Method and device for determining UE aggregation transmission

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices are described for determining user equipment (UE) aggregated transmissions. A method includes determining UE aggregation transmissions by: reporting pairing information to a base station; and reporting related information to the base station, where the first UE and the second UE are paired for UE aggregation transmission. Another method includes configuring UE aggregation transmissions by: receiving, by a base station, pairing information; and receiving, by the base station, related information in which the first UE and the second UE are paired for UE aggregation transmission.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure generally relates to wireless communications. Specifically, this disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for determining aggregated transmissions of a user equipment (UE). Background Technology

[0002] Wireless communication technology is propelling the world towards an increasingly interconnected and networked society. High-speed and low-latency wireless communication relies on efficient network resource management and allocation between user equipment and wireless access network nodes (including but not limited to base stations). Next-generation networks promise to provide high-speed, low-latency, and ultra-reliable communication capabilities, meeting the needs of various industries and users.

[0003] In some wireless communication schemes, User Equipment (UE) aggregation transmissions can be used to improve the throughput or reliability of UE transmissions, for example, when the UE is at the cell edge of a base station. Many issues / issues exist associated with the operation of UE aggregation transmissions. For example, one issue / issue may include how to report pairing information for UE aggregation transmissions; another issue / issue may include how to report relevant information about UE aggregation transmissions.

[0004] This disclosure describes various embodiments for determining UE aggregated transmission, which solve at least one of the issues / problems discussed above, improve the performance of wireless communication, and in particular achieve efficient transmission of UE aggregated transmission, and improve the throughput and / or reliability of UE transmission. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This document relates to methods, systems, and apparatuses for wireless communication, and more specifically, to determining UE aggregated transmissions. Various embodiments in this disclosure can improve resource utilization efficiency, enhance coverage, and / or increase the throughput and / or reliability of UE transmissions.

[0006] In one embodiment, this disclosure describes a method for wireless communication. The method includes: determining user equipment (UE) aggregation transmission by: reporting pairing information to a base station; and reporting relevant information to the base station, wherein a first UE and a second UE are paired for UE aggregation transmission.

[0007] In one embodiment, this disclosure describes a method for wireless communication. Another method includes configuring user equipment (UE) aggregation transmission by receiving pairing information from a base station and receiving related information from the base station, wherein a first UE and a second UE are paired for UE aggregation transmission.

[0008] In some other embodiments, an apparatus for wireless communication may include a memory storing instructions and processing circuitry communicating with the memory. When the processing circuitry executes the instructions, the processing circuitry is configured to perform the methods described above.

[0009] In some other embodiments, a device for wireless communication may include a memory storing instructions and processing circuitry communicating with the memory. When the processing circuitry executes the instructions, the processing circuitry is configured to perform the methods described above.

[0010] In some other embodiments, a computer-readable medium includes instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the methods described above. The computer-readable medium includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium.

[0011] The above and other aspects and their embodiments are described in more detail in the accompanying drawings, description and claims. Attached Figure Description

[0012] Figure 1 An example of a wireless communication system including a wireless network node and one or more user devices is shown.

[0013] Figure 2 An example of a network node is shown.

[0014] Figure 3 An example of a user device is shown.

[0015] Figure 4A A flowchart of an exemplary method for wireless communication is shown.

[0016] Figure 4B A flowchart of another exemplary method for wireless communication is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0017] This disclosure will now be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this disclosure and illustrate specific examples of embodiments by way of illustration. However, it should be noted that this disclosure may be embodied in various different forms, and therefore the subject matter covered or claimed is intended to be construed as not being limited to any of the embodiments set forth below.

[0018] Throughout the specification and claims, terms may have nuanced meanings that are suggested or implied in the context and go beyond their expressly stated meanings. Similarly, the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in some embodiments” as used herein do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, and the phrases “in another embodiment” or “in other embodiments” as used herein do not necessarily refer to different embodiments. For example, it is intended that the claimed subject matter encompasses, in whole or in part, combinations of exemplary embodiments or embodiments.

[0019] Generally, terms can be understood at least in part from their usage in the context. For example, terms used herein, such as “and,” “or,” or “and / or,” can include a variety of meanings, which can depend at least in part on the context in which these terms are used. Typically, “or,” when used in an associative list (such as A, B, or C), is intended to mean A, B, and C (used here in an inclusive sense) and A, B, or C (used here in an exclusive sense). Furthermore, depending at least in part on the context, the terms “one or more” or “at least one” as used herein can be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in a singular sense, or a combination of features, structures, or characteristics in a plural sense. Similarly, terms such as “a,” “an,” or “the” can also be understood to convey either a singular or a plural usage, depending at least in part on the context. Furthermore, the terms “based on” or “determined by” can be understood as not necessarily intended to convey an exclusive set of factors, but rather to allow for the existence of additional factors that are not necessarily explicitly described, which, too, depends at least in part on the context.

[0020] This disclosure describes methods and apparatus for determining UE aggregated transmissions.

[0021] Next-generation (NG) mobile communication systems are propelling the world towards an increasingly interconnected and networked society. High-speed and low-latency wireless communication relies on efficient network resource management and allocation between user equipment and wireless access network nodes (including but not limited to wireless base stations). Next-generation networks promise to provide high-speed, low-latency, and ultra-reliable communication capabilities, meeting the needs of various industries and users.

[0022] In some wireless communication schemes, User Equipment (UE) aggregation transmissions can be used to improve the throughput or reliability of UE transmissions, for example, when the UE is at the cell edge of a base station. Many issues / issues exist associated with the operation of UE aggregation transmissions. For example, one issue / issue may include how to report pairing information for UE aggregation transmissions; another issue / issue may include how to report relevant information about UE aggregation transmissions.

[0023] This disclosure describes various embodiments for determining UE aggregated transmission, which solve at least one of the issues / problems discussed above, improve the performance of wireless communication, and in particular achieve efficient transmission of UE aggregated transmission, and improve the throughput and / or reliability of UE transmission.

[0024] In some implementations, UE aggregation transmission can be divided into multiple modes, such as transparent mode and non-transparent mode. In transparent mode, the base station may not know that a group of UEs (e.g., the first UE (UE 1) and the second UE (UE 2)) are paired for UE aggregation transmission. In non-transparent mode, the base station knows that the group of UEs is paired for UE aggregation transmission and knows that data from one UE can be transmitted by another UE; for example, the base station may know that data from UE 1 can be transmitted by UE 2.

[0025] In some implementations, transparent mode can have drawbacks that lead to inefficiency. For a non-limiting example, the channel environments (such as channel state information (CSI), interference, etc.) of UE 1 and UE 2 may differ. The base station may not be aware that UE 1 and UE 2 are paired to perform UE aggregation transmission, and therefore, the base station may always configure parameter values ​​in the uplink (UL) grant of UE 1 based on UE 1's channel environment. UE 1's data is ultimately transmitted by UE 2 based on UE 2's channel environment. Obviously, in this case, when UE 1's data is transmitted by UE 2, parameters not matching UE 2's channel environment are not used, which may lead to inefficiency.

[0026] Figure 1A wireless communication system 100 is illustrated, comprising a wireless network node 118 (also referred to as a wireless network base station 118) and one or more user equipment (UE) 110. The wireless network node may include a network base station, which may be a nodeB (NB, e.g., gNB) in a mobile telecommunications context. Each UE may wirelessly communicate with the wireless network node via one or more radio channels 115 for downlink / uplink communication. For example, a first UE 110 may wirelessly communicate with the wireless network node 118 via a channel including multiple radio channels during a specific time period. The wireless network base station 118 may send higher-layer signaling to the UE 110. The higher-layer signaling may include configuration information for communication between the UE and the base station. In one embodiment, the higher-layer signaling may include radio resource control (RRC) messages.

[0027] Figure 2 An example of an electronic device 200 implementing a network base station is shown. The example electronic device 200 may include wireless transmission / receiving (Tx / Rx) circuitry 208 for transmitting / receiving communications with a UE and / or other base stations. The electronic device 200 may also include network interface circuitry 209 (e.g., optical or wired interconnect, Ethernet, and / or other data transmission media / protocols) for communicating between the base station and other base stations and / or the core network. The electronic device 200 may optionally include an input / output (I / O) interface 206 for communicating with operators, etc.

[0028] Electronic device 200 may also include system circuitry 204. System circuitry 204 may include one or more processors 221 and / or memory 222. Memory 222 may include operating system 224, instructions 226, and parameters 228. Instructions 226 may be configured for one or more processors 124 to perform functions of the network node. Parameters 228 may include parameters that support the execution of instructions 226. For example, parameters may include network protocol settings, bandwidth parameters, radio frequency mapping allocation, and / or other parameters.

[0029] Figure 3An example of an electronic device (e.g., a user equipment (UE)) implementing terminal device 300 is shown. UE 300 may be a mobile device, such as a smartphone or a mobile communication module installed in a vehicle. UE 300 may include a communication interface 302, system circuitry 304, input / output (I / O) interface 306, display circuitry 308, and storage device 309. The display circuitry may include a user interface 310. System circuitry 304 may include any combination of hardware, software, firmware, or other logic / circuit. System circuitry 304 may be implemented, for example, using one or more systems-on-a-chip (SoC), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), discrete analog and digital circuits, and other circuits. System circuitry 304 may be part of an implementation of any desired functionality in UE 300. In this regard, system circuitry 304 may include logic that facilitates operations such as: decoding and playing music and video (e.g., MP3, MP4, MPEG, AVI, FLAC, AC3, or WAV decoding and playback); running applications; accepting user input; saving and retrieving application data; establishing, maintaining, and terminating cellular phone calls or data connections (e.g., for internet connections); establishing, maintaining, and terminating wireless network connections, Bluetooth connections, or other connections; and displaying relevant information on user interface 310. User interface 310 and input / output (I / O) interface 306 may include a graphical user interface, a touch-sensitive display, haptic feedback or other haptic outputs, voice or facial recognition inputs, buttons, switches, speakers, and other user interface elements. Additional examples of I / O interface 306 include microphones, video and still image cameras, temperature sensors, vibration sensors, rotation and orientation sensors, headphone and microphone input / output jacks, Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectors, memory card slots, radiation sensors (e.g., IR (infrared) sensors), and other types of inputs.

[0030] Reference Figure 3The communication interface 302 may include radio frequency (RF) transmission (Tx) and reception (Rx) circuitry 316, which processes signal transmission and reception via one or more antennas 314. The communication interface 302 may include one or more transceivers. The transceiver may be a wireless transceiver, including modulation / demodulation circuitry, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a shaper, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), filters, waveform shapers, filters, pre-amplifiers, power amplifiers, and / or other logic for transmission and reception via one or more antennas or (for some devices) via a physical (e.g., wired) medium. The transmitted and received signals may follow any of a variety of formats, protocols, modulations (e.g., QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM, or 256-QAM), channels, bit rates, and encodings. As a specific example, communication interface 302 may include a transceiver supporting transmission and reception under 2G, 3G, Bluetooth, WiFi, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA)+, 4G / Long Term Evolution (LTE), 5G standards, and / or 6G standards. However, the technologies described below, whether originating from the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the GSM Association, 3GPP2, IEEE, or other partners or standards bodies, are applicable to other wireless communication technologies.

[0031] Reference Figure 3 System circuitry 304 may include one or more processors 321 and memory 322. Memory 322 stores, for example, an operating system 324, instructions 326, and parameters 328. Processor 321 is configured to execute instructions 326 to implement the desired functions of UE 300. Parameters 328 can provide and specify configuration and operational options for instructions 326. Memory 322 may also store any BT, WiFi, 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G, or other data that UE 300 will send or has received via communication interface 302. In various embodiments, system power for UE 300 may be supplied by power storage devices such as batteries or transformers.

[0032] This disclosure describes various embodiments for determining UE aggregated transmissions, which may be partially or wholly described above. Figures 2 to 3 The network base stations and / or user equipment described herein are implemented.

[0033] In various embodiments of this disclosure, when a group of UEs performs UE aggregation transmission, each UE within the group may have its own role type.

[0034] For a non-limiting example, when a first UE (UE 1) and a second UE (UE 2) are paired for UE aggregation transmission, UE 1's data is transmitted to the base station by UE 2, while UE 2's data is not transmitted to the base station by UE 1. In this case, UE 1 and UE 2 can represent different role types: UE 1 can have the role type of an anchor UE, while UE 2 can have the role type of an auxiliary UE. In some implementations, UE 1's data may include UE 1's uplink control information (UCI), such as hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK), scheduling request (SR), channel state information (CSI), etc.

[0035] For another non-limiting example, when a first UE (UE 1) and a second UE (UE 2) are paired for UE aggregation transmission, UE 1's data is transmitted to the base station by UE 2, and UE 2's data is transmitted to the base station by UE 1. Then, UE 1 and UE 2 can represent peer UE role types: UE 1 can have the role type of an anchor UE and the role type of an auxiliary UE; and UE 2 can have the role type of an auxiliary UE and the role type of an anchor UE. In some implementations, UE 1's data may include UE 1's uplink control information (UCI), such as Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK), Scheduling Request (SR), Channel State Information (CSI), etc.; and UE 2's data may include UE 2's uplink control information (UCI), such as Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK), Scheduling Request (SR), Channel State Information (CSI), etc.

[0036] In various embodiments, the anchor UE and the auxiliary UE may be referred to as the primary UE and the subordinate UE, respectively, or as the primary UE and the auxiliary UE, respectively.

[0037] In various embodiments, to support UE aggregation transmission (e.g., non-transparent UE aggregation transmission, wherein the UE aggregation transmission is controlled by the base station), methods for transmitting data and / or signaling between the base station and paired UEs (UE 1 and UE 2) are described. In some embodiments, UE 1 and UE 2 are paired to perform UE aggregation transmission, and data of UE 1 (including uplink control information) is transmitted by UE 2 to the base station; pairing information is reported to the base station; relevant information on the UE aggregation transmission can be interacted with the base station, and the specific method of UE aggregation transmission can be determined; UE aggregation transmission can be performed based on configured parameters within configured resources.

[0038] Reference Figure 4A This disclosure describes various embodiments of a method 400 for wireless communication, including determining user equipment (UE) aggregation transmission, wherein a first UE and a second UE are paired for UE aggregation transmission. Method 400 may include some or all of the following steps: step 410, reporting pairing information to a base station; and step 420, reporting relevant information to the base station.

[0039] Reference Figure 4B This disclosure describes various embodiments of a method 450 for wireless communication, configuring user equipment (UE) aggregated transmission, wherein a first UE and a second UE are paired for UE aggregated transmission. Method 450 may include some or all of the following steps: step 460, receiving pairing information by a base station; and step 470, receiving relevant information by a base station.

[0040] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, the second UE is determined to transmit data of the first UE to the base station. The data of the first UE includes uplink control information (UCI), such as Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK), Scheduling Request (SR), Channel State Information (CSI), etc.

[0041] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, reporting pairing information to the base station includes: the second UE reporting pairing information to the base station, the pairing information including the identifier of the first UE, such that the base station is configured to determine that the second UE transmits data of the first UE to the base station.

[0042] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, reporting pairing information to a base station includes: a first UE reporting pairing information to the base station, the pairing information including an identifier of a second UE, such that the base station is configured to determine that the second UE transmits data of the first UE to the base station.

[0043] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, reporting pairing information to the base station includes: each of the first UE and the second UE reporting the same pairing information to the base station on the same resource with the same encoding and the same modulation, the pairing information including identifiers of the first UE and the second UE, such that the base station is configured to determine that the second UE transmits data of the first UE to the base station.

[0044] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, reporting pairing information to the base station includes: each of the first UE and the second UE reporting the same pairing information to the base station on different resources with the same encoding and the same modulation, the pairing information including identifiers of the first UE and the second UE, such that the base station is configured to determine that the second UE transmits data of the first UE to the base station.

[0045] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, reporting pairing information to the base station includes: at least one of the first UE and the second UE reporting the pairing information to the base station, the reporting being configured by the base station via signaling, the signaling including at least one of the following: Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0046] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, method 400 may further include: at least one of the first UE and the second UE reporting UE capability for reporting pairing information to the base station, such that the base station is configured to consider UEs with UE capability when reporting pairing information.

[0047] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, the pairing information includes at least one of the following: the identifier of the UE performing the UE aggregation transmission, or the role type of the UE performing the UE aggregation transmission.

[0048] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives(s), several scenarios may exist. In one scenario: the pairing information may contain an identifier bit to mark whether the paired UE is an anchor UE or a secondary UE. The flag can be set to 1 when indicating to each other as anchor UE and secondary UE, and set to 0 otherwise. In some implementations, indications for UE 1 and UE 2 may be required.

[0049] For another scenario: the pairing information includes the role type of the UE. When indicating the anchor UE and the auxiliary UE to each other, the role of UE1 is set to "both", indicating that it is both the anchor UE and the auxiliary UE, and the role of UE2 is also set to "both".

[0050] In some implementations, when neither the anchor UE nor the auxiliary UE is involved, UE 1 acts as the anchor UE and UE 2 acts as the auxiliary UE.

[0051] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, the role type of the UE performing UE aggregation transmission includes at least one of the following: anchor UE, auxiliary UE, or peer UE; wherein, in response to the second UE being determined to transmit the first UE's data to the base station and the first UE being determined not to transmit the second UE's data to the base station, the first UE is an anchor UE and the second UE is an auxiliary UE; and / or wherein, in response to the second UE being determined to transmit the first UE's data to the base station and the first UE also being determined to transmit the second UE's data to the base station, the first UE and the second UE are peer UEs.

[0052] In some implementations, a UE with a peer UE type can indicate that the UE can be used as an anchor UE type (i.e., its data is transmitted to the base station by another UE) and can be used as an auxiliary UE type (i.e., it can transmit the data of another UE to the base station).

[0053] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, the pairing information includes at least one of the following: the identifier of the UE performing the UE aggregation transmission, the role type of the UE performing the UE aggregation transmission, or an indication that they are an anchor UE and an auxiliary UE to each other.

[0054] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, reporting relevant information to the base station includes: the second UE reporting relevant information to the base station, the relevant information including information of the first UE and the second UE.

[0055] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, reporting relevant information to the base station includes: a first UE reporting relevant information to the base station, the relevant information including information of the first UE and the second UE.

[0056] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, reporting relevant information to the base station includes: each of the first UE and the second UE reporting the same relevant information to the base station on the same resource with the same encoding and the same modulation, such that the base station is configured to decode the relevant information.

[0057] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, reporting relevant information to the base station includes: each of the first UE and the second UE reporting the same relevant information to the base station on different resources with the same encoding and the same modulation, such that the base station is configured to decode the relevant information.

[0058] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, reporting relevant information to the base station includes: each of the first UE and the second UE reporting different relevant information to the base station, such that the base station is configured to decode the relevant information in the different relevant information received.

[0059] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, reporting relevant information to the base station includes: at least one of the first UE and the second UE reporting the relevant information to the base station, the reporting being configured by the base station via signaling, the signaling including at least one of the following: Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0060] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, method 400 may further include: at least one of the first UE and the second UE reporting to the base station a UE capability for reporting relevant information, such that the base station is configured to consider UEs with UE capabilities when reporting pairing information.

[0061] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / exemplifications(s), the relevant information includes at least one of the following: Channel State Information (CSI) report of the first UE, CSI report of the second UE, beam information of the first UE for transmission or reception, beam information of the second UE for transmission or reception, Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) information of the first UE, HARQ-ACK information of the second UE, UE aggregation transmission mode requested by the first UE, UE aggregation transmission mode requested by the second UE, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) information of the first UE for transmission or reception, MIMO information of the second UE for transmission or reception, interference measurement report of the first UE, interference measurement report of the second UE, measurement report of the first UE for neighboring cells, measurement report of the second UE for neighboring cells, measurement report of the first UE for adjacent frequencies, measurement report of the second UE for adjacent frequencies, measurement report of the first UE for the same frequency, measurement report of the second UE for the same frequency, and reference signals received power (RSRP) or reference signals received quality (RSR). Measurement report of the first UE for RSRP or RSRQ, measurement report of the second UE for RSRP or RSRQ, antenna port information of the first UE for transmission or reception, or antenna port information of the second UE for transmission or reception.

[0062] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, the base station is configured with at least one of the following: a UE aggregation transmission mode, or transmission information for UE aggregation transmission with a mode.

[0063] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, the mode includes at least one of the following: single frequency network (SFN) mode, time division modulation (TDM) mode, frequency division modulation (FDM) mode, space division mode, or code division mode; and / or the transmission information includes at least one of the following: timing advance for UE aggregation transmission, timing advance offset, or power information.

[0064] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, there is a mode in which the first UE requests UE aggregation transmission of the first UE; and / or a mode in which the second UE requests UE aggregation transmission of the second UE.

[0065] In some implementations, in addition to some, all, or any combination of the described implementations / executives, reporting pairing information to the base station includes: the first UE reporting pairing information to the base station, the pairing information indicating that the first UE is paired with another UE that does not have the identifier of the other UE; and / or reporting relevant information to the base station includes: the first UE reporting relevant information to the base station, the relevant information including information of the first UE and the second UE; and / or the base station is configured to schedule the transmission of the first UE based on the relevant information.

[0066] This disclosure describes various embodiments of reporting pairing information to a base station based on at least one of the following methods. In various embodiments of this disclosure, a pair of paired UEs for UE aggregation transmission may include a first UE (UE 1) and a second UE (UE 2); and UE 1 may be an anchor UE, and UE 2 may be an auxiliary UE, wherein UE 2 transmits data of UE 1 to the base station.

[0067] In one method (Method A1), a base station and a group of UEs can agree that, among paired UEs, UE 2 reports pairing information to the base station. That is, in UE aggregation transmission, the auxiliary UE reports pairing information to the base station. Thus, when the base station receives pairing information from a UE, it can directly identify that UE as the auxiliary UE. The base station can determine the corresponding anchor UE based on the UE identifier in the received pairing information. This way, the pairing information can contain only the anchor UE identifier, reducing signaling overhead.

[0068] In another method (method A2), the base station and a group of UEs can agree that among the paired UEs, UE 1 reports pairing information to the base station. That is, in UE aggregation transmission, the anchor UE reports pairing information to the base station. Thus, when the base station receives pairing information from a UE, it can directly identify that UE as the anchor UE. The base station can determine the corresponding auxiliary UE based on the UE identifier in the received pairing information. This way, the pairing information can contain only the identifier of the auxiliary UE, reducing signaling overhead.

[0069] In another method (method A3), UE 1 and UE 2 can report pairing information to the base station separately. This method is suitable when both UE 1 and UE 2 are located in poor channel environments (such as cell edges). In some implementations, UE 1 and UE 2 can report the same bits of the pairing information to the base station (and use the same encoding and modulation for the pairing information). The base station performs joint decoding on the pairing information received from UE 1 and UE 2 to improve reliability. Thus, the pairing information contains the identifiers of UE 1 and UE 2 and indicates the types of UE 1 and UE 2 (e.g., UE 1 is an anchor UE, and UE 2 is a secondary UE). Based on the received pairing information, the base station determines that UE 1 and UE 2 are paired, and that UE 1 is an anchor UE and UE 2 is a secondary UE. In some other implementations, the bits of the pairing information reported by UE 1 and UE 2 can also be different. For example, in the bits of the pairing information reported by UE 1, the identifier of UE 1 is placed before the identifier of UE 2. In the pairing information bits reported by UE 2, the identifier of UE 1 is placed after the identifier of UE 2. This prevents joint decoding from working properly, but it is still valid.

[0070] For another approach (approach A4), the base station configures the reporting mode of pairing information via signaling (e.g., RRC signaling or MAC CE). For example, the base station configures pairing information reported by UE 1 and / or UE 2 (i.e., by the anchor UE and / or the auxiliary UE).

[0071] For another method (method A5), UE capabilities can be introduced to describe whether a UE has (or does not have) the ability to report pairing information. That is, when a UE reports that it possesses the aforementioned capability, the base station considers that the UE can be configured to report pairing information; otherwise, the base station considers that the UE cannot be configured to report pairing information. When all paired UEs possess the aforementioned capabilities, the base station and the group of UEs can agree to report pairing information based on any one of methods A1, A2, A3, and / or A4, or a combination of methods A1, A2, A3, and / or A4.

[0072] This disclosure describes various embodiments in which the pairing information includes at least one of the following: the identifier of the UE performing the UE aggregation transmission (such as the identifier of UE 1 and / or the identifier of UE 2), and / or the type of the UE performing the UE aggregation transmission (e.g., UE 1 is a secondary UE or an anchor UE, and / or UE 2 is a secondary UE or an anchor UE). In some embodiments, some of the above information may be implicit and not explicitly included in the pairing information. For a non-limiting example, in method A1 described above, the pairing information does not include the identifier of UE 2 and the type of UE 2, and UE 2 is identified as a secondary UE by agreeing that the secondary UE reports the pairing information. The identifier of UE 2 can be determined as the identifier of the UE reporting the pairing information.

[0073] This disclosure describes various embodiments in which paired UE 1 and UE 2 are each other's auxiliary UE and anchor UE, i.e., "peer" UEs. When UE 1 and UE 2 are paired, UE 1 can transmit data from UE 2, and UE 2 can also transmit data from UE 1. In response to this, pairing information should indicate that UE 1 and UE 2 are each other's auxiliary UE and anchor UE (or peer UE), such as through explicit parameter indication or implicit signaling structure.

[0074] In some implementations, for example, in method A1, when UE 1 and UE 2 are each other's auxiliary UE and anchor UE, the pairing information reported by UE 2 also includes an indication that UE 1 and UE 2 are each other's auxiliary UE and anchor UE.

[0075] In some implementations, for example, in method A2, when UE 1 and UE 2 are each other's auxiliary UE and anchor UE, the pairing information reported by UE 1 also includes an indication that UE 1 and UE 2 are each other's auxiliary UE and anchor UE.

[0076] In some implementations, for example, in method A3, when UE1 and UE2 are each other's auxiliary UE and anchor UE, the pairing information reported by UE1 and UE2 also includes an indication that UE1 and UE2 are each other's auxiliary UE and anchor UE.

[0077] In some implementations, for any or all of the methods A1-A5 above, to reduce signaling overhead, the base station and the group of UEs may also agree that when the pairing information does not include the type of UE performing UE aggregation transmission, it indicates that the paired UEs are each other's auxiliary UEs and anchor UEs. For a non-limiting example, in method A3, when the pairing information does not contain parameter indications that UE1 and UE2 are each other's auxiliary UEs and anchor UEs, the base station and the group of UEs consider UE1 and UE2 in the pairing information to be each other's auxiliary UEs and anchor UEs, and vice versa.

[0078] This disclosure describes various embodiments of reporting relevant information for UE aggregation transmission based on at least one of the following methods. In various embodiments of this disclosure, a pair of paired UEs for UE aggregation transmission may include a first UE (UE 1) and a second UE (UE 2); and UE 1 may be an anchor UE, and UE 2 may be an auxiliary UE, wherein UE 2 transmits data of UE 1 to a base station.

[0079] In one method (Method B1), the base station and the UE agree that, among paired UEs, UE 2 reports relevant information to the base station. That is, the auxiliary UE reports relevant information to the base station. Thus, when the base station receives relevant information from UE 2, the base station can obtain the relevant information from both UE 1 and UE 2. In other words, the relevant information reported by UE 2 includes both the relevant information from UE 1 and the relevant information from UE 2.

[0080] In another method (Method B2), the base station and the UE agree that, among paired UEs, UE 1 reports relevant information to the base station. That is, the anchor UE reports relevant information to the base station. Thus, when the base station receives relevant information from UE 1, it can determine the relevant information of UE 1 and UE 2 based on the information reported by UE 1. In other words, the relevant information reported by UE 1 includes both the relevant information of UE 1 and the relevant information of UE 2.

[0081] In another method (method B3), UE 1 and UE 2 each report the same relevant information to the base station. This method is suitable when both UE 1 and UE 2 are located in poor channel environments (such as cell edges). For example, UE 1 and UE 2 each report the same bits of relevant information (and use the same encoding and modulation for the relevant information), allowing the base station to jointly decode the relevant information received from UE 1 and UE 2 to improve reliability.

[0082] In another method (Method B4), UE 1 and UE 2 report different relevant information to the base station. This method is suitable when both UE 1 and UE 2 are located in poor channel environments (such as cell edges). For example, UE 1 and UE 2 report different bits of relevant information. For instance, in the bits of relevant information reported by UE 1, UE 1's identifier is placed before UE 2's identifier. In the bits of relevant information reported by UE 2, UE 1's identifier is placed after UE 2's identifier. This may degrade the performance of joint decoding, but it remains effective.

[0083] For another approach (Approach B5), the base station configures the reporting mode for relevant information via signaling (such as RRC signaling or MAC CE). For example, the base station configures relevant information reported by UE 1 and / or UE 2 (i.e., by the anchor UE and / or the auxiliary UE).

[0084] For another method (method B6), UE capabilities are introduced to describe whether a UE has (or does not have) the ability to report relevant information. That is, when a UE reports that it possesses the aforementioned capability, the base station considers that the UE can be configured to report relevant information; otherwise, the base station considers that the UE cannot be configured to report relevant information. When all paired UEs possess the above capabilities, the base station and the UE agree to report relevant information based on methods B1 to B5.

[0085] This disclosure describes various embodiments, wherein the aforementioned related information includes at least one of the following: CSI reports of UE 1 and / or UE 2, beam information of UE 1 and / or UE 2 for transmission or reception, HARQ-ACK information of UE 1 and / or UE 2, UE aggregation transmission mode requested by UE 1 and / or UE 2, MIMO information of UE 1 and / or UE 2 for transmission or reception, interference measurement reports of UE 1 and / or UE 2 for neighboring cells, measurement reports of UE 1 and / or UE 2 for adjacent frequencies, measurement reports of UE 1 and / or UE 2 for the same frequency, measurement reports of UE 1 and / or UE 2 for RSRP / RSRQ, and antenna port information (such as the number of supported antenna ports) of UE 1 and / or UE 2 for transmission or reception.

[0086] This disclosure describes various embodiments in which a base station can configure the mode or purpose of UE aggregation transmission via signaling (such as RRC signaling, MAC CE, or DCI signaling). For example, the base station can configure UE 1 and UE 2 to perform UE aggregation transmission according to an aggregation transmission mode. In this disclosure, the UE aggregation transmission mode includes at least one of the following modes.

[0087] To improve reliability, the aggregated transmission mode may include at least one of the following: Single Frequency Network (SFN) mode, in which UE 1 and UE 2 use the same coding and modulation and the same time-frequency resources to transmit the same data of UE 1; Time Division Modulation (TDM) mode, in which UE 1 and UE 2 use the same / different coding and modulation and use time-division resources to transmit the same data of UE 1; Frequency Division Modulation (FDM) mode, in which UE 1 and UE 2 use the same / different coding and modulation and use frequency-division resources to transmit the same data of UE 1; Space Division mode or Code Division mode, in which UE 1 and UE 2 can use the same time-frequency resources with different beams or precoding to transmit the same data of UE 1.

[0088] To improve throughput, the aggregation transmission mode includes at least one of the following: TDM mode, in which UE 1 and UE 2 transmit different data of UE 1 respectively; FDM mode, in which UE 1 and UE 2 transmit different data of UE 1; space division mode or code division mode, in which UE 1 and UE 2 transmit different data of UE 1.

[0089] In some implementations, the base station may also configure the information and resources required for the aggregated transmission mode to the paired UE to implement the transmission mode. In some implementations, the base station does not need to explicitly configure the aggregated transmission mode.

[0090] In some implementations, UE 1 can report pairing information and request a UE aggregation transmission mode to the base station, such as based on UE 1's data transmission requirements. In some implementations, UE 2 can report pairing information and request a UE aggregation transmission mode to the base station. In some implementations, when UE 2 requests a UE aggregation transmission mode, the requested UE aggregation transmission mode is also notified to UE 2 by UE 1. For example, UE 1 requests UE aggregation transmission for reliability, or UE 1 requests UE aggregation transmission to improve transmission throughput. After receiving the request, the base station can configure the corresponding UE aggregation transmission mode, or the base station can configure corresponding information and resources to implement the requested UE aggregation transmission mode.

[0091] In some implementations, the base station can be configured with timing advance for UE aggregation transmission. For example, when SFN mode is configured for UE aggregation transmission, the base station can configure the timing advance required for pairing UEs for the aggregation transmission of UE 1 and UE 2.

[0092] In some implementations, for example, the base station notifies UE 1 and UE 2 of a timing advance offset based on UE 2's timing advance. For instance, this offset is based on UE 2's timing, and UE 1 adjusts its own timing based on this offset, ultimately achieving timing synchronization between UE 1 and UE 2. In some implementations, the base station may separately notify UE 1 and UE 2 of the timing advance. UE 1 and UE 2 can then adjust their respective timings based on the notified timing advance, ultimately achieving time synchronization between UE 1 and UE 2.

[0093] In some implementations, the base station can configure power information for UE 1 and UE 2 for UE aggregation transmission.

[0094] In some implementations, the base station can configure an SFN mode for paired UEs for UE aggregation transmission. Furthermore, for SFN mode, the base station can configure resources, reference signal patterns within the resources, and cyclic prefixes for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols within the resources. UE 1 and UE 2 can perform UE aggregation transmission within the configured resources using the configured reference signal patterns and cyclic prefixes. The reference signal patterns may be denser; and / or the cyclic prefixes may be longer.

[0095] This disclosure describes other exemplary embodiments for reporting pairing information and related information. Specifically, UE 1 and UE 2 are paired, and UE 2 transmits data from UE 1 to the base station. However, the base station is unaware that the data transmitted by UE 2 is data from UE 1. UE 2 acts as an "invisible helper" for UE 1, extending UE 1's capabilities for transmission. In some implementations, this situation may be referred to as transparent mode.

[0096] In some implementations, UE 1 may report pairing information to the base station. This information only indicates to the base station that UE 1 has a paired UE for UE aggregation transmission, but the pairing information may not include the identifier of the paired UE. The identifier of the UE paired with UE 1 is not notified to the base station. In this way, the base station can assist UE 1 in data transmission simply by knowing that UE 1 has a paired UE.

[0097] In this scenario, regarding the information reported by UE 1 for UE aggregation transmission, UE 1 can implicitly report the relevant information of UE 2 to the base station. The reported information does not need to identify the relevant information of UE 2. The relevant information of UE 2 can be integrated into the relevant information of UE 1. Thus, after receiving the relevant information, the base station considers the relevant information of UE 2 to belong to UE 1 and schedules the transmission of UE 1 based on the relevant information reported by UE 1.

[0098] For a non-limiting example, assume that UE 1 can support a maximum of 4 antenna ports for transmission, and UE 2 can support a maximum of 4 antenna ports for transmission. When UE 1 reports information associated with its antenna ports to the base station, UE 1 can report that it supports a maximum of 8 antenna ports for transmission, meaning that UE 2's 4 antenna ports are used as an additional 4 antenna ports for UE 1. Thus, after receiving the antenna port-related information reported by UE 1, the base station considers that UE 1 can support a maximum of 8 antenna ports for transmission; and the base station can schedule UE 1's transmission based on these 8 antenna ports.

[0099] When the base station schedules the transmission of UE1 based on 8 antenna ports, UE1 and UE2 can perform simultaneous transmission based on 4 antenna ports of UE1 and 4 antenna ports of UE2 respectively, thereby increasing the transmission capacity of UE1 through UE2.

[0100] When UE 1 is configured with CSI-RS resources for base station measurements, these resources can be configured based on eight antenna ports, which include the sum of the antenna ports of UE 1 and UE 2. For example, eight CSI-RS resource sets are configured for UE 1, and UE 1 uses a portion of these eight CSI-RS resource sets (e.g., four CSI-RS resource sets) to perform measurements and generate measurement results. In some implementations, UE 1 can notify UE 2 of CSI-RS resources from the eight CSI-RS resource sets configured for UE 1, for example, the remaining four CSI-RS resource sets; and UE 2 uses the notified CSI-RS resources to perform measurements and generate measurement results.

[0101] In some implementations, UE 1 can obtain the measurement results of UE 2 through peer-to-peer interaction.

[0102] For a non-limiting example, UE 1 forms the final measurement result based on the measurement results of UE 1 and UE 2, along with the configured 8 CSI-RS resource sets. The measurement results of UE 1 and UE 2 are merged based on the configured 8 CSI-RS resource sets to form the final measurement report, for example, in ascending or descending order of the index of the 8 configured CSI-RS resource sets; and / or, UE 1 reports the final measurement result to the base station.

[0103] In some implementations, the base station can schedule UE1's data (including uplink control information) based on the final measurement results. UE1 can allocate UE1's data to UE2 based on the measurement results of UE1 and UE2 in the final measurement results. UE2 transmits the allocated UE1 data based on the aforementioned measurement results of UE2. UE1 transmits the remaining UE1 data based on the aforementioned measurement results of UE1.

[0104] In some implementations, the final measurement result can also be used as one of the aforementioned relevant information. In the above-described method for reporting relevant information, UE 1 and / or UE 2 can report the final measurement result to the base station.

[0105] This disclosure describes methods, apparatus, and computer-readable media for wireless communication. This disclosure addresses the issue of UE aggregation. The methods, apparatus, and computer-readable media described in this disclosure can improve the performance of wireless communication, thereby enhancing efficiency and overall performance. The methods, apparatus, and computer-readable media described in this disclosure can improve the overall efficiency of wireless communication systems.

[0106] In some other embodiments, a computer-readable medium includes instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the methods described above. A computer-readable medium may be referred to as a non-transitory computer-readable medium (CRM) that can store data for a relatively long period, such as a flash drive or compact disk (CD); or it may store data for a relatively short period when powered, such as a memory device or random access memory (RAM). In some embodiments, computer-readable instructions may be included in software embodied in one or more tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media. Such non-transitory computer-readable media may be associated with a user-accessible mass storage device or with a specific short-duration storage device (e.g., an internal mass storage device or ROM) having non-transitory properties. Software implementing various embodiments of this disclosure may be stored in such devices and executed by a processor (or processing circuitry). Depending on specific needs, a computer-readable medium may include one or more storage devices or chips. Software can cause processors (including CPUs, GPUs, and FPGAs) to execute specific processes or specific parts of specific processes as described herein, including defining data structures stored in RAM and modifying such data structures according to software-defined processes.

[0107] References to features, advantages, or similar language throughout this specification do not imply that all features and advantages achievable using this solution should be included or included in any single implementation thereof. Rather, references to these features and advantages are to be understood as indicating that a particular feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of this solution. Therefore, throughout this specification, discussions of these features and advantages and similar language may, but are not necessarily, of the same embodiment.

[0108] Furthermore, in one or more embodiments, the features, advantages, and characteristics of this solution can be combined in any suitable manner. As a non-limiting example, a portion of one or more embodiments may be combined with another portion of other embodiments. Those skilled in the art will recognize that, based on the description herein, this solution can be practiced without one or more specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other instances, additional features and advantages that may not be present in all embodiments of this solution may be recognized in certain embodiments.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication, comprising: User Equipment (UE) aggregated transmission is determined in the following ways: Report pairing information to the base station; as well as Report relevant information to the base station; The first UE and the second UE are paired for UE aggregation transmission.

2. A method for wireless communication, comprising: Configure user equipment (UE) aggregated transmission in the following ways: The pairing information is received by the base station; as well as The base station receives the relevant information. The first UE and the second UE are paired for UE aggregation transmission.

3. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein: The second UE is determined to transmit the data of the first UE to the base station, and the data of the first UE includes uplink control information (UCI).

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, Reporting the pairing information to the base station includes: The second UE reports the pairing information to the base station, the pairing information including the identifier of the first UE, such that the base station is configured to determine that the second UE transmits data of the first UE to the base station.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, Reporting the pairing information to the base station includes: The first UE reports the pairing information to the base station, the pairing information including the identifier of the second UE, such that the base station is configured to determine that the second UE transmits data of the first UE to the base station.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, Reporting the pairing information to the base station includes: Each of the first UE and the second UE reports the same pairing information to the base station on the same resource with the same encoding and the same modulation. The pairing information includes the identifiers of the first UE and the second UE, such that the base station is configured to determine that the second UE transmits data of the first UE to the base station.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, Reporting the pairing information to the base station includes: The pairing information is reported to the base station by at least one of the first UE and the second UE. The report is configured by the base station via signaling, which includes at least one of the following: Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE).

8. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 7, further comprising: The base station is configured to consider the UE with the reported pairing information when reporting the pairing information, such that at least one of the first UE and the second UE reports the UE capability for reporting the pairing information to the base station.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The pairing information includes at least one of the following: the identifier of the UE performing the UE aggregation transmission, or the role type of the UE performing the UE aggregation transmission.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The role type of the UE performing the UE aggregation transmission includes at least one of the following: anchor UE, auxiliary UE, or peer UE; Wherein, in response to the second UE being determined to transmit data of the first UE to the base station and the first UE being determined not to transmit data of the second UE to the base station, the first UE is the anchor UE and the second UE is the auxiliary UE; and Wherein, in response to the second UE being determined to transmit the data of the first UE to the base station, and the first UE being determined to transmit the data of the second UE to the base station, the first UE and the second UE are the peer UEs.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The pairing information includes at least one of the following: the identifier of the UE performing the UE aggregation transmission, the role type of the UE performing the UE aggregation transmission, or an indication that they are an anchor UE and an auxiliary UE to each other.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, The relevant information reported to the base station includes: The second UE reports the relevant information to the base station, and the relevant information includes information about the first UE and the second UE.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, The relevant information reported to the base station includes: The first UE reports the relevant information to the base station, and the relevant information includes information about the first UE and the second UE.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, The relevant information reported to the base station includes: Each of the first UE and the second UE reports the same relevant information to the base station on the same resource with the same encoding and the same modulation, such that the base station is configured to decode the relevant information.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, The relevant information reported to the base station includes: Each of the first UE and the second UE reports different relevant information to the base station, such that the base station is configured to decode the relevant information in the different received relevant information.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, The relevant information reported to the base station includes: The relevant information is reported to the base station by at least one of the first UE and the second UE. The report is configured by the base station via signaling, which includes at least one of the following: Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE).

17. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 16, further comprising: The base station is configured to consider the UE with the aforementioned UE capability when reporting the relevant information, such that at least one of the first UE and the second UE reports the UE capability to the base station.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The relevant information includes at least one of the following: Channel State Information (CSI) report of the first UE, CSI report of the second UE, beam information of the first UE for transmission or reception, beam information of the second UE for transmission or reception, Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) information of the first UE, HARQ-ACK information of the second UE, UE aggregation transmission mode requested by the first UE, UE aggregation transmission mode requested by the second UE, Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) information of the first UE for transmission or reception, MIMO information of the second UE for transmission or reception, and interference measurement report of the first UE. Interference measurement report of the second UE, measurement report of the first UE for neighboring cells, measurement report of the second UE for neighboring cells, measurement report of the first UE for adjacent frequencies, measurement report of the second UE for adjacent frequencies, measurement report of the first UE for the same frequency, measurement report of the second UE for the same frequency, measurement report of the first UE for reference signal received power (RSRP) or reference signal received quality (RSRQ), measurement report of the second UE for RSRP or RSRQ, antenna port information of the first UE for transmission or reception, or antenna port information of the second UE for transmission or reception.

19. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The base station is configured with at least one of the following: the mode of the UE aggregation transmission, or transmission information for the UE aggregation transmission having the mode.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein: The mode includes at least one of the following: Single Frequency Network (SFN) mode, Time Division Modulation (TDM) mode, Frequency Division Modulation (FDM) mode, Space Division mode, or Code Division mode; and The transmission information includes at least one of the following: timing advance for the UE aggregated transmission, offset of the timing advance, or power information.

21. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The first UE requests the UE aggregation transmission mode of the first UE; or The mode of UE aggregation transmission requested by the second UE.

22. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: Reporting the pairing information to the base station includes: The first UE reports the pairing information to the base station, the pairing information indicating that the first UE is paired with another UE that does not have the identifier of another UE; The relevant information reported to the base station includes: The first UE reports the relevant information to the base station, the relevant information including information of the first UE and information of the second UE; and The base station is configured to schedule the transmission of the first UE based on the relevant information.

23. A wireless communication device, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein, The processor is configured to read code from the memory and implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 22.

24. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable program medium, wherein code is stored on the computer-readable program medium, and the code, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 22.

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