Method and equipment for determining type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention relates to a method and equipment for determining a type 1 (semi-static) hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) codebook. In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, a UE may: receive a first downlink control information (DCI) format that schedules a first set of physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) on a first set of cells of the UE; generating a HARQ-ACK codebook including HARQ-ACK feedback associated with a candidate PDSCH reception occasion on the first group of cells and the HARQ-ACK feedback of the first group of PDSCHs, the HARQ-ACK feedback being associated with the candidate PDSCH reception occasion on the first group of cells; and the HARQ-ACK codebook is transmitted.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication techniques, and more particularly to Type 1 (semi-static) hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) codebook determination. Background Art

[0002] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services, such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcast, etc. Wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of wireless communication systems may include fourth generation (4G) systems (e.g., long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems) and fifth generation (5G) systems, which may also be referred to as new radio (NR) systems.

[0003] In a wireless communication system, a user equipment (UE) may monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in one or more search spaces. The PDCCH may carry downlink control information (DCI), which may schedule an uplink channel (e.g., a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) or a downlink channel (e.g., a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)). In the case where the DCI schedules the PDSCH, the UE may transmit HARQ-ACK feedback (e.g., HARQ-ACK information bits) of the PDSCH via the PUSCH or the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). For example, the PUCCH may carry a HARQ-ACK codebook containing HARQ-ACK information bits for the PDSCH.

[0004] There is a need to handle HARQ-ACK codebook determination in a wireless communication system. Summary of the invention

[0005] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a user equipment (UE). The UE may include: a transceiver; and a processor coupled to the transceiver. The processor may be configured to: receive a first downlink control information (DCI) format for a first group of physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) on a first group of cells scheduling the UE; generate a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) codebook including HARQ-ACK feedback associated with candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on the first group of cells and HARQ-ACK feedback for the first group of PDSCHs; and transmit the HARQ-ACK codebook.

[0006] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, generating the HARQ-ACK codebook may include: generating HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in the first group of cells; and concatenating the generated HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in the first group of cells in the order of associated serving cell indexes.

[0007] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, generating HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in the first group of cells may include: generating HARQ-ACK information bits for a candidate PDSCH reception timing of the corresponding cell; and generating HARQ-ACK information bits for a first PDSCH in the first group of PDSCHs received on the corresponding cell and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception timing of the corresponding cell.

[0008] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of the corresponding cell and the HARQ-ACK information bits of the first PDSCH are sorted according to the PDSCH reception timing on the corresponding cell.

[0009] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, generating HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in the first group of cells may include: generating HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for the corresponding cell; and generating HARQ-ACK information bits for the first PDSCH that may be scheduled on the corresponding cell via the first DCI format.

[0010] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits of the first PDSCH are placed after or before the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of the corresponding cell. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of the corresponding cell are arranged according to the PDSCH reception timing on the corresponding cell.

[0011] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, when the first PDSCH is actually scheduled on the corresponding cell through the first DCI format, the HARQ-ACK information bit of the first PDSCH is ACK or negative ACK (NACK) depending on the decoding result of the first PDSCH. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, when the first PDSCH is not scheduled on the corresponding cell through the first DCI format, the HARQ-ACK information bit of the first PDSCH is NACK.

[0012] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include a first part and a second part, and generating the HARQ-ACK codebook may include: generating a first part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each cell in the first group of cells; and generating a second part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of all cells that may be scheduled through the first DCI format and have one PDSCH on each cell.

[0013] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, when the first group of cells does not include cells that may be scheduled by the first DCI format, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the second part of the cells are negative ACK (NACK). In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the second part of the cells in the first group of cells scheduled by the first DCI format are ACK or NACK.

[0014] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, when a second PDSCH in a first group of PDSCHs is scheduled on a cell in the first group of cells and is included in a candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit of the second PDSCH in the first part of the cell is ACK or negative ACK (NACK), or NACK, depending on the decoding result of the second PDSCH.

[0015] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include a first part and a second part, and generating the HARQ-ACK codebook may include: generating a first part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each cell in the first group of cells; and generating a second part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of one or more PDSCHs among the first group of PDSCHs received on one or more cells in the first group of cells and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the one or more cells in the first group of cells.

[0016] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the first part of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of each cell in the first group of cells are arranged according to the associated candidate PDSCH reception timing. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the second part are arranged according to the associated cell index.

[0017] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the second part are first arranged according to the associated PDSCH start timing and then according to the associated cell index.

[0018] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, generating a HARQ-ACK codebook may include: for each cell in the first group of cells: generating a first part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of a candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the corresponding cell; when a first PDSCH in the first group of PDSCHs is received on the corresponding cell and is positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the corresponding cell, generating a second part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of the first PDSCH; and cascading the first part and the second part to generate HARQ-ACK feedback for the corresponding cell.

[0019] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits of each cell in the first group of cells are arranged according to an associated serving cell index.

[0020] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor is further configured to receive a second DCI format scheduling a second set of PDSCHs on a second set of cells of the UE, wherein HARQ-ACK feedback for the second set of PDSCHs is to be multiplexed in a HARQ-ACK codebook.

[0021] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, each of the first and second groups of cells is a subgroup of a corresponding group of cells configured for multi-cell scheduling, or is a subgroup of the same group of cells configured for multi-cell scheduling.

[0022] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, generating a HARQ-ACK codebook may include generating HARQ-ACK feedback for each cell in the first and second groups of cells, which may include: generating HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of corresponding cells in the first and second groups of cells; and generating HARQ-ACK information bits for a first PDSCH received on the corresponding cell and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the corresponding cell.

[0023] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, generating a HARQ-ACK codebook may include generating HARQ-ACK feedback for each cell in the first and second groups of cells, which may include: generating HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for corresponding cells in the first and second groups of cells; and generating HARQ-ACK information bits for the first PDSCH that may be scheduled on the corresponding cell via the first DCI format or the second DCI format.

[0024] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include a first part and a second part; and generating the HARQ-ACK codebook may include: generating a first part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each cell in the first and second groups of cells; and generating a second part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of all cells that may be scheduled through the first DCI format and the second DCI format and have one PDSCH on each cell.

[0025] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the second part are arranged according to the cell indexes of the first and second groups of cells. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the second part are arranged first according to the associated cell group index, and then according to the associated serving cell index within the corresponding group in the first and second groups of cells.

[0026] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include: a first part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of each cell in the first and second groups of cells; and a second part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of one or more PDSCHs among the first and second groups of PDSCHs received on one or more cells in the first and second groups of cells and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the one or more cells in the first and second groups of cells.

[0027] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, generating a HARQ-ACK codebook may include generating HARQ-ACK feedback for each cell in the first and second groups of cells, which may include: a first part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of corresponding cells in the first and second groups of cells; and a second part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of the first PDSCH in the first and second groups of PDSCHs in response to the first PDSCH being received on the corresponding cell and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the corresponding cell.

[0028] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first DCI format includes an indicator indicating the same time slot level offset for each of the first group of PDSCHs regarding the time slot in which the first DCI format is received, and the HARQ-ACK feedback for the first group of PDSCHs is included in the HARQ-ACK feedback associated with the candidate PDSCH reception timing on the first group of cells.

[0029] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first DCI format includes: a first indicator indicating a separate time slot level offset for each of a first group of PDSCHs with respect to a time slot in which the first DCI format is received; and a second indicator indicating a time slot in which the HARQ-ACK codebook is transmitted under the restriction that the first group of PDSCHs are included in a candidate PDSCH reception opportunity on an associated cell of the first group of cells, and the HARQ-ACK feedback for the first group of PDSCHs is included in the HARQ-ACK feedback associated with the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity on the first group of cells.

[0030] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a base station (BS). The BS may include: a transceiver; and a processor coupled to the transceiver. The processor may be configured to: transmit to a user equipment (UE) a first downlink control information (DCI) format that schedules a first group of physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) on a first group of cells of the UE; and receive from the UE a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) codebook including HARQ-ACK feedback associated with candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on the first group of cells and HARQ-ACK feedback for the first group of PDSCHs.

[0031] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include: HARQ-ACK information bits of each cell in the first group of cells, which are sorted according to an associated serving cell index.

[0032] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits of each cell in the first group of cells may include: the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of the corresponding cell; and the HARQ-ACK information bits of the first PDSCH in the first group of PDSCHs transmitted on the corresponding cell and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception timing of the corresponding cell.

[0033] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of the corresponding cell and the HARQ-ACK information bits of the first PDSCH are sorted according to the PDSCH reception timing on the corresponding cell.

[0034] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits of each cell in the first group of cells may include: HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the corresponding cell; and HARQ-ACK information bits of the first PDSCH that may be scheduled on the corresponding cell via the first DCI format.

[0035] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits of the first PDSCH are placed after or before the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of the corresponding cell; and wherein the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of the corresponding cell are arranged according to the PDSCH reception timing on the corresponding cell.

[0036] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, when the first PDSCH is actually scheduled on the corresponding cell through the first DCI format, the HARQ-ACK information bit of the first PDSCH is ACK or negative ACK (NACK) depending on the decoding result of the first PDSCH. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, when the first PDSCH is not scheduled on the corresponding cell through the first DCI format, the HARQ-ACK information bit of the first PDSCH is NACK.

[0037] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include a first part and a second part, wherein the first part may include HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each cell in the first group of cells, and the second part may include HARQ-ACK information bits of all cells that may have one PDSCH on each cell that can be scheduled via the first DCI format.

[0038] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, when the first group of cells does not include cells that may be scheduled by the first DCI format, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the second part of the cells are negative ACK (NACK); and the HARQ-ACK information bits in the second part of the cells in the first group of cells scheduled by the first DCI format are ACK or NACK.

[0039] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, when a second PDSCH in a first group of PDSCHs is scheduled on a cell in the first group of cells and is included in a candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit of the second PDSCH in the first part of the cell is ACK or negative ACK (NACK), or NACK, depending on the decoding result of the second PDSCH.

[0040] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include a first part and a second part, the first part may include HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of each cell in the first group of cells, and the second part may include HARQ-ACK information bits of one or more PDSCHs in the first group of PDSCHs transmitted on one or more cells in the first group of cells and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the one or more cells in the first group of cells.

[0041] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the first part of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of each cell in the first group of cells are arranged according to the associated candidate PDSCH reception timing. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the second part are arranged according to the associated cell index.

[0042] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the second part are first arranged according to the associated PDSCH start timing and then according to the associated cell index.

[0043] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include: for each cell in the first group of cells, a first part, which includes the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of the corresponding cell; and a second part, which includes the HARQ-ACK information bits of the first PDSCH in the first group of PDSCHs in response to the first PDSCH being transmitted on the corresponding cell and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception timing of the corresponding cell.

[0044] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits of each cell in the first group of cells are arranged according to an associated serving cell index.

[0045] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor is further configured to transmit a second DCI format to the UE that schedules a second set of PDSCHs on a second set of cells of the UE, wherein HARQ-ACK feedback for the second set of PDSCHs is to be multiplexed in a HARQ-ACK codebook.

[0046] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, each of the first and second groups of cells is a subgroup of a corresponding group of cells configured for multi-cell scheduling, or is a subgroup of the same group of cells configured for multi-cell scheduling.

[0047] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include HARQ-ACK feedback for each cell in the first and second groups of cells, which may include: HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception timings of corresponding cells in the first and second groups of cells; and HARQ-ACK information bits of the first PDSCH transmitted on the corresponding cell and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception timings of the corresponding cell.

[0048] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include HARQ-ACK feedback for each cell in the first and second groups of cells, which may include: HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for the corresponding cells in the first and second groups of cells; and HARQ-ACK information bits for the first PDSCH that may be scheduled on the corresponding cell via the first DCI format or the second DCI format.

[0049] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include a first part and a second part, wherein the first part may include HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each cell in the first and second groups of cells, and the second part may include HARQ-ACK information bits for all cells that may have one PDSCH on each cell that can be scheduled via the first DCI format and the second DCI format.

[0050] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the second part are arranged according to the cell indexes of the first and second groups of cells. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the second part are arranged first according to the associated cell group index and then according to the associated serving cell index within the corresponding group in the first and second groups of cells.

[0051] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include: a first part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of each cell in the first and second groups of cells; and a second part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of one or more PDSCHs among the first and second groups of PDSCHs transmitted on one or more cells in the first and second groups of cells and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the one or more cells in the first and second groups of cells.

[0052] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include HARQ-ACK feedback for each cell in the first and second groups of cells, which may include: a first part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of corresponding cells in the first and second groups of cells; and a second part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of the first PDSCH in the first and second groups of PDSCHs in response to the first PDSCH being transmitted on the corresponding cell and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the corresponding cell.

[0053] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first DCI format includes an indicator indicating the same time slot level offset for each of the first group of PDSCHs regarding the time slot in which the first DCI format is transmitted, and the HARQ-ACK feedback for the first group of PDSCHs is included in the HARQ-ACK feedback associated with the candidate PDSCH reception timing on the first group of cells.

[0054] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first DCI format includes: a first indicator indicating a separate time slot level offset for each of a first group of PDSCHs with respect to a time slot in which the first DCI format is transmitted; and a second indicator indicating a time slot in which the HARQ-ACK codebook is transmitted under the restriction that the first group of PDSCHs are included in a candidate PDSCH reception opportunity on an associated cell of the first group of cells, and the HARQ-ACK feedback for the first group of PDSCHs is included in the HARQ-ACK feedback associated with the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity on the first group of cells.

[0055] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method performed by a user equipment (UE). The method may include: receiving a first downlink control information (DCI) format for a first group of physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) on a first group of cells that schedule the UE; generating a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) codebook including HARQ-ACK feedback associated with candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on the first group of cells and HARQ-ACK feedback for the first group of PDSCHs; and transmitting the HARQ-ACK codebook.

[0056] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method performed by a base station (BS). The method may include: transmitting a first downlink control information (DCI) format for scheduling a first group of physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) on a first group of cells of a user equipment (UE); and receiving from the UE a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) codebook including HARQ-ACK feedback associated with candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on the first group of cells and HARQ-ACK feedback for the first group of PDSCHs.

[0057] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a device. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the device may include: at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon; at least one receiving circuit system; at least one transmitting circuit system; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium, the at least one receiving circuit system, and the at least one transmitting circuit system, wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium and the computer-executable instructions may be configured to cause the device to perform the method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure with the at least one processor. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0058] In order to describe the manner in which the advantages and features of the present disclosure can be obtained, the description of the present disclosure is presented by reference to specific embodiments thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings. These drawings depict only exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope.

[0059] Figure 1 A schematic diagram illustrating a wireless communication system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0060] Figure 2 A schematic diagram illustrating PDSCH transmission according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0061] Figure 3 A flowchart illustrating an exemplary process of wireless communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0062] Figure 4 and 5 A flowchart illustrating HARQ-ACK codebook determination according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0063] Figure 6 A schematic diagram illustrating PDSCH transmission according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0064] Figures 7 to 9 A schematic diagram illustrating HARQ-ACK codebook determination according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0065] Fig.10 A schematic diagram illustrating PDSCH transmission according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0066] Fig.11 A schematic diagram illustrating HARQ-ACK codebook determination according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0067] Fig.12 A flowchart illustrating an exemplary process of wireless communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0068] Fig.13 A block diagram illustrating an exemplary apparatus according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0069] The detailed description of the accompanying drawings is intended as a description of the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure and is not intended to represent the only form in which the present disclosure can be practiced. It should be understood that the same or equivalent functions can be accomplished by different embodiments that are intended to be included in the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0070] Reference will now be made in detail to some embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. To facilitate understanding, embodiments are provided under specific network architectures and new service scenarios (e.g., 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5G (NR), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) Release 8, etc.). It is considered that, with the development of network architectures and new service scenarios, all embodiments in the present disclosure are also applicable to similar technical issues; and in addition, the terms cited in the present disclosure may change, which should not affect the principles of the present disclosure.

[0071] Figure 1 A schematic diagram illustrating a wireless communication system 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0072] like Figure 1 As shown in FIG. 1 , a wireless communication system 100 may include some UEs 101 (e.g., UE 101a and UE 101b) and a base station (e.g., BS 102). Figure 1 A specific number of UEs 101 and BSs 102 are depicted in FIG. 1 , but it is contemplated that any number of UEs and BSs may be included in the wireless communication system 100 .

[0073] UE 101 may include a computing device, such as a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a smart TV (e.g., a TV connected to the Internet), a set-top box, a game console, a security system (including a security camera), a car computer, a network device (e.g., a router, a switch and a modem), or the like. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, UE 101 may include a portable wireless communication device, a smart phone, a cellular phone, a flip phone, a device with a subscriber identity module, a personal computer, a selective call receiver, or any other device capable of sending and receiving communication signals on a wireless network. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, UE 101 includes a wearable device, such as a smart watch, a fitness bracelet, an optical head-mounted display, or the like. In addition, UE 101 may be referred to as a subscriber unit, a mobile device, a mobile station, a user, a terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a fixed terminal, a subscriber station, a user terminal, or a device, or described using other terms used in the art. UE 101 may communicate with BS 102 via an uplink (UL) communication signal.

[0074] BS 102 may be distributed throughout a geographic area. In certain embodiments of the present disclosure, BS 102 may also be referred to as an access point, access terminal, base, base unit, macro cell, node-B, evolved node B (eNB), gNB, home node-B, relay node, or device, or described using other terms used in the art. BS 102 is typically part of a radio access network that may include one or more controllers communicatively coupled to one or more corresponding BS 102. BS 102 may communicate with UE 101 via downlink (DL) communication signals.

[0075] The wireless communication system 100 may be compatible with any type of network capable of sending and receiving wireless communication signals. For example, the wireless communication system 100 is compatible with a wireless communication network, a cellular telephone network, a network based on time division multiple access (TDMA), a network based on code division multiple access (CDMA), a network based on orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), an LTE network, a network based on 3GPP, a 3GPP 5G network, a satellite communication network, a high altitude platform network, and / or other communication networks.

[0076] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the wireless communication system 100 is compatible with the 5G NR of the 3GPP protocol. For example, the BS 102 may transmit data on the DL using an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation scheme and the UE 101 may transmit data on the UL using a discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM) or cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) scheme. However, more generally, the wireless communication system 100 may implement some other open or proprietary communication protocols, such as WiMAX, as well as other protocols.

[0077] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, BS 102 and UE 101 may communicate using other communication protocols (e.g., wireless communication protocols of the IEEE 802.11 series). In addition, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, BS 102 and UE 101 may communicate via a licensed spectrum, while in some other embodiments, BS 102 and UE 101 may communicate via an unlicensed spectrum. The present disclosure is not intended to be limited to implementations of any particular wireless communication system architecture or protocol.

[0078] Multiple types of HARQ-ACK codebooks may be defined, including, for example, a Type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook (also referred to as a "semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook") for HARQ-ACK multiplexing for multiple received PDSCHs. The definition of a Type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook is specified in the 3GPP specification.

[0079] For example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the size of the type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook (e.g., the number of HARQ-ACK information bits contained therein) may be independent of the actual scheduling situation. For example, the number of HARQ-ACK information bits may be determined based on a parameter list, the parameter list including, for example, a PDSCH-to-HARQ timing value (also referred to as a "HARQ-ACK feedback timing group" or "K1 group"), a maximum number of code block groups (CBGs) per transport block (TB), and the number of configured component carriers (CCs) and / or others. The K1 group may be configured to the UE via an RRC signaling message or predefined in the standard. For example, the UE may determine the time for transmitting the type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook based on the PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator (hereinafter referred to as "k1") in the scheduling DCI format, and determine the candidate PDSCH reception timing based on the time for transmitting the codebook and the K1 group. The codebook may include HARQ-ACK information bits for these candidate PDSCH reception timings, regardless of whether the PDSCH is actually scheduled within the candidate PDSCH reception timing.

[0080] Communication technologies (e.g., NR) may support a wide range of spectrum in different frequency ranges. For example, in markets where 5G is advanced, it is expected that the availability of spectrum will increase, which may be due to the re-farming of frequency bands originally used for previous generations of cellular networks. For example, for some low-frequency bands in frequency range 1 (FR1), the available spectrum bands tend to be more fragmented and dispersed, and the bandwidth is narrower. In addition, for frequency bands in frequency range 2 (FR2) and some frequency bands in FR1, the available spectrum may be wider, so that intra-band multi-carrier operation is required.

[0081] In order to meet different spectrum demands, it is important to ensure that these fragmented or scattered spectrum bands or spectrum with wider bandwidth are utilized in a more spectrum and power efficient and flexible manner, thereby providing higher throughput and appropriate coverage in the network.

[0082] For example, one motivation is to increase the spectrum / power efficiency and flexibility of scheduling data on multiple cells including intra-band cells and inter-band cells. In some instances, the scheduling mechanism may only allow a single PUSCH or PDSCH to be scheduled on a single cell per scheduled DCI. As more dispersed spectrum bands or spectrums with wider bandwidths become available, it is desirable to allow simultaneous scheduling of multiple cells. In order to reduce control overhead, it is beneficial to extend from single-cell scheduling to multi-cell PUSCH / PDSCH scheduling with a single scheduling DCI. For example, a single DCI may schedule multiple PDSCHs or PUSCHs on multiple carriers configured to a UE, which is referred to as multi-cell or multi-carrier scheduling in the context of this disclosure. At the same time, the trade-off between signaling overhead reduction and scheduling restrictions may have to be considered. A communication system (e.g., NR) may be designed to support a maximum of 16 component carriers (CCs) in the case of carrier aggregation (CA), or a maximum of 32 CCs in the case of dual connectivity (DC).

[0083] In the context of the present disclosure, for simplicity, a DCI format that schedules multiple PUSCHs on multiple cells is referred to as DCI format 0_X, and a DCI format that schedules multiple PDSCHs on multiple cells is referred to as DCI format 1_X. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, DCI format 0_X / 1_X may schedule a single PDSCH per cell.

[0084] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, when DCI format 0_X / 1_X is transmitted for co-scheduling multiple PUSCH / PDSCHs on multiple cells, the single time domain resource allocation (TDRA) field in the DCI format 0_X / 1_X may indicate a row of a TDRA table, wherein each row of the TDRA table is configured with a separate start and length indication value (SLIV), mapping type, and scheduling offset (e.g., K0 / K2 as specified in the 3GPP specification) for each of the co-scheduled PUSCH / PDSCHs.

[0085] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in order to determine the timing of the PUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK information corresponding to a set of co-scheduled PDSCHs of DCI format 1_X, the reference PDSCH is the last ending PDSCH among the set of co-scheduled PDSCHs as indicated in DCI format 1_X.

[0086] Therefore, for DCI format 1_X that co-schedules a group of cells and in the case where the TDRA field indicates a separate K0 value for each co-scheduled PDSCH, when the last ending PDSCH among the co-scheduled PDSCHs as indicated in DCI format 1_X is used as a reference PDSCH for determining the timing of the PUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the group of co-scheduled PDSCHs of DCI format 1_X, since the k1 value indicated by the PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field in DCI format 1_X is associated with the reference PDSCH among the co-scheduled PDSCHs, the co-scheduled PDSCH on the non-reference cell may be outside the candidate PDSCH reception timing determined by the corresponding K1 group of the non-reference cell, where the reference cell is defined as the cell in which the reference PDSCH is transmitted. Therefore, the corresponding HARQ-ACK information of those PDSCHs outside the candidate PDSCH reception timing cannot be reported in the type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook.

[0087] Figure 2 Schematic diagram illustrating PDSCH transmission according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0088] refer to Figure 2 , multiple CCs may be configured for the UE (for example, including but not limited to Figure 2 231 to 234 in the UE). It should be understood that the subcarrier spacing (SCS) of the carriers configured for the UE may be the same or different. Each of the multiple CCs may correspond to a corresponding cell (e.g., a serving cell) or carrier of the UE. Each carrier (serving cell) may be associated with a (serving) cell index.

[0089] exist Figure 2In this case, the BS can transmit DCI 210 to the UE on CC 231 in time slot n. Assume that DCI 210 co-schedules four cells, namely CC 231 to 234. For simplicity, assume that the serving cell indices of CC 231 to 234 are: CC 231 < CC232 < CC 233 < CC 234. DCI 210 can indicate a specific row of the TDRA table. Assume that the specific row indicates the K0 values {1, 6, 5, 2}. Based on the indicated K0 values, the UE can determine that DCI 210 schedules PDSCH 221 on CC 231 in time slot n + 1, schedules PDSCH 222 on CC 232 in time slot n + 6, schedules PDSCH 223 on CC 233 in time slot n + 5, and schedules PDSCH 224 on CC 234 in time slot n + 2. PDSCH 222 is used as the reference PDSCH because it is the latest PDSCH among the four co-scheduled PDSCHs, and cell 232 is regarded as the reference cell. Assume that the PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field in DCI 210 indicates the k1 value 3, then the PUCCH carrying the HARQ-ACK feedback of the four co-scheduled PDSCHs will be transmitted in time slot n + 9 (i.e., (time slot n + 6) + 3 time slots).

[0090] Assume that for each of CC 231 to 234, the K1 group is {1, 2, 3, 4}. Referring to time slot n + 9, the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on each cell are determined in the reverse order of the k1 values in the K1 group in time slots n + 5 to n + 8 (e.g., (time slot n + 9) - 4, (time slot n + 9) - 3, (time slot n + 9) - 2, and (time slot n + 9) - 1). As Figure 2 shown, PDSCH 221 on CC 231 and PDSCH 224 on CC 234 are not within the range of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on the corresponding cells. In that sense, the type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook will not include the HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCH 221 and PDSCH 224.

[0091] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide solutions for type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook determination, which can at least solve the above problems. For example, embodiments of the present disclosure provide solutions for including the HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCHs located outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in the HARQ-ACK codebook. For example, embodiments of the present disclosure provide solutions for avoiding scenarios where the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI format is located outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities. More details about the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0092] Figure 3 A flowchart illustrating an exemplary process 300 of wireless communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 3 In some examples, the process may be performed by a UE (e.g., Figure 1 UE 101 in executes.

[0093] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a UE may be configured with a type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook and a set of cells for multi-cell scheduling using DCI format 1_X. In some embodiments, all DCI formats 1_X are configured or predefined with the same group of cells for multi-cell scheduling. For example, a separate DCI format 1_X may schedule a corresponding subgroup of the same group of cells for multi-cell scheduling. In some embodiments, multiple groups of cells may be configured or predefined for multi-cell scheduling. A cell included in one cell group in a plurality of groups of cells may not be included in another cell group in a plurality of groups of cells. A single group of cells or multiple groups of cells may or may not include all serving cells of a UE. For example, DCI format 1_X may schedule a subgroup of cells in one group of cells in a plurality of groups of cells, and another DCI format 1_X may schedule a subgroup of cells in another cell group in a plurality of groups of cells.

[0094] refer to Figure 3 In operation 311, the UE may receive a first DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_X as described above) that schedules a first group of PDSCHs on a first group of cells of the UE. In some embodiments, the first group of cells may be a subgroup of the cell group (hereinafter, the first cell group) as described above.

[0095] The TDRA field in the first DCI format may indicate a separate K0 value for each of the co-scheduled PDSCHs. The time slot in which the PUCCH carrying the HARQ-ACK feedback of the co-scheduled PDSCH is transmitted is determined according to the PDSCH that ends last among the co-scheduled PDSCHs as indicated by the TDRA field in the first DCI format and the HARQ-ACK feedback timing value indicated by the PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field in the first DCI format. The candidate PDSCH reception timing on each cell in the first group of cells or the first cell group is determined according to the K1 group configured for the corresponding cell and the time slot in which the PUCCH is transmitted. In some embodiments, a separate K1 group may be configured or predefined for different cells. In some embodiments, the same K1 group may be configured or predefined for different cells.

[0096] In operation 313, the UE may generate a HARQ-ACK codebook including HARQ-ACK feedback associated with candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on the first set of cells and HARQ-ACK feedback for the first set of PDSCHs. In operation 315, the UE may transmit the HARQ-ACK codebook. For example, the HARQ-ACK codebook in the time slot where the PUCCH is transmitted as determined above.

[0097] As will be described below, various methods may be employed to determine the HARQ-ACK codebook.

[0098] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a solution is provided for including HARQ-ACK information bits of a PDSCH located outside a candidate PDSCH reception opportunity in a HARQ-ACK codebook (hereinafter, solution #1). As will be described below, various methods may be employed to implement solution #1.

[0099] Method #1

[0100] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, generating a HARQ-ACK codebook may include: generating HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in a first group of cells; and concatenating the generated HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in the first group of cells in an order (e.g., a predefined order, such as ascending or descending order) of associated serving cell indexes.

[0101] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, generating HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in the first group of cells may include: generating HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception timings of the corresponding cell; and generating HARQ-ACK information bits for a PDSCH (denoted as PDSCH#1A) in the first group of PDSCHs received on the corresponding cell and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception timings of the corresponding cell.

[0102] In some embodiments, for example, when a PDSCH in the first group of PDSCHs scheduled on a specific cell in the first group of cells is located within a corresponding candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the specific cell, this PDSCH#1A may not exist. Therefore, the HARQ-ACK information bits of the specific cell may only include the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the specific cell.

[0103] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timings of the corresponding cell and the HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCH#1A (if any) are sorted according to the PDSCH reception timing on the corresponding cell (e.g., their predefined order, such as ascending or descending order of the candidate PDSCH reception timings on the corresponding cell).

[0104] In some instances, when a PDSCH is actually scheduled on a cell within a specific candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit of this candidate PDSCH reception opportunity is the HARQ-ACK information bit of this PDSCH, that is, ACK or NACK depends on the decoding result of the PDSCH. In some instances, when a PDSCH is not actually scheduled on a cell within a specific candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit of this candidate PDSCH reception opportunity is NACK.

[0105] In some implementations, the first group of cells may be a subset of the group of cells configured for multi-cell scheduling. Generating the HARQ-ACK codebook may include: generating HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in the group of cells; and concatenating the generated HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in the group of cells in an order (e.g., a predefined order, such as ascending or descending order) of the associated serving cell indexes.

[0106] For example, the first DCI format may schedule a cell group, but may not actually schedule all cells in the cell group. The HARQ-ACK codebook may include HARQ-ACK information bits of cells in the cell group that are not actually scheduled by the first DCI format. The HARQ-ACK information bits of this cell may include HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of this cell. When PDSCH is not actually scheduled on this cell, the HARQ-ACK information bits of each candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of this cell may indicate NACK.

[0107] For example, returning a reference Figure 2 , the UE can generate a HARQ-ACK codebook to be transmitted in time slot n+9. Figure 4 An example HARQ-ACK codebook 450 according to method #1 is shown in FIG. HARQ-ACK codebook 450 may include HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in CCs 231 to 234. For example, Figure 4 , the HARQ-ACK codebook 450 may include HARQ-ACK information bits a1 to a4, which represent HARQ-ACK information bits of CCs 231 to 234, respectively, and are sorted in the HARQ-ACK codebook 450 according to the ascending order of the associated cell indexes.

[0108] because Figure 2 PDSCH 221 on CC 231 in is not included in the range of candidate PDSCH reception timings of CC 231, so Figure 4The HARQ-ACK information bits a1 in include the HARQ-ACK information bits for the candidate PDSCH reception timing of CC 231 and the HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCH 221, which may be sorted according to the associated candidate PDSCH reception timing. For example, assuming that the ascending order of the candidate PDSCH reception timing is adopted, and Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bits of the four candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of CC 231 in are represented as a1-1, a1-2, a1-3 and a1-4, and Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bit of PDSCH 221 in is represented as a1-0, then Figure 4 The HARQ-ACK information bit a1 in can be represented as {a1-0, a1-1, a1-2, a1-3, a1-4}. In some examples, when PDSCH is not actually scheduled at the corresponding candidate PDSCH reception opportunity, a1-1, a1-2, a1-3, and a1-4 may be NACK.

[0109] because Figure 2 PDSCH 222 on CC 232 in is included in the range of candidate PDSCH reception timings of CC 232, so Figure 4 The HARQ-ACK information bit a2 in includes the HARQ-ACK information bit of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of CC 232, where Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of CC 232 in slot n+6 in t refers to the HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCH 222. Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in the time slots n+5, n+7 and n+8 of CC 231 in are denoted as a2-1, a2-3 and a2-4, and Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bit of PDSCH 222 in is represented as a2-0, Figure 4 The HARQ-ACK information bit a2 in can be represented as {a2-1, a2-0, a2-3, a2-4}. In some examples, when PDSCH is not actually scheduled at the corresponding candidate PDSCH reception opportunity, a2-1, a2-3, and a2-4 may be NACK.

[0110] because Figure 2 PDSCH 223 on CC 233 in is included in the range of candidate PDSCH reception timings of CC 233, so Figure 4 The HARQ-ACK information bit a3 in includes the HARQ-ACK information bit of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of CC 233, where Figure 2The HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of CC 233 in slot n+5 in t refers to the HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCH 223. Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in the time slots n+6, n+7 and n+8 of CC 231 in are denoted as a3-2, a3-3 and a3-4, and Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bit of PDSCH 223 in is represented as a3-0, Figure 4 The HARQ-ACK information bit a3 in can be represented as {a3-0, a3-2, a3-3, a3-4}. In some examples, when PDSCH is not actually scheduled at the corresponding candidate PDSCH reception opportunity, a3-2, a3-3, and a3-4 may be NACK.

[0111] because Figure 2 PDSCH 224 on CC 234 in is not included in the range of candidate PDSCH reception timings of CC 234, so Figure 4 The HARQ-ACK information bits a4 in include the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timings of CC 234 and the HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCH 224, which can be sorted in ascending order according to the candidate PDSCH reception timings as assumed above. Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bits of the four candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of CC 234 in are represented as a4-1, a4-2, a4-3 and a4-4, and Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bit of PDSCH 224 in is represented as a4-0, then Figure 4 The HARQ-ACK information bit a4 in can be represented as {a4-0, a4-1, a4-2, a4-3, a4-4}. In some examples, when PDSCH is not actually scheduled at the corresponding candidate PDSCH reception opportunity, a4-1, a4-2, a4-3, and a4-4 may be NACK.

[0112] From the UE's perspective, the following steps may be performed to generate a Type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook according to Method #1:

[0113] (1-1) The UE checks the K0 value of each of the co-scheduled PDSCHs as indicated by the TDRA field and finds the reference PDSCH that ends last among the co-scheduled PDSCHs.

[0114] (1-2) The UE determines a time slot in which a PUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK feedback of a co-scheduled PDSCH is transmitted.

[0115] (1-3) The UE identifies candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each cell in the co-scheduled cells (or configured cell groups) according to the corresponding K1 group of each cell in the co-scheduled cells (or configured cell groups) and the time slot in which the PUCCH is transmitted.

[0116] (1-4) For each cell in the co-scheduled cell (or configured cell group),

[0117] The UE generates HARQ-ACK information bits for each candidate PDSCH reception opportunity on the cell;

[0118] The UE checks whether there are one or more PDSCHs scheduled by a multi-cell scheduling DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_X or the first DCI format) and located outside the candidate PDSCH reception timing on the cell;

[0119] If there is only a single PDSCH scheduled by the multi-cell scheduling DCI format outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on the cell, then the UE generates HARQ-ACK information bits for the single PDSCH; and

[0120] If there are multiple PDSCHs outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on a cell scheduled by multiple multi-cell scheduling DCI formats, the UE generates HARQ-ACK information bits for multiple PDSCHs.

[0121] (1-5) The UE concatenates the HARQ-ACK information bits of each cell in the co-scheduled cell (or configured cell group) into a type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook for transmission on the PUCCH.

[0122] From the perspective of the BS, it may transmit a DCI format scheduling multiple PDSCHs to the UE, and may receive a type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook generated as above from the UE.

[0123] Method #2

[0124] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, generating a HARQ-ACK codebook may include: generating HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in a first group of cells; and concatenating the generated HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in the first group of cells in an order (e.g., a predefined order, such as ascending or descending order) of associated serving cell indexes.

[0125] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, generating HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in the first group of cells may include: generating HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for the corresponding cell; and generating HARQ-ACK information bits for a PDSCH (expressed as PDSCH#1B) that may be scheduled on the corresponding cell via the first DCI format.

[0126] In some instances, when a PDSCH is actually scheduled on a cell within a specific candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit of this candidate PDSCH reception opportunity is the HARQ-ACK information bit of this PDSCH, that is, ACK or NACK depends on the decoding result of the PDSCH. In some instances, when a PDSCH is not actually scheduled on a cell within a specific candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit of this candidate PDSCH reception opportunity is NACK.

[0127] In some other instances, the HARQ-ACK information bit of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity is always NACK. For example, even when the PDSCH is actually scheduled on the cell within a specific candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit of this candidate PDSCH reception opportunity is NACK. This is because the HARQ-ACK information bit of this PDSCH within the specific candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the cell can be indicated by the HARQ-ACK information bit of PDSCH#1B.

[0128] The HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCH#1B may always be included in the HARQ-ACK information bits of the corresponding cell, regardless of whether the PDSCH is actually scheduled by the first DCI format on the corresponding cell. For example, in the case where the corresponding cell or PDSCH#1B is not scheduled by the first DCI format, a NACK bit may be generated (i.e., the HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCH#1B are NACK). In the case where the corresponding cell or PDSCH#1B is actually scheduled by the first DCI format, an ACK or NACK bit may be generated depending on the decoding result of PDSCH#1B scheduled on the corresponding cell (i.e., the HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCH#1B are ACK or NACK).

[0129] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timings of the corresponding cell are sorted according to the PDSCH reception timings on the corresponding cell (e.g., their predefined order, such as ascending or descending order of the candidate PDSCH reception timings on the corresponding cell). The HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCH#1B on the corresponding cell are placed after or before the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timings of the corresponding cell.

[0130] In some embodiments, the first group of cells may be a subset of the group of cells configured for multi-cell scheduling. Generating the HARQ-ACK codebook may include: generating HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in the group of cells; and concatenating the generated HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in the group of cells in an order (e.g., a predefined order, such as ascending or descending order) of the associated serving cell indexes.

[0131] For example, the first DCI format may schedule a cell group, but may not actually schedule all cells in the cell group. The HARQ-ACK codebook may include HARQ-ACK information bits of cells in the cell group that are not actually scheduled by the first DCI format. The HARQ-ACK information bits of this cell may include the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of this cell and the HARQ-ACK information bits of the hypothetical PDSCH #1B on this cell, all of which may be NACK when no PDSCH is actually scheduled on this cell.

[0132] For example, returning a reference Figure 2 , the UE can generate a HARQ-ACK codebook to be transmitted in time slot n+9. Figure 5 An example HARQ-ACK codebook 550 according to method #2 is shown in FIG. HARQ-ACK codebook 550 may include HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in CCs 231 to 234. For example, Figure 5 , the HARQ-ACK codebook 550 may include HARQ-ACK information bits b1 to b4, which represent HARQ-ACK information bits of CCs 231 to 234, respectively, and are sorted in the HARQ-ACK codebook 550 according to the ascending order of the associated cell indexes.

[0133] Because in Figure 2 In the example, PDSCH 221 is scheduled on CC 231, so Figure 5 The HARQ-ACK information bit b1 in the packet includes: the HARQ-ACK information bit of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of CC231, which can be sorted according to the associated candidate PDSCH reception timing; and the HARQ-ACK information bit of PDSCH 221, which can be placed before or after the HARQ-ACK information bit of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of CC 231).

[0134] For simplicity, it is assumed that for each cell, the ascending order of the candidate PDSCH reception timings is adopted, and / or the HARQ-ACK information bits of the possible scheduled PDSCH are placed before the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timings.

[0135] For example, Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bits of the four candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of CC 231 in are represented as b1-1, b1-2, b1-3 and b1-4, and Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bit of PDSCH 221 in is represented as b1-0, then Figure 5 The HARQ-ACK information bits b1 in can be represented as {b1-0, b1-1, b1-2, b1-3, b1-4}. In some examples, b1-1, b1-2, b1-3, and b1-4 can be NACKs.

[0136] Because in Figure 2 In the example, PDSCH 222 is scheduled on CC 232, so Figure 5 The HARQ-ACK information bits b2 in include: the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of CC232, which can be sorted according to the associated candidate PDSCH reception timing; and the HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCH 222, which can be placed before the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of CC 232 (as assumed above).

[0137] Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bit of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of CC 232 in slot n+6 in 2 may refer to the HARQ-ACK information bit of PDSCH 222 or always be NACK. In some embodiments, when PDSCH is not actually transmitted in the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit of this candidate PDSCH reception opportunity indicates NACK. For example, Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bit of PDSCH 222 in is represented as b2-0, Figure 5 The HARQ-ACK information bit b2 in can be expressed as {b2-0,NACK,b2-0,NACK,NACK} or {b2-0,NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK}.

[0138] Because in Figure 2 In the example, PDSCH 223 is scheduled on CC 233, so Figure 5 The HARQ-ACK information bit b3 in includes: the HARQ-ACK information bit of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of CC233, which can be sorted according to the associated candidate PDSCH reception timing; and the HARQ-ACK information bit of PDSCH 223, which can be placed before the HARQ-ACK information bit of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of CC 233 (as assumed above).

[0139] Figure 2The HARQ-ACK information bit of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of CC 233 in slot n+5 in 2 may refer to the HARQ-ACK information bit of PDSCH 223 or always be NACK. In some embodiments, when PDSCH is not actually transmitted in the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit of this candidate PDSCH reception opportunity indicates NACK. For example, Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bit of PDSCH 223 in is represented as b3-0, Figure 5 The HARQ-ACK information bit b3 in can be expressed as {b3-0, b3-0, NACK, NACK, NACK} or {b3-0, NACK, NACK, NACK, NACK}.

[0140] Because in Figure 2 In the example, PDSCH 224 is scheduled on CC 234, so Figure 5 The HARQ-ACK information bit b4 in includes: the HARQ-ACK information bit of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of CC234, which can be sorted according to the associated candidate PDSCH reception timing; and the HARQ-ACK information bit of PDSCH 224, which can be placed before the HARQ-ACK information bit of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of CC 234 (as assumed above).

[0141] In some embodiments, when PDSCH is not actually transmitted in a candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of a cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit of this candidate PDSCH reception opportunity indicates NACK. Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bit of PDSCH 224 in is represented as b4-0, Figure 5 The HARQ-ACK information bit b4 in can be expressed as {b4-0, NACK, NACK, NACK, NACK}.

[0142] From the UE's perspective, the following steps may be performed to generate a Type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook according to Method #2:

[0143] (2-1) The UE checks the K0 value of each of the co-scheduled PDSCHs as indicated by the TDRA field and finds the reference PDSCH that ends last among the co-scheduled PDSCHs.

[0144] (2-2) The UE determines a time slot in which a PUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK feedback of a co-scheduled PDSCH is transmitted.

[0145] (2-3) The UE identifies candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each cell in the co-scheduled cells (or configured cell groups) according to the corresponding K1 group of each cell in the co-scheduled cells (or configured cell groups) and the time slot in which the PUCCH is transmitted.

[0146] (2-4) For each cell in the co-scheduled cell (or configured cell group),

[0147] The UE generates HARQ-ACK information bits for each candidate PDSCH reception opportunity on the cell;

[0148] • The UE generates HARQ-ACK information bits for a PDSCH (eg, PDSCH #1B) that may be scheduled on a cell via a multi-cell DCI format (eg, DCI format 1_X).

[0149] (2-5) The UE concatenates the HARQ-ACK information bits of each cell in the co-scheduled cell (or configured cell group) into a type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook for transmission on the PUCCH.

[0150] From the perspective of the BS, it may transmit a DCI format scheduling multiple PDSCHs to the UE, and may receive a Type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook generated as above from the UE.

[0151] Method #3

[0152] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include two parts (represented as part #1C and part #2C for clarity). Generating the HARQ-ACK codebook may include: generating part #1C, wherein part #1C includes HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each cell in the first group of cells; and generating part #2C, wherein part #2C includes HARQ-ACK information bits for all cells that may be scheduled via the first DCI format and have one PDSCH on each cell.

[0153] For part #1C, in some instances, when a PDSCH is actually scheduled on a cell within a specific candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit of this candidate PDSCH reception opportunity is the HARQ-ACK information bit of this PDSCH, that is, ACK or NACK depends on the decoding result of the PDSCH. For example, when a PDSCH in the first group of PDSCHs is scheduled on a cell in the first group of cells and is included in the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit of this candidate PDSCH reception opportunity in part #1C refers to the HARQ-ACK information bit of this PDSCH. In some instances, when a PDSCH is not actually scheduled on a cell within a specific candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit of this candidate PDSCH reception opportunity is NACK.

[0154] For part #1C, in some other instances, the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timing are always NACK. For example, even when the PDSCH is actually scheduled on the cell within a specific candidate PDSCH reception timing of the cell, the HARQ-ACK information bits of this candidate PDSCH reception timing are NACK. For example, in the case where a PDSCH in the first group of PDSCHs is scheduled on a cell in the first group of cells and is included in the candidate PDSCH reception timing of the cell, the HARQ-ACK information bits of this candidate PDSCH reception timing in part #1C are NACK. This is because the HARQ-ACK information bits of this actually scheduled PDSCH can be indicated by part #2C.

[0155] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits in part #1C may be first sorted according to the candidate PDSCH reception timing of each of the first group of cells (e.g., a predefined order, such as ascending or descending order of the candidate PDSCH reception timing) and then according to the serving cell index of the first group of cells (e.g., a predefined order, such as ascending or descending order of the serving cell index).

[0156] In some embodiments, the first group of cells may be a subgroup of the cell group configured for multi-cell scheduling. Generating part #1C may include generating HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of each cell in the cell group (which may be sorted according to a predefined order, such as ascending or descending order of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the corresponding cell), and concatenating the generated HARQ-ACK information bits according to the associated serving cell index (e.g., a predefined order, such as ascending or descending order of the serving cell index of the cell group).

[0157] For example, the first DCI format may schedule a cell group, but may not actually schedule all cells in the cell group. Part #1C may include HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of cells in the cell group that are not actually scheduled by the first DCI format.

[0158] As mentioned previously, in the context of the present disclosure, cells that may be scheduled via a multi-cell DCI format may refer to cells in the corresponding configured cell group. Portion #2C may include HARQ-ACK information bits for all cells that may be scheduled via the first DCI format with one PDSCH on each cell, regardless of whether cells in such cells are actually scheduled by the first DCI format.

[0159] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a cell that may be scheduled by the first DCI format is not included in the first group of cells (i.e., not actually scheduled), and the HARQ-ACK information bit in part #2C of this cell is NACK. Depending on the decoding result of the PDSCH scheduled on this cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit in part #2C of the cell in the first group of cells scheduled by the first DCI format is ACK or NACK.

[0160] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits in part #2C may be arranged according to an associated cell index (eg, a predefined order, such as ascending or descending order of the serving cell index of the configured cell group).

[0161] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, part #1C and part #2C may be arranged in the HARQ-ACK codebook according to a predefined order. For example, part #1C is placed first in the HARQ-ACK codebook and then part #2C. For example, part #2C is placed first in the HARQ-ACK codebook and then part #1C.

[0162] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, when at least one cell in a configured cell group associated with DCI format 1_X (e.g., the first DCI format) is configured with a maximum of 2 codewords per PDSCH without spatial bundling, the number of HARQ-ACK information bits in part #2C (i.e., the size of part #2C) may be based on (e.g., equal to) M, where M represents the maximum number of transport blocks (TBs) that can be co-scheduled by DCI format 1_X (e.g., the first DCI format) in the PUCCH group of the UE.

[0163] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, when no cell in the configured cell group is configured with a maximum of 2 codewords per PDSCH, or when one or more cells in the configured cell group are configured with a maximum of 2 codewords per PDSCH and are configured with spatial bundling, the number of HARQ-ACK information bits in part #2C (i.e., the size of part #2C) may be based on (e.g., equal to) N, where N is the maximum number of cells that can be co-scheduled by DCI format 1_X (e.g., the first DCI format) in the PUCCH group of the UE.

[0164] exist Figure 6 and 7 An example of HARQ-ACK codebook determination according to method #3 is shown in FIG.

[0165] refer to Figure 6 , the UE may be configured with a set of cells including CCs 631 to 634 for multi-cell scheduling through DCI format 1_X. For simplicity, it is assumed that the serving cell indexes of CCs 631 to 634 are: CC 631 <CC 632<CC 633<CC 634。

[0166] The UE may receive DCI 610 from the BS on CC 631 in slot n. Assume that DCI 610 co-schedules 3 cells, namely CC 631 to 633. DCI 610 may indicate a specific row of the TDRA table, which indicates a K0 value {1, 6, 5, 2}. Based on the indicated K0 value and the number of co-scheduled cells (e.g., assumed to be 3), the UE may determine that DCI 610 schedules PDSCH 621 on CC 631 in slot n+1, schedules PDSCH 622 on CC 632 in slot n+6, and schedules PDSCH 623 on CC 633 in slot n+5. PDSCH 622 is used as a reference PDSCH because it is the latest PDSCH among the 3 co-scheduled PDSCHs, and cell 632 is regarded as a reference cell. Assuming that the PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field in DCI 610 indicates a k1 value of 3, a PUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK feedback for three co-scheduled PDSCHs will be transmitted in slot n+9 (ie, (slot n+6)+3 slots).

[0167] Assuming that for each of CCs 631 to 634, K1 group is {1, 2, 3, 4}, referring to slot n+9, candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on each cell are determined in slots n+5 to n+8 according to the reverse order of k1 values ​​in the K1 group.

[0168] The UE may generate the following according to method #3: Figure 7The HARQ-ACK codebook 750 shown in FIG. 7 is used for transmitting in time slot n+9 (e.g., in FIG. Figure 7 760 shown in FIG. 1 ).

[0169] like Figure 7 , HARQ-ACK codebook 750 includes part 751 and part 752. Part 751 includes HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on each of the configured cell groups for multi-cell scheduling. Part 752 includes HARQ-ACK information bits on all cells in the configured cell group with one PDSCH on each cell.

[0170] For simplicity, it is assumed that the cell index is in ascending order. Figure 6 The HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timings of CCs 631 to 634 in are denoted as c1 to c4, respectively. Figure 7 The portion 751 in can be arranged as {c1, c2, c3, c4}. For example, Figure 6 The HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCH 621 to 623 in are represented as c5 to c7, respectively, and Figure 6 The HARQ-ACK information bit of the PDSCH that may be scheduled on CC 634 is denoted as c8. Figure 7 The portion 752 in can be arranged as {c5, c6, c7, c8}. In some examples, when Figure 6 When PDSCH is not actually scheduled on CC 634 in the communication, c8 may indicate NACK.

[0171] Figure 7 The HARQ-ACK information bit c1 in contains Figure 6 The HARQ-ACK information bits of the four candidate PDSCH reception timings of CC 631 in , which can be sorted according to the associated candidate PDSCH reception timings. Similarly, Figure 7 The HARQ-ACK information bits c2, c3 or c4 in Figure 6 The HARQ-ACK information bits of the four candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of CC 632, 633 or 634 in the UE may be sorted according to the associated candidate PDSCH reception opportunities.

[0172] For simplicity, it is assumed that for each cell, the ascending order of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities is adopted.

[0173] For example, Figure 6 The HARQ-ACK information bits of the four candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of CC 631 in are represented as c1-1, c1-2, c1-3 and c1-4, Figure 7The HARQ-ACK information bit c1 in can be expressed as {c1-1, c1-2, c1-3, c1-4}.

[0174] In some embodiments, when PDSCH is not actually transmitted in a candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of a cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit of this candidate PDSCH reception opportunity indicates NACK. For example, c1-1, c1-2, c1-3 and c1-4 may be NACK.

[0175] In some embodiments, when PDSCH is actually transmitted in a candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of a cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit of this candidate PDSCH reception opportunity refers to the HARQ-ACK information bit of this PDSCH. In some other embodiments, the HARQ-ACK information bit of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of a cell may always indicate NACK.

[0176] For example, since PDSCH 622 is scheduled in slot n+6 on CC 632, Figure 6 The HARQ-ACK information bit of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of CC 632 in slot n+6 in may refer to the HARQ-ACK information bit of PDSCH 622 (eg, c6), or may always be NACK. Figure 7 The HARQ-ACK information bit c2 in can be expressed as {NACK, c6, NACK, NACK} or {NACK, NACK, NACK, NACK}.

[0177] Similarly, since PDSCH 623 is scheduled in slot n+5 on CC 633, Figure 6 The HARQ-ACK information bit of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of CC 633 in slot n+5 in may refer to the HARQ-ACK information bit of PDSCH 623 (eg, c7), or may always be NACK. Figure 7 The HARQ-ACK information bit c3 in can be expressed as {c7,NACK,NACK,NACK} or {NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK}.

[0178] For example, DCI 610 does not schedule CC 634. Figure 7 The HARQ-ACK information bit c4 in can be expressed as {NACK, NACK, NACK, NACK}.

[0179] From the UE's perspective, the following steps may be performed to generate a Type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook according to Method #3:

[0180] (3-1) The UE checks the K0 value of each of the co-scheduled PDSCHs as indicated by the TDRA field and finds the reference PDSCH that ends last among the co-scheduled PDSCHs.

[0181] (3-2) The UE determines a time slot in which a PUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK feedback of a co-scheduled PDSCH is transmitted.

[0182] (3-3) The UE identifies candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each of the configured cell groups according to the corresponding K1 group of each cell in the configured cell group and the time slot in which the PUCCH is transmitted.

[0183] (3-4) The UE generates part #1C including the HARQ-ACK information bits for each candidate PDSCH reception opportunity for each cell in the co-scheduled cell (or configured cell group), and first sorts the generated HARQ-ACK information bits according to the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of each cell in the co-scheduled cell (or configured cell group) (e.g., in ascending order) and then according to the serving cell index of the co-scheduled cell (or configured cell group) (e.g., in ascending order).

[0184] (3-5) The UE generates part #2C including the HARQ-ACK information bits of the configured cell group. In one embodiment, the UE sorts the HARQ-ACK information bits of the configured cell group according to the serving cell index of the configured cell group (e.g., in ascending order). In another embodiment, the HARQ-ACK information bits of the configured cell group are sorted according to the PDSCH start timing (e.g., in ascending order), and if there are two or more PDSCHs with the same start timing, the HARQ-ACK information bits of the two or more PDSCHs with the same start timing are sorted according to the associated serving cell index (e.g., in ascending order).

[0185] (3-6) The UE concatenates part #1C and part #2C into a HARQ-ACK codebook for transmission on the PUCCH.

[0186] From the perspective of the BS, it may transmit a DCI format scheduling multiple PDSCHs to the UE, and may receive a Type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook generated as above from the UE.

[0187] Method #4

[0188] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include two parts (represented as part #1D and part #2D for clarity). Generating the HARQ-ACK codebook may include: generating part #1D, the part #1D including HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of each cell in the first group of cells, and generating part #2D, the part #2D including HARQ-ACK information bits for one or more PDSCHs among the first group of PDSCHs received on one or more cells in the first group of cells and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the one or more cells in the first group of cells.

[0189] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, part #1D and part #2D may be arranged in the HARQ-ACK codebook according to a predefined order. For example, part #1D is placed first in the HARQ-ACK codebook and then part #2D. For example, part #2D is placed first in the HARQ-ACK codebook and then part #1D.

[0190] The description of part #1C in method #3 is applicable to part #1D in method #4, except as follows: For part #1D, when a PDSCH is actually scheduled on a cell within a specific candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit of this candidate PDSCH reception opportunity is the HARQ-ACK information bit of this PDSCH, that is, ACK or NACK depends on the decoding result of the PDSCH. In other words, the HARQ-ACK information bit of this candidate PDSCH reception opportunity may not always indicate NACK.

[0191] For example, similar to part #1C in method #3, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits in part #1D of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of each cell in the first group of cells may be arranged according to the associated candidate PDSCH reception timing.

[0192] For example, similar to part #1C in method #3, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, part #1D may include HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of cells in the configured cell group that are not actually scheduled by the first DCI format.

[0193] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits in part #2D are arranged according to the associated cell index. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the timing is first started according to the associated PDSCH and then the HARQ-ACK information bits in part #2D are arranged according to the associated cell index.

[0194] For example, returning a reference Figure 2, the UE may generate a HARQ-ACK codebook to be transmitted in time slot n+9. Figure 8 and can be transmitted on PUCCH 860.

[0195] like Figure 8 , HARQ-ACK codebook 850 includes portion 851 and portion 852. Portion 851 includes HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on each of CCs 231 to 234 (e.g., cells scheduled by DCI 210 or configured cell groups for multi-cell scheduling). Portion 852 includes HARQ-ACK information bits received on CCs 231 and 234 and located outside of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of CCs 231 and 234. Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCH 221 and 224 in the PDSCH scheduled by DCI 210.

[0196] For simplicity, it is assumed that the HARQ-ACK information bits are arranged in ascending order of the cell index in part 851 and part 852. Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timings of CCs 231 to 234 in are denoted as d1 to d4, respectively, and part 851 may be arranged as {d1, d2, d3, d4}. Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCH 221 and 224 in are represented as d5 and d6 respectively. Figure 8 The portion 852 in can be arranged as {d5, d6}.

[0197] Figure 8 The HARQ-ACK information bit d1 in contains Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bits of the four candidate PDSCH reception timings of CC 231 in , which can be sorted according to the associated candidate PDSCH reception timings. Similarly, Figure 8 The HARQ-ACK information bit d2, d3 or d4 in Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bits of the four candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of CC 232, 233 or 234 in the UE may be sorted according to the associated candidate PDSCH reception opportunities.

[0198] For simplicity, it is assumed that for each cell, the ascending order of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities is adopted.

[0199] For example, Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bits of the four candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of CC 231 in are represented as d1-1, d1-2, d1-3 and d1-4, Figure 8 The HARQ-ACK information bit d1 in can be expressed as {d1-1, d1-2, d1-3, d1-4}.

[0200] In some embodiments, when PDSCH is not actually transmitted in a candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of a cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit of this candidate PDSCH reception opportunity indicates NACK. For example, d1-1, d1-2, d1-3, and d1-4 may be NACK. That is, Figure 8 The HARQ-ACK information bit d1 in can be represented as {NACK, NACK, NACK, NACK}. For example, Figure 8 The HARQ-ACK information bit d4 in can be expressed as {NACK, NACK, NACK, NACK}.

[0201] In some embodiments, when a PDSCH is actually transmitted in a candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of a cell, the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity refer to the HARQ-ACK information bits of the PDSCH.

[0202] For example, since PDSCH 222 is scheduled in slot n+6 on CC 632, Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of CC 232 in time slot n+6 in d2-0 may refer to the HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCH 222. For example, the HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCH 222 are represented as d2-0, Figure 8 The HARQ-ACK information bit d2 in the PDSCH 223 on CC 633 in time slot n+5 is represented as {NACK, d2-0, NACK, NACK}. Similarly, the HARQ-ACK information bit of PDSCH 223 on CC 633 in time slot n+5 is represented as d3-0, Figure 8 The HARQ-ACK information bit d3 in can be expressed as {d3-0,NACK,NACK,NACK}.

[0203] From the UE's perspective, the following steps may be performed to generate a Type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook according to Method #4:

[0204] (4-1) The UE checks the K0 value of each of the co-scheduled PDSCHs as indicated by the TDRA field and finds the reference PDSCH that ends last among the co-scheduled PDSCHs.

[0205] (4-2) The UE determines a time slot in which a PUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK feedback of a co-scheduled PDSCH is transmitted.

[0206] (4-3) The UE identifies candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each of the co-scheduled cells (or configured cell groups) according to the corresponding K1 group of each of the co-scheduled cells (or configured cell groups) and the time slot in which the PUCCH is transmitted.

[0207] (4-4) The UE generates part #1D of the HARQ-ACK information bits including each candidate PDSCH reception opportunity for each cell in the co-scheduled cell (or configured cell group), and first sorts the generated HARQ-ACK information bits according to the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of each of the co-scheduled cells (or configured cell groups) (e.g., in ascending order) and then according to the serving cell index of the co-scheduled cells (or configured cell groups) (e.g., in ascending order).

[0208] (4-5) The UE checks whether there are one or more PDSCHs scheduled by a multi-cell scheduling DCI format (eg, DCI format 1_X or the first DCI format) and located outside the candidate PDSCH reception timing of each cell in the co-scheduled cell.

[0209] • If there is only a single PDSCH scheduled by the DCI format and located outside the candidate PDSCH reception occasions of the associated cell, the UE generates part #2D containing the HARQ-ACK information bits of the single PDSCH.

[0210] If there are multiple PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI format and located outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on the corresponding cell, the UE generates part #2D including HARQ-ACK information bits of the multiple PDSCHs, and sorts the HARQ-ACK information bits of the multiple PDSCHs.

[0211] i. In one embodiment, the HARQ-ACK information bits of multiple PDSCHs are sorted according to the associated serving cell index (eg, in ascending order).

[0212] ii. In another embodiment, the HARQ-ACK information bits of the multiple PDSCHs are sorted according to the PDSCH start timing (e.g., in ascending order). If there are two or more PDSCHs with the same start timing among the multiple PDSCHs, the HARQ-ACK information bits of the two or more PDSCHs are sorted according to the associated serving cell index (e.g., in ascending order).

[0213] (4-6) The UE concatenates part #1D and part #2D into a type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook for transmission on the PUCCH.

[0214] From the perspective of the BS, it may transmit a DCI format scheduling multiple PDSCHs to the UE, and may receive a Type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook generated as above from the UE.

[0215] Method #5

[0216] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, generating a HARQ-ACK codebook may include, for each cell in the first group of cells, generating a portion (denoted as portion #1E) containing HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the corresponding cell. The HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in portion #1E are sorted according to the associated PDSCH reception opportunities (e.g., a predefined order, such as an ascending or descending order of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on the corresponding cell).

[0217] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, when a PDSCH in the first group of PDSCHs (denoted as PDSCH #1E) is received on a cell in the first group of cells and is located outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of this cell, generating the HARQ-ACK codebook may further include generating another part (denoted as part #2E) for this cell. Part #2E includes the HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCH #1E.

[0218] The UE may concatenate part #1E and part #2E of this cell to form HARQ-ACK feedback of this cell. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, part #1E and part #2E may be concatenated according to a predefined order. For example, part #1E is placed before part #2E. For example, part #2E is placed before part #1E.

[0219] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits of each cell in the first group of cells are arranged according to an associated serving cell index (eg, a predefined order, such as ascending or descending order of the serving cell indexes of the first group of cells).

[0220] In some embodiments, the first group of cells may be a subgroup of a cell group configured for multi-cell scheduling. Generating the HARQ-ACK codebook may further include generating a portion #1E of such (type) cells for cells in the configured cell group that can be scheduled but are not actually scheduled by the first DCI format. The HARQ-ACK information bits of each cell in the configured cell group are arranged according to an associated serving cell index (e.g., a predefined order, such as an ascending or descending order of the serving cell index of the configured cell group).

[0221] For example, returning a reference Figure 2 , the UE can generate a HARQ-ACK codebook to be transmitted in time slot n+9. Fig. 9An example HARQ-ACK codebook 950 according to method #5 is shown in FIG. Fig. 9 In the example of , it is assumed that part #1E is placed before part #2E, and the ascending order of the serving cell index is used to arrange the HARQ-ACK information bits of each cell.

[0222] like Fig. 9 As shown in FIG. 1 , the HARQ-ACK codebook 950 may include Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bit e1 and the HARQ-ACK information bit f1 of CC 231 in Figure 2 HARQ-ACK information bit e2 of CC 232 in Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bit e3 of CC 233 and Figure 2 HARQ-ACK information bits e4 and f4 of CC 234 in FIG. HARQ-ACK information bits e1 to e4 represent Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bits f1 and f4 represent the candidate PDSCH reception timings of CCs 231 to 234 in FIG. Figure 2 The HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCH 221 and 224 in.

[0223] In some embodiments, when PDSCH is actually transmitted in the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit of this candidate PDSCH reception opportunity refers to the HARQ-ACK information bit of this PDSCH. In some embodiments, when PDSCH is not actually transmitted in the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit of this candidate PDSCH reception opportunity indicates NACK.

[0224] For example, the HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCHs 222 and 223 are represented as f2 and f3, respectively, and the HARQ-ACK information bits e1 to e4 can be represented as {NACK, NACK, NACK, NACK}, {NACK, f2, NACK, NACK}, {f3, NACK, NACK, NACK} and {NACK, NACK, NACK, NACK}, respectively.

[0225] From the UE's perspective, the following steps may be performed to generate a Type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook according to method #5:

[0226] (5-1) The UE checks the K0 value of each of the co-scheduled PDSCHs as indicated by the TDRA field and finds the reference PDSCH that ends last among the co-scheduled PDSCHs.

[0227] (5-2) The UE determines a time slot in which a PUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK feedback of a co-scheduled PDSCH is transmitted.

[0228] (5-3) The UE identifies candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each of the co-scheduled cells (or configured cell groups) according to the corresponding K1 group of each of the co-scheduled cells (or configured cell groups) and the time slot in which the PUCCH is transmitted.

[0229] (5-4) For each cell in the co-scheduled cell (or configured cell group),

[0230] The UE generates part #1E containing HARQ-ACK information bits for each candidate PDSCH reception opportunity on the cell;

[0231] The UE checks whether there are one or more PDSCHs scheduled by a multi-cell scheduling DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_X or the first DCI format) and located outside the candidate PDSCH reception timing on the cell;

[0232] If there is only a single PDSCH scheduled by the multi-cell scheduling DCI format outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on the cell, then the UE generates part #2E containing the HARQ-ACK information bits for the single PDSCH; and

[0233] If there are multiple PDSCHs outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on the cell scheduled by multiple multi-cell scheduling DCI formats, the UE generates part #2E containing HARQ-ACK information bits of the multiple PDSCHs.

[0234] (5-5) The UE concatenates the HARQ-ACK information bits of each cell in the co-scheduled cell (or configured cell group) into a type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook for transmission on the PUCCH.

[0235] From the perspective of the BS, it may transmit a DCI format scheduling multiple PDSCHs to the UE, and may receive a Type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook generated as above from the UE.

[0236] As stated above, in some embodiments, all DCI formats 1_X are configured or predefined with the same set of cells for multi-cell scheduling; and in some other embodiments, multiple sets of cells may be configured or predefined for multi-cell scheduling. The methods described above with respect to solution #1 (e.g., methods #1 to #5) are applicable to both cases.

[0237] For example, refer to Figure 3, the UE may receive a second DCI format that schedules a second group of PDSCHs on a second group of cells of the UE, wherein HARQ-ACK feedback for the second group of PDSCHs is to be multiplexed in the HARQ-ACK codebook. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, each of the first and second groups of cells is a subgroup of a corresponding group of cells configured for multi-cell scheduling, or is a subgroup of the same group of cells configured for multi-cell scheduling.

[0238] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, method #1 is adopted. For example, generating a HARQ-ACK codebook may include generating HARQ-ACK feedback for each cell in the first and second groups of cells, which may include: generating HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception timings of corresponding cells in the first and second groups of cells; and generating HARQ-ACK information bits for a PDSCH (denoted as PDSCH #1A') received on the corresponding cell and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception timings of the corresponding cell.

[0239] For example, refer to Fig.10 , the UE may be configured with multiple cells (e.g., CCs 1031 to 1038) and multiple groups of cells (e.g., cell group 1070 and cell group 1071) for multi-cell scheduling. Cell group 1070 may include CCs 1031 to 1034, and cell group 1071 may include CCs 1035 and 1036. CCs 1037 and 1038 may not be used for multi-cell scheduling. For simplicity, it is assumed that the serving cell indexes of CCs 1031 to 1038 are: CC 1031 <CC 1032<CC 1033<CC 1034<CC 1035<CC1036<CC 1037<CC 1038。

[0240] DCI 1010 transmitted on CC 1031 in slot n may schedule PDSCH 1021 in slot n+1 on CC 1031, PDSCH 1022 in slot n+6 on CC 1032, and PDSCH 1023 in slot n+5 on CC 1033. That is, DCI 1010 does not schedule CC 1034 in cell group 1070. DCI 1011 transmitted on CC 1035 in slot n may schedule PDSCH 1024 in slot n+5 on CC 1035, and PDSCH 1025 in slot n+3 on CC 1036. The UE may determine that the HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCHs 1021 to 1025 are to be multiplexed in the same PUCCH in slot n+9, and the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each cell in CCs 1031 to 1038 are in slots n+5 to n+8. The HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCHs 1021 to 1025 are denoted as h1 to h5, respectively.

[0241] When method #1 is adopted, in some embodiments, the UE may generate a HARQ-ACK codebook of {{h1,NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK},{NACK,h2,NACK,NACK},{h3,NACK,NACK,NACK},{NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK},{h4,NACK,NACK,NACK},{h5,NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK}{NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK},{NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK}}.

[0242] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, method #2 is adopted. For example, generating a HARQ-ACK codebook may include generating HARQ-ACK feedback for each cell in the first and second groups of cells, which may include: generating HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for corresponding cells in the first and second groups of cells; and generating HARQ-ACK information bits for a PDSCH (expressed as PDSCH#1B') that may be scheduled on the corresponding cell through the first DCI format or the second DCI format.

[0243] For example, still referring to Fig.10 , assuming method #2 is adopted. In some embodiments, the UE may generate a HARQ-ACK codebook of {{h1,NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK},{h2,NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK},{h3,NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK},{NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK},{h4,NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK},{h5,NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK},{NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK},{NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK}}. In some embodiments, the UE may generate a HARQ-ACK codebook of {{h1,NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK}, {h2,NACK,h2,NACK,NACK}, {h3,h3,NACK,NACK,NACK}, {NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK}, {h4,h4,NACK,NACK,NACK}, {h5,NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK}, {NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK}, {NACK,NACK,NACK,NACK}}.

[0244] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, method #3 is adopted. For example, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include part #1C' and part #2C'. Generating the HARQ-ACK codebook may include: generating part #1C', wherein part #1C' includes HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each cell in the first and second groups of cells; and generating part #2C', wherein part #2C' includes HARQ-ACK information bits of all cells that may have a PDSCH on each cell that can be scheduled via the first DCI format and the second DCI format.

[0245] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits in part #2C' are arranged according to the cell indexes of the first and second groups of cells. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK information bits in part #2C' are arranged first according to the associated cell group index, and then according to the associated serving cell index within the corresponding group in the first and second groups of cells.

[0246] In the case where multiple groups of cells are configured or predefined for multi-cell scheduling, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, if at least one cell in the multiple groups of cells is configured with a maximum of 2 codewords per PDSCH without spatial bundling, then the number of HARQ-ACK information bits in part #2C' may be based on (for example, equal to) M'*Z, where M' is the maximum number of TBs that can be co-scheduled by DCI format 1_X in the UE's PUCCH group, and Z is the number of cell groups configured for the UE in the same PUCCH group.

[0247] In some other embodiments of the present disclosure, if at least one cell in the plurality of groups of cells is configured with a maximum of 2 codewords per PDSCH without spatial bundling, the number of HARQ-ACK information bits in part #2C' may be based on (e.g., equal to) M1+M2+...+M Z , where M1, M2, ..., M Z is the corresponding maximum number of TBs for each cell in multiple cell groups in the same PUCCH group of the UE, and Z is the number of cell groups configured for the UE in the same PUCCH group. For example, M'=max(M1, M2, ..., M Z ).

[0248] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, if no cell in the multiple cell groups is configured with a maximum of 2 codewords per PDSCH, or if one or more cells in the multiple cell groups are configured with a maximum of 2 codewords per PDSCH and are configured with spatial bundling, then the number of HARQ-ACK information bits in part #2C' may be based on (e.g., equal to) N'*Z, where N' is the maximum number of cells that can be co-scheduled by DCI format 1_X in the PUCCH group of the UE (e.g., the total number of cells in the multiple cell groups), and Z is the number of cell groups configured for the UE in the same PUCCH group.

[0249] In some other embodiments of the present disclosure, if no cell in the plurality of cell groups is configured with a maximum of 2 codewords per PDSCH, or if one or more cells in the plurality of cell groups are configured with a maximum of 2 codewords per PDSCH and are configured with spatial bundling, then the number of HARQ-ACK information bits in portion #2C' may be based on (e.g., equal to) N1+N2+...+N Z , where N1, N2, ..., N Z is the corresponding number of cells in multiple cell groups in the same PUCCH group of the UE, and Z is the number of cell groups configured for the UE in the same PUCCH group. For example, N'=max(N1, N2, ..., N Z ).

[0250] For example, still refer to Fig.10 , assuming method #3 is adopted. In some embodiments, the UE may generate Fig.11 , for transmission on PUCCH 1160. HARQ-ACK codebook 1150 may include two parts, namely, part 1151 (e.g., part #1C') may be represented as {g1, g2, g3, g4, g5, g6, g7, g8}, and part 1152 (e.g., part #2C') may be represented as {h1, h2, h3, NACK, h4, h5}, where g1, g2, g3, g4, g5, g6, g7, and g8 represent HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of cells corresponding to DCI 1010 and DCI 1011 in the configured cell group (e.g., cell groups 1070 and 1071) and HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of cells 1037 and 1038, respectively.

[0251] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, method #4 is adopted. For example, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include: part #1D', which includes the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of each cell in the first and second groups of cells; and part #2D', which includes the HARQ-ACK information bits of one or more PDSCHs in the first and second groups of PDSCHs received on one or more cells in the first and second groups of cells and located outside the candidate PDSCH reception timing of one or more cells in the first and second groups of cells.

[0252] For example, still referring to Fig.10 , assuming that method #4 is adopted. In some embodiments, the UE may generate a HARQ-ACK codebook of {{i1,i2,i3,i4,i5,i6,i7,i8},{h1,h5}}, where i1, i2, i3, i4, i5, i6, i7 and i8 represent the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the cells corresponding to DCI 1010 and DCI 1011 in the configured cell groups (e.g., cell groups 1070 and 1071) and the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the cells 1037 and 1038, respectively.

[0253] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, method #5 is adopted. For example, generating a HARQ-ACK codebook may include generating HARQ-ACK feedback for each cell in the first and second groups of cells, which includes: part #1E', which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception timings of corresponding cells in the first and second groups of cells; and part #2E', which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of PDSCH #1E' in response to a PDSCH (denoted as PDSCH #1E') in the first and second groups of PDSCHs being received on the corresponding cell and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception timings of the corresponding cell.

[0254] For example, still referring to Fig.10 , assuming that method #5 is adopted. In some embodiments, the UE may generate a HARQ-ACK codebook of {{h1,j1},j2,j3,j4,j5,{h5,j6}},j7,j8}, where j1, j2, j3, j4, j5, j6, j7 and j8 represent the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the cells corresponding to DCI 1010 and DCI 1011 in the configured cell groups (e.g., cell groups 1070 and 1071) and the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the cells 1037 and 1038, respectively.

[0255] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, both the BS and the UE should synchronize to the same reference PDSCH for the UE to determine the time slot in which the HARQ-ACK feedback of the co-scheduled PDSCH is transmitted, the same candidate PDSCH reception timing on each cell in the co-scheduled cell or configured cell group, and the same understanding of the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timing on all cells in the co-scheduled cell or configured group of cells.

[0256] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a solution is provided for avoiding the scenario where a PDSCH scheduled by a DCI format is located outside a candidate PDSCH reception opportunity (hereinafter, solution #2). As will be described below, various methods may be used to implement solution #2.

[0257] Method #6

[0258] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, for a UE, when a type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook is configured and a group of cells is configured for multi-cell scheduling using DCI format 1_X, when DCI format 1_X is received for co-scheduling multiple cells in the group of cells, the TDRA field in DCI format 1_X should indicate the same K0 value for each of the co-scheduled PDSCHs, that is, the co-scheduled PDSCHs should be scheduled in the same time slot. The UE does not expect to be indicated with a different K0 value for each of the co-scheduled PDSCHs. In other words, the BS should ensure that the TDRA field in DCI format 1_X should indicate the same K0 value for each of the co-scheduled PDSCHs.

[0259] For example, in Figure 3 The first DCI format received in operation 311 may include an indicator indicating the same time slot level offset for each of the first group of PDSCHs regarding the time slot in which the first DCI format is received, and the HARQ-ACK feedback for the first group of PDSCHs may be included in the HARQ-ACK feedback associated with the candidate PDSCH reception timing on the first group of cells.

[0260] Method #7

[0261] For a UE, when a type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook is configured and a group of cells are configured for multi-cell scheduling using DCI format 1_X, when DCI format 1_X is received for co-scheduling multiple cells in the group of cells, the co-scheduled PDSCH should be included in the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on the associated cells.

[0262] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the K0 value configuration of each co-scheduled cell in the TDRA table and the K1 group of each co-scheduled cell and the k1 value indicated by the PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator in the DCI format 1_X may be set in a specific manner to achieve this purpose, for example, it may satisfy the following conditions:

[0263] For cell X in the co-scheduled cell, n-(A max -K 0,X )>=n+kB max,X , that is, k <= B max,X -

[0264] (A max -K 0,X ),

[0265] Among them A max is the maximum K0 value of the co-scheduled cell, B max,X is the maximum k1 value in the K1 group of cell X, K 0,X is the K0 value of cell X, k is the k1 value indicated by the PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator in DCI format 1_X, and n is the time slot in which the reference PDSCH is transmitted, and the reference PDSCH is the PDSCH with the largest K0 value among the co-scheduled PDSCHs.

[0266] On the UE side, for cell X in the co-scheduled cell, the UE does not expect to be indicated with the k1 value in DCI format 1_X, which does not satisfy the condition k<=B max,X -(A max -K 0,X ).

[0267] For example, as shown in Table 1 below, assuming that for each of the cells co-scheduled by DCI format 1_X, the K1 group is {1, 2, 3, 4}, then the maximum k1 value is 4.

[0268] In some examples, when row index 0 is indicated by the TDRA field in DCI format 1_X, the maximum K0 value is 6. If the indicated k1 value is 3, then in order to satisfy 3<=4-(6-K 0,X ), K 0,X Should be >= 5. Therefore, the PDSCHs in cell 1 and cell 4 will be outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in cell 1 and cell 4.

[0269] In some examples, when row index 1 is indicated by the TDRA field in DCI format 1_X, the maximum K0 value is 5. If the indicated k1 value is 3, then in order to satisfy 3<=4-(5-K 0,X ), K 0,X= 4. Therefore, the PDSCHs in cell 2, cell 3 and cell 4 will be outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in cell 2, cell 3 and cell 4.

[0270] Table 1: Example TDRA table configured for multi-cell scheduling (only K0 is given for illustration purposes)

[0271] Row Index Community 1 Community 2 Cell 3 Community 4 0 K0＝1 K0＝6 K0＝5 K0＝2 1 K0＝5 K0＝3 K0＝0 K0＝1

[0272] As can be seen in the K0 value configuration in the TDRA table, the K1 group configuration and k1 value should be set appropriately to meet the condition k <= B max,X -(A max -K 0,X ). An example satisfying the conditions is shown in Table 2.

[0273] Table 2: Example TDRA table configured for multi-cell scheduling (only K0 is given for illustration purposes)

[0274] Row Index Community 1 Community 2 Cell 3 Community 4 0 K0＝5 K0＝6 K0＝5 K0＝5 1 K0＝5 K0＝4 K0＝4 K0＝4

[0275] It should be noted that the above conditions and tables are for illustration purposes only. The key point of this method is that when DCI format 1_X is transmitted for co-scheduling multiple PDSCHs on multiple cells, it should ensure that the co-scheduled PDSCH is included in the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on the associated cells. Figure 3 The first DCI format received in operation 311 may include: a first indicator indicating a separate time slot level offset for each of the first group of PDSCHs with respect to the time slot in which the first DCI format is received; and a second indicator indicating a time slot in which the first group of PDSCHs are included in a candidate PDSCH reception opportunity on an associated cell of the first group of cells, and the HARQ-ACK feedback for the first group of PDSCHs is included in the HARQ-ACK feedback associated with the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity on the first group of cells. Transmitting the HARQ-ACK codebook under the restriction.

[0276] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the sequence of operations in exemplary process 300 may be changed, and some operations in exemplary process 300 may be eliminated or modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0277] Fig.12 A flowchart illustrating an exemplary process 1200 of wireless communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The details described in all the above embodiments of the present disclosure apply to Fig.12 In some examples, the process may be performed by a BS (e.g., Figure 1 BS102 in is executed.

[0278] refer to Fig.12 In operation 1211, the BS may transmit a first DCI format for scheduling a first group of PDSCHs on a first group of cells of the UE to the UE. The above description of the first DCI format and DCI format 1_X may be applied to the first DCI format in operation 1211.

[0279] In operation 1213, the BS may receive from the UE a HARQ-ACK codebook including HARQ-ACK feedback associated with candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on the first group of cells and HARQ-ACK feedback for the first group of PDSCHs. The HARQ-ACK codebook may be generated by the UE according to one of methods #1 to #7 as described above.

[0280] For example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, according to method #1, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in the first group of cells sorted according to the associated serving cell index. In some embodiments, the HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in the first group of cells may include: HARQ-ACK information bits for the candidate PDSCH reception timing of the corresponding cell; and HARQ-ACK information bits for the first PDSCH in the first group of PDSCHs transmitted on the corresponding cell and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception timing of the corresponding cell. In some embodiments, the HARQ-ACK information bits for the candidate PDSCH reception timing of the corresponding cell and the HARQ-ACK information bits for the first PDSCH are sorted according to the PDSCH reception timing on the corresponding cell.

[0281] For example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, according to method #2, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in the first group of cells sorted according to the associated serving cell index. In some embodiments, the HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in the first group of cells may include: HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the corresponding cell; HARQ-ACK information bits for the first PDSCH that may be scheduled on the corresponding cell via the first DCI format;

[0282] In some embodiments, the HARQ-ACK information bits of the first PDSCH are placed after or before the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of the corresponding cell. In some embodiments, the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of the corresponding cell are arranged according to the PDSCH reception timing on the corresponding cell.

[0283] In some embodiments, when the first PDSCH is actually scheduled on the corresponding cell through the first DCI format, the HARQ-ACK information bit of the first PDSCH is ACK or NACK depending on the decoding result of the first PDSCH. In some embodiments, when the first PDSCH is not scheduled on the corresponding cell through the first DCI format, the HARQ-ACK information bit of the first PDSCH is NACK.

[0284] For example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, according to method #3, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include a first part and a second part, the first part may include HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each cell in the first group of cells, and the second part may include HARQ-ACK information bits of all cells that may have one PDSCH on each cell that can be scheduled via the first DCI format.

[0285] In some embodiments, when the first group of cells does not include cells that may be scheduled by the first DCI format, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the second part of the cells are NACK. In some embodiments, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the second part of the cells in the first group of cells scheduled by the first DCI format are ACK or NACK.

[0286] In some embodiments, when a second PDSCH in a first group of PDSCHs is scheduled on a cell in the first group of cells and is included in a candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the cell, the HARQ-ACK information bit of the second PDSCH in the first part of the cell is ACK or NACK, or NACK, depending on the decoding result of the second PDSCH.

[0287] In some embodiments, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the first part of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each cell in the first group of cells are arranged according to the associated candidate PDSCH reception opportunities. In some embodiments, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the second part are arranged according to the associated cell index.

[0288] For example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, according to method #4, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include a first part and a second part, the first part may include HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception timings of each cell in the first group of cells, and the second part may include HARQ-ACK information bits of one or more PDSCHs in the first group of PDSCHs transmitted on one or more cells in the first group of cells and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception timings of the one or more cells in the first group of cells.

[0289] In some embodiments, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the first part of the candidate PDSCH reception timings for each cell in the first group of cells are arranged according to the associated candidate PDSCH reception timings. In some embodiments, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the second part are arranged according to the associated cell index. In some embodiments, the timing is first started according to the associated PDSCH and then the HARQ-ACK information bits in the second part are arranged according to the associated cell index.

[0290] For example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, according to method #5, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include: for each cell in the first group of cells, a first part, which includes the HARQ-ACK information bits of the candidate PDSCH reception timing of the corresponding cell; and a second part, which includes the HARQ-ACK information bits of the first PDSCH in the first group of PDSCHs in response to the first PDSCH being transmitted on the corresponding cell and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception timing of the corresponding cell.

[0291] In some embodiments, the HARQ-ACK information bits of each cell in the first group of cells are arranged according to an associated serving cell index.

[0292] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the BS may further transmit to the UE a second DCI format scheduling a second group of PDSCHs on a second group of cells of the UE, wherein HARQ-ACK feedback of the second group of PDSCHs is to be multiplexed in the HARQ-ACK codebook.

[0293] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, each of the first and second groups of cells is a subgroup of a respective group of cells configured for multi-cell scheduling. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, each of the first and second groups of cells is a subgroup of the same group of cells configured for multi-cell scheduling.

[0294] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include HARQ-ACK feedback for each cell in the first and second groups of cells, which may include: HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception timings of corresponding cells in the first and second groups of cells; and HARQ-ACK information bits of the first PDSCH transmitted on the corresponding cell and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception timings of the corresponding cell.

[0295] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include HARQ-ACK feedback for each cell in the first and second groups of cells, which may include: HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for the corresponding cells in the first and second groups of cells; and HARQ-ACK information bits for the first PDSCH that may be scheduled on the corresponding cell via the first DCI format or the second DCI format.

[0296] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include a first part and a second part, wherein the first part may include HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each cell in the first and second groups of cells, and the second part may include HARQ-ACK information bits for all cells that may have one PDSCH on each cell that can be scheduled via the first DCI format and the second DCI format.

[0297] In some embodiments, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the second portion are arranged according to cell indices of the first and second groups of cells. In some embodiments, the HARQ-ACK information bits in the second portion are arranged first according to an associated cell group index and then according to an associated serving cell index within a corresponding group in the first and second groups of cells.

[0298] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include: a first part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of each cell in the first and second groups of cells; and a second part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of one or more PDSCHs among the first and second groups of PDSCHs transmitted on one or more cells in the first and second groups of cells and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the one or more cells in the first and second groups of cells.

[0299] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the HARQ-ACK codebook may include HARQ-ACK feedback for each cell in the first and second groups of cells, which may include: a first part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of corresponding cells in the first and second groups of cells; and a second part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of the first PDSCH in the first and second groups of PDSCHs in response to the first PDSCH being transmitted on the corresponding cell and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the corresponding cell.

[0300] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first DCI format may include an indicator indicating the same time slot level offset for each of the first group of PDSCHs regarding the time slot in which the first DCI format is transmitted, and the HARQ-ACK feedback for the first group of PDSCHs is included in the HARQ-ACK feedback associated with the candidate PDSCH reception timing on the first group of cells.

[0301] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first DCI format may include: a first indicator indicating a separate time slot level offset for each of the first group of PDSCHs with respect to the time slot in which the first DCI format is transmitted; and a second indicator indicating a time slot in which the HARQ-ACK codebook is transmitted under the restriction that the first group of PDSCHs are included in the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on the associated cells of the first group of cells, and the HARQ-ACK feedback for the first group of PDSCHs is included in the HARQ-ACK feedback associated with the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on the first group of cells.

[0302] Those skilled in the art should understand that the order of operations in the exemplary process 1200 may be changed, and some operations in the exemplary process 1200 may be eliminated or modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0303] Fig.13 13 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary device 1300 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Fig.13 , the apparatus 1300 may include at least one processor 1306 and at least one transceiver 1302 coupled to the processor 1306. The apparatus 1300 may be a UE or a BS.

[0304] Although elements such as at least one transceiver 1302 and processor 1306 are described in singular form in this figure, plural form is contemplated unless limitation to the singular form is explicitly stated. In some embodiments of the present application, transceiver 1302 may be divided into two devices, such as a receiving circuit system and a transmitting circuit system. In some embodiments of the present application, device 1300 may further include an input device, a memory, and / or other components.

[0305] According to some embodiments of the present application, the device 1300 may be a UE. The transceiver 1302 and the processor 1306 may interact with each other to perform Figures 1 to 12 According to some embodiments of the present application, the device 1300 may be a BS. The transceiver 1302 and the processor 1306 may interact with each other to perform Figures 1 to 12 The operation of BS is described in .

[0306] In some embodiments of the present application, the apparatus 1300 may further include at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium.

[0307] For example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the non-transitory computer-readable medium may store thereon computer-executable instructions to enable the processor 1306 to implement the method described above with respect to the UE. For example, when the computer-executable instructions are executed, the processor 1306 interacts with the transceiver 1302 to perform Figures 1 to 12 The operations of the UE are described in .

[0308] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may store thereon computer-executable instructions to cause the processor 1306 to implement the method described above with respect to the BS. For example, when the computer-executable instructions are executed, the processor 1306 interacts with the transceiver 1302 to perform Figures 1 to 12 The operation of BS is described in .

[0309] It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the operations or steps of the methods described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Additionally, in some aspects, the operations or steps of the methods may reside as one or any combination or group of codes and / or instructions on a non-transitory computer-readable medium that may be incorporated into a computer program product.

[0310] Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to its specific embodiments, it is apparent that many substitutions, modifications and variations may be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, the various components of the embodiments may be interchanged, added or substituted in other embodiments. Moreover, all elements of each figure are not necessary for the operation of the disclosed embodiments. For example, it will enable a person of ordinary skill in the field of the disclosed embodiments to make and use the teachings of the present disclosure by simply adopting the elements of the independent claims. Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure set forth herein are intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0311] In this archive, the term "includes, including" or any other changes thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that the process, method, article or equipment containing a series of elements not only includes those elements but also may include other elements that are not explicitly listed or inherent to this process, method, article or equipment. The element starting with "a, an" or the like (without more constraints) does not exclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or equipment containing the element. Moreover, the term "another" is defined as at least the second or more. As used herein, the term "having" and the like are defined as "including". For example, the expression of "A and / or B" or "at least one of A and B" may include any and all combinations of words listed together with the expression. For example, the expression "A and / or B" or "at least one of A and B" may include A, B or both A and B. The words of "first", "second" or the like are only used to clearly illustrate the embodiments of the application, and are not used to limit the substantive content of the application.

Claims

1. A user equipment UE, comprising: Transceiver; and a processor coupled to the transceiver, wherein the processor is configured to: Receiving a first downlink control information DCI format for a first group of physical downlink shared channels PDSCHs on a first group of cells scheduling the UE; generating a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement HARQ-ACK codebook including HARQ-ACK feedback associated with candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on the first group of cells and HARQ-ACK feedback of the first group of PDSCHs; and The HARQ-ACK codebook is transmitted.

2. The UE according to claim 1, wherein generating the HARQ-ACK codebook comprises: generating a HARQ-ACK information bit for each cell in the first group of cells; and concatenating the generated HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in the first group of cells in order of associated serving cell indexes.

3. The UE of claim 2, wherein generating the HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in the first group of cells comprises: Generate a HARQ-ACK information bit of a candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the corresponding cell; and Generate HARQ-ACK information bits of a first PDSCH in the first group of PDSCHs that is received on the corresponding cell and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the corresponding cell.

4. The UE of claim 2, wherein generating the HARQ-ACK information bits for each cell in the first group of cells comprises: Generate a HARQ-ACK information bit of a candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the corresponding cell; and Generate HARQ-ACK information bits of a first PDSCH that may be scheduled on the corresponding cell using the first DCI format.

5. The UE of claim 1, wherein the HARQ-ACK codebook comprises a first part and a second part, and generating the HARQ-ACK codebook comprises: generating the first part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each cell in the first group of cells; and generating the second part including HARQ-ACK information bits for all cells having one PDSCH on each cell that may be scheduled via the first DCI format.

6. The UE of claim 1, wherein the HARQ-ACK codebook comprises a first part and a second part, and generating the HARQ-ACK codebook comprises: generating the first part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each cell in the first group of cells; and generating the second part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of one or more PDSCHs among the first group of PDSCHs received on one or more cells in the first group of cells and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the one or more cells in the first group of cells.

7. The UE according to claim 1, wherein generating the HARQ-ACK codebook comprises: For each cell in the first group of cells, Generate a first part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the corresponding cell; In a case where a first PDSCH in the first group of PDSCHs is received on the corresponding cell and is located outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the corresponding cell, generating a second part including HARQ-ACK information bits of the first PDSCH; and The first part and the second part are concatenated to generate HARQ-ACK feedback of the corresponding cell.

8. The UE of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to receive a second DCI format that schedules a second set of PDSCHs on a second set of cells of the UE, wherein HARQ-ACK feedback for the second set of PDSCHs is to be multiplexed in the HARQ-ACK codebook.

9. The UE of claim 8, wherein generating the HARQ-ACK codebook comprises generating HARQ-ACK feedback for each cell in the first and second groups of cells, comprising: Generate HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for corresponding cells in the first and second groups of cells; and Generate HARQ-ACK information bits of a first PDSCH received on the corresponding cell and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the corresponding cell.

10. The UE of claim 8, wherein generating the HARQ-ACK codebook comprises generating HARQ-ACK feedback for each cell in the first and second groups of cells, comprising: Generate HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for corresponding cells in the first and second groups of cells; and Generate HARQ-ACK information bits of a first PDSCH, which may be scheduled on the corresponding cell via the first DCI format or the second DCI format.

11. The UE of claim 8, wherein the HARQ-ACK codebook comprises a first part and a second part; and generating the HARQ-ACK codebook comprises: generating the first part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each cell in the first and second groups of cells; and generating a second part including HARQ-ACK information bits for all cells with one PDSCH on each cell that may be scheduled via the first DCI format and the second DCI format.

12. The UE according to claim 8, wherein the HARQ-ACK codebook comprises: A first part including HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of each cell in the first and second groups of cells; and a second part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of one or more PDSCHs among the first and second groups of PDSCHs received on one or more cells in the first and second groups of cells and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the one or more cells in the first and second groups of cells.

13. The UE of claim 8, wherein generating the HARQ-ACK codebook comprises generating HARQ-ACK feedback for each cell in the first and second groups of cells, comprising: A first part, which includes HARQ-ACK information bits of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of corresponding cells in the first and second groups of cells; and The second part includes HARQ-ACK information bits of a first PDSCH in the first and second groups of PDSCHs received in response to the first PDSCH on the corresponding cell and positioned outside the candidate PDSCH reception opportunity of the corresponding cell.

14. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the first DCI format comprises: a first indicator indicating a separate slot-level offset for each of the first group of PDSCHs with respect to the slot in which the first DCI format is received; and a second indicator indicating the slot in which the HARQ-ACK codebook is transmitted under a restriction that the first group of PDSCHs are included in the candidate PDSCH reception timing on an associated cell of the first group of cells and the HARQ-ACK feedback for the first group of PDSCHs is included in the HARQ-ACK feedback associated with the candidate PDSCH reception timing on the first group of cells.

15. A base station BS, comprising: Transceiver; and a processor coupled to the transceiver, wherein the processor is configured to: Transmitting a first downlink control information DCI format to a user equipment UE for scheduling a first group of physical downlink shared channels PDSCH on a first group of cells of the UE; and A hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) codebook including HARQ-ACK feedback associated with candidate PDSCH reception opportunities on the first group of cells and HARQ-ACK feedback for the first group of PDSCHs is received from the UE.

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