Method, architecture, apparatus, and system for discontinuous reception and logical channel prioritization based on L1 indicated HARQ status information

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method implemented in a wireless transmit / receive unit is described herein. The method may include receiving configuration information indicating (1) a downlink control information (DCI)-based indication of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) state and (2) a first HARQ state associated with an HARQ process. The method may include performing a first discontinuous reception (DRX) operation based on the first HARQ state. The method may include receiving the DCI and determining, based on the configuration information indicating that the DCI-based indication of the HARQ state may be valid, that the DCI may indicate a second HARQ state associated with the HARQ process. The method may include performing a second DRX operation associated with the HARQ process based on the second HARQ state.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] (CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS) This application is a joint venture of U.S. Patent Application No. 63 / 410,791, filed September 28, 2022. No. 60 / 699,999, filed on Oct. 1, 2003, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure is generally directed to the fields of communications, software, and coding, including methods, architectures, devices, and systems directed to, for example, discontinuous reception (DRX) and logical channel prioritization (LCP). [Background technology]

[0003] Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) can facilitate the deployment of wireless networks in areas where ground-based antennas may be impractical, for example, due to terrain or cost. For example, NTNs may be combined with terrestrial networks to enable coverage of the third generation partnership project (3GPP) 5G network. Initial 3GPP Rel-17 NTN deployments are likely to support basic voice calls and text communications. Further releases, coupled with the proliferation of next-generation low-earth orbit satellites, can be expected to enable enhanced services such as web browsing. The embodiments described herein are designed with the above in mind. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Described herein are methods, architectures, apparatuses, and systems directed to adapting DRX and LCP based on either downlink control information (DCI) and a physical layer (L1)-based indication of whether hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback is enabled or disabled. In one embodiment, the method may be implemented in a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU). The method may include receiving downlink control information indicating HARQ status information and performing discontinuous reception (DRX) based on the HARQ status information. In one embodiment, the WTRU may be configured to receive the downlink control information indicating the HARQ status information and to perform DRX based on the HARQ status information.

[0005] In one embodiment, a method implemented in a WTRU is described. The method may include receiving configuration information indicating (1) a DCI-based indication of an HARQ state and (2) a first HARQ state associated with an HARQ process. The method may include performing a first DRX operation based on the first HARQ state. The method may include receiving a DCI and determining, based on the configuration information indicating that the DCI-based indication of the HARQ state may be valid, that the DCI may indicate a second HARQ state associated with the HARQ process. The method may include performing a second DRX operation associated with the HARQ process based on the second HARQ state.

[0006] In one embodiment, a WTRU is described herein that includes a processor and a transmitter and receiver (e.g., a transceiver) operably coupled to the processor. The WTRU may be configured to receive configuration information indicating (1) a DCI-based indication of an HARQ state and (2) that downlink HARQ feedback may be disabled for an HARQ process. The WTRU may be configured to perform a first discontinuous reception (DRX) operation on the disabled downlink HARQ feedback. The WTRU may be configured to receive the DCI and determine, based on the configuration information indicating that the DCI-based indication of the HARQ state may be enabled, that the DCI may indicate that downlink HARQ feedback may be enabled for the HARQ process. The WTRU may be configured to perform a second DRX operation on the enabled downlink HARQ feedback, and monitoring to receive retransmissions may be delayed based on a round-trip time from the WTRU to the base station. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] A more detailed understanding can be had from the following detailed description, given by way of example in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Such drawing figures, like the detailed description, are examples only. Therefore, the figures and detailed description should not be considered limiting, as other equally effective examples are possible and likely. Moreover, like reference numerals ("references") in the figures indicate like elements. [Figure 1A] FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating an example communication system. [Figure 1B] 1B is a system diagram illustrating an example wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) that may be used within the communication system shown in FIG. 1A. [Figure 1C] 1B is a system diagram illustrating an example radio access network (RAN) and an example core network (CN) that may be used within the communication system shown in FIG. 1A. [Figure 1D]FIG. 1B is a system diagram illustrating a further exemplary RAN and a further exemplary CN that may be used within the communication system shown in FIG. 1A. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating an example of different interfaces in a non-terrestrial network. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a user plane and control plane protocol stack for a transparent payload system. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating an example of DRX adaptation based on HARQ feedback states and HARQ feedback modes. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating an example of LCP adaptation. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating an example method for adapting DRX based on an L1 indication. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating an example method for adapting DRX based on an L1 indication. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary method for adapting DRX based on an L1 indication. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary method for adapting DRX based on an L1 indication. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments and / or examples disclosed herein. It will be understood, however, that such embodiments and examples may be practiced without some or all of the specific details set forth herein. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the following description. Furthermore, embodiments and examples not specifically described herein may be practiced in place of, or in combination with, embodiments and other examples explicitly, implicitly, and / or inherently provided (collectively "provided") herein. Although various embodiments are described and / or claimed herein in which apparatuses, systems, devices, etc. and / or any elements thereof perform operations, processes, algorithms, functions, etc. and / or any portions thereof, it should be understood that any embodiment described and / or claimed herein assumes that any apparatus, system, device, etc. and / or any elements thereof are configured to perform any operations, processes, algorithms, functions, etc. and / or any portions thereof.

[0009] Exemplary Communication System The methods, apparatus, and systems provided herein are well suited for communications involving both wired and wireless networks. An overview of various types of wireless devices and infrastructure is provided with respect to Figures 1A-1D, in which various elements of the networks may utilize, implement, be arranged in accordance with, and / or be adapted and / or configured for the methods, apparatus, and systems provided herein.

[0010] 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example communication system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. Communication system 100 may be a multiple-access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcasts, etc., to multiple wireless users. Communication system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communication system 100 may employ 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), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDM), zero-tail (ZT) unique-word (UW) discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS spread OFDM, ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), etc.

[0011] 1A, communications system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, radio access networks (RANs) 104 / 113, core networks (CNs) 106 / 115, public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, and other networks 112, although it will be understood that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network elements. Each of WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. By way of example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, any of which may be referred to as a "station" and / or "STA," may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals and may include (or be) user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a subscription-based unit, a pager, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a netbook, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, a hotspot or Mi-Fi device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and application (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and application (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in the context of an industrial and / or automated processing chain), a consumer electronic device, a device operating in a commercial and / or industrial wireless network, etc. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d may be referred to interchangeably as a UE.

[0012] The communications system 100 may also include a base station 114a and / or a base station 114b. Each of the base stations 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to facilitate access to one or more communications networks, such as the CN 106 / 115, the Internet 110, and / or the network 112. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be any of a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B (NB), an eNode-B (eNB), a Home Node-B (HNB), a Home eNode-B (HeNB), a gNode-B (gNB), a NR Node-B (NR NB), a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, etc. Although the base stations 114a, 114b are each illustrated as a single element, it will be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[0013] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 104 / 113, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. The base station 114a and / or base station 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive radio signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). These frequencies may be licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide wireless service coverage for a particular geographic area, which may be relatively fixed or may change over time. A cell may be further divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one transceiver for each sector of the cell. In one embodiment, the base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) technology and may utilize multiple transceivers for each or any sector of the cell, for example, using beamforming to transmit and / or receive signals in desired spatial directions.

[0014] The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d over an air interface 116, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, micrometer wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0015] More specifically, as noted above, the communications system 100 may be a multiple-access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, etc. For example, the base stations 114a of the RANs 104 / 113 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA may include communications protocols such as High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High-Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High-Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0016] In one embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and / or LTE-Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro).

[0017] In one embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as NR radio access, which may establish the air interface 116 using New Radio (NR).

[0018] In one embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may jointly implement LTE radio access and NR radio access, e.g., using dual connectivity (DC) principles. Thus, the air interface utilized by the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and / or transmissions sent to and from multiple types of base stations (e.g., eNBs and gNBs).

[0019] In one embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity, Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, WiMAX), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), or the like.

[0020] 1A may be, for example, a wireless router, a Home Node-B, a Home eNode-B, or an access point and may utilize any suitable RAT to facilitate wireless connectivity in a local area such as a business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), a road, etc. In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, etc.) to establish either a small cell, a pico cell, or a femto cell. As shown in FIG. 1A, the base station 114b may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Thus, the base station 114b may not need to access the Internet 110 through the CN 106 / 115.

[0021] The RAN 104 / 113 may communicate with the CN 106 / 115, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, application, and / or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. The data may have various quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as different throughput, latency, error tolerance, reliability, data throughput, mobility, etc. The CN 106 / 115 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, prepaid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or perform high-level security functions such as user authentication. Although not shown in FIG. 1A , it will be understood that the RAN 104 / 113 and / or the CN 106 / 115 may communicate directly or indirectly with other RANs employing the same RAT as the RAN 104 / 113 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to a RAN 104 / 113 that may utilize NR radio technology, the CN 106 / 115 may also communicate with another RAN (not shown) that employs any of GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or Wi-Fi radio technologies.

[0022] The CN 106 / 115 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include a circuit-switched telephone network providing plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as the transmission control protocol (TCP), the user datagram protocol (UDP), and / or the internet protocol (IP) of the TCP / IP Internet protocol suite. The network 112 may include wired and / or wireless communication networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, the network 112 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 / 114 or a different RAT.

[0023] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communications system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities (e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links.) For example, the WTRU 102c shown in FIG. 1A may be configured to communicate with a base station 114a, which may employ a cellular-based wireless technology, and a base station 114b, which may employ an IEEE 802.2 wireless technology.

[0024] 1B is a system diagram illustrating an example WTRU 102. As shown in FIG. 1B, the WTRU 102 may include, among other things, a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display / touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and / or other elements / peripherals 138. It will be understood that the WTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0025] The processor 118 may be a general-purpose processor, a special-purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors associated with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) circuit, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, etc. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit / receive element 122. While FIG. 1B illustrates the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it will be understood that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated into an electronic package or chip, for example.

[0026] The transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit or receive signals to or from a base station (e.g., base station 114a) over the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive IR signals, UV signals, or visible light signals, for example. In one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive both RF signals and light signals. It will be understood that the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0027] 1B as a single element, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit / receive elements 122. For example, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

[0028] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate signals transmitted by the transmit / receive element 122 and demodulate signals received by the transmit / receive element 122. As noted above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers to enable the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as, for example, NR and IEEE 802.11.

[0029] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to and may receive user-entered data from a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, and / or a display / touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128. Additionally, the processor 118 may access information from and store data in any type of suitable memory, such as non-removable memory 130 and / or removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, etc. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information from and store data in memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or home computer (not shown).

[0030] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134 and may be configured to distribute and / or control the power to other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for providing power to the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, etc.

[0031] The processor 118 may also be coupled to a GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or instead of, information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information from base stations (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) over the air interface 116 and / or determine its location based on the timing of signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable location-determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0032] The processor 118 may further be coupled to other elements / peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and / or hardware modules / units that provide additional features, functionality, and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the elements / peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an electronic compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (e.g., for photos and / or videos), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands-free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an internet browser, a virtual reality and / or augmented reality (VR / AR) device, an activity tracker, etc. The elements / peripherals 138 may include one or more sensors, which may be one or more of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a Hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, an orientation sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor, a geolocation sensor, an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, and / or a humidity sensor.

[0033] The WTRU 102 may include a full-duplex radio where transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with a particular subframe for both the uplink (e.g., for transmission) and downlink (e.g., for reception)) may be parallel and / or simultaneous. The full-duplex radio may include an interference management unit to reduce and or substantially eliminate self-interference through either hardware (e.g., a choke) or signal processing via a processor (e.g., via a separate processor (not shown) or processor 118). In one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include a half-duplex radio for transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with a particular subframe for either the uplink (e.g., for transmission) or downlink (e.g., for reception)).

[0034] 1C is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106, according to one embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116 using E-UTRA radio technology. The RAN 104 may also communicate with the CN 106.

[0035] The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c, although it will be understood that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNode-B 160a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0036] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the uplink (UL) and / or downlink (DL), etc. As shown in FIG. 1C, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with one another via an X2 interface.

[0037] 1C may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (PGW) 166. While each of the foregoing elements is illustrated as part of the CN 106, it will be understood that any one of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0038] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may function as a control node. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, activating / deactivating bearers, selecting a particular serving gateway during initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, etc. The MME 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies such as GSM and / or WCDMA.

[0039] The SGW 164 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface. The SGW 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to and from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The SGW 164 may perform other functions such as anchoring the user plane during inter-eNodeB handovers, initiating paging when DL data is available for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and managing and storing the context of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0040] The SGW 164 may be connected to a PGW 166, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0041] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional landline communications devices. For example, the CN 106 may include or communicate with an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. Additionally, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0042] Although the WTRU is depicted in FIGS. 1A-1D as a wireless terminal, it is contemplated that in certain representative embodiments, such a terminal may use a wired communication interface (e.g., temporary or permanent) with the communication network.

[0043] In a representative embodiment, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0044] A WLAN in infrastructure basic service set (BSS) mode may have an access point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have access to or interface with a distribution system (DS) or another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic within and / or outside the BSS. Traffic originating from outside the BSS to a STA may arrive through the AP and be delivered to the STA. Traffic originating from a STA to a destination outside the BSS may be sent to the AP to be delivered to the respective destination. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent, for example, through the AP, where the source STA may send traffic to the AP, and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be considered and / or referred to as peer-to-peer traffic. Peer-to-peer traffic may be sent between (e.g., directly between) a source STA and a destination STA using a direct link setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use 802.11e DLS or 802.11z tunneled DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using an Independent BSS (IBSS) mode may not have an AP, and STAs within or using the IBSS (e.g., all of the STAs) may communicate directly with each other. The IBSS communication mode is sometimes referred to herein as an "ad hoc" communication mode.

[0045] When using the 802.11ac infrastructure mode of operation or a similar mode of operation, an AP may transmit beacons on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel may be a fixed width (e.g., a 20 MHz wide bandwidth) or a width that is dynamically set via signaling. The primary channel may be the operating channel of the BSS and may be used by STAs to establish a connection with the AP. In certain representative embodiments, carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA / CA) may be implemented, for example, in an 802.11 system. With CSMA / CA, STAs (e.g., all STAs), including the AP, may sense the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed / detected and / or determined to be busy by a particular STA, the particular STA may back off. One STA (e.g., only one station) may transmit in a given BSS at any given time.

[0046] High throughput (HT) STAs may, for example, use 40 MHz wide channels for communication by combining a primary 20 MHz channel with adjacent or non-adjacent 20 MHz channels to form the 40 MHz wide channel.

[0047] A very high throughput (VHT) STA may support channels with widths of 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and / or 160 MHz. A 40 MHz and / or 80 MHz channel may be formed by combining multiple contiguous 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel may be formed by combining eight contiguous 20 MHz channels or by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz channels, which may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, after channel encoding, the data may pass through a segment parser that may separate the data into two streams. Inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) processing and time-domain processing may be performed separately on each stream. The streams may be mapped to two 80 MHz channels, and the data may be transmitted by the transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the operations described above for the 80+80 configuration may be reversed, and the combined data may be transmitted to a medium access control (MAC) layer, entity, etc.

[0048] Sub-1 GHz operating modes are supported by 802.11af and 802.11ah. Channel operating bandwidths and carriers are reduced in 802.11af and 802.11ah compared to those used in 802.11n and 802.11ac. 802.11af supports 5 MHz, 10 MHz, and 20 MHz bandwidths in the TV white space (TVWS) spectrum, while 802.11ah supports 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, and 16 MHz bandwidths using non-TVWS spectrum. According to representative embodiments, 802.11ah may support meter-type control / machine-type communication (MTC), such as MTC devices, in macro coverage areas. MTC devices may have limited capabilities, including, for example, support for (e.g., only) certain and / or limited bandwidths. An MTC device may include a battery with a battery life above a threshold (eg, to maintain a very long battery life).

[0049] WLAN systems that can support multiple channels and channel bandwidths, such as 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11af, and 802.11ah, include a channel that can be designated as a primary channel. The primary channel can have a bandwidth equal to the maximum common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel can be configured and / or limited by the STAs among all STAs operating in the BSS that support the minimum bandwidth operating mode. In an 802.11ah embodiment, the primary channel can be 1 MHz wide for STAs (e.g., MTC-type devices) that support (e.g., only) 1 MHz mode, even if the AP and other STAs in the BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and / or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and / or network allocation vector (NAV) configuration can depend on the status of the primary channel. For example, if the primary channel is busy due to a STA (that only supports 1 MHz operating mode) transmitting to the AP, the entire available frequency band may be considered busy, even though most of the frequency band may remain idle and available for use.

[0050] In the United States, the available frequency band that can be used by 802.11ah is 902MHz to 928MHz. In South Korea, the available frequency band is 917.5MHz to 923.5MHz. In Japan, the available frequency band is 916.5MHz to 927.5MHz. The total bandwidth available for 802.11ah is 6MHz to 26MHz depending on the country code.

[0051] 1D is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 113 and the CN 115, according to one embodiment. As mentioned above, the RAN 113 may use NR radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 113 may also communicate with the CN 115.

[0052] The RAN 113 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c, although it will be understood that the RAN 113 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, the gNBs 180a and 180b may utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c. Thus, the gNB 180a may transmit wireless signals to and / or receive wireless signals from the WTRU 102a, for example, using multiple antennas. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, the gNB 180a may transmit multiple component carriers to the WTRU 102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be on unlicensed spectrum, while the remaining component carriers may be on licensed spectrum. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) technology. For example, the WTRU 102a may receive coordinated transmissions from the gNBs 180a and 180b (and / or 180c).

[0053] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with a scalable numerology. For example, the OFDM symbol spacing and / or OFDM subcarrier spacing may vary for different transmissions, different cells, and / or different portions of the wireless transmission spectrum. The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using subframes or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of varying or scalable lengths (e.g., including different numbers of OFDM symbols and / or continuously varying lengths of absolute time).

[0054] The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be configured to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in a standalone configuration and / or a non-standalone configuration. In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c without accessing another RAN (e.g., eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, etc.). In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may utilize one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c as mobility anchor points. In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using signals in unlicensed bands. In a non-standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with and connect to gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c while also communicating with and connecting to another RAN, such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c. For example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement DC principles to communicate with one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c and one or more eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c substantially simultaneously. In a non-standalone configuration, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may act as mobility anchors for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may provide additional coverage and / or throughput for serving the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0055] Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, support for network slicing, dual connectivity, coordination between NR and E-UTRA, routing of user plane data to user plane functions (UPFs) 184a, 184b, routing of control plane information to access and mobility management functions (AMFs) 182a, 182b, etc. As shown in FIG. 1D , the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may communicate with each other via an Xn interface.

[0056] 1D may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one session management function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and at least one Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. While each of the foregoing elements is illustrated as part of the CN 115, it will be understood that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0057] The AMF 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N2 interface and may function as a control node. For example, the AMF 182a, 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, supporting network slicing (e.g., handling different protocol data unit (PDU) sessions with different requirements), selecting a particular SMF 183a, 183b, managing registration areas, terminating NAS signaling, mobility management, etc. Network slicing may be used by the AMF 182a, 182b to customize the CN support of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c based on the type of service being utilized by the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, for example. For example, different network slices may be established for different use cases, such as services relying on ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) access, services relying on enhanced massive mobile broadband (eMBB) access, services for MTC access, etc. The AMF 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 113 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and / or non-3GPP access technologies, such as Wi-Fi.

[0058] The SMFs 183a, 183b may be connected to the AMFs 182a, 182b in the CN 115 via an N11 interface. The SMFs 183a, 183b may also be connected to the UPFs 184a, 184b in the CN 115 via an N4 interface. The SMFs 183a, 183b may select and control the UPFs 184a, 184b and configure the routing of traffic through the UPFs 184a, 184b. The SMFs 183a, 183b may perform other functions such as managing and assigning IP addresses for UEs, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, providing downlink data notification, etc. The PDU session type may be IP-based, non-IP-based, Ethernet-based, etc.

[0059] The UPFs 184a, 184b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N3 interface, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks such as the Internet 110, for example, to facilitate communication between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. The UPFs 184a, 184b may perform other functions such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multi-homed PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering downlink packets, providing mobility anchoring, etc.

[0060] The CN 115 may facilitate communication with other networks. For example, the CN 115 may include or communicate with an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that acts as an interface between the CN 115 and the PSTN 108. Additionally, the CN 115 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. In one embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be connected to local data networks (DNs) 185a, 185b through the UPFs 184a, 184b via an N3 interface to the UPFs 184a, 184b and an N6 interface between the UPFs 184a, 184b and the DNs 185a, 185b.

[0061] 1A-1D and the corresponding description thereof, one or more or all of the functions described herein with respect to any of the WTRUs 102a-d, base stations 114a-b, eNode-Bs 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNBs 180a-c, AMFs 182a-b, UPFs 184a-b, SMFs 183a-b, DNs 185a-b, and / or any other element(s) / device(s) described herein may be performed by one or more emulation elements / devices (not shown). The emulation devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more or all of the functions described herein. For example, the emulation devices may be used to test other devices and / or simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

[0062] The emulation device may be designed to implement one or more tests of other devices in a lab environment and / or an operator network environment. For example, one or more emulation devices may perform one or more or all functions while fully or partially implemented and / or deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network to test other devices in the communication network. One or more emulation devices may perform one or more or all functions while temporarily implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. The emulation device may be directly coupled to another device for testing purposes and / or may perform the test using terrestrial wireless communication.

[0063] One or more emulation devices may perform one or more functions, inclusive, while not being implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. For example, the emulation devices may be utilized in test scenarios in a test lab and / or in an undeployed (e.g., test) wired and / or wireless communication network to implement testing of one or more components. One or more emulation devices may be test equipment. Direct RF coupling and / or wireless communication via RF circuitry (which may include, e.g., one or more antennas) may be used by the emulation devices to transmit and / or receive data.

[0064] Throughout the embodiments described herein, the terms "serving base station," "base station," "gNB," and collectively "gNB" may be used interchangeably to designate any network element, such as a network element acting as a serving base station. The embodiments described herein are not limited to gNBs and are applicable to any other type of base station.

[0065] For clarity, meeting, not meeting, and "constituting a condition parameter(s)" throughout the embodiments described herein are described relative to a threshold (e.g., greater than or less than a value (e.g., threshold), constituting a value (e.g., threshold), etc.). For example, meeting a condition (e.g., criterion) may be described as exceeding a value (e.g., threshold), and not meeting a condition (e.g., criterion) may be described as being below a value (e.g., threshold). The embodiments described herein are not limited to threshold-based conditions (e.g., criteria). Any type of other condition and parameter(s) (e.g., falling within or not falling within a range of values, etc.) may be applicable to the embodiments described herein.

[0066] Throughout the embodiments described herein, (e.g., configuration) information may be described as being received by the WTRU from the network, e.g., through system information or via any type of protocol message. Although not explicitly mentioned throughout the embodiments described herein, the same (e.g., configuration) information may be pre-configured in the WTRU (e.g., via any type of pre-configuration method, such as, e.g., via factory configuration) such that this (e.g., configuration) information may be used by the WTRU without being received from the network.

[0067] Throughout the embodiments described herein, the phrase "the WTRU may be configured with a set of parameters" may be equivalent to or used interchangeably with "the WTRU may receive configuration information (e.g., from another network element (e.g., a gNB)) indicating the set of parameters." Throughout the embodiments described herein, the phrases "the WTRU may report something" and "the WTRU may be configured to report something" may be equivalent to or used interchangeably with "the WTRU may transmit information (e.g., report information) indicating something."

[0068] Non-terrestrial network example Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) may facilitate the deployment of wireless networks in areas where ground-based antennas may be impractical, e.g., due to either terrain or cost. For example, NTNs may be combined with terrestrial networks to enable (e.g., truly ubiquitous) coverage of 5G networks. Initial Rel-17 NR NTN deployments may support (e.g., basic) voice calls and text communications. Further releases, coupled with the proliferation of next-generation low-earth orbit satellites, may be expected to enable enhanced services, such as web browsing.

[0069] An NTN may include either an airborne or space-based platform capable of transmitting (e.g., transmitting) signals from a terrestrial-based gNB to a WTRU and vice versa via a gateway (GW). A Rel-17 NR NTN supports power class 3 WTRUs with omnidirectional antennas and linear polarization, or very small aperture antenna (VSAT) terminals with directional antennas and circular polarization. Support for LTE-based narrow-band IoT (NB-IoT) and enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) type devices may be standardized in Rel-17 based on recommendations from 3GPP TR 36.736, "Solutions for NR to support non-terrestrial networks (NTN)," v16.1.0. For example, any Rel-17 NTN WTRU may be a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) capable of supporting any device type.

[0070] Air and / or space platforms may be classified based on their orbits. For example, an NR system may be based on either low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites, e.g., with an altitude range of 300-1500 km, or geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellites, e.g., with an altitude of 35,786 km. An NR system may be compatible with other satellite platforms (e.g., classifications), such as medium-earth orbit (MEO) satellites, e.g., with an altitude range of 7,000-25,000 km, and high-altitude platform stations (HAPS), e.g., with an altitude of 8-50 km. Satellite platforms may be further classified as having either "transparent" or "regenerative" payloads. A transparent satellite payload system may implement frequency conversion and RF amplification in the uplink and downlink, e.g., using one or more transparent satellites connected to a single ground-based gNB. A regenerative satellite payload system may implement either a complete gNB onboard a satellite or a gNB distributed unit (DU). A regenerative payload system may perform digital processing on the signal, including, for example, any of demodulation, decoding, re-encoding, re-modulation, and filtering.

[0071] 2 is a system diagram illustrating an example of different interfaces in a non-terrestrial network. For example, the NTN network may include wireless links between a GW 20 and satellites 21 and 22, which may be referred to herein as feeder links 201 and 202. For example, the NTN network may include wireless links between satellites 21 and 22 and a WTRU 23, which may be referred to herein as service link 203. The NTN network may include a transmission link between satellites 21 and 22, which may be referred to as inter-satellite link (ISL) 204. The ISL (e.g., ISL only) may exist in a regenerative payload system that may be compatible with either a 3GPP air interface or a proprietary (e.g., optical) interface.

[0072] Depending on the configuration of the satellite payload (e.g., transparent or regenerative), different 3GPP interfaces may be used for (e.g., each) radio link. In a transparent payload system, the NR-Uu radio interface may be used for the service link and the feeder link. For a regenerative payload system, the NR-Uu interface may be used for the service link, and the satellite radio interface (SRI) may be used for the feeder link. 3GPP Rel-17 does not describe ISL.

[0073] Figure 3 shows an example of a user plane (UP) 31 and control plane (CP) 32 protocol stack for a transparent payload system. Protocol stacks for other types of payload systems are described in sections 5.1 and 5.2 of 3GPP TR 38.821, "Solutions for NR to support non-terrestrial networks (NTN)," v16.1.0.

[0074] An NTN satellite can support one or more cells, and a cell may include one or more satellite beams. The satellite beam may cover a footprint on Earth (e.g., a terrestrial cell) whose diameter may range, for example, from 100 to 1,000 km in a LEO deployment and from 200 to 3,500 km in a GEO deployment. The beam footprint in a GEO deployment may remain fixed relative to the Earth, while in a LEO deployment, the area (e.g., cell) covered by the beam may change over time based on satellite movement. This beam movement may be referred to herein as "Earth-moving" if the LEO beam can move continuously across the Earth, or "Earth-fixed" if the beam can be steered to continue covering a fixed location until a new cell can take over the coverage area, for example, with discrete and coordinated changes.

[0075] Depending on either the altitude or beam diameter of the NTN platform, the round-trip time (RTT) and maximum differential delay may be larger than those of terrestrial systems. For example, in a transparent NTN deployment, the RTT may range from 25.77 ms (for LEO at 600 km altitude) to 541.46 ms (for GEO), and the maximum differential delay may range from 3.12 ms to 10.3 ms. The RTT of a regenerative payload system may be half the RTT of a transparent payload system. In fact, a transparent configuration may include a service link and a feeder link, and the RTT of a regenerative payload system may include the service link (e.g., only the service link). For example, the WTRU may perform timing pre-compensation before initial access to reduce (e.g., minimize) the impact on the existing NR system (e.g., to avoid preamble ambiguity or to properly time the receive window).

[0076] For example, the WTRU may obtain its position via GNSS and obtain the feeder link (or common) delay and satellite position via satellite ephemeris data to proceed with a pre-compensation procedure. The satellite ephemeris data may be periodically broadcast in the system information and may include any of satellite speed, direction, and velocity. For example, the WTRU may determine (e.g., estimate) the distance (and, e.g., delay) from the satellite. For example, the WTRU may add a feeder link delay component to obtain the complete WTRU-gNB RTT, which may be used to offset any of the timers, receive windows, and timing relationships. Frequency compensation may be performed, for example, by the network.

[0077] 3GPP NR Rel-17 NTN further describes WTRU mobility and measurement reporting. For example, the difference in reference signal received power (RSRP) between the cell center and cell edge may not be as significant as in terrestrial systems. This, combined with larger areas of cell overlap, may result in 3GPP NR measurement-based mobility being less reliable in NTN environments. New conditional handover and measurement reporting triggers that are location- and time-dependent may enable improved mobility management in NTN systems. Enhanced mobility may be particularly important in LEO deployments, where, due to satellite movement, a stationary WTRU may switch locations (e.g., approximately) every 7 seconds (depending on deployment characteristics).

[0078] Example of disabling HARQ feedback in Rel-17 NTN HARQ stall, as used herein, may refer to a state in which (e.g., all) HARQ process identifiers (IDs) are assigned and pending, such that none of the HARQ process IDs can be reused for new data transmission / reception. In Rel-17 NR NTN, several enhancements were introduced to avoid HARQ stalls due to increased propagation delay. For example, the ability to disable HARQ feedback may allow a HARQ process ID to be used for a new data transmission (e.g., immediately) after transmission, so that HARQ stalls can be prevented.

[0079] For example, a radio resource control (RRC) configuration (e.g., information), sometimes referred to herein as downlinkHARQ-feedbackDisabled, may indicate whether downlink (DL) HARQ feedback is enabled or disabled. For example, the (e.g., RRC) configuration downlinkHARQ-feedbackDisabled may be configured per serving cell (e.g., HARQ feedback may be disabled). For example, a WTRU may receive (e.g., semi-static) configuration information that indicates, per HARQ process ID, whether the WTRU can generate HARQ feedback for DL ​​assignments addressed to the HARQ process ID. Similarly, for example, RRC configuration information, sometimes referred to herein as uplinkHARQ-mode, may be applicable to UL HARQ processes. For example, the (e.g., RRC) configuration information uplinkHARQ-Mode may be configured per serving cell (e.g., uplink HARQ mode A may be configured). For example, the WTRU may receive (e.g., semi-static) configuration information that indicates, per HARQ process ID, whether the HARQ process can be configured as HARQ Mode A or HARQ Mode B. For example, the network may provide UL grants independently of the HARQ mode configuration. For example, as further detailed in embodiments described herein, based on the WTRU DRX behavior, HARQ Mode A may be more suitable for HARQ processes where UL HARQ retransmissions are enabled (e.g., HARQ processes where monitoring of HARQ retransmission grant information may be enabled), and HARQ Mode B may be more suitable for HARQ processes where UL HARQ retransmissions are disabled (e.g., HARQ processes where monitoring of HARQ retransmission grant information may be disabled).

[0080] The terms "HARQ mode A," "uplink HARQ mode A," "HARQ mode A," and "first uplink HARQ mode," collectively "HARQ mode A," may be used interchangeably throughout the embodiments described herein to refer to an uplink HARQ mode that may be more suitable for HARQ processes in which UL HARQ retransmissions are enabled (e.g., HARQ retransmission grant information monitoring may be enabled). The terms "HARQ mode B," "uplink HARQ mode B," "HARQ mode B," and "second uplink HARQ mode," collectively "HARQ mode B," may be used interchangeably throughout the embodiments described herein to refer to an uplink HARQ mode that may be more suitable for HARQ processes in which UL HARQ retransmissions are disabled (e.g., HARQ retransmission grant information monitoring may be disabled).

[0081] For example, DL HARQ feedback may be either enabled or disabled via semi-static RRC configuration at least for enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) devices.

[0082] DRX adaptation example The timing for reusing a HARQ process ID for a subsequent transmission may be based on whether DL HARQ feedback is enabled or disabled. For example, an HARQ process for which DL HARQ feedback is enabled may use at least one RTT for the WTRU to provide HARQ feedback and receive a subsequent (e.g., re)transmission, while a WTRU process for which DL HARQ feedback is disabled may be reused (e.g., immediately) after a (e.g., last) transmission.

[0083] FIG. 4 is a system diagram illustrating an example of DRX adaptation based on downlink HARQ feedback states and uplink HARQ feedback modes.

[0084] As shown at 41, the WTRU may determine whether the serving cell is configured with downlink HARQ feedback disabled. If the WTRU determines that the serving cell is configured with downlink HARQ feedback disabled, the WTRU may determine whether HARQ feedback is valid for the HARQ process (e.g., ID), as shown at 42. If the WTRU determines that HARQ feedback is valid for the HARQ process (e.g., ID), the WTRU may start a retransmission timer after the transmission (sometimes referred to herein as drx-RetransmissionTimerDL), which may be delayed by an offset corresponding to the WTRU-gNB RTT, so that the WTRU can wake up at the appropriate time (e.g., to receive the next transmission) and monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). For example, for an HARQ process with disabled HARQ feedback, the WTRU process may not proceed with any subsequent retransmissions. In this case, the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL may not start after the transmission, which may improve WTRU power savings. If downlink HARQ feedback is not configured for the serving cell, the conventional behavior may apply.

[0085] Similarly, for the UL, the WTRU may determine whether the serving cell is configured with an uplink HARQ mode, as shown at 43. If the WTRU determines that the serving cell is configured with an uplink HARQ mode, the WTRU may determine which HARQ mode may be configured for the HARQ process ID, as shown at 44. For example, if the WTRU is configured with an uplink HARQ mode and the HARQ process is configured with HARQ mode A, the WTRU may offset (e.g., delay) the start of the DRX UL retransmission timer (sometimes referred to herein as drx-RetransmissionTimerUL) by the WTRU-gNB RTT. If the WTRU is configured with HARQ mode B, the WTRU may not start the DRX UL retransmission timer. If an uplink HARQ mode is not configured for the serving cell, conventional behavior may apply.

[0086] In the embodiments described herein, the terms "drx-RetransmissionTimerDL," "DRX DL retransmission timer," and "DL retransmission timer" may be used interchangeably to refer to a period during which a WTRU may monitor (e.g., PDCCH) for (e.g., to receive) DL retransmissions, e.g., as described in Section 5.7 of 3GPP TS38.321. The DL retransmission timer may be applicable, for example, per DL HARQ process.

[0087] In the embodiments described herein, the terms "drx-RetransmissionTimerUL," "DRX UL retransmission timer," and "UL retransmission timer" may be used interchangeably to refer to a period during which a WTRU may monitor (e.g., the PDCCH) for (e.g., to receive) a UL grant (e.g., information) for a UL retransmission. The UL retransmission timer may be applicable, for example, per UL HARQ process.

[0088] In the embodiments described herein, the term "DL HARQ RTT timer" may be used to refer to a period during which a WTRU may monitor (e.g., the PDCCH) for (e.g., to receive) a DL assignment (e.g., information) for HARQ retransmission, e.g., as described in Section 5.7 of 3GPP TS38.321. A DL assignment (e.g., information) for HARQ retransmission may not be required to be received by the WTRU during that period. The DL HARQ RTT timer may be applicable, for example, per DL HARQ process.

[0089] In the embodiments described herein, the term "UL HARQ RTT timer" may be used to refer to a period during which a WTRU may monitor (e.g., the PDCCH) for (e.g., to receive) an UL HARQ retransmission grant (e.g., information), as described, for example, in Section 5.7 of 3GPP TS38.321. An UL HARQ retransmission grant (e.g., information) may not be required to be received by the WTRU during that period. The UL HARQ RTT timer may be applicable, for example, per UL HARQ process.

[0090] Examples of LCP applications The gNB may disable UL HARQ retransmissions by sending grant information indicating a new grant with a toggled new data indicator (NDI) before waiting for the network decoding result, so that transmissions sent on (e.g., certain) HARQ processes may be less reliable than others. As discussed in the embodiments described herein, a UL HARQ process ID configured with HARQ mode A may receive information indicating a UL retransmission grant based on the network decoding result, while a UL HARQ process ID configured with HARQ mode B may not (e.g., the subsequent grant may be either a blind retransmission grant or no retransmission grant).

[0091] The configuration of the uplink HARQ mode may imply that the UL grants allocated to (e.g., certain) HARQ processes may be more reliable than other HARQ processes. For example, (e.g., a new) LCP restriction (referred to herein as allowed HARQ modes (e.g., allowedHARQmodes)) may be used. The LCP restriction of allowed HARQ modes (allowedHARQmodes) may indicate, for each logical channel (LCH), whether data from this LCH can be mapped (e.g., associated) to an HARQ process ID for which HARQ mode A or HARQ mode B is configured. If either the uplink HARQ mode or the allowed HARQ mode is not configured, the conventional LCP behavior may apply.

[0092] 5 is a system diagram illustrating an example of LCP adaptation. For example, a WTRU may receive grant information indicating an uplink grant for an LCH. In step 51, the WTRU may determine whether an LCP restriction for the allowed HARQ mode may be configured for this LCH. If an LCP restriction for the allowed HARQ mode is configured for the LCH, the WTRU may determine in step 52 whether an UL HARQ mode may be configured for the HARQ process associated with the UL grant. If an UL HARQ mode is configured for the HARQ process, the WTRU may determine in step 53 whether the allowable UL HARQ modes configured in the mapping rule may match the UL HARQ mode configured for the HARQ process to determine whether the restriction is met.

[0093] overview Disabling HARQ feedback may have an impact on either DRX and LCP, and the adaptation (e.g., of DRX and LCP) to adjust the WTRU behavior based on the HARQ feedback status may rely on (received) RRC configuration information (e.g., downlink HARQ feedback disabled, uplink HARQ mode, and allowed HARQ modes). For example, (received) RRC configuration (e.g., information) may not be suitable for lower capability devices, such as either reduced capability (RedCap) and narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT). For example, NB-IoT may support fewer HARQ processes (e.g., one or two), and as a result, there may be less flexibility to enable or disable the set of HARQ processes. For example, RRC reconfiguration may not be supported, and as a result, there may be no way to change the configuration after the initial connection setup.

[0094] The embodiments described herein may enable indicating whether HARQ feedback is enabled and disabled via means other than RRC configuration information, such as, for example, DCI-based indication. The embodiments described herein may enable adapting DRX and LCP operations for DCI-based solutions. For example, the embodiments described herein may enable adapting either the DRX timers and LCP limits to provide (e.g., indicate) UL HARQ mode when an L1-based (e.g., DCI) indication is used to either enable / disable DL HARQ feedback.

[0095] Embodiments are described herein for reduced capability and IoT devices. The embodiments described herein are not limited to those reduced capability and IoT devices, but may be equally applicable to any device, technology, and / or environment that supports L1-based indication of HARQ feedback status information.

[0096] Throughout the embodiments described herein, the terms "DCI-based indication," "physical layer information indication," "L1-based indication," and collectively "L1 indication" may be used interchangeably to refer to techniques for indicating a piece of information using L1 (e.g., physical layer) information. The embodiments described herein are not limited to DCI-based indication and may be applicable to any other L1-based method that can indicate whether downlink HARQ feedback is enabled and / or disabled and / or that can indicate an uplink HARQ mode.

[0097] Throughout the embodiments described herein, the terminology "HARQ state" and "HARQ feedback state" may be used interchangeably to refer to either (i) DL HARQ feedback being enabled or disabled, and (ii) a UL HARQ mode (e.g., A or B) being configured, e.g., for at least one HARQ process.

[0098] Embodiments are described herein for adapting DRX and / or LCP according to an L1-based indication of HARQ feedback status (eg, whether HARQ feedback is enabled or disabled).

[0099] Example of Layer 1 indication of HARQ feedback state The L1 indication (eg, how the WTRU can determine the HARQ feedback status (eg, based on the DCI)) is described in more detail herein.

[0100] In one embodiment, the WTRU may receive information (e.g., an indication) indicating the HARQ feedback status (e.g., that DL HARQ feedback may be enabled or disabled and / or that UL HARQ mode A or B may be configured) via an indication (e.g., information) in L1. The indication (e.g., information) may be explicit or implicit. The indication (e.g., information) may operate independently of or in combination with one or more RRC configurations (e.g., which may be used to either (1) enable HARQ feedback, (2) disable HARQ feedback, and (3) configure the HARQ mode for either (i) an HARQ process and (ii) an LCP mapping restriction).

[0101] For example, the WTRU may receive information (e.g., an indication thereof) indicating the HARQ feedback status in the DCI. In one example, the indication (e.g., information) may be present in a DL assignment, and the indication (e.g., information) may point to the HARQ feedback behavior for the corresponding DL reception. In another example, the indication (e.g., information indicating the HARQ status) may be present in an UL grant, and the indicated HARQ behavior may point to the corresponding UL transmission.

[0102] In one embodiment, the WTRU may receive via DCI (1) HARQ feedback status for the associated HARQ process (e.g., indicating whether HARQ feedback is enabled or disabled) and / or (2) information indicative of (e.g., an indication thereof) of HARQ mode behavior. This indication may represent, for example, one or more of the following example information: In one example, the information may indicate whether DL HARQ feedback is enabled or disabled for a scheduled physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in the DCI.

[0103] In another example, the information may indicate whether DL HARQ feedback is enabled or disabled for all HARQ processes.

[0104] In yet another example, the information may indicate whether DL HARQ feedback is enabled or disabled for a subset of HARQ processes, which may be configured (e.g., indicated by receiving configuration information) via higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC, etc.). For example, the WTRU may receive configuration information indicating one or more subsets of HARQ processes, and (e.g., each) subset of HARQ processes may be configured (e.g., associated with) an index. The index may be indicated (e.g., included) in the DCI.

[0105] In yet another example, the information may indicate that DL HARQ feedback may be disabled except for a PDSCH carrying a MAC control element (MAC-CE). For example, if the WTRU receives this indication, the WTRU may skip HARQ feedback for a PDSCH except if the PDSCH carries a MAC-CE.

[0106] In yet another example, the information may indicate whether DL HARQ feedback is enabled or disabled for all HARQ processes except for HARQ processes that may be used for MAC-CE transmissions. The HARQ process carrying the MAC-CE may be, for example, configured, determined, and indicated by the gNB. The HARQ process carrying the MAC-CE may be, for example, implicitly determined based on the HARQ process number (e.g., either the lowest HARQ process identification, the highest HARQ process identification, etc.).

[0107] In yet another example, the information may indicate UL HARQ Mode A.

[0108] In yet another example, the information may indicate UL HARQ Mode B.

[0109] In yet another example, the information may indicate a toggle HARQ feedback behavior for this HARQ process (e.g., unless otherwise indicated, all subsequent DCIs addressed to this HARQ process may have the same HARQ feedback state).

[0110] In yet another example, the information may indicate overriding the RRC configuration for this HARQ process.

[0111] Throughout the embodiments described herein, the term "HARQ feedback enabled / disabled" may be used interchangeably with "HARQ feedback enabled / disabled."

[0112] In one embodiment, information related to (e.g., indicative of) the HARQ feedback status may be indicated (e.g., transmitted) and / or the WTRU may determine the HARQ feedback status via one or more of the following example methods:

[0113] In one example, an explicit flag in the DCI may indicate the HARQ feedback status (e.g., a flag bit set to 1 may correspond to DL HARQ feedback being enabled, while a flag bit set to 0 may correspond to HARQ feedback being disabled, or vice versa). Similarly, the flag may correspond to UL HARQ Mode A or UL HARQ Mode B (e.g., may indicate UL HARQ Mode A or UL HARQ Mode B).

[0114] In another example, the HARQ feedback status may be indicated based on a DCI format. For example, one or more DCI formats may be configured (e.g., the WTRU may receive configuration information indicating one or more DCI formats). When the WTRU receives a particular DCI format (e.g., a DCI format indicated by the gNB as being associated with and / or corresponding to either enabled or disabled HARQ feedback), the WTRU may determine to disable or enable HARQ feedback associated with a HARQ process based on the DCI format. For example, when the WTRU receives a first DCI format (e.g., DCI format A) for the PDSCH, the WTRU may determine that the associated HARQ feedback may be disabled (e.g., for a subsequent DL assignment addressed to the HARQ process), and when the WTRU receives a second DCI format (e.g., DCI format B) for the PDSCH, the WTRU may determine that the associated HARQ feedback may be enabled (e.g., for a subsequent DL assignment addressed to the HARQ process).

[0115] In yet another example, the WTRU may determine the HARQ feedback state based on a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) scrambled with a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the scheduling DCI. For example, if the DCI format scheduling the PDSCH is scrambled with a first cell RNTI (C-RNTI) (e.g., C-RNTI-1), the WTRU may determine that HARQ feedback for the scheduled PDSCH may be disabled. If the DCI format scheduling the PDSCH is scrambled with a second C-RNTI (e.g., C-RNTI-2), the WTRU may determine that HARQ feedback for the scheduled PDSCH may be enabled. The WTRU may be configured with (e.g., receive configuration information indicating this), and (e.g., each) C-RNTI may be associated with a HARQ feedback status (or mode). If the WTRU is configured with a single HARQ process, HARQ disablement may not be supported and a single C-RNTI (e.g., C-RNTI-1) may be used. If HARQ disablement is not supported (e.g., based on WTRU capabilities), the WTRU may be configured with a single C-RNTI.

[0116] In yet another example, the WTRU may determine the HARQ feedback state based on a PDCCH search space. For example, one or more PDCCH search spaces may be configured (e.g., indicated by received configuration information) or used, and (e.g., each) PDCCH search space may be associated with a HARQ feedback state (e.g., enabled or disabled). If the WTRU receives DCI in a first PDCCH search space (e.g., a first search space associated with HARQ feedback being enabled), the WTRU may determine that HARQ feedback may be enabled for the scheduled PDSCH. If the WTRU receives DCI in a second PDCCH search space (e.g., a second search space associated with HARQ feedback being disabled), the WTRU may determine that HARQ feedback may be disabled for the scheduled PDSCH. Throughout the embodiments described herein, the term "PDCCH search space" may be used interchangeably with "search space identification," "control resource set (CORESET)," "PDCCH candidate," and "PDCCH search space identification."

[0117] In yet another example, the WTRU may determine the HARQ feedback state based on scheduling information (e.g., transport block size (TBS), repetitions). For example, the HARQ feedback status (e.g., enabled / disabled) may be determined based on scheduling parameters for the PDSCH, including any of the following: TBS, modulation and code scheme (MCS), number of repetitions, demodulation reference signal (DMRS) density, NDI, number of HARQ processes, number of layers, number of codewords, and DMRS port indication.

[0118] Example of L1 indication of HARQ feedback status to higher layers Embodiments for indicating HARQ feedback status to higher layers (eg, MAC) are described in more detail herein.

[0119] In one embodiment, the WTRU may indicate a HARQ feedback status (or L1 indication) to higher layers (e.g., always) when (e.g., after) the WTRU may receive a DL DCI that may schedule a PDSCH.

[0120] In another embodiment, the WTRU may indicate the HARQ feedback status to higher layers if one or more of the following conditions are met:

[0121] In one example, the WTRU may indicate the HARQ feedback state to higher layers if the HARQ feedback state indicated in the DCI is different from the HARQ feedback state configured via higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC configuration), for example.

[0122] In another example, the WTRU may indicate a HARQ feedback state to higher layers when the HARQ feedback state indicated in the DCI is different from a previous HARQ feedback state (e.g., a previously indicated HARQ feedback state). For example, the WTRU may be indicated (e.g., may receive information indicating) to enable HARQ feedback for the PDSCH in the DCI in a first slot, and the WTRU may be indicated (e.g., may receive information indicating) to disable HARQ feedback for the PDSCH in the DCI in a second slot, where the first slot may be earlier than the second slot.

[0123] In yet another example, if a timeslot is configured as a slot in which the WTRU can indicate the HARQ feedback status to the upper layer, the WTRU can indicate the HARQ feedback status to the upper layer, and the configuration of the timeslot for indicating the HARQ feedback status to the upper layer may be (e.g., may follow) a periodic report.

[0124] In yet another example, the WTRU may indicate a HARQ feedback status to higher layers if the number of disabled (or enabled) HARQ processes meets a condition (e.g., is higher than a value (e.g., a threshold)), where the value (e.g., threshold) may be either pre-determined, configured, or indicated by the gNB.

[0125] In yet another example, the WTRU may indicate the HARQ feedback status to upper layers if HARQ feedback is disabled for all HARQ processes.

[0126] In one embodiment, the WTRU may be indicated by the gNB (e.g., in a DCI) to report the HARQ feedback status to higher layers.

[0127] In the embodiments described herein, the term "HARQ feedback state" may be used interchangeably with "L1 indication," "L1 HARQ state indication," "L1 state of HARQ feedback state," and "L1 indication of HARQ feedback state."

[0128] In one embodiment, the L1 indication (eg, HARQ feedback status indicated to higher layers) may include one or more of the following information:

[0129] In one example, the L1 indication may include information indicating whether HARQ feedback is enabled or disabled.

[0130] In another example, the L1 indication may include information indicating whether the HARQ feedback status has changed (eg, from enabled to disabled, enabled to disabled, etc.).

[0131] In yet another example, the L1 indication may include information indicating some disabled (or enabled) HARQ processes.

[0132] In yet another example, the L1 indication may include information indicating a list of disabled (or enabled) HARQ processes.

[0133] In yet another example, the L1 indication may include information indicating, for example, the ratio between cases in which HARQ feedback is enabled and cases in which HARQ feedback is disabled within the window.

[0134] In yet another example, the L1 instruction may include information indicating the duration of the instruction.

[0135] L1 shows an example of higher layer adaptation based on HARQ feedback state The impact and adaptation of DRX and LCP based on L1 instructions is described herein.

[0136] In one embodiment, the WTRU may adapt higher layer procedures (e.g., either DRX or LCP) based on HARQ feedback state indications (e.g., L1 indications) from lower layers. These adaptations may enable WTRU behavior to take effect based on the indicated HARQ feedback state, for example, in the absence of a default behavior or RRC configuration. The WTRU actions (e.g., operations) described herein may vary depending on, for example, one or more of the following: In a first example, the WTRU action (eg, operation) may be based on whether the RRC configuration for enabling / disabling HARQ feedback may already be set.

[0137] In a second example, the WTRU action (eg, operation) may be based on the indicated HARQ process.

[0138] In another example, the WTRU action (eg, operation) may be based on the number of HARQ processes supported by the WTRU.

[0139] In yet another example, the WTRU action (eg, operation) may be based on the serving cell from which the transmission carrying the indication may have been received.

[0140] In yet another example, the WTRU action (eg, operation) may be based on the content of the indication (eg, whether the HARQ process is indicated as enabling or disabling HARQ feedback).

[0141] In yet another example, the WTRU action (eg, operation) may be based on the device type (eg, whether the device is classified as NB-IoT, eMTC, WTRU, VSAT, or RedCap).

[0142] In yet another example, the WTRU action (e.g., operation) may be based on satellite characteristics (e.g., whether the satellite belonging to the serving cell is geosynchronous orbit (GSO) or non-GSO if the WTRU is connected to a non-terrestrial network).

[0143] In yet another example, the WTRU action (e.g., operation) may be based on the WTRU-gNB RTT (e.g., its length).

[0144] In yet another example, the WTRU action (eg, operation) may be based on whether the DCI indication was part of a DL assignment or an UL grant.

[0145] Example of Maintaining HARQ Feedback State for a HARQ Process In an example, the HARQ feedback state may be maintained in either a new state and variable (e.g., when RRC configuration is not supported or when the default state is not supported). The new variable may be maintained, for example, (1) per HARQ process, (2) per serving cell, (3) for all HARQ processes, and (4) for HARQ processes that may not have a configured HARQ feedback state (e.g., enabled, disabled, not configured as either HARQ Mode A or HARQ Mode B).

[0146] In an example, upon receipt of an L1 indication, the WTRU may set any of the states and variables to the values ​​indicated in the L1 indication for the corresponding HARQ process to which the UL grant and / or DL ​​assignment may be assigned (e.g., HARQ feedback enabled, HARQ feedback disabled, HARQ mode A, or HARQ mode B). For example, (e.g., all) subsequent UL grants and / or DL ​​assignments addressed to that HARQ process may follow that HARQ feedback state, for example, until an L1 indication changes (e.g., toggles) the state value.

[0147] In examples, the state may be adapted and / or changed based on subsequent transmissions and / or indications from the network. For example, if an L1 indication toggles HARQ feedback and / or HARQ mode, the WTRU may update the HARQ state after acknowledgment and / or transmission of a corresponding UL transmission (e.g., if the L1 indication was provided via an UL grant), receipt of DL HARQ feedback (indicated DL assignment), and / or receipt of a corresponding DL transmission associated with a DL assignment.

[0148] Example of DRX adaptation based on instructions in DL allocation In examples, the WTRU and / or MAC entity may adapt its DRX behavior based on an indication from a lower layer (e.g., either L1 or L2). For example, upon receipt of a DL assignment carrying an L1 indication and / or upon receipt of a corresponding DL transmission, if the L1 indication indicates that DL HARQ feedback is valid, the WTRU may, for example, perform one or more of the following example operations:

[0149] In one example operation, the WTRU may extend the length of the DL HARQ RTT timer by at least the WTRU-gNB RTT.

[0150] In another example of operation, the WTRU may offset the start of the DL HARQ RTT timer by the WTRU-gNB RTT. During the period corresponding to the (e.g., extended, offset) DL HARQ RTT, the WTRU may not monitor the downlink control channel (e.g., PDCCH), e.g., to conserve power.

[0151] In yet another example of operation, the WTRU may offset the start of the DL retransmission timer by the WTRU-gNB RTT.

[0152] In yet another example of operation, the WTRU may extend the length of the DL retransmission timer by the WTRU-gNB RTT. During the period corresponding to the (e.g., extended, offset) DL retransmission time, the WTRU may, for example, monitor the downlink control channel to receive retransmissions.

[0153] In yet another example of operation, the WTRU may start a new timer (e.g., a MAC timer) having a length equal to the DL HARQ RTT timer plus the WTRU-gNB RTT. While the timer is running, the WTRU may not monitor a downlink control channel (e.g., a PDCCH). Upon expiration of the timer, the WTRU may, for example, monitor (e.g., begin monitoring) a downlink control channel (e.g., a PDCCH) and start a DL retransmission timer.

[0154] In yet another example of operation, the WTRU may enter a DRX active time. Throughout the embodiments described herein, "entering a DRX active time" may be referred to, for example, as monitoring a downlink control channel (e.g., PDCCH) to detect (e.g., receive) transmissions directed to the WTRU.

[0155] If the L1 indication indicates that DL HARQ feedback may be disabled (eg, for either the DL allocation and the HARQ process), the WTRU may, for example, perform one or more of the following example actions.

[0156] In one example of operation, the WTRU may not start the DL HARQ RTT timer.

[0157] In another example of operation, the WTRU may not start the DL retransmission timer. For example, the WTRU may monitor a downlink control channel (e.g., PDCCH) based on other DRX timers that are different from the DL HARQ RTT timer and / or the DL retransmission timer, such as, for example, any of the inactivity timers and DL retransmission timers associated with other HARQ processes.

[0158] In yet another example of operation, the WTRU may enter a DRX active time (eg, may start a DL retransmission timer).

[0159] In yet another example of operation, the WTRU may start a new timer (eg, the WTRU may monitor the PDCCH while this timer runs).

[0160] Examples of DRX applications based on instructions in UL permits In an example, the WTRU and / or MAC entity may adapt the DRX behavior based on information (e.g., an indication) from a lower layer provided in (e.g., received in) an UL grant. The indication (e.g., physical layer information, L1 indication) may indicate (e.g., indicate) that, for example, (i) UL HARQ retransmissions may be enabled, (ii) UL HARQ retransmissions may be disabled, (iii) DRX may be adapted based on HARQ mode A, and (iv) DRX may be adapted based on HARQ mode B.

[0161] If, at the time of transmission of the corresponding UL transmission indicated in the UL grant, the L1 indication indicates (e.g., indicates) that UL HARQ retransmissions may be enabled and / or that DRX may be adapted based on HARQ mode A, the WTRU may, for example, perform one or more of the following actions:

[0162] In one example of operation, after transmitting the corresponding UL transmission indicated in the UL grant, the WTRU may extend the length of the UL HARQ RTT timer by the WTRU-gNB RTT.

[0163] In another example of operation, after transmitting the corresponding UL transmission indicated in the UL grant, the WTRU may offset the start of the UL HARQ RTT timer by the WTRU-gNB RTT. The WTRU may, for example, delay monitoring the downlink control channel (e.g., to conserve power) for a period corresponding to the (e.g., extended, offset) UL HARQ RTT timer.

[0164] In yet another example of operation, after transmitting the corresponding UL transmission indicated in the UL grant, the WTRU may offset the start of the UL retransmission timer by the WTRU-gNB RTT.

[0165] In yet another example of operation, after transmitting the corresponding UL transmission indicated in the UL grant, the WTRU may extend the length of the UL retransmission timer by the WTRU-gNB RTT. The WTRU may, for example, monitor the downlink control channel (e.g., to receive either an acknowledgment or HARQ retransmission grant information) for a period corresponding to the (e.g., extended, offset) UL retransmission timer. The WTRU may, for example, retransmit the UL transmission if no acknowledgment is received within that period.

[0166] In yet another example of operation, after transmitting the corresponding UL transmission indicated in the UL grant, the WTRU may start a new timer (eg, a MAC timer).

[0167] In yet another example of operation, after transmitting the corresponding UL transmission indicated in the UL grant, the WTRU may enter a DRX active time. A new timer (e.g., a MAC timer) may have a length equal to the UL HARQ RTT timer plus the WTRU-gNB RTT. While the timer is running (e.g., for the period corresponding to the new timer), the WTRU may not monitor (e.g., may not be required to monitor) the downlink control channel (e.g., PDCCH). Upon expiration of the new timer (e.g., after an amount of time corresponding to the new time has elapsed), the WTRU may monitor (e.g., begin to monitor) the downlink control channel (e.g., PDCCH), and may, for example, start a UL retransmission timer.

[0168] If, at the time of transmission of the corresponding UL transmission indicated in the UL grant, the L1 indication indicates (e.g., indicates) that UL HARQ retransmissions may be disabled and / or that DRX may be adapted based on HARQ mode B, the WTRU may, for example, perform one or more of the following actions:

[0169] In one example of operation, the WTRU may not start the UL HARQ RTT timer after sending the corresponding UL transmission indicated in the UL grant.

[0170] In another example of operation, after transmitting the corresponding UL transmission indicated in the UL grant, the WTRU may not start the UL retransmission timer. For example, the WTRU may monitor a downlink control channel (e.g., PDCCH) based on other DRX timers different from the UL HARQ RTT timer and / or the UL retransmission timer, such as, for example, any of the inactivity timers and retransmission timers associated with other HARQ processes.

[0171] In yet another example of operation, after transmitting the corresponding UL transmission indicated in the UL grant, the WTRU may enter a DRX active time (eg, may not start the UL retransmission timer).

[0172] In yet another example of operation, after transmitting the corresponding UL transmission indicated in the UL grant, the WTRU may start a new timer, during which the WTRU may monitor the downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0173] Example of duration of L1-based DRX adaptation In one embodiment, the WTRU may apply an adapted DRX behavior (e.g., adapt the DRX behavior), for example, for a particular duration, one or more transmissions, and one or more HARQ processes. For example, the WTRU may adapt the DRX behavior based on the L1 indication according to one or more of the following examples:

[0174] In a first example, the WTRU may adapt its DRX behavior for transmissions scheduled by an UL grant and / or DL ​​assignment that includes an L1 indication.

[0175] In another example, the WTRU may adapt its DRX behavior for an HARQ process and / or for the next X transmissions and / or receptions assigned to the HARQ process, where X may be arbitrary (e.g., a fixed integer).

[0176] In yet another example, the WTRU may adapt the DRX behavior for (e.g., all) transmissions for a particular HARQ process (e.g., the WTRU may adapt the DRX behavior based on the L1 indication until a subsequent L1 indication addressed to the same HARQ process may be received, and the L1 indication may indicate that the DRX behavior should be changed).

[0177] In yet another example, the WTRU may adapt the DRX behavior for (eg, all) HARQ processes belonging to the serving cell.

[0178] In yet another example, the WTRU may adapt the DRX behavior for (eg, all) HARQ processes belonging to a MAC entity.

[0179] In yet another example, the WTRU may adapt the DRX behavior for (eg, all) UL HARQ processes belonging to (eg, all) serving cells or MAC entities.

[0180] In yet another example, the WTRU may adapt its DRX behavior for a configured and / or indicated duration, for example, the WTRU may have received information indicating a duration for which DRX adaptation may be performed.

[0181] In one embodiment, the WTRU may decide to apply one or more of the behaviors according to any embodiment described herein based on, for example, one or more of the following: (i) an explicit instruction, for example, from a lower layer (e.g., receiving explicit information indicating one or more behaviors); (ii) receiving information (e.g., RRC configuration) indicating one or more behaviors to be applied; (iii) the number of HARQ processes; and (iv) whether the HARQ process is a UL or DL ​​HARQ process.

[0182] Example of configuring L1-based DRX adaptation In one embodiment, the WTRU may determine whether to adapt its DRX behavior based on an L1 indication (e.g., an indication in a DCI) or based on (e.g., explicit) configuration information. For example, the WTRU may receive configuration information, e.g., via RRC, indicating to enable or disable L1-based DRX adaptation. In the embodiments described herein, the terminology "enable / disable L1-based DRX adaptation" and "enable / disable L1-based indication of HARQ state" may be used interchangeably to refer to enabling / disabling a WTRU operation mode in which the HARQ state may be adjusted (e.g., modified) based on the L1-based indication. This configuration information may indicate that DRX may be adapted for all HARQ processes or per HARQ process granularity (e.g., level-based). This configuration information may be combined with other configuration information (e.g., information that downlink HARQ feedback is disabled, etc.) that indicates, for example, whether HARQ feedback may be enabled or disabled per HARQ process.

[0183] In one embodiment, the (e.g., RRC) configuration information may include an additional field (e.g., element) indicating whether to enable / disable DL HARQ feedback. For example, the (e.g., RRC) configuration information may indicate three states: 1) DL HARQ feedback is enabled, 2) DL HARQ feedback is disabled, and 3) DL HARQ feedback is controlled by L1 indication. If the HARQ process is configured with DL HARQ feedback enabled or disabled, the WTRU may apply the behavior indicated by the (e.g., RRC) configuration information. If the HARQ process is configured with HARQ feedback controlled by L1 indication, the WTRU may apply the DRX behavior according to the L1 indication. For example, an additional HARQ mode (e.g., HARQ mode C) may be used in the (e.g., RRC) configuration information to indicate that the DRX behavior may be controlled based on the L1 indication in the UL grant.

[0184] In one embodiment, an L1 indication may have been received indicating a particular HARQ feedback behavior, and the HARQ process may already have been pre-configured with the HARQ feedback behavior (e.g., by receiving RRC configuration information). If there is a conflict between the indication provided by the L1 indication and the indication provided by the (e.g., RRC) configuration information, the WTRU may perform one or more of the following example actions (e.g., operations):

[0185] In a first example of operation, the L1 indication may override (eg, always) the RRC configuration.

[0186] In another example of operation, the L1 indication may change the RRC settings (eg, the L1 indication may reconfigure the RRC settings).

[0187] In yet another example of operation, the L1 indication may override the RRC configuration according to one or more conditions (e.g., based on transmission priority, number of repetitions, TBS size, etc., for one or more HARQ process IDs).

[0188] In another example of operation, the RRC configuration may override the L1 indication, e.g., the L1 indication may be ignored based on the RRC configuration information.

[0189] The actions (e.g., operations) described herein may vary, for example, per WTRU, per HARQ process, per MAC entity, and / or per serving cell. Which actions a WTRU may perform may depend on (e.g., based on) the WTRU configuration, for example.

[0190] Example of WTRU behavior when no L1 indication is received In one embodiment, the WTRU may be able to adapt its DRX behavior. For example, the WTRU may seek to receive an L1 indication to determine how to adapt its DRX behavior. For example, the WTRU may have received configuration information indicating that the HARQ process may be configured for "DL HARQ feedback controlled by L1 indication" or "HARQ mode C." If the required L1 indication is not received, the WTRU may assume (e.g., apply) one or more of the following: If no L1 indication is received, the WTRU may apply a default behavior, which may include, for example, one or more DRX adaptations according to any embodiment described herein, and may be provided (e.g., received) via configuration information or indicated (e.g., in system information).

[0191] If no L1 indication is received, the WTRU may apply legacy behavior for DRX operation (e.g., the WTRU-gNB RTT may not be incorporated into the DRX procedure).

[0192] If no L1 indication is received, the WTRU may apply the DRX adaptation indicated by the last received L1 indication for the corresponding HARQ process.

[0193] If no L1 indication is received, the WTRU may apply the DRX behavior as indicated via the RRC configuration (if available).

[0194] Logical Channel Prioritization (LCP) Adaptation Example In one embodiment, the WTRU is configured with an LCP restriction (e.g., receives configuration information indicating the LCP restriction), and the LCP restriction may map (e.g., associate) a logical channel (LCH) to an HARQ process configured with a (e.g., given) HARQ mode (e.g., HARQ mode A or HARQ mode B). For example, the WTRU may take into account an L1 indication (e.g., determined via a DCI indication in an UL grant) during the LCP procedure.

[0195] In one embodiment, the WTRU may adapt the LCP based on physical layer information received, for example, in the DCI (eg, HARQ status information indicated by L1).

[0196] For example, the LCH mapping restrictions in the LCP procedure may be reused.

[0197] For example, the WTRU may interpret physical layer information (e.g., an L1 indication) as indicating either HARQ mode A or HARQ mode B. If an LCH mapping restriction is configured having a restriction on which LCHs are mapped to (e.g., associated with) (e.g., a particular) HARQ mode, and the L1 indication in the UL grant matches the configured HARQ mode, the WTRU may map data from that logical channel to (e.g., associate with) the UL grant. In another example, if the HARQ mode indicated in the LCH mapping restriction does not match the HARQ mode indicated in the L1 indication in the UL grant, data from that LCH may not be mapped to (e.g., associated with) that UL grant.

[0198] Example of DRX adaptation based on L1 indication In one embodiment, the WTRU may receive information (e.g., instructions and / or configuration information, etc.) indicating that HARQ state information may be provided and / or changed via an L1-based indication. The information (e.g., configuration and / or indication) may apply to any of: (i) per serving cell, (ii) per HARQ process, (iii) for UL HARQ processes, (iv) for DL ​​HARQ processes, and (v) for all HARQ processes.

[0199] The WTRU may receive information (e.g., in either the UL grant or the DL assignment) indicating HARQ status information. The HARQ status information may indicate, for example, any of: (i) HARQ feedback may be enabled, (ii) HARQ feedback may be disabled, (iii) HARQ Mode A, (iv) HARQ Mode B, (v) HARQ feedback and / or HARQ mode may differ from the RRC configuration, and (vi) HARQ feedback may differ from previously indicated HARQ feedback status information.

[0200] In examples, an indication of (e.g., information indicative thereof) HARQ state information may be provided and / or determined via any of (i) an explicit flag in the DCI, (ii) based on the DCI format, (iii) based on the RNTI scrambled with the CRC of the scheduling DCI, (iv) the PDCCH search space, and (v) scheduling information (e.g., TBS size, number of repetitions, etc.). The HARQ state information may apply, for example, to any of (i) an UL transmission scheduled by an UL grant, (ii) a DL reception scheduled by a DL assignment, (iii) one or more subsequent transmissions on an HARQ process, or (iv) a set of HARQ processes (e.g., one or more HARQ processes, an UL HARQ process, and / or a DL HARQ process, etc.).

[0201] The WTRU may indicate HARQ state information to a higher layer (e.g., MAC). The indication to the higher layer may include, for example, any of: (i) HARQ feedback state (e.g., indicating whether HARQ feedback is enabled and / or disabled); (ii) HARQ mode (e.g., indicating either HARQ mode A or HARQ mode B); and (iii) duration and / or granularity of the indication (e.g., indicating whether the indication applies to a particular transmission and / or reception, or whether the indication applies to one or more or a set of HARQ processes). For example, the indication may be provided to the higher layer after the indication is received. In another example, the indication may be provided to the higher layer on the condition that, for example, (i) the HARQ state information is different from the HARQ state information configured via higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC, etc.), and (ii) the HARQ state information is different from the previously indicated HARQ (e.g., feedback) state information.

[0202] After receiving physical layer information (e.g., an L1 indication of HARQ status information), the WTRU may adapt its DRX behavior, for example, based on the indicated HARQ status information. If the L1 indication indicates that DL HARQ feedback may be valid, the WTRU may either (i) modify the DL HARQ RTT timer (e.g., extend the length by the WTRU-gNB RTT or offset the start by the WTRU-gNB RTT), (ii) modify the DL retransmission timer (e.g., offset the start by the WTRU-gNB RTT or extend by the WTRU-gNB RTT), (iii) start a new timer, and (iv) enter a DRX active time (e.g., monitor the PDCCH). If the L1 indication indicates that DL HARQ feedback may be invalid, the WTRU may either (i) not start the DL HARQ RTT timer, or (ii) not start the DL retransmission timer or start a new timer.

[0203] If the L1 indication indicates that UL HARQ retransmission is enabled and / or indicates HARQ Mode A, the WTRU may either (i) modify the UL HARQ RTT timer (e.g., extend the length by the WTRU-gNB RTT or offset the start by the WTRU-gNB RTT), (ii) modify the UL retransmission timer (e.g., offset the start by the WTRU-gNB RTT or extend the length by the WTRU-gNB RTT), (iii) start a new timer, and (iv) enter DRX active time (e.g., monitor the PDCCH). If the L1 indication indicates that UL HARQ retransmission is disabled and / or indicates HARQ Mode B, the WTRU may either (i) not start the UL HARQ RTT timer, or (ii) not start the UL retransmission timer and not start a new timer (so that a subsequent transmission can be sent).

[0204] In an example, the WTRU may apply the DRX behavior for a specific duration (e.g., any of: (i) for (e.g., a specific) transmission and / or reception, (ii) for the next X transmissions and / or receptions, (iii) indefinitely, (iv) and until a subsequent instruction may be received, etc.). Either the L1 instruction and (e.g., RRC) configuration information may indicate the duration for which the WTRU may apply the DRX behavior. The WTRU may, for example, apply the DRX behavior to any of: (i) a specific HARQ process, (ii) one or more HARQ processes (e.g., any of a set of HARQ processes, (e.g., all) HARQ processes, and (e.g., all) DL HARQ processes), and (iii) (e.g., all) HARQ processes.

[0205] If the L1 indication conflicts with the higher layer configuration, the WTRU may, for example, act in accordance with any of the following: (i) the L1 indication overrides the RRC configuration (e.g., always); (ii) the L1 indication changes the RRC configuration (e.g., the L1 indication can reconfigure the RRC configuration); (iii) the L1 indication overrides the RRC configuration according to one or more conditions (e.g., based on transmission priority, number of repetitions, TBS size, one or more HARQ process IDs, etc.); and (iv) the RRC configuration overrides the L1 indication.

[0206] FIG. 6 is a system diagram illustrating an example method for adapting DRX based on an L1 indication.

[0207] As shown at 610, the WTRU may receive first configuration information that indicates, for example, whether HARQ feedback may be enabled or disabled for one or more HARQ processes.

[0208] As shown in 620, the WTRU may receive second configuration information indicating whether DRX adaptation may be enabled or disabled for one or more HARQ processes, e.g., based on the L1 indication. For example, the first and second configuration information may be received in one or more (e.g., RRC) messages. For example, configuration information indicating either (i) an L1-based indication of the HARQ state and (ii) a first HARQ state may be received. For example, a first DRX operation may be performed based on the first HARQ state.

[0209] As shown at 630, the WTRU may determine whether the serving cell is configured with downlink HARQ feedback disabled.

[0210] As shown at 640, the WTRU may receive an L1 indication indicating the HARQ feedback status for one or more HARQ processes.

[0211] As shown at 650, the WTRU may determine whether DRX adaptation is enabled or disabled for one or more HARQ processes associated with the received L1 indication.

[0212] If the WTRU determines that DRX adaptation may be enabled for one or more HARQ processes, the WTRU may determine whether an L1 indication indicates that HARQ feedback is enabled for one or more HARQ processes, as shown at 660. For example, a DCI may be received, and the WTRU may determine that the DCI may indicate a second HARQ state based on configuration information indicating that an L1-based indication of the HARQ state may be enabled. For example, a second DRX operation may be performed based on the second HARQ state.

[0213] If the WTRU determines that the L1 indication indicates that HARQ feedback may be valid, the WTRU may offset the start of the DRX retransmission DL timer by the WTRU-gNB RTT, as shown at 670.

[0214] 7 is a system diagram illustrating an example method 700 for adapting DRX based on an L1 indication. For example, the method may be implemented in a WTRU. As shown in 710, the WTRU may receive downlink control information indicating HARQ status information. As shown in 720, the WTRU may perform discontinuous reception based on the HARQ status information.

[0215] In various embodiments, the HARQ status information may be indicated in either the uplink grant information or the downlink assignment information.

[0216] In various embodiments, the HARQ status information may indicate any of: (i) downlink HARQ feedback enabled; (ii) downlink HARQ feedback disabled; (iii) a first uplink HARQ mode; and (iv) a second uplink HARQ mode.

[0217] In various embodiments, the HARQ status information may indicate a first uplink HARQ mode that may be different from a second uplink HARQ mode indicated by previous HARQ status information.

[0218] In various embodiments, the HARQ state information may indicate a first downlink HARQ feedback state that may differ from a second downlink HARQ feedback state indicated by previous HARQ state information.

[0219] In various embodiments, the HARQ state information may be applicable to any of: (i) an uplink transmission scheduled by an uplink grant in the downlink control information; (ii) a downlink reception scheduled by a downlink assignment in the downlink control information; and (iii) one or more subsequent transmissions of one or more HARQ processes.

[0220] In various embodiments, the HARQ state information may indicate that downlink HARQ feedback may be valid, and performing DRX may include delaying monitoring to receive a subsequent (e.g., re)transmission based on a round-trip time from the WTRU to the base station.

[0221] In various embodiments, the HARQ state information may indicate a first uplink HARQ mode, and performing DRX may include retransmitting uplink transmissions that have not been acknowledged within a period that includes at least a round-trip time from the WTRU to the base station.

[0222] In various embodiments, the HARQ state information may indicate a second uplink HARQ mode, and performing DRX may include monitoring a downlink control channel to receive subsequent transmissions during a period different from the uplink retransmission period.

[0223] In various embodiments, DRX may be performed based on the HARQ status information until subsequent HARQ status information may be indicated in subsequent downlink control information.

[0224] In various embodiments, DRX may be performed based on HARQ state information for a certain period of time, after which DRX may be performed according to default behavior.

[0225] In various embodiments, the method may further include receiving configuration information indicating that the HARQ state information may be modified based on information indicated by the downlink control information.

[0226] In various embodiments, the HARQ status information may be applicable (i) per serving cell, (ii) per HARQ process, (iii) for uplink HARQ processes, (iv) for downlink HARQ processes, or (iv) for all HARQ processes.

[0227] FIG. 8 illustrates an example method 800 for adapting DRX based on an L1 indication. Method 800 may be implemented in a WTRU. As shown at 810, the WTRU may receive configuration information indicating (1) a DCI-based indication of an HARQ state and (2) a first HARQ state associated with an HARQ process. As shown at 820, the WTRU may perform a first DRX operation based on the first HARQ state. As shown at 830, the WTRU may receive a DCI. As shown at 840, the WTRU may determine that the DCI may indicate a second HARQ state associated with the HARQ process based on the configuration information indicating that the DCI-based indication of the HARQ state may be valid. As shown at 850, the WTRU may perform a second DRX operation (e.g., associated with the HARQ process) based on the second HARQ state.

[0228] In various embodiments, the second HARQ state may be indicated in either the uplink grant information or the downlink assignment information.

[0229] In various embodiments, the second HARQ state may be different from the first HARQ state.

[0230] In various embodiments, either the first HARQ state or the second HARQ state may indicate either (i) that downlink HARQ feedback may be enabled, (ii) that downlink HARQ feedback may be disabled, (iii) a first uplink HARQ mode, and (iv) a second uplink HARQ mode.

[0231] In various embodiments, the first uplink HARQ mode may be associated with monitoring of HARQ retransmission grant information being enabled, and the second uplink HARQ mode may be associated with monitoring of HARQ retransmission grant information being disabled.

[0232] In various embodiments, the second HARQ state may be applicable to any of: (i) an uplink transmission scheduled by an uplink grant of the DCI; (ii) a downlink reception scheduled by a downlink assignment of the DCI; or (iii) one or more subsequent transmissions of the HARQ process.

[0233] In various embodiments, the first HARQ state may indicate that downlink HARQ feedback may be disabled, and the second HARQ state may indicate that downlink HARQ feedback may be enabled. In various embodiments, performing the second DRX operation may include delaying monitoring to receive retransmissions based on a round-trip time from the WTRU to the base station.

[0234] In various embodiments, delaying monitoring to receive retransmissions may include delaying monitoring of a physical downlink control channel based on a round-trip time from the WTRU to the base station.

[0235] In various embodiments, DRX may be performed based on the second HARQ state until the first HARQ state may be indicated in a subsequent DCI.

[0236] In various embodiments, DRX may be performed according to the second HARQ state for a period of time, after which DRX may be performed according to the first HARQ state.

[0237] In various embodiments, the second HARQ state may be applicable (i) per serving cell, (ii) per HARQ process, and (iii) to all HARQ processes of the WTRU.

[0238] In various embodiments, an LCP restriction can associate one or more logical channels with an uplink HARQ mode. In various embodiments, the LCP can be implemented based on configuration information that indicates that DCI-based indication of HARQ status can be enabled.

[0239] In various embodiments, data of one or more logical channels indicated in the LCP restriction may be transmitted in the second DRX operation based on an uplink HARQ mode indicated in the LCP restriction that matches the second HARQ state indicated in the DCI.

[0240] FIG. 9 illustrates an example method 900 for adapting DRX based on an L1 indication. Method 900 may be implemented in a WTRU. As shown at 910, the WTRU may receive configuration information indicating (1) a DCI-based indication of an HARQ state and (2) that downlink HARQ feedback may be disabled for an HARQ process. As shown at 920, the WTRU may perform a first DRX operation with downlink HARQ feedback disabled. As shown at 930, the WTRU may receive a DCI. As shown at 940, the WTRU may determine, based on the configuration information indicating that the DCI-based indication of an HARQ state may be enabled, that the DCI may indicate that downlink HARQ feedback may be enabled for the HARQ process. As shown at 950, the WTRU may perform a second DRX operation (e.g., associated with the HARQ process) with the enabled downlink HARQ feedback, and the WTRU may delay monitoring to receive retransmissions based on the round-trip time from the WTRU to the base station.

[0241] In various embodiments, delaying monitoring to receive retransmissions may include delaying monitoring of a physical downlink control channel based on a round-trip time from the WTRU to the base station.

[0242] In various embodiments, the downlink HARQ feedback may be valid for both (i) the downlink reception scheduled by the downlink assignment of the DCI and (ii) one or more subsequent transmissions of the HARQ process.

[0243] In various embodiments, DRX may be performed with downlink HARQ feedback being valid until subsequent DCI may indicate that downlink HARQ feedback may be invalid.

[0244] In various embodiments, DRX may be performed with downlink HARQ feedback that is enabled for a period of time, after which DRX may be performed with downlink HARQ feedback that is disabled.

[0245] In various embodiments, the DRX operation with enabled HARQ feedback may be applicable either (i) per serving cell, (ii) per HARQ process, and (iii) for all HARQ processes of the WTRU.

[0246] The following references may have been mentioned above, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety:

[0247] 3GPP TS 38.321, "NR, Medium Access Control (MAC) Protocol Specification," v17.1.0.

[0248] 3GPP TS 36.321, "Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA)," Medium Access Control (MAC) Protocol Specification, v17.1.0.

[0249] In this specification, embodiments have been described using 3GPP HARQ as an example of an automatic repeat request technique. The embodiments described herein may be applicable to any other type of automatic repeat request technique. In this specification, embodiments have been described using 3GPP DRX as an example of a transmission / reception technique. The embodiments described herein may be applicable to any other type of transmission / reception technique.

[0250] Any feature, variation, or embodiment described in the method is compatible with an apparatus device including means for processing the disclosed method, compatible with a device including a processor configured to process the disclosed method, compatible with a computer program product including program code instructions, and compatible with a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing program instructions.

[0251] While features and elements have been provided above in particular combinations, those skilled in the art will understand that each feature or element can be used alone or in any combination with other features and elements. The present disclosure is not limited in terms of the specific embodiments described herein; these embodiments are intended as illustrations of various aspects. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. No element, act, or instruction used in the description of the present application should be construed as critical or essential to the invention unless explicitly provided as such. Functionally equivalent methods and apparatuses within the scope of the present disclosure, in addition to those enumerated herein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description. Such modifications and variations are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. The present disclosure should be limited only by the terms of such claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to any particular method or system.

[0252] The foregoing embodiments are discussed for brevity in terms of the terminology and structure of infrared-enabled devices, i.e., infrared emitters and receivers. However, the discussed embodiments are not limited to these systems and may also be applied to other systems that use other forms of electromagnetic waves, or non-electromagnetic waves such as acoustic waves.

[0253] It should also be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the term “video” or “image” may mean any of a snapshot, a single image, and / or multiple images displayed over time. As another example, when referred to herein, the term “user equipment” and its abbreviation “UE,” “remote,” and / or the term “head-mounted display” and its abbreviation “HMD” may mean or include (i) a wireless transmit and / or receive unit (WTRU), (ii) any of several embodiments of a WTRU, (iii) a wireless-enabled and / or wired-enabled (e.g., tetherable) device configured to have, among other things, some or all of the structure and functionality of a WTRU, (iii) a wireless-enabled and / or wired-enabled device configured to have less than all of the structure and functionality of a WTRU, or (iv) the like. Details of an example WTRU, which may represent any WTRU listed herein, are provided herein with respect to FIGS. 1A-1D. As another example, various embodiments disclosed herein above and below are described as utilizing a head-mounted display. Those skilled in the art will recognize that devices other than head-mounted displays may be utilized and that some or all of the present disclosure and various disclosed embodiments may be modified accordingly without undue experimentation. Examples of such other devices may include drones or other devices configured to stream information to provide an adapted reality experience.

[0254] Additionally, the methods provided herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware embodied in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include electronic signals (transmitted via wired or wireless connections) and computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), registers, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks and digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a WTRU, UE, terminal, base station, RNC, or any host computer.

[0255] Modifications to the methods, apparatus, and systems provided above are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention. In view of the wide variety of possible embodiments, it should be understood that the illustrated embodiments are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the following claims. For example, the embodiments provided herein include portable devices, which may include or be utilized with any suitable voltage source, such as a battery providing any suitable voltage.

[0256] Additionally, in the above embodiments, it should be noted that processing platforms, computing systems, controllers, and other devices include processors. These devices may include at least one central processing unit ("CPU") and memory. In accordance with the practices of those skilled in the art of computer programming, references to acts and symbolic representations of operations or instructions may be performed by various CPUs and memories. Such acts and operations or instructions may be referred to as being "executed," "executed by a computer," or "executed by a CPU."

[0257] Those skilled in the art will understand that the operations and symbolically represented operations or instructions include the manipulation of electrical signals by a CPU. The electrical system represents data bits that may cause a resulting transformation or reduction of the electrical signals, and the memory system maintains the data bits in memory locations, thereby reconfiguring or otherwise altering the operation of the CPU and the processing of other signals. The memory locations where the data bits are maintained are physical locations that have particular electrical, magnetic, optical, or organic properties that correspond to or represent the data bits. It should be understood that embodiments are not limited to the platforms or CPUs mentioned above, and that other platforms and CPUs may support the provided methods.

[0258] The data bits may also be maintained on computer-readable media, including magnetic disks, optical disks, and any other volatile (e.g., random access memory (RAM)) or non-volatile (e.g., read-only memory (ROM)) mass storage system readable by a CPU. The computer-readable media may include cooperative or interconnected computer-readable media that reside exclusively on a processing system or that are distributed among multiple interconnected processing systems, which may be local or remote to the processing system. It should be understood that embodiments are not limited to the memories mentioned above, and that other platforms and memories may support the provided methods.

[0259] In an example embodiment, any of the operations, processes, etc. described herein may be implemented as computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium, which may be executed by a processor of a mobile, a network element, and / or any other computing device.

[0260] There is little distinction between hardware and software implementations of aspects of a system. The use of hardware or software is generally (though not always, the choice between hardware and software may be important in certain contexts) a design choice that represents a trade-off between cost and efficiency. There may be various implementations (e.g., hardware, software, and / or firmware) in which the processes and / or systems and / or other techniques described herein may be effective, and the preferred implementation may vary depending on the context in which the processes and / or systems and / or other techniques are deployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed and accuracy are paramount, the implementer may select a primarily hardware and / or firmware implementation. If flexibility is paramount, the implementer may select a primarily software implementation. Alternatively, the implementer may select some combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0261] The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments of devices and / or processes through the use of block diagrams, flowcharts, and / or examples. To the extent that such block diagrams, flowcharts, and / or examples include one or more functions and / or operations, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that each function and / or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples may be individually and / or collectively implemented by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or indeed any combination thereof. In one embodiment, some portions of the subject matter described herein may be implemented via an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), and / or other integrated form. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that certain aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein may be equivalently implemented, in whole or in part, in integrated circuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as any practical combination thereof, and that designing circuitry and / or writing software and / or firmware code is within the skill of those skilled in the art in light of this disclosure. Additionally, those skilled in the art will understand that the subject matter mechanisms described herein may be distributed as program products in various forms, and that exemplary embodiments of the subject matter described herein apply regardless of the particular type of signal-bearing medium used to actually effect the distribution.Examples of signal-bearing media include, but are not limited to, recordable media such as floppy disks, hard disk drives, CDs, DVDs, digital tape, computer memory, and transmission media such as digital and / or analog communication media (e.g., fiber optic cables, wave guides, wired communication links, wireless communication links, etc.).

[0262] Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common in the art to describe devices and / or processes in the manner described herein and then use engineering techniques to integrate such described devices and / or processes into a data processing system. That is, at least a portion of the devices and / or processes described herein can be integrated into a data processing system through a reasonable amount of experimentation. Those skilled in the art will recognize that a typical data processing system may generally include one or more of the following: a system unit housing; a video display device; memory, such as volatile and non-volatile memory; a processor, such as a microprocessor and a digital signal processor; computational entities, such as an operating system, drivers, a graphical user interface, and application programs; one or more interaction devices, such as a touchpad or screen; and / or a control system, including feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback for sensing position and / or velocity, control motors for moving and / or adjusting components and / or quantities). A typical data processing system may be implemented utilizing any suitable commercially available components, such as those typically found in data computing / communication systems and / or network computing / communication systems.

[0263] The subject matter described herein may depict different components contained within or connected to different other components. It should be understood that such illustrated architectures are merely examples, and that in fact many other architectures that achieve the same functionality may be implemented. Conceptually, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality may be achieved. Thus, any two components herein that combine to achieve a particular function may be considered to be “associated” with each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, regardless of the architecture or intervening components. Similarly, any two components so associated may also be considered to be “operably connected” or “operably coupled” to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components that can be associated in this way may also be considered to be “operably couplable” to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Examples of operably couplable include, but are not limited to, components that are physically matable and / or physically interacting, and / or components that can wirelessly interact and / or wirelessly interacting, and / or components that logically interact and / or logically interacting.

[0264] With respect to the use of virtually any plural and / or singular term herein, those skilled in the art can convert from plural to singular and / or from singular to plural as appropriate to the context and / or application. Various singular / plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for purposes of clarity.

[0265] Those skilled in the art will understand that, in general, the terms used in this specification, and particularly in the appended claims (e.g., the body of the appended claims), are generally intended as "open" terms (e.g., the term "including" should be interpreted as "including, but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "including" should be interpreted as "including, but not limited to," etc.). Furthermore, where a specific number of introduced claim recitations are intended, such intention will be explicitly stated in the claim; in the absence of such statement, those skilled in the art will understand that no such intention exists. For example, where only one item is intended, the term "single" or similar language may be used. To assist in understanding, the following appended claims and / or description of this specification may include the use of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed as meaning that the introduction of a claim recitation with the indefinite article "a" or "an" limits any particular claim that includes such an introduced claim recitation to embodiments that include only one such recitation, even if the same claim includes the introductory phrase "one or more" or "at least one" and an indefinite article such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and / or "an" should be interpreted to mean "at least one" or "one or more"). The same applies to the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. Additionally, even when a specific number of introduced claim recitations is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the simple recitation "two recitations" without other modifiers means at least two recitations, or more than two recitations).Furthermore, when notation similar to "such as at least one of A, B, and C" is used, such structure is generally intended as the meaning that one of ordinary skill in the art would understand the notation (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, and C" includes, but is not limited to, systems having A only, B only, C only, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and / or A, B, and C together). When notation similar to "such as at least one of A, B, or C" is used, such structure is generally intended as the meaning that one of ordinary skill in the art would understand the notation (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, or C" includes, but is not limited to, systems having A only, B only, C only, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and / or A, B, and C together). Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that, whether in the specification, claims, or drawings, any disjunctive word and / or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms should be understood to contemplate the possibility of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase "A or B" is understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and B." Additionally, as used herein, the term "any of," followed by a list of items and / or a list of categories of items, is intended to include "any of," "any combination of," "any plurality of," and / or "any combination of" of the items and / or categories of items, individually or in combination with other items and / or other categories of items. Furthermore, as used herein, the term "set" is intended to include any number of items, including zero. Additionally, as used herein, the term "number" is intended to include any number, including zero. Also, as used herein, the term "multiple" is intended to be synonymous with "plurality."

[0266] Additionally, where features or aspects of the disclosure are described in terms of a Markush group, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure is also thereby described in terms of any individual element or subgroup of elements of the Markush group.

[0267] As will be understood by those skilled in the art, for all purposes, including in terms of providing a written description, all ranges disclosed herein encompass all possible subranges and combinations of subranges. Any recited range can be readily recognized as fully descriptive and allowing the same range to be broken down into at least equal halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, tenths, etc. As a non-limiting example, each range discussed herein may be easily broken down into a lower third, middle third, upper third, etc. Also, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, all terms such as "up to," "at least," "more than," and "less than" refer to ranges that are inclusive of the recited numbers and that can subsequently be broken down into subranges as discussed above. Finally, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, a range includes each individual element. Thus, for example, a group having 1 to 3 cells refers to a group having 1, 2, or 3 cells. Similarly, a group having 1 to 5 cells refers to a group having 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 cells, and so on.

[0268] Furthermore, the claims should not be read as limited to the provided order or to the provided elements unless specifically so stated. Additionally, the use of the term "means for" in any claim is intended to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112, paragraph 6, or means-plus-function claim format, and any claim without the term "means for" is not so intended.

Claims

1. 1. A method implemented in a wireless transmit / receive unit, said method comprising: Receiving configuration information indicating (1) a downlink control information (DCI)-based indication of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) state and (2) a first HARQ state associated with a HARQ process; performing a first discontinuous reception (DRX) operation based on the first HARQ state; and receiving a DCI; determining, based on the configuration information indicating that a DCI-based indication of a HARQ state is valid, that the DCI indicates a second HARQ state associated with the HARQ process; and performing a second DRX operation associated with the HARQ process based on the second HARQ state.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second HARQ state is indicated in one of uplink grant information and downlink assignment information.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the second HARQ state is different from the first HARQ state.

4. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein either the first HARQ state or the second HARQ state indicates either (i) downlink HARQ feedback enabled, (ii) downlink HARQ feedback disabled, (iii) a first uplink HARQ mode, and (iv) a second uplink HARQ mode.

5. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first uplink HARQ mode is associated with monitoring HARQ retransmission grant information being enabled, and the second uplink HARQ mode is associated with monitoring HARQ retransmission grant information being disabled.

6. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the second HARQ state is applicable to any of (i) an uplink transmission scheduled by an uplink grant of the DCI, (ii) a downlink reception scheduled by a downlink assignment of the DCI, or (iii) one or more subsequent transmissions of the HARQ process.

7. 7. The method of claim 4, wherein the first HARQ state indicates that downlink HARQ feedback was disabled and the second HARQ state indicates that downlink HARQ feedback is enabled, and wherein performing the second DRX operation includes delaying monitoring to receive retransmissions based on a round-trip time from the WTRU to a base station.

8. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein delaying monitoring to receive retransmissions comprises delaying monitoring of a physical downlink control channel based on a round-trip time from the WTRU to a base station.

9. 7. The method of claim 5 or 6, wherein the second HARQ state indicates the first uplink HARQ mode, and wherein the performing the second DRX operation includes monitoring the HARQ retransmission grant information within a period that includes at least a round-trip time from the WTRU to a base station.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein DRX is performed based on the second HARQ state until the first HARQ state is indicated in a subsequent DCI.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein DRX is performed in accordance with the second HARQ state for a period of time, after which DRX is performed in accordance with the first HARQ state.

12. 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the second HARQ state is applicable to any of: (i) a serving cell, (ii) a HARQ process, and (iii) all HARQ processes of the WTRU.

13. 13. The method of any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein a Logical Channel Prioritization (LCP) restriction associates one or more logical channels with an uplink HARQ mode, and LCP is implemented based on the configuration information indicating that a DCI-based indication of HARQ state is valid.

14. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein data of the one or more logical channels indicated in the LCP Restriction is transmitted in the second DRX operation based on the uplink HARQ mode indicated in the LCP Restriction that matches the second HARQ state indicated in the DCI.

15. 1. A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) comprising circuitry including any of a transmitter, a receiver, a processor, and a memory, the WTRU comprising: (1) receiving a downlink control information (DCI)-based indication of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) status; and (2) receiving configuration information indicating that downlink HARQ feedback is disabled for the HARQ process; performing a first discontinuous reception (DRX) operation with the downlink HARQ feedback being invalid; receiving a DCI; determining, based on the configuration information indicating that a DCI-based indication of a HARQ state is valid, that the DCI indicates that downlink HARQ feedback is valid for the HARQ process; A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) configured to perform a second DRX operation on valid downlink HARQ feedback, the WTRU configured to delay monitoring to receive retransmissions based on a round-trip time from the WTRU to a base station.

16. 16. The WTRU of claim 15, wherein the WTRU being configured to delay monitoring to receive retransmissions includes the WTRU being configured to delay monitoring a physical downlink control channel based on a round-trip time from the WTRU to a base station.

17. 17. The WTRU of claim 15 or 16, wherein downlink HARQ feedback is valid for both (i) a downlink reception scheduled by a downlink assignment of the DCI and (ii) one or more subsequent transmissions of the HARQ process.

18. The WTRU of any one of claims 15 to 17, wherein the WTRU is configured to perform DRX with valid downlink HARQ feedback until a subsequent DCI indicates that the downlink HARQ feedback is invalid.

19. The WTRU of any one of claims 15 to 17, wherein the WTRU is configured to perform DRX with valid downlink HARQ feedback for a certain period of time, after which DRX is performed with invalid downlink HARQ feedback.

20. A WTRU as described in any one of claims 15 to 19, wherein DRX operation with valid HARQ feedback is applicable to any of (i) per serving cell, (ii) per HARQ process, and (iii) for all HARQ processes of the WTRU.

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