicated by the partial control information is a changed value.

[0234] Paragraph 65. Circuitry for use in infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communication network, the infrastructure equipment comprising:

[0235] transceiver circuitry configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from a communication device via a radio wireless interface provided by the infrastructure equipment, and

[0236] A controller circuit is configured, in combination with the transceiver circuit, to:

[0237] receiving, from a communication device, a first portion of uplink data and full control information in at least one of a plurality of periodically occurring instances of uplink resources of a radio interface, wherein each of the instances of uplink resources includes at least data resources, and

[0238] receiving, in at least one other of the instances of the uplink resource, a second portion of the uplink data and a portion of the control information from the communication device,

[0239] The full control information indicates a value of each of a plurality of scheduling parameters, and a first portion of uplink data is to be transmitted according to the plurality of scheduling parameters, and the partial control information indicates a value of one or more scheduling parameters of the plurality of scheduling parameters, and a second portion of uplink data is to be transmitted according to the one or more scheduling parameters, wherein at least one of the values ​​indicated by the partial control information is a changed value.

[0240] Paragraph 66. A wireless communication system comprising a communication device according to paragraph 30 and an infrastructure device according to paragraph 64.

[0241] Paragraph 67. A computer program comprising instructions which, when loaded onto a computer, causes the computer to perform a method according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 29 or any one of paragraphs 32 to 63.

[0242] Paragraph 68. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program according to Paragraph 67.

[0243] It should be understood that for clarity, the above description has described embodiments with reference to different functional units, circuits and / or processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functions between different functional units, circuits and / or processors may be used without departing from the embodiments.

[0244] The described embodiments may be implemented in any suitable form, including hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof. The described embodiments may optionally be implemented at least in part as computer software running on one or more data processors and / or digital signal processors. The elements and components of any embodiment may be implemented physically, functionally and logically in any suitable manner. In fact, the function may be implemented in a single unit, multiple units, or as part of other functional units. In this way, the disclosed embodiments may be implemented in a single unit, or may be physically and functionally distributed between different units, circuits and / or processors.

[0245] Although the present disclosure has been described in conjunction with some embodiments, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. In addition, although a feature may appear to be described in conjunction with a specific embodiment, those skilled in the art will recognize that the various features of the described embodiments may be combined in any manner suitable for implementing the technology.

[0246] References

[0247] [1]Holma H.and Toskala A,“LTE for UMTS OFDMA and SC-FDMA based radioaccess”,John Wiley and Sons,2009.

[0248] [2]TR 38.913,“Study on Scenarios and Requirements for Next GenerationAccess Technologies(Release 14)”,3rd Generation Partnership Project,vl4.3.0,August 2017.

[0249] [3]RP-190726,“Physical layer enhancements for NR ultra-reliable andlow latency communication(URLLC)”,Huawei,HiSilicon,RAN#83,March2019.

[0250] [4]RP-201310,“Revised WID:Enhanced Industrial Internet of Things(loT)and ultra-reliable and low latency communication(URLLC)support for NR,”Nokia,Nokia Shanghai Bell,RAN#88e,July 2020.

[0251] [5]European patent application with publication number EP3837895.

[0252] [6]European patent application number EP21204071.1。

Claims

1. A method of operating a communication device, the communication device being configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from a wireless communication network via a radio wireless interface provided by the wireless communication network, the method comprising: determining that the communication device has uplink data to transmit to the wireless communication network, determining, independently of said wireless communication network, a plurality of periodically occurring instances of uplink resources of said radio wireless interface in which said uplink data is to be transmitted, wherein each said instance of said uplink resources comprises at least data resources, transmitting, in at least one of the instances of the uplink resources, a first portion of the uplink data and full control information to the wireless communication network, and transmitting, in at least one other of the instances of the uplink resources, a second portion of the uplink data and a portion of the control information to the wireless communication network, The full control information indicates a value of each of a plurality of scheduling parameters, and the first part of the uplink data is to be transmitted according to the plurality of scheduling parameters, and the partial control information indicates a value of one or more scheduling parameters of the plurality of scheduling parameters, and the second part of the uplink data is to be transmitted according to the one or more scheduling parameters, wherein at least one of the values ​​indicated by the partial control information is a changed value.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The full control information and / or the partial control information are each transmitted within a control resource embedded within the data resource.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The full control information and / or the partial control information are each transmitted within a control resource separate from the data resource.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Based on determining that a first predetermined condition has been satisfied, transmitting the full control information to the wireless communication network is performed.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The first predetermined condition is that the first portion of the uplink data transmitted in the at least one instance of the uplink resource for transmitting the full control information is the beginning of the uplink data.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The first predetermined condition is that the communications device determines that a threshold amount of values ​​of the scheduling parameter will change from a previous instance of the uplink resource at which a portion of the uplink data was transmitted.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Transmitting the full control information to the wireless communication network is performed according to a set periodicity.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein: The setting periodically defines a predetermined number of instances of the uplink resource between instances of the uplink resource at which the full control information is transmitted by the communication device.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein: The set periodicity defines a predetermined amount of time between transmissions of the full control information by the communication device.

10. The method according to claim 7, wherein: The set periodicity defines a predetermined number of times that the communication device transmits the partial control information between transmissions of the full control information by the communication device.

11. The method according to claim 7, comprising: An indication of setting the periodicity is received from the wireless communication network.

12. The method according to claim 7, comprising: The setting periodicity is determined independently of the wireless communication network.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Based on determining that a second predetermined condition has been satisfied, transmitting the portion of control information to the wireless communication network is performed.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein: The second predetermined condition is that the communications device determines that a value of at least one of the scheduling parameters is to be changed from a previous instance of the uplink resource at which a portion of the uplink data was transmitted.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein: The second predetermined condition is that the communication device determines that more than a predetermined number of instances have passed since the communication device last transmitted the portion of control information.

16. The method according to claim 13, wherein: The second predetermined condition is that the communication device determines that more than a predetermined amount of time has elapsed since the communication device last transmitted the portion of control information.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The full control information and the partial control information are transmitted within the same control resource of the instance of the uplink resource.

18. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The full control information and the partial control information are transmitted within different control resources of the instance of the uplink resource.

19. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The full control information includes an indication of a location within the at least one other of the instances of the uplink resources within which the partial control information is to be transmitted.

20. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The portion of control information includes an indicator indicating one or more scheduling parameters among the plurality of scheduling parameters whose values ​​are indicated by the portion of control information.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein: The partial control information is one of a plurality of sets of partial control information, and each of the sets of partial control information includes one or more different scheduling parameters among the plurality of scheduling parameters.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein: The indicator is a bitmap defining a set of the partial control information.

23. The method according to claim 21, wherein: One or more scheduling parameters of the plurality of scheduling parameters are included in at least two sets of the plurality of sets of partial control information.

24. The method according to claim 20, wherein: The communication device selects one or more scheduling parameters from among the plurality of scheduling parameters whose values ​​are to be indicated by the portion of control information.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein: The indicator is a bit string including a plurality of bits, each of the bits being associated with one of the plurality of scheduling parameters, and each of the bits indicating whether one of the scheduling parameters is included in the portion of control information.

26. The method of claim 1, comprising: Monitoring is performed for an acknowledgement signal to be received from the wireless communication network, the acknowledgement signal indicating that the portion of control information has been successfully received by the wireless communication network.

27. The method according to claim 26, comprising: determining that the confirmation signal was not received and therefore determining that the portion of control information was not successfully received by the wireless communication network, and The full control information is transmitted to the wireless communication network in place of the partial control information that is not successfully received by the wireless communication network.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein: The plurality of periodically occurring instances of the uplink resource are pre-configured uplink resource instances.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein: The pre-configured uplink resource instance is a configured authorized resource instance.

30. A communication device, comprising: a transceiver circuit configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from a wireless communication network via a radio wireless interface provided by the wireless communication network, and A controller circuit is configured, in combination with the transceiver circuit, to: determining that the communication device has uplink data to transmit to the wireless communication network, determining, independently of said wireless communication network, a plurality of periodically occurring instances of uplink resources of said radio wireless interface in which said uplink data is to be transmitted, wherein each said instance of said uplink resources comprises at least data resources, transmitting, in at least one of the instances of the uplink resources, a first portion of the uplink data and full control information to the wireless communication network, and transmitting, in at least one other of the instances of the uplink resources, a second portion of the uplink data and a portion of the control information to the wireless communication network, The full control information indicates a value of each of a plurality of scheduling parameters, and the first part of the uplink data is to be transmitted according to the plurality of scheduling parameters, and the partial control information indicates a value of one or more scheduling parameters of the plurality of scheduling parameters, and the second part of the uplink data is to be transmitted according to the one or more scheduling parameters, wherein at least one of the values ​​indicated by the partial control information is a changed value.

31. A circuit for a communication device, comprising: a transceiver circuit configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from a wireless communication network via a radio wireless interface provided by the wireless communication network, and A controller circuit is configured, in combination with the transceiver circuit, to: determining that the communication device has uplink data to transmit to the wireless communication network, determining, independently of said wireless communication network, a plurality of periodically occurring instances of uplink resources of said radio wireless interface in which said uplink data is to be transmitted, wherein each said instance of said uplink resources comprises at least data resources, transmitting, in at least one of the instances of the uplink resources, a first portion of the uplink data and full control information to the wireless communication network, and transmitting, in at least one other of the instances of the uplink resources, a second portion of the uplink data and a portion of the control information to the wireless communication network, The full control information indicates a value of each of a plurality of scheduling parameters, and the first part of the uplink data is to be transmitted according to the plurality of scheduling parameters, and the partial control information indicates a value of one or more scheduling parameters of the plurality of scheduling parameters, and the second part of the uplink data is to be transmitted according to the one or more scheduling parameters, wherein at least one of the values ​​indicated by the partial control information is a changed value.

32. A method of operating infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communication network, the infrastructure equipment being configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from a communication device via a radio wireless interface provided by the infrastructure equipment, the method comprising: receiving, from the communication device, a first portion of uplink data and full control information in at least one of a plurality of periodically occurring instances of uplink resources of the radio interface, wherein each of the instances of the uplink resources comprises at least data resources, and receiving, in at least one other of the instances of the uplink resources, a second portion of the uplink data and a portion of control information from the communication device, The full control information indicates a value of each of a plurality of scheduling parameters, and the first part of the uplink data is to be transmitted according to the plurality of scheduling parameters, and the partial control information indicates a value of one or more scheduling parameters of the plurality of scheduling parameters, and the second part of the uplink data is to be transmitted according to the one or more scheduling parameters, wherein at least one of the values ​​indicated by the partial control information is a changed value.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein: The full control information and / or the partial control information are each received within a control resource embedded within the data resource.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein: The full control information and / or the partial control information are each received within a control resource separate from the data resource.

35. The method of claim 32, wherein: When a first predetermined condition has been satisfied, the full control information is received from the communication device.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein: The first predetermined condition is that the first portion of the uplink data received in the at least one instance of the uplink resource receiving the full control information is the beginning of the uplink data.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein: The first predetermined condition is that a threshold amount of the scheduling parameter will change from a previous instance of the uplink resource at which a portion of the uplink data was received.

38. The method of claim 32, wherein: The complete control information is received from the communication device periodically according to a setting.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein: The setting periodically defines a predetermined number of instances of the uplink resource between instances of the uplink resource at which the full control information is transmitted by the communication device.

40. The method of claim 38, wherein: The set periodicity defines a predetermined amount of time between transmissions of the full control information by the communication device.

41. The method of claim 38, wherein: The set periodicity defines a predetermined number of times that the communication device transmits the partial control information between transmissions of the full control information by the communication device.

42. The method of claim 38, comprising: The indication of setting the periodicity is transmitted to the communication device.

43. The method of claim 38, wherein: The set periodicity is determined by the communication device independently of the wireless communication network.

44. The method of claim 32, wherein: When a second predetermined condition has been satisfied, the portion of control information is received from the communication device.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein: The second predetermined condition is that a value of at least one of the scheduling parameters is to be changed from a previous instance of the uplink resource at which a portion of the uplink data was received.

46. ​​The method of claim 44, wherein: The second predetermined condition is that more than a predetermined number of instances have passed since the communication device last transmitted the portion of control information.

47. The method of claim 44, wherein: The second predetermined condition is that more than a predetermined amount of time has elapsed since the communication device last transmitted the portion of control information.

48. The method of claim 32, wherein: The full control information and the partial control information are received within the same control resource of the instance of the uplink resource.

49. The method of claim 32, wherein: The full control information and the partial control information are received within different control resources of the instance of the uplink resource.

50. The method of claim 32, wherein: The full control information includes an indication of a location within the at least one other of the instances of the uplink resources within which the partial control information is to be transmitted.

51. The method of claim 32, wherein: The portion of control information includes an indicator indicating one or more scheduling parameters among the plurality of scheduling parameters whose values ​​are indicated by the portion of control information.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein: The partial control information is one of a plurality of sets of partial control information, and each of the sets of partial control information includes one or more different scheduling parameters among the plurality of scheduling parameters.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein: The indicator is a bitmap defining the set of the portion of control information.

54. The method of claim 52, wherein: One or more scheduling parameters of the plurality of scheduling parameters are included in at least two sets of the plurality of sets of partial control information.

55. The method of claim 51, wherein: One or more scheduling parameters from among the plurality of scheduling parameters are selected by the communication device, the values ​​of which are indicated by the portion of control information.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein: The indicator is a bit string including a plurality of bits, each of the bits being associated with one of the plurality of scheduling parameters, and each of the bits indicating whether one of the scheduling parameters is included in the portion of control information.

57. The method of claim 32, comprising: If the portion of control information has been successfully received by the infrastructure equipment, a confirmation signal is transmitted to the communication device, the confirmation signal indicating that the portion of control information has been successfully received by the infrastructure equipment.

58. The method of claim 57, comprising: Based on the fact that the communication device did not receive the confirmation signal in response to the communication device having transmitted the partial control information, the full control information is received from the communication device in place of the partial control information.

59. The method of claim 32, comprising: Both the full control information and the partial control information in each of the instances of the uplink resource are monitored.

60. The method of claim 32, comprising: Upon receipt of the full control information from the communication device, a previously stored configuration of the full control information is overwritten with the newly received full control information.

61. The method of claim 32, comprising: Upon receiving the partial control information from the communication device, overwrite one or more parts of the previously stored configuration of the full control information with the newly received partial control information, wherein the one or more parts of the previously stored configuration of the full control information that are overwritten correspond to one or more scheduling parameters of the multiple scheduling parameters indicated by the newly received partial control information.

62. The method of claim 32, wherein: The plurality of periodically occurring instances of the uplink resource are pre-configured uplink resource instances.

63. The method of claim 32, wherein: The pre-configured uplink resource instance is a configured authorized resource instance.

64. Infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communication network, the infrastructure equipment comprising: a transceiver circuit configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from a communication device via a radio wireless interface provided by the infrastructure equipment, and a controller circuit configured to combine with the transceiver circuit to: receiving, from the communication device, a first portion of uplink data and full control information in at least one of a plurality of periodically occurring instances of uplink resources of the radio interface, wherein each of the instances of the uplink resources comprises at least data resources, and receiving, in at least one other of the instances of the uplink resources, a second portion of the uplink data and a portion of control information from the communication device, The full control information indicates a value of each of a plurality of scheduling parameters, and the first part of the uplink data is to be transmitted according to the plurality of scheduling parameters, and the partial control information indicates a value of one or more scheduling parameters of the plurality of scheduling parameters, and the second part of the uplink data is to be transmitted according to the one or more scheduling parameters, wherein at least one of the values ​​indicated by the partial control information is a changed value.

65. Circuitry for use in infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communications network, the infrastructure equipment comprising: a transceiver circuit configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from a communication device via a radio wireless interface provided by the infrastructure equipment, and a controller circuit configured to combine with the transceiver circuit to: receiving, from the communication device, a first portion of uplink data and full control information in at least one of a plurality of periodically occurring instances of uplink resources of the radio interface, wherein each of the instances of the uplink resources comprises at least data resources, and receiving, in at least one other of the instances of the uplink resources, a second portion of the uplink data and a portion of control information from the communication device, The full control information indicates a value of each of a plurality of scheduling parameters, and the first part of the uplink data is to be transmitted according to the plurality of scheduling parameters, and the partial control information indicates a value of one or more scheduling parameters of the plurality of scheduling parameters, and the second part of the uplink data is to be transmitted according to the one or more scheduling parameters, wherein at least one of the values ​​indicated by the partial control information is a changed value.

66. A wireless communication system comprising the communication apparatus according to claim 30 and the infrastructure equipment according to claim 64.

67. A computer program comprising instructions which, when loaded onto a computer, cause the computer to perform the method according to claim 1 or claim 32.

68. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing the computer program according to claim 67.

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