Improved Hybrid Automatic Resend Request (HARQ) Feedback for Dynamic Multi-Slot Physical Downlink Shared Channels (PDSCH)

Abstract

Techniques and apparatus for providing Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback for multiple Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmissions are described. One example technique involves receiving downlink control information (DCI) that schedules multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots. The multiple downlink data transmissions are monitored across the multiple slots. At least one HARQ feedback scheme for acknowledging the multiple downlink data transmissions is determined. HARQ feedback for the multiple downlink data transmissions is provided according to the at least one HARQ feedback scheme.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Cross - reference to Related Applications This application claims the benefit and priority of U.S. Application No. 17 / 404,991, filed Aug. 17, 2021, which claims the benefit and priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 170,698, filed Apr. 5, 2021, each of which has been assigned to the assignee of this application and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

[0002] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communication, and more particularly, to techniques for providing hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback for multiple physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmissions over multiple slots.

Background Art

[0003] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephone, video, data, messaging, broadcast, or other similar types of services. These wireless communication systems can utilize multiple - access techniques that support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (such as bandwidth, transmit power, or other resources) among those users. Multiple - access techniques can rely on, for example, code division, time division, frequency - division orthogonal frequency - division, single - carrier frequency - division, or time - division synchronous code division. These and other multiple - access techniques have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate at the urban, national, regional, and even global scales.

[0004] Wireless communication systems have made significant technological advancements over the years, but challenges still remain. For example, complex and dynamic environments can still attenuate or block signals between wireless transmitters and receivers, and undermine various established wireless channel measurement and reporting mechanisms used to manage and optimize the use of finite wireless channel resources. Therefore, further improvements to wireless communication systems are needed to overcome these various challenges. [Overview of the project] [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] One embodiment provides a method for wireless communication by user equipment (UE). The method generally includes the step of receiving downlink control information (DCI) from a base station (BS) that schedules multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots. The method also includes the step of monitoring multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots and determining at least one hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ) feedback scheme for acknowledging the multiple downlink data transmissions. The method further includes the step of providing HARQ feedback for the multiple downlink data transmissions according to at least one HARQ feedback scheme.

[0006] One embodiment provides an apparatus comprising (i) a memory having computer-executable instructions, and (ii) one or more processors configured to execute the computer-executable instructions and to cause the apparatus to carry out a method. The method generally includes the step of receiving a DCI from a BS that schedules a plurality of downlink data transmissions across a plurality of slots. The method includes the step of monitoring the plurality of downlink data transmissions across a plurality of slots and determining at least one HARQ feedback scheme for acknowledging the plurality of downlink data transmissions. The method further includes the step of providing HARQ feedback for the plurality of downlink data transmissions according to at least one HARQ feedback scheme.

[0007] One embodiment provides an apparatus, which includes means for receiving a DCI from a BS for scheduling multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots. The apparatus also includes means for monitoring multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots and determining at least one HARQ feedback scheme for acknowledging the multiple downlink data transmissions. The apparatus further includes means for providing HARQ feedback for the multiple downlink data transmissions according to at least one HARQ feedback scheme.

[0008] One embodiment provides a non-temporary computer-readable medium containing a computer-executable instruction, which, when executed by one or more processors of a processing system, causes the processing system to implement a method. The method generally includes the step of receiving a DCI from a BS that schedules a plurality of downlink data transmissions across a plurality of slots. The method also includes the step of monitoring the plurality of downlink data transmissions across a plurality of slots and determining at least one HARQ feedback scheme for acknowledging the plurality of downlink data transmissions. The method further includes the step of providing HARQ feedback for the plurality of downlink data transmissions according to at least one HARQ feedback scheme.

[0009] One embodiment provides a method for wireless communication by BS. The method generally includes the step of sending a DCI to a UE that schedules multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots. The method also includes the step of determining at least one HARQ feedback scheme for acknowledging the multiple downlink data transmissions. The method further includes the step of monitoring HARQ feedback for the multiple downlink data transmissions according to at least one HARQ feedback scheme.

[0010] One embodiment provides a device comprising (i) a memory having computer-executable instructions, and (ii) one or more processors configured to execute the computer-executable instructions and to cause the device to carry out a method. The method generally includes the step of sending a DCI to a UE that schedules a plurality of downlink data transmissions across a plurality of slots. The method also includes the step of determining at least one HARQ feedback scheme for acknowledging the plurality of downlink data transmissions. The method further includes the step of monitoring HARQ feedback for the plurality of downlink data transmissions according to at least one HARQ feedback scheme.

[0011] One embodiment provides a device which includes means for sending a DCI to a UE that schedules multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots. The device also includes means for determining at least one HARQ feedback scheme for acknowledging the multiple downlink data transmissions. The device further includes means for monitoring HARQ feedback for the multiple downlink data transmissions according to at least one HARQ feedback scheme.

[0012] One embodiment provides a non-temporary computer-readable medium containing a computer-executable instruction, which, when executed by one or more processors of a processing system, causes the processing system to implement a method. The method generally includes the step of sending a DCI to a UE that schedules a plurality of downlink data transmissions across a plurality of slots. The method also includes the step of determining at least one HARQ feedback scheme for acknowledging the plurality of downlink data transmissions. The method further includes the step of monitoring HARQ feedback for the plurality of downlink data transmissions according to at least one HARQ feedback scheme.

[0013] For example, the apparatus comprises a processing system, a device having a processing system, or a processing system coordinating via one or more networks. The following description and accompanying drawings illustrate some features for illustrative purposes.

[0014] The attached figures illustrate some features of the various embodiments described herein, but should not be considered as limitations of the scope of this disclosure. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0015] [Figure 1] This is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an exemplary wireless communication network. [Figure 2] This is a block diagram conceptually illustrating the configuration of an exemplary base station and user equipment. [Figure 3A] This figure shows an exemplary embodiment of a data structure for a wireless communication network. [Figure 3B] This figure shows an exemplary embodiment of a data structure for a wireless communication network. [Figure 3C] This figure shows an exemplary embodiment of a data structure for a wireless communication network. [Figure 3D] This figure shows an exemplary embodiment of a data structure for a wireless communication network. [Figure 4]It is a diagram showing an exemplary multi-slot PDSCH scheme. [Figure 5] It is a diagram showing an example of HARQ processes provided for multiple PDSCHs. [Figure 6] It is a diagram showing an exemplary HARQ feedback scheme according to some aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] It is a diagram showing another exemplary HARQ feedback scheme according to some aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] It is a diagram showing another exemplary HARQ feedback scheme according to some aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] It is a flowchart of exemplary operations for wireless communication by a user equipment according to some aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] It is a flowchart of exemplary operations for wireless communication by a user equipment according to some aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 11] It is a diagram showing an aspect of an exemplary communication device according to some aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 12] It is a diagram showing an aspect of another exemplary communication device according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] Aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus, a method, a processing system, and a computer-readable medium for providing HARQ feedback for multiple PDSCH transmissions over multiple slots in a higher frequency range (e.g., frequency range 2+ (FR2+) in 5G). Although some aspects are described with respect to a specific frequency range in 5G, it should be noted that the aspects herein may be applied to other frequency ranges.

[0017] A wireless communication system may support communication in an operating band located within different frequency ranges (FRs). For example, 5G NR may support one or more operating bands within frequency range 1 (FR1) and one or more operating bands within frequency range 2 (FR2). In 5G, FR1 may be between approximately 410 megahertz (MHz) and 7.125 gigahertz (GHz), and FR2 may be between approximately 24.25 GHz and 52.6 GHz.

[0018] As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, some wireless communication systems may support communication in higher frequency ranges compared to FR1 and FR2. As an example, Release 17 of 5G NR may support one or more operating bands within frequency range 2+ (FR2+), which may include frequencies within the 56 GHz band and / or the 71 GHz band. To support communication in such higher frequency bands, a wireless communication system may use a subcarrier spacing higher than that used in lower frequency bands. In FR2+, for example, 5G NR may use subcarrier spacings such as 480 kilohertz (KHz), 960 KHz, compared to the 120 KHz subcarrier spacing used for lower frequency ranges.

[0019] However, in some cases, the higher subcarrier spacing may affect the UE and gNB timelines, which may in turn affect the HARQ timeline and the feedback from the UE. For example, the duration for which the UE and gNB have to process the communication may decrease as the subcarrier spacing supported by the communication system increases. These smaller durations may then increase the complexity of the HARQ timeline and feedback supported by the communication system, resulting in increased latency, decreased performance, decreased efficiency, etc.

[0020] To address the issues arising from the reduction of UE and gNB timelines associated with the use of higher subcarrier spacing (e.g., higher processing complexity, additional scheduling for downlink data), some wireless communications may support multiple transmissions of PDSCHs (referred to herein as multi-slot PDSCHs) across multiple slots. In a multi-slot PDSCH, a single scheduling downlink control information (DCI) can be used to schedule PDSCHs within each of several different slots. Each PDSCH may contain one or more transmit blocks (also called transmission blocks) (TB).

[0021] The impact on UE and gNB timelines can affect the HARQ timeline and feedback, so there are technical challenges in how to efficiently provide HARQ feedback to the network (e.g., gNB). Furthermore, such technical challenges can be amplified when multiple PDSCHs are scheduled by a single scheduling DCI, as opposed to multiple DCIs, because traditional HARQ feedback methods for providing HARQ feedback for multiple PDSCHs can lead to inefficient resource use, increased latency, and other issues.

[0022] To address this, the embodiment provides a technique that enables a device (e.g., a gNB and / or UE) to support one or more different HARQ feedback schemes based on one or more conditions. Each of the HARQ feedback schemes may enable efficient HARQ feedback for multiple PDSCHs. For example, one or more of the HARQ feedback schemes may enable interference reduction, improved spectral efficiency, reduced overhead in the case of retransmission, etc.

[0023] In one embodiment, the HARQ feedback scheme may involve using a single physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for HARQ feedback. In one embodiment, the HARQ feedback scheme may involve using an encoding scheme for HARQ feedback. In one embodiment, the HARQ feedback scheme may involve using at least one of a single PUCCH resource or an encoding scheme for providing HARQ feedback.

[0024] As will be explained in more detail below, the UE and gNB may determine a specific HARQ feedback scheme for providing HARQ feedback for multiple PDSCHs based on conditions such as the arrival time of the PDSCH, the priority associated with the PDSCH, and the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) associated with the PDSCH. In some cases, the UE and gNB may determine, based on the conditions, to apply different HARQ feedback schemes to different subsets of PDSCHs scheduled by a single scheduling DCI. The gNB may provide instructions on which HARQ feedback scheme the UE should use to provide HARQ feedback.

[0025] Furthermore, the embodiment provides a technique that enables a device (e.g., a gNB and / or UE) to process the retransmission of one or more PDSCHs based on one or more conditions. As will be described in more detail below, for example, the UE and gNB may process the retransmission of one or more PDSCHs based on a specific HARQ feedback scheme used for their respective PDSCHs.

[0026] In this way, the embodiment can enable efficient transmission of HARQ feedback for multiple PDSCHs. This significantly improves network performance when timeline reduction (for example, by using higher subcarrier spacing for higher frequency ranges) affects the HARQ timeline and feedback of the wireless communication system.

[0027] An overview of wireless communication networks Figure 1 shows an example of a wireless communication network 100 in which embodiments described herein may be implemented.

[0028] Generally, the wireless communication network 100 includes one or more core networks, such as base stations (BS) 102, user equipment (UE) 104, an advanced packet core (EPC) 160, and a 5G core (5GC) network 190, which interact with each other to provide wireless communication services.

[0029] The base station 102 may provide user equipment 104 with an access point to the EPC 160 and / or 5GC 190, and may perform one or more of the following functions, among others: transfer of user data, encryption and decryption of radio channels, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, delivery for non-access layer (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network (RAN) sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of alert messages. In various contexts, the base station may include and / or be referred to as a gNB, node B, eNB, ng-eNB (e.g., an eNB enhanced to provide connectivity to both EPC 160 and 5GC 190), access point, transceiver base station, radio base station, radio transceiver, or transceiver function, or transmit / receive point.

[0030] Base station 102 communicates wirelessly with UE 104 via communication link 120. Each base station 102 may provide communication coverage to its own geographical coverage area 110, which may overlap in some cases. For example, a small cell 102' (e.g., a low-power base station) may have a coverage area 110' that overlaps with the coverage area 110 of one or more macrocells (e.g., high-power base stations).

[0031] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (UL) (also called reverse link) transmissions from the user equipment 104 to the base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also called forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the user equipment 104. The communication link 120 may, in various embodiments, use multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity.

[0032] Examples of UE104 include cellular phones, smartphones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs), satellite radios, global positioning systems, multimedia devices, video devices, digital audio players, cameras, game consoles, tablets, smart devices, wearable devices, vehicles, electric meters, gas pumps, large or small kitchen appliances, healthcare devices, implants, sensors / actuators, displays, or other similar devices. Some UE104 may be Internet of Things (IoT) devices (e.g., parking meters, gas pumps, toasters, vehicles, cardiac monitors, or other IoT devices), always-on (AON) devices, or edge processing devices. More commonly, UE104 may also be called stations, mobile stations, subscriber stations, mobile units, subscriber units, wireless units, remote units, mobile devices, wireless devices, wireless communication devices, remote devices, mobile subscriber stations, access terminals, mobile terminals, wireless terminals, remote terminals, handsets, user agents, mobile clients, or clients.

[0033] The wireless communication network 100 includes a HARQ component 199 which may be configured to determine at least one HARQ feedback scheme for acknowledging multiple downlink data transmissions (e.g., PDSCHs) scheduled by a single DCI, and to monitor HARQ feedback for multiple downlink data transmissions according to at least one HARQ feedback scheme. The wireless network 100 further includes a HARQ component 198 which may be configured to acknowledging multiple downlink data transmissions scheduled by a single DCI, and to determine at least one HARQ feedback scheme for giving HARQ feedback for multiple downlink data transmissions according to at least one HARQ feedback scheme.

[0034] Figure 2 shows an exemplary configuration of a base station (BS) 102 and user equipment (UE) 104.

[0035] In general, the base station 102 includes various processors (e.g., 220, 230, 238, and 240), including modulators and demodulators, antennas 234a-t (collectively 234), transceivers 232a-t (collectively 232), and other embodiments that enable wireless transmission of data (e.g., source data 212) and wireless reception of data (e.g., data sink 239). For example, the base station 102 may send and receive data between itself and user equipment 104.

[0036] The base station 102 includes a controller / processor 240, which may be configured to implement various functions related to wireless communication. In the illustrated example, the controller / processor 240 includes a HARQ component 199. In particular, although shown as an embodiment of the controller / processor 240, the HARQ component 199 may be implemented in various other embodiments of the base station 102 in other implementation forms, either as an addition or as an alternative.

[0037] Generally, the user equipment 104 includes various processors (e.g., 258, 264, 266, and 280), including modulators and demodulators, antennas 252a-r (collectively 252), transceivers 254a-r (collectively 254), and other embodiments that enable wireless transmission of data (e.g., source data 262) and wireless reception of data (e.g., data sink 260).

[0038] The user device 102 includes a controller / processor 280, which may be configured to implement various functions related to wireless communication. In the illustrated example, the controller / processor 280 includes a HARQ component 198. In particular, although shown as an embodiment of the controller / processor 280, the HARQ component 198 may be implemented in various other embodiments of the user device 104 in other implementation forms, either as an addition or as an alternative.

[0039] Figures 3A to 3D illustrate the data structure for a wireless communication network, such as the wireless communication network 100 in Figure 1. Specifically, Figure 3A is an example of a first subframe in a 5G (e.g., 5G NR) frame structure, Figure 3B is an example of a DL channel in a 5G subframe, Figure 3C is an example of a second subframe in a 5G frame structure, and Figure 3D is an example of a UL channel in a 5G subframe.

[0040] Further discussion of Figures 1, 2, and 3A–3D is provided hereafter in this disclosure.

[0041] An overview of mmWave wireless communication In wireless communications, the electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided into various classes, bands, channels, or other features. This subdivision is often based on wavelength and frequency, which may also be referred to as carrier, subcarrier, frequency channel, tone, or subband.

[0042] In 5G, two initial operating bands are identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz to 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz). Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as intermediate band frequencies. Although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often (interchangeably) referred to as the “sub-6 GHz” band in various documents and papers. A similar nomenclature issue sometimes arises with FR2, which is sometimes (interchangeably) referred to as the “millimeter wave” ("mmW" or “mmWave") band in documents and papers, even though it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz to 300 GHz) identified by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as the “millimeter wave” band, because the wavelengths at these frequencies are between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in that band are sometimes called millimeter waves. Quasi-mmWave may extend down to frequencies as low as 3 GHz, where the wavelength is 100 millimeters. The ultra-high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz and is also known as centimeter waves.

[0043] With the above aspects in mind, please understand that, unless otherwise specified, terms such as "sub-6GHz" may broadly refer to frequencies that are below 6GHz, within FR1, or may include intermediate band frequencies when used herein. Furthermore, please understand that, unless otherwise specified, terms such as "millimeter wave" may broadly refer to frequencies that are within intermediate band frequencies, within FR2, or within the EHF band when used herein.

[0044] Communications using the mmWave / quasi-mmWave radio frequency band (e.g., 3GHz to 300GHz) may have higher path loss and shorter range compared to lower frequency communications. Therefore, in Figure 1, the mmWave base station 180 may use beamforming 182 together with the UE 104 to improve path loss and range. To do so, the base station 180 and the UE 104 may each include multiple antennas, such as antenna elements, antenna panels, and / or antenna arrays, to facilitate beamforming.

[0045] In some cases, base station 180 may transmit a beamformed signal to UE 104 in one or more transmit directions 182'. UE 104 may receive a beamformed signal from base station 180 in one or more receive directions 182''. UE 104 may also transmit a beamformed signal to base station 180 in one or more transmit directions 182''. Base station 180 may receive a beamformed signal from UE 104 in one or more receive directions 182'. Base station 180 and UE 104 may then perform beam training to determine the best receive and transmit directions for each of them. In particular, the transmit and receive directions for base station 180 may or may not be the same. Similarly, the transmit and receive directions for UE 104 may or may not be the same.

[0046] Furthermore, as described herein, some wireless communication systems (e.g., Release 17 5G) may support communication in higher frequency bands than FR2, such as FR2+. In some cases, FR2+ may include frequencies in the 56 GHz band and / or 71 GHz band. In some embodiments, the techniques described herein for providing HARQ feedback can be used in wireless communication systems that support communication at these higher frequencies.

[0047] Exemplary HARQ feedback for multi-slot PDSCH As described above, some communication systems may support multi-slot PDSCH to address some of the problems associated with timeline reduction caused by higher subcarrier spacing. Figure 4 shows an exemplary multi-slot PDSCH scheme 400, where a single DCI is used to schedule multiple PDSCH transmissions 404-1 to 404-N across multiple slots. The DCI may be contained within a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) 402. In one reference example, each PDSCH 404 1 to N may be scheduled for a different slot.

[0048] Each PDSCH404 may include a separate HARQ process for sending HARQ feedback for the TB within the PDSCH404. As shown in Figure 5, for example, assuming that each PDSCH404 1 to N contains a single TB406, a different HARQ process 408 can be provided for each TB406, resulting in N HARQ processes for N TBs (in N PDSCHs).

[0049] Each HARQ process 408 1-N can be used to send HARQ feedback for each TB406 1-N within each PDSCH 404 1-N; however, sending HARQ feedback in this manner can lead to inefficient use of resources and degrade network performance. Therefore, it may be desirable to provide an improved technique for providing HARQ feedback for multi-slot PDSCHs.

[0050] Aspects related to improved HARQ feedback for multi-slot PDSCH The embodiments presented herein provide an improved technique for providing HARQ feedback for multiple PDSCHs scheduled by a single DCI. In some embodiments, the techniques described herein can be used when communications are deployed in higher frequency ranges, such as FR2+. However, it should be noted that FR2+ is used as a reference example, and that while the techniques described herein may be used for any operating bandwidth set, the numerology for that operating bandwidth set (e.g., subcarrier spacing) will have an effect on the UE and gNB processing timelines (e.g., reducing the processing timeline).

[0051] To support providing efficient HARQ feedback for multiple PDSCHs scheduled by a single DCI, the embodiments provide different HARQ feedback schemes that can be used to provide HARQ feedback. Figure 6 shows an exemplary HARQ feedback scheme 600 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, where each PDSCH 604 1-N is scheduled by a single PDCCH 602. TBs may be transmitted within each PDSCH 604. Each PDSCH 604 1-N may include an assigned HARQ process (e.g., HARQ process 408) for providing feedback (e.g., an acknowledgment (ACK) or a negative acknowledgment (NACK)) for the PDSCH 604 to the network. As used herein, the HARQ feedback scheme 600 may be referred to as a block (or group) of individual HARQ-ACKs.

[0052] In some embodiments, the HARQ feedback scheme 600 allows the UE to provide HARQ feedback for all PDSCH604 1~N in a group, rather than providing separate HARQ feedback for each PDSCH604 (based on separate HARQ processes). For example, in the HARQ feedback scheme 600, the UE can use a single PUCCH resource (which may span one or more symbols) to send individual HARQ feedback as a group to the network. As shown in Figure 6, each individual HARQ-ACK608 1~N (corresponding to PDSCH604 1~N, respectively) may be sent within a single PUCCH resource 610. In one embodiment, HARQ-ACK608 1~N may be multiplexed within the PUCCH resource 610. By sending HARQ-ACK608 1~N as a group within a single PUCCH resource 610, the embodiment can reduce interference and improve spectral efficiency, partly thanks to, for example, a reduction in the number of feedback transmissions.

[0053] In HARQ feedback scheme 600, individual HARQ-ACKs are still sent (but within a single PUCCH resource, rather than multiple PUCCH resources), so retransmissions from one or more PDSCH604s may be sent individually. To reduce the overhead in the case of multiple retransmissions, the gNB may choose to use the same scheduling DCI (for example, within PDCCH602) to retransmit multiple HARQ processes.

[0054] Figure 7 shows exemplary HARQ feedback schemes 700 according to several embodiments of the present disclosure. As used herein, the HARQ feedback scheme 700 may be referred to as joint (or compressed) HARQ ACK. In some embodiments, the HARQ feedback scheme 700 enables a UE to provide joint (or compressed) HARQ feedback for all PDSCH604 1-N. For example, in the HARQ feedback scheme 700, the UE can use an encoding scheme to joint encode the HARQ-ACKs for PDSCH604 1-N (e.g., HARQ-ACK608 1-N) into joint HARQ-ACK702.

[0055] A joint HARQ-ACK702 may contain fewer bits than the total number of bits for HARQ-ACK608 1 to N. For example, assuming each HARQ-ACK608 is single bit (for a total of N bits of HARQ feedback), a joint HARQ-ACK702 may contain NX bits, where X ≥ 1. In some embodiments, waveform signatures can be used to multiplex HARQ-ACK608s for multiple PDSCH604s into a joint HARQ-ACK702.

[0056] The encoding scheme used to jointly encode HARQ-ACK608 1~N into joint HARQ-ACK702 can be based on different techniques. For example, the encoding scheme may be based on whether at least one HARQ-ACK is a NACK. For instance, if at least one PDSCH is misreceived, the joint HARQ-ACK702 may show a NACK. On the other hand, if none of the PDSCHs are misreceived, the joint HARQ-ACK702 may show an ACK.

[0057] In another example, the encoding scheme can be used to indicate ACK / NACK and the number of PDSCHs that have ACK / NACK. For example, assuming there are two PDSCHs that were received incorrectly, the joint HARQ-ACK702 could indicate NACK and that there are two PDSCHs that have NACK. Similarly, assuming there are two PDSCHs that were received successfully, the joint HARQ-ACK702 could indicate ACK and that there are two PDSCHs that have ACK.

[0058] Using the HARQ feedback scheme 700, the network can retransmit some or all of the data across multiple PDSCHs that have feedback within a joint HARQ-ACK 702. For example, if a joint HARQ-ACK 702 indicates a NACK without indicating the number of PDSCHs with NACKs, the network may retransmit all of the data across multiple PDSCHs. In another example, if a joint HARQ-ACK 702 indicates a NACK along with the number of PDSCHs with NACKs, the network may retransmit a subset of the data corresponding to the PDSCHs with NACKs.

[0059] Figure 8 shows exemplary HARQ feedback schemes 800 according to several aspects of the present disclosure. As used herein, the HARQ feedback scheme 800 may be referred to as a joint-block HARQ ACK. For example, the HARQ feedback scheme 800 may be a combination of the HARQ feedback scheme 600 and the HARQ feedback scheme 700.

[0060] In some embodiments, the HARQ feedback scheme 800 allows the UE to divide N PDSCH604s into one or more groups 802 1 to K (for example, K groups as shown in Figure 8) and generate one joint HARQ-ACK804 for each group 802. The joint HARQ-ACK804 may be similar to the joint HARQ-ACK704 shown in Figure 7. For example, the joint HARQ-ACK804 for each group 802 may be generated using the encoding scheme associated with the HARQ feedback scheme 700. In some embodiments, the UE can transmit the joint HARQ-ACK804 for each group 802 to the network as HARQ feedback.

[0061] In some embodiments, joint HARQ-ACKs 804 from each group 802 can be sent to the network as a block consisting of K joint HARQ-ACKs. For example, a UE can multiplex K joint HARQ-ACKs 804 1-K within a single PUCCH resource 810 to send K joint HARQ-ACKs 804 1-K as a group to the network. Using the HARQ feedback scheme 800, the network can retransmit PDSCH 604s within the same group 802 together. If PDSCHs corresponding to multiple groups (e.g., multiple joint HARQ-ACKs) must be retransmitted, the same scheduling DCI (e.g., PDCCH 602) can be used to schedule the retransmissions.

[0062] For multiple PDSCHs scheduled by a single PDCCH (e.g., PDCCH602), the gNB may choose to use a combination of (1) individual HARQ-ACKs, (2) joint HARQ-ACKs (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 700), (3) block individual HARQ-ACKs (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 600), and (4) block joint HARQ-ACKs (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 800). In some embodiments, the gNB may determine the HARQ feedback scheme for a given set of PDSCHs based on the set of available PUCCH resources. In some embodiments, the gNB may determine the HARQ feedback scheme for a given set of PDSCHs based on communication with the UE. For example, the UE may require that a particular HARQ feedback scheme be used for a set of PDSCHs. Note that in some cases, the use of joint HARQ-ACKs or block HARQ-ACKs may lead to out-of-order HARQ-ACKs. In these cases, the wireless communication system should support non-sequential HARQ ACKs.

[0063] For PDSCHs using joint HARQ-ACK (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 700) or block HARQ-ACK (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 600), the grouping of PDSCHs can be selected based on one or more criteria. In one embodiment, the grouping of PDSCHs may be based on the arrival time of the PDSCHs at the UE. For example, PDSCHs using joint / block HARQ-ACK may be assembled based on the arrival time of the PDSCHs. In this example, for PDSCHs that are close to each other (e.g., arrival times within a threshold time), the UE may use joint HARQ to provide HARQ feedback (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 700) or send HARQ-ACKs for the PDSCHs as blocks (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 600).

[0064] In one embodiment, the grouping of PDSCHs may be based on the priority of the PDSCHs. For example, for PDSCHs having the same priority, the UE may send HARQ feedback for the PDSCHs within the same block (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 600) or within a joint HARQ-ACK (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 700). In some cases, higher priority PDSCHs may be configured to use individual HARQ-ACKs, and lower priority PDSCHs may use joint HARQ-ACKs. As a reference example, prioritization (from highest to lowest) may include (i) priority 1, individual HARQ-ACK, (ii) priority 2, block individual HARQ-ACK, (iii) priority 3, joint HARQ-ACK, and (iv) priority 4, block joint HARQ-ACK.

[0065] PDSCH priorities may be indicated within the scheduling DCI. Priorities may be set based on criteria such as quality of service (QoS) requirements, with higher QoS requirements (e.g., voice) being given higher priority and lower QoS requirements (e.g., video) being given lower priority. Different QoS requirements may represent different streams, such as video, audio, and data. PDSCHs with the same QoS requirements or PDSCHs carried over the same logical channel may be given the same priority.

[0066] In one embodiment, PDSCH grouping may be based on the type of transmit / receive architecture associated with the PDSCH. For example, in some cases, a PDSCH may be transmitted using multiple transmit / receive points (TRPs), multiple beams, and / or multiple panels. In these cases, PDSCHs transmitted using multiple TRPs, multiple beams, and / or multiple panels can be grouped together.

[0067] In one embodiment, PDSCH grouping may be based on the MCS associated with the PDSCH. For example, PDSCH grouping may be based on UEs using the same MCS or code rate as the PDSCH. In one embodiment, PDSCH grouping may be based on the number of spatial streams used for the PDSCH. For example, PDSCHs transmitted using the same layer for multiple layer transmissions can be grouped together. In one embodiment, PDSCH grouping may be based on whether the PDSCH is transmitted in a multi-user configuration. For example, in a multi-user configuration, PDSCHs for UEs with similar characteristics can be grouped together and multiplexed on the same PUCCH resource.

[0068] In some embodiments, a network (e.g., a gNB) can provide explicit instructions on which HARQ feedback scheme the UE should use to provide HARQ feedback for multiple PDSCHs scheduled by the same DCI. For example, the gNB can provide instructions in a scheduling PDCCH (e.g., PDCCH602) on which HARQ feedback scheme to use for a PDSCH. In some cases, the instructions in the scheduling PDCCH may be fixed-length instructions. For example, the gNB can pre-configure different HARQ feedback schemes through radio resource control (RRC) signaling and send an index of the specific HARQ feedback scheme the UE should use in the scheduling PDCCH. In some cases, to reduce length, a single index may be sent for multiple PDSCHs.

[0069] In some embodiments, the HARQ feedback scheme that a UE uses to provide HARQ feedback for multiple PDSCHs scheduled by the same DCI may be pre-configured for the UE. For example, a network may pre-configure several PDSCH indices to use a particular HARQ feedback scheme. In another example, a network may pre-configure a PDSCH with specific characteristics (e.g., MCS, number of layers, transmit beam type, transmit and receive architecture types, panel, etc.) to use a particular HARQ feedback scheme. The pre-configuration may be communicated to the UE in advance, for example, by RRC signaling. Once the UE detects the characteristics of a PDSCH or determines a particular PDSCH index, the UE can use the pre-configured HARQ feedback scheme to provide HARQ feedback for the PDSCH.

[0070] In some embodiments, a network (e.g., a gNB) can implicitly indicate which HARQ feedback scheme the UE should use to provide HARQ feedback for multiple PDSCHs scheduled by the same DCI. For example, a PDSCH with multiple repetitions (e.g., more than the repetition threshold) may indicate to the UE that a reliability-sensitive HARQ feedback scheme should be used to provide feedback for that PDSCH. In this case, the UE may decide to use a HARQ feedback scheme that does not utilize compression or grouping. In another example, a PDSCH with fewer than the repetition threshold may indicate to the UE that an efficient HARQ feedback scheme may be used to provide HARQ feedback. In this case, the UE may decide to use one of the HARQ feedback schemes 600, 700, and 800. In some embodiments, the number of Transmit Configuration Indicator (TCI) states used for a PDSCH with repetitions may indicate how reliability-sensitive the higher layer (e.g., the application) is and which HARQ feedback scheme should be used.

[0071] In some cases, the UE may monitor PDSCHs within each slot and send HARQ feedback for slots where no PDSCHs are detected. This assumes that priority bits for all PDSCHs in multiple slots are communicated to the UE. However, sending this information could lead to the waste of DCI and uplink control information (UCI) bits for PDSCHs that are not transmitted. To address this, the embodiment may allow the gNB to send priority bits for a subset of PDSCHs (e.g., transmitted PDSCHs) and a Total Downlink Allocation Instruction (DAI) instruction to help the UE track transmitted PDSCHs.

[0072] Figure 9 is a flowchart of an exemplary operation 900 for wireless communication according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Operation 900 may be performed by a UE (e.g., UE 104).

[0073] Operation 900 may begin at 910, where the UE receives a DCI (e.g., a DCI in PDCCH602) from the BS (e.g., BS102) scheduling multiple downlink data transmissions (e.g., PDSCH604) across multiple slots. At 920, the UE monitors the multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots. At 930, the UE determines at least one HARQ feedback scheme (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 600, HARQ feedback scheme 700, HARQ feedback scheme 800) for acknowledging the multiple downlink data transmissions. At 940, the UE provides HARQ feedback for the multiple downlink data transmissions according to at least one HARQ feedback scheme.

[0074] In some embodiments, the HARQ feedback scheme determined in 930 (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 600) is based on a single PUCCH resource (e.g., PUCCH resource 610) for providing HARQ feedback. As described above, for example, HARQ feedback scheme 600 may involve using a single PUCCH resource to carry individual HARQ-ACKs (e.g., HARQ-ACK 608) as a group or block. The UE may multiplex individual HARQ-ACKs (e.g., HARQ-ACK 608) for PDSCH 604 into a single PUCCH resource, rather than using a separate PUCCH resource for each individual HARQ-ACK. In these embodiments, the UE may provide HARQ feedback (in 940) by transmitting the HARQ feedback to the BS within a single PUCCH resource, where the HARQ feedback includes multiple bits, each bit corresponding to one of several different downlink data transmissions.

[0075] In some embodiments, when the HARQ feedback scheme is based on a single PUCCH resource (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 600), operation 900 may further include the UE receiving a retransmission of at least one of a plurality of downlink data transmissions from the BS, where the retransmission is scheduled by another scheduling DCI from the BS (e.g., separate from the DCI received in 910).

[0076] In some embodiments, when the HARQ feedback scheme is based on a single PUCCH resource (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 600), at least one of multiple downlink data transmissions may include a retransmission of the first downlink data transmission. In these embodiments, the retransmission of the first downlink data transmission is scheduled by the same DCI (in 910).

[0077] In some embodiments, the HARQ feedback scheme determined in 930 (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 700) is based on an encoding scheme for providing HARQ feedback. As described above, for example, HARQ feedback scheme 700 may involve using an encoding scheme to jointly encode individual HARQ-ACKs (e.g., HARQ-ACK 608) into joint HARQ-ACKs (e.g., joint HARQ-ACK 702). In these embodiments, the UE may provide HARQ feedback (in 940) by generating joint HARQ-ACKs based on the encoding scheme and by transmitting the joint HARQ-ACKs to the BS. The number of bits in the joint HARQ-ACK may be less than the total number of bits in the HARQ feedback.

[0078] In some embodiments, when the joint HARQ-ACK indicates at least one NACK for at least one of the multiple downlink data transmissions, operation 900 may further include the UE receiving retransmissions of the multiple downlink data transmissions from the BS after sending the joint HARQ-ACK.

[0079] In some embodiments, the HARQ feedback scheme determined in 930 (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 800) is based on (i) at least one coding scheme for providing HARQ feedback, and (ii) a single PUCCH resource for providing HARQ feedback. As described above, for example, the HARQ feedback scheme 800 may involve dividing a plurality of downlink data transmissions into one or more groups (e.g., group 802), using a coding scheme to jointly encode the individual HARQ-ACKs for each downlink data transmission within the group to generate a joint HARQ-ACK (e.g., joint HARQ-ACK 804) for each group, and transmitting the generated joint HARQ-ACKs as a group or block within a single PUCCH resource (e.g., PUCCH resource 810).

[0080] In a manner in which the HARQ feedback scheme determined in 930 is the HARQ feedback scheme 800, the UE (in 940) may generate a joint HARQ-ACK for each of one or more groups of downlink data transmissions based on at least one encoding scheme and transmit the generated joint HARQ-ACKs in a single PUCCH resource to the BS. Each joint HARQ-ACK may contain instructions for HARQ-ACK feedback for a subset of the downlink data transmissions. For each joint HARQ-ACK, the total number of bits in the joint HARQ-ACK may be less than the total number of bits in the HARQ feedback for a subset of the downlink data transmissions.

[0081] In some embodiments, when at least a first generated HARQ-ACK indicates at least one NACK for at least one downlink data transmission in a first group, operation 900 may further include the UE receiving a retransmission of each of the downlink data transmissions in the first group after the UE has transmitted a generated joint HARQ-ACK, which includes the first generated HARQ-ACK.

[0082] In some embodiments, multiple downlink data transmissions may include a first group of downlink data transmissions and a second group of downlink data transmissions, and at least one of the first group of downlink data transmissions and the second group of downlink data transmissions may include retransmissions of downlink data transmissions. In these embodiments, the retransmissions will be scheduled by the same scheduling DCI (in 910).

[0083] In some embodiments, at least one HARQ feedback scheme (in 930) may be determined based on at least one of the following: (i) the arrival time of each of the multiple downlink data transmissions, (ii) the priority of each of the multiple downlink data transmissions, (iii) the type of transmit beam used for each of the multiple downlink data transmissions, (iv) the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) associated with each of the multiple downlink data transmissions, (v) the number of spatial streams used for each of the multiple downlink data transmissions, or (vi) whether each of the multiple downlink data transmissions is associated with one user or multiple users.

[0084] In some embodiments, at least one HARQ feedback scheme (in 930) is determined based on an explicit instruction from the BS. The explicit instruction may be received, for example, in the scheduling DCI (in 910). In some embodiments, at least one HARQ feedback scheme (in 930) is determined based on at least one index associated with a plurality of downlink data transmissions, and at least one index is associated with one of the plurality of HARQ feedback schemes. In some embodiments, at least one HARQ feedback scheme (in 930) is determined based on the number of repetitions of one or more of the plurality of downlink data transmissions. The number of repetitions may be indicated, for example, by the number of TCI states (by the scheduling DCI).

[0085] In some embodiments, the scheduling DCI (in 910) may include the total DAI. In these embodiments, the UE in 940 may acknowledge multiple downlink data transmissions based on the total DAI. For example, as mentioned, the UE can use the total DAI to track PDSCH transmitted by the network.

[0086] Figure 10 is a flowchart of an exemplary operation 1000 for wireless communication according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Operation 1000 may be performed by a BS (BS102 such as a gNB).

[0087] Operation 1000 may begin at 1010, where the BS sends a DCI (e.g., in PDCCH602) to the UE (e.g., UE104) scheduling multiple downlink data transmissions (e.g., PDSCH604) across multiple slots. At 1020, the BS determines at least one HARQ feedback scheme (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 600, HARQ feedback scheme 700, HARQ feedback scheme 800) for acknowledging the multiple downlink data transmissions. At 1030, the BS monitors the HARQ feedback for the multiple downlink data transmissions according to at least one HARQ feedback scheme.

[0088] In some embodiments, the HARQ feedback scheme determined in 1020 (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 600) is based on a single PUCCH resource for HARQ feedback (e.g., PUCCH resource 610). As described above, for example, HARQ feedback scheme 600 may involve using a single PUCCH resource to carry individual HARQ-ACKs (e.g., HARQ-ACK 608) as a group or block. The UE can multiplex individual HARQ-ACKs (e.g., HARQ-ACK 608) for PDSCH 604 onto a single PUCCH resource, rather than using a separate PUCCH resource for each individual HARQ-ACK. In these embodiments, the BS (in 1030) may monitor the HARQ feedback by monitoring within a single PUCCH resource for HARQ feedback, where the HARQ feedback includes multiple bits, each bit corresponding to one of several different downlink data transmissions.

[0089] In some embodiments, when the HARQ feedback scheme is based on a single PUCCH resource (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 600), operation 1000 may further include the BS sending to the UE another DCI (e.g., separate from the DCI sent in 1010) of at least one of a plurality of downlink data transmissions to schedule a retransmission.

[0090] In some embodiments, when the HARQ feedback scheme is based on a single PUCCH resource (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 600), at least one of multiple downlink data transmissions may include a retransmission of the first downlink data transmission. In these embodiments, the retransmission of the first downlink data transmission is scheduled by the same DCI (in 1010).

[0091] In some embodiments, the HARQ feedback scheme determined in 1020 (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 700) is based on an encoding scheme for HARQ feedback. As described above, for example, HARQ feedback scheme 700 may involve using an encoding scheme to jointly encode individual HARQ-ACKs (e.g., HARQ-ACK 608) into joint HARQ-ACKs (e.g., joint HARQ-ACK 702). In these embodiments, BS (in 1030) may monitor joint HARQ-ACKs for multiple downlink data transmissions, and the joint HARQ-ACKs are generated based on the joint encoding of the HARQ feedback based on the encoding scheme. The number of bits in the joint HARQ-ACK may be less than the total number of bits in the HARQ feedback.

[0092] In some embodiments, when the joint HARQ-ACK indicates at least one NACK for at least one of the multiple downlink data transmissions, operation 1000 may further include scheduling the retransmission of the multiple downlink data transmissions after receiving the joint HARQ-ACK.

[0093] In some embodiments, the HARQ feedback scheme determined in 1020 (e.g., HARQ feedback scheme 800) is based on (i) at least one encoding scheme for HARQ feedback, and (ii) a single PUCCH resource for providing HARQ feedback. As described above, for example, the HARQ feedback scheme 800 may involve dividing a plurality of downlink data transmissions into one or more groups (e.g., group 802), using an encoding scheme to jointly encode the individual HARQ-ACKs for each downlink data transmission within the group to generate a joint HARQ-ACK (e.g., joint HARQ-ACK 804) for each group, and transmitting the generated joint HARQ-ACKs as a group or block within a single PUCCH resource (e.g., PUCCH resource 810).

[0094] In a configuration where the HARQ feedback scheme determined in 1020 is HARQ feedback scheme 800, BS (in 1030) may monitor multiple joint HARQ-ACKs within a single PUCCH resource, each joint HARQ-ACK corresponding to a different group of downlink data transmissions and generated based on joint coding of the HARQ feedback for the group of downlink data transmissions using at least one coding scheme. Each joint HARQ-ACK may contain instructions for the HARQ feedback for each of the group of downlink data transmissions. The total number of bits in a joint HARQ-ACK may be less than the total number of bits in the HARQ feedback for the group of downlink data transmissions.

[0095] In some embodiments, when at least a first generated joint HARQ-ACK indicates at least one NACK for at least one downlink data transmission in a first group, operation 1000 may further include BS scheduling a retransmission of each of the downlink data transmissions in the first group after receiving a joint HARQ-ACK containing the first generated joint HARQ-ACK.

[0096] In some embodiments, multiple downlink data transmissions may include a first group of downlink data transmissions and a second group of downlink data transmissions, and at least one of the first group of downlink data transmissions and the second group of downlink data transmissions may include retransmissions of downlink data transmissions. In these embodiments, the retransmissions will be scheduled by the same scheduling DCI (in 1010).

[0097] In some embodiments, at least one HARQ feedback scheme (in 1020) may be determined based on at least one of the following: (i) the arrival time of each of the multiple downlink data transmissions, (ii) the priority of each of the multiple downlink data transmissions, (iii) the type of transmit beam used for each of the multiple downlink data transmissions, (iv) the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) associated with each of the multiple downlink data transmissions, (v) the number of spatial streams used for each of the multiple downlink data transmissions, or (vi) whether each of the multiple downlink data transmissions is associated with one user or multiple users.

[0098] In some embodiments, operation 1000 may further include the BS sending instructions for at least one HARQ feedback scheme to the UE (for example, within the scheduling DCI). In some embodiments, the at least one HARQ feedback scheme (in 1020) is determined based on at least one index associated with a plurality of downlink data transmissions, the at least one index associated with one of the plurality of HARQ feedback schemes. The at least one index may be sent within the scheduling DCI. In some embodiments, the scheduling DCI (in 1010) may include the total DAI and instructions for priority for a subset of PDSCHs.

[0099] Exemplary wireless communication devices Figure 11 shows an exemplary communication device 1100, which includes various configured or adapted components capable of performing operations for the techniques disclosed herein, such as the operations shown and described in relation to Figure 10. In some examples, the communication device 1100 may be, for example, the base station 102 described in relation to Figures 1 and 2.

[0100] The communication device 1100 includes a processing system 1102 coupled to a transceiver 1108 (for example, a transmitter and / or receiver). The transceiver 1108 is configured to transmit (or send) and receive signals for the communication device 1100, such as various signals described herein, via the antenna 1110. The processing system 1102 may be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 1100, including processing signals that are received and / or will be transmitted by the communication device 1100.

[0101] The processing system 1102 includes one or more processors 1120 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 1130 via a bus 1106. In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium / memory 1130 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by one or more processors 1120, cause one or more processors 1120 to perform the operations shown in Figure 10 or other operations for performing the various techniques discussed herein.

[0102] In the illustrated example, the computer-readable medium / memory 1130 stores a code 1131 for sending a DCI to the UE to schedule multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots, a code 1132 for determining at least one HARQ feedback scheme for acknowledging the multiple downlink data transmissions, and a code 1133 for monitoring HARQ feedback for the multiple downlink data transmissions according to at least one HARQ feedback scheme.

[0103] In the illustrated example, one or more processors 1120 include a circuit configuration configured to implement code stored in a computer-readable medium / memory 1120, the circuit configuration including a circuit configuration 1121 for sending a DCI to the UE that schedules multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots, a circuit configuration 1122 for determining at least one HARQ feedback scheme for acknowledging the multiple downlink data transmissions, and a circuit configuration 1123 for monitoring HARQ feedback for the multiple downlink data transmissions according to at least one HARQ feedback scheme.

[0104] Various components of the communication device 1100 may provide means for carrying out the methods described herein, including those relating to Figure 10.

[0105] In some examples, the means for transmitting or sending (or for outputting for transmission) may include the transceiver 232 and / or antenna 234 of the base station 102 shown in Figure 2 and / or the transceiver 1108 and antenna 1110 of the communication device 1100 shown in Figure 11.

[0106] In some examples, means for receiving (or acquiring) may include the transceiver 232 and / or antenna 234 of the base station shown in Figure 2 and / or the transceiver 1108 and antenna 1110 of the communication device 1100 shown in Figure 11.

[0107] In some examples, the means for making decisions, generating, and monitoring may include various processing system components, such as one or more processors 1120 in Figure 11, or an embodiment of the base station 102 shown in Figure 2, which includes a receiving processor 238, a transmitting processor 220, a TX MIMO processor 230, and / or a controller / processor 240 (including the HARQ component 199).

[0108] In particular, Figure 11 is merely an example of use, and many other examples and configurations of the communication device 1100 are possible.

[0109] Figure 12 shows an exemplary communication device 1200, which includes various configured or adapted components capable of performing operations for the techniques disclosed herein, such as the operations shown and described in relation to Figure 9. In some examples, the communication device 1200 may be, for example, the user equipment 104 described in relation to Figures 1 and 2.

[0110] The communication device 1200 includes a processing system 1202 coupled to a transceiver 1208 (for example, a transmitter and / or receiver). The transceiver 1208 is configured to transmit (or send) and receive signals for the communication device 1200, such as various signals described herein, via the antenna 1210. The processing system 1202 may be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 1200, including processing signals that are received and / or will be transmitted by the communication device 1200.

[0111] The processing system 1202 includes one or more processors 1220 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 1230 via a bus 1206. In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium / memory 1230 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by one or more processors 1220, cause one or more processors 1220 to perform the operations shown in Figure 9 or other operations for performing the various techniques discussed herein.

[0112] In the illustrated example, the computer-readable medium / memory 1230 stores a code 1231 for receiving a DCI from the BS that schedules multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots, a code 1232 for monitoring multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots, a code 1233 for determining at least one HARQ feedback scheme for acknowledging the multiple downlink data transmissions, and a code 1234 for providing HARQ feedback for the multiple downlink data transmissions according to at least one HARQ feedback scheme.

[0113] In the illustrated example, one or more processors 1220 include a circuit configuration configured to implement code stored in a computer-readable medium / memory 1230, the circuit configuration including a circuit configuration 1221 for receiving DCI from BS for scheduling multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots, a circuit configuration 1222 for monitoring multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots, a circuit configuration 1223 for determining at least one HARQ feedback scheme for acknowledging the multiple downlink data transmissions, and a circuit configuration 1224 for providing HARQ feedback for the multiple downlink data transmissions according to at least one HARQ feedback scheme.

[0114] Various components of the communication device 1200 may provide means for carrying out the methods described herein, including those relating to Figure 9.

[0115] In some examples, means for transmitting, sending, or giving (or means for outputting for transmission) may include the transceiver 254 and / or antenna 252 of the user device 104 shown in Figure 2 and / or the transceiver 1208 and antenna 1210 of the communication device 1200 shown in Figure 12.

[0116] In some examples, means for receiving (or acquiring) may include the transceiver 254 and / or antenna 252 of the user device 104 shown in Figure 2 and / or the transceiver 1208 and antenna 1210 of the communication device 1200 shown in Figure 12.

[0117] In some examples, the means for monitoring, generating, and determining may include various processing system components, such as one or more processors 1220 in Figure 12, or a configuration of user equipment 104 shown in Figure 2, which includes a receiving processor 258, a transmitting processor 264, a TX MIMO processor 266, and / or a controller / processor 280 (including the HARQ component 198).

[0118] In particular, Figure 12 is merely an example of use, and many other examples and configurations of the communication device 1200 are possible.

[0119] Exemplary Qualities Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0120] Clause 1: A method for wireless communication by user equipment (UE), comprising the steps of: receiving downlink control information (DCI) from a base station (BS) for scheduling multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots; monitoring the multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots; determining at least one hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ) feedback scheme for acknowledging the multiple downlink data transmissions; and providing HARQ feedback for the multiple downlink data transmissions according to at least one HARQ feedback scheme.

[0121] Clause 2: The HARQ feedback scheme is the method of Clause 1, based on a single physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for providing HARQ feedback.

[0122] Clause 3: The method of Clause 2, wherein the HARQ feedback includes multiple bits, each bit corresponding to one of multiple downlink data transmissions, and the step of providing the HARQ feedback includes the step of sending the HARQ feedback to the BS within a single PUCCH resource.

[0123] Clause 4: At least one of the multiple downlink data transmissions includes a retransmission of the first downlink data transmission, in any manner described in Clauses 1 to 3.

[0124] Clause 5: The method of Clauses 1-4 further includes the step of receiving a retransmission from BS of at least one of multiple downlink data transmissions, the retransmission being scheduled by another scheduling DCI from BS.

[0125] Clause 6: The HARQ feedback scheme is the method of Clause 1, based on an encoding scheme for providing HARQ feedback.

[0126] The method of Clause 6, wherein the step of providing HARQ feedback includes the steps of generating a joint HARQ-ACK for multiple downlink data transmissions based on the joint coding of the HARQ feedback using an encoding scheme, and transmitting the joint HARQ-ACK to the BS.

[0127] Clause 8: The number of bits in the joint HARQ-ACK is less than the total number of bits in the HARQ feedback, in the manner of Clause 7.

[0128] Clause 9: A joint HARQ-ACK indicates at least one negative response for at least one of multiple downlink data transmissions, in any manner of Clauses 1 and 6-8.

[0129] Clause 10: Any method of Clauses 1 and 6-9, further comprising the step of receiving retransmissions of multiple downlink data transmissions after sending a Joint HARQ-ACK.

[0130] Clause 11: A HARQ feedback scheme is the method of Clause 1, which is based on (i) at least one encoding scheme for providing HARQ feedback, and (ii) a single physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for providing HARQ feedback.

[0131] The method of Clause 11, wherein the step of providing HARQ feedback includes the steps of generating a joint HARQ-ACK for each of one or more groups of multiple downlink data transmissions based on at least one coding scheme, and transmitting the generated joint HARQ-ACK in a single PUCCH resource to a base station.

[0132] Clause 13: Each joint HARQ-ACK includes instructions for HARQ feedback for a subset of multiple downlink data transmissions, in the manner of Clause 12.

[0133] Clause 14: The total number of bits in the joint HARQ-ACK is less than the total number of bits in the HARQ feedback for a subset of multiple downlink data transmissions, in any way of Clauses 1 and 11-13.

[0134] Clause 15: The first generated joint HARQ-ACK indicates at least one negative response for at least one downlink data transmission in the first group, in any way of Clauses 1 and 11-14.

[0135] Clause 16: Any method of Clauses 1 and 11-15, further comprising the step of receiving a retransmission of each of the downlink data transmissions in the first group after transmitting a generated joint HARQ-ACK containing the first generated joint HARQ-ACK.

[0136] Clause 17: Multiple downlink data transmissions include a first group of downlink data transmissions and a second group of downlink data transmissions, and at least one of the first group of downlink data transmissions and the second group of downlink data transmissions includes a retransmission of downlink data transmissions, in any manner described in Clauses 1 and 11-16.

[0137] Clause 18: At least one HARQ feedback scheme is determined by any one of the methods in Clauses 1 to 17, based on at least one of the following: (i) the arrival time of each of the multiple downlink data transmissions, (ii) the priority of each of the multiple downlink data transmissions, (iii) the type of transmit beam used for each of the multiple downlink data transmissions, (iv) the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) associated with each of the multiple downlink data transmissions, (v) the number of spatial streams used for each of the multiple downlink data transmissions, or (vi) whether each of the multiple downlink data transmissions is associated with one user or multiple users.

[0138] Clause 19: At least one HARQ feedback scheme shall be one of the methods described in Clauses 1 through 18, as determined based on explicit instructions from the BS.

[0139] Clause 20: At least one HARQ feedback scheme is determined based on at least one index associated with multiple downlink data transmissions, and at least one index is associated with one of the multiple HARQ feedback schemes, in any one of the methods described in Clauses 1 through 19.

[0140] Clause 21: At least one HARQ feedback scheme is one of the methods described in Clauses 1 to 20, determined based on the number of repetitions of one or more of the multiple downlink data transmissions.

[0141] Clause 22: The number of repetitions is indicated by the number of Transmit Configuration Indicator (TCI) states, in the manner of Clause 21.

[0142] Clause 23: The scheduling DCI includes a total downlink allocation instruction (DAI), and multiple downlink data transmissions are further acknowledging based on the total DAI, in any one of the methods of Clauses 1 through 22.

[0143] Clause 24: A device comprising memory having computer executable instructions and one or more processors, wherein one or more processors are configured to execute computer executable instructions and cause the device to carry out any one of the methods in Clauses 1 to 23.

[0144] Clause 25: An apparatus comprising means for carrying out any one of the methods described in Clauses 1 to 23.

[0145] Clause 26: A non-temporary computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a processing system, cause the processing system to perform any one of the methods described in Clauses 1 to 23.

[0146] Clause 27: A method for wireless communication by a base station (BS), comprising the steps of: transmitting downlink control information (DCI) to a user device (UE) that schedules multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots; determining at least one hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ) feedback scheme for acknowledging the multiple downlink data transmissions; and monitoring HARQ feedback for the multiple downlink data transmissions according to at least one HARQ feedback scheme.

[0147] Clause 28: The HARQ feedback scheme is the method of Clause 27, based on a single physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for HARQ feedback.

[0148] Clause 29: The method of Clause 28, wherein the HARQ feedback includes multiple bits, each bit corresponding to one of multiple downlink data transmissions, and the step of monitoring the HARQ feedback includes the step of monitoring within a single PUCCH resource for the HARQ feedback.

[0149] Clause 30: At least one of the multiple downlink data transmissions is carried out in any one of the manners described in Clauses 27 to 29, including a retransmission of the first downlink data transmission.

[0150] Clause 31: Any one of the methods of Clauses 27-30, further comprising the step of sending another DCI to the UE to schedule a retransmission of at least one of multiple downlink data transmissions.

[0151] Clause 32: The HARQ feedback scheme is the method of Clause 27, based on the coding scheme for HARQ feedback.

[0152] Clause 33: Step of monitoring joint HARQ-ACKs for multiple downlink data transmissions, the joint HARQ-ACKs are generated based on the joint coding of HARQ feedback using an coding scheme, in the manner of Clause 32.

[0153] Clause 34: The number of bits in the joint HARQ-ACK is less than the total number of bits in the HARQ feedback, as per Clause 33.

[0154] Clause 35: A joint HARQ-ACK indicates at least one negative response for at least one of several downlink data transmissions, in any one of the manners specified in Clauses 27 and 32-34.

[0155] Clause 36: Any one of the methods in Clauses 27 and 32-35, further including the step of scheduling the retransmission of multiple downlink data transmissions after receiving a Joint HARQ-ACK.

[0156] Clause 37: A HARQ feedback scheme is the method of Clause 27, based on (i) at least one encoding scheme for HARQ feedback, and (ii) a single physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for HARQ feedback.

[0157] Clause 38: The method of Clause 37, wherein the step of monitoring HARQ feedback includes the step of monitoring multiple joint HARQ-ACKs within a single PUCCH resource, each joint HARQ-ACK corresponding to a different group of multiple downlink data transmissions and generated based on the joint coding of HARQ feedback for the group of multiple downlink data transmissions using at least one coding scheme.

[0158] Clause 39: Each joint HARQ-ACK shall include instructions for HARQ feedback for each group of multiple downlink data transmissions, in accordance with the method of Clause 38.

[0159] Clause 40: The total number of bits in a joint HARQ-ACK is less than the total number of bits in HARQ feedback for a group of multiple downlink data transmissions, in the manner of Clause 39.

[0160] Clause 41: The first generated joint HARQ-ACK indicates at least one negative response for at least one downlink data transmission in the first group, in any one of the methods of Clauses 27 and 37-40.

[0161] Clause 42: Any one of the methods of Clauses 27 and 37-41, further comprising the step of scheduling a retransmission of each of the downlink data transmissions in the first group after receiving a joint HARQ-ACK containing the first generated joint HARQ-ACK.

[0162] Clause 43: Multiple downlink data transmissions include a first group of downlink data transmissions and a second group of downlink data transmissions, and at least one of the first group of downlink data transmissions and the second group of downlink data transmissions includes a retransmission of downlink data transmissions, in any way specified in Clauses 27 and 37-42.

[0163] Clause 44: At least one HARQ feedback scheme is determined by the method of Clause 27, based on at least one of the following: (i) the arrival time of each of the multiple downlink data transmissions, (ii) the priority of each of the multiple downlink data transmissions, (iii) the type of transmit beam used for each of the multiple downlink data transmissions, (iv) the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) associated with each of the multiple downlink data transmissions, (v) the number of spatial streams used for each of the multiple downlink data transmissions, or (vi) whether each of the multiple downlink data transmissions is associated with one user or multiple users.

[0164] Clause 45: Any one of the methods in Clauses 27-44, further comprising the step of sending instructions for at least one HARQ feedback scheme to the UE.

[0165] Clause 46: At least one HARQ-ACK feedback scheme is determined based on at least one index associated with multiple downlink data transmissions, and at least one index is associated with one of the multiple HARQ-ACK feedback schemes, in any one of the methods of Clauses 27 to 45.

[0166] Clause 47: Scheduling DCI is any one of the methods in Clauses 27-46, including a Total Downlink Allocation Instruction (DAI) and priority instructions associated with each of a subset of multiple downlink data transmissions.

[0167] Clause 48: A device comprising memory containing computer executable instructions and one or more processors configured to execute computer executable instructions and cause the device to perform any one of the methods in Clauses 27 to 47.

[0168] Clause 49: An apparatus comprising means for carrying out any one of the methods described in Clauses 27 to 47.

[0169] Clause 50: A non-temporary computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a processing system, cause the processing system to perform any one of the methods described in Clauses 27 to 47.

[0170] Additional wireless communication network considerations The techniques and methods described herein may be used for a variety of wireless communication networks (or wireless wide area networks (WWANs)) and radio access technologies (RATs). While aspects may be described herein using terminology commonly associated with 3G, 4G, and / or 5G (e.g., 5G nu-radio (NR)) wireless technologies, aspects of this disclosure may also be applicable to other communication systems and standards not expressly mentioned herein.

[0171] 5G wireless communication networks can support a variety of advanced wireless communication services, including enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), millimeter wave (mmWave), machine-type communications (MTC), and / or mission-critical targeting ultra-high reliability, low latency communications (URLLC). These services, and others, may include latency and reliability requirements.

[0172] Returning to Figure 1, various aspects of this disclosure can be implemented within an exemplary wireless communication network 100.

[0173] In 3GPP (registered trademark, hereafter the same), the term “cell” may, depending on the context in which the term is used, refer to the coverage area of ​​Node B and / or the narrowband subsystem serving this coverage area. In NR systems, the term “cell” may be used interchangeably with BS, next-generation Node B (gNB or gNode B), access point (AP), distributed unit (DU), carrier, or transmit / receive point. BS may provide communication coverage to macrocells, picocells, femtocells, and / or other types of cells.

[0174] Macrocells typically cover relatively large geographical areas (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may enable unlimited access by UEs (User Entities) subscribed to the service. Picocells may cover relatively small geographical areas (e.g., a sports stadium) and may enable unlimited access by UEs subscribed to the service. Femtocells may cover relatively small geographical areas (e.g., a home) and may enable limited access by UEs associated with the femtocell (e.g., UEs within a limited subscriber group (CSG) and UEs for users within a home). A BS (Base Station) for a macrocell is sometimes called a macroBS. A BS for a picocell is sometimes called a picoBS. A BS for a femtocell is sometimes called a femtoBS, homeBS, or home node B.

[0175] A base station 102 configured for 4G LTE (collectively referred to as Advanced Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)) may interface with an EPC 160 through a first backhaul link 132 (e.g., S1 interface). A base station 102 configured for 5G (collectively referred to as 5G NR or Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)) may interface with a 5GC 190 through a second backhaul link 184. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through an EPC 160 or a 5GC 190) via a third backhaul link 134 (e.g., X2 interface). The third backhaul link 134 may generally be wired or wireless.

[0176] Small cell 102' may operate in licensed and / or unlicensed frequency spectrums. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, small cell 102' may utilize NR and use the same 5GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum used by Wi-Fi AP150. Small cell 102' utilizing NR in an unlicensed frequency spectrum may enhance coverage to the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network.

[0177] Some base stations, such as the gNB180, can communicate with the UE104 and operate in the conventional sub-6GHz spectrum at millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies and / or quasi-mmWave frequencies. When the gNB180 operates at mmWave or quasi-mmWave frequencies, it is sometimes referred to as an mmWave base station.

[0178] The communication link 120 between base station 102 and, for example, UE 104, may use one or more carriers. For example, base station 102 and UE 104 may use a spectrum with a bandwidth of up to Y MHz per carrier (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100, 400, and other MHz) allocated in carrier aggregation up to a total of Yx MHz (x component carriers) used for transmission in each direction. The carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other. The carrier allocation may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for DL ​​than for UL). Component carriers may include primary component carriers and one or more secondary component carriers. Primary component carriers may be called primary cells (PCells), and secondary component carriers may be called secondary cells (SCells).

[0179] The wireless communication network 100 further includes, for example, a Wi-Fi access point (AP) 150 communicating with a Wi-Fi station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in the 2.4 GHz and / or 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum. When communicating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the STA 152 / AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) before communication to determine whether the channel is available.

[0180] Some UE104s may communicate with each other using a device-to-device (D2D) communication link 158. The D2D communication link 158 may use the DL / UL WWAN spectrum. The D2D communication link 158 may use one or more sidelink channels, such as the Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH), Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), and Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH). D2D communication may be through a variety of wireless D2D communication systems, such as FlashLinQ, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi based on the IEEE 802.11 standard, 4G (e.g., LTE), or 5G (e.g., NR), to name a few options.

[0181] EPC160 may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 162, another MME 164, a Serving Gateway 166, a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) Gateway 168, a Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC) 170, and a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway 172. MME 162 may communicate with a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 174. MME 162 is the control node that handles signaling between UE 104 and EPC160. Generally, MME 162 manages bearers and connections.

[0182] Generally, user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are forwarded through the serving gateway 166, which itself is connected to the PDN gateway 172. The PDN gateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation and other functions. The PDN gateway 172 and BM-SC 170 are connected to IP services 176, which may include, for example, the internet, intranet, IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), PS streaming services, and / or other IP services.

[0183] The BM-SC 170 can provide functionality for MBMS user service provisioning and distribution. The BM-SC170 may function as an entry point for content provider MBMS transmissions, may be used to authorize and initiate MBMS bearer services within a public land mobile network (PLMN), and may be used to schedule MBMS transmissions. The MBMS gateway 168 may be used to distribute MBMS traffic to base stations 102 belonging to a multicast broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) area that broadcasts specific services, and may be responsible for session management (start / stop) and collecting eMBMS-related billing information.

[0184] 5GC190 may include Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF)192, other AMF193, Session Management Function (SMF)194, and User Plane Function (UPF)195. AMF192 may communicate with Unified Data Management (UDM)196.

[0185] The AMF192 is generally a control node that handles signaling between the UE104 and 5GC190. Generally, the AMF192 provides QoS flow and session management.

[0186] All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are forwarded through UPF195, which connects to IP service 197, providing UE IP address allocation and other functions for 5GC190. IP service 197 may include, for example, the Internet, intranet, IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), PS streaming service, and / or other IP services.

[0187] Returning to Figure 2, various exemplary components of BS102 and UE104 (for example, the wireless communication network 100 in Figure 1) that may be used to implement aspects of this disclosure are shown.

[0188] In BS102, the transmitting processor 220 may receive data from the data source 212 and control information from the controller / processor 240. This 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), and others. In some examples, the data may be for the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

[0189] A Media Access Control (MAC)-Control Element (MAC-CE) is a MAC layer communication structure that can be used to control command exchange between wireless nodes. MAC-CEs can be carried within a shared channel, such as a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH).

[0190] The processor 220 can process data and control information (e.g., encoding and symbol mapping) to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The transmit processor 220 can also generate reference symbols, such as for the primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), PBCH demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0191] The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may, where applicable, perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, and / or reference symbols to provide output symbol streams to modulators (MODs) in transceivers 232a-232t. Each modulator in transceivers 232a-232t may process its respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator may further process the output sample stream (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) to obtain a downlink signal. The downlink signals from the modulators in transceivers 232a-232t may be transmitted via antennas 234a-234t, respectively.

[0192] In UE104, antennas 252a-252r may receive downlink signals from BS102 and provide the received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) in transceivers 254a-254r, respectively. Each demodulator in transceivers 254a-254r may adjust its respective received signal (e.g., filtering, amplification, downconversion, and digitization) to obtain an input sample. Each demodulator may further process the input sample (e.g., for OFDM) to obtain a received symbol.

[0193] The MIMO detector 256 can acquire received symbols from all demodulators in transceivers 254a to 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols where applicable, and provide the detected symbols. The receiving processor 258 can process the detected symbols (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode), provide the decoded data for UE 104 to the data sink 260, and provide the decoded control information to the controller / processor 280.

[0194] On the uplink, in UE104, the transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from data source 262 (e.g., for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) and control information from controller / processor 280 (e.g., for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)). The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., for the sounding reference signal (SRS)). Symbols from the transmit processor 264 may, if applicable, be precoded by the TX MIMO processor 266, further processed by modulators in transceivers 254a-254r (e.g., for SC-FDM), and transmitted to BS102.

[0195] In BS102, the uplink signal from UE104 is received by antennas 234a-t, processed by demodulators in transceivers 232a-232t, detected by MIMO detector 236 where applicable, and further processed by receiving processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by UE104. The receiving processor 238 may provide the decoded data to data sink 239 and the decoded control information to controller / processor 240.

[0196] Memory 242 and 282 can store data and program code for BS102 and UE104, respectively.

[0197] Scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0198] 5G can use orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with cyclic prefixes (CP) on the uplink and downlink. 5G can also support half-duplex operation using time-division duplexing (TDD). OFDM and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) divide the system bandwidth into multiple orthogonal subcarriers, also commonly called tones and bins. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. 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 may depend on the system bandwidth. A minimum resource allocation, called a resource block (RB), may be 12 consecutive subcarriers in some examples. The system bandwidth may also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband may consist of multiple RBs. NR may support a base subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 15 kHz, and other SCSs (e.g., 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, 240 kHz, and others) can be defined relative to the base SCS.

[0199] As described above, Figures 3A to 3D show various exemplary embodiments of data structures for wireless communication networks, such as the wireless communication network 100 in Figure 1.

[0200] In various embodiments, the 5G frame structure may be frequency-division duplex (FDD), where for a given set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), the subframes within that set of subcarriers are dedicated to either DL or UL. The 5G frame structure may also be time-division duplex (TDD), where for a given set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), the subframes within that set of subcarriers are dedicated to both DL and UL. In the example given by Figures 3A and 3C, the 5G frame structure is assumed to be TDD, with subframe 4 configured using slot format 28 (mostly DL), where D is DL, U is UL, and X is flexible for use between DL and UL, and subframe 3 configured using slot format 34 (mostly UL). Subframes 3 and 4 are shown using slot formats 34 and 28, respectively, but any particular subframe may be configured using any of the various available slot formats 0 to 61. Slot formats 0 and 1 are all DL and UL, respectively. Other slot formats 2-61 include a mixture of DL, UL, and flexible symbols. The UE is configured with a slot format (dynamically via DL Control Information (DCI) or semi-statically / statically via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling) through the received Slot Format Indicator (SFI). Note that the following description also applies to the 5G frame structure, which is TDD.

[0201] Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels. A frame (10 ms) may be divided into 10 subframes (1 ms) of equal size. Each subframe may contain one or more time slots. Subframes may also contain minislots that may contain 7, 4, or 2 symbols. In some examples, each slot may contain 7 or 14 symbols, depending on the slot configuration.

[0202] For example, in slot configuration 0, each slot may contain 14 symbols, while in slot configuration 1, each slot may contain 7 symbols. Symbols on DL may be cyclic prefix (CP) OFDM (CP-OFDM) symbols. Symbols on UL may be CP-OFDM symbols (for high-throughput scenarios) or discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (also called single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols) (for power-limited scenarios and limited to single-stream transmissions).

[0203] The number of slots within a subframe depends on the slot configuration and numerology. Slot configuration 0 allows for 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 slots per subframe, respectively, for different numerologies (μ) 0-5. Slot configuration 1 allows for 2, 4, and 8 slots per subframe, respectively, for different numerologies 0-2. Therefore, for slot configuration 0 and numerology μ, there are 14 symbols / slot and 2 μ slots / subframe. Subcarrier spacing and symbol length / duration are functions of the numerology. The subcarrier spacing is 2 μ It may be equal to ×15kHz, where μ is numerology 0 to 5. Thus, numerology μ=0 has a subcarrier interval of 15kHz, and numerology μ=5 has a subcarrier interval of 480kHz. The symbol length / duration is inversely proportional to the subcarrier interval. Figures 3A to 3D give examples of slot configuration 0, which has 14 symbols per slot, and numerology μ=2, which has 4 slots per subframe. The slot duration is 0.25ms, the subcarrier interval is 60kHz, and the symbol duration is approximately 16.67μs.

[0204] A resource grid can be used to represent a frame structure. Each time slot contains a resource block (RB) (also called a physical RB (PRB)) spanning 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid is divided into multiple resource elements (REs). The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0205] As shown in Figure 3A, some of the REs carry reference (pilot) signals (RS) for the UE (e.g., UE104 in Figures 1 and 2). The RS may include demodulated RS (DM-RS) (shown as Rx for one particular configuration where 100x is the port number, but other DM-RS configurations are possible) and channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS) for channel estimation in the UE. The RS may also include beam measurement RS (BRS), beam improvement RS (BRRS), and phase tracking RS (PT-RS).

[0206] Figure 3B shows examples of various DL channels within a frame subframe. A physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries DCI within one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE containing nine RE groups (REGs), and each REG containing four consecutive REs within an OFDM symbol.

[0207] The primary synchronization signal (PSS) may be located within symbol 2 of a specific subframe of a frame. The PSS is used by the UE (e.g., 104 in Figures 1 and 2) to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identification information.

[0208] The Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) may be located within Symbol 4 of a specific subframe of the frame. The SSS is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identification group number and the radio frame timing.

[0209] Based on the physical layer identification information and physical layer cell identification information group number, the UE can determine the physical cell identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the DM-RS mentioned above. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the master information block (MIB) may be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form a synchronization signal (SS) / PBCH block. The MIB provides the number of RBs and the system frame number (SFN) within the system bandwidth. The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not transmitted through the PBCH such as the system information block (SIB), and paging messages.

[0210] As shown in Figure 3C, for channel estimation at the base station, some of the REs carry DM-RS (shown as R for one particular configuration, but other DM-RS configurations are possible). The UE may transmit DM-RS for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and DM-RS for the physical uplink sharing channel (PUSCH). PUSCH DM-RS may be transmitted within the first one or two symbols of the PUSCH. PUCCH DM-RS may be transmitted in different configurations depending on whether a short or long PUCCH is transmitted and depending on the specific PUCCH format used. The UE may transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS). The SRS may be transmitted within the last symbol of a subframe. The SRS may have a comb structure, and the UE may transmit the SRS in one of the combs. The SRS may be used by the base station for channel quality estimation to enable frequency-dependent scheduling on the UL.

[0211] Figure 3D shows examples of various UL channels within a subframe of a frame. In one configuration, the PUCCH may be located as shown. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI) such as scheduling requests, channel quality indicators (CQI), precoding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. The PUCCH carries data and may additionally carry buffer status reports (BSR), power headroom reports (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0212] Additional considerations The preceding description provides an example of providing HARQ feedback for multiple PDSCH transmissions across multiple slots in a communication system. The preceding description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various embodiments described herein. The examples described herein do not limit the scope, applicability, or embodiments set forth in the claims. Various modifications of these embodiments will be readily apparent to a person skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments. For example, changes may be made to the function and arrangement 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 an order different from the order in which they are 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. In addition, the scope of this disclosure covers apparatus or methods that may be practiced using other structures, functionalities, or structures and functionalities, in addition to or other than the various embodiments of the disclosure described herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of the claims.

[0213] The techniques described herein may be used for a variety of wireless communication technologies, including 5G (e.g., 5G NR), 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 radio technologies such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, and others. UTRA includes broadband CDMA (WCDMA®) and other variations of CDMA. cdma2000 covers the IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. TDMA networks may implement radio technologies such as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). OFDMA networks can 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, and others. 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 an emerging wireless communications technology under development.

[0214] The various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with this disclosure may be implemented or carried out using general-purpose processors, DSPs, 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. The 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, a system-on-a-chip (SoC) or any other such configuration.

[0215] 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 together various circuits, including processors, machine-readable media, and bus interfaces. The bus interface may be used to connect network adapters, among other things, to the processing system via the bus. Network adapters may be used to implement the signal processing functions of the PHY layer. In the case of user equipment (see Figure 1), user interfaces (e.g., keypads, displays, mice, joysticks, touchscreens, biosensors, proximity sensors, light-emitting elements, and others) may be connected to the bus. The bus can also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and 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 circuit configurations capable of running software. Those skilled in the art will recognize the best way to implement the described functionality for the processing system, depending on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system as a whole.

[0216] When implemented in software, functions may be stored on or transmitted via computer-readable media as one or more instructions or code. Software, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise, is broadly interpreted to mean instructions, data, or any combination thereof. 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 with stored instructions separate from transmission lines, data-modulated carriers, and / or wireless nodes, all of which may be accessed by the processor through a bus interface. As an alternative or addition, machine-readable media or any part thereof may be integrated into the processor, such 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.

[0217] 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 send modules and receive modules. Each software module may reside in a single storage device or be distributed across multiple storage devices. For example, when a trigger event occurs, a software module may be loaded from a hard drive into RAM. 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 for execution by the processor. When the functionality of a software module is referred to below, it will be understood that such functionality is implemented by the processor when instructions from that software module are being executed.

[0218] As used herein, the phrase “at least one of” the list of items refers to any combination of those items that contains a single member. For example, “at least one of a, b, or c” shall encompass 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).

[0219] As used herein, the term “determining” encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, “determining” may include calculating, calculating, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, database or another data structure), and verifying. It may also include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), and resolving, selecting, electing, and establishing.

[0220] The methods disclosed herein include one or more steps or actions to achieve the method. The steps and / or actions of the method may be interchangeable with one another without departing from the claims. In other words, unless a particular order of steps or actions is specified, the order and / or use of any particular steps and / or actions may be modified without departing from the claims. Furthermore, the various operations of the methods described above may be carried out by any suitable means capable of performing the corresponding function. The 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 there are operations shown in the figures, those operations may have corresponding relative means-plus-function components with similar numbering.

[0221] The following claims are not limited to the embodiments shown herein, but should be given the full scope consistent with the language of the claims. In the claims, a singular reference to an element means "one or more" and not "one unique" unless otherwise explicitly stated. Unless otherwise explicitly stated, the term "several" means one or more. No element of a claim should be construed under Section 112(f) of the United States Patent Act unless the element is expressly described using the phrase "means for" or, in the case of a method claim, the element is described using the phrase "steps for". All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of the various embodiments described throughout this disclosure, which are known to those skilled in the art or will be known thereafter, are expressly incorporated by reference herein and are encompassed by the claims. Furthermore, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be made public, whether such disclosure is expressly enumerated in the claims or not. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0222] 100 Wireless communication networks, wireless networks 102 Base station (BS) 102' Small Cell 104 User Equipment (UE) 110 Geographic coverage area, coverage area 110' Coverage Area 120 Communication Links 132 Backhaul Link 134 Backhaul Link 150 Wi-Fi access points (APs), APs 152 STA, Wi-Fi station 154 Communication Links 158 Device-to-Device (D2D) Communication Links 160 Advanced Packet Core (EPC) 162 Mobility Management Entity (MME) 164 Other MMEs 166 Serving Gateways 168 Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) Gateway 170 Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC) 172 Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway 174 Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 176 IP Services 180 mmWave base station, base station, gNB 184 Backhaul Link 190 5G Core (5GC) Network, 5GC 192 Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 193 Other AMF 194 Session Management Function (SMF) 195 User Plane Function (UPF) 196 Unified Data Management (UDM) 197 IP Services 198 HARQ Components 199 HARQ components 220 processors, transmit processors 230 processors, transmit (TX) multiple input multiple output (MIMO) processors 232 transceivers 234 Antenna 236 MIMO detector 238 processors, receiving processors 239 Data Sync 240 processors, controllers / processors 242 memory 244 Scheduler 252 Antenna 254 transceivers 256 MIMO detector 258 processors, receiving processors 260 Data Sync 262 data sources 264 processors, transmit processors 266 processors, TX MIMO processors 280 processors, controllers / processors 282 memory 1100 Communication devices 1102 Processing System 1106 Bus 1108 Transceiver 1110 Antenna 1120 processors 1121 Circuit configuration for sending DCI to UE, which schedules multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots. 1122 Circuit configuration for determining at least one HARQ feedback scheme for acknowledging multiple downlink data transmissions 1123 Circuit configuration for monitoring HARQ feedback for multiple downlink data transmissions according to at least one HARQ feedback scheme 1130 Computer-readable media / memory 1200 communication devices 1202 Processing System 1206 Bus 1208 Transceiver 1210 Antenna 1220 processors 1221 Circuit configuration for receiving DCI from BS, which schedules multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots. 1222 Circuit configuration for monitoring multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots 1223 Circuit configuration for determining at least one HARQ feedback scheme for acknowledging multiple downlink data transmissions 1224 Circuit configuration for providing HARQ feedback for multiple downlink data transmissions according to at least one HARQ feedback scheme. 1230 Computer-readable media / memory

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication by user equipment (UE), The process involves receiving downlink control information (DCI) from a base station (BS) to schedule multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots, and The steps include monitoring the multiple downlink data transmissions across the multiple slots, A step of determining at least one hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ) feedback scheme for acknowledging the plurality of downlink data transmissions, The at least one HARQ feedback scheme is determined based on at least one of the following: (i) the priority of each of the plurality of downlink data transmissions, (ii) the type of transmit beam used for each of the plurality of downlink data transmissions, and (iii) the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) associated with each of the plurality of downlink data transmissions. A method comprising the step of providing HARQ feedback for the plurality of downlink data transmissions according to the at least one HARQ feedback scheme described above.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the HARQ feedback scheme is based on a single physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for providing the HARQ feedback.

3. The above method is as follows: i) The HARQ feedback includes a plurality of bits, each of which corresponds to one of the plurality of downlink data transmissions, The step of providing the HARQ feedback includes the step of sending the HARQ feedback to the BS within the single PUCCH resource. ii) At least one of the plurality of downlink data transmissions includes a retransmission of the first downlink data transmission. or iii) Receiving a retransmission of at least one of the plurality of downlink data transmissions from the BS, wherein the retransmission is scheduled by another scheduling DCI from the BS. The method according to claim 2, further comprising one of the following.

4. i) The HARQ feedback scheme is based on an encoding scheme for providing the HARQ feedback, or ii) The HARQ feedback scheme is based on (i) at least one encoding scheme for providing the HARQ feedback, and (ii) a single physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for providing the HARQ feedback. The method according to claim 1.

5. Option i) The step of providing the HARQ feedback is: The steps include generating a joint HARQ-ACK for the multiple downlink data transmissions based on the joint coding of the HARQ feedback using the aforementioned coding scheme, The method according to claim 4, comprising the step of transmitting the joint HARQ-ACK to the BS.

6. i) The number of bits in the joint HARQ-ACK is less than the total number of bits in the HARQ feedback. or ii) The joint HARQ-ACK indicates at least one negative response for at least one of the plurality of downlink data transmissions, The method according to claim 5.

7. Option ii) The method according to claim 6, further comprising the step of receiving a retransmission of the plurality of downlink data transmissions after transmitting the joint HARQ-ACK.

8. Option ii) The step of providing the HARQ feedback is: The steps of generating a joint HARQ-ACK for each of one or more groups of the plurality of downlink data transmissions based on the at least one encoding scheme, The method according to claim 4, further comprising the step of transmitting the generated joint HARQ-ACK in the single PUCCH resource to the base station.

9. The aforementioned method is as follows: i) Each joint HARQ-ACK includes instructions for HARQ feedback for a subset of the multiple downlink data transmissions, ii) Each joint HARQ-ACK includes instructions for HARQ feedback for a subset of the multiple downlink data transmissions, The total number of bits in the joint HARQ-ACK is less than the total number of bits in the HARQ feedback for the subset of the multiple downlink data transmissions. iii) The first generated joint HARQ-ACK indicates at least one negative response for at least one downlink data transmission in the first group, iv) Each joint HARQ-ACK includes instructions for HARQ feedback for a subset of the multiple downlink data transmissions, The process further includes transmitting the generated joint HARQ-ACK, which includes the first generated joint HARQ-ACK, and then receiving a retransmission of each downlink data transmission in the first group. or v) The plurality of downlink data transmissions include a first group of downlink data transmissions and a second group of downlink data transmissions, At least one of the first group of downlink data transmissions and the second group of downlink data transmissions includes retransmission of downlink data transmissions. This further includes one of the following: The method according to claim 8.

10. The aforementioned DCI includes a Total Downlink Allocation Instruction (DAI), The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of downlink data transmissions are further affirmed based on the total DAI.

11. i) At least one of the HARQ feedback schemes is based on a single physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for providing the HARQ feedback, ii) At least one of the HARQ feedback schemes is based on an encoding scheme for providing the HARQ feedback, iii) At least one HARQ feedback scheme is based on (i) at least one encoding scheme for providing the HARQ feedback, and (ii) a single physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for providing the HARQ feedback. or iv) At least one of the plurality of downlink data transmissions includes a retransmission of the first downlink data transmission. The method according to claim 10.

12. A method for wireless communication by a base station (BS), The steps include sending downlink control information (DCI) to the user equipment (UE) to schedule multiple downlink data transmissions across multiple slots, A step of determining at least one hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ) feedback scheme for acknowledging the plurality of downlink data transmissions, The at least one HARQ feedback scheme is determined based on at least one of the following: (i) the priority of each of the plurality of downlink data transmissions, (ii) the type of transmit beam used for each of the plurality of downlink data transmissions, and (iii) the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) associated with each of the plurality of downlink data transmissions. A method comprising the step of monitoring HARQ feedback for the plurality of downlink data transmissions according to the at least one HARQ feedback scheme.

13. i) The HARQ feedback scheme is based on a single physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for the HARQ feedback, The HARQ feedback includes multiple bits, each of which corresponds to one of the multiple downlink data transmissions. The step of monitoring the HARQ feedback includes the step of monitoring within the single PUCCH resource for the HARQ feedback. ii) The HARQ feedback scheme is based on the coding scheme for the HARQ feedback, The step of monitoring the HARQ feedback includes the step of monitoring the joint HARQ-ACK for the multiple downlink data transmissions, The joint HARQ-ACK is generated based on the joint coding of the HARQ feedback using the coding scheme. or iii) The HARQ feedback scheme is based on (i) at least one encoding scheme for the HARQ feedback, and (ii) a single physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for the HARQ feedback, The step of monitoring the HARQ feedback includes the step of monitoring multiple joint HARQ-ACKs within the single PUCCH resource, each joint HARQ-ACK corresponding to a different group of the multiple downlink data transmissions and generated based on joint coding of the HARQ feedback for the group of the multiple downlink data transmissions using the at least one coding scheme. The method according to claim 12.

14. A device, Memory equipped with computer executable instructions, An apparatus comprising one or more processors configured to execute the computer executable instructions and cause the apparatus to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 or any one of claims 12 or 13.

15. A non-temporary computer-readable medium comprising a computer execution instruction, which, when executed by one or more processors of a processing system, causes the processing system to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 or any one of claims 12 or 13.

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