Uplink control information multiplexing when there is dynamic physical uplink shared channel skipping

Abstract

To provide methods for handling of UCI multiplexing in a PUSCH when dynamic PUSCH skipping is configured.SOLUTION: A method that may be implemented with user equipment (UE) includes: receiving an uplink grant for transmission on a plurality of physical uplink shared channels (PUSCHs), the plurality of PUSCHs being located on different component carriers (CCs); identifying one or more PUSCHs, of the plurality of PUSCHs, on which uplink control information (UCI) can be transmitted in a slot; assigning PUSCH data to the one or more identified PUSCHs on which the UCI can be transmitted before assigning PUSCH data to remaining PUSCHs of the plurality of PUSCHs; and transmitting the UCI and the PUSCH data in the slot on the assigned PUSCHs.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7B

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Cross - Reference to Related Applications This application claims the benefit and priority of U.S. Application No. 16 / 709,326, filed Dec. 10, 2019, which claims the benefit and priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 901,619, filed Sep. 17, 2019, both of which are assigned to the assignee of this application, are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety as if fully set forth herein, and are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all applicable purposes.

[0002] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communication, and more particularly, to techniques for sending uplink control information.

Background Art

[0003] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcast, etc. These wireless communication systems may employ multiple - access techniques that can support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple - access systems include, for example, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP (registered trademark)) Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, the LTE - Advanced (LTE - A) system, the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, the Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) system, the Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) system, the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) system, the Single - Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC - FDMA) system, and the Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD - SCDMA) system.

[0004] These multiple access technologies are employed in various telecommunications standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate at urban, national, regional, and even global levels. New radio (e.g., 5G NR) is an example of an emerging telecommunications standard. NR is a set of extensions to the LTE mobile standard published by 3GPP. NR is designed to better support mobile broadband internet access by improving spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving service, utilizing new spectrums, and better integrating with other open standards that use OFDMA with cyclic prefixes (CP) on downlink (DL) and uplink (UL). To these purposes, NR supports beamforming, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation.

[0005] However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, further improvements in NR and LTE technologies are needed. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to other multiple access technologies and the telecommunications standards that employ them. [Overview of the project] [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] Each of the systems, methods, and devices of this disclosure has several embodiments, and no single embodiment alone may possess the desired attributes. Without limiting the scope of this disclosure as expressed in the following claims, some features are briefly described here. After considering this description, and then reading the section entitled “Modes for Carrying Out the Invention” for more details, it will be understood how the features of this disclosure provide improved processing for uplink control information (UCI) multiplexing in a PUSCH when dynamic physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) skipping is configured.

[0007] Several embodiments provide methods for wireless communication by user equipment (UE). The method generally includes the step of receiving an uplink permission for transmission on a plurality of PUSCHs, wherein the plurality of PUSCHs are located on different component carriers (CCs). The method generally includes the step of identifying one or more PUSCHs from a plurality of PUSCHs that can be transmitted by a UCI in a slot. The method generally includes the step of assigning PUSCH data to one or more identified PUSCHs from which the UCI can be transmitted, before assigning PUSCH data to the remaining PUSCHs from the plurality of PUSCHs, and transmitting the UCI and PUSCH data in a slot on the assigned PUSCHs.

[0008] Several embodiments provide a method for wireless communication by a UE. The method generally includes the step of receiving an uplink permission for transmission on multiple PUSCHs in a slot, wherein the multiple PUSCHs are located on different CCs. The method generally includes the step of determining whether PUSCH data will be transmitted in the slot. The method generally includes the step of determining to transmit a UCI in the slot on one or more PUSCHs, or on one or more PUSCHs, based on the determination of whether PUSCH data will be transmitted in the slot, before assigning the PUSCH data to one of the multiple PUSCHs. The method generally includes the step of transmitting a UCI in the slot on the determined one or more PUSCHs, or on the determined one or more PUSCHs.

[0009] Several embodiments provide a device for wireless communication. The device generally includes means for receiving uplink permission for transmission on a plurality of PUSCHs, wherein the plurality of PUSCHs are located on different CCs. The device generally includes means for identifying one or more PUSCHs out of a plurality of PUSCHs from which a UCI may transmit in a slot. The device generally includes means for assigning PUSCH data to one or more identified PUSCHs from which a UCI may transmit, before assigning PUSCH data to the remaining PUSCHs out of a plurality of PUSCHs, and means for transmitting the UCI and PUSCH data in a slot on the assigned PUSCHs.

[0010] Several embodiments provide a device for wireless communication. The device generally includes means for receiving uplink permission for transmission on multiple PUSCHs in a slot, wherein the multiple PUSCHs are located on different CCs. The device generally includes means for determining whether PUSCH data will be transmitted in a slot. The device generally includes means for determining whether to transmit a UCI in a slot on one or more PUSCHs, or on one or more PUSCHs, based on the determination of whether PUSCH data will be transmitted in a slot, before assigning PUSCH data to one of the multiple PUSCHs. The device generally includes means for transmitting a UCI in a slot on the determined one or more PUSCHs, or on the determined one or more PUSCHs.

[0011] Several embodiments provide a device for wireless communication. The device generally includes memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory. The at least one processor is generally configured to receive uplink permission for transmission on a plurality of PUSCHs, wherein the plurality of PUSCHs are located on different CCs. The at least one processor is generally configured to identify one or more of the plurality of PUSCHs from which a UCI can be transmitted in a slot. The at least one processor is generally configured to assign PUSCH data to one or more identified PUSCHs from which a UCI can be transmitted, before assigning PUSCH data to the remaining PUSCHs from the plurality of PUSCHs, and to transmit the UCI and PUSCH data in a slot on the assigned PUSCHs.

[0012] Several embodiments provide a device for wireless communication. The device generally includes memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory. The at least one processor is generally configured to receive uplink permission for transmission on a plurality of PUSCHs in a slot, wherein the plurality of PUSCHs are located on different CCs. The at least one processor is generally configured to determine whether PUSCH data will be transmitted in a slot. The at least one processor is generally configured to determine whether PUSCH data will be transmitted in a slot, based on the determination of whether PUSCH data will be transmitted in a slot, before assigning PUSCH data to one of the plurality of PUSCHs. The at least one processor is generally configured to transmit UCI in a slot on the determined one or more PUSCHs, or on the determined one or more PUSCHs.

[0013] Several embodiments provide a computer-readable medium that stores computer-executable code for wireless communication thereon. The computer-readable medium generally includes a code for receiving uplink permission for transmission on a plurality of PUSCHs, wherein the plurality of PUSCHs are located on different CCs. The computer-readable medium generally includes a code for identifying one or more PUSCHs out of a plurality of PUSCHs that a UCI may transmit on in a slot. The computer-readable medium generally includes a code for assigning PUSCH data to one or more identified PUSCHs that a UCI may transmit on before assigning PUSCH data to the remaining PUSCHs out of a plurality of PUSCHs, and a code for transmitting the UCI and PUSCH data in a slot on the assigned PUSCH.

[0014] Some embodiments provide a computer-readable medium that stores computer-executable code for wireless communication thereon. The computer-readable medium generally includes code for receiving uplink permission for transmission on multiple PUSCHs in a slot, wherein the multiple PUSCHs are located on different CCs. The computer-readable medium generally includes code for determining whether PUSCH data will be transmitted in a slot. The computer-readable medium generally includes code for determining whether to transmit a UCI in a slot on one or more PUSCHs, or on one or more PUSCHs, based on the determination of whether PUSCH data will be transmitted in a slot, before assigning PUSCH data to one of the multiple PUSCHs. The computer-readable medium generally includes code for transmitting a UCI in a slot on the determined one or more PUSCHs, or on the determined one or more PUSCHs.

[0015] To achieve the above and related objectives, one or more embodiments shall have features that are fully described below and, in particular, pointed out in the claims. The following description and accompanying drawings shall detail some exemplary features of one or more embodiments. However, these features shall only illustrate a few of the various ways in which the principles of the various embodiments may be employed.

[0016] To allow for a more detailed understanding of the features of this disclosure, some of which may be described in the drawings, a more specific description of these features may be obtained by referring to the embodiments shown above. However, since this description may extend to other equally effective embodiments, it should be noted that the accompanying drawings should not be considered to represent only some typical embodiments of this disclosure and therefore limit the scope of this disclosure. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0017] [Figure 1] This is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an exemplary telecommunications system according to some aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] This is a block diagram conceptually illustrating the design of exemplary base station (BS) and user equipment (UE) according to several aspects of this disclosure. [Figure 3A] This call flow diagram illustrates an exemplary uplink control information (UCI) fallback to the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) when there is a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) skip. [Figure 3B] This is a block diagram showing exemplary overlapping PUSCH and PUCCH configured in a slot. [Figure 3C] This is a more detailed call flow diagram showing an exemplary UCI fallback to PUCCH when there is a PUSCH skip in Figure 3A. [Figure 3D] This block diagram shows an exemplary UCI multiplexed in a PUSCH within a slot, and data assigned to another PUSCH. [Figure 3E]A block diagram showing an exemplary UCI fallback to PUCCH in a slot. [Figure 3F] A block diagram showing an exemplary UCI fallback to PUCCH and PUSCH skip in a slot. [Figure 4] A flowchart showing exemplary operations for wireless communication by a UE according to some aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] A flowchart showing exemplary operations for wireless communication by a UE according to some aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 6A] A call flow diagram showing an exemplary UCI transmission on PUCCH when there is PUSCH skip according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 6B] A more detailed call flow diagram showing an exemplary UCI transmission on PUCCH when there is PUSCH skip according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 6C] A block diagram showing exemplary UCI transmitted on PUCCH when there is no data assigned to PUSCH in a slot according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 6D] A block diagram showing exemplary UCI transmitted on PUCCH and PUSCH skip when there is no data assigned to PUSCH in a slot according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 7A] A call flow diagram showing exemplary UCI multiplexing on PUSCH when there is PUSCH skip according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 7B] A more detailed call flow diagram showing exemplary UCI multiplexing on PUSCH when there is PUSCH skip according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 7C] A block diagram showing exemplary data assigned to a slot in which UCI is multiplexed according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 7D]A block diagram showing exemplary data assigned to slots in which UCI is multiplexed and PUSCH skip according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] A diagram showing a communication device that may include various components configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0018] For ease of understanding, the same reference numbers are used to designate identical elements common to the figures where possible. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one aspect may be advantageously utilized in other aspects without specific recitation.

[0019] Aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus, method, processing system, and computer-readable medium for handling uplink control information (UCI) multiplexing in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) when dynamic physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) skip is configured.

[0020] In some systems (e.g., New Radio or 5G NR systems), user equipment (UE) is configured to transmit uplink control information (UCI), which may include scheduling requests (SR), hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ) feedback (e.g., acknowledgment / denial or HARQ-ACK information), and / or channel status information (CSI) feedback. The UE is also configured for data transmission over a PUSCH. The UE may be configured with multiple PUSCHs on different component carriers (CCs). In some cases, the UE may be scheduled to send data and UCI over overlapping time periods, such as within the same slot. The UE may transmit UCI over a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). However, in some cases, the UE may transmit UCI over a PUSCH (e.g., rather than over a PUCCH) when the UCI and PUSCH overlap in time. For example, if UE decides that PUSCH is scheduled for a given time and has UCI to send at that time, UE is configured to multiplex the UCI in PUSCH (for example, along with uplink data).

[0021] In some systems (e.g., New Radio or 5G NR systems), a UE may be configured to skip transmissions on PUSCHs that have no assigned data (dynamically, for example, when the UE does not have uplink data to send on the PUSCH at the scheduled time for the PUSCH). As used herein, PUSCH skipping may refer to the UE dropping or not transmitting on certain PUSCHs (for example, some PUSCHs may include PUSCHs that were assigned via uplink authorization to the UE for uplink transmission). PUSCH skipping may be based on configured skip rules. In some scenarios, the UE may not know that a PUSCH will be skipped when the UE decides to multiplex UCI on the PUSCH. In such scenarios, the UE may fall back to transmitting UCI on the PUSCH. This may reduce efficiency, for example, by increasing the time and power consumption required to transmit UCI.

[0022] Aspects of this disclosure provide solutions for multiplexing UCIs on a PUSCH when a PUSCH skip is configured. For example, an aspect provides that a UE checks whether there is uplink data to transmit before multiplexing a UCI on a PUSCH. Thus, according to some aspects, if there is no uplink data, the UE can place the UCI on the PUSCH. In this way, the UE prepares the UCI on the PUSCH and then avoids falling back to sending the UCI on the PUSCH when the UE decides to skip the PUSCH. Also, if there is uplink data, the UE can assign the data to a PUSCH on which the UCI can be multiplexed before assigning the data to another PUSCH. In this way, the UE can ensure that a UCI can be multiplexed on a PUSCH in a slot, so that a PUSCH with data is not skipped. In some examples, the multiplexed UCI may puncture a PUSCH (e.g., PUSCH data is rate-matched). In some cases, when the number of UCI bits to be transmitted is below a threshold number of UCI bits, or when it is for a small amount of UCI data (e.g., 2 bits or less of UCI), the UCI may be punctured into the PUSCH (e.g., only then). For larger amounts of UCI data (e.g., above the threshold), the UCI may then be multiplexed by rate matching the PUSCH. For example, puncturing or rate matching may be performed as defined in the wireless standard (e.g., in the IEEE wireless standard). Multiplexing UCI bits onto the PUSCH can increase the effective code rate of the PUSCH. In some cases (e.g., when polar coding is used for transmission), rate matching a large number of UCI bits (e.g., rather than puncturing them) may result in a lower effective code rate for the PUSCH (e.g., compared to puncturing).

[0023] Therefore, in one or more embodiments, the UE receives uplink permission for transmission on multiple PUSCHs in a slot. The PUSCHs are located on different component carriers (CCs). The UE identifies the PUSCHs on which the UCI can be transmitted in the slot. The UE then assigns PUSCH data to the identified PUSCHs before assigning PUSCH data to the remaining PUSCHs. The UE transmits the UCI and PUSCH data in the slot on the assigned PUSCHs.

[0024] In one or more embodiments, the UE may receive uplink permission for multiple PUSCHs in a slot. The multiple PUSCHs are located on different CCs. The UE may determine whether or not PUSCH data will be transmitted in the slot. Based on whether or not there is PUSCH data, the UE may decide to transmit a UCI in the slot on a PUCCH or a PUSCH before assigning the PUSCH data to one of the PUSCHs. The UE transmits a UCI in the slot on the determined PUCCH or PUSCH.

[0025] The following description provides an example of UCI multiplexing in PUSCH when dynamic PUSCH skipping is configured in a communication system, and does not limit the scope, applicability, or examples described in the claims. Modifications may be made to the function and configuration of the elements described without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Various examples may, as appropriate, omit, replace, or add various procedures or components. For example, the methods described may be performed in a different order than described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Also, features described in 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 embodiments described herein. Furthermore, the scope of this disclosure shall cover apparatus or methods that are practiced using other structures, functions, or structures and functions, in addition to or in addition to the various embodiments of this disclosure described herein. It should be understood that any embodiment of this disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of the claims. The term “exemplary” is used herein to mean “acting as an example, case, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” should not necessarily be construed as being preferable or more advantageous than any other embodiment.

[0026] In general, any number of wireless networks can be deployed within a given geographical area. Each wireless network may support a specific radio access technology (RAT) and may operate on one or more frequencies. RATs are sometimes called radio technologies or air interfaces. Frequencies are sometimes called carriers, subcarriers, frequency channels, tones, or subbands. Each frequency may support a single RAT within a given geographical area to avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs. In some cases, 5G NR RAT networks may be deployed.

[0027] Figure 1 shows an exemplary wireless communication network 100 in which embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented. For example, the wireless communication network 100 may be an NR system (e.g., a 5G NR network).

[0028] As shown in Figure 1, the wireless communication network 100 may include several base stations (BS) 110a–110z (each also referred to individually as BS110 or collectively as BS110 in this specification) and other network entities. A BS110 may provide communication coverage to a specific geographic area, which may be called a “cell” and may be fixed or move according to the location of a mobile BS110. In some examples, BS110s may be interconnected with each other and / or with one or more other BS or network nodes (not shown) in the wireless communication network 100 through various types of backhaul interfaces (e.g., direct physical connection, wireless connection, virtual network, etc.) using any suitable transport network. In the example shown in Figure 1, BS110a, 110b, and 110c may be macro BS for macrocells 102a, 102b, and 102c, respectively. BS110x may be a pico BS for picocell 102x. BS110y and 110z may be femtoBS for femtocells 102y and 102z, respectively. A BS may support one or more cells. BS110 communicates with user equipment (UEs) 120a to 120y (each also referred to individually as UE120 or collectively as UE120 in this specification) within the wireless communication network 100. The UE120s (e.g., 120x, 120y, etc.) may be distributed throughout the wireless communication network 100, and each UE120 may be stationary or mobile.

[0029] According to several embodiments, UE120 may be configured for UCI multiplexing and PUSCH skipping. As shown in Figure 1, UE120a includes a UCI multiplexing manager 122. The UCI multiplexing manager 122 may be configured for UCI multiplexing in the case of PUSCH skipping, according to embodiments of this disclosure. In some examples, the UCI multiplexing manager 122 may receive uplink permission for transmission on multiple PUSCHs, and the multiple PUSCHs may be located on different CCs. The UCI multiplexing manager 122 may further identify one or more of the multiple PUSCHs to which the UCI may be transmitted in a slot. In addition, the UCI multiplexing manager 122 may also assign PUSCH data to one or more identified PUSCHs to which the UCI may be transmitted before assigning PUSCH data to the remaining PUSCHs of the multiple PUSCHs. The UCI multiplexing manager 122 may further transmit UCI and PUSCH data in a slot on the assigned PUSCHs. In some examples, the UCI multiplexing manager 122 may receive uplink permission for transmission on multiple PUSCHs in a slot. The multiple PUSCHs are located on different CCs. The UCI multiplexing manager 122 may determine whether or not PUSCH data will be transmitted in the slot. Before assigning PUSCH data to one of the multiple PUSCHs, the UCI multiplexing manager 122 may decide to transmit UCI in the slot on one or more PUSCHs, or on one or more of the multiple PUSCHs, based on the decision on whether or not PUSCH data will be transmitted in the slot. The UCI multiplexing manager 122 may transmit UCI in the slot on the determined one or more PUSCHs, or on the determined one or more PUSCHs.

[0030] The wireless communication network 100 may also include relay stations (e.g., relay station 110r), also known as relays, which receive transmissions of data and / or other information from upstream stations (e.g., BS110a or UE120r) and send transmissions of data and / or other information to downstream stations (e.g., UE120 or BS110) or relay transmissions between UE120s to facilitate communication between devices.

[0031] The network controller 130 can be coupled to a set of BS110s and perform coordination and control for these BS110s. The network controller 130 can communicate with the BS110s via backhaul. The BS110s can also communicate with each other (for example, directly or indirectly) via wireless backhaul or wireline backhaul.

[0032] Figure 2 shows exemplary components of BS110a and UE120a (for example, in the wireless communication network 100 in Figure 1) that may be used to implement aspects of the present disclosure.

[0033] In BS110a, the transmitting processor 220 may receive data from the data source 212 and control information from the controller / processor 240. The control information may be for the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH), Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), Group Common PDCCH (GC PDCCH), etc. The data may be for the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), etc. The processor 220 may process the data and control information (e.g., encoding and symbol mapping) to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The transmitting processor 220 may also generate reference symbols, such as for the Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), and Cell-Specific Reference Signal (CRS). The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 can, where applicable, perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, and / or reference symbols, and provide output symbol streams to modulators (MODs) 232a-232t. Each modulator 232 may process its respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator may further process its output sample stream (e.g., analog conversion, amplification, filtering, and upconversion) to obtain a downlink signal. The downlink signals from modulators 232a-232t may be transmitted via antennas 234a-234t, respectively.

[0034] In UE120a, antennas 252a-252r may receive downlink signals from BS110a and provide the received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 254a-254r within the transceiver, respectively. Each demodulator 254 can adjust its respective received signal (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) and acquire an input sample. Each demodulator may further process the input sample (e.g., for OFDM) to acquire a received symbol. A MIMO detector 256 can acquire received symbols from all demodulators 254a-254r and, where applicable, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols and provide the detected symbols. A receiving processor 258 can process the detected symbols (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) and provide the decoded data for UE120a to the data sink 260 and the decoded control information to the controller / processor 280.

[0035] On the uplink, in UE120a, the transmit processor 264 can receive and process data from data source 262 (e.g., for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) and control information from controller / processor 280 (e.g., for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)). The transmit processor 264 can also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., for a sounding reference signal (SRS)). The symbols from the transmit processor 264 can be precoded by the TX MIMO processor 266, where applicable, further processed by modulators 254a-254r in the transceiver (e.g., for SC-FDM), and transmitted to BS110a. In BS110a, the uplink signal from UE120a can be received by antenna 234, processed by demodulator 232, detected by MIMO detector 236, where applicable, and further processed by receive processor 238 to obtain the decoded data and control information sent by UE120a. The receiving processor 238 may provide the decoded data to the data sink 239 and the decoded control information to the controller / processor 240.

[0036] Memories 242 and 282 can store data and program code related to BS110a and UE120a, respectively. Scheduler 244 can schedule the UE for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0037] The controller / processor 280 and / or other processors and modules in the UE120a may perform or be instructed to perform processes for the techniques described herein. For example, as shown in Figure 2, the controller / processor 280 of the UE120a may have a UCI multiplexing manager 281 which may be configured for UCI multiplexing in the PUSCH process when a PUSCH skip is configured, in the manner described herein. Other components of the UE120a, as shown in the controller / processor 280, may be used to perform the operations described herein.

[0038] As explained above, the UE may be configured for UCI multiplexing and PUSCH skipping, which can be problematic if the UE decides to send a UCI in PUSCH, and then PUSCH is skipped because it does not have any assigned data. Figure 3A is a call flow 300A illustrating an exemplary UCI fallback to PUSCH in the case of a PUSCH skip. Figure 3C is a more detailed call flow 300C illustrating an exemplary UCI fallback to PUSCH in the case of a PUSCH skip.

[0039] As shown in Figure 3A, in 306, UE302 receives an uplink permission (for example, on PDCCH) from serving gNB304 to schedule a PUSCH in the slot. Different PUSCHs may be scheduled on different CCs in the slot. In an exemplary example, UE302 (for example, in 306) is scheduled in a given slot 301 with eight PUSCHs (PUSCH1, PUSCH2, ..., PUSCH8) and at least one PUCCH, as shown in Figure 3B. As shown in Figure 3B, PUSCH1-8 are configured in slot 301 on different CCs such as CC0-CC7.

[0040] In 308, UE302 is configured / scheduled by serving gNB304 to send UCIs (e.g., HARQ-ACK, SR, and / or CSI) in the slot. In Figure 3A, the UCI configuration / scheduling (in 308) is shown after the uplink authorization that schedules the PUSCH (in 306), but in one or more examples, the UCI may be configured / scheduled before or concurrently with the uplink authorization that schedules the PUSCH. In some examples, the UCI may be scheduled dynamically. In some examples, UE302 may be configured with a timeline, trigger, or period for sending UCIs.

[0041] In 310, UE302 decides to multiplex the UCI on one or more of the PUSCHs scheduled in the slot (for example, when both PUSCH and PUCCH are scheduled in the slot). For example, UE302 can operate its multiplexing logic to determine on which PUSCH the UCI may be transmitted. UE302 may be configured with rules for determining whether or not the UCI may be transmitted on a PUSCH. In some examples, the UCI multiplexing rules are hardcoded in UE302 according to 3GPP technical standards (e.g., 38.213 v15.4.0, section 9.3 specifies various rules for transmitting UCI on a PUSCH). In some examples, a PUSCH may be configured that can be multiplexed with the UCI. As shown in Figure 3C, UCI multiplexing in 310 may occur in the PHY layer 305 of UE302. In an exemplary example, based on the UCI multiplexing rules, UE302 (in 310) decides to multiplex the UCI on PUSCH2, as shown in Figure 3D.

[0042] In 312, UE302 assigns data (e.g., higher-level Media Access Control (MAC) protocol data units (PDUs)) to one or more of the scheduled PUSCHs. As shown in Figure 3C, the data assignment in 312 may occur in MAC layer 303 of UE302. In an exemplary case, UE302 (e.g., in the MAC layer) has only a small amount of data to send, and UE302 (in 312) constructs PUSCH1 with that data, as shown in Figure 3D, and does not have data to fill the remaining PUSCHs 2-8.

[0043] For example, UE302 may be configured for PUSCH skipping (e.g., via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling). In 314, UE302 decides to skip (e.g., drop or not transmit) a PUSCH in a slot that does not have PUSCH data allocated for transmission in that slot. For example, UE302 may be configured not to transmit PUSCHs with only padding or only UCI, but to transmit a PUSCH only when there is PUSCH data to be transmitted on that PUSCH. However, PUSCH skipping can complicate UCI transmissions if the PUSCH data allocation and / or skipping is unknown to the UE when UCI multiplexing is decided. For example, as shown in Figure 3A, when UE302 (for example, in the PHY layer) decides to multiplex a UCI over a PUSCH (at 310), and UE302 (for example, in the MAC layer) decides (at 312) not to assign any data to a PUSCH and therefore to skip that PUSCH (at 314), then UE302 (for example, in the PHY layer) must fall back to sending a UCI over a PUCCH. Thus, at 316, UE302 sends a PUSCH with assigned data in the slot (skipping PUSCHs without any data), and at 318, UE sends a UCI over PUCCH309 in the slot. As shown in Figure 3C, the skip at 314 may occur in PHY layer 305 after PHY layer 305 has made the UCI multiplexing decision at 310. In the exemplary cases shown in Figures 3A to 3E, UE302 can transmit PUSCH1, but according to the configured PUSCH skip, it drops PUSCH2 to 8, and UE302 (at 314) falls back to transmitting UCI over PUSCH.In this case, both PUCCH and PUSCH (in 316 and 318) are transmitted in the slot as shown in Figure 3E, and the remaining PUSCH 307 is dropped (skipped) as shown in Figure 3F.

[0044] Therefore, additional PUCCH / PUSCH resources may be used (for example, because both PUSCH and PUCCH are sent), there may be additional delays (for example, to fall back to prepare PUCCH), which in turn may lead to additional power consumption.

[0045] Example UCI multiplexing with PUSCH skips In some examples, before a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) skip and the multiplexing of uplink control information (UCI) on the PUSCH, the physical (PHY) layer may check the media access control (MAC) layer to determine whether the MAC layer has data to send (e.g., to schedule, to assign to the PUSCH). In some examples, the PHY layer sends a query (e.g., a direct function call) to the MAC layer, and the MAC layer sends a response indicating whether or not MAC layer data exists. For example, the PHY layer may query the MAC layer at or before the time when the UE initiates the skip logic (e.g., when the UE determines that PUSCH / PUCCH overlaps and decides which PUSCH to skip based on the configured skip rules), and at or before the time when the multiplexing decision is made. In one example, PUSCH / PUCCH overlaps in a slot may be determined based on scheduling information received by the UE (if PUSCH and / or PUCCH are configured using bundling / repetition, this may be taken into consideration when determining whether PUSCH and / or PUCCH are scheduled in a slot). In some examples, as an addition or alternative, the MAC layer can inform the PHY layer when the MAC layer has data. For example, the MAC layer may periodically notify the PHY layer whether the MAC layer has data, and / or the MAC layer may notify the UE whenever new data arrives at the MAC layer.

[0046] As will be explained in more detail below with respect to Figures 6A to 6D, if the MAC layer data is empty (for example, the MAC layer has no PUSCH data to send / allocate), all PUSCHs will be skipped and the UCI will be sent by PUSCH. Therefore, the UE may not attempt to multiplex the UCI on PUSCH first and then fall back to PUSCH later. As will be explained in more detail below with respect to Figures 7A to 7D, if the MAC layer data is not empty (for example, the MAC layer has PUSCH data to send / allocate to PUSCH), the PHY layer may request the MAC layer to place (e.g., assign / transmit) data (e.g., MAC protocol data units (PDUs)) first on PUSCHs on which the UCI can be multiplexed, and then on one or more remaining PUSCHs. For example, there may be multiple scheduled PUSCHs. PUSCHs are ordered to assign data. The MAC layer can order PUSCHs based on a request from the PHY layer in order to first assign data to PUSCHs that can multiplex UCIs (for example, based on UCI multiplexing rules). In some examples, the PHY layer can send an ordered list of PUSCHs to a higher layer (e.g., MAC) that will be built for a slot. The MAC layer can then build the PUSCHs in the order of the list (e.g., assign data such as MAC layer transport blocks (TBs) to the PUSCHs). When the PHY layer sends a list, it can order the list such that the PUSCHs that can multiplex UCIs are ordered first in the list. In some examples, the PHY layer can send a list of PUSCHs and instructions on which PUSCHs should be built first. Thus, the UCI multiplexing decision in the UE PHY layer may take into account whether there is MAC layer data to be sent (in addition to multiplexing rules).

[0047] By avoiding UCI fallback to the PUCCH and / or ensuring UCI multiplexing on the PUCCH, the UE can save resources and power. Since the UE knows whether or not there is data, the PHY can decide whether or not to multiplex the UCI on the PUCCH before an uplink PUCCH skip is decided. In this case, the UE can also construct a data PDU, e.g., a MAC layer TB, and perform PHY layer data / UCI multiplexing in parallel with the formation of the data PDU. Thus, the uplink PHY timeline can be improved. Furthermore, by assigning data to PUCCHs that can multiplex the UCI, multiple PUCCHs carrying UCIs (with an allowed size of more than 2k bytes, e.g., even when there is a small MAC PDU, can be transmitted in a slot (with overlapping PUCCHs).

[0048] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary operation 400 for wireless communication according to several embodiments of the present disclosure. Operation 400 may be performed, for example, by a UE (e.g., UE120a in the wireless communication network 100). Operation 400 may be implemented as a software component running and operated on one or more processors (e.g., controller / processor 280 in Figure 2). Furthermore, the transmission and reception of signals by the UE in operation 400 may be enabled, for example, by one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 252 in Figure 2). In some embodiments, the transmission and / or reception of signals by the UE may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., controller / processor 280) that acquires and / or outputs signals.

[0049] Operation 400 may be initiated in 405 by receiving uplink permission for transmission on multiple pushers, where the pushers are located on different component carriers (CCs).

[0050] In 410, the UE identifies one or more PUSCHs out of a plurality of PUSCHs to which a UCI may be transmitted in a slot. In some examples, the UE identifies one or more PUSCHs to which a UCI may be transmitted based at least in part on one or more pre-configured rules. In some examples, the UE identifies one or more PUSCHs to which a UCI may be transmitted based at least in part on the configuration of the PUCCH. For example, a PUCCH may schedule a UCI for a CC, and the UE may determine that a PUSCH scheduled for a CC is a PUSCH to which a UCI can be multiplexed.

[0051] In 415, the UE assigns PUSCH data to one or more identified PUSCHs to which the UCI may transmit before assigning PUSCH data to the remaining PUSCHs among a plurality of PUSCHs. According to several embodiments, the UE determines that PUSCH data will be transmitted in a slot. For example, the UE determines that PUSCH data will be transmitted in a slot before identifying one or more PUSCHs among a plurality of PUSCHs to which the UCI may transmit, and before assigning PUSCH data. In some examples, the UE receives instructions from the MAC layer in the PHY layer for PUSCH data. In some examples, the UE receives instructions for PUSCH data in response to a query from the PHY layer to the MAC layer. In some examples, the UE periodically receives instructions for PUSCH data from the MAC layer in the PHY layer. In some examples, the UE receives instructions for PUSCH data from the MAC layer in the PHY layer when new data is received in the MAC layer. In some cases, the UE receives instructions corresponding to PUSCH data in response to queries, periodically, and / or at some combination of when new data is received at the MAC layer.

[0052] In 420, the UE transmits UCI and PUSCH data in slots on the assigned PUSCH. In some examples, the UE rate-matches the UCI around the PUSCH data. In some examples, the UE generates a MAC layer TB and, in parallel, performs PHY layer multiplexing of the UCI and PUSCH data. In some examples, the UE skips transmitting at least one empty PUSCH in a set of PUSCHs.

[0053] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary operation 500 for wireless communication according to several embodiments of the present disclosure. Operation 500 may be performed, for example, by a UE (e.g., UE120a in a wireless communication network 100). Operation 500 may be implemented as a software component that runs and operates on one or more processors (e.g., controller / processor 280 in Figure 2). Furthermore, the transmission and reception of signals by the UE in operation 500 may be enabled, for example, by one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 252 in Figure 2). In some embodiments, the transmission and / or reception of signals by the UE may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., controller / processor 280) that acquires and / or outputs signals.

[0054] Operation 500 may be initiated in 505 by receiving uplink permission for transmission on multiple PUSCHs in a slot, where the multiple PUSCHs are located on different CCs.

[0055] In 510, the UE determines whether PUSCH data will be transmitted in the slot. In some examples, the UE receives instructions from the MAC layer in the PHY layer in response to a query from the PHY layer to the MAC layer. In some examples, the UE periodically receives instructions from the MAC layer in the PHY layer. In some examples, the UE receives instructions from the MAC layer in the PHY layer when new data is received in the MAC layer. According to some embodiments, the UE decides to transmit a UCI in the slot on one or more PUSCHs when one or more PUSCHs are empty (for example, when there is no data to be transmitted in the PUSCH in the slot). According to some embodiments, the UE decides to transmit a UCI in the slot on one or more PUSCHs when PUSCH data will be transmitted in the slot.

[0056] In 515, the UE decides to transmit UCI on one or more PUCCHs, or on one or more PUSCHs, in a slot, based on a determination of whether or not PUSCH data will be transmitted in the slot, before assigning PUSCH data (e.g., arbitrary PUSCH data) to one of the PUSCHs.

[0057] In some embodiments, the UE identifies one or more PUSCHs out of a plurality of PUSCHs that the UCI may send, and the UE assigns PUSCH data to those PUSCHs that the UCI may send before assigning PUSCH data to the remaining PUSCHs. In some examples, the UE requests the MAC layer, via the PHY layer, to assign PUSCH data to the PUSCHs that the UCI may send before assigning PUSCH data to the remaining PUSCHs. In some examples, the UE provides the MAC layer, via the PHY layer, with an ordered list for constructing a set of PUSCHs. The identified PUSCHs that the UCI may send may be ordered in the ordered list before the remaining PUSCHs. In some examples, the UE identifies PUSCHs that the UCI may send based at least in part on one or more pre-configured rules. In some examples, the UE identifies PUSCHs that the UCI may send based at least in part on the configuration of the PUSCH.

[0058] In 520, the UE transmits a UCI in a slot over one or more determined PUCCHs or one or more determined PUSCHs. In some examples, the UE transmits a UCI in a slot over both one or more PUCCHs and one or more PUSCHs. In some examples, the UE rate-matches the UCI around the PUSCH data. In some examples, the UE generates a MAC layer TB and, in parallel, performs PHY layer multiplexing of the UCI and PUSCH data. In some examples, the UE skips transmitting at least one empty PUSCH.

[0059] As described above, the UE can perform checks (e.g., PHY layer checks) to determine whether there is data (e.g., MAC layer data) to transmit during a duration (e.g., during a transmission time interval, such as in a slot). Therefore, if there is no data to transmit (e.g., no MAC layer data or the MAC layer buffer is empty), all PUSCHs may be skipped (e.g., according to configured PUSCH skip rules). In this case, the UE may decide to send a UCI over a PUCCH in a slot. Figure 6A is a call flow 600A illustrating an exemplary UCI transmission over a PUCCH with a PUSCH skip, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 6B is a more detailed call flow 600B illustrating an exemplary UCI transmission over a PUCCH with a PUSCH skip.

[0060] As shown in Figure 6A, in 606, UE602 receives an uplink permission from servingBS604 (e.g., gNB) (e.g., in PDCCH) to schedule a PUSCH in a slot (e.g., or other time interval). The PUSCH may be scheduled on different CCs in a slot, for example, as shown in slot 301 in Figure 3B.

[0061] In 608, UE602 is configured / scheduled by serving BS604 to send UCIs (e.g., HARQ-ACK, SR, and / or CSIs) in the slot. In Figure 6A, the UCI configuration / scheduling (in 608) is shown after the uplink authorization that schedules the PUSCH (in 606), but the UCIs may be configured / scheduled before or concurrently with the uplink authorization that schedules the PUSCH. In some examples, the UCIs may be scheduled dynamically. In some examples, UE602 may be configured with a timeline, trigger, or period for sending UCIs.

[0062] At 610, the UE checks for MAC layer data. For example, as shown in Figure 6B, the PHY layer 605 may query the MAC layer 603. The MAC layer 603 may periodically, or in response to a query, send an indication to the PHY layer 605 whether or not the MAC layer 603 has data. Thus, compared to the UCI multiplexing shown in Figures 3A to 3E, the UE 602 can know whether or not there is data to be transmitted before deciding whether or not to multiplex the UCI on the PUSCH. In this case, as shown in Figure 6A, if the UE 602 determines that there is no data to be transmitted, at 612, the UE 602 may decide to place the UCI on the PUSCH and skip empty PUSCHs (for example, based on configured PUSCH skip rules). For example, for empty PUSCHs (e.g., those that do not have PUSCH data assigned to them in a slot), the UE602 may decide to skip those empty PUSCHs in the slot (e.g., drop them or not send them).

[0063] At 614, UE602 transmits the UCI on PUCCH to serving BS604. Thus, in the illustrated examples in Figures 6A to 6D, UE602 prepares to transmit the UCI on PUCCH and then avoids a fallback (e.g., at the PHY layer) to transmit the UCI on PUCCH, thereby avoiding additional delays (e.g., to fallback to prepare PUCCH) and subsequently saving power consumption.

[0064] Referring again to the exemplary examples described above with respect to Figures 3A to 3E, UE602 may be scheduled in a given slot with eight PUSCHs (PUSCH1, PUSCH2, ..., PUSCH8) (for example, in 606), as shown in Figure 3B. However, UE602 may, based on a MAC layer check (for example, in 610), determine that there is no data to be transmitted in slot 301 and decide to place the UCI on the PUSCH, as shown in Figure 6C. Since the MAC layer has no data, UE602 drops the remaining PUSCHs (for example, PUSCH1 to 8) according to the configured PUSCH skip, as shown in Figure 6D, but UE602 does not need to fall back to transmitting the UCI on the PUSCH because it has already placed the UCI on the PUSCH (for example, in 612).

[0065] Figure 7A is a diagram of call flow 700A illustrating exemplary UCI multiplexing on PUSCH with PUSCH skipping, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. Figure 7B is a more detailed call flow 700B illustrating exemplary UCI multiplexing on PUSCH with PUSCH skipping.

[0066] As shown in Figure 7A, in 706-710, UE702 receives uplink permission and is configured / scheduled by servingBS704 to send the UCI, and checks for MAC layer data, which may be done as described above in 606-610 shown in Figure 6A. In this case, as shown in Figure 7A, if UE702 finds that there is data to be sent (e.g., MAC layer data, or the buffer is not empty), in 712, UE702 decides to place (e.g., assign) the data to one or more PUSCHs that can multiplex the UCI before placing the data on other PUSCHs in the slot. For example, as shown in Figure 7B, PHY layer 705 may, in 712a, identify the PUSCHs to which the UCI can be multiplexed, and in 712b, request MAC layer 703 to place the MAC PDU on the identified PUSCHs to which the UCI can be multiplexed, and then on other PUSCHs. In this way, UE702 ensures that those PUSCHs on which UCIs may be multiplexed are not skipped, thereby ensuring that UE702 multiplexes UCIs on PUSCHs in a slot. At 714, UE702 (for example, PHY layer 705) multiplexes UCIs on PUSCHs with assigned data. In some examples, the multiplexing at 714 may be based on configured UCI multiplexing rules. Thus, at 716, UE702 transmits PUSCHs with assigned data in a slot, including PUSCHs with multiplexed UCIs and assigned data, and UE702 may drop any other PUSCHs on which no data has been assigned.

[0067] Let us again refer to the exemplary example described above with respect to Figures 3A-3E, with PUSCH1-8 scheduled in slot 301 and a UCI that can be multiplexed on PUSCH2. In this case, UE702 ensures that PUSCH2 is sent first to a higher layer (e.g., MAC layer 703) so that PUSCH2 can be assigned data and therefore not skipped and can be transmitted with the multiplexed UCI, as shown in Figure 7C. Thus, in this exemplary example, as shown in Figure 7D, PUSCH2 is transmitted with the UCI, and the remaining PUSCH707 (e.g., PUSCH1 and 3-8) may be skipped and the PUCCH is dropped, so that only PUSCH2 is transmitted with the UCI and data. This may be more efficient than when both PUSCH and PUCCH are transmitted in the slot.

[0068] Therefore, by performing data checks before preparing the UCI on PUCCH or PUSCH, and before assigning data to PUSCH, the UE can avoid fallbacks to PUCCH and improve resource utilization efficiency by ensuring that the UCI can be multiplexed on PUSCH. These, in turn, can save power and resources, enable parallel processing of the PHY layer PUSCH and UCI multiplexing, as well as MAC TB formation, and improve the uplink PHY timeline.

[0069] Figure 8 shows a communication device 800 which may include various components (e.g., corresponding to means-plus-function components) configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, such as the operations shown in Figures 4 to 7D for UCI multiplexing in the case of push skips. The communication device 800 includes a processing system 802 coupled to a transceiver 808. The transceiver 808 is configured to transmit and receive signals for the communication device 800, such as various signals as described herein, via an antenna 810. The processing system 802 may be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 800, including processing signals that are received and / or will be transmitted by the communication device 800.

[0070] The processing system 802 includes a processor 804 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 812 via a bus 806. In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium / memory 812 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that cause the processor 804 to perform operations such as those shown in at least one of Figures 4 to 7D, or other operations for performing various techniques described herein for UCI multiplexing in the case of push skips.In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium / memory 812 stores a code 814 for receiving, such as a code for receiving an uplink permission for transmission on multiple PUSCHs, where the multiple PUSCHs are located on different CCs, and a code 816 for determining, such as a code for determining whether PUSCH data will be transmitted in a slot, and / or a code for determining whether to transmit a UCI on one or more PUSCHs, or on one or more of the multiple PUSCHs, based on the determination of whether PUSCH data will be transmitted in a slot, before assigning PUSCH data to one of the multiple PUSCHs, Or, in a plurality of embodiments, the processor stores identification codes 818, such as a code that identifies one or more PUSCHs out of a plurality of PUSCHs from which a UCI can be transmitted in a slot; in a plurality of embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor stores assignment codes 820, such as a code that assigns PUSCH data to one or more identified PUSCHs from which a UCI can be transmitted before assigning PUSCH data to the remaining PUSCHs out of a plurality of PUSCHs; and / or, in a plurality of embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor stores transmission codes 822, such as a code that transmits UCI and PUSCH data in a slot on the assigned PUSCHs, and / or, in a plurality of embodiments of the present disclosure, the code that transmits UCI in a slot on one or more determined PUSCHs or on one or more determined PUSCHs. In some embodiments, the processor 804 has circuitry configured to implement the codes stored in a computer-readable medium / memory 812. The processor 804 includes a circuit 824 for receiving, a circuit 826 for determining, a circuit 828 for identifying, a circuit 830 for assigning, and / or a circuit 832 for transmitting, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.Circuits 824-832 can perform the operations provided by codes 814-822 when processor 804 executes code in computer-readable medium / memory 812.

[0071] The techniques described herein can be used for a variety of wireless communication technologies, including NR (e.g., 5G NR and later releases), 3GPP Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), and other networks. The terms “network” and “system” are often used interchangeably. CDMA networks may implement wireless technologies such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) and cdma2000. UTRA includes Broadband CDMA (WCDMA®) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000 covers the IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. TDMA networks can implement wireless technologies such as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). OFDMA networks can implement wireless technologies such as NR (e.g., 5G RA), Advanced UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, and Flash-OFDMA. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). LTE and LTE-A are releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM are documented in documents from an organization called the "Third Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are documented in documents from an organization called the "Third Generation Partnership Project II" (3GPP2). NR is a new wireless communication technology under development.

[0072] The techniques described herein may be used for the wireless networks and radio technologies described above, as well as for other wireless networks and radio technologies. For clarity, the embodiments described herein may use terms generally associated with 3G, 4G, and / or 5G wireless technologies, but embodiments of this disclosure may be applicable to other generation-based communication systems.

[0073] In 3GPP, the term “cell” can refer to the coverage area of ​​a node B (NB) and / or the NB subsystem serving that coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In NR systems, the terms “cell” and BS, next-generation node B (gNB or gnode B), access point (AP), distributed unit (DU), carrier, or transmit / receive point (TRP) may be used interchangeably. A BS can provide communication coverage to macrocells, picocells, femtocells, and / or other types of cells. A macrocell can cover a relatively large geographical area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may enable unrestricted access by UEs subscribing to the service. A picocell can cover a relatively small geographical area and may enable unrestricted access by UEs subscribing to the service. A femtocell can cover a relatively small geographical area (e.g., a home) and may enable limited access by UEs associated with a femtocell (e.g., UEs in a limited subscriber group (CSG), UEs for users at home, etc.). BS for macrocells is sometimes called macroBS. BS for picocells is sometimes called picoBS. BS for femtocells is sometimes called femtoBS or homeBS.

[0074] UEs may also be called mobile stations, terminals, access terminals, subscriber units, stations, customer premises equipment (CPE), cellular phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless modems, wireless communication devices, handheld devices, laptop computers, cordless phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, tablet computers, cameras, gaming devices, netbooks, smartbooks, ultrabooks, appliances, medical devices or equipment, biosensors / biometric devices, smartwatches, smart clothing, smart glasses, smart wristbands, smart jewelry (e.g., smart rings, smart bracelets, etc.), wearable devices, entertainment devices (e.g., music devices, video devices, satellite radios, etc.), vehicle components or vehicle sensors, smart meters / smart sensors, industrial manufacturing equipment, global positioning system devices, or any other suitable device configured to communicate via wireless or wired media. Some UEs may be considered machine-type communication (MTC) devices or advanced MTC (eMTC) devices. MTC UEs and eMTC UEs include, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, location tags, etc., that can communicate with BS, other devices (e.g., remote devices), or any other entities. Wireless nodes may provide, for example, a wired communication link or a wireless communication link, for or connectivity to a network (e.g., the Internet or a wide area network such as a cellular network). Some UEs may be considered Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and IoT devices may be narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) devices.

[0075] Some wireless networks (e.g., LTE) utilize 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, commonly called tones or bins. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Generally, the modulation symbol is transmitted in the frequency domain using OFDM and in the time domain using 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 minimum resource allocation (called a "resource block" (RB)) may be 12 subcarriers (i.e., 180 kHz). Therefore, the nominal Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) sizes may 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 may also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (e.g., 6 RBs), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, respectively. In LTE, the basic transmit time interval (TTI) or packet duration is a 1 ms subframe.

[0076] NR may include support for half-duplex operation using OFDM with CP on uplink and downlink, and TDD. In NR, subframes are still 1ms, but the basic TTI is called a slot. A subframe contains a variable number of slots depending on the subcarrier spacing (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, ... slots). NR RB consists of 12 consecutive frequency subcarriers. NR may support a base subcarrier spacing of 15kHz, and other subcarrier spacings such as 30kHz, 60kHz, 120kHz, 240kHz can be defined relative to the base subcarrier spacing. The symbol and slot lengths correspond to the subcarrier spacing. The CP length also depends on the subcarrier spacing. Beamforming may be supported, and the beam direction may be dynamically configured. MIMO transmission with precoding may also be supported. In some examples, MIMO configurations in DL may support up to 8 transmitting antennas, along with multilayer DL transmission of up to 8 streams and up to 2 streams per UE. In some examples, multilayer transmission using up to two streams per UE may be supported. Aggregation of multiple cells may also be supported using up to eight serving cells.

[0077] In some examples, access to an air interface can be scheduled. A scheduling entity (e.g., a BS) allocates resources for communication between some or all devices and equipment within its service area or cell. A scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, allocating, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more dependent entities. That is, for scheduled communications, dependent entities utilize the resources allocated by the scheduling entity. A base station is not the only entity that can function as a scheduling entity. In some examples, a UE may function as a scheduling entity, scheduling resources for one or more dependent entities (e.g., one or more other UEs), and the other UEs may utilize the resources scheduled by that UE for wireless communications. In some examples, a UE may function as a scheduling entity in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network and / or a mesh network. In the mesh network example, UEs may communicate directly with each other in addition to communicating with scheduling entities.

[0078] In some examples, two or more dependent entities (e.g., UEs) may communicate with each other using side-link signals. Real-world applications of such side-link communication may include public safety, proximity services, UE-to-network relay, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, Internet of Everything (IoE) communication, IoT communication, mission-critical mesh, and / or various other suitable applications. Generally, side-link signals may refer to signals communicated from one dependent entity (e.g., UE1) to another dependent entity (e.g., UE2) without relaying the communication through a scheduling entity (e.g., UE or BS), even though the scheduling entity may be used for scheduling and / or control purposes. In some examples, side-link signals may be communicated using licensed spectrum (unlike wireless local area networks, which typically use unlicensed spectrum).

[0079] The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more operations or actions for achieving the method. The operations and / or actions of the method may be interchanged with one another without departing from the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of operations or actions is specified, the order and / or use of any particular operations and / or actions may be modified without departing from the claims.

[0080] As used herein, the phrase “at least one of” in an enumeration of items refers to any combination of those items that contain a single member. For example, “at least one of a, b, or c” includes a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, and abc, as well as any combination having multiple identical elements (for example, aa, aaa, aab, aac, abb, acc, bb, bbb, bbc, cc, and ccc, or any other order of a, b, and c).

[0081] As used herein, the term “deciding” encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, “deciding” may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, database, or other data structure), and confirming. It may also include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), and resolving, selecting, electing, and establishing.

[0082] Exemplary embodiments In a first aspect, a method for wireless communication by a user device (UE) includes receiving an uplink permission for transmission on a plurality of physical uplink shared channels (PUSCHs), wherein the plurality of PUSCHs are located on different component carriers (CCs), identifying one or more of the plurality of PUSCHs on which uplink control information (UCI) can be transmitted in a slot, assigning PUSCH data to one or more identified PUSCHs on which UCI can be transmitted before assigning PUSCH data to the remaining PUSCHs of the plurality of PUSCHs, and transmitting the UCI and PUSCH data in a slot on the assigned PUSCH. This may enable the UE to ensure that the UCI can be multiplexed on the PUSCHs and avoid falling back to the PUSCHs.

[0083] In the second aspect, either alone or in combination with the first aspect, the UE determines, and decides, that PUSCH data will be transmitted in a slot, before identifying one or more PUSCHs out of a plurality of PUSCHs to which the UCI may be transmitted, and before assigning the PUSCH data. This makes it possible for the UE to decide to place the UCI on a PUSCH if there is no data, or, if there is data, to request that the data be placed first on a PUSCH that can multiplex the UCI.

[0084] In a third aspect, the determination that PUSCH data will be transmitted in a slot, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first and second aspects, includes receiving an instruction from the media access control (MAC) layer at the physical (PHY) layer corresponding to the PUSCH data, the instruction being received periodically at the MAC layer in response to a query from the PHY layer to the MAC layer, or a combination thereof. This may enable the UE to determine whether or not there is a PUSCH to be transmitted in a slot.

[0085] In the fourth aspect, transmitting UCI and PUSCH data in a slot on an assigned PUSCH, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to third aspects, includes rate matching the UCI around the PUSCH data. Rate matching may result in a lower effective code rate for transmission.

[0086] In the fifth aspect, the UE generates MAC layer transport blocks (TBs) either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fourth aspects, and concurrently performs PHY layer multiplexing of UCI and PUSCH data. This may improve the processing timeline.

[0087] In the sixth aspect, the identification of one or more PUSCHs out of a plurality of PUSCHs that a UCI may transmit is at least partially based on one or more pre-configured rules, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fifth aspects. This provides the UE with a mechanism for determining PUSCHs that can be multiplexed with the UCI.

[0088] In the seventh aspect, identifying one or more PUSCHs out of a plurality of PUSCHs to which a UCI may be transmitted is at least partially based on the configuration of the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to sixth aspects. This provides the UE with a mechanism for determining which PUSCHs can be multiplexed with the UCI.

[0089] In the eighth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to seventh aspects, the UE skips the transmission of at least one empty PUSCH in a set of PUSCHs. This may allow the UE to transmit more efficiently by not wasting resources when there is no PUSCH data to be transmitted in the slot for that PUSCH.

[0090] In the ninth aspect, a method for wireless communication by a UE includes receiving an uplink permission for transmission on a plurality of PUSCHs in a slot, wherein the plurality of PUSCHs are located on different CCs, determining whether PUSCH data will be transmitted in the slot, determining to transmit a UCI in the slot on one or more PUSCHs or on one or more PUSCHs of the plurality of PUSCHs, based on the determination of whether PUSCH data will be transmitted in the slot, before assigning the PUSCH data to one of the PUSCHs, and transmitting a UCI in the slot on the determined one or more PUSCHs or on the determined one or more PUSCHs.

[0091] In the tenth aspect, determining whether PUSCH data will be transmitted in a slot, either alone or in combination with the ninth aspect, includes the PHY layer receiving an instruction from the MAC layer corresponding to the PUSCH data, the instruction being received periodically in response to a query from the PHY layer to the MAC layer, when new data is received in the MAC layer, or a combination thereof.

[0092] In the eleventh aspect, deciding to transmit a UCI in a slot on one or more PUCCHs, or on one or more PUSCHs, either alone or in combination with the ninth or tenth aspect, includes deciding to transmit a UCI in a slot on one or more PUCCHs when one or more PUSCHs are empty.

[0093] In the twelfth aspect, deciding to transmit a UCI in a slot on one or more PUCCHs or on one or more PUSCHs, either alone or in combination with one or more of the ninth to eleventh aspects, includes deciding to transmit a UCI in a slot on one or more PUSCHs when PUSCH data will be transmitted in the slot.

[0094] In the 13th aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the 9th to 12th aspects, the UE identifies one or more PUSCHs as PUSCHs among a plurality of PUSCHs that the UCI may transmit, and assigns PUSCH data to one or more PUSCHs that the UCI may transmit before assigning PUSCH data to the remaining PUSCHs among the plurality of PUSCHs.

[0095] In the 14th aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the 9th to 13th aspects, the UE requests the MAC layer to assign PUSCH data on one or more PUSCHs to which the UCI can receive data before the PHY layer assigns PUSCH data on the remaining PUSCHs of the plurality of PUSCHs, or the PHY layer provides the MAC layer with an ordered list for constructing a set of PUSCHs, where the identified one or more PUSCHs are ordered in the ordered list before the remaining PUSCHs of the plurality of PUSCHs.

[0096] In the 15th aspect, UCI identifies one or more PUSCHs that may be transmitted, either alone or in combination with one or more of the aspects 9 to 14, based at least in part on one or more pre-configured rules.

[0097] In the sixteenth aspect, the identification of one or more PUSCHs that the UCI may transmit, either alone or in combination with one or more of the aspects from the ninth to the fifteenth aspect, is at least partially based on the configuration of the PUSCH.

[0098] In the 17th aspect, transmitting UCI in a slot on one or more PUSCHs, either alone or in combination with one or more of the 9th to 16th aspects, includes rate matching UCI around PUSCH data.

[0099] In the 18th aspect, the UE generates a MAC layer TB and, in parallel, performs PHY layer multiplexing of UCI and PUSCH data, either alone or in combination with one or more of the 9th to 17th aspects.

[0100] In the 19th aspect, the UE skips the transmission of at least one empty PUSCH among a plurality of PUSCHs, either alone or in combination with one or more of the 9th to 18th aspects.

[0101] The foregoing description is provided so that any person skilled in the art can practice the various embodiments described herein. Various modifications of these embodiments will be readily apparent to a person skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may apply to other embodiments. Accordingly, the claims should not be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but should be given the entire scope consistent with the language of the claims, and references to singular elements should mean "one or more" rather than "one unique" unless otherwise explicitly stated. Unless otherwise explicitly stated, the term "several" refers to one or more. All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of the various embodiments described throughout this disclosure, known to a person skilled in the art or to be known thereafter, are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are encompassed by the claims. Furthermore, nothing disclosed herein is made public, whether such disclosure is expressly stated in the claims or not. Claim elements should not be construed under Section 112(f) of the U.S. Patent Act unless the element is expressly described using the phrase "means for".

[0102] The various operations of the methods described above may be performed by any suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions. These means may include, but are not limited to, various hardware and / or software components and / or modules, including circuits, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or processors. Generally, where operations are shown in the figures, those operations may have corresponding relative means-plus-function components with similar numbering.

[0103] The various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in this disclosure may be implemented or run using general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices (PLDs), 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 alternatively, 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, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors working with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0104] 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 the overall design constraints. The bus can link various circuits, including processors, machine-readable media, and bus interfaces. The bus interface may be used, among other things, to connect 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 a user terminal (see Figure 8), a user interface (e.g., keypad, display, mouse, joystick, etc.) may also be connected to the bus. The bus may also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, but these circuits are well known in the art and therefore 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 running software. Those skilled in the art will recognize the best way to implement the functions described for the processing system, depending on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the entire system.

[0105] When implemented in software, functionality may be stored on or transmitted via computer-readable media as one or more instructions or code. Software should be broadly interpreted to mean instructions, data, or any combination thereof, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or by any other name. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transfer of computer programs from one location to another. A processor may be responsible for general operations, including managing buses and executing software modules stored on machine-readable storage media. Computer-readable storage media may be coupled to a processor so that the processor can read information from and write information to the storage media. Alternatively, the storage media may be integrated with the processor. For example, machine-readable media may include computer-readable storage media having instructions stored thereon, separate from transmission lines, data-modulated carriers, and / or wireless nodes, all of which may be accessed by the processor through a bus interface. Alternatively, or as an addition, machine-readable media or any part thereof may be integrated into the processor, as well as caches and / or general-purpose register files. Examples of machine-readable storage media may include, for example, 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 media, or any combination thereof. Machine-readable media may be embodied in computer program products.

[0106] A software module may consist of a single instruction or many instructions, and may be distributed across several different code segments, between different programs, and across multiple storage media. A computer-readable medium may contain several software modules. When executed by a device such as a processor, a software module contains instructions that cause the processing system to perform various functions. A software module may include a send module and a receive module. Each software module may reside in a single storage device or be distributed across multiple storage devices. For example, a software module may be loaded from a hard drive into RAM when a trigger event occurs. While a software module is executing, 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 to be executed by the processor. When the functions of a software module are referred to below, it will be understood that such functions are performed by the processor when instructions from that software module are executed.

[0107] Furthermore, any connection is appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if 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), radio, and microwave, then coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laserdisc (disc), optical disc (disc), digital versatile disc (disc) (DVD), floppy disk (disk), and Blu-ray (disc), where a disk typically reproduces data magnetically, and a disc (disc) reproduces data optically using a laser. Thus, in some embodiments, a computer-readable medium may include non-temporary computer-readable medium (e.g., tangible medium). In addition, in other embodiments, the computer-readable medium may include a temporary computer-readable medium (e.g., a signal). The above combinations should also be included within the scope of the computer-readable medium.

[0108] Accordingly, some embodiments may include a computer program product for performing the operations described herein. For example, such a computer program product may include a computer-readable medium on which instructions that are executable by one or more processors to perform the operations described herein, such as the instructions for performing the operations described herein and shown in at least one of Figures 4 to 7D, are stored (and / or encoded).

[0109] 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 user terminals and / or base stations, where applicable. For example, such devices 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 storage means so that user terminals and / or base stations can obtain the various methods by coupling or providing storage means (e.g., physical storage media such as RAM, ROM, compact disks (CDs), or floppy disks) to a device. Moreover, any other suitable techniques for providing the methods and techniques described herein to a device may be utilized.

[0110] It should be understood that the claims are not limited to the exact configuration and components described above. Various modifications, changes, and variations may be made to the configuration, operation, and details of the method and apparatus described above without departing from the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0111] 100 Wireless Communication Networks 102a, 102b, 102c macrocells 102x picocell 102y, 102z femtocell 110 BS, Mobile BS 110a~110z Base station (BS) 110a, 110b, 110c, 110x, 110y, 110z BS 110r relay station 120, 120a, 120r, 120x, 120y, 302, 602, 702UE 120a~120y User Equipment (UE) 122, 281 UCI Multiplexing Manager 130 Network Controllers 212, 262 data sources 220 Transmitting Processors, Processors 230 Transmit (TX) Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Processor 232 Modulators, Demodulators 232a~232t Modulator (MOD), Modulator 234, 234a~234t, 252, 252a~252r antennas 236, 256 MIMO detectors 238, 258 receiving processors 239, 260 Data Sync 240, 280 controllers / processors 242, 282 memory 244 Scheduler 254 Demodulator 254a~254r Demodulator, Modulator 264 Transmitting Processors 266 TX MIMO processor 301 slots 303, 603, 703 MAC layers 304 Serving gNB 305, 605, 705 PHY layers 307, 607, 707 remaining PUSCH 309 PUCCH 604, 704 Serving BS 800 communication devices 802 Processing System 804 Processor 806 Bus 808 Transceiver 810 Antenna 812 Computer-readable media / memory 814 Code to receive, code 816 Code to make a decision, code 818 Identification code, code 820 Code for assignment, code 822 Code to send, code 824 Circuit for receiving, circuit 826 Circuit for making a decision, circuit 828 Circuit for identification, circuit 830 Circuits for allocation, circuits 832 Circuit for transmission, circuit

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication by user equipment (UE), A step of receiving uplink permission for transmission on multiple physical uplink sharing channels (PUSCH), wherein each of the multiple PUSCHs is located on a different component carrier (CC), The steps include identifying a first CC among the different CCs that the UCI may transmit in the slot, The steps include: assigning data to one or more PUSCH on the first CC for transmission in the slot, before assigning the data to the remaining PUSCHs among the plurality of PUSCHs for transmission in the slot; The steps of transmitting the UCI and the data in the slot on the assigned PUSCH. Methods that include...

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of skipping the transmission of at least one empty PUSCH among the plurality of PUSCHs.

3. A device for wireless communication, One or more memory units, One or more processors coupled to the one or more memory and The system includes, and the one or more processors Receiving an uplink permission for transmission on multiple physical uplink shared channels (PUSCH), wherein each of the multiple PUSCHs is located on a different component carrier (CC), The UCI identifies the first of the different CCs that can be transmitted in the slot, Assigning data to one or more PUSCH on the first CC for transmission in the slot, and assigning the data to the remaining PUSCHs among the plurality of PUSCHs for transmission in the slot, To transmit the UCI and the data in the slot on the assigned PUSCH. A device configured to perform the following actions.

4. The one or more processors described above Skip sending at least one empty PUSCH from the plurality of PUSCHs. The apparatus according to claim 3, further configured as follows.

5. A device for wireless communication, Means for receiving uplink permission for transmission on multiple physical uplink sharing channels (PUSCH), wherein each of the multiple PUSCHs is located on a different component carrier (CC), Means for identifying a first CC among the different CCs that the UCI may transmit in the slot, Means for assigning data to one or more PUSCHs on the first CC for transmission in the slot, before assigning the data to the remaining PUSCHs among the plurality of PUSCHs for transmission in the slot, On the assigned PUSCH, means for transmitting the UCI and the data in the slot A device equipped with the following features.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising means for skipping the transmission of at least one empty PUSCH among the plurality of PUSCHs.

7. A computer program that includes computer executable code, wherein the computer executable code is A code for receiving uplink permission for transmission on multiple physical uplink sharing channels (PUSCH), wherein each of the multiple PUSCHs is located on a different component carrier (CC), A code for identifying the first of the different CCs that the UCI may transmit in the slot, A code for assigning data to one or more PUSCHs on the first CC for transmission in the slot, before assigning the data to the remaining PUSCHs among the plurality of PUSCHs for transmission in the slot, On the assigned PUSCH, the code for transmitting the UCI and the data in the slot A computer program that includes [this].

8. The computer program according to claim 7, further comprising code for skipping the transmission of at least one empty PUSCH of the plurality of PUSCHs.

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