Dynamic hybrid automatic repeat request feedback indication - Patents.com

Abstract

[0003] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a device, method, apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium for indication of dynamic hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback. The method includes obtaining a configuration of dynamic HARQ feedback, the configuration being associated with at least one field included in downlink control information (DCI), and determining a pattern of HARQ feedback based on the configuration information and detection of the DCI.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of telecommunications, and more particularly to a device, method, apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium for indication of dynamic hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback, in particular, downlink control information (DCI) indication of dynamic HARQ feedback. [Background technology]

[0002] HARQ may be implemented in the medium access control (MAC) protocols of Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) for reliable transfer of transport blocks. For both the downlink and uplink, multiple HARQ processes may operate in parallel, depending on the capabilities of the user equipment (UE). Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] Generally, the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for dynamic HARQ feedback indication. [Means for solving the problem]

[0004] In a first aspect, an apparatus is provided that includes at least one processor and at least one memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: obtain a dynamic HARQ feedback configuration, the configuration associated with at least one field included in a DCI; and determine a pattern of HARQ feedback based on the configuration information and detection of the DCI.

[0005] In a second aspect, an apparatus is provided, the apparatus including at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least transmit, to a terminal device, a configuration of dynamic HARQ feedback, the configuration being associated with at least one field included in a DCI.

[0006] In a third aspect, a method is provided, the method including: obtaining a dynamic HARQ feedback configuration, the configuration being associated with at least one field included in a DCI; and determining a pattern of HARQ feedback based on the configuration information and detection of the DCI.

[0007] In a fourth aspect, a method is provided, the method including transmitting, to a terminal device, a configuration of dynamic HARQ feedback, the configuration being associated with at least one field included in DCI.

[0008] In a fifth aspect, an apparatus is provided that includes: means for obtaining a dynamic HARQ feedback configuration, the configuration being associated with at least one field included in a DCI; and means for determining a pattern of HARQ feedback based on the configuration information and detection of the DCI.

[0009] In a sixth aspect, an apparatus is provided that includes means for transmitting, to a terminal device, a configuration of dynamic HARQ feedback, the configuration being associated with at least one field included in a DCI.

[0010] In a seventh aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform a method according to the third or fourth aspect.

[0011] Other features and advantages of the disclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description of specific embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the disclosed embodiments.

[0012] The disclosed embodiments are presented by way of example, and their advantages will be explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary environment in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. [Figure 2] 1 is a signaling chart illustrating an example process according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3A] FIG. 1 illustrates an example process for determining a dynamic HARQ feedback pattern, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3B] FIG. 1 illustrates an example process for determining a dynamic HARQ feedback pattern, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3C] FIG. 1 illustrates an example process for determining a dynamic HARQ feedback pattern, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3D] FIG. 1 illustrates an example process for determining a dynamic HARQ feedback pattern, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] 1 is a flowchart of an example method for indicating dynamic HARQ feedback, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5]1 is a flowchart of an example method for indicating dynamic HARQ feedback, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a device suitable for practicing exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer-readable medium according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers may refer to the same or similar elements.

[0015] The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to several exemplary embodiments. These embodiments are set forth for illustrative purposes only and to assist those skilled in the art in understanding and practicing the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation on the scope of the disclosure. The embodiments described herein may be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

[0016] In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0017] References in this disclosure to "one embodiment," "embodiment," "exemplary embodiment," etc. indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not all embodiments need include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is believed to be within the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments, whether or not explicitly described.

[0018] Although terms such as "first," "second," and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, it should be understood that such elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element can be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element can be referred to as a first element, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed items.

[0019] As used herein, "at least one of " and "at least one of " and similar phrases mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all of the elements when a list of two or more elements is connected by "and" or "or."

[0020] As used herein, unless expressly stated, performing a step "in response to A" does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after "A" occurs, and that one or more intervening steps may be included.

[0021] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "includes," and / or "including," as used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components, etc., but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0022] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more, or all, of the following: (a) Hardware-only circuit implementations (e.g., implementations using only analog and / or digital circuitry) (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software (to the extent applicable); (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuitry and software / firmware; (ii) Any portion of a hardware processor with software (including a digital signal processor), software, and memory that cooperates to cause a device, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions. (c) A processor, such as a microprocessor or part of a microprocessor, that requires hardware circuitry and / or software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may be absent when not necessary for operation.

[0023] This definition of circuit applies to all uses of the term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, the term circuit as used herein also encompasses merely a hardware circuit or processor (or processors), or portions of a hardware circuit or processor, and its accompanying software and / or firmware implementations. The term circuit also encompasses, for example, and where applicable to particular claim elements, a baseband or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device, or similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0024] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network conforming to any suitable communication standard, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), or Enhanced Machine Type Communications (eMTC). Furthermore, communications between terminal devices and network devices within a communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation of communication protocols, including, but not limited to, first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth-generation (5G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols currently known or developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development of communications, there will naturally be future communication technologies and systems in which the present disclosure can be embodied. The scope of the present disclosure should not be viewed as being limited to only the aforementioned systems.

[0025] As used herein, the terms “network device,” “radio network device,” and / or “radio access network device” refer to a node in a communications network through which a terminal device accesses and receives services from the network. Depending on the applicable terminology and technology, a network device may refer to, for example, a base station (BS) or access point (AP), such as a Node B (Node B or NB), evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), NR NB (also referred to as gNB), remote radio unit (RRU), radio header (RH), remote radio head (RRH), relay, integrated access backhaul (IAB) node, low-power nodes such as femto and pico, non-terrestrial network devices such as non-terrestrial network (NTN) or satellite network devices, low earth orbit (LEO) satellites and geosynchronous orbit (GEO) satellites, aircraft network devices, etc. In some exemplary embodiments, a low earth orbit (RAN) distribution architecture includes a central unit (CU) and distributed units (DUs). In some other exemplary embodiments, a portion of the radio access network device or the entire radio access network device may be mounted on an airborne or satellite-borne NTN vehicle.

[0026] The term "terminal device" refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), portable subscriber station, mobile station (MS), or access terminal (AT). Terminal devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, voice-over-IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback equipment, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPE), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearables, head-mounted displays (HMD), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in the context of industrial and / or automated processing chains), consumer electronic devices, devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. Terminal devices may also correspond to the mobile terminal (MT) portion of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment", and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

[0027] As used herein, the terms "resource," "transmission resource," "resource block," "physical resource block" (PRB), "uplink resource," or "downlink resource" may refer to any resource for conducting communication, e.g., communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a time-domain resource, a frequency-domain resource, a spatial-domain resource, a code-domain resource, or any other resource that enables communication. Hereinafter, unless explicitly stated, both frequency-domain and time-domain resources are used as examples of transmission resources to describe some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0028] 1 illustrates an exemplary communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication network 100 may include a terminal device 110. Hereinafter, the terminal device 110 may also be referred to as a UE.

[0029] The communication network 100 may further include a network device 120. Hereinafter, the network device 120 may also be referred to as a gNB or an eNB. The terminal device 110 may communicate with the network device 120.

[0030] 1 is given for illustrative purposes without implying any limitation, and communication network 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices.

[0031] In some demonstrative embodiments, the link from network device 120 to terminal device 110 may be referred to as the downlink (DL), and the link from terminal device 110 to network device 120 may be referred to as the uplink (UL). In the DL, network device 120 is the transmitting (TX) device (or transmitter) and terminal device 110 is the receiving (RX) device (or receiver). In the UL, terminal device 110 is the TX device (or transmitter) and network device 120 is the RX device (or receiver).

[0032] Communications within communication environment 100 may be conducted according to any suitable communications protocol, including, but not limited to, cellular communications protocols such as first generation (1G), second generation (2G), third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), fifth generation (5G), sixth generation (6G), wireless local network communications protocols such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, and / or any other protocols now known or developed in the future. Furthermore, communications may utilize any suitable wireless communications technology, including, but not limited to, code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division duplex (FDD), time division duplex (TDD), multiple input multiple output (MIMO), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDM), discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM), and / or any other technology now known or developed in the future.

[0033] As mentioned above, if this scenario is supported by the terminal device, multiple HARQ processes may operate in parallel for both the downlink and uplink.

[0034] For DL ​​data transmission, a terminal device may send 1-bit HARQ feedback (acknowledgement (ACK) or negative acknowledgement (NACK)) to report the decoding result of a transport block (TB) received in an HARQ process. Based on the feedback, the network device may retransmit the previous TB or transmit a new TB for the same HARQ process.

[0035] For UL data transmission, the network device may schedule a new TB or retransmission based on the decoding status of the previous transmission in the HARQ process. This stop-and-wait mechanism within the HARQ process allows the receiver at either the terminal device or the network device, i.e., eNB or gNB, to combine previously received soft bits with the current retransmission for more reliable packet decoding.

[0036] In particular, in non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), the signal round-trip time (RTT) is much longer than in terrestrial networks due to the long distance between the network device (located on a satellite) and the terminal device (e.g., 25.77 ms for LEO at 600 km and 541.46 ms for GEO). For simple Internet of Things (IoT) devices using a small number of HARQ processes, data transmission in parallel HARQ processes may not meet the RTT, resulting in continuous transmission being blocked because all HARQ processes are occupied waiting for a response from the transmitter. This "HARQ stall" problem can affect the achievable user throughput. It has been proposed that the "HARQ stall" problem can be eliminated by disabling HARQ feedback in the case of IoT over NTNs.

[0037] Table 1 shows the impact on HARQ stalls and potential gains when HARQ feedback is disabled, considering deployment scenarios of geostationary orbit (GEO), low Earth orbit (LEO) at 1200 km, and LEO at 600 km for NTN. The throughput gain is a result of not waiting for retransmissions and saving HARQ feedback transmission time in the case of half-duplex UEs.

[0038] [Table 1]

[0039] The number of HARQ processes in an IoT device may be significantly less than that in a handset UE. For example, a low-complexity machine type UE requires eight HARQ processes to operate in coverage enhancement (CE) mode A and four HARQ processes in CE mode B, while an NB-IoT device supports only one or two processes. In comparison, an NTN-enabled UE supports 32 HARQ processes. If some HARQ processes disable feedback in enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) and narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) to enhance data throughput, there may not be enough HARQ processes left for the transmission of control messages (e.g., MAC control element (MAC CE) and radio resource control (RRC) messages) that require high reliability and acknowledgment to enable signaled procedures.

[0040] Currently, for eMTC CE mode A (with 8 HARQ processes), enabling or disabling HARQ feedback can be configured semi-statically per HARQ process by RRC signaling, while for CE mode B (4 HARQ processes) and NB-IoT (1 or 2 HARQ processes), in addition to the default configuration, DCI may be used to override the default and dynamically enable or disable HARQ feedback.

[0041] For UL HARQ operation, corresponding mechanisms have been agreed upon to support HARQ Mode A and Mode B in IoT NTN, as well as HARQ feedback disablement / enablement in DL.

[0042] In HARQ mode A, HARQ uplink retransmissions always depend on the previous PUSCH transmission decoding result (e.g., retransmissions are triggered only if the previous transmission was decoded as unsuccessful), while in HARQ mode B, HARQ uplink retransmissions are blindly scheduled by the gNB (e.g., retransmissions are scheduled before the decoding result of the initial transmission is available).

[0043] However, the issue of how to enable and disable HARQ feedback and / or how to dynamically indicate HARQ feedback patterns via DCI indication may still need to be discussed.

[0044] The solution of the present disclosure proposes a DCI indication mechanism for dynamic HARQ feedback. In this solution, a terminal device obtains a dynamic HARQ feedback configuration, and the dynamic HARQ feedback configuration may be associated with at least one field included in the DCI. Based on the detection and configuration of the DCI, the terminal device may determine a HARQ feedback pattern.

[0045] In this way, the pattern of the HARQ feedback may be indicated by one or more existing fields included in the DCI without adding new fields, which may not increase the complexity for the terminal device to decode the DCI.

[0046] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0047]

[0023] Referring now to Figure 2, Figure 2 illustrates a signaling chart 200 for communication in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 2, signaling chart 200 includes terminal device 110 and network device 120. For purposes of explanation, signaling chart 200 will be described with reference to Figure 1.

[0048] The terminal device 110 may obtain a dynamic HARQ feedback configuration associated with at least one field included in the DCI. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the network device 120 may transmit 202 the dynamic HARQ feedback configuration to the terminal device 110 via higher layer signaling, such as RRC signaling.

[0049] As another option, the configuration may be predefined in the specification, which means that the terminal device 110 may recognize this configuration of dynamic HARQ feedback without explicit signaling from the network device 120.

[0050] The terminal device 110 may detect 204 the DCI transmitted from the network device 120 and determine 206 the HARQ feedback pattern based on the DCI and a dynamic HARQ feedback configuration, the configuration being associated with at least one field in the DCI.

[0051] It should be understood that the HARQ feedback pattern used below may refer to whether dynamic HARQ feedback is enabled or disabled and / or which HARQ mode, i.e., HARQ mode A or HARQ mode B, is applied.

[0052] Specifically, both DL and UL HARQ in IoT connecting with NTN may use the solutions of the present disclosure to override the default HARQ configuration and / or dynamically enable / disable the stop-and-wait protocol to provide acknowledgement for control messages in DL and to achieve higher data rates even with a small number of parallel HARQ processes (e.g., in the case of CE mode B and NB-IoT).

[0053] For DL ​​HARQ, the HARQ feedback pattern can be switched between "feedback enabled" and "feedback disabled" for the HARQ process. For UL HARQ, the HARQ feedback pattern can be selected between "HARQ Mode A" (following the stop-and-wait mechanism described above) and "HARQ Mode B" (scheduling retransmissions without waiting for the decoding result of the previous PUSCH transmission).

[0054] Furthermore, it should be understood that the solutions proposed by this disclosure may also be applied to terrestrial networks.

[0055] Now, the embodiments of the present disclosure may be further described with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3D as follows.

[0056] The size and encoding of the DCI are predetermined according to the format, purpose, and assumptions. The existing fields in the DCI format used for downlink and uplink data scheduling for CE Mode B and NB-IoT may be listed in Tables 2-5 below.

[0057] [Table 2] [Table 3] [Table 4] [Table 5]

[0058] As shown in Tables 2 to 5, several existing fields are defined in the DCI format, such as a modulation and coding scheme (MSC) field, a repetition number field, a HARQ-ACK resource field, and a resource allocation field.

[0059] In some example embodiments, the configuration of the dynamic HARQ feedback may indicate that a dynamic HARQ indication bit is configured in a field included in the DCI.

[0060] For example, the dynamic HARQ indication bit may be configured in the most significant bit (MSB) of a field or the least significant bit (LSB) of a field. By way of example, the dynamic HARQ indication bit may be configured in the MSB or LBS of the MSC field. It should be understood that other suitable fields, such as the repetition number field, may also be used to indicate the dynamic HARQ indication bit.

[0061] 3A, terminal device 110 may detect DCI (at block 301) and determine the value of a particular bit (e.g., MSB or LBS) within a field indicated in the configuration. Based on the value, terminal device 110 may determine (at block 302) whether HARQ feedback is enabled or disabled.

[0062] For example, if the value of the bit is equal to a first value, such as 1, the terminal device 110 may determine (at block 303) that HARQ feedback is enabled. If the value of the bit is equal to a second value, such as 0, the terminal device 110 may determine (at block 304) that HARQ feedback is disabled.

[0063] Furthermore, the configuration may further indicate two subsets of field values. The first subset may be for "feedback enable" and the second subset may be for "feedback disable." Because one bit in the field is used as the dynamic HARQ indication bit, the size of the subsets is reduced by half from the original set. That is, the first and second subsets may be read from the remaining bits in the field other than the dynamic HARQ indication bit. For example, if there are four bits in the MSC field and one bit (e.g., the MSB or LBS) in the MSC field is used to indicate the dynamic HARQ indication bit, the values ​​of the first and second subsets of the MSC field may be indicated by the remaining three bits in the MSC field other than the dynamic HARQ indication bit.

[0064] To configure the subset, the desired link reliability may be considered when HARQ feedback is dynamically enabled to signal acknowledgments, and the expected channel conditions may be considered when HARQ feedback may be disabled for higher data rates. For example, if the channel conditions are poor and a low MCS and a large number of iterations are required, disabling HARQ feedback may not result in a throughput gain.

[0065] After determining whether HARQ feedback is enabled or disabled from the dynamic HARQ indication bit, if the bit indicates feedback enabled, the terminal device 110 may use the first subset (at block 305) to look up the value of the field, and if the bit indicates feedback disabled, the terminal device 110 may use the second subset (at block 306) to look up the value of the field. The value of the field is indexed by the remaining bits of the field other than the dynamic HARQ indication bit. Using the MCS field as an example, the value of the field is indexed by the remaining three bits of the MCS field other than the dynamic HARQ indication bit.

[0066] It should be appreciated that, alternatively, the dynamic HARQ indication bit may signal whether to override the default feedback configuration, in which case the feedback enable or disable decision is determined by the indication bit and the default configuration.

[0067] In some other example embodiments, the dynamic HARQ feedback configuration may indicate a set of DCI field value ranges for HARQ feedback enable or disable. For example, the DCI fields used may include an MCS field, a repetition count field, and / or a resource allocation field (i.e., number of subframes or resource units for TB).

[0068] The resource allocation required for the reliability of data transmission, as well as the flexibility of resource allocation, may be taken into account when HARQ feedback is enabled and when HARQ feedback is disabled. For example, the valid range of the DCI field is I for MCS. MCS >6, N for number of replicates Rep <128 and N for number of subframes per TB SF< 5. Terminal device 110 may simply determine whether HARQ feedback should be enabled or disabled based on whether a configured feedback disable condition or feedback enable condition is met.

[0069] 3B, terminal device 110 may detect a DCI (at block 311) and determine one or more values ​​corresponding to at least one field in the DCI. After comparing each of the one or more values ​​with the set of ranges of DCI field values, if terminal device 110 determines (at block 312) that each of the one or more values ​​satisfies, e.g., is within, the set of ranges of DCI field values, terminal device 110 may determine (at block 313) that HARQ feedback is enabled. Otherwise, for example, if each of the one or more values ​​exceeds the set of ranges of DCI field values, terminal device 110 may determine (at block 314) that HARQ feedback is disabled.

[0070] In addition to a set of ranges of DCI field values, optionally or alternatively, the configuration may indicate that separate bits in other fields can be used to explicitly indicate HARQ feedback enable or feedback disable if the condition is not met. For example, one bit in the Scheduling Delay field (shown in Tables 4 and 5) is used to indicate HARQ feedback enable or HARQ feedback disable if the field range condition for HARQ feedback disable is not met. In that case, the terminal device 110 may use a default value for the scheduling delay configured by the network, or a subset of the scheduling delay values ​​indexed by the remainder of the bits in the field.

[0071] In some other example embodiments, the dynamic HARQ feedback configuration may indicate whether HARQ feedback is enabled based on the value of the HARQ-ACK resource field.

[0072] For DL ​​data transmission, the DCI has one field indicating the allocation of HARQ-ACK resources (as shown in Tables 3 and 5). Because HARQ-ACK resources are needed only when HARQ feedback is enabled, a HARQ feedback disable condition may be considered as the case when the field is set to a specific value. For example, HARQ feedback is disabled when the HARQ-ACK resource field of DCI format N1 for NB-IoT DL transmission has a first value, e.g., the value "0000". In that case, the terminal device may not report HARQ feedback (i.e., HARQ-ACK). Otherwise, for example, when the HARQ-ACK resource field of DCI format N1 has a value other than the first value, HARQ feedback may be enabled, and HARQ-ACK is transmitted on the UL resource indicated by the HARQ-ACK field.

[0073] In that case, the network may configure a terminal device 110-specific HARQ-ACK resource value for HARQ feedback disable indication to maintain flexibility in UL resource allocation for HARQ feedback. The specified HARQ-ACK resource value for indicating HARQ feedback disable cannot be used for HARQ-ACK resource indication, which limits the allocation of UL resources for HARQ feedback. By configuring different values ​​for HARQ feedback disable indication for different terminal devices, the network may fully utilize the UL capacity for HARQ feedback transmission.

[0074] 3C, terminal device 110 may detect DCI (at block 321) and determine a value of an HARQ-ACK resource field. After comparing the value of the HARQ-ACK resource field with a reference value indicated in a dynamic HARQ feedback configuration, if terminal device 110 determines (at block 322) that the value of the HARQ-ACK resource field matches a first reference value, terminal device 110 may determine (at block 323) that HARQ feedback is enabled. If terminal device 110 determines (at block 322) that the value of the HARQ-ACK resource field matches a second reference value, terminal device 110 may determine (at block 324) that HARQ feedback is disabled.

[0075] In some other example embodiments, the dynamic HARQ feedback configuration may indicate a scaling factor K for transmission time, which may control its tolerance to HARQ stall time. For example, the scaling factor K may be configured such that K>1.

[0076] Based on the scaling factor K and the data transmission time and RTT estimated by the terminal device 110, the terminal device 110 may determine a pattern for HARQ feedback.

[0077] 3D, the terminal device 110 may detect DCI (at block 331) and determine a scaling factor K for the transmission time. The terminal device may also estimate the data transmission time from the DCI (at block 332). For example, in NB-IoT DL, the NPDSCH transmission time is T=N TB N Rep N SF where N TB is the number of scheduled TBs, and N Rep is the number of iterations, and N SFis the number of subframes used by one TB, which may be determined based on the corresponding indication in the DCI.

[0078] N HARQ For parallel HARQ processes, the RTT is N HARQ If it is less than T+δ, then data transmission will not be stalled by the stop-and-wait protocol, where δ takes into account the overhead time and processing delay for the PDCCH.

[0079] For example, for an IoT device supporting NTN connectivity, as shown in FIG. 3D, one option is for the terminal device to estimate the RTT (at block 333) based on the ephemeris broadcast from the network device 120 and the terminal device 110's own GNSS position data for synchronization and scheduling. Another option is for the terminal device to estimate the RTT (at block 333) based on the UE's timing advance value (see TS36.211, clause 8.1) and the sum of k-Mac. The terminal device 110 may need to report its RTT estimation in subframe units to the network device 120 for data scheduling (e.g., timing advance (TA) reporting). The network device 120 may use the TA report to determine whether HARQ feedback should be expected from the terminal device for the scheduled TB. The terminal device 110 may determine whether RTT > K·N HARQ If determining (at block 334) T, terminal device 110 may determine (at block 336) that HARQ feedback is disabled or that HARQ feedback is performed based on HARQ mode B.

[0080] Some of the above-described embodiments may also be combined to cause the terminal device 110 to determine a pattern for HARQ feedback. For example, if the terminal device 110 determines that the condition for disabling HARQ feedback is not met based on the RTT, the scaling factor K, and the data transmission, the terminal device 110 may check the HARQ feedback indication bit of one of the fields in the DCI (e.g., the MSC field) to determine whether HARQ feedback is enabled or HARQ feedback is performed based on HARQ mode A, or whether HARQ feedback is disabled or HARQ feedback is performed based on HARQ mode B.

[0081] In this way, the pattern of the HARQ feedback may be indicated by one or more existing fields included in the DCI without adding new fields, which may not increase the complexity for the terminal device to decode the DCI.

[0082] 4 shows a flowchart of an example method 400 of dynamic HARQ feedback indication, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 400 may be implemented in terminal device 110, as shown in FIG. 1. For illustrative purposes, method 400 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

[0083] At 410, the terminal device 110 obtains a dynamic HARQ feedback configuration, where the configuration is associated with at least one field included in the DCI.

[0084] At 420, the terminal device 110 determines a pattern for HARQ feedback based on the configuration information and the detection of DCI.

[0085] In some exemplary embodiments, the HARQ feedback configuration is obtained via RRC signaling.

[0086] In some example embodiments, the configuration indicates that a dynamic HARQ indication bit is configured in a field of at least one field included in the DCI, and the terminal device may determine a pattern of HARQ feedback based on a value of the dynamic HARQ indication bit, wherein the pattern of HARQ feedback includes: HARQ feedback is enabled or HARQ feedback is performed based on HARQ mode A, or HARQ feedback is disabled or HARQ feedback is performed based on HARQ mode B.

[0087] In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 may obtain from the configuration a reference value of a field for a HARQ resource in at least one field of the DCI and may determine a pattern of HARQ feedback based on the reference value and the value of the field for the HARQ resource detected in the DCI.

[0088] In some exemplary embodiments, the dynamic HARQ indication bit is indicated by the most significant bit or the least significant bit of the field.

[0089] In some example embodiments, if the terminal device 110 determines that HARQ feedback is enabled, the terminal device may determine the value of the field based on a first subset of field values ​​within the remaining bits of the field other than the dynamic HARQ indication bit.

[0090] In some demonstrative embodiments, if the terminal device 110 determines that HARQ feedback is disabled, the terminal device may determine the value of the field based on a second subset of field values ​​within the remaining bits of the field other than the dynamic HARQ indication bit.

[0091] In some demonstrative embodiments, the configuration indicates each of one or more ranges of values ​​for at least one field in the DCI, and if the terminal device 110 determines that the value of the at least one field satisfies each of the one or more ranges of values, the terminal device may determine that HARQ feedback is enabled, and if the terminal device 110 determines that the value of the at least one field does not satisfy each of the one or more ranges of values, the terminal device may determine that HARQ feedback is disabled.

[0092] In some exemplary embodiments, the at least one field in the DCI includes at least one of an MCS field, a repetition number field, a resource allocation field, or a HARQ acknowledgement resource field.

[0093] In some exemplary embodiments, the configuration indicates a scaling factor for the transmission time, and the terminal device may determine the data transmission time based on the DCI and may determine the pattern of HARQ feedback based on a comparison of the RTT between the device and the network device with the product of the data transmission time, the number of HARQs, and the scaling factor.

[0094] In some demonstrative embodiments, if terminal device 110 determines that the RTT exceeds the product, the terminal device may determine that HARQ feedback is disabled or that HARQ feedback is performed based on HARQ Mode B.

[0095] In some demonstrative embodiments, if terminal device 110 determines that the RTT does not exceed the product, the terminal device may determine that HARQ feedback is enabled or that HARQ feedback is performed based on HARQ mode A.

[0096] 5 shows a flowchart of an example method 500 of dynamic HARQ feedback indication, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 500 may be implemented in network 120, as shown in FIG. 1. For illustrative purposes, method 500 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

[0097] At 510, the network device 120 transmits to the terminal device a configuration for dynamic HARQ feedback, the configuration being associated with at least one field included in the DCI.

[0098] In some exemplary embodiments, the HARQ feedback configuration is conveyed via RRC signaling.

[0099] In some exemplary embodiments, the configuration indicates at least one of: that a dynamic HARQ indication bit is configured in a field of at least one field included in the DCI; one or more respective ranges of values ​​for the at least one field of the DCI; or a scaling factor for the transmission time.

[0100] In some example embodiments, the dynamic HARQ indication bit is configured in a field of at least one field included in the DCI, and the configuration indicates that the value of the field is determined based on a first subset of field values ​​of the remaining bits in the fields other than the dynamic HARQ indication when HARQ feedback is enabled, and that the value of the field is determined based on a second subset of field values ​​of the remaining bits in the fields other than the dynamic HARQ indication when HARQ feedback is disabled.

[0101] In some exemplary embodiments, the configuration indicates that HARQ feedback is disabled if the value of at least one field does not satisfy each of one or more ranges of values ​​for at least one field in the DCI.

[0102] In some exemplary embodiments, the at least one field in the DCI includes at least one of an MCS field, a repetition number field, a resource allocation field, or a HARQ acknowledgement resource field.

[0103] In some demonstrative embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing method 400 (e.g., implemented in terminal device 110) may include means for performing each step of method 400. The means may be embodied in any suitable form. For example, the means may be embodied in a circuit or a software module.

[0104] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes means for obtaining a dynamic HARQ feedback configuration, the configuration being associated with at least one field included in the DCI; and means for determining a pattern of HARQ feedback based on the configuration information and detection of the DCI.

[0105] In some demonstrative embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing method 500 (e.g., implemented in network device 120) may include means for performing each step of method 500. The means may be embodied in any suitable form. For example, the means may be embodied in a circuit or a software module.

[0106] In some demonstrative embodiments, the apparatus includes means for transmitting, to a terminal device, a configuration of dynamic HARQ feedback, the configuration being associated with at least one field included in the DCI.

[0107] 6 is a simplified block diagram of a device 600 suitable for implementing an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Device 600 may be provided to implement a communication device, such as terminal device 110 or network device 120, as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, device 600 includes one or more processors 610, one or more memories 620 coupled to processors 610, and one or more communication modules 640 coupled to processors 610.

[0108] The communications module 640 is for bidirectional communication. The communications module 640 has one or more communications interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communications interface may represent any interface necessary for communication with other network elements. In some demonstrative embodiments, the communications module 640 may include at least one antenna.

[0109] Processor 610 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may include, by way of non-limiting example, one or more of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. Device 600 may have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips time-slaved to a clock that is synchronized with a main processor.

[0110] The memory 620 may include one or more nonvolatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of nonvolatile memory include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 624, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disks, compact disks (CDs), digital video disks (DVDs), optical disks, laser disks, and other magnetic and / or optical storage. Examples of volatile memory include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 622 and other volatile memory that does not persist during a power-down period.

[0111] The computer program 630 includes computer-executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 610. The instructions of the program 630 may include instructions for performing the operations / acts of some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 630 may be stored in a memory, for example, the ROM 624. The processor 610 may perform any appropriate actions and processes by loading the program 630 into the RAM 622.

[0112] An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented by a program 630 such that the device 600 may execute any of the disclosed processes as described with reference to Figures 2 to 5. An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

[0113] In some exemplary embodiments, the program 630 may be tangibly contained in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in the device 600 (such as memory 620) or other storage device accessible by the device 600. The device 600 may load the program 630 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 622 for execution. In some exemplary embodiments, the computer-readable medium may include any type of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. The term "non-transitory" as used herein is not a limitation with respect to data storage permanence (e.g., RAM vs. ROM), but rather a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal).

[0114] 7 shows an example of a computer readable medium 700, which may be in the form of a CD, DVD, or other optical storage disc. The computer readable medium 700 has the program 630 stored thereon.

[0115] In general, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. While various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are shown and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other graphical representation, it should be understood that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in, by way of non-limiting example, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller, or other computing device, or some combination thereof.

[0116] Some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, that execute on a target physical or virtual processor device to perform any of the methods described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or divided among program modules as desired in various embodiments. The machine-executable instructions for a program module may be executed in a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, the program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0117] Program code for carrying out the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus such that, when executed by the processor or controller, the functions / acts specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams are performed. The program code may be executed entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0118] In the context of the present disclosure, computer program code or associated data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus, or processor to perform the various processes and operations as described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer-readable media, etc.

[0119] The computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0120] Furthermore, although operations are shown in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the particular order or sequential order shown, or that all illustrated operations be performed to achieve desirable results. In certain situations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, while the above description includes details of several specific implementations, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be unique to particular implementations. Unless expressly stated otherwise, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless expressly stated otherwise, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

[0121] Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure, as defined by the appended claims, is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. 1. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; at least one memory that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the device to obtaining a dynamic hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback configuration, the configuration being associated with at least one field included in downlink control information (DCI); determining a pattern of the HARQ feedback based on the configuration information and the detection of the DCI; at least one memory storing instructions to cause the An apparatus comprising:

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the configuration of the HARQ feedback is obtained via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

3. The configuration indicates that a dynamic HARQ indication bit is configured in a field of the at least one field included in the DCI, and the device:

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a step of: determining a pattern of the HARQ feedback based on a value of the dynamic HARQ indication bit; and a step of: determining whether the HARQ feedback is enabled or the HARQ feedback is performed based on a HARQ mode A; or a step of: determining whether the HARQ feedback is disabled or the HARQ feedback is performed based on a HARQ mode B.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the dynamic HARQ indication bit is indicated by a most significant bit or a least significant bit of the field.

5. The device comprises: according to the determination that the HARQ feedback is enabled, determining a value of the field based on a first subset of field values ​​in remaining bits of the field other than the dynamic HARQ indication bit; 5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein, according to a determination that the HARQ feedback is disabled, the apparatus is configured to determine the value of the field based on a second subset of field values ​​in the remaining bits of the field other than the dynamic HARQ indication bit.

6. The configuration indicates each of one or more ranges of values ​​for the at least one field of the DCI, and the device: According to a determination that the value of the at least one field satisfies each of the one or more ranges of values, determining that the HARQ feedback is enabled or that the HARQ feedback is performed based on HARQ mode A; or 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to determine, according to a determination that the value of the at least one field does not satisfy each of the one or more ranges of values, to disable the HARQ feedback or to perform the HARQ feedback based on a HARQ mode B.

7. The device comprises: obtaining from the configuration a reference value for a field for a HARQ resource in the at least one field of the DCI; The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, adapted to determine the pattern of the HARQ feedback based on the reference value and a value of the field for the HARQ resource detected in the DCI.

8. The at least one field of the DCI Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) field, Repeat count field, resource assignment fields, or HARQ acknowledgement resource field; The device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, comprising at least one of:

9. The configuration indicates a scaling factor for transmission time, and the device: determining the data transmission time based on the DCI; 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to determine the pattern of the HARQ feedback based on a comparison of a round trip time (RTT) between the apparatus and a network device and a product of the data transmission time, the number of HARQs, and the scaling factor.

10. The apparatus further comprises: According to a determination that the RTT exceeds the product, determining that the HARQ feedback is disabled or that the HARQ feedback is performed based on HARQ mode B; or The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising: determining, according to a determination that the RTT does not exceed the product, that the HARQ feedback is enabled or that the HARQ feedback is performed based on a HARQ mode A.

11. 1. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; at least one memory that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the device to at least one memory that stores instructions for transmitting, to a terminal device, a configuration of dynamic hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback, the configuration being associated with at least one field included in downlink control information (DCI); An apparatus comprising:

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the dynamic HARQ feedback configuration is transmitted via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

13. The configuration is: a dynamic HARQ indication bit is configured in a field of the at least one field included in the DCI; each of one or more ranges of values ​​for the at least one field of the DCI; a scaling factor for transmission time, or a reference value for the HARQ resource field; 13. The device of claim 11 or 12, wherein the device indicates at least one of:

14. The dynamic HARQ indication bit is configured in the field of the at least one field included in the DCI, and the configuration includes: the value of the field is determined based on a first subset of field values ​​of remaining bits in the field other than the dynamic HARQ indication bit when the HARQ feedback is enabled; and the value of the field is determined based on a second subset of field values ​​of remaining bits in the field other than the dynamic HARQ indication bit when the HARQ feedback is disabled; The device of claim 13 , wherein the device indicates:

15. 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the configuration indicates that the HARQ feedback is disabled if a value of the at least one field does not satisfy each of one or more ranges of values ​​for the at least one field in the DCI.

16. The at least one field in the DCI is Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) field, Repeat count field, resource assignment fields, or 16. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising at least one of: a HARQ acknowledgement resource field;

17. obtaining a dynamic HARQ feedback configuration, the configuration being associated with at least one field included in a DCI; determining a pattern of the HARQ feedback based on the configuration information and the detection of the DCI; A method comprising:

18. 11. A method comprising: transmitting, to a terminal device, a configuration of dynamic HARQ feedback, the configuration being associated with at least one field included in a DCI.

19. means for obtaining a dynamic HARQ feedback configuration, the configuration being associated with at least one field included in a DCI; means for determining a pattern of the HARQ feedback based on the configuration information and the detection of the DCI; An apparatus comprising:

20. 11. An apparatus comprising: means for transmitting, to a terminal device, a dynamic HARQ feedback configuration, the configuration being associated with at least one field included in a DCI.

21. A computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the method of claim 17 or the method of claim 18.

Images