Resource Allocation for the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)

Abstract

To provide resource allocation for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH).SOLUTION: Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to methods and apparatuses for physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource allocation. In certain aspects, a method for use by user equipment (UE) for transmitting one or more uplink control information (UCI) bits in a PUCCH includes determining resources allocated for providing one or more UCI bits based at least on a type of service associated with the UE and sending, to a base station, a PUCCH with the one or more UCI bits using the allocated resources.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Cross - Reference to Related Applications This application claims the benefit of U.S. Application No. 62 / 455,563, filed on February 6, 2017, entitled "RESOURCE ALLOCATION FOR PUCCH", and claims the priority of U.S. Application No. 15 / 887,908, filed on February 2, 2018. The foregoing applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to communication systems, and more particularly, to methods and apparatuses related to resource allocation for a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH).

Background Art

[0003] Wireless communication systems have been widely deployed to provide various telecommunications services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcast. General wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies that can support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power). Examples of such multiple access technologies include Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA (registered trademark)) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems, Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC - FDMA) systems, and Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD - SCDMA) systems.

[0004] In some examples, a wireless multi-connectivity communication system may include a plurality of base stations that each simultaneously support communication for a plurality of communication devices, also known as user equipment (UE). In an LTE or LTE-A network, a set of one or more base stations may define an evolved Node B (eNB). In other examples (e.g., in a next generation or 5G network), a wireless multi-connectivity communication system may include a plurality of distributed units (DUs) (e.g., edge units (EUs), edge nodes (ENs), radio heads (RHs), smart radio heads (SRHs), transmit receive points (TRPs), etc.) that communicate with a plurality of centralized units (CUs) (e.g., central nodes (CNs), access node controllers (ANCs), etc.), and a set of one or more distributed units that communicate with the centralized unit may define an access node (e.g., a new radio base station (NR BS), a new radio Node B (NR NB), a network node, a 5G NB, an eNB, etc.). A base station or DU may communicate with a set of UEs over a downlink channel (e.g., for transmission from the base station or to the UE) and an uplink channel (e.g., for transmission from the UE to the base station or distributed unit).

[0005] These multi-connectivity technologies are adopted in various telecommunications standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate at the urban, national, regional, and even global scales. An example of a nascent telecommunications standard is New Radio (NR), such as 5G wireless access. NR is a set of extensions to the LTE mobile standard published by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®). It is designed to better support mobile broadband Internet access by improving spectral efficiency, reducing costs, enhancing services, utilizing new spectrum, and integrating better with other open standards that use OFDMA with a cyclic prefix (CP) on the downlink (DL) and uplink (UL), as well as supporting beamforming, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation.

Summary of the Invention

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, further improvements in NR technology are desired. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to other multi-connectivity technologies and the telecommunications standards that use these technologies.

[0007] The systems, methods, and devices of the present disclosure each have several aspects, and only a single one of those aspects bears its desirable attributes. Without limiting the scope of the present disclosure as represented by the following claims, several features are briefly described herein. After considering this description and, in particular, after reading the section entitled "Detailed Description of the Invention," it will be understood how the features of the present disclosure bring about advantages, including improved communication between access points and stations in a wireless network.

[0008] Some embodiments provide a method for wireless communication by a user equipment. The method generally includes determining resources allocated to provide one or more uplink control information (UCI) bits based at least on a type of service associated with the UE, and transmitting a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having the one or more UCI bits to a base station using the allocated resources.

[0009] Some embodiments provide a method for wireless communication by a user equipment. The method generally includes generating a buffer status report (BSR), and sending the BSR within a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission.

[0010] Some embodiments provide a method for wireless communication by a user equipment. The method generally includes determining resources allocated to transmit a buffer status report (BSR) based at least on at least one of a type of uplink channel used to transmit the BSR or a type of service of traffic corresponding to the BSR, and determining resources to be used to transmit the buffer status report (BSR) based at least on at least one of a type of uplink channel used to transmit the BSR or a type of service of traffic corresponding to the BSR.

[0011] Embodiments of an apparatus for wireless communication are also described herein, including means for determining resources allocated to provide one or more uplink control information (UCI) bits based at least on a type of service associated with the UE, and means for transmitting a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having the one or more UCI bits to a base station using the allocated resources.

[0012] Determining a resource allocated to provide one or more uplink control information (UCI) bits based at least on a type of service associated with a UE, and transmitting, using the allocated resource, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having one or more UCI bits to a base station. Embodiments of a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for performing a method including the above steps are also described herein.

[0013] Aspects are generally well described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, and include a method, apparatus, system, computer-readable medium, and processing system as shown by the accompanying drawings.

[0014] To achieve the above and related objects, one or more aspects include the features that are well described below and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the accompanying drawings detail some exemplary features of one or more aspects. However, these features are only some of the various ways in which the principles of the various aspects can be utilized, and this description is intended to cover all such aspects and their equivalents.

[0015] To enable a more detailed understanding of the above features of the present disclosure, a more specific description, briefly summarized above, may be made by reference to the aspects, some of which are shown in the accompanying drawings. However, note that this description may lead to other equally effective aspects, so the accompanying drawings show only some exemplary aspects of the present disclosure and should not be considered as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0016]

Figure 1

Figure 2

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Figure 4

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Figure 8

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Figure 10

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] For ease of understanding, where possible, the same reference numbers are used to denote the same elements common to the figures. It is contemplated that the elements disclosed in one aspect may be advantageously utilized in other aspects without particular recitation.

[0018] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to resource allocation for PUCCH.

[0019] Aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus, a method, a processing system, and a computer-readable medium for New Radio (NR) (New Radio Access Technology or 5G technology).

[0020] NR can support various wireless communication services such as wide bandwidth (e.g., exceeding 80 MHz) targeted at enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), high carrier frequencies (e.g., 60 GHz) targeted at millimeter wave (mmW), non-backward compatible MTC techniques targeted at massive MTC (mMTC), and / or ultra reliable low latency communication (URLLC) targeted at mission critical. These services can include latency requirements and reliability requirements. These services can also have different transmission time intervals (TTIs) to meet their respective quality of service (QoS) requirements. Additionally, these services can coexist in the same subframe.

[0021] As shown by embodiments herein, a new resource allocation scheme is defined for use by a UE (e.g., UE120) in transmitting a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) to a BS (e.g., BS110) under the NR standard. The new resource allocation scheme described herein is defined to account for one or more potential changes made to the LTE standard with respect to the transmission of PUCCH that can be reflected within the NR standard.

[0022] The following description provides examples and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or examples set forth in the claims. Changes may be made to the functions and configurations of the elements described without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Various examples may appropriately omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components. For example, the methods described may be performed in an order different from the order described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Also, features described with respect to some examples may be combined in some other examples. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of aspects described herein. Additionally, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to include such apparatus or methods practiced using other structures, functions, or structures and functions in addition to, or other than, the various aspects of the present disclosure described herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the present disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of the claims. The term "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects.

[0023] The techniques described herein may be used in a variety of wireless communication networks such as LTE, CDMA®, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and other networks. The terms “network” and “system” are often used interchangeably. A CDMA® network may implement wireless technologies such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA®), and other variants of CDMA®. Cdma2000 is targeted at the IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement wireless technologies such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM®). An OFDMA network may implement wireless technologies such as NR (e.g., 5G RA), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). NR is a newly emerging wireless communication technology being developed with the 5G Technology Forum (5GTF). 3GPP® Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM® are described in documents from a group called the “3rd Generation Partnership Project” (3GPP®). Cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from a group called the “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP®2). The techniques described herein may be used in the wireless networks and wireless technologies described above, as well as other wireless networks and wireless technologies. For clarity, aspects may be described herein using terms generally associated with 3G and / or 4G wireless technologies, but aspects of the present disclosure may be applicable in other generation-based communication systems such as those after 5G, including NR technology.

[0024] Exemplary wireless communication system FIG. 1 shows an exemplary wireless network 100, such as a New Radio (NR) or 5G network, in which aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 1, wireless network 100 may include several BSs 110 and other network entities. A BS may be a station that communicates with a UE. Each BS 110 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP (registered trademark), the term “cell” may refer to the coverage area of the Node B and / or Node B subsystem serving this coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In an NR system, terms such as “cell” and eNB, Node B, 5G NB, AP, NR BS, or TRP may be interchangeable. In some examples, a cell may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographic area of the cell may move according to the location of the mobile base station. In some examples, the base stations may be interconnected with each other within the wireless network 100 and / or with one or more other base stations or network nodes (not shown) through various types of backhaul interfaces, such as direct physical connections, virtual networks, using any suitable transport network.

[0026] In general, any number of wireless networks may be deployed in a given geographic area. Each wireless network may support a particular radio access technology (RAT) and may operate at one or more frequencies. A RAT may also be referred to as a wireless technology, air interface, etc. A frequency may also be referred to as a carrier, frequency channel, etc. Each frequency may support a single RAT in a given geographic area to avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs. In some cases, an NR RAT network or a 5G RAT network may be deployed.

[0027] A BS may provide communication coverage for macrocells, picocells, femtocells, and / or other types of cells. A macrocell can cover a relatively large geographical area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may enable unrestricted access by UEs subscribed to the service. A picocell can cover a relatively small geographical area and may enable unrestricted access by UEs subscribed to the service. A femtocell can cover a relatively small geographical area (e.g., a home) and may enable restricted access by UEs associated with the femtocell (e.g., UEs within a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs for users within a home, etc.). A BS for a macrocell may sometimes be called a macro BS. A BS for a picocell may sometimes be called a pico BS. A BS for a femtocell may sometimes be called a femto BS or a home BS. In the example shown in FIG. 1, BSs 110a, 110b, and 110c may each be macro BSs for macrocells 102a, 102b, and 102c, respectively. BS 110x may be a pico BS for picocell 102x. BSs 110y and 110z may each be femto BSs for femtocells 102y and 102z, respectively. A BS may support one or more (e.g., three) cells.

[0028] Wireless network 100 may also include repeaters. A repeater is a station that receives transmissions of data and / or other information from an upstream station (e.g., a BS or a UE) and sends transmissions of data and / or other information to a downstream station (e.g., a UE or a BS). Also, a repeater may be a UE that relays transmissions for other UEs. In the example shown in FIG. 1, repeater 110r can communicate with BS 110a and UE 120r to facilitate communication between BS 110a and UE 120r. A repeater may also sometimes be called a relay BS, a relay, etc.

[0029] Wireless network 100 can be a heterogeneous network including different types of BSs, such as macro BSs, pico BSs, femto BSs, relays, etc. These different types of BSs may have different transmission power levels, different coverage areas, and different impacts on interference in wireless network 100. For example, a macro BS may have a high transmission power level (e.g., 20 watts), while pico BSs, femto BSs, and relays may have a lower transmission power level (e.g., 1 watt).

[0030] Wireless network 100 may support synchronous operation or asynchronous operation. In the case of synchronous operation, the BSs can have similar frame timings, and transmissions from different BSs can be approximately time-aligned. In the case of asynchronous operation, the BSs may have different frame timings, and transmissions from different BSs may not be time-aligned. The techniques described herein may be used for both synchronous and asynchronous operations.

[0031] Network controller 130 is coupled to a set of BSs and can perform adjustment and control for these BSs. Network controller 130 can communicate with BS110 via a backhaul. BS110 can also communicate with each other, for example, directly or indirectly via a wireless backhaul or a wired backhaul.

[0032] UE 120 (e.g., 120x, 120y, etc.) may be distributed throughout the wireless network 100, and each UE may be stationary or mobile. The UE may be called a mobile station, a terminal, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a station, a customer premises equipment (CPE), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet, a camera, a game device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, a medical device or instrument, a biosensor / device, a smartwatch, smart clothing, smart glasses, a smart list band, a wearable device such as smart jewelry (e.g., a smart ring, a smart bracelet, etc.), an entertainment device (e.g., a music device, a video device, satellite radio, etc.), a vehicle component or sensor, a smart meter / sensor, an industrial production device, a global positioning system device, or any other suitable device configured to communicate via a wireless medium or a wired medium. Some UEs may be regarded as evolved devices or machine type communication (MTC) devices or evolved MTC (eMTC) devices. MTC UEs and eMTC UEs can communicate with a BS, another device (e.g., a remote device), or some other entity, including, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, location tags, etc. The wireless node may provide connectivity for a network (e.g., a wide area network such as the Internet or a cellular network) or to the network via, for example, a wired communication link or a wireless communication link. Some UEs may be regarded as Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

[0033] In FIG. 1, the solid line with double arrows indicates the desired transmission between the UE and the serving BS, where the serving BS is the BS designated to serve the UE on the downlink and / or uplink. The dashed line with double arrows indicates the interfering transmission between the UE and the BS.

[0034] A particular wireless network (e.g., LTE) utilizes orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Generally, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain in OFDM and in the time domain in SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) may depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing may be 15 kHz, and the smallest resource allocation (referred to as a "resource block") may be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). As a result, the nominal FFT size can be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth can also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband can cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there can be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0035] The example aspects described in this specification may be associated with LTE technology, but aspects of the present disclosure may be applicable to other wireless communication systems such as NR. NR may include support for using OFDM with CP on the uplink and downlink and for half-duplex operation using time-division duplex (TDD). A single component carrier bandwidth of 100 MHz may be supported. An NR resource block may span 12 subcarriers with a subcarrier bandwidth of 75 kHz over a duration of 0.1 ms. Each radio frame may be composed of 50 subframes having a length of 10 ms. As a result, each subframe may have a length of 0.2 ms. Each subframe may indicate a link direction for data transmission (i.e., DL or UL), and the link direction for each subframe may be switched dynamically. Each subframe may include DL / UL data as well as DL / UL control data. UL subframes and DL subframes for NR may be as described in more detail below with respect to FIGS. 6 and 7. Beamforming may be supported and the beam direction may be configured dynamically. MIMO transmission using precoding may also be supported. The MIMO configuration in the DL may support up to 8 transmit antennas with multi-layer DL transmission using up to 8 streams and up to 2 streams per UE. Multi-layer transmission using up to 2 streams per UE may be supported. Aggregation of multiple cells may be supported using up to 8 serving cells. Alternatively, NR may support different air interfaces other than OFDM-based. The NR network may include entities such as a CU and / or a DU.

[0036] In some examples, access to the air interface may be scheduled, and a scheduling entity (e.g., a base station) may allocate resources for communication among some or all of the devices and apparatuses within its service area or cell. Within the present disclosure, as further described below, a scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, allocating, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more subordinate entities. That is, for scheduled communication, a subordinate entity utilizes the resources allocated by the scheduling entity. A base station is not the only entity that may function as a scheduling entity. That is, in some examples, a UE may function as a scheduling entity that schedules resources for one or more subordinate entities (e.g., one or more other UEs). In this example, the UE functions as a scheduling entity, and other UEs utilize the resources scheduled by the UE for wireless communication. A UE may function as a scheduling entity in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network and / or in a mesh network. In a mesh network example, in addition to communicating with a scheduling entity, UEs may in some cases communicate directly with each other.

[0037] Accordingly, in a wireless communication network having a cellular configuration, a P2P configuration, and a mesh configuration, with scheduled access to time-frequency resources, a scheduling entity and one or more subordinate entities may communicate using the scheduled resources.

[0038] As described above, the RAN may include a CU and a DU. An NR BS (e.g., eNB, 5G Node B, Node B, Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), Access Point (AP)) may correspond to one or more BSs. An NR cell may be configured as an Access Cell (ACell) or a Data Only Cell (DCell). For example, a RAN (e.g., a Centralized Unit or a Distributed Unit) can configure a cell. A DCell may be used for carrier aggregation or dual connectivity but may not be used for initial access, cell selection / reselection, or handover. In some cases, a DCell may not transmit a synchronization signal, and in some cases, a DCell may transmit an SS. The NR BS may transmit a downlink signal indicating the cell type to the UE. Based on the cell type indication, the UE may communicate with the NR BS. For example, the UE may determine an NR BS to be considered for cell selection, access, handover, and / or measurement based on the indicated cell type.

[0039] Figure 2 shows an exemplary logical architecture of a distributed Radio Access Network (RAN) 200 that may be implemented within the wireless communication system shown in Figure 1. The 5G access node 206 may include an Access Node Controller (ANC) 202. The ANC may be a Centralized Unit (CU) of the distributed RAN 200. The backhaul interface to the Next Generation Core Network (NG-CN) 204 may terminate at the ANC. The backhaul interface to neighboring Next Generation Access Nodes (NG-ANs) may terminate at the ANC. The ANC may include one or more TRPs 208 (BS, NR BS, Node B, 5G NB, AP, or may be called by some other term). As described above, a TRP may be used interchangeably with "cell".

[0040] TRP208 may be a DU. The TRP may be connected to one ANC (ANC202) or may be connected to two or more ANCs (not shown). For example, for RAN sharing, radio as a service (RaaS), and service-specific ANC placement, the TRP may be connected to two or more ANCs. The TRP may include one or more antenna ports. The TRP may be configured to serve traffic to the UE individually (e.g., dynamically select) or together (e.g., co-transmit).

[0041] The local architecture 200 may be used to indicate the fronthaul definition. An architecture may be defined that supports fronthaul solutions across different deployment types. For example, the architecture may be based on the transmission network capabilities (e.g., bandwidth, latency, and / or jitter).

[0042] The architecture may share features and / or components with LTE. According to an aspect, the next-generation AN (NG-AN) 210 may support dual connectivity with NR. The NG-AN may share a common fronthaul for LTE and NR.

[0043] The architecture may enable cooperation between TRPs 208. For example, the cooperation may be preset within the TRP and / or may be preset across the TRPs via the ANC202. According to an aspect, there may be no need for / absence of an interface between TRPs.

[0044] According to an aspect, there may be a dynamic configuration of split logical functions within the architecture 200. As will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 5, the Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and the Physical (PHY) layer may be adaptively arranged in the DU or the CU (e.g., the TRP or the ANC respectively). According to some aspects, the BS may include a Centralized Unit (CU) (e.g., the ANC 202) and / or one or more Distributed Units (e.g., one or more TRPs 208).

[0045] FIG. 3 shows an exemplary physical architecture of a distributed RAN 300 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. A Centralized Core Network Unit (C-CU) 302 may host core network functions. The C-CU may be centrally located. The C-CU function may be offloaded (e.g., to Advanced Wireless Services (AWS)) in an attempt to handle peak capacity.

[0046] A Centralized RAN Unit (C-RU) 304 may host one or more ANC functions. In some cases, the C-RU may locally host core network functions. The C-RU may have a distributed arrangement. The C-RU may be closer to the network edge.

[0047] A DU 306 may host one or more TRPs (Edge Node (EN), Edge Unit (EU), Radio Head (RH), Smart Radio Head (SRH), etc.). The DU may be located at the edge of a network with radio frequency (RF) capabilities.

[0048] FIG. 4 shows exemplary components of the BS 110 and UE 120 shown in FIG. 1 that may be used to implement aspects of the present disclosure. As described above, the BS may include a TRP. One or more components of the BS 110 and UE 120 may be used to practice aspects of the present disclosure. For example, the antenna 452, Tx / Rx 222, processors 466, 458, 464, and / or controller / processor 480 of the UE 120, and / or the antenna 434, processors 430, 420, 438, and / or controller / processor 440 of the BS 110 may be used to perform the operations described herein and shown with reference to FIG. 8.

[0049] FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of the design of the BS 110 and UE 120, which may be one of the BSs and one of the UEs in FIG. 1. For the case of a limited connection scenario, the base station 110 may be the macro BS 110c in FIG. 1, and the UE 120 may be the UE 120y. The base station 110 may also be some other type of base station. The base station 110 may include antennas 434a to 434t, and the UE 120 may include antennas 452a to 452r.

[0050] At base station 110, transmission processor 420 may receive data from data source 412 and control information from controller / processor 440. The control information may relate to, for example, a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), a physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), a physical hybrid ARQ indicator channel (PHICH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), etc. The data may relate to, for example, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), etc. Processor 420 can process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. Processor 420 can also generate reference symbols, for example, related to PSS, SSS, and cell-specific reference signals. Transmission (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 430 can perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, control symbols, and / or reference symbols, if applicable, and provide an output symbol stream to modulators (MOD) 432a - 432t. For example, TX MIMO processor 430 may perform some of the aspects described herein for RS multiplexing. Each modulator 432 can process its respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 432 can further process the output sample stream (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) to obtain a downlink signal. The downlink signals from modulators 432a - 432t may be transmitted via antennas 434a - 434t, respectively.

[0051] In UE120, antennas 452a - 452r can receive downlink signals from base station 110 and can provide the received signals to respective demodulators (DEMOD) 454a - 454r. Each demodulator 454 can adjust (e.g., filter, amplify, down - convert, and digitize) the respective received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 454 can further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM etc.) to obtain received symbols. The MIMO detector 456 can obtain received symbols from all demodulators 454a - 454r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols when applicable, and provide the detected symbols. For example, the MIMO detector 456 can provide the detected RS transmitted using the techniques described herein. The receive processor 458 can process the detected symbols (e.g., demodulate, de - interleave, and decode), provide the decoded data for UE120 to data sink 460, and provide the decoded control information to controller / processor 480. According to one or more instances, the CoMP mode can include providing antennas and some of the Tx / Rx functions to be present within their distributed units. For example, some of the Tx / Rx processing can be performed within the central unit while other processing can be performed in the distributed units. For example, according to one or more of the aspects shown in the figure, the BS modulator / demodulator 432 can be within the distributed unit.

[0052] On the uplink, at UE 120, transmission processor 464 may receive and process data from data source 462 (e.g., for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) and control information from controller / processor 480 (e.g., for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)). Transmission processor 464 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals. Symbols from transmission processor 464 may be precoded by TX MIMO processor 466, if applicable, and further processed by demodulators 454a - 454r (e.g., for SC - FDM) and transmitted to base station 110. At BS 110, the uplink signal from UE 120 is received by antenna 434, processed by modulator 432, detected by MIMO detector 436, if applicable, and further processed by receive processor 438 to obtain the decoded data and control information sent by UE 120. Receive processor 438 may provide the decoded data to data sink 439 and the decoded control information to controller / processor 440.

[0053] Controllers / processors 440 and 480 may each direct operations at base station 110 and UE 120, respectively. Processor 440 and / or other processors and modules at base station 110 may execute or direct, for example, the implementation of the functional blocks shown in FIG. 8 and / or other processes for the techniques described herein. Processor 480 and / or other processors and modules at UE 120 may also execute or direct processes for the techniques described herein. Memories 442 and 482 may store data and program code for BS 110 and UE 120, respectively. Scheduler 444 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0054] FIG. 5 shows a diagram 500 illustrating an example for implementing a communication protocol stack according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The illustrated communication protocol stack can be implemented by a device operating within a 5G system (e.g., a system supporting uplink-based mobility). FIG. 500 shows a communication protocol stack including a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer 510, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer 515, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer 520, a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer 525, and a Physical (PHY) layer 530. In various examples, the layers of the protocol stack can be implemented as individual software modules, parts of a processor or ASIC, parts of non-collocated devices connected by communication links, or various combinations thereof. Collocated and non-collocated implementation forms can be used, for example, in a protocol stack for a network access device (e.g., AN, CU, and / or DU) or a UE.

[0055] A first option 505-a shows a split implementation form of the protocol stack where the implementation of the protocol stack is split between a centralized network access device (e.g., ANC202 in FIG. 2) and a distributed network access device (e.g., DU208 in FIG. 2). In the first option 505-a, the RRC layer 510 and the PDCP layer 515 can be implemented by an aggregation unit, and the RLC layer 520, the MAC layer 525, and the PHY layer 530 can be implemented by the DU. In various examples, the CU and the DU can be collocated or not collocated. The first option 505-a can be useful in a macrocell deployment, a microcell deployment, or a picocell deployment.

[0056] The second option 505-b shows an integrated implementation form of the protocol stack where the protocol stack is implemented within a single network access device (e.g., access node (AN), new radio base station (NB BS), new radio node B (NR NB), network node (NN), etc.). In the second option, the RRC layer 510, PDCP layer 515, RLC layer 520, MAC layer 525, and PHY layer 530 can each be implemented by the AN. The second option 505-b may be useful in a femtocell deployment.

[0057] Regardless of whether the network access device implements part or all of the protocol stack, the UE may implement the entire protocol stack (e.g., RRC layer 510, PDCP layer 515, RLC layer 520, MAC layer 525, and PHY layer 530).

[0058] FIG. 6 is a diagram 600 showing an example of a DL-centric subframe. The DL-centric subframe may include a control portion 602. The control portion 602 may be present in the first or start portion of the DL-centric subframe. The control portion 602 may include various scheduling information and / or control information corresponding to various portions of the DL-centric subframe. In some configurations, the control portion 602 may be a physical DL control channel (PDCCH), as shown in FIG. 6. The DL-centric subframe may also include a DL data portion 604. The DL data portion 604 may sometimes be referred to as the payload of the DL-centric subframe. The DL data portion 604 may include communication resources utilized to communicate DL data from a scheduling entity (e.g., UE or BS) to a dependent entity (e.g., UE). In some configurations, the DL data portion 604 may be a physical DL shared channel (PDSCH).

[0059] The subframe of the DL center may also include a common UL part 606. The common UL part 606 may sometimes be referred to as a UL burst, a common UL burst, and / or various other appropriate terms. The common UL part 606 may include feedback information corresponding to various other parts of the subframe of the DL center. For example, the common UL part 606 may include feedback information corresponding to the control part 602. Non-limiting examples of the feedback information may include an ACK signal, a NACK signal, a HARQ indicator, and / or various other appropriate types of information. The common UL part 606 may include additional or alternative information such as random access channel (RACH) procedures, information regarding a scheduling request (SR), and various other appropriate types of information. As shown in FIG. 6, the end of the DL data part 604 may be separated in time from the start of the common UL part 606. This time separation may sometimes be referred to as a gap, a guard period, a guard interval, and / or various other appropriate terms. This separation provides time for the switching from DL communication (e.g., a reception operation by a subordinate entity (e.g., a UE)) to UL communication (e.g., a transmission by a subordinate entity (e.g., a UE)). The above is only an example of a subframe of the DL center, and those skilled in the art will understand that alternative structures having similar features may exist without necessarily departing from the aspects described herein.

[0060] FIG. 7 is a diagram 700 showing an example of a UL center subframe. The UL center subframe may include a control part 702. The control part 702 may be present in the first part or the start part of the UL center subframe. The control part 702 in FIG. 7 may be similar to the control part described above with reference to FIG. 6. The UL center subframe may also include a UL data part 704. The UL data part 704 may sometimes be referred to as the payload of the UL center subframe. The UL data part may refer to communication resources used to communicate UL data from a subordinate entity (e.g., a UE) to a scheduling entity (e.g., a UE or a BS). In some configurations, the control part 702 may be a physical DL control channel (PDCCH).

[0061] As shown in FIG. 7, the end of the control portion 702 can be temporally separated from the start of the UL data portion 704. This temporal separation may sometimes be referred to by various other appropriate terms such as gap, guard period, guard interval, and / or the like. This separation provides time for the switch from DL communication (e.g., the reception operation by a scheduling entity) to UL communication (e.g., the transmission by a scheduling entity). The UL-centered subframe may also include a common UL portion 706. The common UL portion 706 in FIG. 7 may be similar to the common UL portion 606 described above with reference to FIG. 6. The common UL portion 706 may alternatively or additionally include information regarding a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), and various other appropriate types of information. The above is only an example of a UL-centered subframe, and those skilled in the art will understand that alternative structures having similar characteristics may exist without necessarily departing from the aspects described herein.

[0062] In some situations, two or more subordinate entities (e.g., UEs) can communicate with each other using sidelink signals. Real-world application examples of such sidelink communication may include public safety, proximity services, relay from UE to network, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, Internet of Everything (IoE) communication, IoT communication, mission-critical mesh, and / or various other appropriate application examples. Generally, a sidelink signal may refer to a signal communicated from one subordinate entity (e.g., UE1) to another subordinate entity (e.g., UE2) without relaying the communication through a scheduling entity (e.g., UE or BS), although the scheduling entity may be utilized for scheduling and / or control. In some examples, the sidelink signal may be communicated using licensed spectrum (unlike wireless local area networks which typically use unlicensed spectrum).

[0063] The UE can operate in various radio resource configurations, including configurations related to transmitting pilots using a dedicated set of resources (e.g., in the Radio Resource Control (RRC) dedicated state, etc.) or configurations related to transmitting pilots using a common set of resources (e.g., in the RRC common state, etc.). When operating in the RRC dedicated state, the UE can select a dedicated set of resources to transmit pilot signals to the network. When operating in the RRC common state, the UE can select a common set of resources to transmit pilot signals to the network. In either case, the pilot signals transmitted by the UE can be received by one or more network access devices, such as the AN or DU, or parts thereof. Each receiving network access device is configured to receive and measure the pilot signals transmitted on the common set of resources, and also to receive and measure the pilot signals transmitted on the dedicated set of resources allocated to the UE that is a member of the monitoring set of network access devices for the UE. One or more of the receiving network access devices, or the CU to which the receiving network access devices transmit the measured values of the pilot signals, can use the measured values to identify the serving cell for the UE or to initiate a change of the serving cell for one or more of the UEs.

[0064] Exemplary Resource Allocation for PUCCH As described above, LTE PUCCH is a channel used to carry uplink control information (UCI) in some cases. The LTE PUCCH control signaling channel includes hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgments (ACK) or negative acknowledgments (NACK), channel quality indicators (CQI), MIMO feedback (e.g., rank indicator (RI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), etc.), scheduling requests for uplink transmission, and binary phase shift keying (BPSK) or quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) used for PUCCH modulation. In some cases, LTE PUCCH resource allocation can be performed either semi-statically or dynamically. Semi-static resource allocation enables periodic and semi-static reporting of CQI. In addition, semi-static resource allocation supports the transmission of SR (i.e., status report) and ACK / NACK for semi-persistent physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). Semi-static resource allocation generally has a small signaling overhead and is suitable for periodic transmission.

[0065] On the other hand, dynamic resource allocation is more flexible and efficient but may have a larger signaling overhead. Dynamic resource allocation supports dynamic ACK transmission. In some cases, the dynamic ACK resource may be implicitly mapped from the control channel element (CCE) index of the starting PDCCH. In some cases, the dynamic ACK resource may also be explicitly signaled within the PDCCH. In some cases, the dynamic ACK resource may include both implicit mapping and explicit signaling within the PDCCH.

[0066] In some embodiments, one or more changes to the LTE communication standard, which may be implemented in the NR communication standard, may require defining a new resource allocation scheme for PUCCH in NR. FIGS. 8-10 show exemplary operations that a UE may perform to communicate according to such a new resource allocation scheme.

[0067] FIG. 8 shows an exemplary operation 800 related to resource allocation for transmitting one or more uplink control information (UCI) bits within a PUCCH according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The operation 800 can be performed, for example, by a UE.

[0068] At 802, the operation 800 begins by determining a resource allocated to provide one or more uplink control information (UCI) bits based at least on the type of service associated with the UE. At 804, the operation 800 continues by sending a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having one or more UCI bits to a base station using the allocated resource.

[0069] FIG. 9 shows an exemplary operation 900 related to resource allocation for transmitting a buffer status report (BSR) PUCCH according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The operation 900 can be performed, for example, by a UE.

[0070] The operation 900 begins at 902 by generating a buffer status report (BSR). At 904, the operation 900 continues by transmitting the BSR within a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission.

[0071] FIG. 10 shows an exemplary operation 1000 related to resource allocation for a PUCCH according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The operation 1000 can be performed, for example, by a UE.

[0072] At 1002, operation 1000 starts by determining the resources allocated for transmitting a buffer status report (BSR) based on at least one of the type of uplink channel used for transmitting the BSR or the type of service of the traffic corresponding to the BSR. At 1004, operation 1000 continues by determining the resources used for transmitting the BSR based on at least one of the type of uplink channel used for transmitting the BSR or the type of service of the traffic corresponding to the BSR.

[0073] As described above, one or more changes may be made to the LTE communication standard, which may require reflecting the changes within the NR communication standard and defining a new resource allocation scheme for PUCCH in NR. In some embodiments, the first change is that the ACK payload within the NR communication standard can exceed 1 or 2 bits. In some embodiments, the second change can be including a buffer status report (BSR) within the PUCCH. In LTE, the BSR is transmitted on the PUSCH. In some embodiments, the BSR can include a regular BSR, a periodic BSR, and a padding BSR. In some embodiments, including the BSR within the PUCCH can result in a reduction in the turn-around time. Additionally, in some embodiments, the PUCCH-BSR has a reduced payload size compared to the PUSCH-BSR (i.e., the payload content within the PUCCH-BSR may be different from that within the PUSCH-BSR).

[0074] In some embodiments, the third change relates to the introduction of different types of UEs and also to the different types of services ("ToS") associated with such UEs. For example, as described above, NR may support eMBB UEs and URLLC UEs, each having different ToS requirements. More specifically, in some embodiments, the payload size and payload interpretation may vary depending on whether the UE is an eMBB UE or a URLLC UE. For example, mission-critical UEs (e.g., URLLC UEs) may have a smaller payload size than eMBB UEs. In addition, in some embodiments, the channel structure may also vary. For example, the frame structure of an eMBB UE may span an entire long duration, while the frame structure of a URLLC UE may span only 1 or 2 symbols. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the resource allocation type may vary. For example, resources for eMBB UEs may be allocated dynamically, while resources for URLLC UEs may be allocated semi-statically. This semi-static allocation may reduce the turnaround time for URLLC UEs. Also, in embodiments where the PUCCH includes a BSR, the difference between an eMBB UE and a URLLC UE may affect the resource allocation for the transmission of the BSR (for both PUSCH-BSR and PUCCH-BSR).

[0075] Accordingly, embodiments regarding NR PUCCH resource allocation for considering potential differences between the NR communication standard and the LTE communication standard are described herein. In some embodiments, the NR PUCCH resource allocation may be performed either semi-statically or dynamically. In some embodiments, semi-static resource allocation enables periodic CQI reporting, SR transmission, ACK transmission for semi-persistent PDSCH, periodic BSR reporting, and BSR for high-priority UEs such as URLLC UEs. On the other hand, in some embodiments, dynamic resource allocation may provide dynamic ACKs. In some embodiments, the ACK payload may be 1, 2, or 3 or more payload bits.

[0076] In some embodiments, resources are allocated to transmit a PUCCH having one or more bits of only one of ACK, CQI, SR, or BSR. However, in some other embodiments, resources are allocated to transmit a PUCCH having combined UCI. Combined UCI refers to UCI including two or more of ACK, CQI, SR, or BSR. For example, in some embodiments, a small payload ACK (e.g., 1 or 2 bits) may be transmitted via CQI resources within the same subframe (similar to format 2a / 2b). In some embodiments, if the ACK is dynamic, dynamic resource allocation is not essential. However, in embodiments where the ACK is semi-persistent, the ACK resources may be used by other UEs for this subframe. In some embodiments, when the ACK has a higher payload, the CQI resources may not be sufficient for the transmission of the ACK within the same subframe. In such embodiments, the CQI resources may be disabled with resources dynamically allocated for the combined payload. In some embodiments, the CQI resources and the semi-persistent ACK resources may be removed for this subframe.

[0077] In some embodiments, the dynamically allocated resource can be an entirely new resource that does not overlap with either the CQI resource or the ACK resource. In some embodiments, the dynamically allocated resource can include either a CQI resource or an ACK resource with a resource block (RB) extension (e.g., a CQI or ACK resource with more RBs). In some embodiments, the combined payload can be transmitted within a dynamically allocated resource that has joint coding of ACK and CQI. In some other embodiments, the combined payload can be transmitted within a dynamically allocated resource that has separate coding of ACK and CQI. In some other embodiments, the ACK payload may be jointly coded with a first portion of the CQI payload (e.g., the first one or more CQI bits) and separately coded with a second portion of the CQI payload (e.g., the second one or more bits).

[0078] In some embodiments, the SR and the CQI may be considered for transmission within the same subframe. In such embodiments, the transmission can be performed using at least two different techniques. According to the first technique, if the SR is negative, the CQI can be transmitted on the CQI resource. However, if the SR is positive, the SR is transmitted on the SR resource and the CQI may be omitted. According to the second technique, the SR can be piggybacked on the CQI on the CQI resource. For example, the value 0 can mean a negative SR or a normal CQI, and the value 1 can mean a positive SR or a modulated DMSR. Under the second technique of transmitting the SR, the SR resource may be used by other UEs within the same subframe.

[0079] In some embodiments, SR and ACK may be considered for transmissions within the same subframe. In such embodiments, the transmission may be performed using at least two different techniques. According to the first technique, if the SR is negative, the ACK may be transmitted on the ACK resource. However, if the SR is positive, the ACK may be transmitted on the SR resource. In some embodiments, both the ACK resource and the SR resource may be reserved for blind detection of the SR. According to the second technique, SR and ACK may be jointly encoded. In one example, 1 bit within the joint payload having values 0 and 1 may be mapped to negative or positive SR respectively, or vice versa. In another example, 1 bit having a value 1 within the joint payload may be mapped to positive SR, and the absence of the SR bit within the joint payload may be mapped to negative SR. Blind detection of the payload size may be performed at the receiver side to detect the SR.

[0080] In some embodiments, SR and BSR may be considered for transmissions within the same subframe. However, this is not reasonable because in some embodiments, the UE may have only either SR or BSR, but not both.

[0081] In some embodiments, when the ACK has a small payload (e.g., 1 or 2 bits), the transmission of the ACK and the semi-static BSR in the same subframe may be considered. In such embodiments, if the ACK is also semi-persistent, the ACK resource may be removed. On the other hand, when the ACK has a higher payload (e.g., more than 1 or 2 bits), new resources may be deactivated by dynamic allocation. In such embodiments, the BSR resource may be removed. The dynamically allocated resources may be brand new resources that do not overlap with either the BSR resource or the ACK resource, or the dynamically allocated resources may be either the BSR resource or the ACK resource with an extension, e.g., having more RBs. In some examples, the combined payload may be transmitted within a dynamically allocated resource having joint coding of the ACK and the BSR. In some other examples, the combined payload may be transmitted within a dynamically allocated resource having separate coding of the ACK and the BSR.

[0082] In some embodiments, the BSR and CQI may be considered for transmissions within the same subframe. In such embodiments, new resources may be disabled with dynamic allocation. Additionally, in embodiments where the BSR and CQI have different performance goals, new channel structures / codings may be provided for the combined UCI. In some embodiments, the CQI resources and semi-static BSR resources may be removed. The newly dynamically allocated resources may be completely new resources that do not overlap with either the CQI resources or the BSR resources, or the newly dynamically allocated resources may be either CQI resources or BSR resources with an extension, for example having more RBs. In some examples, the combined payload may be transmitted within the dynamically allocated resources having joint coding of the BSR and CQI. In some other examples, the combined payload may be transmitted within the dynamically allocated resources having separate coding of the BSR and CQI.

[0083] As described above, in some embodiments, three or more types of UCI may be transmitted within the same subframe. The newly dynamically allocated resources may disable any semi-statically allocated resources for each individual UCI. When transmitted alone, the newly dynamically allocated resources may be completely new resources that do not overlap with any of the UCI resources, or the dynamically allocated resources may include either UCI resources with an extension, for example having more RBs. In one example, the combined payload may be transmitted within the dynamically allocated resources having joint coding. In another example, the combined payload may be transmitted within the dynamically allocated resources having separate coding for each UCI type. In yet another example, the combined payload may be transmitted within the dynamically allocated resources having separate coding for some UCI types and joint coding for some other UCI types.

[0084] Some of the embodiments described in this specification relate to dynamic resource allocation for ACK. In some embodiments, the dynamic resource allocation for ACK may include implicit mapping and / or explicit signaling. In LTE, the implicit mapping can be performed by setting the starting CCE index for the ACK resource. In NR, in some embodiments, the UE may monitor only the subband PDCCH. In some embodiments, UEs from different subbands may look at different CCE indices. In such embodiments, the same implicit mapping can be used for ACK resource mapping. In some embodiments, UEs from different subbands may look at the same CCE index. Thus, the UEs may be mapped to the same ACK resource. In some embodiments, this may cause collisions. However, to avoid collisions, in some embodiments, the implicit mapping may be subband-dependent. In such embodiments, different subbands may be mapped to different ACK resource pools. For example, a subband-dependent offset above the starting CCE index may be added. In some embodiments, the subband-dependent resource pool / offset may be signaled within the SIB.

[0085] In NR, in some embodiments, the eNB may provide scheduling for two or more slots within one PDCCH. Such cross-slot scheduling may also require different mapping functions from the starting CCE index to the UL ACK resource. In some embodiments, the implicit mapping may be cross-slot scheduling-dependent. In such embodiments, the PDCCHs for grants in different slots may be mapped to the same ACK resource. For example, a slot-dependent offset above the starting CCE index may be added. In some embodiments, the slot-dependent resource offset may be signaled within the SIB.

[0086] In NR, in some embodiments, the UE may need to send ACKs with different payload sizes (i.e., different numbers of payload bits). In some embodiments, the different payload sizes may also need to be mapped to different resource pools in order to ensure that some performance requirements are met. In such embodiments, the implicit mapping may be payload-size dependent. For example, a payload-size dependent offset may be added at the top of the starting CCE index. In some embodiments, the payload-size dependent resource offset may be signaled within the SIB.

[0087] As described above, in some embodiments, the dynamic allocation for ACK may be explicit signaling. In such embodiments, the eNB may send a grant for the ACK within the PDCCH. In some embodiments, this may disable the implicit mapping.

[0088] The methods disclosed herein include one or more steps or actions for implementing the described methods. The method steps and / or actions may be interchanged with each other without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, the order and / or use of specific steps and / or actions may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims, unless a specific order of steps or actions is specified.

[0089] As used herein, the phrase "at least one of" in reference to a list of items refers to any combination of those items including a single member. By way of example, "at least one of a, b, or c" includes a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c, as well as any combination having multiple of the same element (e.g., a-a, a-a-a, a-a-b, a-a-c, a-b-b, a-c-c, b-b, b-b-b, b-b-c, c-c, and c-c-c, or a, b, and c in any other order).

[0090] As used herein, the term "determining" encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, "determining" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, database or other data structure), ascertaining, etc. Further, "determining" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), etc. Still further, "determining" may include resolving, selecting, electing, establishing, etc.

[0091] The foregoing description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Accordingly, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the claim language, and references to singular elements are to be construed as meaning one or more unless expressly stated otherwise. Unless otherwise expressly stated, the term "some" refers to one or more. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those skilled in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, the disclosure herein is not dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is expressly recited in the claims. A claim element is not to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph 6, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase "means for" or, in the case of a method claim, the element is expressly recited using the phrase "step for".

[0092] The various operations of the methods described above may be performed by any suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions. The means may include, but are not limited to, various hardware and / or software component and / or modules including a circuit, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a processor. In general, where there are operations shown in the figures, those operations may have corresponding equivalent means-plus-function components with like numbers.

[0093] For example, the means for transmitting and / or receiving may include one or more of the transmission processor 420, TX MIMO processor 430, reception processor 438, or antenna 434 of the base station 110, and / or the transmission processor 464, TX MIMO processor 466, reception processor 458, or antenna 452 of the user equipment 120. Additionally, the means for generating, multiplexing, and / or applying may include one or more processors such as the controller / processor 440 of the base station 110 and / or the controller / processor 480 of the user equipment 120.

[0094] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the present disclosure may be implemented or executed using a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0095] When implemented in hardware, an exemplary hardware configuration may include a processing system within a wireless node. The processing system may be implemented using a bus architecture. The bus may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges, depending on the specific application of the processing system and overall design constraints. The bus may link together various circuits including a processor, a machine-readable medium, and a bus interface. The bus interface may be used to connect, among other things, a network adapter to the processing system via the bus. The network adapter may be used to implement the signal processing functions of the PHY layer. In the case of user terminal 120 (see FIG. 1), a user interface (e.g., keypad, display, mouse, joystick, etc.) may be connected to the bus. The bus may also link various other circuits such as a timing source, peripherals, a voltage regulator, a power management circuit, etc., which are well known in the art and thus will not be described further. The processor may be implemented using one or more general-purpose processors and / or dedicated processors. Examples include microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuits capable of executing software. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implement the above-described functions of the processing system according to the specific application and overall design constraints imposed on the system as a whole.

[0096] When implemented in software, the functionality can be stored on a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code, or transmitted via a computer-readable medium. Software should be broadly construed to mean instructions, data, or any combination thereof, whether called software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or by any other name. A computer-readable medium includes both a computer storage medium and a communication medium including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A processor may be responsible for managing buses and general processing, including execution of software modules stored on a machine-readable storage medium. A computer-readable storage medium may be coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. By way of example, a machine-readable medium may include a transmission line, a carrier wave modulated by data, and / or a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions separate from a wireless node, all of which may be accessed by a processor via a bus interface. Alternatively or additionally, a machine-readable medium or any portion thereof may be integrated into the processor, similar to a cache and / or a general purpose register file. Examples of a machine-readable storage medium can include, by way of example only, RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, ROM (Read Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), registers, magnetic disks, optical disks, hard drives, or any other suitable storage medium, or any combination thereof. A machine-readable medium may be embodied within a computer program product.

[0097] A software module can contain a single instruction or many instructions and can be distributed across several different code segments, across different programs, and across multiple storage media. A computer-readable medium may contain several software modules. A software module contains instructions that, when executed by an apparatus such as a processor, cause a processing system to perform various functions. A software module may include a sending module and a receiving module. Each software module may exist within a single storage device or may be distributed across multiple storage devices. By way of example, when a trigger event occurs, a software module may be loaded from a hard drive into RAM. During execution of a software module, the processor may load some of the instructions into a cache to increase access speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded into a general-purpose register file for execution by the processor. When referring hereinafter to the functions of a software module, it will be understood that such functions are implemented by the processor when executing instructions from that software module.

[0098] Also, any connection is properly called a computer-readable medium. For example, when software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared (IR), wireless, and microwave, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, wireless, and microwave are included in the definition of the medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray (registered trademark) disc, where disk typically magnetically reproduces data and disc optically reproduces data using a laser. Thus, in some embodiments, a computer-readable medium may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium (e.g., a tangible medium). Additionally, in other embodiments, a computer-readable medium may include a transitory computer-readable medium (e.g., a signal). The above combinations should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0099] Accordingly, some embodiments may include a computer program product for performing the operations presented herein. For example, such a computer program product may include a computer-readable medium having (and / or encoded with) instructions executable by one or more processors to perform the operations described herein. For example, instructions for performing the operations described and shown in FIGS. 13, 17, and 18.

[0100] Furthermore, it should be understood that modules and / or other suitable means for performing the methods and techniques described herein may be downloaded and / or otherwise obtained by a user terminal and / or a base station, where applicable. For example, such a device may be coupled to a server to facilitate the transfer of means for performing the methods described herein. Alternatively, the various methods described herein may be provided via a storage means (such as a physical storage medium such as RAM, ROM, compact disc (CD) or floppy disc) when the user terminal and / or the base station couples or provides the storage means to the device so that the various methods can be obtained. Furthermore, any other suitable technique for providing the methods and techniques described herein to a device may be utilized.

[0101] It should be understood that the claims are not limited to the exact configurations and components shown above. Various modifications, changes, and variations may be made to the configurations, operations, and details of the methods and apparatuses described above without departing from the scope of the claims.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0102] 100 Wireless Network 102a Macro Cell 102b Macro Cell 102c Macro Cell 102x Pico Cell 102y Femto Cell 102z Femto Cell 110 Base Station (BS) 110a BS 110b BS 110c BS, Macro BS 110r Relay Station 110x BS 110y BS 110z BS 120 UE, User Equipment, User Terminal 120r UE 120x UE 120y UE 130 Network Controller 200 Distributed Radio Access Network (RAN), Local Architecture, Architecture 202 Access Node Controller (ANC) 204 Next Generation Core Network (NG-CN) 206 5G Access Node 208 TRP, DU 210 Next Generation AN (NG-AN) 222 Tx / Rx 300 Distributed RAN 302 Centralized Core Network Unit (C-CU) 304 Centralized RAN Unit (C-RU) 306 DU 412 Data Source 420 Processor, Transmitting Processor 432 Modulator, BS Modulator / Demodulator 432a~432t Modulator (MOD) 434 Antenna 434a~434t Antenna 436 MIMO Detector 438 Processor, Receiving Processor 439 Data Sink 440 Controller / Processor, Processor 442 Memory 444 Scheduler 452 Antenna 452a~452r Antenna 454 Demodulator 454a~454r Demodulator (DEMOD) 456 MIMO Detector 458 Processor, Receiving Processor 462 Data Source 464 Processor, Transmitting Processor 466 Processor, TX MIMO Processor 480 Controller / Processor, Processor 500 Figure 505-a Option 1 505-b Option 2 510 Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer 515 Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer 520 Radio Link Control (RLC) layer 525 Medium Access Control (MAC) layer 530 Physical (PHY) layer 600 Figure 604 DL Data Portion 606 Common UL Portion 700 Figure 702 Control Portion 704 UL Data Portion 706 Common UL Portion 800 Operation 900 Operation 1000 Operation

Claims

Claim 1 A method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), comprising: determining a resource allocated for transmitting a scheduling request (SR) and one or more buffer status reports (BSRs), wherein the determining step determines the resource based at least on a service type of traffic corresponding to the BSR; sending the SR and the one or more BSRs to a base station on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) using the allocated resource. A method. Claim 2 The method according to claim 1, wherein the resource is allocated dynamically or semi-statically. The method according to claim 1. Claim 3 An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: means for determining a resource allocated for transmitting a scheduling request (SR) and one or more buffer status reports (BSRs), wherein the determining is determining the resource based at least on a service type of traffic corresponding to the BSR; means for sending the SR and the one or more BSRs to a base station on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) using the allocated resource. An apparatus. Claim 4 A computer-readable recording medium including instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method according to claim 1 or 2.

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