Device, method, apparatus and computer-readable medium for handling uplink transmission failures

Abstract

Various exemplary embodiments relate to devices, methods, apparatus, and computer-readable media for handling uplink transmission failures. An exemplary terminal device can be configured to receive, from a network device, an uplink grant for scheduling transmission of multiple uplink repeats, determine whether at least some of the scheduled uplink repeats satisfy timing constraints for timing advance adjustments and uplink processing delays, and transmit at least some of the scheduled uplink repeats if the at least some of the scheduled uplink repeats satisfy the timing constraints.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] FIELD Various embodiments described herein relate generally to communications technologies, and more particularly to devices, methods, apparatus, and computer-readable media for handling uplink (UL) transmission failures. [Background technology]

[0002] Certain abbreviations that may appear in the description and / or drawings are defined as follows: 3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project CE Control Element DCI Downlink Control Information eMTC (enhanced Machine-Type Communication) HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat request IoT (Internet of Things) MAC Medium Access Control NB-IoT Narrow Band Internet of Things NR New Radio NTN Non-Terrestrial Network RAN Radio Access Network RRC Radio Resource Control SIB System Information Block TA Timing Advance TB Transport Block UE User Equipment

[0003] 3GPP is developing support for networks of things (IoT), including, for example, narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and enhanced machine-type communications (eMTC), via non-terrestrial based networks (NTNs), which can deploy satellite constellations including one or more low-earth-orbit satellites to communicate with terrestrial user equipment (UEs). The satellites can be implemented as radio repeaters to relay communications between UEs and terrestrial base stations, or can include base stations onboard. NTNs can extend IoT services to locations without terrestrial infrastructure. Summary of the Invention

[0004] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The following presents a simplified summary of example embodiments in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of various embodiments. It should be noted that this summary is not intended to identify key features or to delineate the scope of the embodiments; its sole purpose is to introduce some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented below.

[0005] In a first aspect, an exemplary embodiment of a terminal device is provided. The terminal device may include at least one processor and at least one memory that stores instructions. When executed by the at least one processor, the instructions cause the terminal device to at least receive an uplink grant for scheduling transmission of a plurality of uplink repeats from a network device, determine whether at least some of the scheduled uplink repeats satisfy timing constraints for timing advance adjustments and uplink processing delays, and transmit at least some of the scheduled uplink repeats if the at least some of the scheduled uplink repeats satisfy the timing constraints.

[0006] In a second aspect, an exemplary embodiment of a network device is provided. The network device may include at least one processor and at least one memory that stores instructions. When executed by the at least one processor, the instructions cause the network device to at least transmit an uplink grant to a terminal device for scheduling transmission of a plurality of uplink repeats, and receive a portion of the scheduled uplink repeats from the terminal device.

[0007] In a third aspect, an example embodiment of a method is provided, the method including receiving an uplink grant for scheduling transmission of a plurality of uplink repeats, determining whether at least some of the scheduled uplink repeats satisfy timing constraints for timing advance adjustments and uplink processing delays, and transmitting at least some of the scheduled uplink repeats if the at least some of the scheduled uplink repeats satisfy the timing constraints.

[0008] In a fourth aspect, an example embodiment of a method is provided, the method may include transmitting an uplink grant for scheduling transmission of a plurality of uplink repetitions and receiving a portion of the scheduled uplink repetitions.

[0009] In a fifth aspect, an example implementation of an apparatus is provided. The apparatus may include first means for receiving an uplink grant for scheduling transmission of a plurality of uplink repeats, second means for determining whether at least some of the scheduled uplink repeats satisfy timing constraints for timing advance adjustments and uplink processing delays, and third means for transmitting at least some of the scheduled uplink repeats if the at least some of the scheduled uplink repeats satisfy the timing constraints.

[0010] In a sixth aspect, an example embodiment of an apparatus is provided, which may include first means for transmitting an uplink grant to schedule transmission of a plurality of uplink repetitions, and second means for receiving a portion of the scheduled uplink repetitions.

[0011] In a seventh aspect, an example embodiment of a computer-readable medium is provided. The computer-readable medium can include instructions stored on the computer-readable medium that, when executed by an apparatus, can cause the apparatus to at least receive an uplink grant for scheduling transmission of a plurality of uplink repeats, determine whether at least some of the scheduled uplink repeats satisfy timing constraints for timing advance adjustments and uplink processing delays, and transmit at least some of the scheduled uplink repeats if the at least some of the scheduled uplink repeats satisfy the timing constraints.

[0012] In an eighth aspect, an example embodiment of a computer-readable medium is provided. The computer-readable medium may include instructions stored on the computer-readable medium that, when executed by an apparatus, may cause the apparatus to at least transmit an uplink grant for scheduling transmission of a plurality of uplink repeats and receive a portion of the scheduled uplink repeats.

[0013] Other features and advantages of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of specific embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0014] Some illustrative embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1]1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example communication network in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. [Figure 2] 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating uplink (UL) transmission timing in a non-terrestrial network (NTN). [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a timing advance (TA) reporting failure. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a message flow diagram illustrating an example process in which an expired UL transmit timing offset is used at a UE due to a TA reporting failure. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the portion of a UL transmission that does not meet time constraints in an NTN. [Figure 6] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 12] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating devices in a communication system according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements, and repeated description of the same elements will be omitted.

[0017] Several exemplary embodiments will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following description includes specific details intended to provide a thorough understanding of various concepts. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known circuits, techniques, and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts and features being described.

[0018] The term "network device" as used herein may refer to a radio access network (RAN) device. RAN devices may include, for example, base stations that can provide a cell or coverage area through which terminal devices can access or receive service from a network. A base station can be implemented as an evolved node B (eNB), next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), next-generation node B (gNB), or a beyond-5G base station. A base station can be implemented as a macro base station, a relay node, or a low-power node such as a pico base station or a femto base station. A base station can consist of several distributed network units, such as a central unit (CU), one or more distributed units (DUs), and one or more remote radio heads (RRHs) or remote radio units (RRUs). The number and functionality of these distributed units depend on the selected split RAN architecture. A base station can be deployed on the ground or in the air, for example, on a satellite, a high-altitude platform station, an unmanned aerial vehicle system (UAS), a balloon, an aircraft, and / or the like.

[0019] As used herein, the term "terminal device" or "user equipment" (UE) may refer to any entity or device capable of wireless communication with network devices or with each other. Examples of terminal devices may include a mobile phone, a mobile terminal (MT), a mobile station (MS), a subscriber station (SS), a portable subscriber station (PSS), an access terminal (AT), a computer, a wearable device, an in-vehicle communication device, a machine-type communication (MTC) device, a device-to-device (D2D) communication device, a vehicle-to-exchange (V2X) communication device, a sensor, etc. The term "terminal device" may be used interchangeably with UE, user terminal, mobile terminal, mobile station, or wireless device.

[0020] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example communication network 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The communication network 100 may form part of a larger network, for example, a cellular communication network. With reference to FIG. 1, the communication network 100 may be implemented as a non-terrestrial based network (NTN) including one or more user equipment (UE) 110 (one shown in FIG. 1 ) and one or more satellites 102 (one shown in FIG. 1 ). The satellites 102 may include, for example, low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, geostationary (GEO) satellites, satellites between GEO and LEO altitudes, or may be replaced by, for example, aircraft, balloons, high-altitude platform stations, unmanned aerial systems, etc.

[0021] The satellite 102 may be implemented as a regenerative satellite or a transparent satellite. A regenerative satellite may include at least a portion of the base station 120a to perform at least some of the functions of the base station 120a. For example, if the satellite 102 includes a 5G New Radio (NR) base station 120a, referred to as a gNB-onboard, an NR-Uu air interface may be implemented on the service link between the satellite 102 and the UE 110, and an N2 / N3 interface may be implemented on the feeder link between the satellite 102 and a terrestrial gateway 130. The gateway 130 may provide interconnection to terrestrial infrastructure facilities, including, for example, the base station 120b and / or a core network (not shown). A transparent satellite functions as an analog radio frequency repeater that relays communications between the UE 110 and the terrestrial base station 120b (via the gateway 130). For example, if the base station 120b is implemented as a 5G NR base station, referred to as a gNB, the transparent satellite may simply repeat the NR-Uu air interface on the feeder link and the service link. Additionally, satellites 102 can communicate with each other via inter-satellite links (ISLs). Satellites 102 enable NTN 100 to extend network services to locations without any terrestrial infrastructure.

[0022] As described above, in the NTN 100, the UE 110 can communicate with the base station 120a deployed on the satellite 102 or the terrestrially deployed base station 120b. For ease of explanation, the base stations 120a and 120b may be referred to collectively as base stations 120 or individually as base stations 120.

[0023] 3GPP has agreed to support networks of things (IoT), including narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and enhanced machine-type communications (eMTC), over non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). Similar to NR NTNs, IoT NTNs also use a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) mechanism to enhance communication reliability. Uplink (UL) HARQ processes can be configured in Mode A or Mode B. In Mode A, HARQ UL retransmissions depend on the decoding result of the previous UL transmission. If decoding of the previous UL transmission fails, the network schedules the transmission on the UL HARQ process. If decoding of the previous UL transmission is successful, the network schedules the new transmission on the UL HARQ process. This means that a UL HARQ process configured in Mode A cannot be reused until the round trip time (RTT) (hereinafter referred to as BS-UE RTT) has elapsed between the time the network sends an UL grant to schedule a transmission and the time the network receives the scheduled transmission from the UE. This can cause HARQ stalls due to the long BS-UE RTT as the distance between the base station and the UE is quite long in NTN.

[0024] In Mode B, HARQ UL retransmissions may be blind scheduled or may not be scheduled at all. The network may schedule UL retransmissions before the previous transmission decoding result is available. This means that UL HARQ processes configured in Mode B can be reused without BS-UE RTT restrictions. Therefore, HARQ stalls can be avoided because HARQ processes can be reused without delay.

[0025] Because different HARQ modes may result in different HARQ transmission reliability and latency, the logical channel prioritization (LCP) constraints on possible HARQ modes in NR NTNs may be reused for IoT NTNs, such as eMTC NTNs. For example, a logical channel (LCH) can be configured using a mapping rule that can map the LCH to a HARQ process configured in HARQ mode A, or a mapping rule that can map the LCH to a HARQ process configured in HARQ mode B. If the LCH is not configured using a mapping rule, the LCH can be mapped to any HARQ process in mode A or mode B. If a UL HARQ mode is not configured, the LCH mapping rule may not be supported.

[0026] However, the LCP restriction does not apply to the UL Medium Access Control Element (MAC CE) in the NTN, in which case the UL MAC CE can transmit in MAC Protocol Data Units (PDUs) via Mode A or Mode B HARQ processes.

[0027] An IoT UE, for example, an eMTC UE (i.e., Bandwidth reduced Low complexity (BL) UE or Converge Enhancement (CE) UE), can report Timing Advance (TA) information to the network if the IoT UE is in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connected (RRC_CONNECTED) state and the variation between the current TA and the last reported TA is equal to or greater than a threshold. The TA reporting threshold may be configured, for example, by the network device via the parameter offsetThresholdTA. The TA report (TAR) may be indicated in the MAC Control Element (MAC CE). According to current MAC layer specifications, all triggered TA reports must be canceled once the TAR MAC CE is included in the MAC PDU for transmission.

[0028] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating uplink (UL) transmission timing of an IoT NTN, e.g., an eMTC NTN, where one box may represent one subframe or slot. Referring to FIG. 2, in response to, e.g., a schedule request (SR) or a buffer status report (BSR) received from a UE, the network may send an UL grant to the UE in subframe (or slot) n to schedule the UL transmission. The UL grant may be indicated in downlink control information (DCI) carried, e.g., on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), an MTC physical downlink control channel (MPDCCH), or a narrowband physical downlink control channel (NPDCCH). In an IoT NTN, e.g., an eMTC NTN, the UL transmission has an uplink transmission timing offset K compared to the UL transmission scheduled in the terrestrial network (TN). offset For example, as shown in Figure 2, if a UE receives an UL grant in the last subframe (or slot) n for a bundle of downlink (DL) repetitions, the UE will receive a delay of m=n+K x +K offset The UL transmission is scheduled and sent starting from subframe (or slot) m, where K x is a network configured delay or a delay predefined in the 3GPP specifications, which can be represented, for example but not limited to, K2. The uplink transmit timing offset K offset is the cell-specific time offset K cell_offset to UE-specific time offset K UE_offset The result of subtracting K offset =K cell_offset -K UE_offsetThe cell-specific time offset K cell_offset may be indicated, for example, in a system information block (SIB) broadcast by the network, and represents an approximate value that applies to all UEs in the cell. UE_offset may be indicated by the MAC CE, and the cell-specific time offset K cell_offset Using the Timing Advance (TA) reported by the UE, the network calculates the uplink transmit timing offset K offset The UE is assigned an appropriate UE-specific time offset K such that K is greater than but close to the BS-UE RTT, thereby reducing UL latency and improving scheduling efficiency. UE_offset It can be set using

[0029] To ensure that the UE has enough time to prepare the UL data for transmission, the timing of the scheduled UL transmission, i.e., n+K x +K offset must be greater than the actual UL transmission time that the UE can apply, i.e., n+TA+ActULProcessingDelay, where the parameter ActULProcessingDelay represents the actual UL processing delay of the UE. offset is the condition K offset >TA+ActULProcessingDelay-K x It can be concluded that it is necessary to satisfy

[0030] As mentioned above, the LCP constraint does not apply to the UL MAC CE, so the TAR MAC CE may be transmitted in the MAC PDU in UL HARQ mode A or B. However, in the case of UL HARQ mode B, the network may not correctly decode the MAC PDU because HARQ mode B does not support UL retransmission and / or blind UL retransmission, in which retransmission is not based on the decoding result of the previous UL transmission. Unlike data transmission, in which a radio link control (RLC) retransmission mechanism may be triggered for transmission robustness, there is no higher layer retransmission mechanism for the MAC CE. Also, because the triggered TA report is canceled in the UE once the TAR MAC CE is included in the MAC PDU, the UE has no opportunity to transmit the TAR MAC CE. This means that if the TA report transmission fails, the network cannot obtain the latest TA.

[0031] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a TA report transmission failure. Referring to FIG. 3, at T1, the UE can transmit its current TA, i.e., TA1, and the network, i.e., base station (BS), can successfully receive TA1. At T2, the UE detects that the current TA (TA2) is greater than the last reported TA (TA1) by more than a threshold and reports TA2 to the network, but the reported TA2 is not successfully acquired by the network. Next, at T3, the UE detects that the current TA (TA3) is greater than the last reported TA (TA2) by more than a threshold, and the UE reports TA3, and the network successfully acquires the reported TA3. In this case, the network does not have a valid UE TA between T2 and T3 and is forced to use TA1 to schedule UL transmissions. Reporting TA3 may also fail due to an invalid TA and / or other reasons, resulting in a longer period of time for the network to maintain an invalid TA. Therefore, if the TAR MAC CE is not successfully transmitted to the network, especially when the TAR MAC CE is transmitted in UL HARQ Mode B, the network may maintain stale TA information.

[0032] FIG. 4 shows the UL transmit timing offset K that expired at the UE due to a TA report failure. offset 4, at 210, the base station 120 transmits the cell-specific time offset K via, for example, a system information block (SIB) for the UE 110. cell_offset At 220, when UE 110 is in RRC_CONNECTED state, UE 110 may transmit a TA report to base station 120. As mentioned above, the TA report may be transmitted by, for example, a MAC CE. Based on the received TA, base station 120 may set 230 the UE-specific time offset K configured for UE 110. UE_offset The adjusted UE-specific time offset K UE_offset UE 110 calculates UL transmission timing offset K offset (i.e., K offset =K cell_offset -K UE_offset ) can be updated. Then, at 250, when UE 110 receives an UL grant from base station 120, UE 110 can update the updated UL transmit timing offset K offset UL transmissions can be scheduled and sent based on

[0033] Because the UE 110 and / or the base station 120 (e.g., the base station 120a on the satellite 102) may move, the distance between the UE 110 and the base station 120 may change, resulting in a fluctuation in the TA. When the UE 110 detects that the fluctuation between the current TA and the last reported TA is equal to or greater than a threshold, the UE 110 may trigger a TA report at 260 and transmit a new TA report to the base station 120 at 270. As mentioned above, the TA report may be carried by a TAR MAC CE. Here, it is assumed that the base station 120 does not successfully decode the TAR MAC CE at 270. Therefore, the base station 120 will not know whether the UE 110 is transmitting a TA report or not, and therefore may determine a UE-specific time offset K for the UE 110 based on the latest TA. UE_offset As a result, UE 110 does not adjust the expired K offset We have no choice but to use

[0034] Figure 5 shows the expired K offset 5 illustrates an example of a scheduled UL transmission based on the DL repetitions. Referring to FIG. 5, in response to an UL grant received in the last subframe (or slot) n for a bundle of DL repetitions, UE 110 schedules a UL transmission starting from subframe (or slot) m, where m = (n + Kx + expired K offset ) is calculated as the K offsetBecause the new TA is greater than the last reported TA corresponding to m, a portion of the UL transmission may be scheduled in a subframe (or slot) prior to the time determined by applying the new TA and the UE's UL processing delay (4 subframes / slots in the example shown in FIG. 5 ), and therefore, UE 110 does not have enough time to process and generate a UL PDU for that portion of the UL transmission and therefore cannot transmit. In the example shown in FIG. 5 , UE 110 does not have enough time to process and generate the portion of the UL transmission scheduled in subframes (or slots) m through m+k−1. Therefore, a UL transmission failure may occur for that portion of the UL transmission due to insufficient time remaining for that portion of the UL transmission.

[0035] Example embodiments of the present disclosure provide solutions for handling UL transmission failures caused, for example, by insufficient time left for UL transmission. The example embodiments are applicable to IoT NTNs, including eMTC NTNs and NB-IoT NTNs, and to NR NTNs where repetition is configured for UL transmission.

[0036] 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process 300 according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. The process 300 may be performed in a UE, such as the UE 110 described above. In one example embodiment, the UE 110 may include multiple means, modules, or elements that perform the operations of the process 300. The means, modules, and elements may be implemented in various manners, including, but not limited to, software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 6, at 310, UE 110 may receive an UL grant for scheduling UL transmission from base station 120. For example, if UE 110 has UL data to transmit, UE 110 may send a scheduling request (SR) or a buffer status report (BSR) to base station 120. In response to the SR or BSR, base station 120 may send an UL grant to UE 110 to allocate UL resources for UL transmission from UE 110. The UL grant may be transmitted via downlink control information (DCI) carried, for example, on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in an NR NTN, an MTC physical downlink control channel (MPDCCH) in an eMTC NTN, or a narrowband physical downlink control channel (NPDCCH) in an NB-IoT NTN. Based on the received UL grant, UE 110 may schedule UL transmission on the allocated resources.

[0038] For example, with reference to Figure 5, assume that UE 110 receives an UL grant in downlink (DL) subframe (or slot) n, where subframe n may be the last subframe of a bundle of DL repetitions. In response to the UL grant, UE 110 may schedule an UL transmission starting from UL subframe (or slot) m, where m = n + K x +K offset As mentioned above, K x is a network-configured UE processing delay or a delay predefined in the 3GPP specifications, which may be, for example, a value of 4 in frequency division duplexing (FDD), or 6 in time division duplexing (TDD), or other values ​​depending on the TDD frame format. offset represents the UL transmit timing offset, and K offset =K cell_offset -K UE_offset where K cell_offset is the cell-specific time offset, and K UE_offsetis a UE-specific time offset, both of which may be set or indicated by the network. A scheduled UL transmission may include bundling of repetitions, i.e., the same transport block (TB) is transmitted repeatedly in multiple consecutive subframes or slots. In eMTC NTN and NB-IoT NTN, the network may set the number of repetitions for the UE 110 based on, for example, a desired coverage enhancement level for the UE 110. In NR NTN, the network may set the number of repetitions for the UE 110 based on, for example, the radio quality between the UE 110 and the network. When the UE 110 schedules an UL transmission based on an UL grant, the UE 110 uses the UL transmission timing offset K offset It will be appreciated that a user may not know whether a certificate is valid or expired.

[0039] At 320, UE 110 may determine whether at least some of the scheduled UL repeats meet the timing constraints for TA adjustment and UL processing delay. With continued reference to FIG. 5, given N UL repeats scheduled in subframes (or slots) m through m+N−1, UE 110 may verify whether at least some of the N UL repeats meet the timing constraints expressed by the following equation: TA+ActULProcessingDelay≦K x +K offset +k, where k={0,...,N-1} (1) As described above, TA is the latest timing advance of UE110, ActULProcessingDelay is the actual UL processing delay of UE110, which may be determined by the UE embodiment. UE110 can determine the minimum k value that satisfies Equation (1). If k = 0 satisfies Equation (1), all N UL repetitions satisfy the timing constraint and can be transmitted as scheduled. If k = N - 1 does not satisfy Equation (1), all N UL repetitions do not satisfy the timing constraint. If 0 < k ≤ N - 1 satisfies Equation (1), the first k repetitions (from subframe / slot m to m + k - 1) do not satisfy the timing constraint, while the last (N - k) repetitions (from subframe / slot m + k to m + N - 1) satisfy the timing constraint. UE110 will have sufficient time to prepare and transmit the (N - k) repetitions.

[0040] In 320, if it is determined that at least a part of the scheduled UL repetitions satisfy the timing constraint, in 330 UE110 can transmit at least that part of the scheduled UL repetitions. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, UE110 can start transmitting the (N - k) repetitions that satisfy the timing constraint from subframe / slot m + k. If all the scheduled UL repetitions do not satisfy the timing constraint, UE110 can stop the UL transmission. In this case, UE110 may trigger a schedule request (SR) or a random access channel (RACH) procedure to notify the network of the failure of the scheduled UL transmission.

[0041] If it is determined at 320 that the remaining scheduled UL repeats (e.g., the first k repeats) do not meet the timing constraint, UE 110 may drop the remaining scheduled UL repeats. Because the UL repeats contain the same UL data, the network can still meet the timing constraint and successfully receive UL data from some of the UL repeats transmitted by UE 110. Thus, process 300 can increase UL transmission reliability even when the network can transmit only some of the scheduled repeats. If UE 110 drops the remaining scheduled UL repeats, UE 110 may drop slots or symbols assigned to those repeats or samples of those repeats. In this case, UE 110 can still transmit other UL transmissions in the subframes where the slots / symbols / samples were dropped, thereby improving resource utilization.

[0042] In one example embodiment, once the remaining portion of the scheduled UL repetitions that do not meet the timing constraints are dropped, the UE 110 may boost 330 the transmit power for the portion of the repetitions that meet the timing constraints in order to increase the likelihood of successful decoding of the repetitions in the network. In one example, the power ramp-up gain may be (10*log 10 (N / (Nk))+scaling factor) dB, where the scaling factor may be set by the network or may be pre-determined or pre-configured at UE 110.

[0043] In an example embodiment, the UE 110 may transmit at least a portion of the scheduled UL repeats that satisfy the timing constraint if at least the portion of the scheduled repeats satisfy an additional condition, e.g., a threshold. The threshold may be set by the network. In one example, the set threshold may include a number. If the number of repeats that satisfy the timing constraint is equal to or greater than the threshold number, the repeats that satisfy the timing constraint will be transmitted at 330. In another example, the set threshold may include a percentage. If the percentage of (N) repeats that satisfy the timing constraint out of the total N repeats is equal to or greater than the threshold percentage, the repeats that satisfy the timing constraint will be transmitted at 330. If there are fewer than the threshold number of percentage repeats that satisfy the timing constraint, the UE 110 may not transmit them at 330. For example, if fewer than 5% of the UL repeats satisfy the timing constraint, it is likely that the network will not be able to successfully decode the repeats even if they are transmitted at 330. Therefore, applying a threshold condition before transmitting the repeats at 330 can reduce transmission failures and save UE power.

[0044] In an exemplary embodiment, the network may set different thresholds for initial transmission and retransmission. For example, the network may set a first threshold for initial transmission and a second threshold for retransmission, different from the first threshold. If the scheduled UL repetition is an initial transmission of UL data, the first threshold will be applied as described above. If the scheduled UL repetition is a retransmission of UL data, the second threshold will be applied. In one example, if the initial transmission has already failed, the threshold set for retransmission may be lower than the threshold set for initial transmission, because repetition can provide gain for HARQ combining anyway.

[0045] 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process 400 according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. The process 400 may be implemented in the UE 110, for example.

[0046] If, at 320 of process 300, UE 110 determines that some of the scheduled UL repeats meet the timing constraints while the remaining portion of the scheduled UL repeats do not meet the timing constraints, UE 110 may determine whether or not a parameter K maintained at UE 110 satisfies the timing constraints. offset may be aware of the fact that the TA reported by UE 110 is out of date compared to the latest TA of UE 110. In that case, UE 110 may trigger a TA direction event at 410 even if the variation between the latest TA and the last reported TA is less than the threshold for triggering a TA reporting event.

[0047] In response to the triggered TA reporting event, the UE 110 may generate 412 TA information including the latest TA of the UE 110. The UE may generate the TA information when a TA reporting event is triggered or when the UE has an opportunity to make an UL transmission to include the TA information.

[0048] If UE 110 determines to transmit at least some of the scheduled UL repeats at 330 and the scheduled UL repeats are initial transmissions, then UE 110 may include the generated TA information in at least some of the UL repeats scheduled for transmission at 330 at 414. In an example embodiment, the generated TA information may be indicated in a TAR MAC CE, and UE 110 may prioritize the TAR MAC CE in a MAC layer logical channel prioritization (LCP) procedure to ensure that the TAR MAC CE is included in a transport block (TB) transmitted in at least some of the scheduled uplink repeats. If the scheduled UL repeats are retransmissions, then UE 110 may not include the generated TA information in at least some of the scheduled UL repeats transmitted at 330 because the TB transmitted in the retransmission must be the same as the TB transmitted in the initial transmission. Instead, UE 110 may transmit the TA information to the network when additional UL resources are available. In another example embodiment, if UE 110 determines not to transmit at least some of the scheduled UL repeats that satisfy a timing constraint, e.g., because at least some of the scheduled UL repeats do not satisfy a network-configured threshold, UE 110 may transmit a TA report, e.g., via a Schedule Request (SR) procedure or a Random Access Channel (RACH) procedure.

[0049] 8 is a flowchart illustrating a process 500 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The process 500 may be implemented in the UE 110, for example.

[0050] Instead of triggering a TA reporting event at 410, the UE 110 may determine at 510 the number of UL repeats that do not meet the timing constraint if the UE 110 determines at 320 that some of the scheduled UL repeats meet the timing constraint while the remaining portion of the scheduled UL repeats do not meet the timing constraint. The UE 110 may then report at 512 the determined number of UL repeats that do not meet the timing constraint to the network. In an exemplary embodiment, if the UL repeat is an initial transmission, the determined number may be reported to the network by being included in the UL repeat transmitted at 330. For example, this number may be indicated in the MAC CE or as part of the MAC PDU header, and the MAC CE or MAC PDU may be included in the TB transmitted with the UL repeat. In this way, the network knows that the UE 110 is having an issue with UL transmission drops and, therefore, determines a UL transmit timing offset K for the UE 110 based on the received number. offset (cell-specific time offset K cell_offset and / or UE-specific time offset K UE_offset ) for the UE 110 to avoid UL transmission drops. x ) may also be adjusted. If the scheduled UL repetition is a retransmission, UE 110 may not include the determined number in the UL repetition transmitted in 330 because the TB transmitted in the retransmission must be the same as the TB transmitted in the initial transmission. Instead, UE 110 may report the number to the network when additional UL resources are available.

[0051] 9 is a flowchart illustrating a process 600 according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. Process 600 may be performed in a base station, such as base station 120 described above. In one example embodiment, base station 120 may include multiple means, modules, or elements that perform the operations of process 600. The means, modules, and elements may be implemented in various manners, including, but not limited to, software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. Some details of process 600 are provided above in the description of processes 300-500 for UE 110, so a brief description of process 600 will be provided here.

[0052] 9 , at 610, base station 120 may configure a threshold for UE 110 to determine whether to transmit some of the scheduled UL repeats when some of the scheduled UL repeats meet the timing constraints for TA adjustment and UL processing delay, while the remaining portion of the scheduled UL repeats do not meet (i.e., violate) the timing constraints. As described above, the configured threshold may include the number or percentage of UL repeats that meet the timing constraints, and base station 120 may configure different thresholds for initial transmissions and retransmissions. In an example embodiment, the threshold may be pre-configured or predetermined in UE 110, and step 610 may be omitted.

[0053] At 620, base station 120 may send an UL grant to UE 110 to schedule transmission of the bundle of UL repetitions.

[0054] At 630, base station 120 may receive a portion of the UL repeats scheduled by the UL grant from UE 110. For example, as described above, UE 110 may transmit only a portion of the scheduled UL repeats because the remaining portion of the scheduled UL repeats do not meet timing constraints for TA adjustment and UL processing delay.

[0055] In an example embodiment, the received portion of the scheduled UL repeats may include at least one of TA information or the number of UL repeats scheduled by the UL grant that were dropped at the UE 110. The TA information may include the most recent TA at the UE 110 and may be indicated in the TAR MAC CE. The number of UL repeats that were dropped at the UE 110 may be indicated in the MAC CE or as part of the MAC PDU header.

[0056] If the received UL repeats include at least one of TA information and the number of UL repeats dropped at the UE 110, then at 640, the base station 120 determines whether the UL transmit timing offset parameter K configured for the UE 110 is a UL transmit timing offset parameter K based on the received TA information or the number of UL repeats dropped at the UE 110. offset (cell-specific time offset K cell_offset , and / or a UE-specific time offset K UE_offset For example, base station 120 may update the UL transmit timing offset parameter K configured for UE 110 to avoid dropping UL repetitions. offset may be increased.

[0057] 10 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus 700 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus 700 is operable to include or form at least a portion of the UE 110 described above to perform at least some of the operations associated with the UE 110. Because the operations associated with the UE 110 have been described above with reference to FIGS. 1-9, the blocks of the apparatus 700 will be briefly described here, and reference may be made to the above descriptions for details.

[0058] As shown in FIG. 10 , the apparatus 700 may include a first means 710 for receiving an UL grant for scheduling transmission of a plurality of UL repeats from a base station, a second means 712 for determining whether at least some of the scheduled UL repeats satisfy timing constraints for TA adjustment and UL processing delay, and a third means 714 for transmitting at least some of the scheduled UL repeats if the at least some of the scheduled UL repeats satisfy the timing constraints.

[0059] In one example embodiment, at least a portion of the scheduled UL repeats may be transmitted if that at least a portion of the scheduled uplink repeats also meets a threshold. The threshold is configurable by the base station and may include a number or percentage of UL repeats that meet a timing constraint. In one example embodiment, the threshold includes a first threshold configured for initial transmission and a second threshold configured for retransmission.

[0060] In one example embodiment, the third means 714 can transmit at least a portion of the scheduled UL repeats with boosted power if the remaining portion of the scheduled UL repeats violates a timing constraint and is dropped. The remaining portion of the scheduled uplink repeats may be reduced in slot, symbol, or sample granularity.

[0061] In an example embodiment, the apparatus 700 may further include a fourth means 716 for triggering a TA reporting event if the remaining portion of the scheduled uplink repetition violates the timing constraint, and a fifth means 718 for generating TA information in response to the TA reporting event. The TA information may include a latest TA for the UE 110.

[0062] In an example embodiment, the apparatus 700 may further include sixth means 720 for including the generated TA information in at least a portion of the scheduled UL repeats for transmission if the scheduled UL repeats are initial transmissions. In one example, the generated TA information may be indicated in a TAR MAC CE, and the TAR MAC CE may be prioritized in a logical channel prioritization (LCP) procedure to ensure that the TAR MAC CE is included in a transport block (TB) transmitted in at least a portion of the scheduled UL repeats.

[0063] In an example embodiment, the apparatus 700 may further include seventh means 722 for determining a number of UL repeats to be included in the remaining portion of the scheduled UL repeats when the remaining portion of the scheduled UL repeats violates the timing constraint, and eighth means 724 for reporting the determined number to the base station. If the scheduled UL repeat is an initial transmission, the eighth means 724 may report the determined number to the base station by including it in at least some of the scheduled UL repeats. For example, the determined number may be indicated in a MAC CE or as part of a MAC PDU header, and the MAC CE or MAC PDU may be included in a transport block (TB) transmitted in at least some of the scheduled UL repeats.

[0064] 11 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus 800 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus 800 is operable to include or form at least a portion of the base station 120 described above to perform at least some of the operations associated with the base station 120. Because the operations associated with the base station 120 have been described above with reference to FIGS. 1-9, the blocks of the apparatus 800 will be briefly described here, and reference may be made to the above descriptions for details.

[0065] 11 , the apparatus 800 may include first means 810 for transmitting an UL grant to the UE 110 for scheduling transmission of a plurality of UL repeats, and second means 820 for receiving a portion of the scheduled UL repeats from the UE 110. In an example embodiment, the received portion of the scheduled UL repeats may include at least one of TA information or a number of UL repeats scheduled by the UL grant and dropped at the E 110. The TA information may be indicated in a TAR MAC CE, and the number of UL repeats is indicated in the MAC CE or as part of a MAC PDU header.

[0066] In an example embodiment, the apparatus 800 may further include third means 830 for updating a UL transmit timing offset parameter configured for the UE 110 based on at least one of the TA information or the number of UL repeats scheduled by the UL grant and dropped at the UE 110. In one example, the third means 830 may update a cell-specific time offset K configured for the UE 110 based on at least one of the TA information or the number of UL repeats scheduled by the UL grant and dropped at the UE 110. cell_offset and / or UE-specific time offset K UE_offset can be updated.

[0067] In an example embodiment, the apparatus 800 may further include a fourth means 840 for setting a threshold for the UE 110 to determine whether to transmit some of the scheduled UL repeats when some of the scheduled UL repeats meet timing constraints for TA adjustment and UL processing delay, while the remaining part of the scheduled UL repeats violate the timing constraints. The threshold may include a number or a percentage of UL repeats that meet the timing constraints. In an example embodiment, the fourth means 840 may set a first threshold for initial transmission and a second threshold for retransmission.

[0068] 12 is a block diagram illustrating devices in a communication system 900 according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 12, the communication system 900 may include a terminal device 910, which may be implemented as the UE 110 described above, and a network device 920, which may be implemented as the base station 120 described above.

[0069] 12, a terminal device 910 may include one or more processors 911, one or more memories 912, and one or more transceivers 913 interconnected by one or more buses 914. The one or more buses 914 may be an address bus, a data bus, or a control bus and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of wires on a motherboard or integrated circuit, fiber, optics, or other optical communication equipment. Each of the one or more transceivers 913 may include a receiver and a transmitter connected to one or more antennas 916. The terminal device 910 may wirelessly communicate with a radio access network device 920 via the one or more antennas 916. The one or more memories 912 may include instructions 915 that, when executed by the one or more processors 911, can cause the terminal device 910 to perform operations and procedures related to the UE 110, as described above.

[0070] The network device 920 may include one or more processors 921, one or more memories 922, one or more transceivers 923, and one or more network interfaces 927, interconnected via one or more buses 924. The one or more buses 924 may be an address bus, a data bus, or a control bus and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of wires on a motherboard or integrated circuit, fiber, optics, or other optical communication equipment. Each of the one or more transceivers 923 may include a receiver and a transmitter connected to one or more antennas 926. The network device 920 may operate as a base station for the terminal device 910 and may wirelessly communicate with the terminal device 910 via the one or more antennas 926. The one or more network interfaces 927 may provide wired or wireless communication links through which the network device 920 may communicate with other network devices, entities, elements, or functions. For example, the network device 920 may communicate with a core network device (not shown) via a backhaul connection. The one or more memory devices 922 may include instructions 925 that, when executed by the one or more processors 921 , may cause the network device 920 to perform operations and procedures related to the base station 120 .

[0071] The one or more processors 911, 921 mentioned above may be of any suitable type suitable for the local technology network and may include one or more of a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), one or more processors in a processor-based multi-core processor architecture and special purpose processors such as processors developed based on field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). The one or more processors 911, 921 may be configured to control other elements of the UE / radio access network device / core network device and to operate in conjunction with them to perform the procedures mentioned above.

[0072] The one or more memories 912, 922 may include at least one storage medium in various forms, such as transient and / or non-transient memory. Transient memory may include, but is not limited to, random access memory (RAM) or cache. Non-transient memory may include, but is not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), hard disk, flash memory, etc. As used herein, the term "non-transient" is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible rather than signal) as opposed to a limitation of data storage persistence (e.g., RAM vs. ROM). The one or more memories 912, 922 may also include, but are not limited to, electric, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, apparatus, or devices, or any combination of the above.

[0073] It will be appreciated that the blocks in the diagrams can be implemented in various ways, including software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, one or more blocks can be implemented using software and / or firmware, e.g., computer-executable instructions stored on a storage medium. In addition to, or in lieu of, computer-executable instructions, some or all of the blocks in the diagrams may be performed at least in part by one or more hardware logic components. For example, but not limited to, examples of types of hardware logic components that may be used include field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), application specific standard products (ASSPs), systems on a chip (SOCs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), etc.

[0074] Some exemplary embodiments further provide one or more program instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, can cause a device or apparatus to perform the procedures described above. The program instructions for carrying out the procedures of the exemplary embodiments may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program instructions can be provided to one or more processors or controllers of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus such that, when the program instructions are executed by the processor or controller, the functions / acts specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams are performed. The program instructions can be executed entirely on the computer, partially on the computer, as a stand-alone software package, partially on the computer and partially on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or server.

[0075] Some example embodiments further provide a computer program product or computer-readable medium having one or more program instructions stored thereon. The computer-readable medium may be any tangible medium that can contain or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 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 thereof. More specific examples of computer-readable media would 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), 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 above.

[0076] As used herein, "at least one of: <list of two or more elements>" and "at least one of <list of two or more elements>" and similar expressions where a list of two or more elements is joined by "and" or "or" 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.

[0077] Also, although operations are shown in a particular order, this should not be construed as requiring such operations to be performed in the particular order or sequence shown, or that all of the operations shown be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain situations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, while the above description sets forth certain specific implementation details, these should not be considered limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be combined in a single embodiment. Conversely, 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.

[0078] Although the present subject matter has been described in terms of particular structural features and / or method actions, it is to be understood that the present subject matter defined in the appended claims is not limited to the specific features or actions described above. Rather, the specific features and actions described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. at least one processor; at least one memory for storing instructions, The instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the terminal device to: receiving, from a network device, an uplink grant for scheduling transmission of a plurality of uplink repetitions; determining whether at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions satisfy timing constraints for timing advance adjustments and uplink processing delays; transmitting at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions if the at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions satisfy the timing constraint.

2. The terminal device of claim 1 , wherein the at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions are transmitted if the at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions also satisfy a threshold.

3. The terminal device of claim 2 , wherein the threshold comprises a number or percentage of uplink repetitions that satisfy the timing constraint.

4. The terminal device of claim 2 , wherein the thresholds include a first threshold set for initial transmission and a second threshold set for retransmission.

5. The terminal device of claim 2 , wherein the threshold is set by the network device.

6. A terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein remaining parts of the scheduled uplink repetitions that violate the timing constraint are dropped.

7. The terminal device of claim 6 , wherein the remaining portion of the scheduled uplink repetitions is reduced in slot, symbol or sample granularity.

8. The at least one memory, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the terminal device to 6. The terminal device according to claim 1, further storing instructions for triggering a timing advance reporting event if a remaining portion of the scheduled uplink repetition violates the timing constraint.

9. The at least one memory, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the terminal device to generating timing advance information in response to the triggered timing advance reporting event; 10. The terminal device of claim 8, further storing instructions to: if the scheduled uplink repetition is an initial transmission, include the generated timing advance information in the at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions for transmission.

10. 10. The terminal device of claim 9, wherein the generated timing advance information is indicated in a timing advance reporting medium access control control element, and the timing advance reporting medium access control control element is prioritized in a logical channel prioritization procedure so that the timing advance reporting medium access control control element can be included in a transport block transmitted in at least the portion of the scheduled uplink repetitions.

11. The at least one memory, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the terminal device to if the remaining portion of the scheduled uplink iterations violates the timing constraint, determining the number of uplink iterations included in the remaining portion of the scheduled uplink iterations; The terminal device of any one of claims 1 to 5, further storing instructions to cause it to: and reporting the determined number to the network device.

12. 12. The terminal device of claim 11, wherein if the scheduled uplink repetition is an initial transmission, the determined number is reported to the network device by being included in the at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions.

13. 13. The terminal device of claim 12, wherein the determined number is indicated in a medium access control control element or as part of a header of a medium access control protocol data unit, the medium access control control element or the medium access control protocol data unit being included in a transport block transmitted in at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions.

14. 6. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the scheduled uplink repetitions is transmitted with boosted power if the remaining portion of the scheduled uplink repetitions violates the timing constraint.

15. at least one processor; at least one memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device to perform at least: transmitting, to a terminal device, an uplink grant for scheduling transmission of a plurality of uplink repetitions; receiving a portion of the scheduled uplink repetitions from the terminal device.

16. the received portion of the scheduled uplink repetitions Timing advance information, or the number of uplink repetitions scheduled by the uplink grant and dropped at the terminal device; 16. The network device of claim 15, comprising at least one of:

17. The timing advance information is indicated in a timing advance reporting medium access control control element, or 17. The network device of claim 16, wherein the number of uplink repetitions is indicated in a medium access control control element or as part of a header of a medium access control protocol data unit.

18. The at least one memory, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the network device to:

17. The network device of claim 16, further storing instructions to update an uplink transmission timing offset parameter configured for the terminal device based on at least one of the timing advance information or the number of uplink repetitions scheduled by the uplink grant and dropped at the terminal device.

19. The at least one memory, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the network device to:

19. The network device of claim 15, further storing instructions for causing the terminal device to set a threshold for determining whether to transmit the portion of the scheduled uplink repeats when the portion of the scheduled uplink repeats meets timing constraints for timing advance adjustment and uplink processing delay, while the remaining portion of the scheduled uplink repeats violates the timing constraints.

20. 20. The network device of claim 19, wherein the threshold comprises a number or percentage of uplink repetitions that satisfy the timing constraint.

21. 20. The network device of claim 19, wherein the thresholds include a first threshold configured for initial transmission and a second threshold configured for retransmission.

22. receiving an uplink grant for scheduling transmission of a plurality of uplink repetitions; determining whether at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions satisfy timing constraints for timing advance adjustments and uplink processing delays; transmitting at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions if the at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions satisfy the timing constraint.

23. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions are transmitted if the at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions also satisfy a threshold.

24. 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the threshold comprises a number or percentage of uplink repetitions that satisfy the timing constraint.

25. 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the thresholds include a first threshold established for an initial transmission and a second threshold established for a retransmission.

26. The method of claim 23 , wherein the threshold is set by a network device.

27. The method of any one of claims 22 to 26, wherein remaining portions of the scheduled uplink repetitions that violate the timing constraint are dropped.

28. 28. The method of claim 27, wherein the remaining portion of the scheduled uplink repetitions is reduced in slot, symbol or sample granularity.

29. The method of any one of claims 22 to 26, further comprising triggering a timing advance reporting event if the remaining portion of the scheduled uplink repetition violates the timing constraint.

30. generating timing advance information in response to the triggered timing advance reporting event; 30. The method of claim 29, further comprising: if the scheduled uplink repetition is an initial transmission, including the generated timing advance information in the at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions for transmission.

31. 31. The method of claim 30, wherein the generated timing advance information is indicated in a timing advance reporting medium access control control element, and the timing advance reporting medium access control control element is prioritized in a logical channel prioritization procedure to enable the timing advance reporting medium access control control element to be included in a transport block transmitted in at least the portion of the scheduled uplink repetitions.

32. if the remaining portion of the scheduled uplink iterations violates the timing constraint, determining the number of uplink iterations included in the remaining portion of the scheduled uplink iterations; The method of any one of claims 22 to 26, further comprising: reporting the determined number to a network device.

33. 33. The method of claim 32, wherein if the scheduled uplink repetition is an initial transmission, the determined number is reported to the network device by being included in the at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions.

34. 34. The method of claim 33, wherein the determined number is indicated in a medium access control control element or as part of a header of a medium access control protocol data unit, the medium access control control element or the medium access control protocol data unit being included in a transport block transmitted in at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions.

35. 27. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions are transmitted with boosted power if the remaining part of the scheduled uplink repetitions violates the timing constraint.

36. transmitting an uplink grant for scheduling transmission of a plurality of uplink repetitions; receiving a portion of the scheduled uplink repetitions.

37. the received portion of the scheduled uplink repetitions Timing advance information, the number of uplink repetitions scheduled by the uplink grant and dropped at the terminal device; and 37. The method of claim 36, comprising at least one of:

38. The timing advance information is indicated in a timing advance reporting medium access control control element, or 38. The method of claim 37, wherein the number of uplink repetitions is indicated in a medium access control control element or as part of a header of a medium access control protocol data unit.

39. 38. The method of claim 37, further comprising: updating an uplink transmission timing offset parameter configured for the terminal device based on at least one of the timing advance information or a number of uplink repetitions scheduled by the uplink grant and dropped at the terminal device.

40. 40. The method of claim 36, comprising setting a threshold for a terminal device to determine whether to transmit the part of the scheduled uplink repeats if the part of the scheduled uplink repeats meets timing constraints for timing advance adjustment and uplink processing delay, while the remaining part of the scheduled uplink repeats violates the timing constraints.

41. 41. The method of claim 40, wherein the threshold comprises a number or percentage of uplink repetitions that satisfy the timing constraint.

42. 41. The method of claim 40, wherein the thresholds include a first threshold established for an initial transmission and a second threshold established for a retransmission.

43. first means for receiving an uplink grant for scheduling transmission of a plurality of uplink repetitions; second means for determining whether at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions satisfy timing constraints for timing advance adjustment and uplink processing delay; and third means for transmitting the at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions if the at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions satisfy the timing constraint.

44. first means for transmitting an uplink grant for scheduling transmission of a plurality of uplink repetitions; and second means for receiving a portion of the scheduled uplink repetitions.

45. When executed by an apparatus, the apparatus at least: receiving an uplink grant for scheduling transmission of a plurality of uplink repetitions; determining whether at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions satisfy timing constraints for timing advance adjustments and uplink processing delays; and transmitting at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions if the at least some of the scheduled uplink repetitions satisfy the timing constraint.

46. When executed by an apparatus, the apparatus at least: transmitting an uplink grant for scheduling transmission of a plurality of uplink repetitions; and receiving a portion of the scheduled uplink repetitions.

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