System, apparatus and method for joint coding and MIMO optimization

Abstract

A framework, corresponding method, network device and apparatus for joint coding and MIMO optimization includes one or more of the following features: (a) MIMO layer mapping is performed at a CB set (SCB) rather than at a transport block (TB) level. The SCBs may include one or more CBs. In some cases, all SCBs include only one CB. (b) each SCB may have independent link adaptation (e.g., MCS and CB size) without each SCB having a separate HARQ process and / or HARQ feedback; thus, the granularity of the HARQ process and / or HARQ feedback is at the TB level. (c) Cross-CB coding may be applied on multiple SCBs, where the output of the cross-CB coding is mapped to a separate MIMO layer to maximize performance, but without using per-layer feedback or multiple TB or HARQ processes; therefore, the granularity of the HARQ process and the HARQ feedback is at the TB level.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to methods for transmitting and receiving transmissions using multiple layers, such as transmissions using multiple input multiple output (MIMO). Background Art

[0002] In the existing new radio (NR) multi-MIMO layer scheme, up to two codewords (CW) can be scheduled to be mapped to up to 8 MIMO layers in one transmission. Each codeword carries a single transport block and has a separate modulation and coding scheme (MCS), hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process identifier (ID) and HARQ feedback. CW is a cascade of multiple CBs of a transport block (TB), and the forward error correction (FEC) process within the CW is independent of the MIMO layer mapping. In the existing NR multi-MIMO layer scheme, the transmission is first mapped to the MIMO layer. Then, the transmission is mapped to the frequency resources and then to the time resources. Summary of the Invention

[0003] A framework, corresponding methods, network devices, and apparatus for joint coding and MIMO optimization are provided, including one or more of the following features: (a) MIMO layer mapping is performed per set of CBs (SCBs) rather than at the transport block (TB) level. An SCB may include one or more CBs. In some cases, all SCBs include only one CB. (b) Each SCB may have independent link adaptation (e.g., MCS and CB size) without requiring each SCB to have a separate HARQ process and / or HARQ feedback; thus, the granularity of the HARQ process and / or HARQ feedback is at the TB level. (c) Cross-CB coding may be applied to multiple SCBs, where the output of the cross-CB coding is mapped to separate MIMO layers to maximize performance, but without using per-layer feedback or multiple TBs or HARQ processes; thus, the granularity of the HARQ process and HARQ feedback is at the TB level.

[0004] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided, comprising: sending a transmission of at least one transport block (TB), the TB comprising a plurality of code block sets (SCBs), each SCB comprising one or more code blocks (CBs), wherein each SCB is encoded and modulated to generate a corresponding set of modulation symbols, the transmission being generated from a plurality of MIMO layers, wherein, for each MIMO layer in the plurality of MIMO layers, or for each MIMO layer group in the plurality of MIMO layers, a corresponding one of the corresponding sets of modulation symbols is mapped to the MIMO layer or the MIMO layer group; and receiving hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback on a per TB basis.

[0005] In some embodiments, receiving HARQ feedback on a per-TB basis includes receiving a HARQ acknowledgment (ACK) or a negative acknowledgment (NACK) for each TB without receiving HARQ feedback for each SCB.

[0006] Advantageously, this provides greater flexibility when mapping to MIMO layers, which can have different performance. This approach may be particularly useful for massive MIMO applications with a large number of layers.

[0007] In some embodiments, after being mapped to a MIMO layer or a MIMO layer group, the corresponding modulation symbol set is further mapped to time resources and frequency resources using a configured mapping order between mapping to time resources and mapping to frequency resources.

[0008] Advantageously, this method provides more flexible time-frequency-space mapping of code blocks for different application scenarios.

[0009] In some embodiments, the method further comprises performing independent modulation and coding scheme (MCS) adaptation for each SCB.

[0010] Advantageously, this approach can improve spectral efficiency and coding performance by supporting independent link adaptation for each code block. Since it does not rely on the corresponding HARQ process for each code block, it can reduce signaling overhead and the system complexity of managing multiple HARQ processes for MIMO.

[0011] In some embodiments, for each SCB, independent MCS adaptation is performed based on the channel quality of the MIMO layer or MIMO layer group to which the SCB is mapped.

[0012] In some embodiments, for each SCB, the size of the SCB is based on the resources available on the MIMO layer or MIMO layer group to which the SCB is mapped.

[0013] In some embodiments, the transmission of at least one TB also includes the transmission of at least one cross check block (CCB), each CCB being a check block based on a corresponding set of bits, the corresponding set of bits including at least one bit from each of a plurality of CBs of the TB.

[0014] In some embodiments, each CCB or each CCB in at least one set of CCBs is encoded, modulated, and mapped to a corresponding MIMO layer or group of MIMO layers of a plurality of MIMO layers.

[0015] In some embodiments, the method includes: for at least one TB of at least one TB, sending a retransmission of the TB, the retransmission including at least one cross-block check block (CCB), each CCB being a check block based on a corresponding set of bits, the corresponding set of bits including at least one bit from each of a plurality of CBs of the TB.

[0016] Advantageously, cross-CB coding can be applied to multiple CBs across MIMO layers without the signaling overhead of multiple CWs, multiple HARQ processes, and corresponding HARQ feedback. This approach can be used to achieve diversity gain without compromising CB-level link adaptation. Each CB can be decoded individually to reduce decoding latency.

[0017] In some embodiments, the method also includes sending or receiving signaling including or indicating one or more of the following: the number of TBs; the corresponding HARQ process ID for each TB; the number of MIMO layers to which each SCB is mapped; the corresponding MCS for each SCB; the maximum SCB size; and a mapping method from SCB to MIMO layers, frequency resources, and time resources.

[0018] In some embodiments, the signaling includes or indicates a mapping method from one or more SCBs to MIMO layers, frequency resources, and time resources, and the signaling indication includes a specific mapping method in a predetermined set of mapping methods including at least two of the following methods: first mapping to the MIMO layer, then mapping to the frequency resources, and then mapping to the time resources; first mapping to the MIMO layer, then mapping to the time resources, and then mapping to the frequency resources.

[0019] In some embodiments, the method also includes sending or receiving signaling content including or indicating one or more of the following: the number of TBs; the corresponding HARQ ID for each TB; the number of MIMO layers to which each SCB is mapped and to which each CCB is mapped; the corresponding MCS of each SCB and each CCB; the redundant version; the number of CCBs included; and the mapping method from SCBs and CCBs to MIMO layers, frequency resources, and time resources.

[0020] In some embodiments, the signaling includes or indicates a mapping method from SCB and CCB to MIMO layers, frequency resources and time resources, and the signaling indication includes a specific mapping method in a predetermined mapping method set of at least two methods of the following methods: first mapping to the MIMO layer, then mapping to the frequency resources, and then mapping to the time resources; first mapping to the MIMO layer, then mapping to the time resources, and then mapping to the frequency resources.

[0021] In some embodiments, the method further comprises, for each TB, generating a transmission by segmenting the TB into a plurality of SCBs, each SCB comprising one or more code blocks (CBs). The method further comprises, for each SCB, generating a transmission by encoding the bits of the SCB to generate a plurality of coded bits; modulating the plurality of coded bits to generate a corresponding set of modulation symbols; and mapping the corresponding set of modulation symbols to a corresponding MIMO layer or MIMO layer group to generate MIMO layer-mapped modulation symbols. The method further comprises, generating a transmission by precoding the MIMO layer-mapped modulation symbols corresponding to the plurality of SCBs to generate antenna streams for the transmission.

[0022] In some embodiments, the size of the SCB is based on the MIMO layer or MIMO layer group to which the modulation symbols of the SCB are mapped.

[0023] In some embodiments, performing coding and modulation on each SCB includes using a corresponding MCS specific to the SCB.

[0024] In some embodiments, the method is performed by a base station, sending the transmission comprises the base station sending the transmission on multiple antennas, and receiving the HARQ feedback comprises the base station receiving the HARQ feedback.

[0025] In some embodiments, the method is performed by an apparatus, sending a transmission comprises the apparatus sending a transmission, and receiving HARQ feedback comprises the apparatus receiving HARQ feedback.

[0026] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided, comprising: receiving a transmission of at least one transport block (TB), the TB comprising a plurality of code block sets (SCBs), each SCB comprising one or more code blocks (CBs), wherein each SCB is encoded and modulated to generate a corresponding set of modulation symbols, the transmission being generated from a plurality of MIMO layers, wherein, for each MIMO layer in the plurality of MIMO layers, or for each MIMO layer group in the plurality of MIMO layers, a corresponding one of the corresponding sets of modulation symbols is mapped to the MIMO layer or the MIMO layer group; and sending hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback on a per TB basis.

[0027] In some embodiments, sending HARQ feedback on a per-TB basis includes sending a HARQ acknowledgment (ACK) or a negative acknowledgment (NACK) for each TB without sending HARQ feedback for each SCB.

[0028] In some embodiments, after being mapped to a MIMO layer or a MIMO layer group, the corresponding modulation symbol set is further mapped to time resources and frequency resources using a configured mapping order between mapping to time resources and mapping to frequency resources.

[0029] In some embodiments, for each SCB, the size of the SCB is based on the resources available on the MIMO layer or MIMO layer group to which the SCB is mapped.

[0030] In some embodiments, the transmission of at least one TB also includes the transmission of at least one cross check block (CCB), each CCB being a check block based on a corresponding set of bits, the corresponding set of bits including at least one bit from each of a plurality of CBs of the TB.

[0031] In some embodiments, each CCB or each CCB in at least one set of CCBs is encoded, modulated, and mapped to a corresponding MIMO layer or group of MIMO layers of a plurality of MIMO layers.

[0032] In some embodiments, the method further includes: for at least one TB of the at least one TB, receiving a retransmission of the TB, the retransmission including at least one cross-block check block (CCB), each CCB being a check block based on a corresponding set of bits, the corresponding set of bits including at least one bit from each of a plurality of CBs of the TB.

[0033] In some embodiments, the method also includes sending or receiving signaling including or indicating one or more of the following: the number of TBs; the corresponding HARQ process ID for each TB; the number of MIMO layers to which each SCB is mapped; the corresponding MCS for each SCB; the maximum SCB size; and a mapping method from SCB to MIMO layers, frequency resources, and time resources.

[0034] In some embodiments, the signaling includes or indicates a mapping method from one or more SCBs to MIMO layers, frequency resources, and time resources, and the signaling indication includes a specific mapping method in a predetermined set of mapping methods including at least two of the following methods: first mapping to the MIMO layer, then mapping to the frequency resources, and then mapping to the time resources; first mapping to the MIMO layer, then mapping to the time resources, and then mapping to the frequency resources.

[0035] In some embodiments, the method also includes sending or receiving signaling content including or indicating one or more of the following: the number of TBs; the corresponding HARQ ID for each TB; the number of MIMO layers to which each SCB is mapped and to which each CCB is mapped; the corresponding MCS of each SCB and each CCB; the redundant version; the number of CCBs included; and the mapping method from SCBs and CCBs to MIMO layers, frequency resources, and time resources.

[0036] In some embodiments, the signaling includes or indicates a mapping method from SCB and CCB to MIMO layers, frequency resources and time resources, and the signaling indication includes a specific mapping method in a predetermined mapping method set of at least two methods of the following methods: first mapping to the MIMO layer, then mapping to the frequency resources, and then mapping to the time resources; first mapping to the MIMO layer, then mapping to the time resources, and then mapping to the frequency resources.

[0037] In some embodiments, the method is performed by a base station, receiving the transmission comprises the base station receiving the transmission on multiple antennas, and sending the HARQ feedback comprises the base station receiving the HARQ feedback.

[0038] In some embodiments, the method is performed by an apparatus, receiving a transmission comprises the apparatus receiving a transmission, and sending HARQ feedback comprises the apparatus sending HARQ feedback.

[0039] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a network device is provided, comprising: a processor and a memory, wherein the network device is configured to execute the method described herein.

[0040] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a device is provided, comprising: a processor and a memory, wherein the device is configured to execute the method described herein.

[0041] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program product is provided, comprising instructions for causing a computer to execute the method as described herein. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] The following describes embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0043] Figure 1 It is a block diagram of the communication system;

[0044] Figure 2 It is a block diagram of the communication system;

[0045] Figure 3 is a block diagram of a communication system showing the basic component structure of an electronic device (ED) and a base station;

[0046] Figure 4 It is a block diagram of modules that can be used to implement or execute one or more steps in the embodiments of the present application;

[0047] Figure 5A 、 Figure 6 、 Figure 7 and Figure 8 This is a block diagram of the coding and MIMO structure provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] Figure 5B and Figure 5C is a flow chart of the method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] Figure 9 This is a flowchart of the coding and MIMO optimization method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] Figure 10 and Figure 11 This is a block diagram of a coding and MIMO structure featuring a cross-code block check block provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] Figure 12A An example of cross-code block coding is shown;

[0052] Figure 12B and 12C is an example of generating a CCB using different input bits. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0053] refer to Figure 1 , a simplified schematic diagram of a communication system is provided as an illustrative example and not a limitation. The communication system 100 includes a radio access network 120. The radio access network 120 can be a next generation (e.g., sixth generation (6G) or higher) 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 electronic devices (EDs) 110a to 110j (generally referred to as 110) can be interconnected with each other or connected to one or more network nodes (170a, 170b, generally 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. The communication system 100 also includes a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160.

[0054] Figure 2 An exemplary communication system 100 is shown. Generally, the communication system 100 enables 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 broadcast, multicast, and unicast. The communication system 100 can operate by sharing resources (e.g., carrier spectrum bandwidth) among its constituent elements. The communication system 100 may 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 (e.g., earth monitoring, remote sensing, passive sensing and positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility, etc.). The communication system 100 can provide high availability and robustness through the joint operation of terrestrial and non-terrestrial communication systems. For example, integrating a non-terrestrial communication system (or its components) into a terrestrial communication system can realize a heterogeneous network comprising multiple layers. Compared to traditional communication networks, heterogeneous networks can achieve better overall performance through efficient multi-link joint operation, more flexible function sharing, and faster physical layer link switching between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks.

[0055] Terrestrial and non-terrestrial communication systems can be considered subsystems of a communication system. In the illustrated example, the communication system 100 includes electronic devices (EDs) 110a to 110d (generally referred to as EDs 110), radio access networks (RANs) 120a and 120b, a non-terrestrial communication network 120c, a core network 130, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160. RANs 120a and 120b include respective base stations (BSs) 170a and 170b, which can be generally referred to as terrestrial transmit and receive points (T-TRPs) 170a and 170b. Non-terrestrial communication network 120c includes an access node, which can be generally referred to as a non-terrestrial transmit and receive point (NT-TRP) 172.

[0056] Alternatively or additionally, any ED 110 can be configured to access, connect to, or communicate with any other T-TRP 170a, 170b, NT-TRP 172, the Internet 150, core network 130, PSTN 140, other network 160, or any combination thereof. In some examples, ED 110a can communicate uplink and / or downlink with T-TRP 170a via interface 190a. In some examples, EDs 110a, 110b, and 110d can also communicate directly with one another via one or more sidelink air interfaces 190b. In some examples, ED 110d can communicate uplink and / or downlink with NT-TRP 172 via interface 190c.

[0057] The air interfaces 190a and 190b may utilize similar communication technologies, such as any suitable radio access technology. For example, the communication system 100 may implement one or more channel access methods, 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), in the air interfaces 190a and 190b. The air interfaces 190a and 190b may utilize other higher-dimensional signal spaces, which may involve a combination of orthogonal and / or non-orthogonal dimensions.

[0058] The air interface 190c may enable communication between the ED 110d and one or more NT-TRPs 172 via a wireless link (or simply 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.

[0059] The RANs 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. The RANs 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 the RANs 120a, 120b, or both. The core network 130 may also serve as a gateway access between (i) the RANs 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. Furthermore, some or all of the EDs 110a, 110b, and 110c may include functionality for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links using different radio technologies and / or protocols. Instead of (or in addition to) wireless communication, EDs 110a, 110b, and 110c may also communicate with a service provider or switch (not shown) and with the Internet 150 via wired communication channels. PSTN 140 may include a circuit-switched telephone network for providing plain old telephone service (POTS). Internet 150 may include computer networks and / or subnets (intranets) and include protocols such as the Internet Protocol (IP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and User Datagram Protocol (UDP). EDs 110a, 110b, and 110c may be multimode devices capable of operating in accordance with multiple wireless access technologies and include multiple transceivers necessary to support these technologies.

[0060] Figure 3Another example of an ED 110 and base stations 170a and / or 170b is shown. ED 110 is used to connect people, objects, machines, and the like. ED 110 can be widely used in various scenarios, such as cellular communications, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), peer-to-peer (P2P), machine-to-machine (M2M), machine-type communication (MTC), the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, drones, robotics, remote sensing, passive perception, positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery, and mobility.

[0061] Each ED 110 represents any suitable end-user device for wireless operation and may include (or may be referred to as): user equipment (UE), wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), mobile station, fixed or mobile user 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, IoT device, industrial equipment or devices in the above devices (such as communication modules, modems or chips), etc. The next generation ED 110 may be referred to using other terms. Base stations 170a and 170b are T-TRPs and are referred to as T-TRPs 170 hereinafter. Also as Figure 3 As shown, the NT-TRP is hereinafter referred to as NT-TRP 172. Each ED 110 connected to T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 may 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: connection availability and connection necessity.

[0062] ED 110 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, transmitter 201 and receiver 203 may be integrated into a transceiver. The transceiver is used to modulate data or other content for transmission by at least one antenna 204 or a network interface controller (NIC). The transceiver is also 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 via wireless or wired means. Each antenna 204 includes any suitable structure for transmitting and / or receiving wireless or wired signals.

[0063] ED 110 includes at least one memory 208. Memory 208 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by ED 110. For example, memory 208 may store software instructions or modules executed by one or more processing units 210 to implement some or all of the functionality and / or embodiments described herein. Each memory 208 includes one or more of 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), a hard disk, an optical disk, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, an on-processor cache, and the like.

[0064] ED 110 may also include one or more input / output devices (not shown) or interfaces (e.g., Figure 1 The input / output devices may interact with users or other devices in the network. Each input / output device may include any suitable structure for providing information to or receiving information from a user, such as a speaker, microphone, keypad, keyboard, display, or touch screen, including network interface communications.

[0065] ED 110 also includes a processor 210 for performing operations related to preparing transmissions for uplink transmissions to NT-TRP 172 and / or T-TRP 170, processing downlink transmissions received from NT-TRP 172 and / or T-TRP 170, and processing sidelink transmissions to and from another ED 110. Processing operations related to preparing transmissions for uplink transmissions may include encoding, modulation, transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing downlink transmissions may include receive beamforming, demodulation, and decoding received symbols. Depending on the embodiment, receiver 203 may receive downlink transmissions (possibly using receive beamforming), and processor 210 may extract signaling from the downlink transmissions (e.g., by detecting and / or decoding the signaling). An example of signaling may be a reference signal transmitted by NT-TRP 172 and / or T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, the processor 210 implements transmit beamforming and / or receive beamforming based on an indication of a beam direction (e.g., beam angle information (BAI)) received from the T-TRP 170. 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 synchronization sequences, 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.

[0066] 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.

[0067] Processor 210, and the processing components of transmitter 201 and receiver 203 can each be implemented by the same or different one or more processors, one or more processors configured to execute instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 208). Alternatively, processor 210, and some or all of the processing components of transmitter 201 and receiver 203 can be implemented using dedicated circuits, such as a programmed field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a graphical processing unit (GPU), or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

[0068] In some implementations, the T-TRP 170 may be referred to by other names, such as base station, base transceiver station (BTS), wireless base station, network node, network device, network-side device, transmission / reception node, Node B, evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), Home eNodeB, next generation NodeB (gNB), transmission point (TP), site controller, access point (AP), wireless router, relay station, ground node, ground network device, ground base station, base band unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), or positioning node. The T-TRP 170 may be a macro BS, a micro BS, a relay node, a donor node, or a combination thereof. T-TRP 170 may refer to the aforementioned device or a means in the aforementioned device (eg, a communication module, a modem, or a chip).

[0069] In some embodiments, portions of the T-TRP 170 may be distributed. For example, some modules of the T-TRP 170 may be located remotely from the device housing the antenna of the T-TRP 170 and may be coupled to the device housing the antenna via a communication link (not shown), sometimes referred to as a fronthaul, such as a Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI). Thus, in some embodiments, the term T-TRP 170 may also refer to modules on the network side that perform processing operations such as determining the location of the ED 110, resource allocation (scheduling), message generation, and encoding / decoding, and are not necessarily part of the device housing the antenna of the T-TRP 170. These modules may also be coupled to other T-TRPs. In some embodiments, the T-TRP 170 may actually be multiple T-TRPs that work together, for example, through coordinated multipoint transmission, to serve the ED 110.

[0070] T-TRP 170 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. Transmitter 252 and receiver 254 may be integrated into a transceiver. T-TRP 170 also includes a processor 260 for performing operations, including those related to: preparing transmissions for downlink transmission to ED 110; processing uplink transmissions received from ED 110; preparing transmissions for backhaul transmission to NT-TRP 172; and processing transmissions received from NT-TRP 172 via the backhaul. Processing operations related to preparing transmissions for downlink or backhaul transmission may include encoding, modulation, precoding (e.g., MIMO precoding), transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing transmissions received in the uplink or via the backhaul may include receive beamforming, demodulation, 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, such as a BAI, which may be scheduled by the scheduler 253 for transmission. The processor 260 performs other network-side processing operations described herein, such as determining the location of the ED 110, determining where to deploy the NT-TRP 172, etc. In some embodiments, the processor 260 may generate signaling, for example, to configure one or more parameters of the ED 110 and / or one or more parameters of the NT-TRP 172. Any signaling generated by the processor 260 is transmitted by the transmitter 252. It should be noted that, as used herein, "signaling" may alternatively be referred to as control signaling. Dynamic signaling can be sent in a control channel (e.g., physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)), and static or semi-static higher-layer signaling can be included in a data packet sent in a data channel (e.g., physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)).

[0071] 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 and may schedule uplink, downlink, and / or backhaul transmissions, including issuing scheduling grants and / or configuring scheduling-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 to implement some or all of the functionality and / or embodiments described herein.

[0072] Although not shown, the processor 260 may form part of the transmitter 252 and / or the receiver 254. Furthermore, although not shown, the processor 260 may implement the scheduler 253. Although not shown, the memory 258 may form part of the processor 260.

[0073] Processor 260, scheduler 253, and the processing components of transmitter 252 and receiver 254 may each be implemented by the same or different one or more processors that execute instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 258). Alternatively, some or all of processor 260, scheduler 253, and the processing components of transmitter 252 and receiver 254 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry (e.g., an FPGA, GPU, or ASIC).

[0074] Although the NT-TRP 172 is shown as a drone by way of example only, the NT-TRP 172 may be implemented in any suitable non-terrestrial form. In addition, the NT-TRP 172 may use other names in some implementations, such as a non-terrestrial node, a non-terrestrial network device, or a non-terrestrial base station. The NT-TRP 172 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 may be panels. The transmitter 272 and receiver 274 may be integrated into a transceiver. The NT-TRP 172 also includes a processor 276 for performing operations, including operations related to: preparing transmissions for downlink transmissions to the ED 110; processing uplink transmissions received from the ED 110; preparing transmissions for backhaul transmissions to the T-TRP 170; and processing transmissions received from the T-TRP 170 via the backhaul. Processing operations associated with preparing transmissions for downlink or backhaul transmissions may include operations such as encoding, modulation, precoding (e.g., MIMO precoding), transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations associated with processing transmissions received in the uplink or via the backhaul may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulation, and decoding of received symbols. In some embodiments, processor 276 implements transmit beamforming and / or receive beamforming based on beam direction information (e.g., BAI) received from T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, processor 276 may generate signaling, for example, to configure one or more parameters of ED 110. In some embodiments, NT-TRP 172 implements physical layer processing but does not implement higher-layer functionality, such as functions of the medium access control (MAC) or radio link control (RLC) layers. While this is merely an example, more generally, NT-TRP 172 may implement higher-layer functionality in addition to physical layer processing.

[0075] The NT-TRP 172 also includes a memory 278 for storing information and data. Although not shown, the processor 276 may form part of the transmitter 272 and / or the receiver 274. Although not shown, the memory 278 may form part of the processor 276.

[0076] Processor 276, and the processing components of transmitter 272 and receiver 274 can each be implemented by the same or different one or more processors that execute instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 278). Alternatively, processor 276 and some or all of the processing components of transmitter 272 and receiver 274 can be implemented using dedicated circuitry (e.g., a programmed FPGA, GPU, or ASIC). In some embodiments, NT-TRP 172 can actually be multiple NT-TRPs that work together, for example, through coordinated multi-point transmission, to serve ED 110.

[0077] The T-TRP 170 , NT-TRP 172 , and / or ED 110 may include other components, but these components are omitted for clarity.

[0078] according to Figure 4 , one or more steps of the methods of each embodiment provided herein may be performed by corresponding units or modules. Figure 4 Units or modules in a device are shown, such as units or modules in ED 110, T-TRP 170, or NT-TRP 172. For example, a signal can be sent by a sending unit or sending module. A signal can be received by a receiving unit or receiving module. A signal can be processed by a processing unit or processing module. Other steps can be performed by an artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) module. The corresponding units or modules can 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 can 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 execution by a processor, etc., these modules can be retrieved by the processor in whole or in part as needed, retrieved individually or together for processing, retrieved in one or more instances as needed, and these modules themselves can include instructions for further deployment and instantiation.

[0079] Additional details regarding ED 110, T-TRP 170, and NT-TRP 172 are known to those skilled in the art. Therefore, for the sake of clarity, these details are omitted here.

[0080] Multiple input multiple-output (MIMO) technology supports antenna arrays consisting of multiple antennas for signal transmission and reception to meet the requirements of high transmission rates. The above-mentioned ED 110 and T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP use MIMO to communicate on wireless resource blocks. MIMO uses multiple antennas on the transmitter and / or receiver to transmit wireless resource blocks on parallel wireless signals. MIMO can beamform parallel wireless signals to achieve reliable multipath transmission of wireless resource blocks. MIMO can bind parallel wireless signals that transmit different data to increase the data rate of the wireless resource blocks.

[0081] In recent years, MIMO (massive MIMO) wireless communication systems (having the above-mentioned T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 configured with a large number of antennas) have received widespread attention from academia and industry. In a massive MIMO system, the T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 are typically configured with more than ten antenna units (e.g., 128 or 256), serving dozens of EDs 110 (e.g., 40) at the same time. The large number of antenna units of the T-TRP 170 and NT-TRP 172 can greatly improve the spatial freedom of wireless communication, greatly improve the transmission rate, spectrum efficiency, and power efficiency, and largely eliminate interference between cells. The increase in the number of antennas allows each antenna unit to be made with a smaller size and lower cost. Using the spatial freedom provided by the massive antenna units, the T-TRP 170 and NT-TRP 172 of each cell can communicate with multiple EDs 110 in the cell simultaneously on the same time-frequency resources, thereby greatly improving the spectrum efficiency. The large number of antenna elements in T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 also provides each user with better spatial directivity during uplink and downlink transmissions, significantly reducing the transmit power of T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 and ED 110, greatly improving power efficiency. When the number of antennas in T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 is large enough, the random channels between each ED 110 and T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 can be nearly orthogonal, eliminating the effects of interference and noise between cells and users. These advantages make Massive MIMO promising for broad application prospects.

[0082] A MIMO system may include a receiver connected to a receive (Rx) antenna, a transmitter connected to a transmit (Tx) antenna, and a signal processor connected to the transmitter and receiver. Each of the Rx antenna and the Tx antenna may include multiple antennas. For example, the Rx antenna may have a ULA antenna array, in which multiple antennas are arranged in a row at even intervals. When a radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted through the Tx antenna, the Rx antenna may receive the signal reflected and returned from the forward target.

[0083] In some embodiments of a MIMO system, a non-exhaustive list of possible elements or possible configurable parameters includes:

[0084] panel : An antenna group, antenna array, or antenna subarray element that can independently control its Tx or Rx beam.

[0085] Beam: The beam is formed by performing amplitude and / or phase weighting on the data transmitted or received by at least one antenna port, and can also be formed by using other methods, such as by adjusting the relevant parameters of the antenna unit. The beam may include a Tx beam and / or an Rx beam. The transmit beam represents the signal strength distribution formed in different directions in space after the signal is transmitted through the antenna. The receive beam represents the signal strength distribution of the wireless signal received from the antenna in different directions in space. The beam information may be a beam identifier, or an antenna port identifier, or a CSI-RS resource identifier, or an SSB resource identifier, or an SRS resource identifier, or other reference signal resource identifier.

[0086] When a spatial multiplexing scheme is used, transmission can be performed on multiple transmission layers. A transmission layer refers to the data stream being transmitted. In the case of MIMO transmission, there are at least two transmission layers, or more generally, L transmission layers (where L is at least two). The L transmission layers are mapped to N antenna streams (which are fed to corresponding transmission antennas (or antenna ports)) via a MIMO precoding matrix of size N×L. Typically, the number of transmission layers (i.e., L, also referred to as the transmission rank or simply rank) is less than or equal to the number of antenna streams (i.e., N). In the present disclosure, there are at least two transmission layers for MIMO transmission, which may be referred to as MIMO layers.

[0087] In the NR MIMO implementation, the FEC CB segmentation and concatenation process is independent of the MIMO layer mapping process. Furthermore, link adaptation occurs at the TB level, where a single MCS is used for all CBs within a TB corresponding to the HARQ process. In this traditional approach, a CW includes all CBs within a TB, and TB-level MIMO layer mapping is equivalent to CW-level mapping. Each transmission supports a maximum of two CWs, each of which is mapped to a maximum of four MIMO layers. Because there is no control over how each CB within a CW is mapped or optimized based on the MIMO layer, each CB must share the same MCS.

[0088] In MIMO implementations with a large number of layers, the channel quality of each MIMO layer can vary significantly. NR only supports a maximum of two TBs per transmission, which limits spectral efficiency because link adaptation is not tailored to the channel quality of each MIMO layer. When one TB is mapped to multiple MIMO layers with different channel qualities, decoding performance is not robust when layers with significantly different channel qualities are merged. On the other hand, a one TB to one MIMO layer mapping scheme can achieve efficient link adaptation but also incurs higher HARQ complexity and signaling overhead. This is why current NR systems limit each MIMO transmission to a maximum of two TBs. However, for future applications where data payloads may be larger and require higher spectral efficiency, as well as the need to support a large number of layers, a maximum of two TBs per MIMO transmission may not be sufficient.

[0089] Furthermore, although there may be many CBs in a TB, these CBs cannot be optimized individually in the traditional NR implementation described above. The CB size is independent of its corresponding MIMO layer because there is no direct correspondence between CBs and MIMO layers. Therefore, the potential latency caused by large CBs cannot be controlled, which can be a problem for low-latency applications such as ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC).

[0090] In the present disclosure, a framework for joint coding and MIMO optimization is provided that includes one or more of the following features, each of which is described in more detail in the following paragraphs:

[0091] 1. MIMO layer mapping is performed on a per-CB (SCB) basis, rather than at the transport block (TB) level. An SCB may include one or more CBs. In some cases, all SCBs may include only one CB.

[0092] 2. Each SCB can have independent link adaptation (e.g., MCS and CB size) without the need for each SCB to have a separate HARQ process and / or HARQ feedback; therefore, the granularity of the HARQ process and / or HARQ feedback remains at the TB level, which helps avoid increasing HARQ-related overhead.

[0093] 3. Cross-CB coding (described in detail below) can be applied to multiple SCBs, where the output of the cross-CB coding is mapped to separate MIMO layers to maximize performance, but without using per-layer feedback or multiple TBs or HARQ processes; therefore, the granularity of the HARQ process and HARQ feedback is at the TB level.

[0094] MIMO layer mapping according to CB set

[0095] In the provided system and method, SCBs are mapped to MIMO layers through a layer mapping operation. The layer mapping operation can map SCBs to one or more MIMO layers based on a predefined mapping rule (e.g., as defined in the standard), for example, a one-to-one mapping (i.e., one SCB is mapped to one MIMO layer) or a one-to-many mapping (i.e., one SCB is mapped to multiple MIMO layers). Different SCBs can be mapped to different numbers of MIMO layers (such that M SCBs are mapped to L MIMO layers, where L is greater than M). For example, if a TB has K SCBs to be mapped to K MIMO layers, each SCB includes a CB (i.e., K CBs), then the first CB (denoted as CB1) can be mapped to MIMO layer 1, the second CB (denoted as CB2) can be mapped to MIMO layer 2, and so on, until the Kth CB (denoted as CBK) can be mapped to MIMO layer K. In another example, if a TB has 2 SCBs, each including one CB, to be mapped to 4 MIMO layers, CB1 can be mapped to MIMO layers 1 and 2, while CB2 can be mapped to layers 3 and 4. In yet another example, if a TB has 4 CBs to be mapped to 2 MIMO layers, CB1 and CB2 (a first SCB of size 2) can be mapped to MIMO layer 1, and the third and fourth CBs (denoted as CB3 and CB4, respectively, forming a second SCB of size 2) can be mapped to MIMO layer 2. The above mapping rules are only some examples of possible predefined mapping rules. Other predefined mapping rules are possible and will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0096] In another scenario, an SCB with multiple CBs can be mapped to multiple MIMO layers in such a way that the bits of all CBs in the SCB are interleaved before being mapped to the MIMO layers so that each CB is distributed across all MIMO layers to which the SCB is mapped. For example, if the SCB includes 4 CBs to be mapped to 4 MIMO layers, the first MIMO layer may include the first bit of CB1, the first bit of CB2, the first bit of CB3, and the first bit of CB4, followed by the second bit of CB1, the second bit of CB2, the second bit of CB3, the second bit of CB4, and so on. In this way, each MIMO layer may include one-quarter of the bits of each of CB1, CB2, CB3, and CB4. It should be understood that the above-described mapping scheme of SCBs to MIMO layers may also be applicable to the mapping of cross-block check blocks to MIMO layers. In general, it should be understood that there are a variety of ways in which CBs (and cross-block check blocks, where applicable) can be mapped to MIMO layers, which are within the scope of the present disclosure and can be used in the various examples described herein.

[0097] Each layer is a data stream, and these layers are processed by a MIMO precoder. The MIMO precoder maps L MIMO layers to N antenna streams (where N is not necessarily equal to L), where each antenna stream can be further processed through time-frequency resource mapping and physical antenna mapping and fed to the corresponding transmit antenna (or antenna port) for MIMO transmission.

[0098] To map SCBs to MIMO layers, a MIMO layer mapping rule is defined and applied to each of the multiple SCBs in a TB, where each SCB has one or more CBs. In some embodiments, all SCBs have only one CB. In other embodiments, at least one of the multiple SCBs has more than one CB. In other embodiments, all SCBs have more than one CB. In two examples of MIMO layer mapping rules:

[0099] i. One SCB can be mapped to each MIMO layer;

[0100] ii. Each SCB can be mapped to one MIMO layer or to multiple consecutive MIMO layers.

[0101] In some embodiments, a flexible mapping scheme is provided. The mapping can be flexible in terms of the order in which CBs are mapped to MIMO layers, frequency resources, and time resources. For example, the mapping can first map one SCB to all layers in the MIMO layer set, then to frequency resources, and then to time resources. This approach may be suitable for applications that will benefit from fast decoding and space-frequency diversity gain, such as ultra reliable low latency communication (URLLC). In another example, the mapping can first map one SCB to a MIMO layer, then to time resources, and then to frequency resources. This approach may be suitable for applications that will benefit from time diversity, such as in high mobile speed applications. More generally, in some embodiments, the mapping order between MIMO layers, frequency resources, and time resources is configurable.

[0102] In another example of flexible mapping, the starting point is a plurality of modulation symbols generated from an SCB (one or more CBs) to be mapped to L (>=1) layers. There are M (M>=1) time resource units (e.g., time symbols) in the time domain and N (N>=1) frequency resource units (e.g., resource elements) per time symbol in the frequency domain available for transmission. In this case, the total number of modulation symbols that can be sent is L×M×N. When mapping to resources, the first L modulation symbols are mapped to the L layers of the first time symbol t_1 and the first resource element f_1 of each time symbol. Then, if the mapping order is frequency first-time second, the next L modulation symbols will be mapped to the L layers of the first time symbol t_1, and the second resource element of the frequency domain f_2. Continuing this mapping order, the next L modulation symbols will be mapped to the L layers of the first time symbol t_1, and the third resource element of the frequency domain f_3, and so on, until all frequency domain resource elements of the first time symbol are filled. The frequency first-time second mapping order then moves to the next time symbol t_2, and so on, until all resources are mapped. On the other hand, if the mapping order is time first-frequency second, after mapping the first L modulation symbols to the L layers of the first time symbol t_1 and the first resource element in the frequency domain f_1 of each time symbol, the next L modulation symbols will be mapped to the L layers of the second time symbol t_2 and the first resource element in the frequency domain f_1, and so on, until all time symbols of the first resource element in the frequency domain f_1 are filled. The time first-frequency second mapping order then moves to the next resource element in the frequency domain f_2, and so on.

[0103] SCB-level link adaptation

[0104] By providing individual link adaptation at the SCB level, the MCS and the total size of the SCB are based on the MIMO layer to which a given SCB is mapped. Consequently, decoding performance of transmissions can be improved due to more accurate link adaptation to channel quality. Since multiple SCBs form a TB, and the TB remains the smallest unit for scheduling and HARQ processes, more accurate link adaptation may not excessively increase HARQ-related overhead. Furthermore, more accurate link adaptation enables more accurate configuration of the SCB size, which can improve latency.

[0105] Cross-CB coding

[0106] For a given TB, one or more additional CBs may be sent, referred to herein as cross-block check blocks (CCBs). In an embodiment of cross-CB coding:

[0107] (i) Determine one or more CCBs. Each CCB is a block of coded bits generated based on a corresponding bit subset of each SCB in the SCBs of the TB. The SCBs to be transmitted include the original SCB associated with the TB and one or more CCB sets, each of which includes one or more CCBs. The one or more CCB sets can be sent in separate retransmissions or as part of the initial transmission.

[0108] (ii) Each SCB to be transmitted (i.e., each original SCB and each CCB set) is mapped to a separate set of one or more MIMO layers (diversity gain is present when more than one MIMO layer is used). The CCB set is treated as an SCB in the mapping scheme. The MCS and number of bits for a given CCB set can be determined based on the resources of the one or more MIMO layers to which the CCB set is mapped.

[0109] (iii) Each SCB can have independent MCS adaptation and SCB size.

[0110] (iv) At the receiver, HARQ feedback is performed at the TB level. The SCBs input to the cross-CB coding scheme are jointly decoded at the receiver. All SCBs involved in the joint decoding of the cross-CB coding scheme belong to a single TB, so per-layer HARQ feedback is not required.

[0111] Below Figure 12A 、 Figure 12B and Figure 12C A detailed example of cross-CB encoding is provided in the description of .

[0112] Now refer to Figure 5AThe block diagram shows an exemplary transmitter for implementing the new coding and MIMO architecture to transmit a TB. A TB is a set of bits to be sent during a transmission. Although a TB is referred to as a transport layer data packet in some exemplary communication systems, without loss of generality, the term "TB" may also refer to other types of data packets in different communication systems. Conversely, although for simplicity and convenience, this disclosure refers to a set of bits to be transmitted as a TB, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that a set of bits to be transmitted may also be referred to by other names.

[0113] exist Figure 5A In the example of FIG, a single TB is partitioned into multiple SCBs 501, wherein each SCB has its own MCS and is mapped to multiple layers. Figure 5A The transmitter includes a CB splitter 500, where a TB is split into a plurality of SCBs 501, each SCB 501 including at least one CB. Before splitting, the splitter 500 optionally appends a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) to the TB. Figure 5A In the example shown in Figure 1, each SCB has its own coding chain in the transmitter. The coding chain can also be called an MCS chain, or more generally a Tx chain, or simply a chain. Figure 5AThe coding chain shown at the top will be described by way of example. At encoder 502, a CB-based CRC is optionally appended to the information bits of each CB. The CBs of a given SCB (optionally together with the appended CRC) are each encoded using the same FEC code (e.g., turbo code, LDPC code, etc.) to generate a set of coded bits. Based on the MCS level selected for the SCB, rate matching is performed on all CBs of the SCB at rate matcher 504. Rate matching involves selecting coded bits based on the code rate and redundancy version (RV), where the RV is typically identified based on a predefined or configured RV index. If the SCB includes more than one CB, the coded bits of each CB of the SCB are concatenated to form the coded bits of the SCB. The coded bits of each SCB are then scrambled in scrambler 506 and modulated in modulator 508 according to the MCS selected for the SCB to generate symbols. The MCS information of the selected MCS may include the modulation level and the code rate used for encoding. In layer mapper 510, modulation symbols are mapped to MIMO layers and time and frequency resources according to the SCB-to-layer mapping rules. Since layers can be considered a form of resource, and thus somewhat similar to time and frequency resources, the layer mapper can also be referred to as a resource mapper, which maps SCBs to resources according to the resource mapping rules, where resources include layers. Information about which or how many MIMO layers each SCB is mapped to can be signaled by the base station. A MIMO precoder 514 then processes the MIMO layer-mapped modulation symbols 512 from all layer mappers 510 to generate a total MIMO output signal 516 to be transmitted across multiple antennas.

[0114] Each SCB can have its own MCS selection, such that the MCSs of SCBs can be different from each other. In addition, the total size of each SCB can be determined based on the resources of one or more corresponding mapped MIMO layers. Since the channel quality and other attributes of these mapped MIMO layers may be different for each SCB, it may be beneficial for the SCB sizes to be different. After determining the SCB size, the CB size and the number of CBs in each SCB can be determined in a manner similar to that for traditionally determining the number and size of CBs of a TB. For example, the maximum CB size determined according to a specific FEC scheme (such as LDPC code) is denoted as Kmax, and the size of the SCB (for the number of information bits of the SCB) is denoted as S. It should be noted that in some scenarios, the maximum CB size may not be determined by the FEC scheme itself, but rather, it can be determined by some other factors (such as latency requirements). For example, in URLLC applications with latency constraints, the actual block size or the maximum block size can be relatively small values to support fast decoding of code blocks. In some scenarios, such a code block size or the maximum code block size can be indicated by the base station in DCI or RRC signaling. If Kmax >= S, the number of CBs C in the SCB is 1, and the CB size is the same as the SCB size, i.e., K = S. If Kmax < S, the number of CBs C can be determined as C = ceil(S / Kmax), where ceil is the ceiling function, which means C is the smallest integer greater than S / Kmax. Then, the actual CB size K can be determined as the smallest CB size greater than or equal to S / C in the pool of all possible CB sizes. The pool of possible CB sizes is determined based on the specific FEC design, similar to the way of defining the possible CB sizes of LDPC codes or polar codes in the NR standard.

[0115] Figure 5B It is a flowchart of a method provided by an embodiment of this application. The method starts at step 550, transmitting the transmission of at least one transport block (TB). The TB includes multiple sets of code blocks (SCBs), and each SCB includes one or more code blocks (CBs), where each SCB is encoded and modulated to generate a corresponding set of modulation symbols. The transmission is generated from multiple MIMO layers. For each MIMO layer among the multiple MIMO layers, or for each group of MIMO layers among the multiple MIMO layers, a corresponding one of the sets of modulation symbols in the set of modulation symbols is mapped to the MIMO layer or the group of MIMO layers. Continuing with step 552 of the method, receiving hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback based on each TB.

[0116] Figure 5CA flowchart of a method provided for an embodiment of the present application. The method begins at step 570 by receiving a transmission of at least one transport block (TB), the TB comprising a plurality of code block sets (SCB), each SCB comprising one or more code blocks (CB). Each SCB is encoded and modulated to generate a corresponding set of modulation symbols, which is generated from a plurality of MIMO layers. For each MIMO layer in a plurality of MIMO layers, or for each MIMO layer group in a plurality of MIMO layers, a corresponding one of the corresponding sets of modulation symbols is mapped to the MIMO layer or the MIMO layer group. Continuing with step 572 of the method, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback is sent on a per TB basis.

[0117] This description includes many Figure 5B and Figure 5C For example, the description includes examples of how to obtain SCB from input bits, how coding can be applied (possibly including a cross-block coding scheme), how modulation symbols are mapped to MIMO layers, how the mapped MIMO layers can be used in transmission, details of HARQ feedback, and MCS adaptation.

[0118] exist Figure 5A In the example, a single TB is split into multiple SCBs, where each SCB has its own MCS and is mapped to multiple layers. This example illustrates how multiple SCBs in a single TB can be mapped to MIMO layers. However, in general, multiple TBs can be used for a single MIMO transmission, where each TB can include multiple SCBs and are mapped to multiple layers. Figure 5A Mapped in a similar manner as shown. Figure 6 、 Figure 7 and Figure 8 Other examples of SCB level mapping and optimization are shown in .

[0119] exist Figure 6 In , each SCB of a TB is mapped to a single MIMO layer and the corresponding MCS is applied. This example can be useful in scenarios where different MIMO layers have considerable channel quality differences; therefore, it is beneficial to select a different corresponding MCS for each layer, which improves the overall spectral efficiency. In contrast, Figure 5AThe example in Figure 5 shows MIMO layers grouped together according to MCS; this example is applicable when the multiple MIMO layers grouped together have similar channel quality, so it is not necessary to select a different MCS for each individual MIMO layer in the group. In the example of Figure 5, grouping multiple MIMO layers together can reduce the overhead involved in selecting different MCSs. In addition, if the amount of resources in each MIMO layer is small, grouping multiple MIMO layers together can potentially increase the FEC code length, which can potentially improve FEC performance.

[0120] exist Figure 7 Repeat for each of the two TBs Figure 6 structure. There are multiple TBs corresponding to multiple HARQ processes, each TB corresponds to multiple SCBs, and each SCB with its own MCS is mapped to a single layer. Including multiple TBs for each MIMO transmission provides flexibility: each TB has separate HARQ feedback and / or separate HARQ processes. Having separate HARQ feedback can support the transmitter to send new data in a TB (which is correctly decoded and an ACK has been received from the HARQ feedback for that TB) while retransmitting another TB (which is not correctly decoded and a NACK has been received from the HARQ feedback for that other TB). In another example (not shown), there are multiple TBs, where each TB corresponds to multiple SCBs, and each SCB (with its own MCS) is mapped to multiple layers.

[0121] exist Figure 8 In , only 1TB is used for transmission, and the layer mapping of each SCB is mapped to the corresponding MIMO layer pair.

[0122] In general, the number of TBs used for MIMO transmission, the number of MIMO layers to which each SCB is mapped, and other parameters in the SCB-level mapping optimization can be determined based at least on the technical reasons described above. This decision can be set by predefined rules or can be made by the transmitter (e.g., base station) based on information it has collected (e.g., channel quality feedback). The transmitter can then signal this decision to the receiver (e.g., UE) using a signaling scheme described in further detail below.

[0123] Example Method for Determining SCB Size and MCS for DL Transmission

[0124] refer to Figure 9, a flowchart of the method is shown. The method shown is an example for determining the SCB size and MCS for downlink transmission. The example also shows some related channel quality feedback processes. The method starts at step 900, performing channel measurement and feedback. Performing channel measurement and feedback can be similar to or based on known processes, such as those currently implemented in NR. In the frequency division duplex (FDD) scenario of NR, the UE performs channel measurement based on the channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) and feeds back information such as one or more of the rank (i.e., the transmission rank or the number of transmission layers L), the precoding matrix indicator (PMI), and the channel quality information (CQI) of each layer. For example, the CQI information can be in the form of a signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) or a maximum supported MCS. On the other hand, in the time division duplex (TDD) scenario, the BS performs CSI measurement based on the sounding reference signal (SRS) sent by the UE. Specific channel measurement and feedback procedures known in NR are described only as examples, without loss of generality; suitable channel measurement and feedback procedures will be apparent to those skilled in the art. In step 902, based on channel quality feedback from the UE or its own channel measurements, the base station determines the rank for transmission, the number of TBs, the number of CBs or SCBs per TB, and the mapping of each CB / SCB to a MIMO layer. Each TB has its own HARQ process and independent HARQ feedback, while the MCS for each SCB is selected separately based on the MIMO layer mapping. In step 904, the size of each SCB is determined based on the selected MCS and the corresponding available resources (including scheduled time-frequency resources, corresponding MIMO layers, etc.) to which the SCB is mapped. The amount of available time, frequency, and spatial (i.e., layer) resources determines the number of resource elements that can be used to transmit the SCB, which, together with the selected MCS, determines the size of the SCB in terms of the number of information bits. If the size obtained from this method is larger than the maximum CB size supported by FEC, or larger than a predefined or signaled maximum CB size, one or more SCBs may be further segmented as discussed previously. In step 906, the transport block size for each TB is determined based on the sum of the sizes of all SCBs for each TB. In step 908, interleaving is applied to each SCB, if applicable.

[0125] In some embodiments, one or more SCBs may be defined to correspond to code-block groups (CBGs). Each SCB has its own MCS and is mapped to a separate MIMO layer based on each SCB, as described previously. A TB may include multiple CBGs. Each CBG may have its own ACK / NCK feedback. However, in this scenario, the TB has its own HARQ process ID, and each CBG does not have its own HARQ process ID. In addition, if a CBG includes multiple SCBs, each SCB can still have its own MCS; therefore, a CBG can still include CBs using different MCSs.

[0126] Exemplary Signaling Mechanism

[0127] To support the provided systems and methods, a signaling mechanism is provided that, in some embodiments, the BS can use to inform the UE how CBs are grouped and mapped to one or more layers. Signaling can be transmitted using downlink control information (DCI) or a combination of radio resource control (RRC) and DCI. All signaling described below can be signaling in RRC and / or DCI. There can be multiple divisions of the signaling content sent using RRC compared to using DCI. For example, one division involves using RRC to define more static parameters (e.g., ranges of parameters) and using DCI to dynamically signal the actual value of a given parameter for each transmission. For example, RRC can be used to define the maximum number of TBs, and DCI can be used to indicate the actual number of TBs. Similarly, RRC can indicate the maximum number of SCBs supported by each TB, and DCI can be used to indicate the actual number of given data transmissions.

[0128] In some embodiments, the signaling content supporting the provided mechanism may include or indicate one or more of the following fields:

[0129] The number of TBs and one or more corresponding HARQ process IDs for each TB. In some embodiments, multiple TBs in the same MIMO transmission can share the same HARQ process ID, but the index of the TB (e.g., the first TB and the second TB in the case of 2 TBs) can be used to further identify the actual HARQ process to which the TB corresponds.

[0130] The number of MIMO layers (MIMO groups) to which each SCB is mapped. This field can be a single number, where each SCB is mapped to the same number of layers, or it can be a corresponding number per SCB (or number of SCBs per TB), where each SCB can be mapped to a different number of layers. In a specific example, the number of MIMO layers mapped per TB can be determined based on the total number of TBs to be included in the transmission and the total number of MIMO layers. The number of layers mapped per SCB can also be determined from the information about the number of SCBs per TB.

[0131] Number of SCBs per TB. As mentioned above, in some scenarios, this parameter can be used in addition to or instead of the number of MIMO layers mapped to each SCB. This is because the number of SCBs per TB can be used to determine the number of MIMO layers mapped to each SCB, and vice versa.

[0132] An MCS list specifies the MCS for each SCB. In one example, this signaling content can be a bitmap. For each SCB, there may be a defined maximum number of MCSs that can be selected; defining a maximum value may help reduce overhead. For example, for each SCB, there may be a reduced set of potential MCS entries, such as from a new MCS table containing fewer entries. For example, the original or initial MCS table used for MCS adaptation may have 32 entries, corresponding to 32 potential MCS selections. Signaling each entry in this table requires 5 bits to indicate the MCS selection. In a new, modified, or reduced MCS table, the number of MCS selections may be reduced to 16. Signaling each entry in this table requires only 4 bits to indicate each MCS selection. The MCS table selection (e.g., original or new, 32 entries or 16 entries, etc.) may be implicitly or explicitly linked to some other parameter, or it may be explicitly indicated in control signaling, either separately or in conjunction with the MCS selection. In some other embodiments, there may be a limit on the size of the MCS selection set, which may help reduce the number of bits required to indicate the selected MCS. For example, different SCBs may be restricted to have the same modulation but may have different code rates; in this scenario, the MCS selection set only includes different code rates.

[0133] Maximum CB size, if different from the default value (e.g., short CB size for URLLC).

[0134] A method of mapping SCBs to corresponding layers (e.g., frequency first-time second, or time first-frequency second mapping order).

[0135] The above list is just an example. Other signaling contents may be used.

[0136] Figure 10 yes Figure 6 Block diagram of a variation of an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 10 The embodiment includes the cross CB coding scheme and the coding and MIMO layer mapping scheme described above. Figure 6 In the embodiment, all MIMO layers are mapped to data SCBs, while some MIMO layers are mapped to CCBs (or CCB sets). Figure 10 In the example of , CCB coding, modulation and mapping to the last two MIMO layers are generally shown at 1000. Figure 10 In the example of , the CCB is included as part of the initial transmission. Alternatively, the CCB can be used for retransmissions. Figure 11 FIG1 shows an example of using CCB in retransmission, which is a block diagram of a variation of the above embodiment for retransmission including only CCB. In this case, only CCB is mapped to the MIMO layer. The SCB of the TB is used in the previous transmission, for example Figure 6 As described above, each individual CCB may be mapped to an individual MIMO layer or a set of MIMO layers, or each CCB set may be mapped to an individual MIMO layer or a set of MIMO layers.

[0137] Cross-CB coding schemes generally do not require layer-by-layer feedback. This is because the cross-CB coding scheme supports joint decoding of all CBs used for cross-CB coding. These CBs have been mapped to different MIMO layers, so the decoding success of different CBs used to generate each CCB is highly correlated. Therefore, it is generally sufficient to transmit a single feedback for all CBs used for cross-CB coding to generate CCBs. Having different feedback for different CBs used for cross-CB coding may unnecessarily increase feedback overhead and waste feedback resources. Cross-CB coding is used between multiple CBs that have independent MCS adaptation but form part of the same TB; therefore, multiple CBs are associated with the same HARQ process and do not increase HARQ-related overhead. HARQ feedback is not required for each individual SCB because the SCBs used for cross-CB coding are jointly decoded and the decoding results are highly correlated (i.e., if one SCB is successfully decoded, the other SCBs used for cross-CB coding are also likely to be successfully decoded, and vice versa). In the cross-CB coding scheme, joint decoding of different SCBs mapped to different MIMO layers can also maximize the diversity gain of multiple layers.

[0138] 12A to 12C More details of the cross-CB coding scheme are shown, and an exemplary embodiment for generating a cross-block check block is shown.

[0139] Figure 12AAn exemplary TB is shown. This example shows how to generate a set of cross-block check blocks: CCB11 to CCBMk by sampling bits from the CB of the TB. Figure 12A In the example, CB11, CB12, ..., CBMk represent code blocks of a TB, where the TB includes M SCBs, each SCB includes k CBs, and CBmj (1 <= m <= M, 1 <= j <= k) represents the jth CB in the mth SCB. In this example, each SCB has the same number of code blocks, k, but this is not necessarily the case. More generally, each SCB has at least one code block. A horizontal check block 1202 for each CB is also shown. For convenience, for example, the horizontal check block 1202 is referred to as Figure 12A 1204. The exemplary directions of the CBs in the cross-CB coding scheme are based on the information bits of a single row of CBs. However, the exemplary directions are not intended to be limiting, and the cross-CB coding scheme can be represented in alternative ways without changing the technical results of the cross-CB coding scheme. For example, if the CBs are represented as columns, the check blocks of each CB will be oriented vertically. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the horizontal check block 1202 can generally have other names, such as CB check block, code block check block, or simply check block. Each CB can be divided into multiple sub-blocks 1200, wherein each sub-block includes one or more information bits of the CB. The cross-block check block (CCB) 1204 is determined based on the bits in all CBs. In the example shown, for example, CCB11 is based on the bits in the first sub-block of each CB. In this example, the CCB is not generated based on the bits of the set of horizontal check blocks 1202, but in other examples, there may be one or more cross-block check blocks generated based on bits selected from the horizontal check blocks 1202. In some embodiments, each cross-block check block can be generated based on a column of sub-blocks spanning all CBs (i.e., generated based on all bits of each sub-block).

[0140] The CCB set 1204 is sent on one or more MIMO layers. For example, CCB11 to CCBMk can be mapped to one or more MIMO layers through a layer mapping operation. These layers are then processed by the MIMO precoder and can be transmitted in retransmissions. Retransmissions can have any RV index number (for example, the RV index can be associated with and indicate the interleaver used to generate the cross-block check block), but the RV0 index can be reserved for initial transmission.

[0141] In some embodiments, one or more of the generated CCBs may be sent on a MIMO layer in the initial transmission. This may be the case if one or more MIMO layers are still available after the SCBs are mapped to the MIMO layers.

[0142] Since different SCBs corresponding to different MIMO layers use different MCSs, the SCBs may have different numbers of information bits. Figure 12B and Figure 12C Two different ways of applying the cross-CB coding scheme to different SCBs with different CB sizes are shown for the scenario where each SCB is a single CB.

[0143] exist Figure 12B and Figure 12C In FIG, the portion with hatching 1210 represents systematic bits or information bits, and the portion with hatching 1212 represents non-systematic code bits. In some FEC coding schemes, the output bits after coding include information bits and parity bits. Parity bits can also be called check bits. The portion of bits corresponding to the information bits in the encoder output can also be called systematic bits. The parity bits (or non-information bit portion) output by the encoder can also be called non-systematic bits. Figure 12B and Figure 12C In each figure, each row includes a corresponding CB, and the corresponding CB includes systematic bits and non-systematic bits. All CBs are part of the same TB. In this example, there are 4 CBs, each CB includes 8 bits, but more generally, the same method can be applied to any number of CBs of any size. Figure 12B and Figure 12C In the example of , the number of systematic bits of the CBs is not equal. This is because each CB can have a different code rate selected independently of each other. Figure 12B In the example of , the first two CBs (ie, CB1 and CB2) have 4 systematic bits, and the second two CBs (ie, CB3 and CB4) have 2 systematic bits.

[0144] for Figure 12B In the first example shown, CCBs are generated based on the information bits and parity bits of the horizontal CBs. The first CCB1 is generated based on the first two bits of each CB. The next CCB2 is generated based on the next three bits of each CB (including systematic bits and non-systematic bits), and the last CCB3 is generated based on the last three bits of each CB (including only non-systematic bits). In the case where the total number of coded bits (including information bits and parity bits) of all CBs is the same, the same number of bits can be obtained from each CB to generate the CCB. Since each CCB can also have a different MCS based on its own MIMO layer mapping, the total number of bits from which CCBs are generated across different CBs is determined based on its own MCS; therefore, for different CCBs, the total number of bits from which each CCB is generated can be different, such as Figure 12BAs shown in the example of , CCB1 is generated based on a total of 8 bits from all 4 CBs, while CCB2 and CCB3 are generated based on 12 bits from all 4 CBs.

[0145] exist Figure 12C In the second example shown, CCBs are generated based only on information bits. Since the number of information bits in each layer is different, CCBs can be generated based on different numbers of information bits in each layer. For example, each CCB can be based on a number of bits that is proportional to the number of information bits in each CB. Similarly, the total number of bits used to generate each CCB across different CBs is determined based on their own MCS adaptation. Figure 12C In the example of , the first CCB1 is generated based on two information bits in each of CB1 and CB2 and one information bit in each of CB3 and CB4. Similarly, the second CCB2 is generated based on two information bits in each of CB1 and CB2 and one information bit in each of CB3 and CB4. Figure 12C In the example of FIG, the MCS and the available resources for sending CCB1 and CCB2 may be the same, so the total number of bits used to generate the two CCBs is the same 6 bits.

[0146] An example of the process of partitioning CBs to generate CCBs can be summarized as follows. Without loss of generality, the process assumes that only information bits in horizontal CBs are used to generate CCBs, as Figure 12B However, by replacing the number of information bits per CB with the total number of coded bits per CB, the process can be easily adapted to Figure 12C, where both the information bits and parity bits of the horizontal CB are used to generate the CCB. First, the MCS of each CB is determined based on the channel quality of the corresponding one or more MIMO layers to which the CB (or its SCB) is mapped, and the code block size of each CB is determined based on the available time and frequency resources on the corresponding one or more MIMO layers. Similarly, the MCS of each CCB is determined based on the channel quality of the corresponding one or more MIMO layers to which the CCB is mapped, and the total number of information bits used to generate the CCB is determined based on the available time and frequency resources on the corresponding MIMO layers. Once the total number of bits used to generate each CCB is determined, the number of information bits obtained from each CB is proportional to the size of each CB. For example, assume that there are a total of M CBs, where the rth CB includes Kr information bits. The total number of information bits of CCB1 is N bits. Then, the number of information bits of the rth CB used to generate CCB1 is determined to be Tr, such that T1+T2+…TM=N and T1 / K1=T2 / K2=…TM / KM. It should be noted that if the number of bits determined according to the above equation is not an integer, the number can be rounded off so that Tr / Kr is almost equal, where r = 1, 2, ..., M CBs. Figure 12C As shown in the example in , the number of information bits in CB1 and CB2 is twice the number of information bits in CB3 and CB4. Therefore, the number of information bits selected in CB1 and CB2 to generate CCB1 is also twice the number of information bits selected in CB3 and CB4. The same is true for CCB2. In the case where CB1 to CB4 are used for initial transmission and CCB1 and CCB2 are used for retransmission, if the amount of resources and channel quality feedback used for initial transmission and retransmission are almost the same, the total number of information bits used to generate CBs and CCBs is also roughly the same; therefore, the total number of bits used to generate CCB1 and CCB2 is also the same. Figure 12C Once the number of information bits used to generate each CCB is determined, the number of coded bits for each CCB is determined based on the MCS and the number of information bits for each CCB.

[0147] In some scenarios, multiple SCBs of a TB that performs cross-CB coding may have the same modulation but different coding rates. For example, this MCS adaptive configuration can optimize decoding performance.

[0148] The signaling content of the embodiment using cross-CB coding may include the fields described above for the general scenario without cross-CB coding. The signaling content of the embodiment using cross-CB coding may also include one or more of the following fields, and / or additional fields, or completely different fields:

[0149] Number of TB.

[0150] For each TB, a corresponding HARQ process ID. In some embodiments, multiple TBs in the same MIMO transmission can share the same HARQ process ID, but the index of the TB (e.g., the first TB and the second TB in the case of 2 TBs) can be used to further identify the actual HARQ process corresponding to each TB.

[0151] The number of layers (MIMO groups) to which each SCB or one or more CCBs are mapped, and / or the number of SCBs and CCBs per TB.

[0152] An MCS list indicates the MCS for each SCB and one or more CCBs. In one example, this signaling content can be a bitmap. For each SCB, there can be a defined maximum number of MCSs that can be selected; defining a maximum value can help reduce overhead. For example, for each SCB, there can be a reduced set of potential MCS entries, such as from a new MCS table with fewer entries. In some other embodiments, there can be restrictions on the MCS selection set, which can help reduce the number of bits required to indicate the selected MCS. For example, different SCBs may be restricted to have the same modulation but can have different code rates; in this scenario, the MCS selection set only includes different code rates.

[0153] RV version (e.g., "0" for initial transmission, another index value for retransmissions).

[0154] Interleaver for cross-CB coding. The interleaver indication will define (directly or indirectly) how bits are selected from the CB of the TB and input to the cross-CB encoder to generate the CCB. In some embodiments, each RV can correspond to a corresponding interleaver for cross-CB coding. For example, RV = 0 is for initial transmission, and other RVs correspond to different interleavers.

[0155] If both SCBs and CCBs are to be included in the initial transmission, the number of CCBs to include in the transmission.

[0156] Maximum CB size, if different from the default value (e.g., short CB size for URLLC).

[0157] A method of mapping SCBs to corresponding layers (e.g., frequency first-time second, or time first-frequency second mapping order).

[0158] Many modifications and variations of the present disclosure are possible in light of the above teachings.It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the present disclosure may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.

Claims

1. A method, characterized in that include: sending a transmission of at least one transport block (TB), the TB comprising a plurality of code block sets (SCB), each SCB comprising one or more code blocks (CB), wherein each SCB is coded and modulated to generate a corresponding set of modulation symbols, the transmission being generated from a plurality of MIMO layers, wherein for each MIMO layer of the plurality of MIMO layers, or for each MIMO layer group of the plurality of MIMO layers, a respective one of the corresponding sets of modulation symbols is mapped to the MIMO layer or the MIMO layer group; Receive Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback on a per-TB basis.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The receiving of HARQ feedback based on each TB includes: receiving a HARQ response ACK or a negative response NACK for each TB without receiving the HARQ feedback for each SCB.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that After being mapped to the MIMO layer or the MIMO layer group, the corresponding modulation symbol set is further mapped to time resources and frequency resources using a configured mapping order between mapping to time resources and mapping to frequency resources.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein Also includes: Independent modulation and coding scheme (MCS) adaptation is performed for each SCB.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that For each SCB, performing independent MCS adaptation is based on the channel quality of the MIMO layer or the MIMO layer group to which the SCB is mapped.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein: For each SCB, the size of the SCB is based on the resources available on the MIMO layer or the MIMO layer group to which the SCB is mapped.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The transmission of the at least one TB further comprises transmission of at least one cross-check block CCB, each CCB being a check block based on a corresponding set of bits including at least one bit from each of a plurality of CBs of the TB.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that Each CCB or each CCB in at least one CCB set is encoded, modulated, and mapped to a corresponding MIMO layer or MIMO layer group of the plurality of MIMO layers.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Also includes: For at least one TB of the at least one TB, a retransmission of the TB is sent, the retransmission including at least one cross-block check block (CCB), each CCB being a check block based on a corresponding set of bits, the corresponding set of bits including at least one bit from each of a plurality of CBs of the TB.

10. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Also included is sending or receiving signaling, the signaling including or indicating one or more of the following: TB number; For each TB, the corresponding HARQ process ID; The number of MIMO layers to which each SCB is mapped; The corresponding MCS of each SCB; Maximum SCB size; Mapping method from SCB to MIMO layer, frequency resources and time resources.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The signaling includes or indicates a mapping method from one or more SCBs to MIMO layers, frequency resources, and time resources, wherein the signaling indicates a specific mapping method in a predetermined mapping method set including at least two methods of the following methods: First map to the MIMO layer, then map to frequency resources, and then map to time resources; First map to the MIMO layer, then map to time resources, and then map to frequency resources.

12. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that Also included is sending or receiving signaling content, wherein the signaling content includes or indicates one or more of the following: TB number; For each TB, the corresponding HARQ ID; The number of MIMO layers to which each SCB is mapped and to which each CCB is mapped; The corresponding MCS of each SCB and each CCB; Redundant version; the number of CCBs included; Mapping method from SCB and CCB to MIMO layers, frequency resources and time resources.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The signaling includes or indicates a mapping method from the SCB and CCB to the MIMO layer, frequency resources, and time resources, and the signaling indicates a specific mapping method in a predetermined mapping method set including at least two methods of the following methods: First map to the MIMO layer, then map to frequency resources, and then map to time resources; First map to the MIMO layer, then map to time resources, and then map to frequency resources.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that Also included is: for each TB, generating the transmission by: Splitting the TB into the plurality of SCBs, each SCB including one or more code blocks CB; For each SCB: encoding bits of the SCB to generate a plurality of coded bits; Modulating the plurality of coded bits to generate the corresponding set of modulation symbols; Mapping the corresponding modulation symbol set to the corresponding MIMO layer or the MIMO layer group to generate MIMO layer-mapped modulation symbols; Modulation symbols mapped to the MIMO layers corresponding to the plurality of SCBs are precoded to generate antenna streams for the transmission.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The size of the SCB is based on the MIMO layer or the MIMO layer group to which the modulation symbols of the SCB are mapped.

16. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that Performing coding and modulation on each SCB includes using a corresponding MCS specific to that SCB.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that The method is performed by a base station, sending the transmission includes the base station sending the transmission on multiple antennas, and receiving the HARQ feedback includes the base station receiving the HARQ feedback.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that The method is performed by an apparatus, sending the transmission includes the apparatus sending the transmission, and receiving the HARQ feedback includes the apparatus receiving the HARQ feedback.

19. A method, characterized in that include: receiving a transmission of at least one transport block (TB), the TB comprising a plurality of code block sets (SCB), each SCB comprising one or more code blocks (CB), wherein each SCB is coded and modulated to generate a corresponding set of modulation symbols, the transmission being generated from a plurality of MIMO layers, wherein for each MIMO layer of the plurality of MIMO layers, or for each MIMO layer group of the plurality of MIMO layers, a respective one of the corresponding sets of modulation symbols is mapped to the MIMO layer or the MIMO layer group; Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback is sent on a per-TB basis.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that The sending of HARQ feedback based on each TB includes: sending a HARQ response ACK or a negative response NACK for each TB without sending the HARQ feedback for each SCB.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein After being mapped to the MIMO layer or the MIMO layer group, the corresponding modulation symbol set is further mapped to time resources and frequency resources using a configured mapping order between mapping to time resources and mapping to frequency resources.

22. The method according to claim 19, wherein: For each SCB, the size of the SCB is based on the resources available on the MIMO layer or the MIMO layer group to which the SCB is mapped.

23. The method according to claim 19, wherein The transmission of the at least one TB further comprises transmission of at least one cross-check block CCB, each CCB being a check block based on a corresponding set of bits including at least one bit from each of a plurality of CBs of the TB.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein Each CCB or each CCB in at least one CCB set is encoded, modulated, and mapped to a corresponding MIMO layer or MIMO layer group of the plurality of MIMO layers.

25. The method according to claim 19, wherein Also includes: For at least one TB of the at least one TB, a retransmission of the TB is received, the retransmission including at least one cross-block check block (CCB), each CCB being a check block based on a corresponding set of bits, the corresponding set of bits including at least one bit from each of a plurality of CBs of the TB.

26. The method according to claim 19, wherein Also included is sending or receiving signaling, the signaling including or indicating one or more of the following: TB number; For each TB, the corresponding HARQ process ID; The number of MIMO layers to which each SCB is mapped; The corresponding MCS of each SCB; Maximum SCB size; Mapping method from SCB to MIMO layer, frequency resources and time resources.

27. The method according to claim 26, characterized in that The signaling includes or indicates a mapping method from one or more SCBs to MIMO layers, frequency resources, and time resources, wherein the signaling indicates a specific mapping method in a predetermined mapping method set including at least two methods of the following methods: First map to the MIMO layer, then map to frequency resources, and then map to time resources; First map to the MIMO layer, then map to time resources, and then map to frequency resources.

28. The method according to any one of claims 23 to 25, characterized in that Also included is sending or receiving signaling content, wherein the signaling content includes or indicates one or more of the following: TB number; For each TB, the corresponding HARQ ID; The number of MIMO layers to which each SCB is mapped and to which each CCB is mapped; The corresponding MCS of each SCB and each CCB; Redundant version; the number of CCBs included; Mapping method from SCB and CCB to MIMO layers, frequency resources and time resources.

29. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that The signaling includes or indicates a mapping method from the SCB and CCB to the MIMO layer, frequency resources, and time resources, and the signaling indicates a specific mapping method in a predetermined mapping method set including at least two methods of the following methods: First map to the MIMO layer, then map to frequency resources, and then map to time resources; First map to the MIMO layer, then map to time resources, and then map to frequency resources.

30. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 29, characterized in that The method is performed by a base station, receiving the transmission includes the base station receiving the transmission on multiple antennas, and sending the HARQ feedback includes the base station receiving the HARQ feedback.

31. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 29, characterized in that The method is performed by an apparatus, receiving the transmission includes the apparatus receiving the transmission, and sending the HARQ feedback includes the apparatus sending the HARQ feedback.

32. A computer program product, characterized in that The program comprises instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 31.

33. A device, characterized in that comprising a processor configured to cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 31.

34. A processor of a device, characterized in that The processor is configured to cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 31.

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