Method, system, and apparatus for joint error correction coding of self-decodable and combined payloads

Abstract

Joint error correction coding involves error correction encoding multiple individual payloads to generate a codeword. The codeword includes a self-decodable coding block generated by error correction encoding a first individual payload and another coding block generated by error correction encoding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined. The portion of the first individual payload to be combined with the second individual payload is determined based on bit ordering of the first individual payload. The individual payloads or coding blocks are independently decodable from each other, and the self-decodable coding block and the other coding block are jointly decodable.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This application relates to error correction coding for wireless communications. [Background technology]

[0002] Resilience is a fundamental characteristic that needs to be addressed for so-called sixth-generation (6G) communications. According to some technological visions of future factories and industries, for example, ultra-reliable and low-latency wireless communications are crucial enablers for large-scale automated manufacturing.

[0003] Two trends have also been observed in recent developments toward 6G. From a technology perspective, millimeter wave (mmWave) communications and massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) are likely to become more widespread because they can significantly expand current bandwidth resources. From a service perspective, a single communications device will likely need to support multiple services with different latency and reliability requirements.

[0004] As multiple services converge onto a single physical wireless link, potential scenarios emerge. The objective is to provide multiple quality of service (QoS) levels for multiple services within a single wireless link. Given the high carrier frequencies and vast number of antennas in some communication systems, beamforming can become more aggressive, enabling multiple services to converge onto a single wireless link. Meanwhile, these services may have highly diverse key performance indicators (KPIs). For example, ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), massive machine-type communication (mMTC), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), and terabits per second (Tbps) communications may all be integrated onto a single link. This is challenging because different KPIs, such as signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and fading, must be supported under the same wireless channel. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] This disclosure encompasses embodiments that may be useful in addressing various technical shortcomings of current coding methods. Current technology presents a trade-off between ultra-reliable communication and low-latency communication. To achieve ultra-reliability, current systems employ hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) to reduce block error rate (BLER) levels by several orders of magnitude. However, the round-trip delays caused by negative acknowledgement (NACK) signaling, rescheduling, and retransmissions may not meet the low-latency requirements in 6G. A simple workaround is to reduce the coding rate and modulation order, but this comes at the expense of spectral efficiency and is generally not recommended in system design.

[0006] International Patent Application No. PCT / CN2022 / 122852, filed September 29, 2022, proposes a coding technique for increasing reliability without requiring a retransmission after a decoding failure. A second joint decoding attempt is made after a decoding failure to decode using received symbols of multiple combined codewords instead of newly retransmitted symbols received in response to a HARQ NACK. This type of technique is sometimes referred to as a HARQ-less technique, in that a retransmission is not automatically requested immediately after a decoding failure.

[0007] Some types of hard-output (also known as hard-decision) decoders perform sequential decisions on the information bits of a codeword. Once a code bit is hard-decoded, the decision on that bit cannot be undone. This can create challenges in supporting a second decoding attempt, for example, in accordance with the HARQ-less coding approach referenced above.

[0008] Providing good coding performance in mixed-service and low-latency communication applications remains a challenge. For example, HARQ-based approaches may suffer from long round-trip delays and may not be able to meet low-latency requirements, and hard-output decoding may not work well with the HARQ-less coding approaches referenced above to increase reliability without requiring retransmissions after decoding failures.

[0009] This disclosure includes detailed encoding and decoding embodiments particularly suited to joint forward error correction (FEC) coding involving multiple combined codewords. Each codeword may support either bit-wise or block-wise hard decisions. Self-decoding of a single codeword and improved joint decoding of multiple codewords may be enabled by combining the codewords with shared payload bits, which may be or include information bits, systematic bits, or code bits.

[0010] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, retransmission latency may be mitigated or avoided altogether by supporting additional decoding operations in hard-output decoding after a decoding failure of a delay-sensitive payload. In some applications, requesting a retransmission may be infeasible because the resulting round-trip delay may exceed the maximum allowable delay. Further decoding operations after a decoding failure may not be possible with hard-output decoding techniques, where hard decisions cannot be undone once made, potentially avoiding a retransmission request. For example, the extra decoding latency incurred during a second decoding attempt without requesting a retransmission is likely to be much smaller than the extra latency of the round-trip delay for the retransmission.

[0011] Joint coding according to some embodiments may help improve the performance of hard-output decoding implementations in that multiple services may effectively augment each other in joint coding.

[0012] Unequal error protection may be provided for different payloads, such as payloads associated with different services. For example, the target BLER for a URLLC payload may be at least an order of magnitude lower than the target BLER for an eMBB payload. The embodiments disclosed herein may enable such unequal error protection even for hard-output decoding applications.

[0013] For example, self-decodability for each individual service may also or instead be provided. To support different latency requirements for multiple services, each service may be self-decodable based on its own proportion of code bits in a codeword, or in other words, based on its corresponding portion of a longer codeword. For example, it may be possible to decode a shorter URLLC payload once some, but not all, of the code bits (such as log-likelihood ratios or LLRs) of a longer codeword are received. Thus, the payload may be self-decodable without having to wait for reception of the entire longer joint codeword. Embodiments disclosed herein may provide such self-decodability and / or joint decodability for hard-output decoding.

[0014] According to aspects of the present disclosure, a method includes transmitting, by a first communication device to a second communication device in a wireless communication network, a codeword including a plurality of coding blocks generated by error correction encoding respective individual payloads, the coding blocks including a self-decodable coding block generated by error correction encoding a first individual payload and another coding block generated by error correction encoding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction encoding.

[0015] Another method includes the steps of obtaining a first individual payload and a second individual payload, error correction encoding the first individual payload to generate a self-decodable encoded block, error correction encoding the second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction encoding to generate another encoded block, and outputting a codeword including the self-decodable encoded block and the another encoded block.

[0016] In such a method, a portion of a first individual payload may be determined to combine with a second individual payload based on an ordering of bits of the first individual payload. A self-decodable coding block is decodable independently of and jointly decodable with another coding block.

[0017] A further method embodiment includes receiving, by a second communication device in a wireless communication network, from a first communication device, a codeword including a plurality of coding blocks generated by error correction encoding respective individual payloads, the coding blocks including a self-decodable coding block generated by error correction encoding a first individual payload as described above and another coding block generated by error correction encoding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction encoding, as described above.

[0018] The method may include decoding the first individual payload and the second individual payload from a codeword including a self-decodable encoding block generated by error correction encoding the first individual payload and another encoding block generated by error correction encoding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined, and outputting the first individual payload and the second individual payload.

[0019] As in other method embodiments, a portion of the first individual payload may be determined to combine with the second individual payload based on bit ordering of the first individual payload, and the self-decodable coding block is decodable independently of and jointly decodable with another coding block.

[0020] In an apparatus embodiment, the apparatus may include a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupled to the processor, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the processor.

[0021] The storage medium need not necessarily be, or may only be, implemented within or with such an apparatus. A computer program product may be, or may include, for example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores programming for execution by a processor.

[0022] The programming stored by the computer-readable storage medium may include instructions for, or to cause a processor to, perform, implement, support, or enable any of the methods disclosed herein.

[0023] For example, the programming may include instructions for transmitting, or causing a processor to transmit, by a first communication device to a second communication device in a wireless communication network, a codeword including multiple coding blocks generated by error correction encoding each individual payload, or for receiving, by a second communication device in a wireless communication network, from the first communication device, a codeword including multiple coding blocks generated by error correction encoding each individual payload, wherein the coding blocks include a self-decodable coding block generated by error correction encoding a first individual payload and another coding block generated by error correction encoding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction encoding.

[0024] The programming may include, or instructions to cause the processor to, obtain a first individual payload and a second individual payload, error correction encode the first individual payload to generate a self-decodable encoded block, error correction encode the second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction encoding to generate another encoded block, and output a codeword including the self-decodable encoded block and the other encoded block.

[0025] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the programming may include instructions for, or to cause the processor to, decode the first individual payload and the second individual payload from a codeword that includes a self-decodable encoding block generated by error correction encoding the first individual payload and another encoding block generated by error correction encoding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined, and output the first individual payload and the second individual payload.

[0026] In any of these programming examples, a portion of a first individual payload may be determined to be combined with a second individual payload based on the ordering of bits of the first individual payload, and the self-decodable coding block is decodable independently of another coding block and also jointly decodable with yet another coding block.

[0027] A system is also disclosed that may include a first communications device and a second communications device. The first communications device is configured to transmit a codeword including multiple coding blocks generated by encoding respective individual payloads with an error correction code. The coding blocks include a self-decodable coding block generated by error correction encoding a first individual payload and another coding block generated by error correction encoding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction encoding. The second communications device is configured to receive the codeword including the coding blocks from the first communications device and decode the self-decodable coding block to obtain the first individual payload from the codeword. As in other embodiments, a portion of the first individual payload can be determined to combine with the second individual payload based on bit ordering of the first individual payload.

[0028] The present disclosure encompasses these and other aspects or embodiments.

[0029] For a more complete understanding of the present embodiments and their advantages, reference is now made, by way of example, to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0030] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a simplified schematic diagram of a communication system. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the exemplary communication system of FIG. [Figure 3] 1 illustrates an example of an exemplary electronic device and base station. [Figure 4]Indicates a unit or module within a device. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a multi-service scenario. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating encoding and decoding according to one embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of encoding according to one embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of decoding according to one embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary encoding chain according to one embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method according to an embodiment. [Figure 11] 1 is a plot of simulation results. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0031] For purposes of illustration, specific embodiments will now be described in more detail in conjunction with the figures.

[0032] The embodiments described herein represent sufficient information to practice the claimed subject matter and illustrate how such subject matter may be practiced. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings, one skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the claimed subject matter and will recognize applications of those concepts not specifically addressed herein. It should be understood, however, that these concepts and applications are within the scope of this disclosure and the appended claims.

[0033] 1 , by way of a non-limiting illustrative example, a simplified schematic diagram of a communications system is provided. Communications system 100 comprises a radio access network 120. Radio access network 120 may be a next-generation (e.g., sixth-generation, “6G” or later) radio access network or a legacy (e.g., 5G, 4G, 3G, or 2G) radio access network. One or more communications electrical devices (EDs) 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e, 110f, 110g, 110h, 110i, 110j (collectively referred to as 110) may be interconnected with each other or connected to one or more network nodes (collectively referred to as 170a, 170b, 170) in radio access network 120. A core network 130 may be part of the communications system and may or may not be dependent on the radio access technology used in communications system 100. The communication system 100 also includes a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140 , the Internet 150 and other networks 160 .

[0034] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary communication system 100. Generally, the communication system 100 enables multiple wireless or wired elements to communicate data and other content. The purpose of the communication system 100 may be to provide content such as voice, data, video, and / or text via broadcast, multicast, unicast, etc. The communication system 100 may operate by sharing resources, such as carrier spectrum bandwidth, among its components. The communication system 100 may include terrestrial and / or non-terrestrial communication systems. The communication system 100 may provide a wide range of communication services and applications (such as earth monitoring, remote sensing, passive sensing and positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility, etc.). The communication system 100 may provide high availability and robustness through cooperation between the terrestrial and non-terrestrial communication systems. For example, integrating a non-terrestrial communication system (or components thereof) into a terrestrial communication system can result in what may be considered a heterogeneous network comprising multiple layers. Compared with traditional communication networks, heterogeneous networks can achieve better overall performance through efficient multi-link cooperation, more flexible function sharing, and faster physical layer link switching between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks.

[0035] The terrestrial and non-terrestrial communication systems may be considered subsystems of a communication system. In the example shown in Figure 2, the communication system 100 includes electronic devices (EDs) 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d (collectively referred to as EDs 110), radio access networks (RANs) 120a and 120b, a non-terrestrial communication network 120c, a core network 130, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160. The RANs 120a and 120b include respective base stations (BSs) 170a and 170b, which may be collectively referred to as terrestrial transmission / reception points (T-TRPs) 170a and 170b. The non-terrestrial communication network 120c includes an access node 172, which may be collectively referred to as a non-terrestrial transmission / reception point (NT-TRP) 172.

[0036] Any ED 110 may alternatively or additionally be configured to interface with, access, or communicate with any T-TRP 170a, 170b, and NT-TRP 172, the Internet 150, the core network 130, the PSTN 140, other networks 160, or any combination thereof. In some examples, ED 110a may communicate uplink and / or downlink transmissions with T-TRP 170a via a terrestrial air interface 190a. In some examples, EDs 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d may communicate directly with each other via one or more sidelink air interfaces 190b. In some examples, ED 110d may communicate uplink and / or downlink transmissions with NT-TRP 172 via a non-terrestrial air interface 190c.

[0037] Air interfaces 190a and 190b may use similar communication technologies, such as any suitable radio access technology. For example, communication system 100 may implement one or more channel access methods in air interfaces 190a and 190b, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), spatial division multiple access (SDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), or single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA). Air interfaces 190a and 190b may utilize other, higher-dimensional signal spaces, which may include orthogonal and / or non-orthogonal dimensions.

[0038] The non-terrestrial wireless interface 190c may enable communication between the EDs 110d and one or more NT-TRPs 172 via a wireless link or simply a link. In some examples, the link is a dedicated connection for unicast transmissions, a connection for broadcast transmissions, or a connection between a group of Eds 110d and one or more NT-TRPs 175 for multicast transmissions.

[0039] The RANs 120a and 120b communicate with the core network 130, which provides various services, such as voice, data, and other services, to the Eds 110a, 110b, and 110c. The RANs 120a and 120b and / or the core network 130 may communicate directly or indirectly with one or more other RANs (not shown), which may or may not be served directly by the core network 130 and which may or may not use the same radio access technology as the RAN 120a, RAN 120b, or both. The core network 130 may also serve as a gateway access between (i) the RANs 120a and 120b or the Eds 110a, 110b, and 110c, or both, and (ii) other networks (such as the PSTN 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160). Additionally, some or all of the Eds 110a, 110b, and 110c may include the capability to communicate with different wireless networks using different wireless links, using different wireless technologies and / or protocols. Instead of (or in addition to) wireless communication, the Eds 110a, 110b, and 110c may communicate with a service provider or switch (not shown) and with the Internet 150 via wired communication channels. The PSTN 140 may include a circuit-switched telephone network for providing plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 150 may include computer networks and / or subnetworks (intranets), and may incorporate protocols such as Internet Protocol (IP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and User Datagram Protocol (UDP). The Eds 110a, 110b, and 110c may be multimode devices capable of operating according to multiple wireless access technologies and may incorporate multiple transceivers necessary to support such.

[0040] 3 shows another example of the ED 110 and the base stations 170a, 170b, and / or 170c. The ED 110 is used to connect people, things, machines, etc. The ED 110 can be widely used in various scenarios, such as cellular communication, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), peer-to-peer (P2P), machine-to-machine (M2M), machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, drones, robots, remote sensing, passive sensing, positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility, etc.

[0041] Each ED 110 represents any suitable end-user device for wireless operation and may include (or be referred to as) a user equipment / device (UE), a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a cellular phone, a station (STA), a machine-type communication (MTC) device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a computer, a tablet, a wireless sensor, or a consumer electronic device, a smartbook, a vehicle, an automobile, a truck, a bus, a train, or an IoT device, an industrial device, or an apparatus (e.g., a communication module, a modem, or a chip) within any of the foregoing, among other possible devices. Future generation ED(s) 110 may be referred to using other terms. Base stations 170a and 170b are each a T-TRP and are hereinafter referred to as T-TRP 170. As also shown in FIG. 3, an NT-TRP is hereinafter referred to as NT-TRP 172. Each ED110 connected to a T-TRP170 and / or NT-TRP172 may be dynamically or semi-statically turned on (i.e., established, activated, or enabled), turned off (i.e., released, deactivated, or disabled), and / or configured depending on one or more of the availability of the connection and the need for the connection.

[0042] The ED 110 includes a transmitter 201 and a receiver 203 coupled to one or more antennas 204. Only one antenna 204 is shown. Alternatively, one, some, or all of the antennas 204 may be panels. The transmitter 201 and receiver 203 may be integrated as a transceiver. The transceiver is configured to modulate data or other content for transmission by at least one antenna 204 or by a network interface controller (NIC). The transceiver may also be configured to demodulate data or other content received by at least one antenna 204. Each transceiver includes any suitable structure for generating signals for wireless or wired transmission and / or processing signals received wirelessly or wired. Each antenna 204 includes any suitable structure for transmitting and / or receiving wireless or wired signals.

[0043] The ED 110 includes at least one memory 208. The memory 208 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the ED 110. For example, the memory 208 may store software instructions or modules configured to implement some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein and executed by one or more processing units (e.g., processor 210). Each memory 208 includes any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile storage and retrieval device. Any suitable type of memory may be used, such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), hard disk, optical disk, subscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory stick, secure digital (SD) memory card, on-processor cache, etc.

[0044] ED 110 may further include one or more input / output devices (not shown) or interfaces (such as a wired interface to Internet 150 in FIG. 1). The input / output devices enable interaction with a user or other devices in a network. Each input / output device includes any suitable structure for providing information to or receiving information from a user, such as by operating as a speaker, microphone, keypad, keyboard, display, or touch screen, including network interface communication.

[0045] The ED 110 includes a processor 210 for performing operations including those related to preparing a transmission for uplink transmission to the NT-TRP 172 and / or the T-TRP 170, those related to processing a downlink transmission received from the NT-TRP 172 and / or the T-TRP 170, and those related to processing a sidelink transmission to and from another ED 110. Processing operations related to preparing a transmission for uplink transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulation, transmit beamforming, and generation of symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing a downlink transmission may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulation, and decoding of received symbols. Depending on the embodiment, a downlink transmission may be received by the receiver 203, possibly using receive beamforming, and the processor 210 may extract signaling from the downlink transmission (e.g., by detecting and / or decoding the signaling). An example of signaling may be a reference signal transmitted by the NT-TRP 172 and / or by the T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, the processor 210 performs transmit beamforming and / or receive beamforming based on beam direction instructions, e.g., beam angle information (BAI), received from the T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, the processor 210 may perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and / or downlink synchronization, e.g., detecting synchronization sequences, decoding and obtaining system information, etc. In some embodiments, the processor 210 may perform channel estimation using, for example, reference signals received from the NT-TRP 172 and / or from the T-TRP 170.

[0046] Although not shown, the processor 210 may form part of the transmitter 201 and / or may form part of the receiver 203. Although not shown, the memory 208 may form part of the processor 210.

[0047] The processor 210, the processing components of the transmitter 201, and the processing components of the receiver 203 may each be implemented by the same or different processor(s) configured to execute instructions stored in a memory (e.g., in memory 208). Alternatively, some or all of the processor 210, the processing components of the transmitter 201, and the processing components of the receiver 203 may each be implemented using dedicated circuitry, such as a programmed field programmable gate array (FPGA), a graphical processing unit (GPU), or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

[0048] The T-TRP 170 may, in some embodiments, be known by other names such as a base station, base transceiver station (BTS), radio base station, network node, network device, network-side device, transmitting / receiving node, Node B, evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), Home eNodeB, next generation Node B (gNB), transmission point (TP), site controller, access point (AP), wireless router, relay station, remote radio head, terrestrial node, terrestrial network device, terrestrial base station, baseband unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), centralized unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), positioning node, etc. The T-TRP 170 may be a macro BS, pico BS, relay node, donor node, etc., or a combination thereof. The T-TRP 170 may refer to any of the aforementioned devices or to a unit within any of the aforementioned devices (e.g., a communication module, a modem, or a chip).

[0049] In some embodiments, portions of the T-TRP 170 may be distributed. For example, some of the modules of the T-TRP 170 may be located remotely from the equipment housing the antenna 256 of the T-TRP 170 and may be coupled to the equipment housing the antenna 256 via a communications link (not shown), sometimes known as fronthaul, such as a Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI). Thus, in some embodiments, the term T-TRP 170 may refer to network-side modules that perform processing operations such as determining the location of the ED 110, resource allocation (scheduling), message generation, and encoding / decoding, and that are not necessarily part of the equipment housing the antenna 256 of the T-TRP 170. Modules may also be coupled to other T-TRPs. In some embodiments, the T-TRP 170 may actually be multiple T-TRPs operating together to serve the ED 110, for example, through the use of coordinated multipoint transmission.

[0050] The T-TRP 170 includes at least one transmitter 252 and at least one receiver 254 coupled to one or more antennas 256. Only one antenna 256 is shown. Alternatively, one, some, or all of the antennas 256 may be panels. The transmitter 252 and receiver 254 may be integrated as a transceiver. The T-TRP 170 further includes a processor 260 for performing operations including operations related to preparing a transmission for downlink transmission to the ED 110, processing uplink transmissions received from the ED 110, preparing a transmission for backhaul transmission to the NT-TRP 172, and processing transmissions received via the backhaul from the NT-TRP 172. Processing operations related to preparing a transmission for downlink or backhaul transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulation, precoding (e.g., multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) precoding), transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing received transmissions on the uplink or backhaul may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulating received symbols, and decoding received symbols. The processor 260 may perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and / or downlink synchronization, such as generating synchronization signal block (SSB) content and generating system information. In some embodiments, the processor 260 also generates beam direction instructions, e.g., BAIs, which may be scheduled for transmission by the scheduler 253. The processor 260 performs other network-side processing operations described herein, such as determining the location of the ED 110, determining where the NT-TRP 172 should be deployed, and the like. In some embodiments, the processor 260 may generate signaling, for example, to configure one or more parameters of the ED 110 and / or one or more parameters of the NT-TRP 172. Any signaling generated by the processor 260 is transmitted by the transmitter 252.It should be noted that "signaling" as used herein may alternatively be referred to as control signaling. Dynamic signaling may be transmitted on a control channel, e.g., the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and static or semi-static higher layer signaling may be included in packets transmitted on a data channel, e.g., the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

[0051] The scheduler 253 may be coupled to the processor 260. The scheduler 253 may be included within the T-TRP 170 or may operate separately from the T-TRP 170. The scheduler 253 may schedule uplink, downlink, and / or backhaul transmissions, which may include issuing scheduling grants and / or configuring scheduling-free ("configured grants") resources. The T-TRP 170 further includes a memory 258 for storing information and data. The memory 258 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the T-TRP 170. For example, the memory 258 may store software instructions or modules configured to implement some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein and executed by the processor 260.

[0052] Although not shown, the processor 260 may form part of the transmitter 252 and / or part of the receiver 254. Also, although not shown, the processor 260 may implement the scheduler 253. Although not shown, the memory 258 may form part of the processor 260.

[0053] The processor 260, the scheduler 253, the processing components of the transmitter 252, and the processing components of the receiver 254 may each be implemented by the same or different ones of one or more processors configured to execute instructions stored in a memory, such as memory 258. Alternatively, some or all of the processor 260, the scheduler 253, the processing components of the transmitter 252, and the processing components of the receiver 254 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry such as an FPGA, a GPU, or an ASIC.

[0054] Notably, the NT-TRP 172 is shown as a drone only by way of example, but the NT-TRP 172 may be embodied in any suitable non-terrestrial form. The NT-TRP 172 may also be known by other names, such as a non-terrestrial node, a non-terrestrial network device, or a non-terrestrial base station, in some implementations. The NT-TRP 172 includes a transmitter 272 and a receiver 274 coupled to one or more antennas 280. Only one antenna 280 is shown. Alternatively, one, some, or all of the antennas may be panels. The transmitter 272 and the receiver 274 may be integrated as a transceiver. The NT-TRP 172 further includes a processor 276 for performing operations, including operations related to preparing a transmission for downlink transmission to the ED 110, processing uplink transmissions received from the ED 110, preparing a transmission for backhaul transmission to the T-TRP 170, and processing transmissions received via the backhaul from the T-TRP 170. Processing operations related to preparing a transmission for downlink or backhaul transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulation, precoding (e.g., MIMO precoding), transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing a transmission received on the uplink or backhaul may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulation of received signals, and decoding of received symbols. In some embodiments, the processor 276 performs transmit beamforming and / or receive beamforming based on beam direction information (e.g., BAI) received from the T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, the processor 276 may generate signaling to configure one or more parameters of the ED 110, for example. In some embodiments, the NT-TRP 172 performs physical layer processing but does not perform higher layer functions, such as functions at the medium access control (MAC) layer or the radio link control (RLC) layer. This is by way of example only; more generally, the NT-TRP 172 may perform higher layer functions in addition to physical layer processing.

[0055] The NT-TRP 172 further includes a memory 278 for storing information and data. Although not shown, the processor 276 may form part of the transmitter 272 and / or part of the receiver 274. Although not shown, the memory 278 may form part of the processor 276.

[0056] The processor 276, the processing components of the transmitter 272, and the processing components of the receiver 274 may each be implemented by the same or different processor(s) configured to execute instructions stored in a memory, e.g., memory 278. Alternatively, some or all of the processor 276, the processing components of the transmitter 272, and the processing components of the receiver 274 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry, such as a programmed FPGA, GPU, or ASIC. In some embodiments, the NT-TRP 172 may actually be multiple NT-TRPs operating together to serve the EDs 110, e.g., via coordinated multipoint transmission.

[0057] T-TRP170, NT-TRP172, and / or ED110 may include other components, which have been omitted for clarity.

[0058] One or more steps of the method of the embodiments provided herein may be performed by a corresponding unit or module according to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 illustrates units or modules within a device, such as the ED 110, the T-TRP 170, or the NT-TRP 172. For example, a signal may be transmitted by a transmitting unit or a transmitting module. A signal may be received by a receiving unit or a receiving module. A signal may be processed by a processing unit or a processing module. Other steps may be performed by an artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) module. Each unit or module may be implemented using hardware, one or more components or devices that execute software, or a combination thereof. For example, one or more of the units or modules may be an integrated circuit, such as a programmed FPGA, GPU, or ASIC. When modules are implemented using software for execution by a processor, it will be understood that, for example, the modules may be retrieved by the processor, as a whole or in part, individually or together, in a single instance or multiple instances, for processing as needed, and the modules themselves may include instructions for further deployment and instantiation.

[0059] Further details relating to Ed110, T-TRP170, and NT-TRP172 are known to those skilled in the art, and therefore, these details are omitted herein.

[0060] Having discussed communications more generally above, attention will now be directed to specific exemplary embodiments.

[0061] As previously mentioned, multiple services may converge or be integrated into a single physical radio link, and these services may have diverse key performance indicators (KPIs). Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary multi-service scenario in which the services integrated into a single link may include any of URLLC, mMTC, eMBB, and Tbps services. In Figure 5, communication devices include a network device 502, a vehicle-based device represented by 504, a home-based or other facility-based device represented by 506, a user device represented by 508, and an industrial or machine-based device represented by 510, each having exemplary services as shown.

[0062] The present disclosure is not limited to these or any other types of devices or services. Figure 5 is intended to provide one exemplary scenario in which the embodiments disclosed herein may be particularly useful. More generally, the disclosed embodiments may be implemented, for example, in next-generation mobile and wireless network services, cloud and edge computing services, and sensing services. Some embodiments may be particularly useful in automated manufacturing systems in smart factories and / or other intelligent vertical scenarios, such as ports, delivery systems, and medical systems. These possible applications of the embodiments are also illustrative and non-limiting examples.

[0063] A multi-service scenario, such as the example scenario shown in Figure 5, may be considered a form of User Equipment (UE) Multiple Access (MA), which refers to the simultaneous transmission of multiple services from one terminal device.

[0064] There are two main types of channel coding according to the soft output decoder type and the hard output decoder type.

[0065] Soft-output iterative decoding codes include, for example, convolutional codes, turbo codes, low-density parity check (LDPC) codes, product codes, and woven codes. These codes typically employ a parallel and soft-cancellation decoding approach, in which all parts of a code block are decoded simultaneously, and then soft-decision information, such as likelihoods, probabilities, or LLRs of all bits, is exchanged across the entire code block before entering the next iteration. Such codes can be jointly decoded. For example, after independently decoding two codes, soft information about shared bits (also referred to herein as connecting bits) can be exchanged between the two codes (in an inter-code iteration) before their further decoding.

[0066] Hard-output successively decoded codes include polar codes, polarization-adjusted convolutional (PAC) codes, Reed-Muller (RM) codes, Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (BCH) codes, and Reed-Solomon (RS) codes. These codes can implement a successive hard-cancellation decoding technique in which a portion of a code block in a received signal is first decoded, and then the decoded hard decisions are removed from the received signal before decoding the next portion of the code block. These codes can also be decoded by joint successive cancellation. For example, after decoding one codeword, shared bits can be canceled from another codeword, which can then be decoded. Because decoders (of the same type) are more compatible between codes, they are more easily decoded together. Therefore, in embodiments that enable or should support joint decoding, it may be preferable to use the same type of code (i.e., soft or hard codes). However, other embodiments may use different types of codes.

[0067] The decoding type directly impacts the design of the HARQ-less coding scheme, and this disclosure focuses primarily on embodiments involving hard-output decoding.

[0068] Hard-output successive cancellation (SC) decoding or successive cancellation list (SCL) decoding of Polar, PAC, or RM codes performs sequential decisions on information bits. Once a code bit is decoded, the decision cannot be undone. Some embodiments disclosed herein introduce a new mechanism for certain codes, such as Polar codes with SC / SCL decoding, to support further decoding attempts after a decoding failure without requiring a retransmission. This type of approach is also referred to herein as HARQ-less coding. Embodiments herein may also support self-decodable and joint decoding capabilities, such that, for example, individual payloads that may correspond to different services can be self-decoded and also support joint decoding to further improve performance.

[0069] Joint FEC includes multiple combined codewords. Either bit-wise or block-wise hard-decision decoding of each codeword may be supported. Both codeword self-decoding and improved joint decoding of multiple codewords are enabled in some embodiments by combining codewords with shared payload bits, which may be or include information bits, systematic bits, code bits, or possibly a combination of bits of different types. Such shared payload bits may be referred to herein or elsewhere as shared bits, common bits, combined bits, combined bits, or some other name.

[0070] The placement of shared or common payload bits can affect either or both (a) the time the bits are decoded and (b) the reliability of decoding the bits. As an example, and without loss of generality, assume there are two codewords, including codeword 1 (e.g., for URLLC data) that is decoded with a higher priority and codeword 2 (e.g., for eMBB data) that is decoded with a lower priority. In this example, based on its higher priority, joint decoding should be supported for codeword 1 to perform a second decoding attempt with the help of lower priority codeword 2. No HARQ or other retransmissions are involved in the second decoding attempt.

[0071] For completeness, with combined codewords such as this example, joint decoding may be used in the second decoding attempt for codeword 2, although this is likely not a general application of joint decoding for the second decoding attempt. It is expected that joint decoding attempts will be made on codewords with higher decoding priorities, in this example codeword 1, rather than on codewords with lower decoding priorities.

[0072] 6 is a block diagram illustrating encoding and decoding according to one embodiment. Payload bits are shown at 610, 620 and may be associated with different services, such as URLLC and eMBB in the illustrated example. Payload bits 610 with higher decoding priority include shared bits 612 that are also copied for encoding with payload bits 620. Codeword 1 and codeword 2 are shown at 630, 640, respectively, and joint decoding is shown at 650.

[0073] The example shown in Figure 6 illustrates an embodiment in which encoding involves copying a portion or subset 612 of payload bits 610 of codeword 1 (630) to the beginning of payload bits 620 of codeword 2 (640) at 622. The bit copy direction from 612 to 622 in Figure 6 is intended to indicate that shared bits 612 are a subset of payload bits 610 and are copied to payload bits 620 by prepending the shared bits to payload bits 620 in this example at 622. The number of payload bits for encoding to generate codeword 2 is thereby increased.

[0074] The encoding of payload bits 610 in Figure 6 provides different reliabilities, and the arrangement of payload bits 610 is shown in order of increasing reliability. Encoding is performed (630) on payload bits 610 to generate codeword 1. Augmented payload bits 620, including shared bits 622 copied from payload bits 610 and sometimes referred to as a combined payload, are shown in Figure 6 in decoding order. Decoding order refers to the order in which coded bits should be decoded at a receiver, or receiving side, or decoder, or decoding side. Encoding is performed (640) on augmented payload bits 620 to generate codeword 2.

[0075] Turning now to decoding, in one embodiment, self-decoding (630) to decode codeword 1 is first attempted using only the received symbols of codeword 1. If self-decoding fails, decoding proceeds to joint decoding, where payload bits 620 are decoded from codeword 2 (640). Once all shared bits 622 have been decoded from codeword 2, a second attempt is made to decode payload bits 610 from codeword 1, with the corresponding shared bits 612 treated as known. Because these shared bits 612 have already been decoded from codeword 2, they do not need to be decoded again. Decoding of codeword 2 may be stopped or paused when shared bits 622 are decoded, while the second attempt to decode codeword 1 is in progress. After all payload bits 610 have been decoded from codeword 1, processing may return to complete the decoding of codeword 2.

[0076] To provide a more detailed example, polar codes are considered below. However, embodiments are by no means limited to polar codes. The functionality disclosed herein may also, or instead, be implemented in conjunction with other types of codes that involve hard-decision decoding.

[0077] In polar codes, payload bits are mapped to information bit indices, which are associated with subchannels. Subchannels are also called bit channels. In polar coding, frozen bits are also mapped to other bit indices and subchannels or bit channels. Each bit index or subchannel is associated with a reliability metric. In the 5G standard, for example, reliability is specified in a table by a reliability ordering sequence of indices and corresponding reliability weights. Since an SC / SCL decoder sequentially decodes all frozen bits and information bits in bit index order, the decoding order of polar codes follows the bit index order.

[0078] Any of a variety of encoding functions or parameters may be associated with the embodiments disclosed herein. Illustrative examples are provided at least below, any of which may be implemented individually or in any combination.

[0079] As a first example, an order of code rate and code length selection for different types of payloads may be specified or supported. In a multi-service scenario, the selection order may be based on the service associated with the payload type. For example, code rate and code length selection by modulation coding scheme (MCS) index or other identifier may be performed for URLLC and / or mMTC payloads after selection of the code rate and code length of the eMBB code for coding eMBB data. The MCS index selection for the URLLC / mMTC code in this example may take the selected eMBB MCS index as input or may otherwise take the selected eMBB MCS index into account, such that the MCS index selection for the URLLC / mMTC code in this example is based on the selected eMBB MCS index selection. More generally, the code rate and code length selection for coding one type of payload may be based, at least in part, on the code rate and code length selected for coding another type of payload.

[0080] According to another example, relative code lengths of codes for different types of payloads are specified or supported. Considering again the URLLC / mMTC and eMBB scenario, URLLC / mMTC codes that are shorter than eMBB codes and / or equivalent eMBB codes that are longer than URLLC / mMTC codes may be specified or supported. Thus, when a URLLC / mMTC payload or codeword is combined with an eMBB payload or codeword, a longer eMBB code with more code bits should be selected for eMBB coding. More generally, in some embodiments, the code selected to encode the payload from which the shared bits are copied is shorter, or in other words, has a shorter code length or fewer code bits, than the code selected to encode the payload to which the shared bits are copied. In other words, in some embodiments, the code selected to encode the payload to which the shared bits are copied is longer, or in other words, has a longer code length or more code bits, than the code selected to encode the payload from which the shared bits are copied.

[0081] Another example of a coding feature that may be specified or supported in some embodiments is the relative code rates of codes for different types of payloads. In URLLC / mMTC and eMBB scenarios, a lower URLLC / mMTC code rate than the code rate of the eMBB code may be preferred. For example, if a URLLC / mMTC payload or codeword is combined with an eMBB payload or codeword, an eMBB code with a higher code rate should be selected for eMBB coding. More generally, in some embodiments, the code selected to encode the payload from which the shared bits are copied may have a lower code rate than the code selected to encode the payload to which the shared bits are copied, or equivalently, the code selected to encode the payload to which the shared bits are copied may have a higher code rate than the code selected to encode the payload to which the shared bits are copied.

[0082] Further examples of coding functions that may be specified or supported relate to the selection and positioning of shared or common bits. Shared or common bits in one payload may be selected or otherwise determined based on any of a variety of criteria, such as reliability, decoding order, or both, and may be placed or positioned in another payload. Reliability and decoding order are referred to herein as illustrative and non-limiting examples. Embodiments are in no way limited to determining which bits of one payload are common or shared bits that are copied and combined with bits of another payload. Other examples are provided elsewhere herein.

[0083] In a URLLC-eMBB scenario where shared information bits are copied from the URLLC payload to the eMBB payload, the shared bit in the URLLC payload may be the least reliable information bit, and the shared bit is placed in the eMBB payload as the first decoded information bit with the lowest bit index in the eMBB payload. Although URLLC is used here as an example, more generally, any other latency-sensitive service may benefit from shared bit selection or decision based on either or both reliability and decoding order.

[0084] Considering an mMTC-eMBB scenario where shared information bits are copied from the mMTC payload to the eMBB payload, the shared bits in the mMTC payload may be the least reliable information bits, and the shared bits are also placed in the eMBB payload at the least reliable bit positions. Although mMTC is used here as an example, more generally, any other delay-tolerant service may benefit from reliability-based shared bit selection or decision.

[0085] These information bit copying examples for the URLLC-eMBB and mMTC-eMBB scenarios show that the shared bits may be selected or otherwise determined and placed in or positioned in different payloads based on both reliability and decoding order, as in the URLLC-eMBB scenario, or based on reliability, as in the mMTC-eMBB scenario. In another embodiment, the shared bits may be selected or otherwise determined based on decoding order and / or placed in different payloads.

[0086] With respect to reliability, information bits in the least reliable positions are unlikely to be decoded correctly, and therefore copying those information bits as shared bits to a different payload may provide the most benefit from a joint second decoding attempt. As in the mMTC-eMBB scenario described above, copying such shared information bits to the least reliable bit positions in another payload provides the advantage that a second joint decoding attempt can be made if the first self-decoding attempt fails. Copying shared bits from the least reliable information bit positions in a first payload to the most reliable information bit positions in a second payload may provide greater benefit to the first payload, but at the expense of other information bits in the second payload no longer mapping to the most reliable information bit positions into which the shared bits from the first payload are copied. In some embodiments, it may be desirable for all shared bits in the first payload to be the least reliable information bits, while in other embodiments, it may still be beneficial for fewer shared bits than all shared bits in the first payload to be the least reliable information bits. Thus, one or more of the shared bits may have higher reliability than one or more information bits that are not shared bits. Similarly, while it may be desirable for all shared bits to be copied to the least reliable information bit positions of the second payload, in other embodiments it may still be beneficial for fewer than all shared bits to be copied to the least reliable information bit positions of the second payload. Thus, one or more of the shared bits may be copied to a more reliable information bit position than one or more information bit positions that do not correspond to shared bits in the second payload.

[0087] Regarding decoding order, for delay-sensitive payloads such as URLLC payloads, decoding time or latency is important. For such payloads, it may be preferable to copy the shared bits to information bit positions in another payload that is decoded first. In this way, in the event of a decoding failure in the first self-decoding attempt of the delay-sensitive payload, the additional decoding latency added by the second joint decoding attempt can be minimized. The shared bits in the other payload are decoded first, making them available in the second decoding attempt for the delay-sensitive payload sooner than if the shared bits were copied to later-decoded bit positions in the other payload. This arrangement of shared bits based on decoding order also incurs a cost to the other payloads to which the shared bits are copied in terms of delay in decoding other bits of the other payload, since the shared bits are decoded before those other bits. However, the other payloads may be more delay-tolerant (less susceptible to delay) than the payload to which the shared bits are copied. In some embodiments, it may be desirable for all of the shared bits to be copied to the first decoded information bit position of the second payload, although in other embodiments it may still be beneficial for fewer than all of the shared bits to be copied to the first decoded information bit position of the second payload. Thus, one or more of the shared bits may be copied to an information bit position that is decoded after one or more information bit positions that do not correspond to shared bits in the second payload.

[0088] The shared bits enable or support decoding features that may help improve performance. Considering again the URLLC-eMBB scenario, if URLLC self-decoding, which may also be referred to as local decoding, is successful, then the corresponding shared bits copied to the eMBB payload may be set to the URLLC decoded value and treated as parity check frozen (PC frozen) or known frozen bits. In this way, eMBB performance may be improved. Otherwise, if URLLC local decoding fails, then the lowest index information bit is still likely to be correctly decoded from the eMBB codeword, and the corresponding shared bits in the URLLC payload may be PC frozen to aid URLLC decoding.

[0089] These exemplary encoding and decoding functions are illustrative of distinctive features disclosed herein that may be useful for providing multiple services with both unequal error protection capabilities and local decodability.

[0090] At least examples of encoding functions or parameters that may be specified or supported in some embodiments are provided above. Decoding functions or parameters may also or instead be specified or supported, and illustrative examples of such decoding functions or parameters are provided at least below. Any of these examples may be implemented individually or in any combination.

[0091] For the first decoding attempt, the higher priority payload may be decoded first, and then, if the higher priority payload is decoded correctly, the lower priority payload may be decoded. In an example URLLC-eMBB polar code scenario, URLLC decoding may be a higher priority, including decoding the shorter polar code with the shorter codeword, and the first decoding attempt attempts to decode all bits of the one or more short polar codes (URLLC) before decoding all bits of the one or more longer polar codes with the longer codeword (eMBB). This is an example of a decoding order that may be specified or supported.

[0092] A second decoding attempt that may be specified or supported for a failure of a higher priority payload decoding includes an attempt to jointly decode the higher priority payload using the shared bits that were correctly decoded in the lower priority decoding. In the URLLC-eMBB example above, if URLLC decoding fails, then the second decoding attempt to be performed may include decoding the shared bits in the longer polar code (eMBB), setting the shared bits as PC frozen bits in one or more shorter polar codes (URLLC), decoding the shorter polar code, and proceeding with decoding the longer polar code (eMBB).

[0093] While this example of a second decoding attempt may be expected to be more common to provide improved protection for higher priority payloads (URLLC in this example), other second decoding attempts that may also be specified or supported include attempts to jointly decode lower priority payloads using shared bits successfully decoded in the higher priority decoding. In an exemplary URLLC-eMBB scenario, if eMBB decoding fails, a second decoding attempt may be performed to decode the eMBB payload. This is another example of joint decoding in a second decoding attempt, and may include decoding shared bits from one or more shorter polar codes (URLLC), setting the shared bits in one or more longer polar codes (eMBB) as PC freeze bits, decoding the longer polar code(s) (eMBB), and proceeding with decoding the shorter polar codes (URLLC). In this example, another possible variation is to complete URLLC decoding first and then perform the first and (if necessary) second eMBB decoding attempts.

[0094] URLLC is intended merely to illustrate a service having a higher decoding priority. mMTC is another example of a service that may have a higher decoding priority than eMBB. Embodiments may be implemented in any of a variety of multi-service scenarios, such as a URLLC-eMBB scenario, an mMTC-eMBB scenario, or a three-service scenario for URLLC, mMTC, and eMBB. In the latter example, mMTC codewords can be treated as part of a joint codeword along with URLLC and eMBB codewords.

[0095] Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of encoding according to one embodiment, and Figure 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example of decoding according to one embodiment. The examples in Figures 7 and 8 illustrate a three-service scenario in which individual payloads associated with three services (URLLC, eMBB, and mMTC) are combined into a joint FEC. Variations to the examples in Figures 7 and 8, for combining fewer or more than the three example services and / or different example services, will be apparent to those skilled in the art and will not be described in detail herein to avoid unnecessary repetition.

[0096] Referring first to the coding example 700 of Figure 7, polar coding is shown at 702, 704, and 706 as an example of coding that may be applied to individual payloads. Shared bits are copied from the URLLC individual payload and the mMTC individual payload to the eMBB individual payload. The shared bits are the least reliable bits from the URLLC individual payload and the mMTC individual payload, with the shared bits from the URLLC individual payload copied to the lowest index bit position of the eMBB individual payload and the shared bits from the mMTC individual payload copied to the least reliable bit position of the eMBB individual payload. This is only one example, and other embodiments are possible in which the shared bit copying is based on one or more other parameters, such as decoding order, in addition to or instead of reliability. The coding rate R shown in Figure 7 is also an example and may be the same or different in other embodiments.

[0097] Rate matching, which may include, for example, puncturing and / or shortening, may be provided in some embodiments and is shown at 712, 714, and 716 for URLLC, eMBB, and mMTC coding in Figure 7. This is intended to illustrate other features or operations that may or may not include rate matching that may be performed in conjunction with coding as disclosed herein.

[0098] In the illustrated example, the URLLC and mMTC "local" codewords are self-decodable, and the eMBB codeword is labeled as a "global" codeword to indicate that it is generated based on a payload that includes not only eMBB payload bits but also shared bits that include a subset of the URLLC and mMTC individual payloads. The two local and global codewords may be considered and referred to as joint codewords.

[0099] Decoding example 800 in Figure 8 shows the decoding counterpart of the encoding functionality shown in Figure 7. As examples of decoding functionality that may be provided in some embodiments, optional de-rate matching is shown at 812, 814, 816, and polar decoding is shown at 802, 804, 806.

[0100] As an example, separate decoding of URLLC individual payloads is shown as the first decoding step. The first decoding step or attempt may also, or instead, include separate decoding for mMTC and / or eMBB. The joint decoding in step 2 is intended to indicate a second decoding attempt as disclosed herein. In the example shown, the joint decoding assists at least URLLC decoding in the event of a URLLC decoding failure. The shared, least reliable URLLC payload bit may be successfully decoded at 804 and used to decode the remaining URLLC payload bits at 802. To avoid further cluttering the drawing, the shared bit decoded at 804 is shown as being output from 804 as part of the decoded URLLC payload, but the shared bit decoded at 804 may also, or instead, be used to set the shared bit to PC freeze at 802 to assist in decoding the URLLC local codeword received at 802.

[0101] The shared mMTC bits are similarly shown in Figure 8 and may be used to aid in decoding the mMTC payload from the received mMTC local codeword at 806. The joint decoding of the mMTC may be a second decoding attempt if separate decoding of the mMTC fails.

[0102] 8 as a decoded output from 804, in other embodiments the shared bits may be used in joint decoding of the received global codeword. Successfully decoded shared bits from 802 and / or 806 may be used to set the shared bits to PC freeze at 804.

[0103] 9 is a block diagram of an exemplary encoding chain according to one embodiment. The exemplary encoding chain 900 is for a URLLC-eMBB scenario, although other embodiments are possible as described elsewhere herein.

[0104] 9 include transport block (TB) cyclic redundancy check (CRC) attachment for eMBB data at 912, code block (CB) segmentation for eMBB data at 914, CB or CB group (CBG) CRC attachment for eMBB data at 916, CB CRC attachment for URLLC data at 936, encoding at 918, 938 for each of the eMBB data and URLLC data, rate matching at 920, 940 for each of the eMBB data and URLLC data, bit interleaving at 922, 942 for each of the eMBB data and URLLC data, CB concatenation for eMBB data at 924, modulation with scrambling at 926, 946 for each of the eMBB data and URLLC data, and priority-aware resource mapping at 950. Other embodiments may include additional, fewer, or different elements interconnected in similar or different manners.

[0105] The features or functions of the encoding chain may be implemented in any of a variety of ways, such as by one or more components running hardware, firmware, or software. This disclosure is not limited to any particular type of implementation, and implementation details may vary, for example, between different devices.

[0106] Many of the features of Figure 9 may be provided or supported according to conventional coding techniques. However, the exemplary coding chain 900 embodies several distinctions. For example, in some embodiments, URLLC data is restricted within one CB, and therefore TB CRC attachment, CB segmentation, and CB concatenation are shown at 912, 914, and 924, respectively, for eMBB data only. Shared bit copying at 918 and 938 to combine eMBB and URLLC data and codewords together is a further distinction. Priority-aware resource mapping at 950 preferably helps ensure reliable, low-latency reception of URLLC symbols, for example, by mapping URLLC data to frequency (subcarrier) and / or spatial (layer) resources with better channel quality and / or to time slots transmitted earlier.

[0107] As an example, the bits of eMBB data in the CB after CB segmentation and CRC attachment are e0, e1, ..., e K-1 , where K is the number of payload bits. For simplicity, the CB number is omitted in this notation. In the case of URLLC, the bits after CRC attachment are u0,u1,…,u K’-1 , where K' is the number of payload bits. A subset of the K'URLLC payload bits containing K' bits is copied and prepended to the eMBB payload such that the subset is of size K'. This subset is also referred to herein as shared bits, common bits, or combined bits. The new eMBB bits for encoding are denoted as u0,u1,...,u K’’-1 ,e0,e1,…,e K-1, and c0,c1,…,c K’’+K-1 It may be expressed as:

[0108] New eMBB bits c0, c1, ..., c K’’+K-1 are mapped to information bit positions in the eMBB code by ascending bit index order in some embodiments. K’-1 As an example of selecting or determining which shared payload bits to copy based on reliability, in some embodiments, c0, c1, ..., c2 are mapped to information bit positions in the URLLC code in ascending order of reliability. K’’+K-1 New eMBB payload containing u0, u1, …, u K’-1 are encoded with 918, 938, respectively, according to the general procedure of polar encoding, for example.

[0109] For example, in vertical scenarios such as industrial applications, there are likely to be services with different traffic having different payload sizes and different QoS requirements. Control commands and data generated by different types of sensors or monitors on a single device are examples of different traffic that may include different services. A robotic arm, for example, may communicate with a network device such as a base station and support URLLC, eMBB, and mMTC services. In one possible implementation to illustrate how these services may be used, video stream data transmission from a camera on the robotic device may belong to the eMBB service, signaling for controlling each of one or more joints on the robotic arm may belong to the URLLC service, and delay-insensitive sensing or monitoring data reporting may belong to the mMTC service. Such differences may be addressed by appropriate signaling according to embodiments herein.

[0110] The joint coding proposed herein may be able to increase the coding gain of smaller payload data and help support fast decoding of such smaller payload data that may have stringent QoS requirements or otherwise have higher decoding priority than other data. The signaling for indicating one or more joint coding parameters may be or may include, for example, downlink control information (DCI) with an indication of the joint coding parameters. Examples of joint coding parameters include coding structure, data partitioning, and individual payload priority. Any one or more of these joint coding parameters, and / or others, may be indicated in the signaling.

[0111] Without loss of generality, assume there are three services, including S1=URLLC, S2=eMBB, and S3=mMTC. Signaling examples for such an embodiment are provided below. However, it should be understood that these examples are for illustrative purposes only, and the present disclosure is in no way limited to a three-service scenario or these particular signaling examples.

[0112] In one embodiment, the signaling indicates a coding mode. The coding mode may specify whether only separate coding or only joint coding is used. If joint coding is used, then the coding mode may further specify how many services and which services should be jointly coded to support joint decoding. In the above three-service scenario, the maximum joint coding supported is for three services, and the coding mode indication or specification may be summarized as shown in Table 1 below.

[0113] [Table 1]

[0114] Table 1 is an example, and variations are possible. For example, if the number indicator indicates the total number of services, then the combination indicator does not necessarily need to be included in the signaling, since the number indicator provides an implicit indicator that data for all services should be jointly coded. The number indicator may not be used in all embodiments, since the combination indicator may provide an implicit indicator of the number of services whose data are jointly coded. Other embodiments may be implemented with these and / or other variations in specifying coding modes or coding parameters.

[0115] Signaling may also or instead be used to indicate the MCS for all services, for example by an MCS index. Several options exist.

[0116] One MCS option for joint coding is to use the same MCS for all services. For example, the MCS table of one service, such as URLLC or another service with a higher decoding priority, may be used for joint coding. Another embodiment includes defining a new MCS table for joint coding that uses a different (e.g., smaller) modulation order and a different (e.g., lower) target code rate than specified in the MCS table of one of the services. For example, an MCS table for joint coding that uses a smaller modulation order and a lower target code rate than specified in the eMBB MCS table sacrifices some eMBB spectral efficiency to help improve URLLC performance.

[0117] In the case of joint coding, the same modulation order may be used for all services, but different coding rates may be used for each service. For example, a new MCS table may be defined, with each MCS index associated with one modulation order and multiple coding rates. To cover cases with different numbers of jointly coded services, multiple MCS tables may be used, each corresponding to a different number of jointly coded services. Depending on the number indicator in Table 1 above, for example, one of Tables 2 and 3 below may be selected.

[0118] [Table 2]

[0119] [Table 3]

[0120] The priority of each service Si is another example of a joint coding parameter that may be indicated in the signaling. Such priority may be indicated, for example, by a per-service priority metric or a priority order index. In some embodiments, the priority may affect priority-aware resource mapping and / or the service or payload from / to which shared data bits are copied. In one embodiment, the priority is indicated by a positive number {1, 2, 3, ...}, with smaller (or larger) numbers indicating higher priority.

[0121] Another joint coding parameter that may be used or supported in some embodiments is the coding structure. One aspect of the coding structure is the type of code to be used for the data associated with each service, which may be expressed in any of a variety of ways, such as {S1=RM, S2=PAC, S3=Polar...}. Bit selection order is another possible aspect of the coding structure and may be the order, or one or more criteria based on which, shared bits are selected for copying from and / or arranged relative to the payload bits of different services. The order may be expressed, for example, as {reliability, bit index, decoding order}. A further aspect of the coding structure is the "target" service to which shared bits are copied to combine one service or payload with another. The target service may be indicated by an index or other identifier, as in the above example of S1, S2, and S3, and a zero value may indicate that no bits are to be copied as shared bits from a particular service to another service. A service for which no target service is indicated may be a target service of another service. In other words, a service that does not itself have a target service may act as a target service and, in effect, add bits from one or more other services for joint coding.

[0122] Partitioning is another possible joint coding parameter and relates to how to divide the payload bits for each service, in other words, how many bits or how much of the payload should be shared. An integer number of bits, or a fraction or other relative percentage may be used to indicate the partitioning.

[0123] Table 4 below summarizes joint coding parameters that may be used and indicated in signaling in some embodiments, based on the above example.

[0124] [Table 4]

[0125] Table 4, as well as other examples herein, are intended to be non-limiting. Other embodiments may support any one or more of these joint coding parameters and / or different joint coding parameters. The above examples of parameters are not exhaustive, and other examples include the number of available resource elements (REs) for each service, the number of layers (MIMO groups) per service, and the mapping method from services to corresponding layers, such as frequency-time or time-frequency. These additional examples are also illustrative, and general embodiments may use and / or indicate in signaling any one or more of a variety of joint coding parameters, which may include, but are not limited to, the specific examples provided herein.

[0126] Various aspects of the present disclosure have been described above and are illustrated in the drawings by way of example. Figure 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a more general exemplary method according to an embodiment. On the left, 1000 of Figure 10 illustrates operations or functions that may be provided or supported in an encoder or transmitter-side device, and on the right, 1050 illustrates operations or functions that may be provided or supported in a decoder or receiver-side device. For ease of reference, in the following description of Figure 10, a device in which encoding and / or transmission functions may be performed or supported will be referred to as a first communications device, and a device in which decoding and / or reception functions may be performed or supported will be referred to as a second communications device. An embodiment may include either or both of such devices.

[0127] Referring initially to 1000, from the perspective of a transmitting device, the transmitting step at 1008 is intended to represent transmitting a codeword by a first communication device to a second communication device in a wireless communication network. The codeword is or includes a coding block generated by error correction encoding each of the individual payloads. The coding block includes a self-decodable coding block generated by error correction encoding a first individual payload and another coding block generated by error correction encoding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction encoding. The self-decodable coding block is decodable independently of and jointly decodable with the other coding block.

[0128] 10 also illustrates operations that may be included in generating a codeword. At 1002, FIG. 10 illustrates obtaining individual payloads including at least a first individual payload and a second individual payload, which may be or include, for example, data from different devices and / or data associated with different services. Obtaining the payloads at 1002 may include, for example, collecting or otherwise receiving data output from one or more devices and / or services or accessing payload data in memory.

[0129] 1004 is intended to indicate error correction encoding of each of the individual payloads. In one embodiment, this includes error correction encoding a first individual payload to generate a self-decodable encoded block, and error correction encoding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction encoding to generate another encoded block.

[0130] As shown at 1006, the method may also include outputting a codeword that includes the self-decodable coding block and another coding block generated at 1004. The codeword may be output, for example, at 1008, for storage to memory and / or transmission.

[0131] In some embodiments, the method may include obtaining, as shown at 1002, encoding, as shown at 1004, and outputting, as shown at 1006. Other embodiments may include transmitting the codeword, as shown at 1008. These embodiments are not mutually exclusive, and the method may include obtaining and encoding the individual payload, as shown at 1002, 1004, and transmitting the codeword, as shown at 1006.

[0132] As disclosed herein, a self-decodable coding block is decodable independently of one or more other coding blocks and also jointly decodable with the other coding blocks. In the context of the above example of a self-decodable coding block and another coding block generated by error correction coding of a first individual payload and a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined, the self-decodable coding block is decodable independently of the other coding blocks and also jointly decodable with the other coding blocks.

[0133] A portion of one individual payload (the first individual payload in the above example) combined with another individual payload (the second individual payload in the above example) links or couples those payloads and coding blocks to provide or support joint decodability. The joint decodability of a self-decodable coding block may provide or enable any of various other features disclosed herein. For example, the fact that a self-decodable coding block is further jointly decodable with one or more of the other coding blocks of a codeword may enable joint decoding of one or more of the other coding blocks based on successful decoding of the self-decodable coding block independent of the other coding blocks. In the context of the above example, the joint decodability of a self-decodable coding block with yet another coding block may enable joint decoding of the self-decodable coding block after a decoding failure when decoding the self-decodable coding block independently of the other coding blocks.

[0134] The portion of an individual payload to be combined with another individual payload may be selected, identified, or otherwise determined based on any of a variety of criteria. Some examples are provided herein and may be generalized to the portion of one (first) individual payload determined for combination with another (second) individual payload based on the ordering of bits in one (first in the above example) individual payload.

[0135] Such ordering or ranking of the bits may be or may include an ordering based on characteristics of the bits of the first individual payload, which may be or may include any one or more of a decoding reliability, a decoding order, a bit position index, and a reliability weight.

[0136] Decoding reliability is discussed at least above as an illustrative example. Common or shared bits to be copied from one (said first) individual payload to another (said second) individual payload may be determined, for example, based on the decoding reliability of information bit positions within the one (said first) individual payload. Note that the reliability itself need not be explicitly specified, configured, or signaled. For example, the decoding reliability may be mapped to an index or integer by a table or formula to indicate reliability without explicitly referencing the reliability. Determining a portion of one (said first) individual payload to combine with another (said second) individual payload for error correction coding based on the decoding reliability may include, for example, determining that the portion should include information bits within the one (said first) individual payload that have the lowest decoding reliability. The reliability-ordered sequence is an example of a decoding reliability order based on which portions or shared bits of individual payloads may be determined.

[0137] The decoding order has been referenced above primarily in the context of determining where shared bits within one individual payload should be placed for combining with another individual payload. However, the decoding order may also, or instead, be considered when determining shared bits, also referred to herein as part of one (said first) individual payload for combining with another (said second) individual payload for error correction coding. For example, it may be beneficial to determine that the portion or shared bits within one (said first) individual payload for combining with another (said second) individual payload for error correction coding should include bits that are decoded first from a self-decodable coding block, so that successful decoding of the portion or shared bits is known early in the decoding process.

[0138] The bit position index is another example of a property on which the ordering of information bits within an individual payload and the determination of a portion for combining with another individual payload may be based. The portion or shared bits may be selected, for example, as the first X bits (lowest bit position index) or the last Y bits (highest bit position index) within an individual payload, or may be determined in another manner.

[0139] The portion or shared bits to be copied from the individual payloads may also or instead be determined based on an ordering by reliability weights. The reliability weight value W in 3GPP TS 38.212 version 15.2.0 is an example of a reliability weight based on which the portion or shared bits of the individual payloads may be determined.

[0140] Reliability weights are also an example of calculated weight characteristics based on which information bit positions within an individual payload may be ordered to determine partial or shared bits to be copied and combined with information bits in another individual payload. The ordering of bits within an individual payload may also, or instead, be based on one or more other types of weight values. As disclosed in WO 2018 / 019044, polarization weights are an example of another type of weight value on which the ordering of bits within an individual payload may be based.

[0141] These exemplary characteristics do not necessarily overlap or are mutually exclusive. For example, the reliability ordering sequence in 3GPP TS 38.212 version 15.2.0 specifies a reliability order in terms of information bit position, and thus determining the portion or shared bits in one (said first) individual payload to be combined with bits in another (said second) individual payload may be considered a form of determining the portion or shared bits based on ordering according to decoding reliability and / or according to bit position index. It should also be understood that multiple characteristics may be used in ordering the information bits to be copied from one (said first) individual payload and selected as the portion or shared bits to be combined with bits of another (said second) individual payload.

[0142] The above example refers to determining a portion or shared bits to be copied from one (said first) individual payload and combined with bits in another (said second) individual payload. How the portion or shared bits are combined with bits of another (said second) individual payload may be determined in any of a variety of ways. In general, a portion of one (said first) individual payload is combined with bits in another (said second) individual payload based on the ordering of bits in the combined payloads for error correction coding to generate another coded block.

[0143] The ordering of bits within the combined individual payloads for error correction coding may be based on characteristics of those bits. The characteristics may be or include any one or more of the following: decoding order, decoding reliability, bit position index, and reliability weight. While these characteristics are described above in the context of a "source" individual payload from which some or shared bits are copied, they may also or instead apply when determining how payloads or shared bits are combined with bits of a "destination" individual payload.

[0144] The decoding order refers to the order in which bits from another coded block generated by error correction coding the combined payload are decoded in relation to determining how partial or shared bits in one (above-mentioned first) individual payload are combined with bits of another (above-mentioned second) individual payload. The decoding reliability refers to the reliability of correctly decoding bits from another coded block in relation to determining how partial or shared bits are combined, and the above-referenced sequence of reliability values ​​is an example. The bit position index refers to the index of a bit position in the combined payload for error correction coding to generate another coded block in relation to determining how partial or shared bits are combined. The reliability weight refers to the weight of the reliability of an information bit position in the combined payload when considered in the context of determining how partial or shared bits are combined, and the above-referenced sequence of reliability values ​​is an example.

[0145] These characteristics are merely examples, and other characteristics may also or instead be used in determining how some or shared bits in one individual payload are combined with bits in another individual payload. For example, other weight values ​​may be used in other embodiments, and multiple characteristics may be used in combination.

[0146] 10, some embodiments may include determining a portion of one (first) individual payload to combine with another (second) individual payload based on bit ordering of the one (first) individual payload, and / or determining how the portion is to be combined with the other (second) individual payload, e.g., at 1002 or 1004. Some embodiments may also or instead include combining the portion with the other (second) individual payload, e.g., at 1002 or 1004.

[0147] The self-decodable coding block may further be jointly decodable with another coding block, which may enable joint decoding of the self-decodable coding block after a decoding failure when decoding the self-decodable coding block. The second decoding attempt, and possibly one or more subsequent attempts, may include attempting to jointly decode the self-decodable coding block after the decoding failure, rather than requesting a retransmission after the decoding failure. This may be referred to as, for example, a HARQ-less approach.

[0148] Some embodiments may include, from an encoder or transmitter perspective, receiving a retransmission request, which may be or include negative acknowledgement signaling or another form of retransmission request, and retransmitting incremental redundancy (IR) information, which may be or include, for example, a redundancy version (RV). In one embodiment, the method may include, at 1010, receiving, by the first communication device, from the second communication device, a first request for retransmission after decoding failures in both independently decoding the self-decodable coding block and jointly decoding the self-decodable coding block. Of particular note is that the received request in this example is a first request for retransmission after multiple decoding failures. As illustrated at 1012, the method may also include retransmitting IR information of the self-decodable coding block by the first communication device to the second communication device in response to the first retransmission request. For example, other IR information for additional coding blocks may also be transmitted at 1012.

[0149] It should be noted that while Figure 10 only shows the step of transmitting IR information at 1012, some embodiments may include generating and outputting IR information for a self-decodable coding block in response to receiving an initial request for retransmission after a decoding failure in self-decoding and joint decoding of the self-decodable coding block. The generating and outputting steps are not shown separately in Figure 10 to avoid further cluttering the figure.

[0150] Embodiments may include other features or operations not explicitly shown in Figure 10. For example, the selection of a code rate and code length for coding one type of payload may be based, at least in part, on the code rate and code length selected for coding another type of payload. In the above example of first and second individual payloads, the MCS for the error correction coding of the second individual payload combined with the first individual payload may be selected before selecting the MCS for the error correction coding of the first individual payload.

[0151] It should also be understood that embodiments are not limited to only two individual payloads. Referring to the first and second individual payloads above, these individual payloads may be among several individual payloads that also include these individual payloads and one or more other payloads. A portion of the multiple individual payloads may be combined with an individual payload (such as the second individual payload in this example) for error correction encoding. An MCS feature that may be implemented in such embodiments includes selecting an MCS for error correction encoding the second individual payload combined with a portion of the multiple individual payloads from one of multiple MCS tables. The MCS tables each correspond to a different number of individual payloads, some of which are combined with the second individual payload for error correction encoding. This illustrates an embodiment in which there are multiple MCS tables, each corresponding to a given number of individual payloads, potentially corresponding to several services if the individual payloads are associated with each service, that are combined together for potential joint decoding as disclosed herein.

[0152] Another example of a feature that may be provided in some embodiments but is not explicitly shown in Figure 10 relates to signaling. Some embodiments may include communicating, within a wireless communication network, signaling that indicates joint coding parameters associated with one or both of error correction coding of one (said first) individual payload and error correction coding of another (said second) individual payload to which a portion of the one (said first) individual payload is combined.

[0153] Communicating such signaling may include transmitting signaling by an encoder / encoding device or transmitter / transmitting device to transmit the coded block to a decoder / decoding device or receiver / receiving device. The communicating step may also, or instead, include receiving signaling by a decoder / decoding device or receiver / receiving device from the encoder / encoding device or transmitter / transmitting device. The signaling does not necessarily have to be between, or only between, communication devices to which the coded block is to be transmitted or received. For example, a network device such as a gNB or base station may transmit signaling to configure joint coding parameters at one or more communication devices. Thus, the method may include a network device transmitting signaling, an encoder / encoding device or transmitter / transmitting device receiving signaling from the network device, and a decoder / decoding device or receiver / receiving device receiving signaling from the network device.

[0154] Examples of joint coding parameters are provided elsewhere herein. In general, the joint coding parameters may include any one or more of the following, and other joint coding parameters may also or instead be used in other embodiments: a coding mode, an MCS (which may include a respective MCS for each individual payload and / or service in a multi-service scenario), respective priorities of services with which the first and second individual payloads are associated, a coding structure for error correction coding of the first individual payload, a coding structure for error correction coding for the second individual payload combined with a portion of the first individual payload, a segmentation for determining a portion of the (first) individual payload, respective numbers of resource elements available for services with which the individual payloads (the first and second individual payloads) are associated, respective numbers of data layers for services with which the individual payloads (the first and second individual payloads) are associated, and respective mapping methods for mapping services with which the individual payloads (the first and second individual payloads) are associated to data layers.

[0155] At 1050, FIG. 10 illustrates various decoding and / or receiving counterparts of the features shown in 1000. From the perspective of a receiving device, the receiving step at 1052 is intended to represent receiving a codeword from a first communication device by a second communication device in a wireless communication network. As with other embodiments, the codeword is or includes a coding block generated by error correction encoding each individual payload. The coding block includes a self-decodable coding block generated by error correction encoding a first individual payload and another coding block generated by error correction encoding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction encoding. The self-decodable coding block is decodable independently of and jointly decodable with the other coding block.

[0156] Figure 10 also illustrates operations that may be included in decoding a codeword. At 1054, Figure 10 may include decoding a first individual payload and a second individual payload from a codeword that includes a self-decodable coded block generated by error correction coding the first individual payload and another coded block generated by error correction coding the second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined. After successful decoding (the "YES" branch at 1056), the individual payloads are output as shown at 1058, e.g., for storage in memory and / or further processing. The decoding at 1054 may include decoding the self-decodable coded block to obtain the first individual payload, and in some embodiments, the decoding may include jointly decoding another coded block based on successful decoding of the self-decodable coded block independent of the other coded block (the "NO (first attempt)" branch from 1056). The joint decoding at 1054 may alternatively include a step of jointly decoding a self-decodable coding block after a decoding failure when decoding the self-decodable coding block independently of another coding block (the "No (First Attempt)" branch from 1056).

[0157] The receiving and decoding steps at 1052, 1054 may involve different receiving device components or functions, but are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The method may include receiving a codeword at 1352 and decoding an individual payload from the codeword at 1354.

[0158] The "No (First Attempt)" label and return arrow from 1056 to 1054 are intended to represent a second attempt, and there may also be one or more subsequent attempts to jointly decode a self-decodable coded block after a decoding failure, rather than requesting a retransmission after a decoding failure. This is referred to at least above as a HARQ-less approach. If decoding is successful after a subsequent attempt, an individual payload is output at 1058.

[0159] The method may include, at 1060, transmitting a first request for retransmission from the second communication device in the above example to the first communication device after a decoding failure, when encoding a self-decodable coding block independently of another coding block, and when jointly decoding the self-decodable coding block. This is represented in FIG. 10 by the label "No (Last Attempt)" and arrow from 1056. The transmitted request is a first request for retransmission after multiple decoding failures, as described at least above as an example. IR information may be transmitted in response to the first request, as shown at 1012, and from the perspective of the receiving device, the method may include receiving, by the second communication device from the first communication device, IR information for the self-decodable coding block in response to the first request for retransmission transmitted at 1060. IR information is also described at least above as an example. For example, other IR information for additional coding blocks may also be received in response to the request.

[0160] The dashed arrows from 1012 to 1052 in Figure 10 are intended to represent the transmission and reception of IR information, and the process return to 1052 is intended to indicate decoding a self-decodable coding block independently of another coding block and performing incremental redundancy decoding based on IR information obtained for the self-decodable coding block in response to an initial request for retransmission after a decoding failure in the joint decoding of the self-decodable coding block. 1052 refers to receiving a codeword, although in the case of a retransmission, the same codeword may or may not be received again. The decoding step after a retransmission may also be different and instead include, for example, joint decoding by using a previously received codeword in combination with newly received IR information.

[0161] As with other embodiments, the portion of the first individual payload to combine with the second individual payload may be determined based on an ordering of the bits of the first individual payload. The ordering may be or include an ordering based on characteristics of the bits of the first individual payload. The characteristics may be or include any one or more of decoding reliability, decoding order, bit position index, and reliability weight, as described by at least the examples above.

[0162] A portion of one (above-mentioned first) individual payload may be combined with bits in another (above-mentioned second) individual payload based on the ordering of bits in the combined payloads for error correction encoding to generate another coded block. The ordering of bits for error correction encoding to generate the another coded block may be or may include an order based on properties of bits for error correction encoding to generate the another coded block. Examples of such properties, as described elsewhere herein, include any one or more of the following, on which it may be based: ordering of bits in the combined payload, decoding order for decoding bits from another coded block, decoding reliability for decoding bits from another coded block, bit position index, and reliability weight.

[0163] Also, as discussed at least above, these exemplary characteristics are merely examples, and other characteristics may also or instead be used in determining the portions or shared bits to be combined and / or how the portions or shared bits in one individual payload are combined with bits in another individual payload. For example, other weight values ​​may be used in other embodiments, and multiple characteristics may be used in combination.

[0164] Other features not explicitly shown in Figure 10 may be provided or supported, or may at least affect the operation of the decoding or receiving side. For example, before selecting an MCS for error correction coding the first individual payload, MCS selection for encoding the second individual payload combined with the first individual payload may be performed as an encoding or transmitting side operation, but the selected MCS also affects the operation of the decoding or receiving side.

[0165] Additional MCS features for embodiments including three or more individual payloads are also described at least above, and such features may also affect the operation of the decoder or receiver. For example, the first individual payload and the second individual payload may be two individual payloads of a larger number of individual payloads, and a portion of the larger number of individual payloads may be combined with the second individual payload for error correction coding. The MCS of the second individual payload combined with the portion of the larger number of individual payloads may be or include an MCS from one of multiple MCS tables, each corresponding to a different number of individual payloads, a portion of which is combined with the second individual payload for error correction coding.

[0166] A method consistent with the example shown at 1050 may include communicating signaling indicating joint coding parameters associated with one or both of the error correction coding of the first individual payload and the error correction coding of the second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined. Examples of such communication, and examples of joint coding parameters such signaling may indicate, are provided at least above.

[0167] The present disclosure encompasses a variety of embodiments, including not only method embodiments but also apparatus embodiments and other embodiments, such as embodiments relating to non-transitory computer-readable storage media, which may incorporate the features disclosed herein individually or in combination.

[0168] The apparatus may include a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupled to the processor and storing programming for execution by the processor. In Figure 3, for example, the processors 210, 260, 276 may each be or include one or more processors, and each memory 208, 258, 278 is an example of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium in the ED 110 and the TRP 170, 172. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium need not necessarily be provided solely in combination with the processor, but may also be provided separately, for example, in a computer program product.

[0169] As an illustrative example, programming stored in or on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may include instructions for, or to cause a processor to, transmit, by a first communication device to a second communication device in a wireless communication network, a codeword including coding blocks generated by error correction encoding each individual payload, the coding blocks including a self-decodable coding block generated by error correction encoding a first individual payload and another coding block generated by error correction encoding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction encoding.

[0170] In another embodiment, programming stored in or on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may include instructions to, or to cause a processor to, obtain a first individual payload and a second individual payload, error correction encode the first individual payload to generate a self-decodable encoded block, error correction encode the second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction encoding to generate another encoded block, and output a codeword including the self-decodable encoded block and the another encoded block.

[0171] In these and other embodiments, a portion of the first individual payload may be determined to combine with the second individual payload based on the ordering of the bits of the first individual payload.

[0172] Embodiments relating to the apparatus or non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may include, for example, the following features, which are also discussed elsewhere herein: the programming may further include instructions for, or to cause the processor to, obtain the first individual payload and the second individual payload; the programming may further include instructions for, or to cause the processor to, error correction encode a first individual payload to generate a self-decodable encoded block, and error correction encode a second individual payload combined with a portion of the first individual payload to generate another encoded block; the self-decodable coding block may further be jointly decodable with another coding block, allowing joint decoding of the other coding block based on successful decoding of the self-decodable coding block independent of the other coding block; the self-decodable coding block being further jointly decodable with another coding block may enable joint decoding of the self-decodable coding block after a decoding failure when decoding the self-decodable coding block independently of the other coding block; the ordering may be or may include ordering based on characteristics of the bits of the first individual payload; the characteristics may be or may include any one or more of: decoding reliability, decoding order, bit position index, and reliability weight; a portion of the first individual payload may be combined with a second individual payload based on bit ordering for error correction coding to generate another coded block; the ordering of bits for error correction encoding to generate another coded block may be or may include ordering based on a characteristic of bits for error correction encoding to generate another coded block; the characteristics of the bits for error correction coding to generate the other coded block may be or may include one or more of a decoding order for decoding the bits from the other coded block, a decoding reliability for decoding the bits from the other coded block, a bit position index, and a reliability weight; an MCS for error correction for encoding a second individual payload combined with a first individual payload may be selected before selecting an MCS for error correction for encoding the first individual payload; the first individual payload and the second individual payload may be multiple payloads of the plurality of individual payloads or may include multiple payloads of the plurality of payloads; a portion of multiple individual payloads of the plurality of individual payloads may be combined with a second individual payload for error correction coding; an MCS for error correction encoding a second individual payload combined with a portion of the multiple individual payloads may be selected from one of a plurality of MCS tables each corresponding to a different number of individual payloads a portion of which is combined with the second individual payload for error correction encoding; the programming may further include instructions for, or to cause the processor to, communicate, within the wireless communications network, signaling indicating joint coding parameters associated with one or both of error correction coding of the first individual payload and error correction coding of a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined; the signaling indicates any one or more of: a coding mode; an MCS; respective priorities of services associated with the first individual payload and the second individual payload; a coding structure for error correction coding of the first individual payload; a coding structure for error correction coding for the second individual payload combined with a portion of the first individual payload; a division for determining the portion of the first individual payload; respective numbers of resource elements available for services associated with the first individual payload and the second individual payload; respective numbers of data layers for services associated with the first individual payload and the second individual payload; and respective mapping methods for mapping the services associated with the first individual payload and the second individual payload to data layers. may include any one or more of:

[0173] The programming stored in or on the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may also, or alternatively, include instructions for, or to cause a processor to, receive, from a first communication device by a second communication device in the wireless communication network, a codeword including coding blocks generated by error correction encoding each individual payload, the coding blocks including a self-decodable coding block generated by error correction encoding a first individual payload and another coding block generated by error correction encoding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction encoding.

[0174] In another embodiment, the programming stored in or on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may include instructions for, or to cause a processor to, decode a first individual payload and a second individual payload from a codeword that includes a self-decodable encoding block generated by error correction encoding the first individual payload and another encoding block generated by error correction encoding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined, and output the first individual payload and the second individual payload.

[0175] In these and other embodiments, a portion of the first individual payload may be determined to combine with the second individual payload based on the ordering of the bits of the first individual payload.

[0176] Embodiments relating to the apparatus or non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may include, for example, the following features, which are also discussed elsewhere herein: the programming may further include instructions for, or to cause the processor to, decode the self-decodable encoding block to obtain the first individual payload; the programming may further include instructions for, or to cause the processor to, decode the self-decodable coding block independently of another coding block and jointly decode the other coding block based on successful decoding of the self-decodable coding block independent of the other coding block; the programming may further include instructions for, or to cause the processor to, jointly decode a self-decodable coding block after a decoding failure when decoding the self-decodable coding block independently of another coding block; the ordering may be or may include ordering based on characteristics of the bits of the first individual payload; that the characteristics may be or may include any one or more of: decoding reliability, decoding order, bit position index, and reliability weight; a portion of the first individual payload may be combined with a second individual payload based on bit ordering for error correction coding to generate another coded block; the ordering of bits for error correction encoding to generate another coded block may be or may include ordering based on a characteristic of bits for error correction encoding to generate another coded block; that the characteristics of the bits for error correction coding to generate the other coded block may be or may include one or more of a decoding order for decoding the bits from the other coded block, a decoding reliability for decoding the bits from the other coded block, a bit position index, and a reliability weight; an MCS for error correction encoding a second individual payload combined with a first individual payload may be selected before selecting an MCS for error correction encoding the first individual payload; the first individual payload and the second individual payload may be or include individual payloads of a plurality of individual payloads; a portion of multiple individual payloads of the plurality of individual payloads may be combined with a second individual payload for error correction coding; an MCS for error correction encoding a second individual payload combined with a portion of the multiple individual payloads may be selected from one of a plurality of MCS tables each corresponding to a different number of individual payloads a portion of which is combined with the second individual payload for error correction encoding; the programming may further include instructions for, or to cause the processor to, communicate, within the wireless communications network, signaling indicating joint coding parameters associated with one or both of error correction coding of the first individual payload and error correction coding of a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined; the signaling indicates any one or more of: a coding mode; an MCS; respective priorities of services associated with the first individual payload and the second individual payload; a coding structure for error correction coding of the first individual payload; a coding structure for error correction coding for the second individual payload combined with a portion of the first individual payload; a division for determining the portion of the first individual payload; respective numbers of resource elements available for services associated with the first individual payload and the second individual payload; respective numbers of data layers for services associated with the first individual payload and the second individual payload; and respective mapping methods for mapping the services associated with the first individual payload and the second individual payload to data layers. may include any one or more of:

[0177] The embodiments disclosed herein encompass various aspects of what may be referred to as HARQ-less in-UE MA coding, which may be particularly suited to hard-output codes. The embodiments may be applied to a wide range of communication networks, such as 5G+, 6G, WiFi, non-terrestrial networks (NTN), and distributed or self-organizing networks.

[0178] Self-decodability may be provided for different types of payload, such as URLLC data and eMBB data.

[0179] Additionally or alternatively, higher reliability may be provided for certain types of payloads, for example, URLLC performance may be improved even if eMBB decoding fails.

[0180] Some embodiments may provide lower latency: the shared bits may be copied from the URLLC payload and combined with bits of another payload, such as the eMBB payload, based on the decoding order of the eMBB payload to support earlier start of joint decoding of the URLLC payload, for example, before all eMBB symbols have been received.

[0181] Performance improvements can be realized with significant gradient gains for payloads with higher decoding priority, such as URLLC payloads, especially at low BLER.

[0182] Coding techniques that support a second (joint) decoding attempt without HARQ as disclosed herein may provide improved resilience or reliability, lower latency, and better performance compared to conventional HARQ techniques.

[0183] By combining and encoding multiple payloads into long codewords to enable self-decodability and joint decodability, diverse KPI requirements can be supported, e.g., for multiple payloads or services. Embodiments may also, or instead, support increased flexibility for multi-service scenarios or other applications involving different types of payloads.

[0184] FIG. 11 is a plot of simulation results for an example scenario.

[0185] In Figure 11, "URLLC 1 st " indicates the self-decoding performance for URLLC in the first trial, and "URLLC 2 nd " indicates the joint decoding performance for URLLC in the second trial, and "eMBB only: N2 = 2048 K 2s11, "N2=2048 K2=1152 PW CRC" indicates the self-decoding performance for eMBB alone (without combining as disclosed herein), and "eMBB only: N2=2048 K2=1152 PW CRC" indicates the joint decoding performance for eMBB (with combining as disclosed herein). Similar or different results may be observed under similar or different simulation conditions compared to those shown in FIG. 11 and / or in deployment of embodiments.

[0186] In FIG. 11, other notations are as follows: C1(128,64-48) refers to the first code block 1 having 128 code bits and 64 information bits, of which 48 are exclusive information bits and 16 are shared information bits; C2(2048, 1152-1136) refers to code block 2 with 2048 code bits and 64 information bits, of which 48 are exclusive information bits and 16 are shared information bits. L=8 refers to the list size in the polar SCL decoder. T=8 refers to the CRC / PC check time in the polar CA / PC-SCL decoder. The decoder checks the first T paths, and if the CRC / PC check passes, it outputs the path as the decoded result. N1=128K1=64 refers to a code length of 128 and an information (or payload) length of 64. PW CRC refers to polar code construction using polarization weights (PW) and CRC-aided polar codes; N1=128 K 1j =48 refers to a code length of 128 and an information (or payload) length of 48. N2=2048 K 2s =1136 refers to a code length of 2048 and an information (or payload) length of 1136, N2=2048 K2=1152 refers to the code length of 2048 and the information (or payload length) of 1152.

[0187] These are exemplary simulation conditions; other simulations and / or deployments may be under similar or different conditions.

[0188] As shown, the joint decoding performance of URLLC after the second decoding attempt is significantly better than after the first decoding attempt. It is noteworthy that the slope is much steeper and therefore improved, making embodiments that support the second decoding attempt highly suitable for operation in high SNR and low BLER regions, which is precisely the target operating region of URLLC.

[0189] Figure 11 also shows that eMBB performance with combining is slightly worse than that without combining to support joint decoding. This is because additional payload bits are added to the original eMBB payload bits, resulting in a higher effective code rate than without combining. However, this performance cost can be considered negligible, or at least a worthwhile tradeoff, compared to the benefit in improved reliability of URLLC.

[0190] While the present disclosure has been described with reference to illustrated embodiments, this description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications and combinations of the illustrated embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the present disclosure, will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the description. It is therefore intended that the appended claims cover any such modifications or embodiments.

[0191] Features disclosed herein in the context of method embodiments may also or instead be implemented in, for example, apparatus or computer program product embodiments. Additionally, while the embodiments are described primarily in the context of methods and apparatus, other implementations are contemplated, for example, as instructions stored on one or more non-transitory computer-readable media. Such media may store programming or instructions for performing any of a variety of methods consistent with the present disclosure.

[0192] Although aspects of the present invention have been described with reference to specific features and embodiments thereof, various modifications and combinations of such aspects can be made without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the description and drawings should be considered merely as illustrative of some embodiments of the invention as defined by the appended claims, and it is intended to embrace any and all modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents that fall within the scope of the invention. Thus, while embodiments and potential advantages have been described in detail, various changes, substitutions, and alterations can be made to the invention without departing from the invention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods, and steps described herein. As one skilled in the art will readily appreciate from this disclosure, existing or later-developed processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same results as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized in accordance with the present invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the appended claims include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.

[0193] Additionally, any module, component, or device illustrated herein that executes instructions may include or otherwise access non-transitory computer- or processor-readable storage media that store information such as computer-readable or processor-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and / or other data. A non-exhaustive list of examples of non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media includes magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices, optical disks such as compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital video disks, or digital versatile disks (DVDs), Blu-ray Disc™, or other optical storage, volatile and non-volatile removable and non-removable media implemented in any manner or technology, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, or other memory technology. Any such non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may be part of the device or accessible or connectable to the device. Any applications or modules described herein may be implemented using computer or processor readable and executable instructions, and may be stored or maintained by such non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media. [Explanation of symbols]

[0194] 100 Communication Systems 110, 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e, 110f, 110g, 110h, 110i, 110j Communication electrical devices 120, 120a, 120b Radio Access Network 120c non-terrestrial communications network 130 Core Network 140 Public Switched Telephone Network 150 Internet 160 other networks 170 network nodes 170a,170b,170c base station 172 non-terrestrial transmitting and receiving points 190a, 190b wireless interface 190c Non-Terrestrial Radio Interface 201,252,272 transmitters 203,254,274 receivers 204,256 antennas 208,258,278 memory 210,260,276 processors 253 Scheduler 502 Network Devices 504 Vehicle-Based Devices 506 Home-Based or Other Facility-Based Devices 508 User Devices 510 Industrial or Machine-Based Devices 610,620 payload bits 612,622 shared bits 630 Codeword 1 640 Codeword 2 650 Joint Decoding 700 encoding example 702,704,706 Polar coding 712,714,716 Rate Matching 800 Decoding Example 802, 804, 806 Polar Decoding 812,814,816 Derate Matching 900 Encoding Chain 912 Transport Block (TB) Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) Attachment 914 Code Block (CB) Segmentation 916 CB or CB Group (CBG) CRC Attachment 918 Encoding for eMBB Data 920 Rate Matching for eMBB Data 922 Bit Interleaving for eMBB Data 924 CB connection Modulation with 926 scrambling 936 CB CRC attachment 938 Encoding for URLLC Data Rate Matching for 940 URLLC Data Bit Interleaving for 942 URLLC Data Modulation with 946 scrambling 950 Priority-Aware Resource Mapping

Claims

1. 1. A method comprising: transmitting, by the first communication device to a second communication device in the wireless communication network, a codeword including a plurality of coded blocks generated by error correction coding each individual payload; Including, the plurality of coding blocks include a self-decodable coding block generated by error correction coding a first individual payload and another coding block generated by error correction coding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction coding, the portion of the first individual payload being determined to be combined with the second individual payload based on bit ordering of the first individual payload; the self-decodable coding block is decodable independently of the other coding block and also jointly decodable with the other coding block; method.

2. 1. A method comprising: obtaining a first individual payload and a second individual payload; error correction encoding the first individual payload to generate a self-decodable encoded block; error correction encoding the second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction encoding to generate another coded block, wherein the portion of the first individual payload is determined to be combined with the second individual payload based on bit ordering of the first individual payload; outputting a codeword including the self-decodable coding block and the further coding block; Including, the self-decodable coding block is decodable independently of the other coding block and also jointly decodable with the other coding block; method.

3. obtaining the first individual payload and the second individual payload; error correction encoding the first individual payload to generate the self-decodable encoded block, and error correction encoding the second individual payload combined with the portion of the first individual payload to generate the other encoded block; 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

4. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the self-decodable coding block is further jointly decodable with the other coding block, enabling joint decoding of the other coding block based on successful decoding of the self-decodable coding block independent of the other coding block.

5. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the self-decodable coding block is further jointly decodable with the other coding block, allowing joint decoding of the self-decodable coding block after a decoding failure when decoding the self-decodable coding block independently of the other coding block.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ordering comprises ordering based on a characteristic of the bits of the first individual payload.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the characteristics include one or more of a decoding reliability, a decoding order, a bit position index, and a reliability weight.

8. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion of the first individual payload is combined with the second individual payload based on bit ordering for error correction coding to generate the other coded block.

9. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the ordering of the bits for error correction encoding to generate the other coded block comprises an order based on a characteristic of the bits for error correction encoding to generate the other coded block.

10. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the characteristics of the bits for error correction encoding to generate the other coded block include one or more of a decoding order for decoding the bits from the other coded block, a decoding reliability for decoding the bits from the other coded block, a bit position index, and a reliability weight.

11. 11. The method of claim 1, wherein a modulation coding scheme (MCS) for error correction encoding the second individual payload combined with the first individual payload is selected before selecting an MCS for error correction encoding the first individual payload.

12. the first individual payload and the second individual payload comprise individual payloads of a plurality of individual payloads; a portion of a number of the individual payloads of the plurality of individual payloads are combined with the second individual payload for error correction coding; a modulation coding scheme (MCS) for error correction encoding the second individual payload combined with the portion of the multiple individual payloads is selected from one of a plurality of MCS tables, each MCS table corresponding to a different number of individual payloads, a portion of which is to be combined with the second individual payload for error correction encoding.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

13. communicating, within the wireless communication network, signaling indicating joint coding parameters associated with one or both of the error correction coding of the first individual payload and the error correction coding of the second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined.

13. The method of any one of claims 1 to 12, further comprising:

14. The signaling Coding mode, Modulation Coding Scheme (MCS), a respective priority of the services to which the first individual payload and the second individual payload are associated; a coding structure of the error correction coding of the first individual payload; a coding structure of the error correction coding of the second individual payload combined with the portion of the first individual payload; segmenting to determine the portion of the first individual payload; the respective numbers of resource elements available for the services to which the first individual payload and the second individual payload are associated; a respective number of data layers for the service with which the first individual payload and the second individual payload are associated; Respective mapping methods for mapping the services with which the first and second individual payloads are associated to a data layer.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the method exhibits one or more of:

15. 1. A method comprising: receiving, by a second communication device in the wireless communication network, from the first communication device, a codeword including a plurality of coded blocks generated by error correction coding each individual payload; Including, the plurality of coding blocks include a self-decodable coding block generated by error correction coding a first individual payload and another coding block generated by error correction coding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction coding, the portion of the first individual payload being determined to be combined with the second individual payload based on bit ordering of the first individual payload; the self-decodable coding block is decodable independently of the other coding block and also jointly decodable with the other coding block; method.

16. 1. A method comprising: decoding the first individual payload and the second individual payload from a codeword including a self-decodable coding block generated by error correction coding a first individual payload and another coding block generated by error correction coding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined; outputting the first individual payload and the second individual payload; Including, the portion of the first individual payload is determined to combine with the second individual payload based on bit ordering of the first individual payload; the self-decodable coding block is decodable independently of the other coding block and also jointly decodable with the other coding block; method.

17. decoding the self-decodable encoded block to obtain the first individual payload; 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

18. decoding the self-decodable coding block independently of the other coding block; jointly decoding the other coding block based on successful decoding of the self-decodable coding block independent of the other coding block; 18. The method of any one of claims 15 to 17, further comprising:

19. jointly decoding the self-decodable coding block after a decoding failure when decoding the self-decodable coding block independently of the other coding block.

19. The method of any one of claims 15 to 18, further comprising:

20. 20. The method of claim 15, wherein the ordering comprises ordering based on a characteristic of the bits of the first individual payload.

21. 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the characteristics include one or more of a decoding reliability, a decoding order, a bit position index, and a reliability weight.

22. 22. The method of claim 15, wherein the portion of the first individual payload is combined with the second individual payload based on bit ordering for error correction coding to generate the other coded block.

23. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the ordering of the bits for error correction encoding to generate the other coded block comprises an order based on a characteristic of the bits for error correction encoding to generate the other coded block.

24. 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the characteristics of the bits for error correction encoding to generate the another coded block include one or more of a decoding order for decoding the bits from the another coded block, a decoding reliability for decoding the bits from the another coded block, a bit position index, and a reliability weight.

25. 25. The method of claim 15, wherein a modulation coding scheme (MCS) for error correction encoding the second individual payload combined with the first individual payload is selected before selecting an MCS for error correction encoding the first individual payload.

26. the first individual payload and the second individual payload comprise individual payloads of a plurality of individual payloads; a portion of a number of the individual payloads of the plurality of individual payloads are combined with the second individual payload for error correction coding; a modulation coding scheme (MCS) for the second individual payload combined with the portion of the multiple individual payloads includes an MCS from one of a plurality of MCS tables, each MCS table corresponding to a different number of individual payloads, a portion of which is combined with the second individual payload for error correction coding; 25. The method of any one of claims 15 to 24.

27. communicating, within the wireless communication network, signaling indicating joint coding parameters associated with one or both of the error correction coding of the first individual payload and the error correction coding of the second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined.

27. The method of any one of claims 15 to 26, further comprising:

28. The signaling Coding mode, Modulation Coding Scheme (MCS), a respective priority of the services to which the first individual payload and the second individual payload are associated; a coding structure of the error correction coding of the first individual payload; a coding structure of the error correction coding of the second individual payload combined with the portion of the first individual payload; segmenting to determine the portion of the first individual payload; the respective numbers of resource elements available for the services to which the first individual payload and the second individual payload are associated; a respective number of data layers for the service with which the first individual payload and the second individual payload are associated; Respective mapping methods for mapping the services with which the first and second individual payloads are associated to a data layer.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the method exhibits one or more of:

29. 1. An apparatus comprising: a processor; a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupled to the processor and storing programming for execution by the processor; and the programming comprises: instructions for transmitting, by a first communication device to a second communication device in a wireless communication network, a codeword including a plurality of coded blocks generated by error correction coding each individual payload; Including, the plurality of coding blocks include a self-decodable coding block generated by error correction coding a first individual payload and another coding block generated by error correction coding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction coding, the portion of the first individual payload being determined to be combined with the second individual payload based on bit ordering of the first individual payload; the self-decodable coding block is decodable independently of the other coding block and also jointly decodable with the other coding block; Device.

30. 1. An apparatus comprising: a processor; a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupled to the processor and storing programming for execution by the processor; and the programming comprises: instructions for obtaining a first individual payload and a second individual payload; instructions for error correction encoding the first individual payload to generate a self-decodable encoded block; instructions for error correction encoding the second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction encoding to generate another coded block, wherein the portion of the first individual payload is determined to be combined with the second individual payload based on bit ordering of the first individual payload; instructions for outputting a codeword including the self-decodable coding block and the further coding block; Including, the self-decodable coding block is decodable independently of the other coding block and also jointly decodable with the other coding block; Device.

31. The programming may include: instructions for obtaining the first individual payload and the second individual payload; instructions for error correction encoding the first individual payload to generate the self-decodable encoded block, and for error correction encoding the second individual payload combined with the portion of the first individual payload to generate the other encoded block.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, further comprising:

32. 32. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the self-decodable coding block is further jointly decodable with the other coding block, enabling joint decoding of the other coding block based on successful decoding of the self-decodable coding block independent of the other coding block.

33. 33. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the self-decodable coding block is further jointly decodable with the other coding block, enabling joint decoding of the self-decodable coding block after a decoding failure when decoding the self-decodable coding block independently of the other coding block.

34. 34. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the ordering comprises ordering based on a characteristic of the bits of the first individual payload.

35. 35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the characteristics include one or more of a decoding reliability, a decoding order, a bit position index, and a reliability weight.

36. 36. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the portion of the first individual payload is combined with the second individual payload based on bit ordering for error correction encoding to generate the another encoded block.

37. 37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the ordering of the bits for error correction encoding to generate the another coded block comprises an order based on a characteristic of the bits for error correction encoding to generate the another coded block.

38. 38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the characteristics of the bits for error correction encoding to generate the another coded block include one or more of a decoding order for decoding the bits from the another coded block, a decoding reliability for decoding the bits from the another coded block, a bit position index, and a reliability weight.

39. 39. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein a modulation coding scheme (MCS) for error correction encoding the second individual payload combined with the first individual payload is selected before selecting an MCS for error correction encoding the first individual payload.

40. the first individual payload and the second individual payload comprise individual payloads of a plurality of individual payloads; a portion of a number of the individual payloads of the plurality of individual payloads are combined with the second individual payload for error correction coding; a modulation coding scheme (MCS) for error correction encoding the second individual payload combined with the portion of the multiple individual payloads is selected from one of a plurality of MCS tables, each MCS table corresponding to a different number of individual payloads, a portion of which is to be combined with the second individual payload for error correction encoding.

39. Apparatus according to any one of claims 29 to 38.

41. The programming may include: instructions for communicating, within the wireless communication network, signaling indicating joint coding parameters associated with one or both of the error correction coding of the first individual payload and the error correction coding of the second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined; 41. The apparatus of any one of claims 29 to 40, further comprising:

42. The signaling Coding mode, Modulation Coding Scheme (MCS), a respective priority of the services to which the first individual payload and the second individual payload are associated; a coding structure of the error correction coding of the first individual payload; a coding structure of the error correction coding of the second individual payload combined with the portion of the first individual payload; segmenting to determine the portion of the first individual payload; the respective numbers of resource elements available for the services to which the first individual payload and the second individual payload are associated; a respective number of data layers for the service with which the first individual payload and the second individual payload are associated; Respective mapping methods for mapping the services with which the first and second individual payloads are associated to a data layer.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, exhibiting one or more of:

43. 1. An apparatus comprising: a processor; a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupled to the processor and storing programming for execution by the processor; and the programming comprises: instructions for receiving, by a second communication device in a wireless communication network, from the first communication device, a codeword including a plurality of coded blocks generated by error correction coding each individual payload; Including, the plurality of coding blocks include a self-decodable coding block generated by error correction coding a first individual payload and another coding block generated by error correction coding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction coding, the portion of the first individual payload being determined to be combined with the second individual payload based on bit ordering of the first individual payload; the self-decodable coding block is decodable independently of the other coding block and also jointly decodable with the other coding block; Device.

44. 1. An apparatus comprising: a processor; a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupled to the processor and storing programming for execution by the processor; and the programming comprises: instructions for decoding the first individual payload and the second individual payload from a codeword including a self-decodable coding block generated by error correction coding a first individual payload and another coding block generated by error correction coding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined; instructions to output the first individual payload and the second individual payload; Including, the portion of the first individual payload is determined to combine with the second individual payload based on bit ordering of the first individual payload; the self-decodable coding block is decodable independently of the other coding block and also jointly decodable with the other coding block; Device.

45. The programming may include: instructions for decoding the self-decodable encoding block to obtain the first individual payload; 44. The apparatus of claim 43, further comprising:

46. The programming may include: instructions for decoding the self-decodable coding block independently of the other coding block; instructions for jointly decoding the other coding block based on successful decoding of the self-decodable coding block independent of the other coding block; 46. ​​The apparatus of any one of claims 43 to 45, further comprising:

47. The programming may include: instructions for jointly decoding the self-decodable coding block after a decoding failure when decoding the self-decodable coding block independently of the other coding block; 47. The apparatus of any one of claims 43 to 46, further comprising:

48. 48. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the ordering comprises ordering based on a characteristic of the bits of the first individual payload.

49. 49. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein the characteristics include one or more of a decoding reliability, a decoding order, a bit position index, and a reliability weight.

50. 50. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the portion of the first individual payload is combined with the second individual payload based on bit ordering for error correction encoding to generate the another encoded block.

51. 51. The apparatus of claim 50, wherein the ordering of the bits for error correction encoding to generate the another coded block comprises an order based on a characteristic of the bits for error correction encoding to generate the another coded block.

52. 52. The apparatus of claim 51 , wherein the characteristics of the bits for error correction encoding to generate the another coded block include one or more of a decoding order for decoding the bits from the another coded block, a decoding reliability for decoding the bits from the another coded block, a bit position index, and a reliability weight.

53. 53. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein a modulation coding scheme (MCS) for error correction encoding the second individual payload combined with the first individual payload is selected before selecting an MCS for error correction encoding the first individual payload.

54. the first individual payload and the second individual payload comprise individual payloads of a plurality of individual payloads; a portion of a number of the individual payloads of the plurality of individual payloads are combined with the second individual payload for error correction coding; a modulation coding scheme (MCS) for error correction encoding the second individual payload combined with the portion of the multiple individual payloads is selected from one of a plurality of MCS tables, each MCS table corresponding to a different number of individual payloads, a portion of which is to be combined with the second individual payload for error correction encoding.

53. Apparatus according to any one of claims 43 to 52.

55. The programming may include: instructions for communicating, within the wireless communication network, signaling indicating joint coding parameters associated with one or both of the error correction coding of the first individual payload and the error correction coding of the second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined; 55. The apparatus of any one of claims 43 to 54, further comprising:

56. The signaling Coding mode, Modulation Coding Scheme (MCS), a respective priority of the services to which the first individual payload and the second individual payload are associated; a coding structure of the error correction coding of the first individual payload; a coding structure of the error correction coding of the second individual payload combined with the portion of the first individual payload; segmenting to determine the portion of the first individual payload; the respective numbers of resource elements available for the services to which the first individual payload and the second individual payload are associated; a respective number of data layers for the service with which the first individual payload and the second individual payload are associated; Respective mapping methods for mapping the services with which the first and second individual payloads are associated to a data layer.

56. The apparatus of claim 55, exhibiting one or more of:

57. 1. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing programming for execution by a processor, the programming comprising: instructions for transmitting, by a first communication device to a second communication device in a wireless communication network, a codeword including a plurality of coded blocks generated by error correction coding each individual payload; Including, the plurality of coding blocks include a self-decodable coding block generated by error correction coding a first individual payload and another coding block generated by error correction coding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction coding, the portion of the first individual payload being determined to be combined with the second individual payload based on bit ordering of the first individual payload; the self-decodable coding block is decodable independently of the other coding block and also jointly decodable with the other coding block; Computer program products.

58. 1. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing programming for execution by a processor, the programming comprising: instructions for obtaining a first individual payload and a second individual payload; instructions for error correction encoding the first individual payload to generate a self-decodable encoded block; instructions for error correction encoding the second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction encoding to generate another coded block, wherein the portion of the first individual payload is determined to be combined with the second individual payload based on bit ordering of the first individual payload; instructions for outputting a codeword including the self-decodable coding block and the further coding block; Including, the self-decodable coding block is decodable independently of the other coding block and also jointly decodable with the other coding block; Computer program products.

59. 1. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing programming for execution by a processor, the programming comprising: instructions for receiving, by a second communication device in a wireless communication network, from the first communication device, a codeword including a plurality of coded blocks generated by error correction coding each individual payload; Including, the plurality of coding blocks include a self-decodable coding block generated by error correction coding a first individual payload and another coding block generated by error correction coding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction coding, the portion of the first individual payload being determined to be combined with the second individual payload based on bit ordering of the first individual payload; the self-decodable coding block is decodable independently of the other coding block and also jointly decodable with the other coding block; Computer program products.

60. 1. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing programming for execution by a processor, the programming comprising: instructions for decoding the first individual payload and the second individual payload from a codeword including a self-decodable coding block generated by error correction coding a first individual payload and another coding block generated by error correction coding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined; instructions to output the first individual payload and the second individual payload; Including, the portion of the first individual payload is determined to combine with the second individual payload based on bit ordering of the first individual payload; the self-decodable coding block is decodable independently of the other coding block and also jointly decodable with the other coding block; Computer program products.

61. 29. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing programming for execution by a processor, the programming including instructions for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 28.

62. 1. A system comprising: a first communications device configured to transmit a codeword including a plurality of coding blocks generated by encoding respective individual payloads with an error correction code, the plurality of coding blocks including a self-decodable coding block generated by error correction encoding a first individual payload and another coding block generated by error correction encoding a second individual payload to which a portion of the first individual payload is combined for error correction encoding, the portion of the first individual payload being determined to be combined with the second individual payload based on bit ordering of the first individual payload; a second communication device configured to receive the codeword including the plurality of coding blocks from the first communication device and to decode the self-decodable coding block to obtain the first individual payload from the codeword; A system comprising:

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