Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and a communication device. The method comprises: a user equipment (UE) obtaining a first time-frequency resource and a second time-frequency resource, wherein the first time-frequency resource is designated for transmitting a first uplink signal, the second time-frequency resource is designated for transmitting a second uplink signal, and the first time-frequency resource at least partially overlaps with the second time-frequency resource. Furthermore, the UE transmits the first uplink signal on the first time-frequency resource of a first transmission layer, and transmits the second uplink signal on one or both of the first transmission layer and a second transmission layer. According to the method and the corresponding device, more time-frequency resources can be utilized to transmit and / or receive the uplink signals. Compared with single-layer uplink signal transmission, this can more easily solve the conflict between the uplink signal transmissions, thereby improving the robustness and reliability of multiple uplink signal transmissions.

Description

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 63 / 565,367, filed March 14, 2024, entitled “PUCCH MULTIPLEXING FOR T-MIMO,” the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This application relates to the field of communications, and more specifically, to a communication method and a communication device. For example, the communication method and the communication device can be used in uplink transmission or sidelink transmission. Background Technology

[0003] In existing communication systems, uplink control signals in the physical (PHY) layer are transmitted on a single transport layer of time-frequency resources, which are typically shared by different types of uplink control information (UCI). Since all UCIs are transmitted on a single layer, control channel resources (e.g., PUCCH) carrying these UCIs may conflict. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a communication method and a communication device. The above technical solutions can improve the robustness and reliability of multiple uplink control signal transmissions.

[0005] According to a first aspect, a communication method is described. The method can be applied to a terminal side, such as a terminal or a module within a terminal, a circuit or chip within a terminal that performs communication functions (e.g., a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system-on-chip (SoC) or system-in-package (SIP) chip including a modem core). For example, the method is applied to a terminal, and the method includes: acquiring a first time-frequency resource and a second time-frequency resource, wherein the first time-frequency resource is designated for transmitting a first uplink signal, and the second time-frequency resource is designated for transmitting a second uplink signal, the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource at least partially overlapping; transmitting the first uplink signal on the first time-frequency resource of a first transport layer; and transmitting the second uplink signal on one or both of the first and second transport layers.

[0006] In some embodiments, the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource at least partially overlap, indicating that the two time-frequency resources are on the same transport layer and that the two time-frequency resources have a time slot (or multiple OFDM symbols) duration in the time domain and at least one physical resource block (PRB) overlaps in the frequency domain. For example, both layer #0 and layer #1 have three PRBs (i.e., PRB#0, PRB#1, and PRB#2). Resource #0 is the set of PRB#0 and PRB#1 on layer #0, and resource #1 is the set of PRB#1 and PRB#2 on layer #1, wherein resource #0 and resource #1 partially overlap on PRB#1; resource #2 is the set of PRB#0 and PRB#1 on layer #1, wherein resource #0 and resource #2 completely overlap on PRB#0 and PRB#1.

[0007] According to the above technical solution, more time-frequency resources can be utilized to send and / or receive the uplink signals. Compared with single-layer uplink signal transmission, this makes it easier to resolve conflicts between uplink signal transmissions, thereby improving the robustness and reliability of multiple uplink signal transmissions.

[0008] In one possible design, the first uplink signal includes a first uplink control signal, and the second uplink signal includes a second uplink control signal.

[0009] According to the above technical solution, more time-frequency resources can be utilized to send and / or receive the control signals. Compared with single-layer uplink signal transmission, this makes it easier to resolve conflicts between control signal transmissions, thereby improving the robustness and reliability of multiple control signal transmissions.

[0010] In one possible design, transmitting the second uplink signal on one or both of the first and second transport layers includes transmitting the second uplink signal on a second time-frequency resource of the second transport layer.

[0011] According to the above technical solution, the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource can reduce interference between multiple control signal transmissions.

[0012] In one possible design, transmitting the second uplink signal on one or both of the first and second transport layers includes: transmitting a portion of the second uplink signal on a first portion of a second time-frequency resource on the first transport layer, wherein the first portion of the second time-frequency resource does not overlap with the first time-frequency resource; and transmitting the remaining portion of the second uplink signal on the second time-frequency resource on the second transport layer.

[0013] According to the above technical solution, most of the data in the second uplink signal can be transmitted on the transmission layer with high channel quality, so as to accommodate various types of feedback data.

[0014] In one possible design, the first uplink signal is transmitted on a first PUCCH having a first PUCCH format, and the second uplink signal is transmitted on a second PUCCH having a second PUCCH format, wherein the first PUCCH is transmitted over one or two time units, and the second PUCCH is transmitted over more time units than the time units used for the first PUCCH.

[0015] According to the above technical solution, short uplink signals are used to reduce UCI feedback latency, and sending short uplink signals on the transmission layer with high channel quality further reduces latency.

[0016] In one possible design, the method further includes receiving indication information indicating that the priority of the first uplink signal is higher than the priority of the second uplink signal.

[0017] According to the above technical solution, critical signals can be sent with higher priority to reduce resource waste and lower latency.

[0018] In one possible design, the channel quality of the first transport layer is better than that of the second transport layer.

[0019] According to the above technical solution, critical signals can be transmitted on the transmission layer with high channel quality, thereby reducing resource waste and lowering latency.

[0020] In one possible design, the first uplink signal includes one or more of the following: service request (SR), hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledge (HARQ-ACK), and channel state information (CSI).

[0021] In one possible design, the second uplink signal includes one or both of CSI and feedback data.

[0022] In one possible design, the first uplink signal and the second uplink signal are uplink control signals or uplink feedback signals of different types.

[0023] According to the above technical solution, the data carried on the first uplink signal is more important than the data carried on the second uplink signal.

[0024] According to the second aspect, a method can be applied to the network side, such as a location server on the network side or a component (e.g., circuitry, chip, or chip system) within the location server. For example, the method applied to a location server includes: receiving a first uplink signal on a first time-frequency resource of a first transport layer; receiving a second uplink signal on one or both of the first and second transport layers; wherein the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource at least partially overlap.

[0025] In one possible design, the first uplink signal includes a first uplink control signal, and the second uplink signal includes a second uplink control signal.

[0026] In one possible design, receiving the second uplink signal on one or both of the first and second transport layers includes receiving the second uplink signal on a second time-frequency resource of the second transport layer.

[0027] In one possible design, receiving the second uplink signal on one or both of the first and second transport layers includes: receiving a portion of the second uplink signal on a first portion of a second time-frequency resource on the first transport layer, wherein the first portion of the second time-frequency resource does not overlap with the first time-frequency resource; and receiving the remaining portion of the second uplink signal on a second portion of the second time-frequency resource on the second transport layer.

[0028] In one possible design, the first uplink signal is transmitted on a first PUCCH having a first PUCCH format, and the second uplink signal is transmitted on a second PUCCH having a second PUCCH format, wherein the first PUCCH is transmitted over one or two time units, and the second PUCCH is transmitted over more time units than the time units used for the first PUCCH.

[0029] In one possible design, the method further includes sending indication information indicating that the priority of the first uplink signal is higher than the priority of the second uplink signal.

[0030] In one possible design, the indication information is carried on downlink control information and / or radio resource control signaling.

[0031] In one possible design, the channel quality of the first transport layer is better than that of the second transport layer.

[0032] In one possible design, the first uplink signal includes one or more of SR, HARQ-ACK, and CSI.

[0033] In one possible design, the second uplink signal includes one or both of CSI and feedback data.

[0034] In one possible design, the first uplink signal and the second uplink signal are uplink control signals or uplink feedback signals of different types.

[0035] The various implementations of the second aspect correspond to the various implementations of the first aspect. For the various implementations of the second aspect and their beneficial technical effects, please refer to the description of the relevant implementations of the first aspect; these will not be repeated here.

[0036] According to a third aspect, a communication method is described. The method can be applied to the terminal side described in the first aspect, and the method includes: acquiring a first time-frequency resource and a second time-frequency resource, wherein the first time-frequency resource is designated for transmitting a first uplink signal, and the second time-frequency resource is designated for transmitting a second uplink signal, the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource at least partially overlapping; transmitting the first uplink signal on both a first transport layer and a second transport layer; and transmitting the second uplink signal on both the first transport layer and the second transport layer.

[0037] According to the fourth aspect, a method can be applied to the network side described in the second aspect, the method comprising: receiving a first uplink signal on both a first transport layer and a second transport layer; and receiving a second uplink signal on both the first transport layer and the second transport layer.

[0038] According to the above technical solution, each of the multiple uplink signals has an equal chance of being transmitted on a transmission layer with high channel quality. This can significantly improve the transmission performance of all uplink signals.

[0039] According to a fifth aspect, a communication method is described. The method can be applied to the terminal side described in the first aspect, and the method includes: determining a third transport layer in a transport layer set for transmitting a first uplink signal based on the state of a second uplink signal comprising two or more states, wherein each state of the second uplink signal corresponds to a transport layer in the transport layer set; transmitting the first uplink signal on the third transport layer, wherein the third transport layer implicitly indicates the state of the second uplink signal.

[0040] According to the sixth aspect, a method can be applied to the network side of the second aspect, the method comprising: receiving a first uplink signal on a third transport layer of a transport layer set, wherein the third transport layer implicitly indicates the state of a second uplink signal.

[0041] According to the above technical solution, the uplink control signal, including HARQ-ACK, can also indicate SR, thus requiring a reduction in the payload of the uplink control signal transmission. Compared to single-layer control signal transmission, this can significantly increase the capacity of the control signal transmission.

[0042] According to the seventh aspect, another communication device is described. The communication device has the functions of implementing the first, third, or fifth aspects. For example, the communication device includes corresponding modules, units, or components for performing the operations in the first aspect. Specifically, the modules, units, or components can be implemented using software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0043] According to the eighth aspect, another communication device is described. The communication device has the functions of implementing the second, fourth, or sixth aspects. For example, the communication device includes corresponding modules, units, or components for performing the operations in the second aspect. Specifically, the modules, units, or components can be implemented using software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0044] According to the ninth aspect, another communication device is described. The communication device includes a memory and one or more processors. The memory is used to store part or all of a computer program or instructions necessary for implementing the functions in the first aspect. The one or more processors can execute the computer program or instructions, which, when executed, enable the communication device to implement the methods described in any possible design or implementation of the first aspect, the third aspect, or the fifth aspect.

[0045] In some embodiments, the communication device may further include an interface circuit, through which the processor communicates with another device or component.

[0046] In some embodiments, the communication device may further include the memory.

[0047] The communication device may be a terminal, a module in the terminal, or a chip in the terminal that performs communication functions (e.g., a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a SoC chip or SIP chip that includes a modem module).

[0048] According to the tenth aspect, another communication device is described. The communication device includes a memory and one or more processors. The memory is used to store part or all of a computer program or instructions necessary for implementing the functions in the second aspect. The one or more processors can execute the computer program or instructions, which, when executed, enable the communication device to implement the methods described in any possible design or implementation of the second, fourth, or sixth aspects.

[0049] According to the eleventh aspect, a communication system is described. The communication system includes a first communication device for performing the method described in any possible design or implementation of the first, third, or fifth aspect, and a second communication device for performing the method described in any possible design or implementation of the second, fourth, or sixth aspect.

[0050] According to a twelfth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is described. The computer-readable storage medium stores computer-readable instructions that, when read and executed by a computer, enable the computer to perform the method described in any of the possible designs of the first to sixth aspects.

[0051] According to a thirteenth aspect, this application provides a computer program product. When read and executed by a computer, the computer program product enables the computer to perform the method described in any of the possible designs of the first to sixth aspects. Attached Figure Description

[0052] Figure 1 A schematic diagram illustrating an application scenario according to this application is shown; Figure 2 An exemplary communication system 100 is shown; Figure 3 Another example of ED 110 and base stations 170a, 170b and / or 170c is shown; Figure 4 Examples of units or modules in the device are shown; Figure 5 An example of a channel model for a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system is shown; Figure 6 A schematic flowchart of a communication method 600 according to an embodiment of this application is shown; Figure 7 Examples of PUCCHs occupying different numbers of time units transmitted at different transport layers are shown in this application; Figure 8 This application illustrates an example of a PUCCH carrying different types of uplink signals being transmitted simultaneously on different transport layers. Figure 9 An example of the PUCCH of this application used to indicate a control signal carrying a positive or negative indication is shown; Figure 10 An example of the PUCCH carrying CSI in this application being transmitted simultaneously on different transport layers is shown; Figure 11 This application illustrates an example where both PUCCHs are divided into two parts and transmitted on different transport layers; Figure 12 This application illustrates an example of simultaneous transmission of PUCCH carrying different types of uplink signals; Figure 13 This application illustrates another example of simultaneous transmission of PUCCH carrying different types of uplink signals; Figure 14 A schematic block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of this application is shown; Figure 15 A schematic block diagram of another communication device according to one embodiment of this application is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0053] The technical solution of this application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0054] The technical solutions in this application embodiment can be applied to multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology. The technical solutions in this application embodiment can be applied to various communication systems, such as fifth-generation (5G) wireless communication systems, new radio (NR) wireless communication systems, Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems, wireless local area networks (WLANs), satellite communication systems, or other evolved communication systems.

[0055] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, the following are used Figures 1 to 4 The communication system shown is an example, and a detailed description of the communication system applicable to the embodiments of this application will be provided.

[0056] refer to Figure 1As an illustrative example, a simplified schematic diagram of a communication system is provided. Communication system 100 may include a radio access network (RAN) 120. The RAN 120 may be a future-generation RAN or a traditional (e.g., 5th generation, 4th generation, 3rd generation, or 2nd generation) RAN. In some implementations, radio access refers to a standard next-generation air interface, which may include terrestrial networks (TN) and non-terrestrial networks (NTN), as described in more detail below. One or more electronic devices (EDs) 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e, 110f, 110g, 110h, 110i, and 110j (collectively referred to as 110) may interconnect with each other or be connected to one or more network nodes 170a and 170b (collectively referred to as 170) in RAN 120. The core network (CN) 130 may be part of the communication system and may depend on or be independent of the radio access technology used in the communication system 100. The communication system 100 may also include a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160.

[0057] Typically, communication system 100 enables communication between multiple wireless or wired components. Communication system 100 can provide voice, data, video, and / or text content through broadcasting, multicasting, unicasting, etc. Communication system 100 can operate by sharing resources such as carrier spectrum bandwidth among its constituent components.

[0058] Communication system 100 can provide a wide range of communication services and applications, including enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services, ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) services, massive machine-type communication (mMTC) services, integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), immersive communication, massive communication, ultra-reliable low-latency communication, ubiquitous connectivity, integrated AI and communication, and other services that future-generation communication systems can provide. Communication system 100 can also provide other services and applications such as earth monitoring, remote sensing, passive sensing and positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility, etc.

[0059] Communication system 100 may include a terrestrial communication system (or network) and / or a non-terrestrial communication system (or network). Communication system 100 can provide high availability and robustness through the joint operation of the terrestrial and non-terrestrial communication systems. For example, integrating a non-terrestrial communication system (or components thereof) into a terrestrial communication system can create a heterogeneous network comprising multiple layers. This heterogeneous network can achieve better overall performance through efficient multi-link joint operation between the terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks, more flexible function sharing, and faster physical layer link switching. The terrestrial communication system and the non-terrestrial communication system can be considered as subsystems of communication system 100.

[0060] Figure 2Another example of communication system 100 is shown. As previously described, communication system 100 may include ED 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d (collectively referred to as ED 110), RAN 120a, 120b, and one or more of CN 130, PSTN 140, Internet 150, and other networks 160. Furthermore, communication system 100 may also include a non-terrestrial network (NTN) 120c. RAN 120a, 120b may include corresponding network nodes 170a, 170b (e.g., base stations 170a, 170b), which may be collectively referred to as terrestrial network (TN) equipment or terrestrial transmit and receive points (T-TRPs) 170a, 170b (collectively referred to as 170). As mentioned herein, unless explicitly stated otherwise in a given example or section, the terms “TRP” and “base station” are used interchangeably. For simplicity, this invention may primarily refer to base stations; however, without explicit limitation, reference to TRP is merely a non-limiting example used interchangeably. T-TRPs 170a and 170b may be base stations installed on buildings or towers. In one implementation, NTN 120c includes RAN nodes (e.g., base station 172), which may be collectively referred to as NTN equipment, non-terrestrial nodes, non-terrestrial network equipment, non-terrestrial base stations, or non-terrestrial transmit and receive points (NT-TRPs) 172.

[0061] In some implementations, such as in the case of an airborne base station, the NT-TRP 172 is not attached to the ground. Airborne base stations can be implemented using communication equipment supported or carried by flying equipment. For example, flying equipment can include airborne platforms (e.g., airships or spacecraft), balloons, unmanned aerial vehicles (e.g., quadcopters), and other types of aircraft. In some implementations, airborne base stations can be supported or carried by unmanned aerial systems (UAS) or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (e.g., drones). Airborne base stations can be mobile or portable base stations that can be flexibly deployed in different locations to meet network requirements. Satellite base stations are another example of non-terrestrial base stations. Satellite base stations can be implemented using communication equipment supported or carried by satellites. Satellite base stations can also be referred to as orbital base stations. High-altitude platforms are yet another example of non-terrestrial base stations, including international mobile telecommunications base stations.

[0062] As mentioned herein, unless otherwise specified, "TRP" can also refer to T-TRP or NT-TRP, "T-TRP" can also refer to "TN TRP," and "NT-TRP" can also refer to "NTN TRP." NTN 120c can be considered a radioaccess network (RAN), sharing operational aspects with RAN 120a and 120b. NTN 120c may include at least one NTN device and at least one corresponding terrestrial network device. The at least one NTN device can act as a transport layer device, and the at least one corresponding terrestrial network device can act as a RAN node, communicating with ED 110 through the non-terrestrial network device. Furthermore, an NTN gateway (i.e., referred to as a terrestrial network device) may exist on the ground, also acting as a transport layer device to communicate with both the NTN device and the RAN node. The RAN node can communicate with ED 110 through the NTN device and the NTN gateway. In some implementations, the NTN gateway and the RAN node may reside in the same device.

[0063] Base station (as described above, also known as TRP) 170 can be a network element in a radio access network, responsible for wireless transmission and reception with user equipment in one or more cells. In some implementations, base station 170 may have other names, such as base transceiver station (BTS), wireless base station, network node, network device, network-side device, transmit / receive node, NodeB, 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, positioning node, etc. Base station 170 can be a macro base station (BS), pico BS, relay node, donor node, etc., or combinations thereof. When base station 170 performs (or is used to perform) the methods described herein, it can be interpreted that the base station, one or more modules (or units), circuits, or chips within the base station, or combinations thereof, can perform the methods. For example, the circuit or chip may include a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip), a system on chip (SoC) including a modem core, a system in package (SIP), etc., and may perform one or more communication functions in the base station.

[0064] ED 110a to 110d and TRPs 170a, 170b, and 172 are examples of communication devices that can be used to implement some or all of the operations and / or embodiments described herein. TRP 170a forms part of RAN 120a and / or other equipment, which may include other TRPs. Similarly, TRP 170b forms part of RAN 120b and / or other equipment, which may include other TRPs. Each TRP 170a and 170b can transmit and / or receive radio signals within a specific geographic area or region, sometimes referred to as a "cell" or "coverage area." TRPs 170a and 170b can be responsible for resource allocation and / or configuration, as well as transmission and / or reception, within the cell set. A cell can be a radio network object, uniquely identified by a (cell) identifier broadcast over the geographic area or region from the base station associated with that cell. The cell can be in FDD or TDD mode. A cell can also refer to a carrier frequency within the DL / UL carrier bandwidth resources that comprise a single independent carrier in carrier aggregation mode. A cell can be further divided into cell sectors; for example, base stations 170a and 170b can employ multiple transceivers to provide services to multiple sectors. In some implementations, there may be established picocells or femtocells supported by radio access technologies. In some implementations, for example, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology can be used to utilize multiple transceivers for each cell. The number of RANs 120a and 120b shown is merely exemplary. Any number of RANs can be considered when designing the communication system 100.

[0065] Any base station can be a single element, as shown in the figure, or multiple elements distributed across a corresponding RAN, and so on. In some implementations, multiple RAN nodes coordinate to assist the ED 110 in achieving radio access, with different RAN nodes independently implementing different functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and the DU can be deployed independently or included in the same element (i.e., a baseband unit (BBU)). The RU can be included in radio equipment or radio units (i.e., a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH)). In different systems, the CU (or the CU-CP and the CU-UP), the DU, or the RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meaning. For example, in an Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) system, a CU can also be called an Open CU (O-CU), a DU can also be called an Open DU (O-DU), and a CU-CP can also be called an Open CU-CP (O-CU-CP). A CU-UP can also be called an Open CU-UP (O-CU-UP), and a RU can also be called an Open RU (O-RU). Any of the CU (or the CU-CP, the CU-UP), the DU, and the RU can be implemented using software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software and hardware modules.

[0066] Furthermore, in various embodiments of this application, one or more communications between different devices / apparatus can refer to direct communication between different devices / apparatus (i.e., without the need for forwarding by another device / apparatus), or it can refer to one or more communications between different devices / apparatus via another device / apparatus (i.e., requiring forwarding by another device / apparatus). Alternatively, it can refer to a functional unit within the device / apparatus using another functional unit within the device / apparatus to communicate with another device / apparatus. In other words, "sending information to... (ED or base station)" in this application can be understood as the destination endpoint of the information being the ED or base station. This can include sending information directly or indirectly to the ED or base station. Similarly, "receiving information from... (ED or base station)" can be understood as the source endpoint of the information being the ED or base station, and can include receiving information directly or indirectly from the ED or base station. Necessary processing such as format conversion, digital-to-analog conversion, amplification, and filtering can be performed on the information between the source endpoint and the destination endpoint. However, the destination endpoint can understand valid information from the source endpoint. Similar descriptions in this application can be understood similarly. Details will not be repeated herein. In this invention, the terms "send / transmit" can be used interchangeably in the embodiments of this application.

[0067] The ED 110 is used to connect people, objects, and machines. It can be widely used in various scenarios, including cellular communication, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), peer-to-peer (P2P), machine-to-machine (M2M), MTC, Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), metaverse, digital twin, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, drones, robots, remote sensing, passive sensing, positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility, etc.

[0068] Each ED 110 represents any suitable end-user equipment for wireless operation and may include (or may involve, but is not limited to) devices such as: user equipment (UE) or terminal equipment, wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), mobile station, fixed or mobile subscriber unit, cellular phone, station (STA), MTC device, personal digital assistant (PDA), smartphone, laptop, computer, tablet, wireless sensor, consumer electronics, smart book, vehicle, automobile, truck, bus, train, or IoT device, wearable device (e.g., watch, glasses, head-mounted device, etc.), industrial equipment, or means (e.g., modules, modems, or chips) in or including the aforementioned devices. Future generations of ED 110 may be referred to using other terms. When ED 110 performs (or is used to perform) the methods described herein, it can be interpreted that the ED, one or more modules (or units) in the ED, circuitry, or chips, or combinations thereof, can perform the methods. For example, the circuit or chip may include a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip), a system-on-a-chip (SoC) including a modem core, or a system-in-package (SIP), and may perform one or more communication functions in the ED.

[0069] Each ED 110 connected to TRP 170a and 170b and / or TRP 172 can be configured dynamically or semi-statically started (i.e., established, activated, or enabled), shut down (i.e., released, deactivated, or disabled), and / or in response to one or more of connectivity availability and connectivity necessity.

[0070] Alternatively or additionally, any ED 110 can be used to connect, access, or communicate with any TRP 170a, 170b, and 172, Internet 150, CN 130, PSTN 140, other network 160, or any combination thereof. In some examples, ED 110a can communicate with site-TRP 170a via terrestrial air interface 190a for uplink (UL) and / or downlink (DL) transmissions. In some examples, ED 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d can also communicate directly with each other via one or more sidelink (SL) air interfaces 190b. In some examples, ED 110d can communicate with NT-TRP 172 via non-terrestrial air interface 190c for UL and / or DL ​​transmissions.

[0071] An air interface (e.g., 190a, 190b, 190c) typically includes multiple components and associated parameters that collectively specify how transmissions are sent and / or received over a wireless communication link between two or more communication devices (e.g., an ED and a base station). For example, an air interface may include one or more waveforms, one or more frame structures, one or more multiple access schemes, one or more protocols, one or more coding schemes, and / or one or more modulation schemes that define the transmission of information (e.g., data) over the wireless communication link. Air interfaces 190a and 190b can use similar communication technologies, such as any suitable wireless access technology.

[0072] The non-terrestrial air interface 190c enables communication between the ED 110d and one or more NT-TRP 172s via a wireless link or simply via 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 ED 110s and one or more NT-TRP 172s for multicast transmission.

[0073] TRPs 170a and 170b, 172 can communicate with each other via one or more air interfaces 190e, 190f using wireless communication links (e.g., radio frequency, microwave, infrared, IR, etc.) or wired communication links. Air interfaces 190e, 190f can utilize any suitable wireless access technology and can be substantially similar to, or substantially different from, air interfaces 190a, 190c used by EDs 110a to 110d when communicating with one or more of TRPs 170a and 170b, 172. For example, communication system 100 can 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).

[0074] RANs 120a and 120b communicate with CN 130 to provide various services, including voice, data, and other services, to EDs 110a, 110b, and 110c. RANs 120a and 120b, and / or CN 130, can communicate directly or indirectly with one or more other RANs (not shown), which may or may not be directly served by CN 130 and may or may not use the same radio access technology as RANs 120a, RAN 120b, or both. CN 130 can also serve as a gateway access between (i) RANs 120a and 120b or EDs 110a, 110b, and 110c, or both, and (ii) other networks (e.g., PSTN 140, Internet 150, and other networks 160). Furthermore, some or all of EDs 110a, 110b, and 110c may include the ability to communicate with different wireless networks via different radio links using different radio technologies and / or protocols. ED 110a, 110b, and 110c can communicate with a service provider or exchange (not shown) via a wired communication channel and with the Internet 150, but not wirelessly (or also wirelessly). PSTN 140 may include a circuit-switched telephone network for providing plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 150 may include a computer network and a subnet (intranet) or both, and integrates protocols such as Internet Protocol (IP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and User Datagram Protocol (UDP). ED 110a, 110b, and 110c may be multimode devices capable of operating under various wireless access technologies and integrate multiple transceivers necessary to support such technologies.

[0075] Furthermore, the communication system 100 may include a sensing agent (not shown) to manage sensing data from ED 110 and / or any of TRPs 170a and 170b, 172. In one implementation, the sensing agent may be part of any of TRPs 170a and 170b, 172. In another implementation, the sensing agent is an independent node capable of communicating with CN 130 and / or RAN 120 (e.g., any of TRPs 170a and 170b, 172).

[0076] Figure 3An example of a device 310 wirelessly communicating with a device 320 in a communication system (e.g., communication system 100) is shown. Device 310 may be an electronic device (e.g., ED 110). Device 320 may be a network node (e.g., network node 170), such as T-TRP 170 or NT-TRP 172. Although the figures show only one device 310 and one device 320, the number of devices 310 and / or 320 may be one or more. For example, an ED 110 may be served by only one T-TRP 170 (or one NT-TRP 172), or it may be served by more than one T-TRP 170 (or more than one NT-TRP 172). An ED 110 may be served by one or more T-TRP 170s and one or more NT-TRP 172s. Similarly, a T-TRP 170 (or one NT-TRP 172) may serve one or more ED 110s.

[0077] Device 310 includes at least one processor 210. The accompanying drawings show only one processor 210 to avoid congestion. Device 310 may also include a transmitter 201 and a receiver 203 coupled to one or more antennas 204. The accompanying drawings show only one antenna 204 to avoid congestion. Alternatively, one, some, or all of the antennas 204 may be panels. For example, the transmitter 201 and receiver 203 may be integrated as 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 through at least one antenna 204. Each transceiver includes any suitable structure for generating signals for wireless or wired transmission and / or processing signals received wirelessly or wiredly. Each antenna 204 includes any suitable structure for transmitting and / or receiving wireless or wired signals. Device 310 may include at least one memory 208. For simplicity, only transmitter 201, receiver 203, processor 210, memory 208, and antenna 204 are shown, but device 310 may also include one or more other components. In this invention, the transceiver (or transmitter 201 and / or receiver 203) can be considered as interface circuitry.

[0078] Memory 208 stores instructions for performing the operations described herein. Memory 208 may also store data used, generated, or collected by device 310. For example, memory 208 may store software instructions or modules executed by one or more processors 210 for implementing some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein.

[0079] The device 310 may also include one or more input / output devices (not shown) or interfaces. These input / output devices or interfaces support interaction with the user or other devices in the network. Each input / output device or interface includes any suitable structure for providing or receiving information from the user and / or for network interface communication. Suitable structures include, for example, speakers, microphones, keypads, keyboards, displays, touchscreens, etc.

[0080] Processor 210 may perform (or control device 310 may perform) operations (or methods) described herein as being performed by device 310. For example, processor 210 may perform or control device 310 to perform the following operations: receive a transport block (TB), decode one TB of the received TB using resources, release the resources to decode another TB of the received TB, and / or receive configuration information for configuring resources. Specifically, the operations may include those related to preparing UL transmissions for transmission to device 320; those related to processing DL transmissions received from device 320; and those related to processing SL transmissions with another device 310. Processing operations related to preparing UL transmissions for transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulation, transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing DL transmissions may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulating and decoding received symbols. Processing operations related to processing SL transmissions may include operations such as transmit / receive beamforming, modulating / demodulating symbols, and encoding / decoding. According to embodiments, the DL transmission may be received by receiver 203 using receive beamforming, and processor 210 may extract the signaling (e.g., by detecting and / or decoding the signaling in the DL transmission). An example of the signaling may be a reference signal transmitted by device 320. In some implementations, processor 210 implements transmit beamforming and / or receive beamforming based on an indication of beam direction (e.g., beam angle information (BAI)) received from device 320. In some implementations, 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 system information, and acquiring system information. In some implementations, processor 210 may, for example, use the reference signal received from device 320 to perform channel estimation.

[0081] Although not shown, processor 210 may form part of transmitter 201 and / or receiver 203. Although not shown, memory 208 may form part of processor 210.

[0082] The processing components of processor 210, transmitter 201, and receiver 203 may each be implemented by one or more processors, which may be the same or different, for executing instructions stored in memory (e.g., memory 208).

[0083] Device 320 includes one or more processors 260 (only one processor 260 is shown in the figures). Device 320 may also include at least one transmitter 252 and at least one receiver 254 coupled to one or more antennas 256. Only one antenna 256 is shown in the figures to avoid congestion. Alternatively, one, some, or all of the antennas 256 may be panels. Transmitter 252 and receiver 254 may be integrated as a transceiver. Device 320 may also include at least one memory 258. Device 320 may also include a scheduler 253. For simplicity, only transmitter 252, receiver 254, processor 260, memory 258, antenna 256, and scheduler 253 are shown, but device 320 may also include one or more other components. In this invention, the transceiver (or transmitter 252 and / or receiver 254) may be considered as interface circuitry.

[0084] In some implementations, the components of device 320 may be distributed. For example, some modules of device 320 may be located at a remote end of the device housing antenna 256 of device 320 (and thus can be considered as one of multiple nodes), and may be coupled to the device housing antenna 256 via a communication link (not shown) sometimes referred to as a fronthaul (e.g., a common public radio interface (CPRI)). Therefore, in some implementations, the term device 320 may also refer to a network-side node that performs processing operations such as determining the location of device 310, resource allocation (scheduling), message generation, and encoding / decoding, and is not necessarily part of the device housing antenna 256 of device 320. The node may also be coupled to other devices 320. In some implementations, device 320 may actually be multiple nodes operating together to provide services to device 310, for example, by using coordinated multicast or by using an ORAN system as described above in this application.

[0085] Processor 260 performs operations including those related to: preparing DL transmissions to be sent to device 310, processing UL transmissions received from device 310, preparing return transmissions to be sent to another device 320, and processing transmissions received from another device 320 via return. Processing operations related to preparing DL transmissions for transmission or return transmissions may include operations such as encoding, modulation, precoding (e.g., multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) precoding), transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing transmissions received in the UL or via return may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulating received symbols, and decoding received symbols. Processor 260 may also perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and / or DL ​​synchronization, such as generating the contents of a synchronization signal block (SSB), generating system information, etc. In some implementations, processor 260 also generates beam direction indications such as BAI, which can be scheduled by scheduler 253 for transmission, as described below. In some implementations, processor 276 performs transmit beamforming and / or receive beamforming based on beam direction information (e.g., BAI) received from another device 320. Processor 260 performs other network-side processing operations described herein, such as determining the location of device 310, determining where to deploy the other device 320, etc. In some implementations, processor 260 may generate signaling, such as for configuring one or more parameters of device 310 and / or one or more parameters of the other device 320. Any signaling generated by processor 260 is transmitted by transmitter 252. In some implementations, device 320 implements physical layer processing. In some implementations, in addition to physical layer processing, device 320 may also implement higher-layer functions, such as functions at the medium access control (MAC) layer or radio link control (RLC) layer. Device 320 may also include a scheduler 253 coupled to or integrated into processor 260. Scheduler 253 may be included within device 320a or may operate separately from device 320a. Scheduler 253 may schedule UL transmissions, DL transmissions, SL transmissions and / or backhaul transmissions, including issuing scheduling authorizations and / or configuring unscheduled (e.g., "configured authorization") resources.

[0086] The device 320a may also include a memory 258 that stores instructions for performing the operations described herein. The memory 258 may also store data used, generated, or collected by the device 320a. For example, the memory 258 may store software instructions or modules executed by the processor 260 for implementing some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein.

[0087] Although not shown, processor 260 may form part of transmitter 252 and / or receiver 254. Furthermore, although not shown, processor 260 may implement scheduler 253. Although not shown, memory 258 may form part of processor 260.

[0088] The processing components of processor 260, scheduler 253, transmitter 252, and receiver 254 may each be implemented by one or more processors, which may be the same or different, for executing instructions stored in memory (e.g., memory 258).

[0089] Device 320 and / or device 310 may include other components, but for clarity, these other components are omitted.

[0090] It should be noted that, as used herein, "signaling" can be alternatively referred to as control signaling, control message, control information, or simply message. Signaling between a base station (e.g., TRP 170a and 170b, 172) and a UE or sensing device (e.g., ED 110), or between different UEs or sensing devices (e.g., between ED 110a and ED 110b), can be carried in physical layer signaling (also known as dynamic signaling), which is transmitted in the physical layer control channel. For DL, this physical layer signaling can be referred to as downlink control information (DCI), which is transmitted in the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). For UL, this physical layer signaling can be referred to as uplink control information (UCI), which is transmitted in the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). For SL (Signaling over Linked Components), signaling between different UEs or sensing devices (e.g., between ED 110a and ED 110b) can be referred to as SL control information (SCI), which is transmitted in the physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). Signaling can be carried in higher-layer (e.g., above the physical layer) signaling, which is transmitted in physical layer data channels. For example, for downlink signaling, the higher-layer signaling is transmitted in the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH); for uplink signaling, it is transmitted in the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH); and for SL signaling, it is transmitted in the physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH). Higher-layer signaling can also be referred to as static signaling or semi-static signaling. Higher-layer signaling can be radio resource control (RRC) protocol signaling or media access control-control element (MAC-CE) signaling. Signaling can be included in a combination of physical layer signaling and higher-layer signaling.

[0091] It should be noted that in this application, when "information" and "message" are different, they can be contained in a single message or in more than one independent message.

[0092] Figure 4 An example of device 410 is shown. Device 410 may be a communication device such as ED 110 or TRP 170a and 170b, 172, or a device implemented in said communication device. For example, the device implemented in said communication device may be an integrated circuit, which in some cases may have other common names, such as chip, modem, modem chip, baseband chip, or baseband processor. In some implementations, one or more integrated circuits may be packaged as a system-on-a-chip, system-in-package, or multi-chip module. The device may include one or more integrated circuits, or it may include one or more integrated circuits and other discrete components. In some implementations, device 410 may be a module in ED 110 or device 310. In some implementations, device 410 may be a module in one of TRP 170a and 170b, 172 or device 320.

[0093] In one example, device 410 may include one or more processors / processor cores 411 and interface circuitry 412. Device 410 may also include memory 413. The one or more processors / processor cores 411 are used to process signals and execute one or more communication protocols. Memory 413 is used to store at least a portion of corresponding computer program instructions and / or data. In one example, one or more processors (or processor cores) 411 execute the computer program instructions stored in memory 413 to implement the relevant operations (e.g., input, output, reception, and transmission) in the above method embodiments. In some implementations, memory 413 storing the corresponding computer program instructions and / or data may mean that memory 413 stores all of the corresponding computer program instructions and / or data for execution by one or more processors / processor cores 411. In some implementations, memory 413 storing the corresponding computer program instructions and / or data may mean that memory 413 stores a portion of the corresponding computer program instructions and / or data. For example, a portion of the corresponding computer program instructions and / or data includes computer program instructions and / or data that one or more processors / processor cores 411 currently need to execute. Therefore, memory 413 can store different portions of computer program instructions and / or data multiple times for one or more processors (or processor cores) 411 to execute the relevant operations in the above method embodiments. Interface circuit 412 serves as a communication interface for communication with another component. For example, interface circuit 412 can transmit signals with other devices / systems (e.g., radio frequency processing devices or processor systems). Optionally, to reduce the load on the processor core, baseband signal processing circuit 414 can also be provided to process at least a portion of the baseband signal, including signal demodulation, modulation, encoding, decoding, etc.

[0094] In some scenarios, device 410 may be processor 210 (or 260) within device 310 (or 320), or in some scenarios, may be included within processor 210 (or 260) within device 310 (or 320). Device 410 may be or may include a baseband chip. In some implementations, device 410 may be packaged as a standalone chip. In some implementations, device 310 (or 320) may include different types of chips. Device 410 may be packaged together with the aforementioned different types of chips into a processor chip (e.g., a SoC chip or a SIP chip). In some implementations, device 410 may be packaged together with some or all of the circuitry from a radio frequency processing system that may also be included in device 310 (or 320) into a chip.

[0095] In this invention, the terms "a / an" and "one" are defined as meaning "at least one", that is, unless otherwise stated, these terms do not exclude multiple items.

[0096] In this invention, terms such as “substantially,” “usually,” and “approximately” that modify the values, conditions, or characteristics of features of exemplary embodiments should be understood to mean that the values, conditions, or characteristics are limited to acceptable tolerances for the correct operation of the exemplary embodiments for the intended application.

[0097] In this invention, unless otherwise stated, the terms “connection” and “coupling” and their derivatives and variations herein refer to any direct or indirect structural or functional connection or coupling between two or more elements. For example, the connection or coupling between the elements may be acoustic, mechanical, optical, electrical, thermal, logical, or any combination thereof.

[0098] In this invention, expressions such as “matched,” “matched,” and “already matched” (including variations and derivatives thereof) are intended herein to refer to a state in which two or more elements are identical or within a predetermined tolerance of each other. That is, these terms are intended not only to cover “completely” or “consistently” matching the two elements, but also to cover “substantially,” “approximately,” or “subjectively” matching the two or more elements, as well as providing a higher or better match among multiple matching possibilities.

[0099] In this invention, the expression "based on" is intended to mean "at least partially based on," that is, the expression can mean "based on only" or "partially based on," and therefore should not be interpreted in a restrictive manner. More specifically, the expression "based on" can also be understood to mean "according to," "representing," "instructing," "associated with," or similar expressions.

[0100] In this invention, the terms "system" and "network" are used interchangeably in the embodiments of this application. "At least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. The term "and / or" describes the association relationship between related objects and indicates that three possible relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can indicate three cases: only A exists; both A and B exist; only B exists, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates an "OR" relationship between related objects. "At least one of the following items" or similar expressions indicate any combination of these items, including a single item or any combination of multiple items. For example, "at least one of A, B, or C" includes: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; or A, B, and C; "at least one of A, B, and C" can also be understood to include: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; or A, B, and C. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, the ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" in the embodiments of this application are used to distinguish multiple objects and are not used to limit the sequence, time series, priority or importance of the multiple objects.

[0101] Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of this application can be provided as methods, apparatus (or systems), computer-readable storage media, or computer program products. Therefore, this application can take the form of hardware-only embodiments, software-only embodiments, or a combination of software and hardware embodiments. Furthermore, this application can take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-readable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, optical storage, etc.) that include computer-readable program code.

[0102] This application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to this application. Typically, computer program instructions can be used to implement each process and / or each block in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, as well as combinations of processes and / or blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams. The computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or another programmable data processing device to generate a machine such that the instructions, which execute on the processor of said computer or said other programmable data processing device, generate means for implementing a specific function in one or more processes in the flowchart illustrations and / or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

[0103] The computer program instructions may alternatively be stored in a computer-readable storage medium that can instruct a computer or another programmable data processing device to operate in a particular manner, thereby causing the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium to generate an artifact including instruction means. The instruction means implement a specific function in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more blocks in the block diagram.

[0104] The computer program instructions may alternatively be loaded onto a computer or another programmable data processing device to cause a series of operations and steps to be performed on the computer or the other programmable device, thereby generating a computer-implemented process. Therefore, the instructions, which execute on the computer or the other programmable device, provide steps for implementing one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more blocks in the block diagram to perform specific functions.

[0105] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to this application without departing from the scope of this application. This application is intended to cover such modifications and variations, provided they fall within the scope of protection defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0106] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, MIMO is briefly described below.

[0107] 1) MIMO Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology enables antenna arrays with multiple antennas to perform enhanced signal transmission and reception, thereby achieving higher data transmission rates. The aforementioned ED 110, T-TRP 170, and / or NT-TRP can use MIMO to communicate over physical layer radio resources. MIMO utilizes multiple antennas at the transmitting and / or receiving devices to transmit and / or receive data in the same physical layer resource block via multiple parallel radio signals. MIMO may involve beamforming the parallel radio signals to enable reliable multipath transmission of data in the resource block. MIMO may also involve binding parallel radio signals carrying different data, thereby effectively increasing the data rate of the data carried in the resource block.

[0108] In recent years, MIMO wireless communication systems (e.g., massive MIMO) with the aforementioned T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 configured with a large number of antennas have received widespread attention from academia and industry. In such massive MIMO systems, the T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 are typically configured with more than ten antennas (e.g., 128 or 256 antennas) and provide services to dozens of ED 110s (e.g., 40 devices). The T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172, by employing a large number of antennas, increase the spatial degrees of freedom in wireless communication, improve data transmission rates, spectral efficiency, and power efficiency, and minimize or largely eliminate interference between cells. Each cell's T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 can utilize the spatial degrees of freedom provided by the large number of antennas to communicate with multiple ED 110s in the cell simultaneously on the same frequency resources (i.e., on the same time-frequency resources), thereby significantly improving the spectral efficiency of the system. The T-TRP170 and / or NT-TRP172 also enable each user to have better spatial directivity for uplink and downlink transmissions by incorporating a large number of antennas. This can further reduce transmission power at one or more of the T-TRP 170, NT-TRP 172, and ED 110, thereby improving the overall power efficiency of the system.

[0109] MIMO technology can include: single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO), in which signals from multiple spatial layers are transmitted to the same ED; and multiple-user MIMO (MU-MIMO), in which signals from multiple spatial layers are transmitted to multiple EDs.

[0110] A MIMO system may include: a receiving device (e.g., ED 110 for downlink transmission, T-TRP 170 or NT-TRP 172 for uplink transmission) connected to one or more receive (RX) antennas; and a transmitting device (e.g., T-TRP 170 or NT-TRP 172 for downlink transmission, or ED 110 for uplink transmission) connected to one or more transmit (TX) antennas. For example, multiple RX antennas may form an antenna array in which the multiple RX antennas are arranged in rows at uniform intervals, and the antenna array may be referred to as a uniform linear array (ULA).

[0111] Figure 5An example of a channel model for a MIMO system is shown. The transmitting unit is connected to four TX antennas (i.e., x1 to x4), and the receiving unit is connected to four RX antennas (i.e., y1 to y4). A transmission channel can be formed between each TX antenna and each RX antenna pair. For example, a signal transmitted via x1 can be received by y2 via channel h21. A signal transmitted via x3 can be received by y1 via channel h13.

[0112] 2) PUCCH In the uplink, control signaling can be transmitted in a control channel, which may be called a PUCCH. Specifically, the PUCCH is a type of physical uplink channel used to carry bit strings (e.g., uplink control information (UCI) bits). For example, the PUCCH may be formed by a string of encoded UCI bits plus cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits.

[0113] In some embodiments, the signal carried on the PUCCH may also be referred to as PUCCH. Specifically, sending / receiving PUCCH means sending / receiving the signal carried on the PUCCH.

[0114] 3) UCI 5G NR primarily defines three types of UCI: Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request-Acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK), Service Request (SR), and Channel State Information (CSI). HARQ-ACK is feedback from the UE to the network (or BS) regarding the success or failure of downlink data transmission, guiding the network to either schedule a retransmission (if it fails) or initiate new data transmission (if it succeeds). SR is a service request sent from the UE to the network, informing the network that the UE has uplink data to send, allowing the network to proceed with the uplink data transmission implementation / scheduling process. CSI is UE feedback information measuring channel state information on the downlink channel, including the channel quality indicator (CQI), rank indicator (RI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), or other channel-related measurements. Among these UCIs, HARQ-ACK and SR may generate smaller payloads but are more critical because any errors in decoding such UCIs can lead to erroneous behavior at the network (or BS) and longer latency, impacting UE and system performance. In contrast, CSI may require larger payloads but is less critical because a significant amount of MIMO channel information needs to be fed back; however, small errors or losses of this information may not have a major impact on the overall feedback. In future network systems, many new technologies and applications, including AI and ISAC, may emerge, allowing for the exchange of more information between the network and UE. In the uplink, some of this information can be received and interpreted / used at lower network layers, and therefore can be considered / represented as extended uplink critical information (another type of extended UCI). Adding this uplink information can expand the collision handling capabilities of future networks, which will be discussed later in 5G (or NR), using a single spatial layer to send uplink control information (UCI) from the UE to the network. This places higher demands on UCI feedback, requiring a balance between the accuracy / latency of the feedback and the overhead of carrying it. When multiple spatial layers can be used to transmit control signals, it's equivalent to adding more layers on top of a single-layer time-frequency resource for control signal feedback in 5G. In other words, more resources can be utilized to transmit / receive the UCI. This will increase the UCI feedback capacity and improve reliability / robustness.Furthermore, multiple spatial layers will provide greater flexibility in handling PUCCH resource conflicts, which has consumed considerable effort in 5G NR systems. However, developing new PUCCH resource conflict handling rules under such flexibility presents new challenges. The following sections provide solutions to these challenges. It should be noted that, for ease of illustration, some terms used in this article (e.g., UCI, PUCCH / PUSCH) are derived from earlier generations of wireless standards (e.g., 3GPP 4G / 5G). These terms can be generalized to more general signals and designs; for example, UCI can be generalized to feedback control signaling between the UE and the BS, or feedback signals between the receiving UE and the transmitting UE. Extended UCI can be used to refer to all new uplink information from the UE to the network or new sidelink information from one UE to another, which originates from future wireless communication technologies or applications, based on those traditional UCIs or SCIs.

[0115] Traditional types of UCIs include HARQ-ACK / SR / CSI. These UCIs are used to drive communication between the gNB and the UE (as feedback and requests), for both uplink and downlink communication. Furthermore, for future wireless communications, such as future network wireless communications, many new types of technologies and applications may emerge, such as AI / ML, integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), and non-terrestrial networks (NTN). With the emergence of these new technologies and applications, it may be necessary to convey many new types of information between network devices such as the gNB and the UE terminal.

[0116] The new type of uplink critical information (UCI) includes information from AI / ISAC, etc., and can be represented as extended uplink critical information (UCI) or uplink important information (UII). This information is used to feed back important information from the UE to the gNB for different applications (e.g., AI / ISAC, etc.).

[0117] In 5G NR, a single spatial layer is used for control signal transmission in both the downlink and uplink. In the uplink, UCI (Unified Control Information) is feedback information conveyed from the UE to the BS (Base Station). 5G NR supports three types of UCI: HARQ-ACK, used to indicate successful or failed downlink data transmission; Service Request (SR), used to notify the BS that the UE has uplink data to send; and CSI (Channel State Information), used for downlink channel state information measurement. Some types of UCI (e.g., HARQ-ACK and SR) may require higher reliability because they directly affect BS behavior, while other types of UCI (e.g., CSI) may have a large payload to be fed back. In summary, these UCIs require more transmission resources and higher reliability. In 5G NR, these types of UCIs can be indicated or configured independently through different downlink scheduling and configurations. Even though the network can control when and where these UCIs are sent, the PUCCH (Power Controller Channel) carrying these UCIs may still experience collisions. In 5G NR, when PUCCH resources carrying these UCIs conflict, rules are established to resolve the conflict by rescheduling the transmission of some or all of these UCIs or dropping some of them. These rules are defined and must be followed by both the network and the UE.

[0118] Similar to 5G NR, a single layer is used for UCI transmission. Since the same time-frequency resources can be shared by multiple UEs for UCI transmission, performance and capacity may be limited. For example, HARQ-ACK / SR indications can be carried by multiple orthogonal or pseudo-orthogonal sequences multiplexed on the same OFDM symbol set. Because the number of such sequences on the same symbol is limited, the capacity of UCIs carried by the same time-frequency resources is also limited. More resources can be allocated to improve performance, but this increased overhead will impact system performance. Because a single layer is used to transmit all UCIs in 5G NR, PUCCH resources carrying these UCIs may conflict. Even though rules for handling such conflicts are defined / specified in 5G NR, the implementation complexity is not negligible due to the time misalignment of different PUCCH resources.

[0119] Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) is a core technology in existing 5G NR systems. This technology uses multiple antennas at both the transmitting and receiving ends to transmit and receive signals. MIMO technology can fully utilize spatial resources, multiplying the system's channel capacity without increasing spectrum resources or antenna transmission power. Therefore, MIMO, as a core technology for future network systems, still holds great potential.

[0120] The 400 MHz system bandwidth in the 10 GHz to 13 GHz range is considered a promising mid-band for achieving wide-area coverage and increased capacity in future network systems. Using 400 MHz in this range allows for the deployment of approximately 1000 transmit / receive (Tx / Rx) antenna arrays on the base station (BS) side and approximately 30 Tx / Rx antenna arrays on the user equipment (UE) side, significantly larger than the scale of existing 5G antenna arrays. MIMO is a key technology for the 10 GHz to 13 GHz range, used to improve the peak rate of single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) through approximately 20 transmission layers and to improve network peak throughput through approximately 300 multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) layers. System throughput can reach terabit levels; therefore, this MIMO can also be called terabit MIMO (T-MIMO). Supporting such multi-layer SU-MIMO / MU-MIMO transmission is a challenging problem, involving pilot design and channel state information (CSI) acquisition. The extremely high reference signal (RS) overhead and algorithmic complexity can lead to bottlenecks.

[0121] However, on the other hand, the massive MIMO antennas on both the base station (BS) and UE sides will form a large number of multi-space layers. These numerous multi-space layers not only improve data transmission performance but can also be used to improve the transmission of control signals in the downlink and uplink directions between the BS and the UE. Where applicable, they can also be used for other links between UEs (e.g., sidelinks).

[0122] The transmission of control signals is crucial in wireless systems. It is responsible for scheduling data transmission and providing feedback on the results of such transmission, as well as other information (e.g., channel measurements, service requests, etc.). Any errors or missed detections in the control signals will lead to false detections or missed decodings in the scheduled data transmissions. Feedback errors can also cause erroneous behavior on the BS or transmitter side, which may affect the UE and system performance. Therefore, the error rate tolerable for control signal transmission is extremely low, far lower than the error rate of data transmission. For data channels, HARQ procedures are implemented to support retransmission of the same data and mixed combinations of initial and retransmissions, thereby combating channel impairments and improving the robustness of system performance. However, for control channels, such mechanisms to improve their performance have not yet been deployed. Another challenge facing the transmission of control signals (or control channels) is that the receiver (e.g., UE) lacks prior knowledge and therefore cannot know exactly when and where the control signals will be transmitted. Thus, without prior knowledge of the payload / code rate of the control signals, the receiver (e.g., UE) must rely on searching and blindly decoding the control signals, which increases the complexity of detecting and decoding them. Overall, the transmission and decoding of control signals present more challenges than data transmission, but their role is crucial to the overall system. Therefore, more resources and investment are needed for control signal transmission to ensure its robustness and reliability.

[0123] Control signal capacity also plays a crucial role in the wireless system. It is directly related to the overall capacity of the system; a larger control signal capacity allows for the scheduling of more data transmissions and the delivery of more feedback information, thus increasing the overall system capacity.

[0124] In summary, the control signals play a crucial role in the wireless system, and their reliability, robustness, and capacity directly impact overall system performance. In 5G NR, control signals in the PHY layer are transmitted on a single spatial layer on time-frequency resource sets (or blocks) in both the downlink and uplink, and these time-frequency resource sets are typically shared by multiple UEs to balance performance and overhead. This may limit the capacity and reliability of the control signal transmission.

[0125] In T-MIMO scenarios, the increased use of antennas on both the BS and UE sides can create more spatial layers with good channel quality, opening up a new dimension (space) for performance enhancement. Control signal transmission can also benefit from the availability of numerous spatial layers. If multiple spatial layers can be used for control signal transmission in the uplink (as UCI) and downlink (as DCI) between the BS and UE, or in the sidelink between two UEs, it will provide more resources for control signals compared to a single layer in 5G NR. This not only improves the reliability / robustness of the control signal transmission (e.g., by allocating more resources and using lower coding rates), but also increases control signal capacity (more resources can accommodate more UEs for control signals and support larger payloads).

[0126] In 5G NR, a single spatial layer is used for control signal transmission in both the downlink and uplink. In the uplink, UCI (User Information Control) is feedback information conveyed from the UE to the BS (Base Station). 5G NR supports three types of UCI: HARQ-ACK, used to indicate success or failure of downlink data transmission; Service Request (SR), used to notify the BS that the UE has uplink data to send; and CSI (Channel State Information), used for downlink channel state information measurement. Some types of UCI (e.g., HARQ-ACK and SR) may require higher reliability because they directly affect BS behavior, while other types of UCI (e.g., CSI) may have a large payload to be fed back. Some PUCCH resources used to send these UCI (e.g., HARQ-ACK) are indicated by the DCI when scheduling PDSCH services. More specifically, the PUCCH resources used for HARQ-ACK are indicated by the number of bits in the DCI for selecting specific resources from a pre-configured resource set. This semi-static configuration and dynamic indication together provide a degree of flexibility in PUCCH resource allocation.

[0127] In the communication system of this invention, since a single layer is used to transmit all UCIs in 5G NR, the PUCCH resources carrying these UCIs may conflict. Even though rules for handling such conflicts are defined / specified in 5G NR, the implementation complexity is not negligible due to the time misalignment of different PUCCH resources.

[0128] Furthermore, all these different types of uplink information, including traditional UCI and extended UCI, may conflict in their uplink transmissions due to the use of overlapping resources, which can be dynamically allocated or semi-statically configured. More specifically, conflicts may occur due to factors such as: dynamic PDSCH scheduling generating dynamic feedback (e.g., HARQ-ACK) and triggering / semi-statically configuring other UCI feedback (e.g., CSI, etc.); or different applications allocating resources that may not be well coordinated for uplink information feedback. For example, AI / ML implementations may not be able to coordinate with ISAC applications in their uplink information delivery instances.

[0129] In the event of such a conflict, it is necessary to properly reuse various types of uplink information, including traditional UCI and extended UCI, in order to avoid information loss and reduce blind decoding.

[0130] 5G systems discuss and specify PUCCH multiplexing. This approach focuses on the assumption that PUCCH is transmitted on a single spatial layer. In other wireless communications, such as T-MIMO systems, there may be a large number of spatial layers in the air interface due to the large number of transmit / receive antennas. Such a large number of spatial layers provides additional dimensions for multiplexing (traditional and extended) uplink UCI to avoid collisions.

[0131] This application proposes numerous schemes for reusing PUCCHs carrying various types of UCI (traditional and extended) for future wireless communications (e.g., in T-MIMO systems). That is, more time-frequency resources can be utilized to transmit and / or receive uplink signals. Compared to single-layer uplink signal transmission, this makes it easier to resolve conflicts between uplink signal transmissions, thereby improving the robustness and reliability of multiple uplink signal transmissions.

[0132] This invention proposes a new PUCCH multiplexing method for T-MIMO systems, in which a large number of spatial layers are available. The new PUCCH multiplexing method includes the following: multiplexing of long PUCCH and short PUCCH, multiplexing of HARQ-ACK / SR and CSI, multiplexing of HARQ-ACK and SR, multiplexing of CSI and CSI, multiplexing of HARQ-ACK / SR and extended UCI, and multiplexing of CSI and extended UCI.

[0133] The embodiments of this application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. For ease of description, the following description uses uplink transmission as an example.

[0134] In the embodiments of this application, the transport layer can be referred to as a spatial layer for carrying information (e.g., control signals) for transmission, or as a layer for the same purpose. Information carried on the transport layer can be mapped to time-frequency resources and corresponding antenna ports before transmission. Multiple transport layers will support multiple independent information streams (one stream per layer) simultaneously transmitted wirelessly from a transmitter (e.g., a base station or UE) to a receiver (e.g., a UE), thereby improving throughput or reliability. However, this document is not limiting. The transport layer is named for descriptive purposes only and does not limit the scope of protection of the embodiments of this application. For example, the transport layer can be shown in the form of a beam; therefore, these embodiments can be applied to beams.

[0135] In the embodiments of this application, time-frequency resources may be referred to as any of the following: TF resources, time-frequency domain resources, time-frequency resource sets, or time-frequency resource blocks.

[0136] refer to Figure 6 This document illustrates a schematic flowchart of a communication method 600 according to an embodiment of this application. The communication method 600 can be executed by two communication devices (e.g., a base station and a UE), or by a chip, circuit, module, or processing system configured in a corresponding communication device. The following embodiments are described with reference to the communication method 600 executed by a base station and a UE as examples.

[0137] Typically, a UE is an example of an ED, and a base station is also an example of an ED. This application does not restrict the specific selection of an ED.

[0138] In S610, the UE acquires a first time-frequency resource and a second time-frequency resource, wherein the first time-frequency resource is designated for transmitting a first uplink signal, and the second time-frequency resource is designated for transmitting a second uplink signal, and the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource at least partially overlap.

[0139] In some embodiments, the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource at least partially overlap, indicating that the two time-frequency resources are on the same transport layer and that the two time-frequency resources have a time slot (or multiple OFDM symbols) duration in the time domain and at least one physical resource block (PRB) overlaps in the frequency domain. For example, both layer #0 and layer #1 have three PRBs (i.e., PRB#0, PRB#1, and PRB#2). Resource #0 is the set of PRB#0 and PRB#1 on layer #0, and resource #1 is the set of PRB#1 and PRB#2 on layer #1, wherein resource #0 and resource #1 partially overlap on PRB#1; resource #2 is the set of PRB#0 and PRB#1 on layer #1, wherein resource #0 and resource #2 completely overlap on PRB#0 and PRB#1.

[0140] In some embodiments, the uplink signal corresponds to one or more terminal devices. Specifically, for example, the first uplink signal corresponds to a first UE, and the second uplink signal corresponds to a second UE.

[0141] In S620, the UE transmits the first uplink signal on the first time-frequency resource of the first transport layer, and transmits the second uplink signal on one or both of the first and second transport layers.

[0142] Correspondingly, the base station receives the first uplink signal on the first time-frequency resource of the first transmission layer, and receives the second uplink signal on one or both of the first transmission layer and the second transmission layer.

[0143] Typically, the UE transmits the second uplink signal on one or both of the first and second transport layers. For example, the complete raw data stream of the second uplink signal can be divided into at least two parts after encoding, and then the at least two parts can be transmitted on different transport layers (or different time-frequency resources).

[0144] In some embodiments, the first uplink signal includes a first uplink control signal, and the second uplink signal includes a second uplink control signal.

[0145] According to this embodiment, more time-frequency resources can be utilized to transmit and / or receive the uplink signals. Compared to single-layer uplink signal transmission, this makes it easier to resolve conflicts between uplink signal transmissions, thereby improving the robustness and reliability of multiple uplink control signal transmissions.

[0146] In some embodiments, a communication method similar to communication method 600 can be executed by two communication devices (e.g., two UEs), or by a chip, circuit, module, or processing system configured in the corresponding communication device. First, the UE acquires a first time-frequency resource and a second time-frequency resource, wherein the first time-frequency resource is designated for transmitting a first side-link signal, and the second time-frequency resource is designated for transmitting a second side-link signal, the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource at least partially overlapping. Then, another UE receives the first side-link signal on the first time-frequency resource of the first transport layer, and receives the second side-link signal on one or both of the first and second transport layers.

[0147] In one possible implementation, one or more transport layers used to transmit the first uplink signal are different from one or more transport layers used to transmit the second uplink signal.

[0148] In the above embodiments, the first transport layer and the second transport layer are different. This application does not limit the number of transport layers used to carry the first uplink signal and the second uplink signal.

[0149] Typically, HARQ-ACK / SR is more critical than CSI. This is primarily because HARQ-ACK / SR usually carries 1 to 2 bits of information indicating downlink PDSCH success / failure (HARQ-ACK) or uplink data availability (SR), and the loss of such information may mean that the network either needs to retransmit the PDSCH or takes no further action to schedule uplink transmissions, which increases resource waste and latency. Conversely, CSI is used to feed back downlink channel measurements to drive the network to correctly schedule downlink PDSCH transmissions. During this feedback, it typically generates a larger information payload and may be more resilient to smaller losses. Therefore, when PUCCH resources carrying HARQ-ACK / SR and CSI conflict, HARQ-ACK / SR should be given higher priority than CSI.

[0150] Similarly, extended data (e.g., extended data carried on extended UCI) may contain new uplink information that has not been seen before, and the payload of such information may be in the range of a few bits or hundreds / thousands of bits. The reporting of such information may be periodic or aperiodic. As mentioned above, HARQ-ACK / SR is crucial and typically has a much smaller payload compared to most possible extended data.

[0151] In some embodiments, different types are used to distinguish the importance, expected priority, and payload of different control signals. HARQ-ACK / SR can be referred to as a first-type control signal, CSI as a second-type control signal, and extended feedback data of AI / ML / ISAC as a third-type control signal, feedback-type data, or feedback-based data. Furthermore, extended data may be used below to refer to extended feedback data of AI / ML / ISAC, and extended data may be carried on extended UCI.

[0152] In one possible implementation, the first uplink signal has a higher priority than the second uplink signal. Since HARQ-ACK / SR is more critical than CSI / extended data, the first uplink signal includes a first type of control signal (e.g., HARQ-ACK / SR), and the second uplink signal includes a second type of control signal (e.g., CSI) or a third type of control signal (e.g., extended data).

[0153] During periods when HARQ-ACK / SR are not transmitted, both CSI and extended UCI may have large payloads, thus leading to more frequent resource conflicts. If such conflicts occur, their multiplexing can be considered in light of the large number of layers in a T-MIMO system. For example, if aperiodic CSI reporting is triggered for URLLC services, CSI reporting plays a crucial role in enabling the network to understand the real-time channel state and thus schedule URLLC services more effectively with lower latency; therefore, under high priority, the performance of the CSI reporting needs to be guaranteed. On the other hand, extended UCI may have large payloads accompanied by periodic reporting, so some performance loss can be tolerated under lower priority.

[0154] In one possible implementation, the first uplink signal has a higher priority than the second uplink signal. Since CSI may be more critical than extended data, the first uplink signal includes a second type of control signal (e.g., CSI), and the second uplink signal includes a third type of control signal (e.g., extended data).

[0155] When multiple transport layers are available, a PUCCH sent on one or more TF resources (e.g., a first TF resource and / or a second TF resource) can be transmitted on multiple transport layers. There are different scenarios for sending the PUCCH on the one or more TF resources across these multiple transport layers, which will be described in more detail below.

[0156] Scenario #1: In an embodiment where long PUCCH and short PUCCH are multiplexed, the UE acquires a first time-frequency resource and a second time-frequency resource, wherein the first time-frequency resource is designated for transmitting a first uplink signal, and the second time-frequency resource is designated for transmitting a second uplink signal, and the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource at least partially overlap. Furthermore, the UE transmits the first uplink signal on the first time-frequency resource of the first transport layer and transmits the second uplink signal on the second time-frequency resource of the second transport layer.

[0157] refer to Figure 7 This illustrates an example of PUCCHs occupying different numbers of time units being transmitted on different transport layers, where the symbols represent examples of time units. In this case, PUCCH#1 is a short PUCCH, PUCCH#2 is a long PUCCH, the aforementioned first uplink signal is transmitted on PUCCH#1, and the aforementioned second uplink signal is transmitted on PUCCH#2. In other words, the aforementioned first uplink signal is transmitted on the short PUCCH, and the aforementioned second uplink signal is transmitted on the long PUCCH.

[0158] like Figure 7As shown, specifically, when a long PUCCH resource and a short PUCCH resource conflict on the same layer, two transport layers (referred to as layer #0 and layer #1, respectively) are used for PUCCH transmission. In this embodiment, the first TF resource is used for the short PUCCH, and the second TF resource is used for the long PUCCH. The long PUCCH and the short PUCCH can be transmitted on different spatial layers. For example, the short PUCCH can be transmitted on layer #0, and the long PUCCH can be transmitted on layer #1 to resolve the conflict.

[0159] According to this embodiment, the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource can reduce interference between multiple control signal transmissions.

[0160] In one possible implementation, the long PUCCH is a PUCCH transmitted over more symbols (e.g., ≥4 symbols). The main reason for occupying more symbols is likely to carry a larger payload or to multiplex more PUCCHs from the same and / or different UEs. Conversely, the short PUCCH can be transmitted over fewer symbols (e.g., ≤2 symbols), and the main motivation for having a short PUCCH is to reduce UCI feedback latency.

[0161] In the relevant communication system, five PUCCH formats are referred to as PUCCH formats 0 to 4. Specifically, the transmission of a PUCCH with PUCCH format 0 or PUCCH format 2 is performed on one or two symbols. In this embodiment, a short PUCCH can be used to represent a PUCCH with PUCCH format 0 or PUCCH format 2. Furthermore, a first PUCCH format can be used to represent PUCCH format 0 or PUCCH format 2. Similarly, a long PUCCH can be used to represent a PUCCH with PUCCH format 1, PUCCH format 3, or PUCCH format 4, and a second PUCCH format can be used to represent PUCCH format 1, PUCCH format 3, or PUCCH format 4. The PUCCH formats of the first and second PUCCHs can be configured by the base station receiving the first and second uplink signals.

[0162] In other words, the first uplink signal is transmitted on a first PUCCH with a first PUCCH format, and the second uplink signal is transmitted on a second PUCCH with a second PUCCH format, wherein the first PUCCH is transmitted over one or two time units, and the second PUCCH is transmitted over more time units than the time units used for the first PUCCH.

[0163] According to this embodiment, short uplink signals are used to reduce UCI feedback latency, and transmitting short uplink signals at the transmission layer with higher channel quality further reduces latency.

[0164] Long PUCCH and short PUCCH can be indicated in different ways.

[0165] Method #1: The PUCCH will be configured in a semi-static manner. For example, if a resource conflict occurs and the URLLC service has a higher priority and requires faster response using a short PUCCH, the network can configure the short PUCCH to be sent on layer #0 where the SNR is likely to be higher, and the long PUCCH to be sent on layer #1 where the SNR is likely to be lower. In other applications where coverage is more critical, if a resource conflict occurs, the long PUCCH can be configured to be sent on layer #0 where the SNR is likely to be higher, and the short PUCCH can be configured to be sent on layer #1 where the SNR is likely to be lower, in order to improve the performance of the long PUCCH to achieve coverage.

[0166] In one possible implementation, the PUCCH can be configured in a semi-static manner, for example, using RRC signaling. The bit fields in the RRC signaling from the network side can be used to indicate priority, or it can be stated that: the information indicating priority can be configured by RRC; or RRC can be used to indicate priority.

[0167] Method #2: The PUCCH can be configured via dynamic signaling, such as using DCI. For example, if a resource conflict occurs, the network can indicate in the DCI scheduling PDSCH that its HARQ-ACK can be carried by the short PUCCH and transmitted on layer #0, where the SNR is likely higher, while indicating that other PUCCHs, including both short and long PUCCHs, should be transmitted on other layers where the SNR is likely lower. Such indications can take different formats: for example, one bit can be used to indicate the priority of the UCI, with a value "1" indicating that the UCI has the highest priority and should be transmitted on layer #0, which has a higher SNR, and a value "0" indicating that the UCI has a lower priority and can be transmitted on a layer with a lower SNR. Alternatively, multiple bit fields can be used to indicate the priority of different levels of UCI; for example, a 2-bit field can be used to indicate priorities of levels 1 to 4. In yet another alternative, multiple bit fields can be used to indicate the layer on which the UCI should be sent if a resource conflict occurs; for example, a 2-bit field can be used to indicate the layer index of the four layers on which the UCI should be sent when a resource conflict occurs. Bit fields can also be used to indicate one or more layers on which UCIs can be transmitted. For example, a 4-bit field can be used to indicate one or more layers on which UCIs can be transmitted. For instance, starting with the leftmost bit indicating layer #0, a "1000" bit field indicates that UCIs should be transmitted on layer #0. A "0110" bit field indicates that UCIs can be transmitted on layers #1 and #2.

[0168] Method #3: Dynamic and semi-static signals can be used to jointly indicate the first TF resource for transmitting the short PUCCH and the second TF resource for transmitting the second PUCCH. For example, a set of layer groups can be configured by RRC for the transmission of the short PUCCH, and bit fields in DCI can be used to indicate which set of layers is used for the short PUCCH. It should be noted that a set of layers can be resources indicated by other forms such as PRB.

[0169] According to the above embodiments, critical signals can be sent with higher priority to reduce resource waste and lower latency.

[0170] In the above embodiments, the channel quality on layer #0 may be relatively high (or better), while the channel quality on layer #1 may be equal or relatively low (or worse). As an example, the channel quality (or channel state) may be reflected (or indicated) by one or more of the following: signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), channel quality indicator (CQI), or signal-to-interference ratio (SINR). In this case, the layer index in these embodiments indicates the channel quality of each layer. Furthermore, referring to any of SNR, CQI, or SINR as channel quality should not constitute any limitation on this application.

[0171] According to this embodiment, critical signals can be transmitted on the transport layer with higher channel quality to reduce resource waste and lower latency.

[0172] Scenario #2: In an embodiment where HARQ-ACK / SR and CSI are multiplexed, the UE acquires a first time-frequency resource and a second time-frequency resource, wherein the first time-frequency resource is designated for transmitting a first uplink signal, and the second time-frequency resource is designated for transmitting a second uplink signal, and the first and second time-frequency resources at least partially overlap. Furthermore, the UE transmits the first uplink signal on the first time-frequency resource of the first transport layer and transmits the second uplink signal on the second time-frequency resource of the second transport layer.

[0173] refer to Figure 8 This illustrates an example of the simultaneous transmission of PUCCHs carrying different types of control signals on different transport layers. In this case, the first uplink signal is transmitted on PUCCH#1, and the second uplink signal is transmitted on PUCCH#2. The first uplink signal includes a first type of control signal (e.g., HARQ-ACK or SR), and the second uplink signal includes a second type of control signal (e.g., CSI). In other words, the HARQ-ACK / SR is transmitted on PUCCH#1, while the CSI is transmitted on PUCCH#2.

[0174] For T-MIMO systems, if multiple layers are available in the uplink channel, then when a conflict occurs in the PUCCH resources of those multiple layers, those multiple layers can be used to multiplex HARQ-ACK / SR and CSI. For example... Figure 8As shown, two transport layers (referred to as layer #0 and layer #1, respectively) are used for PUCCH transmission. Specifically, if the PUCCH resource carrying HARQ-ACK / SR conflicts with the PUCCH resource carrying CSI on the same layer, HARQ-ACK / SR and CSI can be transmitted on different layers. In this example, the first TF resource carries HARQ-ACK / SR, and the second TF resource carries CSI. The HARQ-ACK / SR is transmitted on layer #0, while the CSI is transmitted on layer #1. Typically, the HARQ-ACK / SR can be transmitted on one or more layers with higher SNR because HARQ-ACK / SR is more important and requires better channel quality; in this example, layer #0 can be a layer with higher SNR. On the other hand, since CSI may have a larger payload and may be more resilient to channel impairments, it can be transmitted on one or more layers with lower SNR compared to HARQ-ACK / SR; in this example, it is transmitted on layer #1, which can have a lower SNR compared to layer #0.

[0175] It should be mentioned that, Figure 8 The PUCCH resource shown for HARQ-ACK / SR can be used to transmit HARQ-ACK / SR using a sequence, or to transmit HARQ-ACK / SR encoded by an encoder (e.g., a polar encoder). Therefore, the PUCCH resource shown for HARQ-ACK / SR can be several symbols (e.g., 1 to 2 symbols) for transmitting a few bits of HARQ-ACK / SR information using a sequence, or it can be multiple symbols (e.g., ≥4 symbols) for transmitting multiple bits of HARQ-ACK / SR information encoded by an encoder (e.g., a polar encoder).

[0176] Typically, one or more transport layers used for transmission in PUCCH#1 and one or more transport layers used for transmission in PUCCH#2 can be configured in a semi-static manner (e.g., RRC signaling), or indicated by downlink dynamic signals (e.g., signaling carrying DCI) sent from the network side, or dynamic signals and semi-static signals can be used together. All the methods mentioned in Case #1 can also be applied to embodiments of that case and embodiments of the following cases, and details of the following cases or embodiments are omitted.

[0177] Scenario #3: In the HARQ-ACK and SR multiplexing embodiment, the UE determines a third transport layer in the transport layer set used to transmit the first uplink signal based on the state of a second uplink signal, which includes two or more states, wherein each state of the second uplink signal corresponds to one transport layer in the transport layer set. Furthermore, the UE transmits the first uplink signal on the third transport layer, wherein the third transport layer implicitly indicates the state of the second uplink signal.

[0178] refer to Figure 9 This illustrates an example of how the PUCCH of this application is used to indicate a control signal carrying a positive or negative indication. In this case, the aforementioned first uplink signal carrying HARQ-ACK is transmitted on the PUCCH at the third transport layer, which implicitly indicates the state of the second uplink signal, wherein the second uplink signal is an SR.

[0179] For T-MIMO systems, when multiple spatial layers are available in the uplink channel, the first uplink signal (e.g., the uplink signal carrying HARQ-ACK) multiplexed with the second uplink signal (e.g., SR) can also achieve its objective using channel selection at the spatial layer. Figure 9 As shown, two transport layers (referred to as Layer #0 and Layer #1, respectively) are used for PUCCH transmission. Specifically, if HARQ-ACK is transmitted on Layer #0, it indicates that SR is positive, meaning the UE has a service quality (SQ) request; if HARQ-ACK is transmitted on Layer #1, it indicates that SR is negative, meaning the UE does not have an SQ request. It should be noted that HARQ-ACK signals can be conveyed using sequences (for carrying 1 to 2 bits of HARQ-ACK) or encoded bits (for carrying more bits of HARQ-ACK), therefore the PUCCH resources used for HARQ-ACK can be 1 to 2 symbols or more symbols (e.g., ≥4 symbols).

[0180] Such layer-specific channel selection can be used in conjunction with channel selection specified for 5G NR across different sequence sets or different PUCCH resources at the same layer. This can increase the payload of one or more SRs that can be delivered. For example, if two SRs need to be delivered, one SR can be delivered using channel selection across different sequence sets or different PUCCH resources at the same layer, and the other SR can be delivered using channel selection at a different layer.

[0181] It should be mentioned that the HARQ-ACK signal can be sent using a sequence (e.g., for carrying 1 to 2 bits of HARQ-ACK) or encoded bits (e.g., for carrying more bits of HARQ-ACK). Therefore, the PUCCH resource used for HARQ-ACK can be either the short PUCCH resource mentioned in Case #1 or the long PUCCH resource mentioned in Case #1.

[0182] In 5G NR, HARQ-ACK and SR are reused using channel selection methods. Different sequence sets used for HARQ-ACK indicate whether SR is positive or negative, or different PUCCH resources are used to indicate whether SR is positive or negative.

[0183] According to this embodiment, the uplink control signal, including HARQ-ACK, can also indicate SR, thus requiring a reduction in the payload of the uplink control signal transmission. This can significantly increase the capacity of the control signal transmission compared to single-layer control signal transmission.

[0184] Case #4: In embodiments where CSI is multiplexed, the multiplexing may be indicated in different ways.

[0185] CSI typically has a large payload size because it requires more channel information to be fed back from the UE to the network. CSI feedback can be sent using periodic or aperiodic reports, and this can be configured / indicated. Due to the large payload and different report types, conflicts may occur between different PUCCH resources used for CSI. For T-MIMO systems, since multiple layers can be obtained from the MIMO channels, CSI multiplexing can utilize different spatial layers.

[0186] Method #1: The communication method in this method is similar to that described in cases #1 and #2. (See reference) Figure 10 This illustrates an example of a PUCCH carrying CSI being transmitted simultaneously on different transport layers. In this case, the first uplink signal is transmitted on PUCCH#1, and the second uplink signal is transmitted on PUCCH#2, wherein the first uplink signal includes a second type of control signal (e.g., CSI#1), and the second uplink signal includes a second type of control signal (e.g., CSI#2). In other words, CSI#1 is transmitted on PUCCH#1, and CSI#2 is transmitted on PUCCH#2.

[0187] like Figure 10As an example, two transport layers (referred to as layer #0 and layer #1, respectively) are used for PUCCH transmission. For instance, if two PUCCH resources for one or more CSIs conflict on the same layer, they can be transmitted alternatively on different layers. For example, the first TF resource carries CSI #1, and the second TF resource carries CSI #2. Figure 10 In this scenario, PUCCH resources used for CSI#1 conflict with those used for CSI#2. CSI#1 can be transmitted on layer #0, while CSI#2 can be transmitted on layer #1. Rules can be established or configured for such transmissions. For example, CSI#1 might be more important than CSI#2; for instance, CSI#1 might be a CSI feedback for URLLC services, while CSI#2 is a CSI feedback for enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services, or CSI#1 might be used for non-periodic CSI reporting, while CSI#2 is used for periodic reporting. Then, CSI#1 can be transmitted on one or more layers with a higher SNR, while CSI#2 can be transmitted on one or more layers with a relatively lower SNR. Figure 10 In the example shown, CSI#1 may be more critical and therefore transmitted on layer #0, which has a higher SNR, while CSI#2 is less critical and therefore transmitted on layer #1, which may have a relatively lower SNR. Such CQI and layer mapping can be configured / indicated by semi-static signals (e.g., RRC) or dynamic signals (e.g., DCI). For example, for a more important CSI report, the DCI that triggers such a report can indicate its priority, so that when its PUCCH resources conflict with PUCCH resources used for other UCIs, it will be transmitted on one or more layers with higher SNR, while the remaining UCIs can be transmitted on layers with lower SNR.

[0188] Method #2: The UE acquires a first time-frequency resource and a second time-frequency resource, wherein the first time-frequency resource is designated for transmitting a first uplink signal, and the second time-frequency resource is designated for transmitting a second uplink signal, and the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource at least partially overlap. Furthermore, the UE transmits the first uplink signal on both the first and second transport layers, and transmits the second uplink signal on both the first and second transport layers.

[0189] refer to Figure 11 This illustrates an alternative method for CSI multiplexing, where PUCCH resources for two CSIs conflict, allowing the two CSIs to be multiplexed onto two PUCCH resources and transmitted at different layers. Figure 11In the example shown, if the PUCCH for CSI#1 conflicts with the PUCCH for CSI#2, the first part of the CSI#1 report and the first part of the CSI#2 report can be reused (e.g., the first part of CSI#2 can be appended to the first part of CSI#1) and transmitted on layer #0 using the original PUCCH resource for CSI#1; similarly, the second part of the CSI#1 report and the second part of the CSI#2 report can be reused (e.g., the second part of CSI#2 can be appended to the second part of CSI#1) and transmitted on layer #1 using the original PUCCH resource for CSI#2.

[0190] More specifically, such as Figure 11 As shown, two transport layers (referred to as layer #0 and layer #1, respectively) are used for PUCCH transmission. A collision occurs between two PUCCH resources (e.g., a first TF resource and a second TF resource). The first uplink signal includes a second type of control signal (e.g., CSI #1), and the second uplink signal includes a second type of control signal (e.g., CSI #2). PUCCH #1 (e.g., the PUCCH carrying the first uplink signal) includes a first part and a second part, wherein the first part of PUCCH #1 is transmitted on the first part of the first TF resource on layer #0, and the second part of PUCCH #1 is transmitted on the first part of the second TF resource on layer #1. PUCCH #2 (e.g., the PUCCH carrying the second uplink signal) also includes a first part and a second part, wherein the first part of PUCCH #2 is transmitted on the second part of the first TF resource on layer #0, and the second part of PUCCH #2 is transmitted on the second part of the second TF resource on layer #1.

[0191] For this approach, the partial size of each CSI and / or the type of CSI information (e.g., RI, PMI, etc.) to be sent at each layer can be configured / indicated or determined based on importance and priority, thus adapting to different requirements and needs.

[0192] According to this embodiment, each of the multiple uplink signals has an equal chance of being transmitted on a transport layer with higher channel quality. This can significantly improve the transmission performance of all uplink signals.

[0193] Case #5: In embodiments where HARQ-ACK / SR / CSI and extended UCI are multiplexed, the multiplexing may be indicated in different ways.

[0194] Extended UCI can contain new uplink information not previously seen, and this information can be used in future networks to convey information from emerging technologies / applications (e.g., AI, ISAC, NTN, etc.). The payload of such information can range from a few bits to hundreds / thousands of bits, and the reporting of this information can be periodic or aperiodic. The resources carrying this information may conflict with the existing UCI described earlier. In T-MIMO systems with numerous layers, the multiplexing of extended UCI with existing legacy UCI can utilize different layers to avoid the loss of (existing and extended) UCI ​​information.

[0195] Method #1: The communication method in this method is similar to that described in cases #1 and #2. (See reference) Figure 12 This illustrates an example of simultaneous transmission of PUCCHs carrying different types of uplink signals according to this application. In this case, the first uplink signal is transmitted on PUCCH#1, and the second uplink signal is transmitted on PUCCH#2. The first uplink signal includes a first type of control signal and / or a second type of control signal (e.g., HARQ-ACK / SR / CSI), and the second uplink signal includes a third type of control signal (e.g., feedback-based data or extended UCI). In other words, HARQ-ACK / SR / CSI is transmitted on PUCCH#1, while extended UCI is transmitted on PUCCH#2.

[0196] Typically, as mentioned above, HARQ-ACK / SR is critical and usually has a much smaller payload compared to other UCIs (e.g., CSI) and possible extended UCIs. In this case, such as Figure 12 (a) is shown as an example that when resources for HARQ-ACK / SR conflict with resources for extended UCI, and HARQ-ACK / SR can be transmitted on layer #0, which is assumed to have higher channel quality, while extended UCI can be transmitted on other layers (e.g., layer #1, which is assumed to have equal or relatively lower channel quality), HARQ-ACK / SR can be given priority.

[0197] More specifically, such as Figure 12As shown in (a), two transport layers (referred to as layer #0 and layer #1, respectively) are used for PUCCH transmission. For example, a conflict occurs between two PUCCH resources (e.g., a first TF resource and a second TF resource). PUCCH #1 (e.g., a PUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK / SR) is transmitted on the first TF resource on layer #0, and PUCCH #2 (e.g., a PUCCH carrying extended data) is transmitted on the second TF resource on layer #1. In this case, the first uplink signal includes a first type of control signal, and the second uplink signal includes a third type of control signal.

[0198] Both the CSI and extended UCI may have large payloads, thus they may experience resource conflicts more frequently. If such conflicts occur, their multiplexing can also take into account the characteristics of a large number of layers in a T-MIMO system.

[0199] like Figure 12 (b) illustrates an example where two TF resources (e.g., a first TF resource and a second TF resource) for CSI and extended UCI conflict. PUCCH#1 (e.g., a PUCCH carrying CSI) is transmitted on the first TF resource at layer #0, and PUCCH#2 (e.g., a PUCCH carrying extended data) is transmitted on the second TF resource at layer #1. The CSI can then be transmitted at layer #0, where relatively better channel quality is observed. For example, a non-periodic CSI report is triggered for URLLC services. The CSI report plays a crucial role in enabling the network to understand the immediate channel state and thus schedule URLLC services more effectively with lower latency. Therefore, when the priority is high, the performance of the CSI report needs to be guaranteed. On the other hand, extended UCI may have a large payload accompanied by periodic reports, so a certain performance loss can be tolerated when the priority is low. Typically, the priorities of CSI and extended UCI can be determined based on the service and the importance of the CSI and extended UCI, and configured for the UE. Dynamic indications can also be carried in the DCI and used to indicate the priority of the CSI or extended UCI and one or more corresponding layers of the CSI or extended UCI that should be sent when resources for the CSI or extended UCI conflict. In some embodiments, the first control signal described above is a PUCCH carrying feedback-based data, and the second control signal described above is another PUCCH carrying extended data.

[0200] Method #2: The UE acquires a first time-frequency resource and a second time-frequency resource, wherein the first time-frequency resource is designated for transmitting a first uplink signal, and the second time-frequency resource is designated for transmitting a second uplink signal, and the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource at least partially overlap. Furthermore, the UE transmits the first uplink signal on a first transport layer; transmits a portion of the second uplink signal on a first portion of the second time-frequency resource on the first transport layer, wherein the first portion of the second time-frequency resource does not overlap with the first time-frequency resource; and simultaneously transmits the remaining portion of the second uplink signal on the second time-frequency resource on the second transport layer.

[0201] refer to Figure 13 This illustrates an example of simultaneous transmission of PUCCHs carrying different types of uplink signals according to this application. In this case, the first uplink signal includes a first type of control signal and / or a second type of control signal (e.g., HARQ-ACK / SR / CSI), and the second uplink signal includes a third type of control signal (e.g., feedback-based data or extended UCI). In other words, HARQ-ACK / SR / CSI is transmitted on PUCCH#1, while extended UCI is transmitted on PUCCH#2.

[0202] In one embodiment, such as Figure 13 As shown in (a), the HARQ-ACK / SR is transmitted on layer #0, but the extended UCI can also be transmitted on layer #0 using the remaining resources that do not conflict with the HARQ-ACK / SR. This can support transmitting all or part of the extended UCI on layer #0, where better channel quality can be achieved, thereby improving its performance. If the extended UCI cannot be transmitted entirely on layer #0, the remainder can be transmitted on other layers (e.g., layer #1), as shown in this example. It should be mentioned that, as Figure 13 As shown in (a), on layer #0, the extended UCI is transmitted on its resources, excluding those resources that overlap with the resources used for HARQ-ACK. Rate matching can be used for the extended UCI to bypass those overlapping resources used for HARQ-ACK / SR. If a remainder of the extended UCI needs to be transmitted on layer #1, the resources used can be configured, or resources used for HARQ-ACK / SR and / or for the extended UCI can be reused.

[0203] More specifically, such as Figure 13As shown in (a), two transport layers (referred to as layer #0 and layer #1, respectively) are used for PUCCH transmission. A collision occurs between two PUCCH resources (e.g., a first TF resource and a second TF resource). The first uplink signal includes a first type of control signal (e.g., HARQ-ACK / SR), and the second uplink signal includes a third type of control signal (e.g., extended data). PUCCH #1 (e.g., the PUCCH carrying the first uplink signal) is transmitted on the first TF resource on layer #0. PUCCH #2 (e.g., the PUCCH carrying the second uplink signal) includes a first portion and a second portion, wherein the first portion of PUCCH #2 is transmitted on a first portion of the second TF resource on layer #0 that does not overlap with the first TF resource, and the second portion of PUCCH #2 is transmitted on a second portion of the second TF resource on layer #1.

[0204] In another embodiment, Figure 13 (b) illustrates an alternative for multiplexing CSI and extended UCI. In this example, the first uplink signal includes a second type of control signal (e.g., CSI), and the second uplink signal includes a third type of control signal (e.g., extended data). The CSI is still transmitted on layer #0, where better channel quality is possible. The extended UCI is not transmitted entirely on layer #1; instead, all or part of the extended UCI is transmitted on layer #0 using resources that do not overlap with the CSI. Rate matching can be applied to the UE to prepare the extended UCI on those remaining resources. If all extended UCI cannot be transmitted on layer #0 with the desired performance, a portion of it can be transmitted on other layers (e.g., layer #1), where, for example, the same time-frequency resources allocated for CSI are used. With this alternative, it is not necessary to transmit all extended UCI on other layers that may have relatively weak channel conditions, thus improving performance.

[0205] According to this embodiment, most of the data in the second uplink signal can be transmitted on a transport layer with high channel quality to accommodate various types of feedback data for extended UCI.

[0206] In some embodiments of the above embodiments, for example Figures 7 to 13 Using layers #0 and #1 as examples, this application does not limit the number of transmission layers used for uplink signal transmission, nor does it limit the number of transmission layers carrying uplink signals. The transmission layers used for uplink signal transmission include the transmission layers that actually carry the uplink signals, and... Figures 7 to 13 For example, in S620, the first transport layer or the second transport layer can be layer #0 or layer #1.

[0207] The above reference Figures 6 to 13 The method according to embodiments of this application is described in detail. References below... Figure 14 and Figure 15 The apparatus provided in the embodiments of this application has been described in detail. The description of the apparatus embodiments corresponds to the description of the method embodiments. Therefore, for any content not described in detail, please refer to the above method embodiments. For the sake of simplicity, details will not be repeated herein.

[0208] refer to Figure 14 This diagram illustrates a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1400 includes a transceiver unit 1410 and a processing unit 1420. The transceiver unit 1410 can implement corresponding communication functions, and the processing unit 1410 is used to perform data processing. The transceiver unit 1410 can also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

[0209] In some embodiments, the communication device 1400 may further include a storage unit. The storage unit may be used to store instructions and / or data. The processing unit 1420 may read the instructions and / or data from the storage unit to enable the communication device to implement the method embodiments described above.

[0210] The communication device 1400 can be used to perform the actions performed by the UE in the above method embodiments. In this case, the communication device 1400 can be the UE or a component that can be configured in the UE. The transceiver unit 1410 is used to perform the receive / transmit related operations on the UE side in the above method embodiments. The processing unit 1420 is used to perform the processing related operations on the UE side in the above method embodiments.

[0211] The communication device 1400 can implement the embodiments of this application. Figures 6 to 13 The steps or processes performed by the UE. The communication device 1400 may include steps or processes for performing... Figures 6 to 13 The unit is the one that executes the method by the UE. Furthermore, each unit in the communication device 1400 and the other operations and / or functions described above are independently used to implement... Figures 6 to 13 The corresponding process in the text.

[0212] Alternatively, the communication device 1400 can be used to perform the actions performed by the base station in the above method embodiments. In this case, the communication device 1400 can be the base station or a component that can be configured in the base station. The transceiver unit 1410 is used to perform the receive / transmit related operations on the base station side in the above method embodiments. The processing unit 1420 is used to perform the processing related operations on the base station side in the above method embodiments.

[0213] The communication device 1400 can implement the embodiments of this application. Figures 6 to 13 The steps or processes performed by the base station. The communication device 1400 may include methods for performing... Figures 6 to 13 The unit in the communication device 1400 that performs the method is the base station. Furthermore, each unit in the communication device 1400 and the other operations and / or functions described above are independently used to implement... Figures 6 to 13 The corresponding process in the text.

[0214] The above method embodiments describe in detail the specific process by which the unit performs the corresponding steps. For the sake of simplicity, the details will not be repeated here.

[0215] refer to Figure 15 This diagram illustrates a schematic block diagram of another communication device according to one embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1500 includes a processor 1510. The processor 1510 is coupled to a memory 1520. The memory 1520 is used to store computer programs or instructions and / or data. The processor 1510 is used to execute the computer programs or instructions and / or data stored in the memory 1520, causing the methods described in the above method embodiments to be performed.

[0216] In some embodiments, the communication device 1500 includes one or more processors 1510.

[0217] In one example, such as Figure 15 As shown, the communication device 1500 may also include a memory 1520.

[0218] In some embodiments, the communication device 1500 may include one or more memories 1520.

[0219] In one example, memory 1520 may be integrated with processor 1510 or may be set up separately from processor 1510.

[0220] In one example, such as Figure 15 As shown, the communication device 1500 may further include a transceiver 1530, wherein the transceiver 1530 is used to receive and / or transmit signals. For example, the processor 1510 may be used to control the transceiver 1530 to receive and / or transmit signals.

[0221] In some embodiments, the communication device 1500 may be a UE or a component (e.g., a chip, circuit, or processing system) that can be configured in the UE; or the communication device 1500 may be a base station or a component (e.g., a chip, circuit, or processing system) that can be configured in the base station.

[0222] In one embodiment, the communication device 1500 is used to perform the operations performed by the UE in the above method embodiments.

[0223] For example, processor 1510 can be used to perform processing-related operations performed by the UE in the above method embodiments, and transceiver 1530 can be used to perform receiving / transmitting-related operations performed by the UE in the above method embodiments.

[0224] In another embodiment, the communication device 1500 is used to perform the operations performed by the base station in the above method embodiments.

[0225] For example, processor 1510 can be used to perform processing-related operations performed by the base station in the above method embodiments, and transceiver 1530 can be used to perform receiving / transmitting-related operations performed by the base station in the above method embodiments.

[0226] One embodiment of this application also provides a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions for implementing the method executed by the UE or the base station in the above method embodiments.

[0227] For example, when a computer program is executed by a computer, it can enable the computer to implement the method executed by the UE or the method executed by the base station in the above method embodiments.

[0228] One embodiment of this application also provides a computer program product including instructions. When executed by a computer, the instructions enable the computer to implement the method performed by the UE or the method performed by the base station in the above method embodiments.

[0229] One embodiment of this application also provides a communication system. The communication system includes the UE and the base station described in the above embodiments.

[0230] For explanations and descriptions of the relevant content and beneficial effects of any communication device provided above, please refer to the corresponding method embodiments provided above. Further details are omitted here.

[0231] The processor mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be a central processing unit (CPU). The processor can also be another general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or another programmable logic device, discrete gate, transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, etc. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0232] The memory mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or can include both volatile and non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. The volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM). For example, the RAM can be used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, the RAM may include a variety of forms, such as: static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous linked dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0233] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA, another programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, or discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) can be integrated into the processor.

[0234] It should also be noted that the memory described in this specification is intended to include, but is not limited to, these memories and any other suitable types of memory.

[0235] Those skilled in the art will recognize that, in conjunction with the examples described in this specification, the units and methods can be implemented by electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented via hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the functions for each specific application, but such implementations should not be considered beyond the scope of protection of this application.

[0236] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the sake of brevity, the detailed operation of the above-described apparatus and units should be referred to the corresponding processes in the above method embodiments. Further details will not be repeated herein.

[0237] In the several embodiments provided in this application, the disclosed apparatus and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments are merely examples. For example, the unit division is only a logical functional division, and other divisions may be used in actual implementation. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not performed. Furthermore, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be implemented through some interfaces. The indirect coupling or communication connection between the apparatus or units may be implemented in electronic, mechanical or other forms.

[0238] The units described as independent components may or may not be physically independent. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected based on actual needs to implement the solution provided in this application.

[0239] Furthermore, the functional units in the embodiments of this application can be integrated into one unit, or each unit in the unit can exist physically independently, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0240] All or some of the embodiments described above can be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When the software is used to implement an embodiment, all or some of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or some of them generate a flow or function according to the embodiments of this application. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or another programmable device. For example, the computer can be a personal computer, a server, a network device, etc. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another via wired means (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, or digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless means (e.g., infrared, radio frequency, and microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible to the computer or a data storage device (e.g., a server or data center) integrating one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), a semiconductor medium (e.g., SSD), etc. For example, the available medium can include, but is not limited to, any medium capable of storing program code, such as a USB flash drive, a removable hard disk, ROM, RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0241] The above description is merely one specific implementation of this application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. Any variations or substitutions that would be readily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in this application should be within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of protection of the claims and the specification.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Acquire a first time-frequency resource and a second time-frequency resource, wherein the first time-frequency resource is designated for transmitting a first uplink signal, and the second time-frequency resource is designated for transmitting a second uplink signal, and the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource at least partially overlap; The first uplink signal is transmitted on the first time-frequency resource of the first transport layer; The second uplink signal is transmitted on one or both of the first and second transport layers.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first uplink signal includes a first uplink control signal, and the second uplink signal includes a second uplink control signal.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, Sending the second uplink signal on one or both of the first and second transport layers includes: The second uplink signal is transmitted on the second time-frequency resource of the second transport layer.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, Sending the second uplink signal on one or both of the first and second transport layers includes: A portion of the second uplink signal is transmitted on a first portion of a second time-frequency resource of the first transport layer, wherein the first portion of the second time-frequency resource does not overlap with the first time-frequency resource; The remainder of the second uplink signal is transmitted on the second time-frequency resource on the second transport layer.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The first uplink signal is transmitted on a first PUCCH having a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) format, and the second uplink signal is transmitted on a second PUCCH having a second PUCCH format, wherein the first PUCCH is transmitted over one or two time units, and the second PUCCH is transmitted over more time units than the time units used for the first PUCCH.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, Also includes: Receive indication information indicating that the priority of the first uplink signal is higher than the priority of the second uplink signal.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The indication information is carried on downlink control information and / or radio resource control signaling.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The channel quality of the first transport layer is better than that of the second transport layer.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, The first uplink signal includes one or more of the following: Service Request (SR), Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request-Acknowledge (HARQ-ACK), and Channel State Information (CSI).

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, The second uplink signal includes one or both of CSI and feedback data.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that, The first uplink signal and the second uplink signal are uplink control signals or uplink feedback signals of different types.

12. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receive the first uplink signal on the first time-frequency resource of the first transport layer; A second uplink signal is received on one or both of the first and second transport layers; wherein the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource at least partially overlap.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The first uplink signal includes a first uplink control signal, and the second uplink signal includes a second uplink control signal.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that, Receiving the second uplink signal on one or both of the first and second transport layers includes: The second uplink signal is received on the second time-frequency resource of the second transport layer.

15. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that, Receiving the second uplink signal on one or both of the first and second transport layers includes: A portion of the second uplink signal is received on a first portion of a second time-frequency resource of the first transport layer, wherein the first portion of the second time-frequency resource does not overlap with the first time-frequency resource; The remaining portion of the second uplink signal is received on the second portion of the second time-frequency resource on the second transport layer.

16. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that, The first uplink signal is transmitted on a first PUCCH having a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) format, and the second uplink signal is transmitted on a second PUCCH having a second PUCCH format, wherein the first PUCCH is transmitted over one or two time units, and the second PUCCH is transmitted over more time units than the time units used for the first PUCCH.

17. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 16, characterized in that, Also includes: Send an indication message indicating that the priority of the first uplink signal is higher than the priority of the second uplink signal.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that, The indication information is carried on downlink control information and / or radio resource control signaling.

19. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 18, characterized in that, The channel quality of the first transport layer is better than that of the second transport layer.

20. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 19, characterized in that, The first uplink signal includes one or more of the following: Service Request (SR), Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request-Acknowledge (HARQ-ACK), and Channel State Information (CSI).

21. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 20, characterized in that, The second uplink signal includes one or both of CSI and feedback data.

22. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 21, characterized in that, The first uplink signal and the second uplink signal are uplink control signals or uplink feedback signals of different types.

23. A communication device, characterized in that, Used to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 or any one of claims 12 to 22.

24. An apparatus, characterized in that, include: One or more processors; A memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 or any one of claims 12 to 22.

25. A communication system, characterized in that, The communication system includes a first communication device for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, and a second communication device for performing the method according to any one of claims 12 to 22.

26. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, It stores instructions that, when executed by the device, cause the device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 or any one of claims 12 to 22.

27. A computer program product storing instructions, characterized in that, When the instruction is executed, it causes the device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 or any one of claims 12 to 22.

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