UE resource selection in grant-based transmissions

Abstract

In some wireless communication scenarios, a situation may occur that a propagation delay between a user equipment (UE) and a transmit-receive point (TRP) causes a channel condition to have changed when the UE receives a grant and the UE transmits data according to the grant. In some embodiments, the UE instead autonomously selects at least one resource based on the granted data transmission. For example, the UE may select the resource based on channel conditions locally measured by the UE. A method may include a UE receiving a flag and an authorization to schedule at least time resources for data. The flag indicates that the UE is to use at least one resource selected by the UE to send the data. And the UE sends the data on the time resource by using the at least one resource selected by the UE.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to wireless communication, and more particularly to authorized-based wireless transmission. Background Art

[0002] In some wireless communication systems, electronic devices such as user equipment (UE) communicate wirelessly with a network via one or more transmit-and-receive points (TRP). A TRP can be a terrestrial TRP (T-TRP) or a non-terrestrial TRP (NT-TRP). Examples of T-TRP are fixed base stations or NodeBs. Examples of NT-TRP are TRPs that can move in space to reposition, such as TRPs installed on satellites. As used herein, the term "TRP" can refer to a T-TRP or an NT-TRP.

[0003] Wireless communication from the UE to the TRP is called uplink transmission. Wireless communication from the TRP to the UE is called downlink transmission. Resources are needed to perform uplink and downlink transmissions. For example, the UE can wirelessly send data, such as a transport block (TB), to the TRP in an uplink transmission over a specific duration via a specific frequency (or frequency range). Frequency and duration are examples of resources, commonly referred to as time-frequency resources. Other examples of resources include resources in the spatial domain (e.g., the beams used), resources in the power domain (e.g., transmission power), the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) used, etc.

[0004] Some wireless communication systems implement authorized-based transmission. For example, if the UE needs to send data to the TRP, the UE sends a request to the TRP, such as a scheduling request (SR). The TRP sends a response to the UE to allocate resources for the UE to send data, such as uplink time-frequency resources and MCS for the UE to send data. This response can be called an authorization. Allocating resources in the authorization can be called scheduling, which is why an authorization is sometimes called a scheduling authorization. The authorization schedules resources for the UE to send data. "Authorization" and "scheduling" can sometimes be used interchangeably.

[0005] Link adaptation can be implemented to help the TRP select the resources (e.g., which MCS) that the TRP allocates to the UE in the grant. The UE can periodically send reference signals to the TRP, such as sounding reference signals (SRS). The TRP uses the reference signals to measure the conditions of the uplink channel. Then, the TRP authorizes the resources in the grant according to the channel conditions. For example, if the uplink channel quality is poor, the MCS value allocated in the grant may be low, so that the UE uses a low modulation scheme (e.g., QPSK) and a low coding rate (e.g., 1 / 2) to increase the probability that the UE's transmission is successfully decoded by the TRP. When implementing link adaptation, the TRP can perform periodic channel estimation to follow the channel conditions and try to derive the best time-frequency resources and MCS to be allocated to the UE when scheduling the UE's transmission. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The channel conditions change over time. For the purpose of resource selection, it is assumed that the channel remains unchanged within a duration equal to the coherence time T c . If the TRP receives sounding reference signals (SRS) from the UE and uses them to measure the uplink channel conditions, these uplink channel conditions are considered unchanged within the coherence duration T c . A grant can be sent to the UE to allocate resources based on these uplink channel conditions.

[0007] However, a situation may occur where the propagation delay between the UE and the TRP causes the channel conditions to have changed by the time the UE receives the grant and the UE sends data according to the grant. An example can be that the UE communicates with a relatively far NT-TRP, such as the UE communicating with a satellite. The propagation time between the UE and the satellite may be longer than the coherence time of the uplink channel. If communication is carried out on a frequency band with a reduced channel coherence time (e.g., communication in millimeter waves), the situation may be exacerbated. In the case where the propagation time exceeds the channel coherence time, as a result, when the TRP sends a grant scheduling the UE's data transmission to the UE, by the time the UE receives the grant, the channel conditions will have changed, which means that the resources selected by the TRP and indicated in the grant are already outdated when the UE decodes the grant. The scheduling and link adaptation become out of sync with the changing channel conditions experienced by the UE. Due to the mismatch between the information indicated in the grant and the channel change conditions, the result may be suboptimal capacity performance. For example, a low MCS may have been allocated, but the channel conditions are now better and the reduced data throughput associated with the low MCS is no longer required.

[0008] In some embodiments, the UE autonomously selects at least one resource for data transmission (e.g., for authorized data transmission authorized by configured grant or dynamic grant). For example, the resource selected by the UE can be the MCS. The UE can select the MCS based on the channel conditions measured locally by the UE, and then the UE can use the MCS it selects for authorized data transmission. In some embodiments, the UE can send an indication of the resource selected by the UE so that the receiving device knows which resource to use to receive the data. In some embodiments, the grant (e.g., configured grant or dynamic grant) can omit the field for indicating the resource selected by the UE. For example, if the UE is to autonomously select the MCS, the grant may not indicate the MCS. In some embodiments, the UE receives a flag that indicates that the UE will use at least one resource selected by the UE to send data in authorized data transmission. For example, the flag can be carried in the grant. For example, the flag can be a bit in the DCI, explicitly indicating that the UE can select resources, and / or the flag can be implicit. For example, the reception of a specific DCI format associated with UE resource selection can be used as a flag.

[0009] In some embodiments, the method performed by a device (e.g., UE) includes receiving a flag and a grant for scheduling at least a time resource for data. The flag indicates that the device will use at least one resource selected by the device to send data. The method further includes sending data on the time resource using at least one resource selected by the device. In some embodiments, the at least one resource selected by the device includes at least one of the following: modulation, coding rate, coding type, MCS, frequency resource, transmit power, beam, precoding, and number of precoding layers. In some embodiments, the device selects the at least one resource based on the channel conditions determined by the device. In some embodiments, the device sends an indication of the at least one resource so that the receiving device knows which resource(s) the device used.

[0010] In some embodiments, the corresponding method performed by a device (e.g., TRP) includes sending a flag and a grant for scheduling at least a time resource for data to a device. The flag indicates that the device will use at least one resource selected by the device to send data. The method may further include receiving data on the time resource using at least one resource selected by the device. The at least one resource selected by the device may include at least one of the following: modulation, coding rate, coding type, MCS, frequency resource, transmit power, beam, precoding, and number of precoding layers.

[0011] Technical advantages of some embodiments include addressing the impact of propagation delay on link adaptation and scheduling in wireless communication by having the UE select one or more resources (e.g., MCS) for authorized data transmission. Since the one or more resources used by the UE for transmitting authorized data transmission (e.g., the MCS transmitted by the UE) can match the instantaneous or near-instantaneous channel conditions measured by the UE, rather than relying on expired / outdated resources allocated in the authorization, the link capacity can be improved.

[0012] Corresponding apparatuses and devices for performing the methods herein are also disclosed. For example, the apparatus includes components for implementing the methods on the UE side described above. The apparatus can be a UE. The apparatus can be a component / module / chipset of a UE. The device includes components for implementing the methods on the network side described above. The device can be an NT-TRP or a T-TRP. The device can be a component / module / chipset of an NT-TRP or a T-TRP.

[0013] In addition, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is provided, where the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to execute the methods on the UE side or the network side.

[0014] In addition, a communication system is provided, including at least one device for implementing the methods on the network side and at least one apparatus for implementing the methods on the UE side. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The embodiments will be described by way of example only in conjunction with the drawings, where:

[0016] Figure 1 is a simplified schematic diagram of a communication system according to one example;

[0017] Figure 2 shows another example of a communication system;

[0018] Figure 3 shows examples of an electronic device (ED), a terrestrial transmit and receive point (T-TRP), and a non-terrestrial transmit and receive point (NT-TRP);

[0019] Figure 4 shows an exemplary unit or module in a device;

[0020] Figure 5 shows a user equipment (UE) communicating with an NT-TRP according to some embodiments;

[0021] Figure 6 illustrates an apparatus for sending a flag and authorization to a device according to some embodiments;

[0022] Figure 7 illustrates an apparatus and a device according to some embodiments;

[0023] Figure 8 illustrates a method performed by an apparatus and a device according to some embodiments;

[0024] Figure 9 illustrates an example of control information carrying an indication;

[0025] Figure 10 illustrates an example of an indication sent on time-frequency resources scheduled for data;

[0026] Figure 11 illustrates representation parameters related to multiplexing an indication with data;

[0027] Figure 12 illustrates an example of an indication sent in a control channel separated from the time-frequency resources scheduled for data;

[0028] Figure 13 illustrates an exemplary configuration message;

[0029] Figure 14 illustrates an example of an enhanced scheduling request (SR);

[0030] Figure 15 illustrates an example of authorization in the form of an enhanced SR response;

[0031] Figure 16 The Figure 15 example is used for a specific uplink scenario. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] For illustration, specific exemplary embodiments will now be explained in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0033] Examples of Communication Systems and Devices

[0034] Reference Figure 1, provided as an illustrative example and not a limitation, presents a simplified schematic diagram of a communication system 100. The communication system 100 includes a radio access network (RAN) 120. The radio access network 120 can be a next-generation (e.g., sixth generation (6G) or later) radio access network or a traditional (e.g., 5G, 4G, 3G, or 2G) radio access network. In the radio access network 120, one or more communication electric devices (EDs) 110a to 120j (commonly referred to as 110) can be interconnected with each other or connected to one or more network nodes (170a, 170b, commonly referred to as 170). The core network 130 can be part of the communication system and can be dependent on or independent of the radio access technology used in the communication system 100. Additionally, the communication system 100 includes a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160.

[0035] Figure 2 An exemplary communication system 100 is shown. Generally, the communication system 100 is capable of enabling multiple wireless or wired elements to transmit data and other content. The purpose of the communication system 100 can be to provide content such as voice, data, video, and / or text through broadcasting, multicasting, and unicasting, etc. The communication system 100 can operate by sharing resources (such as carrier spectrum bandwidth) among its constituent elements. The communication system 100 can include a terrestrial communication system and / or a non-terrestrial communication system. The communication system 100 can provide a wide range of communication services and applications (such as earth monitoring, remote sensing, passive sensing and positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility, etc.). The communication system 100 can provide a high degree of availability and robustness through the joint operation of the terrestrial communication system and the non-terrestrial communication system. For example, integrating a non-terrestrial communication system (or its components) into a terrestrial communication system can achieve a heterogeneous network including multiple layers. Compared with traditional communication networks, a heterogeneous network can achieve better overall performance through efficient multi-link joint operation, more flexible function sharing, and faster physical layer link switching between the terrestrial network and the non-terrestrial network.

[0036] A terrestrial communication system and a non-terrestrial communication system can be considered as subsystems of a communication system. In the example shown, communication system 100 includes electronic devices (EDs) 110a to 110d (commonly referred to as ED 110), radio access networks (RANs) 120a and 120b, non-terrestrial communication network 120c (which can also be a RAN or a part of a RAN), core network 130, public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, Internet 150, and other networks 160. RANs 120a and 120b include corresponding base stations (BSs) 170a and 170b, which can generally be referred to as terrestrial transmit and receive points (T-TRPs) 170a and 170b. Non-terrestrial communication network 120c includes access nodes 120c, which can generally be referred to as non-terrestrial transmit and receive points (NT-TRPs) 172.

[0037] Alternatively or additionally, any ED 110 can be used to access any other T-TRPs 170a and 170b and NT-TRP 172, Internet 150, core network 130, PSTN 140, other networks 160, or any combination of the foregoing, or to be connected to or communicate with the same. In some examples, ED 110a can perform uplink and / or downlink transmissions with T-TRP 170a via interface 190a. In some examples, EDs 110a, 110b, and 110d can also communicate directly with each other via one or more sidelink air interfaces 190b. In some examples, ED 110d can perform uplink and / or downlink transmissions with NT-TRP 172 via interface 190c.

[0038] The air interfaces 190a and 190b can use similar communication technologies, such as any suitable radio access technology. For example, the communication system 100 can implement one or more channel access methods in the air interfaces 190a and 190b, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), or single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA). The air interfaces 190a and 190b can use other higher-dimensional signal spaces, which can involve combinations of orthogonal and / or non-orthogonal dimensions.

[0039] The air interface 190c can implement communication between the ED 110d and one or more NT-TRPs 172 via a wireless link (or simply referred to as a link). For some examples, the link is a dedicated connection for unicast transmission, a connection for broadcast transmission, or a connection between a group of EDs and one or more NT-TRPs for multicast transmission.

[0040] RAN 120a and 120b communicate with the core network 130 to provide various services, such as voice, data, and other services, to the EDs 110a, 110b, and 110c. RAN 120a and 120b and / or the core network 130 may communicate directly or indirectly with one or more other RANs (not shown), which may (or may not) be directly served by the core network 130 and may (or may not) employ the same radio access technology as RAN 120a, RAN 120b, or both. The core network 130 may also serve as a gateway access between (i) RAN 120a and 120b, or the EDs 110a, 110b, and 110c, or both, and (ii) other networks, such as the PSTN 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160. In addition, some or all of the EDs 110a, 110b, and 110c may include the functionality to communicate with different wireless networks over different wireless links using different wireless technologies and / or protocols. Instead of (or in addition to) wireless communication, the EDs 110a, 110b, and 110c may also communicate with a service provider or a switch (not shown) and with the Internet 150 via a wired communication channel. The PSTN 140 may include a circuit-switched telephone network for providing plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 150 may include computer networks and / or subnets (intranets) and includes protocols such as the Internet Protocol (IP), the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). The EDs 110a, 110b, and 110c may be multimode devices capable of operating according to multiple radio access technologies and include multiple transceivers required to support these technologies.

[0041] Figure 3Shows another example of an ED110, a base station 170 (such as 170a and / or 170b) (which will be referred to as T-TRP170), and an NT-TRP172. The ED110 is used to connect people, things, machines, etc. The ED110 can be widely applied to various scenarios, such as cellular communication, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), peer-to-peer (P2P), machine-to-machine (M2M), machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart city, drones, robots, remote sensing, passive sensing, positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility, etc.

[0042] Each ED110 represents any suitable end-user device for wireless operation and can include the following devices (or can be referred to as): user equipment (UE), wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), mobile station, fixed or mobile subscriber unit, cellular phone, station (STA), machine-type communication (MTC) device, personal digital assistant (PDA), smartphone, laptop, computer, tablet, wireless sensor, consumer electronic device, smartbook, vehicle, car, truck, bus, train, or IoT device, industrial device, or a device (such as a communication module, modem, or chip) in the above devices, etc. The next-generation ED110 may be referred to using other terms. Each ED110 connected to the T-TRP170 and / or NT-TRP172 can be dynamically or semi-statically turned on (i.e., established, activated, or enabled), turned off (i.e., released, deactivated, or disabled), and / or configured in response to one or more of the following: connection availability and connection necessity.

[0043] ED110 includes a transmitter 201 and a receiver 203 coupled to one or more antennas 204. Only one antenna 204 is shown. Alternatively, one, some, or all of the antennas may be panels. For example, the transmitter 201 and the receiver 203 may be integrated as a transceiver. The transmitter (or transceiver) is used to modulate data or other content for transmission by at least one antenna 204 or a network interface controller (NIC). The receiver (or transceiver) is used to demodulate data or other content received by at least one antenna 204. Each transceiver includes any suitable structure for generating signals for wireless or wired transmission and / or for processing signals received wirelessly or wiredly. Each antenna 204 includes any suitable structure for transmitting and / or receiving wireless or wired signals.

[0044] ED110 includes at least one memory 208. The memory 208 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by ED110. For example, the memory 208 may store software instructions or modules executed by one or more processing units 210 for implementing some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein. Each memory 208 includes one or more any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile storage and retrieval devices. Any suitable type of memory may be used, such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), hard disk, optical disk, subscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory stick, secure digital (SD) memory card, cache on the processor, etc.

[0045] ED110 may also include one or more input / output devices (not shown) or interfaces (such as Figure 1 a wired interface to the Internet 150 in). The input / output devices may interact with users or other devices in the network. Each input / output device includes any suitable structure for providing information to the user or receiving information from the user, such as a speaker, microphone, keypad, keyboard, display, or touch screen, including network interface communication.

[0046] The ED110 further includes a processor 210 for performing operations, including operations related to preparing a transmission for uplink transmission to the NT-TRP 172 and / or the T-TRP 170, operations related to processing a downlink transmission received from the NT-TRP 172 and / or the T-TRP 170, and operations related to processing sidelink transmissions to and from another ED110. The processing operations related to preparing a transmission for uplink transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulation, transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. The processing operations related to processing a downlink transmission may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulation, and decoding received symbols. According to an embodiment, the receiver 203 may receive a downlink transmission (possibly using receive beamforming), and the processor 210 may extract signaling from the downlink transmission (e.g., by detecting and / or decoding the signaling). Examples of signaling may be reference signals sent by the NT-TRP 172 and / or the T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, the processor 276 implements transmit beamforming and / or receive beamforming based on an indication of a beam direction received from the T-TRP 170 (e.g., beam angle information (BAI)). In some embodiments, the processor 210 may perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and / or downlink synchronization, such as operations related to detecting a synchronization sequence, decoding, and acquiring system information. In some embodiments, the processor 210 may perform channel estimation using reference signals received from the NT-TRP 172 and / or the T-TRP 170, etc.

[0047] Although not shown, the processor 210 may form part of the transmitter 201 and / or the receiver 203. Although not shown, the memory ️208 may form part of the processor 210.

[0048] The processor 210, and the processing components of the transmitter 201 and the receiver 203 may each be implemented by the same or different one or more processors for executing instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 208). Alternatively, some or all of the processor 210, and the processing components of the transmitter 201 and the receiver 203 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry, such as a programmed field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a graphical processing unit (GPU), or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

[0049] In some implementations, T-TRP170 may use other names, such as base station, base transceiver station (BTS), radio base station, network node, network device, network side device, transmission / reception node, Node B, evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), home eNodeB, next generation Node B (gNB), transmission point (TP), site controller, access point (AP), wireless router, relay station, remote radio head, terrestrial node, terrestrial network device, terrestrial base station, baseband unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), positioning node, etc. T-TRP170 may be a macro BS, micro BS, relay node, host node, etc. or a combination thereof. T-TRP170 may refer to the above devices or devices in the above (e.g., communication module, modem or chip).

[0050] In some embodiments, part of T-TRP170 may be distributed. For example, some modules of T-TRP170 may be located at a position remote from the device housing the antenna of T-TRP170 and may be coupled to the device housing the antenna, such as a common public radio interface (CPRI), via a communication link (not shown) sometimes referred to as fronthaul. Thus, in some embodiments, the term T-TRP170 may also refer to modules on the network side that perform processing operations such as determining the location of ED110, resource allocation (scheduling), message generation and encoding / decoding, and are not necessarily part of the device housing the antenna of T-TRP170. These modules may also be coupled to other T-TRPs. In some embodiments, T-TRP170 may actually be multiple T-TRPs that work together, for example, through coordinated multi-point transmission to serve ED110.

[0051] The T-TRP170 includes at least one transmitter 252 and at least one receiver 254 coupled to one or more antennas 256. Only one antenna 256 is shown. Alternatively, one, some, or all of the antennas may be panels. The transmitter 252 and the receiver 254 may be integrated as a transceiver. The T-TRP170 further includes a processor 260 for performing operations including operations related to the following: preparing a transmission for downlink transmission to the ED110; processing an uplink transmission received from the ED110; preparing a transmission for backhaul transmission to the NT-TRP172; processing a transmission received via the backhaul from the NT-TRP172. The processing operations related to preparing a transmission for downlink transmission or backhaul transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulation, precoding (e.g., MIMO precoding), transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. The processing operations related to processing a transmission received in the uplink or received via the backhaul may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulating, and decoding received symbols. The processor 260 may also perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and / or downlink synchronization, such as generating the content of a synchronization signal block (SSB), generating system information, etc. In some embodiments, the processor 260 also generates an indication of a beam direction, e.g., a BAI, which may be scheduled by the scheduler 253 for transmission. The processor 260 performs other network-side processing operations that may be described herein, such as determining the location of the ED110, determining where to deploy the NT-TRP172, etc. In some embodiments, the processor 260 may generate signaling, e.g., to configure one or more parameters of the ED110 and / or one or more parameters of the NT-TRP172. Any signaling generated by the processor 260 is sent by the transmitter 252. It should be noted that, as used herein, "signaling" may alternatively be referred to as control signaling. Dynamic signaling may be sent in a control channel (e.g., a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)), and static or semi-static higher-layer signaling may be included in a data packet sent in a data channel (e.g., a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)).

[0052] The scheduler 253 may be coupled to the processor 260. The scheduler 253 may be included within the T-TRP 170 or operate separately from the T-TRP 170. The scheduler 253 may schedule uplink transmissions, downlink transmissions, sidelink transmissions, and / or backhaul transmissions, including issuing scheduling grants (“dynamic grants”) and / or configuring grant-free (“configured grants”) resources. The T-TRP 170 also includes a memory 258 for storing information and data. The memory 258 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the T-TRP 170. For example, the memory 258 may store software instructions or modules executed by the processor 260 for implementing some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein.

[0053] Although not shown, the processor 260 may form part of the transmitter 252 and / or the receiver 254. Additionally, although not shown, the processor 260 may implement the scheduler 253. Although not shown, the memory 258 may form part of the processor 260.

[0054] The processing components of the processor 260, the scheduler 253, and the transmitter 252 and the receiver 254 may each be implemented by the same or different one or more processors for executing instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 258). Alternatively, some or all of the processing components of the processor 260, the scheduler 253, and the transmitter 252 and the receiver 254 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry (e.g., FPGA, GPU, or ASIC).

[0055] Although NT-TRP172 is shown as a drone, it is merely an example. NT-TRP172 can be implemented in any suitable non-ground form. Additionally, NT-TRP172 may use other names in some implementations, such as non-ground node, non-ground network device, or non-ground base station. NT-TRP172 includes a transmitter 272 and a receiver 274 coupled to one or more antennas 280. Only one antenna 280 is shown. Alternatively, one, some, or all of the antennas can be panels. The transmitter 272 and the receiver 274 can be integrated into a transceiver. NT-TRP172 also includes a processor 276 for performing operations, including operations related to the following: preparing a transmission for downlink transmission to ED110; processing an uplink transmission received from ED110; preparing a transmission for backhaul transmission to T-TRP170; processing a transmission received from T-TRP170 via the backhaul. The processing operations related to preparing a transmission for downlink transmission or backhaul transmission can include operations such as encoding, modulation, precoding (e.g., MIMO precoding), transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. The processing operations related to processing a transmission received in the uplink or received via the backhaul can include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulation, and decoding received symbols. In some embodiments, the processor 276 implements transmit beamforming and / or receive beamforming based on beam direction information (e.g., BAI) received from T-TRP170. In some embodiments, the processor 276 can generate signaling, for example, to configure one or more parameters of ED110. In some embodiments, NT-TRP172 implements physical layer processing but does not implement higher layer functions such as the functions of the medium access control (MAC) or radio link control (RLC) layer. Since this is just an example, more generally, NT-TRP172 can also implement higher layer functions in addition to physical layer processing.

[0056] NT-TRP172 also includes a memory 278 for storing information and data. Although not shown, the processor 276 can form part of the transmitter 272 and / or the receiver 274. Although not shown, the memory 278 can form part of the processor 276.

[0057] The processor 276, and the processing components of the transmitter 272 and the receiver 274 may each be implemented by the same or different one or more processors for executing instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 278). Alternatively, some or all of the processor 276 and the processing components of the transmitter 272 and the receiver 274 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry (e.g., a programmed FPGA, GPU, or ASIC). In some embodiments, NT-TRP172 may actually be multiple NT-TRPs that work together, e.g., via coordinated multi-point transmission, to serve ED110.

[0058] It should be noted that, as used herein, "TRP" may refer to T-TRP or NT-TRP.

[0059] T-TRP170, NT-TRP172, and / or ED110 may include other components, but these components are omitted for clarity.

[0060] For example, according to Figure 4 , one or more steps of the methods of the embodiments provided herein may be performed by corresponding units or modules. Figure 4 Exemplary units or modules in a device (e.g., in ED110, T-TRP170, or NT-TRP172) are shown. For example, operations may be controlled by an operating system module. Again, for example, a signal may be sent by a sending unit or a sending module. A signal may be received by a receiving unit or a receiving module. A signal may be processed by a processing unit or a processing module. Some operations / steps may be performed by an artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) module. The corresponding units or modules may be implemented using hardware, one or more components or devices that execute software, or a combination thereof. For example, one or more of the units or modules may be an integrated circuit, such as a programmed FPGA, GPU, or ASIC. It should be understood that if the above modules are implemented using software for a processor or the like to execute, then these modules may be retrieved in whole or in part by the processor as needed, retrieved individually or collectively for processing, retrieved in one or more instances as needed, and these modules themselves may include instructions for further deployment and instantiation.

[0061] Additional details regarding ED110, T-TRP170, and NT-TRP172 are known to those skilled in the art. Therefore, these details are omitted here for clarity.

[0062] This document discusses control information. Control information may sometimes be alternatively referred to as control signaling or signaling. In some cases, control information may be transmitted dynamically, such as in the physical layer in a control channel, e.g., in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). Examples of control information indicated dynamically are information sent in physical layer control signaling, such as uplink control information (UCI) sent in a PUCCH, downlink control information (DCI) sent in a PDCCH, or sidelink control information (SCI) sent in a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). The dynamic indication may be an indication in a lower layer, such as physical layer / layer 1 signaling, rather than an indication in a higher layer (e.g., rather than in RRC signaling or in MAC CE). The semi-static indication may be an indication in semi-static signaling. As used herein, semi-static signaling may refer to non-dynamic signaling, such as higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling) and / or MAC CE. As used herein, dynamic signaling may refer to dynamic signaling, such as physical layer control signaling sent in the physical layer, such as DCI sent in a PDCCH, UCI sent in a PUCCH, or SCI sent in a PSCCH).

[0063] Figure 5 ED110 in the form of a UE110 communicating with NT-TRP172 according to some embodiments is shown. In Figure 5In the example shown, UE110 is a mobile device and NT-TRP172 is a satellite. UE110 has uplink data 300 to send to NT-TRP172, so UE110 sends a scheduling request (SR) 302, for example, as part of the control information in the uplink control channel. The uplink control channel can be a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). In response, NT-TRP172 sends an authorization 304, such as an uplink grant, as it authorizes resources for uplink data transmission. The authorization 304 allocates resources for UE110 to send data 300. The allocated resources include the MCS 306 for UE110 to send data 300 and the time-frequency resources 308 for UE110 to send data 300. The authorization 304 can allocate other resources (such as transmit power), which are not shown. The authorized time-frequency resources 308 can be allocated in the data channel, for example, in the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

[0064] UE110 then uses the MCS 306 to send the uplink data 300 to NT-TRP172 on the authorized time-frequency resources 308. The MCS 306 and possibly other allocated resources are selected by the network based on the measured uplink channel conditions. For example, the uplink channel conditions can be measured using the sounding reference signal (SRS) sent by UE110 to NT-TRP172. For example, if the measured uplink channel conditions are poor, a lower MCS can be allocated for the uplink transmission, which increases the robustness of the transmission at the cost of reduced data throughput.

[0065] However, the propagation time between UE110 and NT-TRP172 can be longer than the coherence time of the uplink channel, such that when UE110 is about to send an authorized uplink transmission, it can no longer be assumed that the allocated resources match the channel conditions. For example, a low MCS may have been allocated, but now the channel conditions have improved, so the low MCS is no longer needed. In some embodiments herein, UE110 can alternatively autonomously select one or more of the resources for sending the authorized transmission. For example, UE110 can locally determine the channel conditions of the uplink channel and select a suitable MCS just before sending the authorized transmission, and then indicate the selected MCS to NT-TRP172.

[0066] The embodiments described herein are not limited to a UE communicating with a far-away NT-TRP (such as a satellite), as Figure 5The situation in the example in []. If the coherence time of the channel is short (which may be the case at certain transmission frequencies, for example), the two devices do not even necessarily need to be far apart. In addition, the authorized transmission does not necessarily have to be an "uplink". For example, there may be authorized sidelink or backhaul transmissions, where the autonomous selection of one or more resources by the transmitting device can be performed. For example, in a sidelink scenario, time-frequency resources can be authorized for a first UE to communicate with a second UE in the sidelink, and the first UE can autonomously select at least one resource (such as MCS) for the authorized transmission based on the sidelink channel conditions measured by the first UE. In addition, for example, if the network knows that there is, should be, or may be data to be sent, the authorization does not necessarily need to be in response to a scheduling request. Thus, more generally, Figure 6 Device 352 that sends authorization 334 to device 372 is shown according to some embodiments. The terms "device" and "apparatus" are used to distinguish these two entities. Their implementation depends on the application scenario. Figure 6 Several examples are shown. Device 372 can be, for example, a UE or a drone. Depending on the implementation, a drone can be considered a UE. In some embodiments, device 372 can be a UE in the form of a consumer device, such as a terminal, a phone, a vehicle, a wearable device, a tablet, etc. In some embodiments, device 372 can support a radio access technology, such as 5G new radio (NR), 6G system, and / or a non-terrestrial communication system. For example, device 372 can have the ability to communicate with satellites and / or high-altitude platform systems (HAPS). In some embodiments, device 352 can be a satellite, a HAPS device, a drone, or a base station (such as a "super" base station). These are just examples.

[0067] Authorization 334 schedules data transmission from device 372. Authorization 334 schedules at least one time resource for the data. Authorization 334 may be sent in dynamic signaling such as DCI, or may be sent in higher layer signaling such as RRC signaling or MAC CE. Device 352 also sends flag 336 to device 372. Flag 336 indicates that device 372 will use at least one resource selected by device 372 to send data in the authorized data transmission. Flag 336 and authorization 334 may be in the same message or in separate messages. If flag 336 and authorization 334 are in the same message, flag 336 may be explicit (e.g., a bit) or may be implicit (e.g., authorization 334 has a specific format that serves as a flag). If flag 336 and authorization 334 are in different messages, they may be carried in the same type of signaling (e.g., both the authorization and the flag may be carried in RRC signaling) or in different types of signaling (e.g., the flag may be carried in RRC signaling or MAC CE, while the authorization may be carried in DCI).

[0068] Figure 7 Devices 352 and 372 according to some embodiments are shown.

[0069] For example, device 352 may be a TRP, such as T-TRP 170 or NT-TRP 172. Device 352 may be part of a network (e.g., serving as an access point of the network) and may be a network device. In some embodiments, parts of device 352 may be distributed. For example, some modules of device 352 may be located at a position remote from the equipment housing the antenna and / or panel of device 352, and may be coupled to the equipment housing the antenna / panel via a communication link (not shown). Thus, in some embodiments, the term device 352 may also or alternatively refer to one or more modules (e.g., integrated circuits) on the network side that perform processing operations such as resource allocation (e.g., generating authorizations), message generation, encoding / decoding, etc., and are not necessarily part of the equipment housing the antenna and / or panel of device 352. For example, modules that are not necessarily part of the equipment housing the antenna / panel of device 352 may include one or more modules that: decode scheduling requests, and / or generate authorization to allocate resources, and / or generate flags, and / or demodulate and decode data received from device 372 in the authorized transmission. These modules may also be coupled to other devices. In some embodiments, device 352 may actually be multiple devices (e.g., multiple TRPs) that operate together (e.g., via coordinated multi-point transmission) to serve device 372.

[0070] Device 352 includes a transmitter 354 and a receiver 356, and the transmitter 354 and the receiver 356 can be integrated into a transceiver. The transmitter 354 and the receiver 356 are coupled to one or more antennas 358. Only one antenna 358 is shown. Alternatively, one, some, or all of the antennas can be panels. The processor 360 of device 352 performs (or controls device 352 to perform) many operations described herein that are performed by device 352, such as receiving and decoding a scheduling request, generating an authorized allocation of resources, generating a flag, demodulating and decoding data received from device 372 in an authorized transmission, etc. The generation of information for transmission (such as data and / or control information) can include arranging the information in a message format, encoding the message, modulating, performing beamforming (as needed), etc. Processing a received transmission can include performing beamforming (as needed), demodulating and decoding the received message, etc. Demodulation can be performed by a demodulator, and the demodulator can be implemented by the processor 360, possibly in conjunction with a decoder. The demodulator performs demodulation according to the modulation scheme used to transmit the data. For example, if quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) is used to modulate the signal, a coherent demodulator can be used to perform demodulation, such as separating the signal and applying each signal to a mixer, where an in-phase local oscillator is applied to one half and an orthogonal oscillator signal is applied to the other half. Decoding can be performed by a decoding method that decodes according to a channel coding scheme. For example, if the data and / or control information is encoded using a polar code, polar decoding is used, and for a low-density parity check (LDPC) code, the LDPC decoding algorithm is used, and so on. Exemplary decoding methods that can be implemented include (but are not limited to): maximum likelihood (ML) decoding, and / or minimum distance decoding, and / or syndrome decoding, and / or Viterbi decoding, etc.

[0071] Although not shown, the processor 360 can form part of the transmitter 354 and / or the receiver 356. Device 352 also includes a memory 362 for storing information (such as control information and / or data).

[0072] The processor 360, and the processing components of the transmitter 354 and the receiver 356 can be implemented by the same or different one or more processors, and the one or more processors are used to execute instructions stored in a memory (such as, memory 362). Alternatively, some or all of the processor 360, and / or the processing components of the transmitter 354 and / or the receiver 356, can be implemented using dedicated circuits (such as, programmed FPGA, GPU, or ASIC).

[0073] If device 352 is a T-TRP170, transmitter 354 may be or include transmitter 252, receiver 356 may be or include receiver 254, processor 360 may be or include processor 260 and may implement scheduler 253, and memory 362 may be or include memory 258. If device 352 is an NT-TRP172, transmitter 354 may be or include transmitter 272, receiver 356 may be or include receiver 274, processor 360 may be or include processor 276, and memory 362 may be or include memory 278.

[0074] Apparatus 372 includes transmitter 374 and receiver 376, which may be integrated as a transceiver. Transmitter 374 and receiver 376 are coupled to one or more antennas 378. Only one antenna 378 is shown. Alternatively, one, some, or all of the antennas may be a panel. Processor 380 of apparatus 372 performs (or controls apparatus 372 to perform) many of the operations described herein to be performed by apparatus 372, such as sending a scheduling request, receiving and decoding an authorization and a flag, determining channel conditions, autonomously selecting resources (such as modulation and / or coding rate) for authorized data transmission, etc. Generation of information (such as data and / or control information) for transmission may include arranging the information in a message format, encoding the message, modulating, performing beamforming (as needed), etc. Encoding may be performed by an encoder (which may be implemented by processor 380, possibly in combination with a modulator). Encoding is implemented according to a channel coding scheme (such as polar coding, LDPC coding, turbo coding, convolutional coding, etc.). The modulator performs modulation according to a modulation scheme (such as BPSK, QPSK, QAM-16, QAM-64, etc.). Processing of a received transmission may include performing beamforming (as needed), demodulating, and decoding the received message, etc. Examples of ways of demodulating and decoding were discussed previously.

[0075] Although not shown, processor 380 may form part of transmitter 374 and / or receiver 376. Apparatus 372 also includes a memory 382 for storing information (such as control information and / or data).

[0076] Processor 380, and the processing components of transmitter 374 and receiver 376 may be implemented by the same or different one or more processors for executing instructions stored in a memory (such as, memory 382). Alternatively, some or all of processor 380, and / or the processing components of transmitter 374 and / or receiver 376, may be implemented using dedicated circuitry (such as, a programmed FPGA, GPU, or ASIC).

[0077] If the device is a UE or other ED110, the transmitter 374 can be or include the transmitter 201, the receiver 376 can be or include the receiver 203, the processor 380 can be or include the processor 210, and the memory 382 can be or include the memory 208. If the device 372 is an NT-TRP172 (such as a drone), the transmitter 374 can be or include the transmitter 272, the receiver 376 can be or include the receiver 274, the processor 380 can be or include the processor 276, and the memory 382 can be or include the memory 278.

[0078] In some embodiments, the device 372 includes a sensor 384. The sensor 384 is a device or module for performing sensing (such as detecting an event or change in its environment). The implementation of the sensor 384 is application-specific and depends on the object and / or condition being sensed. In some embodiments, the sensor 384 can be used for radiofrequency (RF) sensing, in which case the sensor 384 can be or include an antenna. For example, the sensor 384 can sense electromagnetic waves reflected from at least one object. An example of an electromagnetic wave is a radio wave. The device 372 can use the sensor 384 to sense its environment, such as using radio wave measurements (such as radar) and / or acoustic measurements (echolocation), and / or detecting Wi-Fi signals, and / or lidar measurements, etc. The sensing can indicate that some directions are clear while other directions have obstacles. For example, the device 372 can send one or more radio waves (such as radar) and receive reflections back in some directions. The directions where the reflections are received are determined to be blocked directions and thus not line-of-sight (LOS) directions. Then, the device 372 can perform receive and / or transmit beamforming in the directions determined to be obstacle-free.

[0079] Figure 8 Illustrated is a method performed by the device 372 and the device 352 in some embodiments.

[0080] In step 452, the device 372 sends a scheduling request (SR) to the device 352. The SR is sent because the device 372 has data to send and the device 372 wishes to obtain authorization for one or more resources to send the data. In the illustrated embodiment, the device 372 wishes to obtain authorization for at least time resources to send the data. In step 454, the device 352 receives the SR.

[0081] Steps 452 and 454 are optional and are thus shown using a dotted-line box. The reason steps 452 and 454 are optional is that in some scenarios, device 372 may not need to send an SR. For example, if device 352 knows by other means that device 372 has data to send. In some scenarios, the network may know that device 372 will (or should) have data to send at certain points or windows in time, and the grant can be sent without the need for an SR.

[0082] In step 456, device 352 sends a flag and a grant to device 372. The grant schedules at least one time resource for data. For example, the granted time resource can be or include the start time or start time slot for sending data. The flag indicates that device 372 will send data in the granted data transmission using at least one resource selected by device 372. Device 372 does not select the time resource as this is granted. However, device 372 can select one or more other resources to send data. In step 458, device 372 receives the flag and the grant.

[0083] In step 460, device 372 then sends data on the time resource using at least one resource selected by device 372. The at least one resource is "independently" selected by device 372, i.e., the at least one resource is selected by device 372 regardless of an indication of a resource from device 352. For example, the resource is not indicated by device 352 (e.g., there is no indication of a resource in the grant), or if it is indicated by device 352, the indication is ignored. In some embodiments, the at least one resource selected by device 372 can include at least one of the following:

[0084] · Modulation, i.e., the modulation used to modulate the data. In some embodiments, the modulation type can be selected by device 372. For example, device 372 can select between pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM), quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), frequency-shift keying (FSK), etc. In other embodiments, the modulation type can be predefined or preconfigured, and the modulation order can be selected by the device. For example, device 372 can select between 4-QAM, 16-QAM, and 64-QAM.

[0085] · Coding type, i.e., the type of error control code used. For example, device 372 can select between polar coding, LDPC coding, turbo coding, convolutional coding, etc.

[0086] · Coding rate. In some embodiments, the coding type may be predefined (e.g., preconfigured), but the rate of coding can be selected by device 372.

[0087] · MCS. In some embodiments, there may be a table of MCS values, and device 372 can select an MCS value from the table. For example, each MCS value is mapped to a predefined (e.g., preconfigured) modulation and coding. Device 372 selects one of these MCS values and modulates and encodes the data according to this MCS value.

[0088] · Frequency resources, i.e., the frequency resources for transmitting data. For example, device 372 can select one or more specific physical resource blocks (PRBs) in the frequency domain on which to transmit data.

[0089] · Transmission power, i.e., the power for transmitting data.

[0090] · Beam, e.g., beam direction. For example, device 372 can select transmission control information (TCI) corresponding to a specific beam.

[0091] · Precoding. For example, device 372 can select a MIMO precoding matrix for transmitting data.

[0092] · Number of precoding layers for precoding.

[0093] Depending on the implementation, device 372 can select one, some, or all of the above resources.

[0094] Resources not selected by device 372 are indicated in the authorization or are predefined (e.g., fixed or preconfigured). This flag can indicate which resource(s) device 372 will select. For example, the flag can indicate that device 372 will select the MCS, i.e., use the MCS selected by device 372 to transmit data. The authorization can indicate other resources required for authorized transmission, such as time-frequency resources.

[0095] In step 462, the device receives data. Step 462 is optional, so it is shown with a dotted box. The reason step 462 is optional is that it may not be device 352 that receives the data. For example, the authorized data transmission can be, for example, a data transmission to another device or apparatus via a sidelink.

[0096] The receiving device (e.g., Figure 8In step 462 of (device 352), data is received on a time resource using at least one resource selected by device 372. The data transmission has at least one resource, and device 372 accordingly receives the data. For example, if device 372 selects a specific frequency resource, device 352 receives data at that specific frequency resource. In some cases, "using" at least one resource selected by device 372 to receive data means performing an operation according to or based on the selected one or more resources. For example, if device 372 selects a specific modulation, device 352 demodulates according to that specific modulation. For example, if 16-QAM modulation is selected, 16-QAM demodulation is performed. As another example, if device 372 selects a specific coding rate, the device decodes according to that coding rate. As another example, if device 372 selects a specific MCS value, the device performs demodulation and decoding according to that MCS value.

[0097] In some embodiments, Figure 8 the method includes: device 372 selects at least one resource based on channel conditions determined by device 372.

[0098] An exemplary manner in which device 372 determines the channel conditions of the channel on which a data transmission will be sent is as follows: In one example, device 372 uses the received signal, such as a received reference signal or a received synchronization signal. For example, device 372 may use a CSI reference signal (CSI reference signal, CSI-RS) or other downlink reference signals received by device 372 from device 352. Device 372 performs measurements using the received signal and thereby obtains measurement results representing the determined channel conditions. The measurement results may be, for example, channel measurement results of channel quality. Examples of possible measurements include: measuring CSI, such as information related to scattering, fading, power attenuation, and / or signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the channel; and / or measuring signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), which is sometimes referred to as signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio (SNIR); and / or measuring reference signal receive power (RSRP); and / or measuring reference signal receive quality (RSRQ); and / or measuring channel quality, for example, to obtain a channel quality indicator (CQI). Performing measurements on the received signal may include extracting waveform parameters from the signal, such as (but not limited to) the amplitude, frequency, noise, and / or timing of the waveform. The result may be a measurement result. The result of the measurement is called a measurement result. For example, the measurement result may be a measured SNR, SINR, RRSP, and / or RSRQ. The measurement result represents the channel conditions on the receive link, that is, the opposite direction of the transmission direction in which the data will be sent. For example, device 372 may send a data transmission on the uplink, but the channel measurement is a channel measurement of the downlink. However, device 372 assumes that the channel conditions on the link are substantially the same in both directions. For example, the channel conditions in the downlink determined by device 372 are substantially the same as the channel conditions in the uplink. Therefore, for example, the reference signal received by device 372 shortly before sending the data transmission may be used by device 372 to estimate the channel conditions for sending the data. The determined channel conditions may be mapped to a specific resource to be selected, for example, through a look-up table. For example, the measured channel conditions may be mapped to possible different MCS values that can be selected by device 372. In some embodiments, device 372 may determine the channel conditions, for example, based on various specific inputs and using artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning (ML).The output of the AI / ML model can be an indication of the channel condition and / or an indication of how the channel condition will be in the future x ms. The output may not be an explicit indication of the channel condition, but may be a value that inherently indicates the channel condition. For example, the output of the AI / ML model can be the predicted MCS that the device 372 will use. The value of the MCS is an indirect indication of the channel condition, and the MCS can be based on the determined channel condition, even if the AI / ML model may not literally output a value that is a measurement of the channel condition. In some embodiments, a combination of channel measurements (e.g., for a downlink channel) and AI / ML can be used to select resources. For example, the input to the trained ML model can include measurements of the channel on the receive link (e.g., the downlink), and the output of the trained ML model can be the MCS value that will be selected by the device 372. In some embodiments, sensing can be used to determine the channel measurements. For example, the sensor 384 of the device 372 can use a camera and / or radio waves and / or another method to determine which directions are clear and which directions are blocked, which can be used to determine the channel condition, possibly in conjunction with AI / ML (e.g., the sensing measurements can be the input to the trained ML model).

[0099] In some embodiments, before transmitting data in step 460 (e.g., just before), the device 372 can measure the channel condition. Since the channel condition is measured by the device 372 before and relatively close to the time when the device 372 will transmit data, the measured channel condition has not expired. The resources (e.g., the selected MCS) selected by the device 372 have a better match. In some embodiments, the device 372 measures the channel condition within less than T c ms before transmitting data, where T c is the coherence time of the channel. In some embodiments, the device 372 measures the channel condition immediately before transmitting data.

[0100] In one example, the device 372 selects the MCS to be used based on the channel condition measured by the device 372. In step 460, the channel condition can be measured before transmitting data (e.g., just before). If the channel condition indicates low channel quality, the device 372 selects a low MCS to transmit data in the authorized transmission, while if the channel condition indicates high channel quality, the device 372 selects a high MCS to transmit data in the authorized transmission. Since the channel condition is measured by the device 372 before and relatively close to the time when the device 372 will transmit the authorized transmission, the measured channel condition has not expired. The MCS has a better match.

[0101] In some embodiments, Figure 8The method includes an indication of at least one resource selected by apparatus 372 being sent by apparatus 372. This enables a receiving device (e.g., device 352 in step 462) to know the resources selected by apparatus 372 so that the receiving device can use the resources to receive data. For example, if apparatus 372 selects a particular MCS value and modulates and encodes according to that MCS value, apparatus 372 can provide an indication of that MCS value to the receiving device such that the receiving device can demodulate and decode the data according to the MCS value.

[0102] This indication can be sent in control information. Figure 9 An example of such control information sent by apparatus 372 is shown in. Control information (CI) 502 can be sent as Figure 9 part of step 460 of the method.

[0103] If apparatus 372 selects modulation, CI 502 can include a field 504 that indicates the modulation for apparatus 372 to use for modulating data in an authorized transmission. In one example, field 504 can be two bits long and apparatus 372 signals one of four possible different modulation selections: BPSK, QPSK, 16-QAM, or 64-QAM. As another example, field 504 can indicate one of the possible different modulation schemes (e.g., PAM versus QAM) selected by the apparatus. In some embodiments, the modulation selection (e.g., scheme and / or order) can be preconfigured in advance, for example, using higher layer signaling, where field 504 indicates one of the possible preconfigured options.

[0104] If apparatus 372 selects a coding rate, CI 502 can include a field 506 that indicates the coding rate for apparatus 372 to use for encoding data bits in an authorized transmission. In one example, field 506 can be four bits long and signals one of 16 possible different coding rates. In some embodiments, the coding rate selection can be preconfigured in advance, for example, using higher layer signaling, where field 506 indicates one of the possible preconfigured options.

[0105] If the device 372 selects an encoding type, the CI 502 may include a field 508 that indicates the encoding type for the device 372 to use to encode data bits in an authorized transmission. In one example, the field 508 may be two bits long, and the device 372 signals one of the following four possible different encoding type selections: polar coding, LDPC coding, turbo coding, or convolutional coding. In some embodiments, the encoding type selection may be pre-configured in advance, for example, using higher layer signaling, where the field 508 indicates one of the possible pre-configured options.

[0106] If the device 372 selects an MCS value, the CI 502 may include a field 510 that indicates the MCS value, which indicates which modulation and coding the device 372 performs on the data. For example, the MCS value may be selected from a table of MCS values, such as a look-up-table (LUT) of MCS values, which are known to the device 372 and the device 352. If the MCS field 510 is present in the CI 502, the modulation field 504, the coding rate field 506, and the encoding type field 508 may be omitted. In some embodiments, the set of MCS values may be pre-configured in advance, for example, using higher layer signaling, where the field 510 indicates one of the possible pre-configured options.

[0107] If the device 372 selects transmit power control (TPC) for the device 372 to use to transmit data in an authorized transmission, the control CI 502 may include a field 512 that indicates the selected TPC. For example, the field 512 may be four bits and indicate one of 16 possible transmit powers. In some embodiments, the set of transmit power values may be pre-configured in advance, for example, using higher layer signaling, where the field 512 indicates one of the possible pre-configured options.

[0108] If precoding (such as a MIMO precoding matrix) is selected by the device 372, the CI 502 may include a field 514 that indicates the selected precoding. For example, the field 514 may be five bits and indicate one of 32 possible options. In some embodiments, the set of precoding matrices may be pre-configured in advance, for example, using higher layer signaling, where the field 514 indicates one of the possible pre-configured options.

[0109] If the number of layers (e.g., the number of MIMO layers) is selected by device 372, CI502 may include a field 516 indicating the selected number of layers. For example, field 516 may be two bits and indicate one of four possible options. In some embodiments, the options for the number of layers may be preconfigured in advance using, for example, high layer signaling, where field 516 indicates one of the possible preconfigured options.

[0110] If the transmit control information (TCI) is selected by device 372, CI502 may include a field 518 indicating the selected TCI. For example, field 518 may be three bits and indicate one of eight possible options. In some embodiments, a set of TCI (e.g., beam) values may be preconfigured in advance using, for example, high layer signaling, where field 518 indicates one of the possible preconfigured options.

[0111] In some embodiments, CI502 may include reserved or spare bits (not shown), depending on the implementation.

[0112] Not all of the fields shown need to be included in CI502. For example, if device 372 does not select a particular resource, there is no need to indicate that particular resource in CI502. For example, if the MCS is the only resource selected by device 372, CI502 may only include the MCS field 510 and not the other fields shown.

[0113] Furthermore, not every resource selected by device 372 needs to be indicated in CI502. For example, one or more resources selected by device 372 may be indicated in the SR. For example, the frequency resources selected by device 372 may be indicated in the SR so that the receiving device knows the frequency resources on which to receive the transmission. If any resources selected by device 372 are already known to the receiving device (e.g., these resources are indicated in the SR), then these resources do not need to be indicated in CI502.

[0114] It should be noted that CI502 does not have to be sent in all implementations. For example, there may be an implementation where one or more resources selected by device 372 are not indicated and the receiving device performs blind detection / decoding.

[0115] In some embodiments, CI502 is an information element. In some embodiments, the format of CI502 (e.g., the position and length of fields) may be defined by higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling). In some embodiments, CI502 has an MCS, which is predefined (e.g., preconfigured in advance) using higher layer signaling such as RRC signaling, or is dynamically indicated (e.g., in DCI and / or in enhanced SR response). This enables device 352 to demodulate and decode CI502.

[0116] In some embodiments, an indication (e.g., CI502) may be sent on the time - frequency resources scheduled for data, e.g., the indication may be multiplexed with the data. Figure 10 An example is shown in which the indication is carried in CI502. In this example, device 372 is configured with a frequency resource, e.g., a bandwidth part (BWP) 582, for communicating with device 352. RRC signaling may have been used to configure BWP582. For example, in the grant sent in step 456 and received in Figure 8 step 458, time - frequency resources 584 for sending data 586 are authorized for device 372. In this example, device 372 selects an MCS for sending data 586. The modulation and coding corresponding to the selected MCS are applied to the data 586 sent in Figure 8 step 460. CI502 indicates the selected MCS.

[0117] Device 372 not only uses the authorized time-frequency resources 584 to transmit data 586, but also transmits CI 502, where CI 502 indicates the MCS used by device 372 for modulating and encoding data 586. In operation, CI 502 itself is transmitted using a predefined MCS (e.g., a fixed or (e.g., using RRC signaling) preconfigured MCS), such that it is known in advance to device 372 and device 352. Device 352 first demodulates and decodes CI 502 to obtain the content of CI 502 (e.g., the payload). The content of CI 502 includes an indication of the MCS used by device 372 for modulating and encoding data 586. Device 352 then uses the indicated MCS to demodulate and decode data 586. For example, if the MCS is indicated in CI 502 as a value corresponding to 16-QAM and a code rate of 0.5, device 352 applies the corresponding 16-QAM demodulation to data 586 according to the 0.5 code rate encoding scheme and applies the corresponding decoding to the demodulated data bits. Thus, CI 502 supports providing an indication of the MCS for data 586 to device 352, such that device 352 does not have to blindly demodulate and decode data 586 without knowing the MCS. In an embodiment where the authorized data transmission is an uplink transmission and CI 502 is transmitted on the time-frequency resources authorized for data transmission, CI 502 may be referred to as "PUSCH Control Information (PUSCH-CI)".

[0118] When an indication (e.g., CI 502) is transmitted on the time-frequency resources scheduled for data, the indication may be multiplexed with the data. Continuing Figure 10 with the example, the bits of CI 502 may be mapped to the resource elements (REs) included in the authorized time-frequency resources 584 scheduled for data 586. In some embodiments, the bits of CI 502 are mapped to the REs at predefined (e.g., preconfigured or fixed) positions, such that device 352 knows their positions in the time-frequency resources 584. For example, the bits of CI 502 may always start from the lowest subcarrier of the first PRB of the first OFDM symbol and be mapped in the increasing order of frequency-domain subcarriers first and then in the increasing order of time-domain OFDM symbols. After decoding the REs on which CI 502 is transmitted, device 352 may use the information in CI 502 to decode data 586 mapped to the remaining REs in the authorized time-frequency resources 584. A specific example of multiplexing is as follows.

[0119] In a particular example, it will be assumed that the authorized data transmission is an authorized uplink transmission, and CI502 will be referred to as PUSCH-CI. The bits of PUSCH-CI are channel-coded by device 372 using a predefined coding scheme / rate, such as polar coding or LDPC coding or turbo coding or convolutional coding, and modulated using a predefined modulation, which is represented as where, can be (for example) BPSK or QPSK or QAM-16 or QAM-64. Refer to Figure 11 , the code stream of the PUSCH-CI coded bits generated by device 372 is represented as where, G PUSCH-CI is the total number of PUSCH-CI coded bits. The PUSCH-CI coded bits are mapped into the control and data multiplexed code stream of the coded bits. The control and data multiplexed code stream of the coded bits is represented as g0, g1, …, g G-1 , where, G is the total number of PUSCH-CI coded bits and data coded bits. The PUSCH-CI coded bits are mapped onto individual REs (i.e., a given OFDM symbol and a given subcarrier), and these REs are reserved for mapping the PUSCH-CI code stream. is represented as the number of OFDM symbols reserved for PUSCH-CI, is represented as the number of subcarriers reserved for PUSCH-CI, such that the total number of reserved REs is The multiplexing algorithm first determines the number of REs required to map the PUSCH-CI bits. The multiplexing algorithm allocates REs from the set of REs of PUSCH-CI, and then deletes these REs from the set of REs of the uplink shared channel (ULSCH) bits. The PUSCH-CI coded bits are mapped onto the REs reserved for them. The PUSCH-CI bits are modulated using their own modulation to modulate. The PUSCH-CI coded bits are appended to the multiplexed code stream, and a control + data multiplexed code stream is generated.

[0120] In some embodiments, the number of reserved REs onto which PUSCH-CI is mapped, represented as can depend on the number of REs allocated for PUSCH transmission, represented as However, due to the presence of the uplink reference signal (such as PUSCH-DMRS) and the additional overhead caused by the presence of PUSCH-CI, there may be additional processing complexity in terms of rate matching at device 372, where rate matching is the operation of device 372 adjusting the effective code rate to the desired code rate. The effective code rate can be derived as follows:

[0121]

[0122] Among them, CR PUSCH is the effective code rate of PUSCH, N TB is the number of coded bits in the transport block, N CRC is the number of bits in the CRC. However, the presence of PUSCH reduces the total number of REs available for PUSCH, which leads to an increase in the effective code rate, and a new effective code rate can be derived as follows:

[0123]

[0124] Due to the implementation complexity in the LDCP / polar coding encoder, it may not be possible to arbitrarily implement the new effective code rate, which may limit the number of REs occupied by PUSCH-CI.

[0125] In some embodiments, the indication (e.g., CI502) can be sent in a control channel separated from the time-frequency resources scheduled for data. An example of this is shown in Figure 12 where the indication is carried in CI502. In this example, device 372 is configured with a frequency resource, such as a bandwidth part (BWP) 582, for communicating with device 352. RRC signaling may have been used to configure BWP 582. For example, it is sent in step 456 and in Figure 8In the authorization received in step 458, device 372 is authorized for time-frequency resource 584 for transmitting data 586. Device 372 is also configured with control channel 702 for transmitting CI502 related to the authorized data transmission. Control channel 702 is a time-frequency resource area different from the time-frequency resource area for scheduling data 586. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, control channel 702 is located before the location where time-frequency resource 584 is located, for authorizing data transmission. However, more generally, there may be a time and / or frequency gap between the location where control channel 702 is located and the location where data transmission can be scheduled. In some embodiments, the time-frequency area of control channel 702 can be defined by higher layer signaling (e.g., via RRC signaling). For example, control channel 702 can periodically alternate in time with one or more areas for scheduling data, which are located between adjacent control channel areas. In this example, device 372 selects the MCS for transmitting data 586. Device 372 transmits CI502 in control channel 702. CI502 indicates the MCS for device 372 to modulate and encode data 586. CI502 itself is transmitted in control channel 702 using a predefined MCS (e.g., a fixed or (e.g., using RRC signaling) preconfigured MCS), such that it is known in advance to device 372 and device 352. Device 352 first demodulates and decodes CI502 in the control channel to obtain the content (e.g., payload) of CI502. The content of CI502 includes an indication of the MCS for device 372 to modulate and encode data 586. Device 352 then uses the indicated MCS to demodulate and decode data 586 on time-frequency resource 584. Thus, CI502 supports providing an indication of the MCS of data 586 to device 352, such that device 352 does not have to blindly demodulate and decode data 586 without knowing the MCS. In an embodiment where the authorized data transmission is an uplink transmission and a separate control channel 702 is used to transmit CI502, control channel 702 can be referred to as "physical uplink information channel (PUICH)", and CI502 can be referred to as "PUSCH information control block (PICB)".

[0126] When an indication (e.g., CI502) is transmitted in a separate control channel, as Figure 12 shown, it can be easier to implement the autonomous selection of frequency resources by device 372 for authorized data transmission. This is because the control channel has a time-frequency location known to device 352, and device 352 can first decode the control channel to obtain CI502 and extract from CI502 an indication of the frequency resource for device 372 to transmit the authorized data transmission. In contrast, inFigure 10 In an embodiment, there is no separate control channel at the known time-frequency location of device 352, so device 352 will need to blindly attempt to locate the frequency position of time-frequency region 584.

[0127] Combined Figure 12 A specific example of the embodiment explained is as follows. It will be assumed that the authorized data transmission is an authorized uplink transmission, and CI502 will be referred to as PICB. The bits of PICB are channel-coded by device 372 using a predefined coding scheme / rate, such as polar coding or LDPC coding or turbo coding or convolutional coding, and modulated using a predefined modulation, such as BPSK or QPSK or QAM-16 or QAM-64. The MCS for PICB is predefined (e.g., preconfigured or fixed), and can be configured using higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling). The coded bits of PICB are mapped to the REs of the uplink information control resource set (ULI-CORESET), which is located in control channel 702. In one example, the coded bits of PICB always start from the lowest subcarrier of the first PRB of the first OFDM symbol, and are mapped to the REs in ULI-CORESET in the increasing order of subcarriers in the frequency domain first, and then in the increasing order of OFDM symbols in the time domain. In this example, PICB indicates the MCS of the bits for device 372 to modulate and code data 586. After decoding PICB, device 352 can obtain the indication of this MCS, and then continue to demodulate and decode the coded bits of data 586 on the PUSCH REs of time-frequency resource 584. ULI-CORESET can be configured by the network using higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling). An example of the configuration is shown below. Control channel 702 is configured through the "PUICH-Config" message. For example, this message can have Figure 13 the content shown. As shown in 752, the modulation to be used when sending CI502 on control channel 702 can be set by the network to one of the following four modulations: BPSK, QPSK, QAM-16, or QAM-64. As shown in 754, the coding rate to be used when sending CI502 on control channel 702 can be set to one of 16 different coding rates. Then, ULI-CORESET can be configured through the "UL-Info-CORESET-Config" message. For example, this message can also have Figure 13The content shown. The ULI-CORESET high-layer configuration includes a field called "uliCoresetId" 756, which corresponds to the identification of the ULI-CORESET. The ULI-CORESET high-layer configuration may also include a field called "frequencyDomainResources" 758, which corresponds to the frequency PRBs occupied by the ULI-CORESET within the ULBWP. The ULI-CORESET high-layer configuration may also include a field called "startingOfdmSymbol" 760, which corresponds to the starting OFDM symbol occupied by the ULI-CORESET within a given time slot, where "1" corresponds to the first OFDM symbol of the given time slot. The ULI-CORESET high-layer configuration may also include a field called 'nrOfOfdmSymbols' 762, which corresponds to the number of OFDM symbols occupied by the ULI-CORESET within a given time slot. The ULI-CORESET high-layer configuration may also include a field called "puichDMRSScramblingId" 764, which corresponds to the scrambling identification used by the device 372 to initialize the PUICHDM-RS sequence. The ULI-CORESET high-layer configuration may also include a field called "puichDMRSOfdmSymbol" 766, which corresponds to the OFDM symbol in which the PUICHDM-RS is transmitted.

[0128] In some embodiments, whether the CI502 is transmitted in the time-frequency resources authorized for data transmission (as Figure 10 shown) or in a separate control channel (as Figure 12 shown), the device 372 may also implement the following processing chain for the CI502: (1) Append a cyclic redundancy check and perform RNTI masking (e.g., apply an exclusive OR binary operation between the RNTI and CRC of the device 372); (2) Interleave the CI502+CRC bits according to a predefined interleaving pattern, for example, to randomize the sequence; (3) Apply channel coding to the interleaved bits according to a predefined channel coding scheme (e.g., using polar coding, or LDPC coding, or turbo coding, or convolutional coding, or BCH coding, etc.); (4) Perform rate matching to select the bits to be transmitted; (5) Randomize the code stream by performing scrambling using a common or such specific (e.g., UE-specific) RNTI; (6) Apply modulation according to a predefined modulation scheme to convert the coded code stream into a complex modulation symbol stream; (7) Map the complex modulation symbols to the applicable resource elements (REs). In the case of CI502 and data transmission (as Figure 10In an embodiment of multiplexing as shown, for example, multiplexing is performed between steps (3) and (4) as part of the processing chain. In some embodiments, the above processing chain may be performed just before Figure 8 step 460 of

[0129] Returning to Figure 8 , in some embodiments, Figure 8 the method of may include: In step 452, device 372 sends an SR; in step 454, device 352 receives the SR. The SR requests authorization for data to be sent from device 372, for example, authorization for at least time resources. If steps 452 and 454 are implemented, in some embodiments, the SR may be sent in uplink control information (UCI) (e.g., in PUCCH). In some embodiments, the SR includes a request for device 372 to select at least one resource for the authorized data transmission. For example, in some embodiments, the SR may carry a bit field that indicates that the SR is not a traditional SR, but an SR in which device 372 needs to autonomously select at least one resource for the authorized transmission. This SR may be referred to as an "enhanced SR" and carry a bit field (e.g., named "enhanced"), for example, if set to the value "1", it indicates that the SR is an enhanced SR. This indication (indicating that it is an enhanced SR) indicates to device 352 that device 372 needs to autonomously select at least one resource for the transmission to be authorized by device 352.

[0130] Figure 14 Four examples of enhanced SRs are shown. These are all examples of SRs that can be sent in Figure 8 step 452 of In Example 1, SR792 includes a bit field 802 that indicates whether SR792 is enhanced. If set to "1" ("yes"), SR792 includes two additional bit fields: bit field 804, which indicates whether device 372 needs to autonomously select its own modulation scheme for the authorized transmission; bit field 806, which indicates whether device 372 needs to autonomously select its own coding rate for the authorized transmission. If field 804 or 806 is set to "1" ("yes"), device 352 does not need to allocate and indicate that resource in the authorization sent in Figure 8 step 456 of

[0131] In Figure 14 Example 2 of , if the bit field 802 is set to "1" ("yes"), indicating that the SR is enhanced, this also serves as an indication that device 372 needs to autonomously select its own MCS for the authorized transmission. Therefore, fields 804 and 806 do not need to be included.

[0132] In Figure 14In Example 3, the apparatus 372 may request to autonomously select other resources in addition to the resources related to modulation and / or coding. Assuming that the field 802 is set to "1" ("yes"), i.e., the SR is enhanced, the field 808 indicates whether the apparatus 372 needs to autonomously select its own MCS for transmitting the authorized transmission. The field 810 indicates whether the apparatus 372 needs to autonomously perform its own transmit power control (TPC) (i.e., autonomously select its own transmit power) for transmitting the authorized transmission. The field 812 indicates whether the apparatus needs to autonomously perform its own frequency domain resource selection (FDRS), i.e., whether the apparatus needs to autonomously select its own frequency resources (e.g., physical resource blocks (PRBs)) for the authorized transmission. However, the autonomous selection of frequency resources may occur in the SR request itself (e.g., through the field 814 described in Example 4 below), so that the device 352 knows in advance the frequency resources on which to look for the authorized transmission to avoid the situation where the apparatus 372 autonomously selects the frequency domain resources just before transmitting the authorized transmission and then transmits on these frequency resources, and the device 352 does not know which frequency resources to find for transmission.

[0133] The SR 792 in Example 3 may include additional or different fields to indicate to the device 352 other resources that the apparatus 372 needs to autonomously select for the authorized data transmission. For example, the SR 792 may include a field indicating whether the apparatus 372 needs to select transmission control information (TCI) (e.g., beam direction). For another example, the SR 792 may include a field indicating whether precoding information needs to be selected by the apparatus 372. For another example, the SR 792 may include a field indicating whether the number of layers (e.g., for MIMO transmission) needs to be selected by the apparatus 372.

[0134] It should be noted that the fields 802, 804, 806, 808, 810, and 812 do not autonomously select resources, but only indicate to the device 352 that, in response to authorization by the apparatus 372 (e.g., in Figure 8During the data transmission of step 460), when data is being transmitted, device 372 requests to select a resource. Therefore, each of fields 802, 804, 806, 808, 810, and 812 can be just one bit to indicate "yes" or "no". In some such cases, it would be premature for device 372 to select and indicate a resource in the SR because the channel conditions will change when the authorized transmission is to be sent. Instead, in such instances, device 372 selects a resource based on the channel conditions closer to the time of sending the authorized transmission and indicates the resource selected at that time (e.g., in CI502).

[0135] Figure 14 Example 4 shows that the enhanced SR can additionally include one or more optional fields that provide information to device 352. Optional field 814 enables device 372 to indicate to device 352 which frequency resources will be used for authorized data transmission, for example, by using N1 bits to indicate PRBs. The PRBs can be indicated by a PRB bitmap. Field 814 can be used by device 372 to autonomously select frequency resources for the authorized transmission. Alternatively, field 814 can instead be used as a request, e.g., device 352 still ultimately schedules the frequency resources for transmission, and device 352 may or may not use the frequency resources indicated in field 814. Field 814 may only apply to the first transmission authorized by device 352 in response to the SR. Alternatively, field 814 can apply to a series of transmissions authorized by device 352 (e.g., over time) in response to the SR. If the frequency resources for the authorized transmission are not indicated before the authorized transmission, it may be difficult for device 352 to perform detection / decoding, in which case, field 814 can be included in the SR. If field 814 is included in the SR, it may not be necessary to include field 812 in the SR.

[0136] Optional field 816 enables device 372 to indicate to device 352 the delay tolerance of the data for which device 372 requests a transmission authorization. This can help device 352 decide how often device 352 should schedule data transmissions. For example, field 816 can include N2 bits indicating one of five different delay tolerances / time budgets associated with the data: 20 ms, 40 ms, 60 ms, 80 ms, or 100 ms. Depending on the implementation, device 352 may or may not be obligated to schedule data transmissions according to the delay tolerance indicated in field 816.

[0137] Optional field 818 enables device 372 to indicate to device 352 a time budget for transmitting a retransmission of a data packet that was scheduled for transmission but was incorrectly decoded by device 352. For example, field 818 may include N3 bits indicating one of four different time budgets for retransmission: 8 ms, 10 ms, 12 ms, or 16 ms. Depending on the implementation, device 352 may or may not be obligated to schedule a retransmission of any required data packets according to the time budget indicated in field 818.

[0138] Optional field 820 enables device 372 to indicate to device 352 the beam angle at which an authorized transmission will be sent from device 372. For example, field 820 may include N4 bits indicating the azimuth angle and the zenith angle. The angles indicated in field 820 may indicate the angular direction at which device 372 will align its transmit spatial filter (i.e., its transmit beam). Depending on the implementation, device 352 may or may not have to use the beam angle indicated in field 820.

[0139] Optional field 822 enables device 372 to indicate to device 352 the geographical location of device 372. This can assist device 352 in scheduling transmissions. For example, device 352 may schedule a transmission on a particular beam based on the location of device 372. In some embodiments, field 822 may be N5 bits long and may indicate latitude and longitude.

[0140] Although not shown in Figure 14 Example 4 of, in some embodiments, enhanced SR 792 may include a field indicating a recommended modulation and / or coding rate (e.g., a recommended MCS value) to be used for an authorized data transmission. The authorization may indicate this recommended MCS value, or another MCS value selected by the network.

[0141] Figure 14 Variations of the examples described in are possible. For example, the SR 792 shown in Example 3 may have fields 804 and 806 instead of a single field 808 to support selecting one of modulation or coding rate without having to select both. As another example, the SR 792 shown in Example 3 may have only one of fields 810 or 812. As another example, one, some, or all of the optional information fields shown in Example 4 may be in Examples 1 to 3. As another example, bit field 802 may be omitted. For example, each SR may default to "enhanced" because it includes one or more fields for device 372 to indicate whether device 372 needs to autonomously select one or more resources. If all such fields are set to "no", then device 352 schedules all resources in a traditional manner.

[0142] Although Figure 14Not shown in the figure, but each SR792 may include additional information, such as that typically included in an SR. This is represented by three dots 832.

[0143] In some embodiments, an enhanced SR, such as Figure 14 the example shown in, may include more bits than a known conventional SR. In other embodiments, the enhanced SR may have the same number of bits (e.g., by using reserved fields in a traditional SR). In some embodiments, there may be multiple SRUCI formats, possibly having the same total bit length, with one being the enhanced SR.

[0144] In some embodiments, the device 352 may be able to reject or ignore an indication in the enhanced SR that requests the apparatus 372 to select a particular resource. For example, the device 352 may not send a flag indicating that the resource can be selected by the apparatus (e.g., in Figure 8 step 456 of), but rather, the device 352 may indicate the resource in the authorization.

[0145] In some embodiments, the SR may apply only to a single or first transmission authorized by the device 352, such as a single transmission of data that the apparatus 372 must be authorized to send to the device 352. In other embodiments, the SR may relate to a request for authorization of multiple transmissions, in which case the autonomous selection by the apparatus 372 of at least one resource may apply to each of these multiple transmissions. The apparatus 372 may select a different resource or different resources (e.g., different MCS values) from among these resources for different authorized data transmissions in the authorized data transmission according to the channel conditions measured by the apparatus 372.

[0146] In view of the above, in Figure 8 some embodiments of the method of, the method includes step 452 of the apparatus 372 sending an SR (and step 454 of the device receiving the SR), wherein the SR includes a request for the apparatus 372 to select at least one resource for the data. An example of such a request is shown in Figure 14 , for example, the request may be in the form of one or more bit values present in some or all of fields 802, 804, 806, 808, 810, and 812. For example, a request by the apparatus 372 to autonomously select an MCS for data in an authorized data transmission may be a bit value of "1" ("yes") in field 808, or in Figure 14 the case of example 2 of, may be a bit value of "1" ("yes") in field 802. In Figure 8 some embodiments of, the SR is sent by the apparatus 372, and the SR may additionally or alternatively include an indication of at least one of the following: a frequency resource for the data (e.g., Figure 14 field 814 in), a delay tolerance associated with the data (e.g.,Figure 14 field 816) in, time budget associated with retransmission of data (e.g., Figure 14 field 818) in, beam angle for transmission of data (e.g., Figure 14 field 820) in, or geographical location of the device (e.g., Figure 14 field 822) in.

[0147] In some embodiments, in response to the device 352 receiving an SR in Figure 8 step 454, the device 352 performs step 456, i.e., sends an authorization scheduling data to be sent from the device 372, and sends a flag indicating that the device 372 will use at least one resource selected by the device 372 to send data in the authorized data transmission. In some embodiments, the authorization may be in control information (the control information may be high-layer signaling (e.g., in RRC signaling or MAC CE)), or in dynamic signaling (e.g., in DCI, e.g., in PDCCH). In some embodiments, the authorization schedules at least one time resource for the authorized data transmission. In some embodiments, in step 460, the authorization is a time-frequency resource for data scheduling, i.e., a location in time and a location in frequency (e.g., PRB), where the data will be sent from the device 372. In some embodiments, additional or different resources may be scheduled in the authorization, such as transmit power and / or beam angle, etc.

[0148] In some embodiments, the authorization omits a field for indicating at least one resource selected by the device 372. For example, if the device 372 selects an MCS (e.g., if field 808 in SR 792 is set to "yes"), the authorization does not indicate the MCS.

[0149] In some embodiments, if the authorization sent in Figure 8 step 456 is a response to an SR, the authorization may be referred to as an SR response. In some embodiments, when the SR response indicates that the device 372 has the permission to autonomously select at least one resource, the SR response may be referred to as an "enhanced" SR response. For example, the SR may be Figure 14 the SR shown in Example 2 of Figure 8The MCS for sending data in step 460. In some embodiments, the enhanced SR response may be referred to as an enhanced grant or (in the context of authorizing uplink transmissions) an enhanced uplink grant. In some embodiments, device 372 may require device 352 to send an enhanced SR response within a specific time interval (e.g., at least T symbols and at most T + D symbols after the last symbol of the control information carrying the enhanced SR (e.g., UCI in PUCCH)).

[0150] Figure 16 Shows an example of a grant 902 sent by device 352. The grant 902 is sent in Figure 8 step 456 and is shown in more detail in the dotted box 904. In this example, the grant 902 is an enhanced SR response or an enhanced transmission grant. It includes a field 906 (e.g., a bit) indicating that the SR response is enhanced. The field 906 may be the flag mentioned in Figure 8 step 456. Other fields in the enhanced SR response indicate (i.e., allocate) resources for device 372 to send data transmissions. For example, the enhanced SR response includes a field 908, and the field 908 indicates the time-frequency resource 584 for device 372 to send data. In this example, device 372 has previously requested in the SR that device 372 autonomously select the MCS for the data in the authorized transmission. Therefore, Figure 15 the enhanced SR response in Figure 15 does not allocate the MCS, which is symbolically shown by the presence of an "X" at 910. For example, the bit for normal MCS allocation may be set to zero, or the enhanced SR response may have a format such that there are no bits available for allocating the MCS. Figure 16 The Figure 15 example is for a specific uplink scenario where UE110 needs to send an uplink transmission of data 586 to NT-TRP172, and NT-TRP172 is a satellite in the shown example. UE110 sends SR792, for example, as part of the UCI in PUCCH. SR792 is enhanced and indicates that UE110 needs to select the MCS for the authorized uplink data transmission. NT-TRP172 sends control information in the form of an enhanced uplink grant 902. The enhanced uplink grant 902 includes a field 908 that allocates the time-frequency resource 584, which will be used by UE110 to send the uplink data transmission. The enhanced uplink grant 902 may include other fields (not shown) that authorize other resources (e.g., authorized transmission power) for the uplink data transmission. The grant 902 does not allocate the MCS, which is symbolically shown by the presence of an "X" at 910 in Figure 16 Instead, as shown at 920, UE selects the MCS for the authorized uplink data transmission.

[0151] Return to Figure 15 , the enhanced SR response shown in the figure is just an example. The content of the enhanced SR response can depend on one or more resources that device 372 autonomously selects for authorized transmission. For example, if Figure 14 the enhanced SR 792 shown in Example 1 of Figure 15 is received and indicates that device 372 will select the coding rate instead of modulation, then

[0152] the enhanced SR response of

[0153] In Figure 8In step 456, a flag is sent from device 352 and received by device 372. The flag indicates that device 372 will send data using at least one resource selected by device 372. Device 372 does not simply autonomously select at least one resource without an indication from device 352. Instead, the flag from device 352 provides device 372 with the permission to operate. The flag can be explicit, such as one or more bit values in control signaling. The flag can also be implicit, such as the receipt of a certain message or message format (e.g., a specific DCI format) being used as the flag. In some embodiments, the flag and the authorization are in the same message. In some embodiments, the message can be a DCI or an RRC message or a MAC CE. In some embodiments, the flag and the authorization are received separately, for example, in different messages. For example, the flag can be received in an RRC message or a MAC CE, and the authorization can be received in a DCI. Another example is that the flag can be received in a first DCI, and the authorization can be received in a different second DCI. In some embodiments, both the flag and the authorization are received in higher layer signaling (e.g., in RRC signaling or in MAC CE). The following is a non-exhaustive list of examples of flags.

[0154] · An authorization with a field having one or more bits, indicating that device 372 can autonomously select at least one resource for the data to be sent by device 372 in an authorized data transmission. The one or more bits are the flag. The authorization can be in higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling or MAC CE) or in a DCI. Figure 15 The field 906 in [reference] can be used as a flag. For example, the flag is a bit value in field 906, indicating that the SR response is enhanced. This is an example of an explicit flag.

[0155] · An authorization with a specific format, such as a specific DCI format. The receipt of the authorization in this format is used as a flag that device 372 will send data using at least one resource selected by device 372. For example, if an authorization with such a format is received, and there is a specific preamble and / or no field for indicating a specific resource (e.g., MCS) in this format, then the authorization is used as a flag indicating that device 372 will select the resource. This is an example of an implicit flag.

[0156] · In the above two examples, the flag is part of the authorization. In another example, the flag can be separated from the authorization. For example, device 372 can send a request to the network to request that device 372 autonomously select a specific resource (e.g., MCS) for future authorized transmissions. Device 352 (which can represent the network) sends a message indicating that the request has been accepted. This message is the flag. Then, in a future authorization, device 372 selects the resource. In this example, Figure 8Step 456 is actually two separate transmissions at two separate points in time: first, a flag is sent, and then authorization is sent. The transmission of the flag can be in a different signaling than the transmission of the authorization (e.g., the flag can be sent in RRC signaling while the authorization can be sent in DCI), or the transmission of the flag and the authorization can be in the same type of signaling (e.g., both are sent in RRC signaling or both are sent in DCI).

[0157] · In another example, the flag is implicit and is met when a certain condition is satisfied. For example, the flag can be at least one of the following: the channel quality drops below a certain threshold, the QoS drops below a certain threshold, the propagation delay exceeds a certain threshold, the error rate exceeds a certain threshold, or the retransmission rate exceeds a certain threshold. In some embodiments, if a parameter indicates poor transmission quality (e.g., drops below a certain threshold), this can be used as a flag for the device 372 to autonomously select at least one resource for future authorized data transmission. For example, once retransmission of authorized data is required two or more times, the device 372 can select the MCS.

[0158] In some embodiments, in Figure 8 Step 456, the authorization sent is a configured authorization, e.g., a higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling), for resources for data transmission from the device 372. Then, the resources can be activated in the DCI, e.g., the DCI is used to indicate whether the device 372 uses those authorized resources at a specific moment. The configured authorization may not configure all resources, but the device 372 can autonomously select one or more resources. For example, whenever data transmission is activated by the DCI, the device 372 can select the MCS. The flag can be explicit in the configured authorization (e.g., a field indicating that the device 372 will select specific resources), or can be implicit (e.g., a configured authorization of a specific format), or, the flag can be sent by the device 352 and received by the device 372 at a different time, even possibly in the DCI that activates the resources.

[0159] In some embodiments, the device 372 can select at least one resource in the manner discussed herein, but there can be a predefined set of multiple resources from which the device 372 can select. For example, the device 372 can autonomously select the MCS, but only select one MCS value from 16 different MCS values that are predefined and known in advance by the device 372 and the device 352. These values can be preconfigured or fixed. Thus, in some embodiments, Figure 8 The method includes the device 372 receiving configuration information (e.g., signaling such as RRC signaling). The configuration information indicates the multiple resources that the device 372 can select. The multiple resources include Figure 8At least one resource selected by apparatus 372 in the method. For example, the multiple resources can be multiple different MCS values, and at least one resource selected by apparatus 372 is one of these MCS values.

[0160] In some embodiments, prior to performing Figure 8 the method, there can be an initial access procedure such that apparatus 372 is in a connected state prior to step 452. For example, apparatus 372 can be a UE, and the device can be an NT-TRP, such as a satellite. The UE uses the initial access procedure to connect to the NT-TRP in order to connect to the radio access network. The network can transmit a high-layer signaling message (e.g., RRC signaling) to the UE, where the message carries basic high-layer configuration parameters so that the UE can detect and decode the PDCCH / PDSCH and transmit the PUCCH / PUSCH. This can be done prior to step 452. In some embodiments, the configuration of one or more parameters of CI502 and / or control channel 702 can be performed during or just after the initial access. In some embodiments, the configuration of BWP582 described above can be performed prior to step 452, e.g., during or just after the initial access. This configuration can be done via high-layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling).

[0161] In some embodiments, Figure 8 the SR in step 452 of

[0162] Figure 8 is sent in response to apparatus 372 having data to send, which is specifically delay-sensitive, e.g., the data is for transmission on a delay-sensitive logical channel or a group of delay-sensitive logical channels, and the transmission is authorization-based.

[0163] In some embodiments, the steps performed by the above-described apparatus 372 (e.g., with respect to Figure 8 and its variations) can be performed by a processor 380 of apparatus 372 that executes processor-executable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 382). When executed, the instructions cause apparatus 372 to perform the method. In some embodiments, apparatus 372 can be one or more circuit chips (e.g., housing processor 380) that cause the apparatus-side method to be executed, and may not include circuits related to transmission and reception (e.g., antennas, RF chains, etc.).

[0164] In some embodiments, the steps performed by the aforementioned device 352 (e.g., regarding Figure 8 and its variants) may be performed by the processor 360 of the device 352 that executes processor-executable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., in memory 362). When the instructions are executed, they cause the device 352 to perform the method. In some embodiments, the device 352 may direct one or more circuit chips (e.g., housing the processor 360) that cause a network-side method to be executed, and may not include circuits related to transmission and reception (e.g., antennas, RF chains, etc.).

[0165] Numerous variants are described herein Figure 8 including examples of specific messages, steps, etc. All permutations of these variants and examples are contemplated. For example, any format of authorization and / or flag may be combined with any SR (e.g., in Figure 15 ), and the SR may be combined with any method (e.g., in Figures 9 to 12 ) that indicates at least one resource selected by a device (e.g., in Figures 9 to 12 ), and so on.

[0166] Some embodiments herein may have the following technical benefits: providing enhanced SR that can support such (e.g., UE) to autonomously select MCS (and / or other resources) from the network request; autonomous MCS selection, which can support the device to autonomously select the modulation and coding rate based on the instantaneous radio conditions that the device can sense / measure; using a flag to indicate to the device that the device will autonomously select resources (e.g., MCS).

[0167] Although some embodiments herein are described by using devices such as UEs and devices such as TRPs for uplink data transmission, the present invention is equally applicable to other scenarios such as sidelink communication. For example, the device may send authorization and flags for sidelink data transmission to the sending device of the sidelink. The device may also send authorization and flags for sidelink data transmission to the receiving device of the sidelink (alternatively, the sending device may forward the authorization and flags to the receiving device). Correspondingly, the sending device may select at least one resource for sidelink data transmission, similar to the method of uplink data transmission. In the sidelink embodiment, the CI502 described above may be sidelink control information (SCI) rather than UCI, for example, it may be the SCI sent on the physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH).

[0168] Note that, as used herein, the expression "at least one of A or B" may be interchanged with the expression "A and / or B". It refers to a list in which A, or B, or both A and B may be selected. Similarly, as used herein, "at least one of A, B, or C" may be interchanged with "A and / or B and / or C" or "A, B, and / or C". It refers to a list in which A, or B, or C, or both A and B, or both A and C, or both B and C, or all of A, B, and C may be selected. The same principle applies to longer lists having the same format.

[0169] Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific features and embodiments of the present invention, various modifications and combinations can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded only as illustrative of some embodiments of the present invention as defined by the appended claims, and are contemplated to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents within the scope of the present invention. Although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail, various changes, substitutions, and alterations can be made without departing from the present invention as defined by the appended claims. In addition, the scope of the present application is not limited to the specific embodiments of the processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, components, methods, and steps described in the specification. Based on the disclosure of the present invention, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, components, methods, or steps (including those currently existing or developed in the future) that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein can be used in accordance with the present invention. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, components, methods, or steps within their scope.

[0170] In addition, any module, component, or device that executes instructions illustrated herein may include or otherwise access one or more non-transitory computer / processor-readable storage media to store information such as computer / processor-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and / or other data. A non-exhaustive list of examples of non-transitory computer / processor-readable storage media includes magnetic tape cartridges, tapes, disk memories, or other magnetic storage devices, read-only compact discs (CD-ROMs), digital video discs or digital versatile discs (DVDs), Blu- Optical discs such as, or other optical storage, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other storage technologies. Any of these non-transitory computer / processor storage media may be part of the device or may be accessible to or connected to the device. Any application or module described herein may be implemented using computer / processor-readable / executable instructions that may be stored or otherwise maintained by these non-transitory computer / processor-readable storage media.

Claims

1. A method performed by a device, characterized in that, The method includes: Receiving a flag and an authorization for scheduling time resources for at least data, where the flag indicates that the device will use at least one resource selected by the device to transmit the data; Transmitting the data on the time resources using the at least one resource selected by the device, where the at least one resource selected by the device includes at least one of the following: modulation, coding rate, coding type, modulation and coding scheme MCS, frequency resource, transmission power, beam, precoding, or number of precoding layers.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein It further includes selecting the at least one resource based on channel conditions determined by the device.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, It further includes: Transmitting an indication of the at least one resource.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The indication is transmitted on the time-frequency resources scheduled for the data.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein The indication is multiplexed with the data.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein The indication is transmitted on a control channel separated from the time-frequency resources scheduled for the data.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The authorization omits a field for indicating the at least one resource.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, It further includes: Transmitting a scheduling request, where the scheduling request includes a request for the device to select the at least one resource for the data.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The scheduling request includes an indication of at least one of the following: frequency resource for the data, delay tolerance associated with the data, time budget associated with retransmission of the data, beam angle for transmitting the data, or geographical location of the device.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, The flag and the authorization are in the same message.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein The message includes downlink control information DCI or radio resource control RRC message or media access control MAC control element CE.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, The flag is received separately from the authorization.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The flag is received in an RRC message or MAC CE, and the authorization is received in DCI.

14. The method according to claim 10 or 12, characterized in that, Both the flag and the authorization are received in higher layer signaling.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that, It further includes: Receiving configuration information indicating a plurality of resources that the device can select, where the plurality of resources includes the at least one resource.

16. A device, characterized in that, It includes: At least one processor; A memory storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to: Receive a flag and an authorization for scheduling time resources for at least data, where the flag indicates that the device will use at least one resource selected by the device to transmit the data; Transmit the data on the time resources using the at least one resource selected by the device, where the at least one resource selected by the device includes at least one of the following: modulation, coding rate, coding type, modulation and coding scheme MCS, frequency resource, transmission power, beam, precoding, or number of precoding layers.

17. The device according to claim 16, characterized in that, When executed, the processor-executable instructions cause the device to select the at least one resource based on channel conditions determined by the device.

18. The device according to claim 16 or 17, characterized in that, When executed, the processor-executable instructions further cause the device to transmit an indication of the at least one resource.

19. The device according to claim 18, characterized in that, The indication is for transmission on the time-frequency resources scheduled for the data.

20. The device according to claim 19, characterized in that, The indication is multiplexed with the data.

21. The device according to claim 18, wherein The indication is for transmission on a control channel separated from the time-frequency resources scheduled for the data.

22. The device according to any one of claims 16 to 21, characterized in that, The authorization omission is used to indicate a field of the at least one resource.

23. The device according to any one of claims 16 to 22, characterized in that When the processor-executable instructions are executed, they further cause the device to send a scheduling request, where the scheduling request includes a request for the device to select the at least one resource for the data.

24. The device according to claim 23, characterized in that, The scheduling request includes an indication of at least one of the following: a frequency resource for the data, a latency tolerance associated with the data, a time budget associated with a retransmission of the data, a beam angle for transmitting the data, or a geographical location of the device.

25. The device according to any one of claims 16 to 24, characterized in that The flag and the authorization are in the same message.

26. The device according to claim 25, characterized in that, The message includes downlink control information DCI or a radio resource control RRC message or a media access control MAC control element CE.

27. The device according to any one of claims 16 to 24, characterized in that, The flag is received separately from the authorization.

28. The device according to claim 27, wherein, The flag is received in an RRC message or a MAC CE, and the authorization is received in DCI.

29. The device according to claim 25 or 27, characterized in that, Both the flag and the authorization are received in high-layer signaling.

30. The device according to any one of claims 16 to 29, characterized in that, When the processor-executable instructions are executed, they further cause the device to receive configuration information indicating a plurality of resources that the device can select, where the plurality of resources includes the at least one resource.

31. The device according to any one of claims 16 to 30, characterized in that, The device is a user equipment UE.

32. A method performed by a device, characterized in that, The method includes: Sending a flag and an authorization for scheduling at least a time resource for data to a device, where the flag indicates that the device will use at least one resource selected by the device to transmit the data, and the at least one resource selected by the device includes at least one of the following: modulation, coding rate, coding type, modulation and coding scheme MCS, frequency resource, transmit power, beam, precoding, or number of precoding layers; Receiving the data on the time resource using the at least one resource selected by the device.

33. The method according to claim 32, wherein The at least one resource will be selected based on channel conditions determined by the device.

34. The method according to claim 32 or 33, characterized in that, It further includes: Receiving an indication of the at least one resource from the device.

35. The method according to claim 34, characterized in that, The indication is received on a time-frequency resource scheduled for the data.

36. The method according to claim 35, characterized in that, The indication is multiplexed with the data.

37. The method according to claim 34, wherein The indication is received on a control channel separated from the time-frequency resource scheduled for the data.

38. The method according to any one of claims 32 to 37, characterized in that The authorization omission is used to indicate a field of the at least one resource.

39. The method according to any one of claims 32 to 38, characterized in that, It further includes: Receiving a scheduling request, where the scheduling request includes a request for the device to select the at least one resource for the data.

40. The method according to claim 39, characterized in that, The scheduling request includes an indication of at least one of the following: a frequency resource for the data, a latency tolerance associated with the data, a time budget associated with a retransmission of the data, a beam angle for transmitting the data, or a geographical location of the device.

41. The method according to any one of claims 32 to 40, characterized in that, The flag and the authorization are in the same message.

42. The method according to claim 41, characterized in that, The message includes downlink control information DCI or a radio resource control RRC message or a media access control MAC control element CE.

43. The method according to any one of claims 32 to 40, characterized in that, The flag and the authorization are sent separately.

44. The method according to claim 43, wherein The flag is sent in an RRC message or a MAC CE, and the authorization is sent in DCI.

45. The method according to claim 41 or 43, characterized in that Both the flag and the authorization are sent in high-layer signaling.

46. The method according to any one of claims 32 to 45, characterized in that, It further includes: Send configuration information indicating a plurality of resources that the device can select, where the plurality of resources includes the at least one resource.

47. A device, characterized in that, Comprising: At least one processor; A memory storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to: Send a flag and an authorization for scheduling time resources for at least data to the device, where the flag indicates that the device will use at least one resource selected by the device to send the data, and the at least one resource selected by the device includes at least one of the following: modulation, coding rate, coding type, modulation and coding scheme MCS, frequency resource, transmit power, beam, precoding, or number of precoding layers; Receive the data on the time resource using the at least one resource selected by the device.

48. The apparatus according to claim 47, wherein, The at least one resource will be selected based on channel conditions determined by the device.

49. The device according to claim 47 or 48, characterized in that, When executed, the processor-executable instructions further cause the device to receive an indication of the at least one resource from the device. The device according to claim 49, characterized in that, The indication is received on the time-frequency resources scheduled for the data.

51. The device according to claim 50, characterized in that, The indication is multiplexed with the data. The device according to claim 49, characterized in that The indication is received on a control channel separated from the time-frequency resources scheduled for the data.

53. The device according to any one of claims 47 to 52, characterized in that, The authorization omits a field for indicating the at least one resource.

54. The device according to any one of claims 47 to 53, characterized in that When executed, the processor-executable instructions further cause the device to receive a scheduling request, where the scheduling request includes a request for the device to select the at least one resource for the data.

55. The device according to claim 54, characterized in that, The scheduling request includes an indication of at least one of the following: frequency resources for the data, delay tolerance associated with the data, time budget associated with retransmission of the data, beam angle for transmitting the data, or geographical location of the device.

56. The device according to any one of claims 47 to 55, characterized in that, The flag and the authorization are in the same message.

57. The device according to claim 56, characterized in that, The message includes downlink control information DCI or radio resource control RRC message or media access control MAC control element CE.

58. The device according to any one of claims 47 to 55, characterized in that, The flag and the authorization are sent separately.

59. The device according to claim 58, characterized in that, The flag is sent in an RRC message or MAC CE, and the authorization is sent in DCI. The device according to claim 56 or 58, characterized in that, Both the flag and the authorization are sent in high-layer signaling.

61. The device according to any one of claims 47 to 60, characterized in that, When executed, the processor-executable instructions further cause the device to send configuration information indicating a plurality of resources that the device can select, where the plurality of resources includes the at least one resource. The apparatus according to any one of claims 47 to 61, characterized in that, The device is a network device.

63. The apparatus according to claim 62, wherein, The device is a transmission and reception point TRP.

64. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, Wherein computer-executable instructions are stored, and when executed by a computer, the computer-executable instructions cause the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 or the method according to any one of claims 32 to 46.

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