HARQ Process Selection

Abstract

To relate to de-prioritizing retransmission.SOLUTION: A device determines whether user data is present in a transport block to be retransmitted via a hybrid automatic repeat request process. The device deprioritizes the selection of a hybrid automatic repeat request process for one or more transmissions in the configuration grant based at least in part on the determination. This solution can avoid or deprioritize unnecessary retransmissions of transport blocks that do not have user data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunications, and more particularly, to devices, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for the selection of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes.

Background Art

[0002] In wireless communication, UL transmission without a dynamic uplink (UL) grant may be referred to as grant-free (GF) UL transmission or configured grant (CG) transmission. In CG transmission, a communication device may be configured to transmit a transport block (TB) using CG resources without a dynamic UL grant. In the case of 5G new radio in an unlicensed frequency band (NR-U), when a communication device receives no feedback from other communication devices, it may be required to retransmit the TB in a HARQ process to confirm that the TB has been successfully received. During operation, a terminal device can use multiple HARQ processes for the initial transmission or retransmission of different TBs. When CG is available, the terminal device can determine the HARQ process to be selected for transmission in the CG.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0003] Generally, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for selecting a HARQ process for a CG. Embodiments not included in the claims, if any, should be construed as useful examples for understanding the various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0004] In a first embodiment, a device is provided. The device comprises at least one processor and at least one memory containing computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code together with the at least one processor to cause the device to determine whether user data is present in a transport block to be retransmitted through a hybrid automatic retransmission request process, and to lower the priority of selecting the hybrid automatic retransmission request process for one or more transmissions in a configuration grant, at least in part based on the determination.

[0005] In a second aspect, a method is provided, which includes determining whether user data is present in a transport block to be retransmitted through a hybrid automatic retransmission request process, and, at least in part, lowering the priority of selecting a hybrid automatic retransmission request process for one or more transmissions in a configuration grant based on the determination.

[0006] In a third aspect, an apparatus is provided, which includes means for determining whether user data is absent in a transport block to be retransmitted through a hybrid automatic retransmission request process, and means for lowering the priority of selecting a hybrid automatic retransmission request process for one or more transmissions in a configuration grant, at least in part, based on the determination.

[0007] In a fourth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, which includes program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the first aspect.

[0008] It should be understood that the summary section of the invention is not intended to identify any important or essential features of the embodiments of this disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of this disclosure. Other features of this disclosure will be readily apparent through the following description.

[0009] Next, several exemplary embodiments will be described with reference to the attached drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] This document describes an exemplary communication environment in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. [Figure 2] A flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a device according to some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure is shown. [Figure 3] A simplified block diagram of a device suitable for carrying out the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure is shown. [Figure 4] The following are block diagrams of exemplary computer-readable media according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] Throughout the drawing, the same or similar reference numbers represent the same or similar elements.

[0012] Next, the principles of this disclosure will be described with reference to several exemplary embodiments. These embodiments are provided for illustrative purposes only and are intended to help those skilled in the art understand and implement this disclosure, but should not be considered to imply any limitation on the scope of this disclosure. Embodiments described herein can be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

[0013] In the following description and claims, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as those generally understood by those skilled in the art to which this disclosure belongs, unless otherwise defined.

[0014] References in this disclosure to “one embodiment,” “embodiment,” “exemplary embodiment,” and similar terms indicate that the described embodiments may include certain features, structures, or characteristics, but not all embodiments are required to include those features, structures, or characteristics. Furthermore, such terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Moreover, where certain features, structures, or characteristics are described in relation to an embodiment, it is considered within the knowledge of those skilled in the art that such features, structures, or characteristics will be affected in relation to other embodiments, whether explicitly stated or not.

[0015] In this specification, terms such as “first” and “second” may be used to describe various elements, but it should be understood that these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used solely to distinguish one element from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments, the first element may be called the second element, and similarly, the second element may be called the first element. As used herein, the terms “and / or” encompass any combination of one or more of the listed terms.

[0016] The terminology used herein is intended solely to describe specific embodiments and is not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments. Where used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Where the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “has,” “having,” “includes,” and / or “including” are used herein, it should be understood that these terms specify the existence of the described features, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the existence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0017] When used in this application, the term "circuit" may mean one or more or all of the following: (a) Hardware-only circuit implementation (such as implementation in analog and / or digital circuits only), (b) A combination of hardware circuitry and software, for example (where applicable), (i) combinations of analog and / or digital hardware circuits(s) and software / firmware, and (ii) Any part of a software-equipped hardware processor (including digital signal processors), software, and memory (including digital signal processors), etc., that cooperate to perform various functions on a device such as a mobile phone or server, (c) Hardware circuits and / or processors, such as a microprocessor(s) or part of a microprocessor(s), which require software (e.g., firmware) for operation but may not be present when the software is not required for operation.

[0018] This definition of “circuit” applies to all use of the term in this application, including in all claims. Further examples include, as used in this application, a mere hardware circuit or processor (or more processors), or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor, as well as an embodiment of the software and / or firmware associated therewith. The term “circuit” also includes, for example, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit in a mobile device, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other computing or network device, where applicable to a particular claim element.

[0019] As used herein, the term “communication network” means a network conforming to any preferred communication standard, such as New Radio (NR), Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced (LTE-A), Broadband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), and Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT). Furthermore, communication between terminal devices and network devices within the communication network may be carried out in accordance with any preferred generation of communication protocol, including but not limited to first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, and fifth-generation (5G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of this disclosure can be applied to a variety of communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course be future communication technologies and systems that can embody this disclosure. The scope of this disclosure should not be considered to be limited to the aforementioned systems only.

[0020] In this specification, the term “network device” means a node in a communications network through which terminal devices access and receive services from the network. Depending on the terminology and technology applied, a network device may mean a base station (BS) or access point (AP), for example, a node B (NodeB or NB), an advanced node B (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also called a gNB), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an Integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a low-power node such as a femto or pico, a satellite network device, a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) satellite, an aircraft network device, or a non-terrestrial network device such as an NTN or non-terrestrial network device. In some exemplary embodiments, a radio access network (RAN) partitioned architecture comprises aggregation units (CUs) and distributed units (DUs) in an IAB donor node. An IAB node has a mobile terminal (IAB-MT) portion that behaves like a UE (Union Engine) to its parent node, while the DU (Digital Unit) portion of the IAB node behaves like a base station to the next-hop IAB node.

[0021] The term "terminal device" means any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), mobile subscriber station, mobile station (MS), or access terminal (AT). Terminal devices can include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, game terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer premise equipment (CPE), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearables, head-mounted displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in the context of a production process and / or an automated processing chain), household electronics, devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. A terminal device may also correspond to the mobile termination (MT) part of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment", and "UE" may be used interchangeably without distinction.

[0022] As used herein, the terms "resource", "transmission resource", "resource block", "physical resource block" (PRB), "uplink resource", or "downlink resource" can refer to any resource for performing communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a resource in the time domain, a resource in the frequency domain, a resource in the spatial domain, a resource in the code domain, or other resources enabling communication. In the following, resources in both the frequency domain and the time domain are used as examples of transmission resources for explaining some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0023] As used herein, the term "CG" may also be referred to as "CG resource" and may refer to the resource(s) set for the device(s) to transmit without dynamic UL grant. The terms "CG resource" and "CG" are used herein with the same meaning.

[0024] As described above, a communication device (e.g., a terminal device) may be configured to use one or more CGs to transmit one or more TBs without dynamic UL grants. By using CGs, communication devices may be able to reduce signaling overhead compared to grant-based UL transmissions. Furthermore, a communication device configured for a CG may skip UL transmissions, for example, if there is no user data to be sent to the communication device. However, in some cases, it is specified that a communication device cannot skip UL transmissions in a CG. For example, if a physical uplink shared channel (CG-PUSCH) of a CG overlaps with a PUCCH (physical uplink control channel), the communication device is specified to multiplex uplink control information (UCI) from PUCCH in CG-PUSCH. In this case, even though there is no user data, the communication device may still generate a TB without user data, and this TB may be multiplexed with UCI for transmission in this CG, or may contain UCI. The term "UCI-only TB" may refer to a TB that does not contain user data, but is multiplexed with control information (e.g., UCI), or is generated to contain control information.

[0025] Furthermore, it is stipulated that retransmissions take precedence over initial transmissions. However, it has recently been suggested that such rules need to be reconsidered, as in some cases higher-priority traffic may be transmitted in the initial transmission. In NR-U, if a communication device uses the HARQ process to transmit a TB at a CG and receives no feedback from other communication devices, the communication device can autonomously retransmit the TB at a subsequent CG. This means that when processing a subsequent CG, the communication device may prioritize the retransmission of the TB over other initial transmissions. In other words, when processing a subsequent CG, the communication device may choose this HARQ process for transmission. Therefore, if a communication device uses the HARQ process to transmit the above CG-PUSCH and receives no feedback for the HARQ process, the communication device may autonomously retransmit a UCI-only TB.

[0026] However, always prioritizing the HARQ process for retransmitting TBs without user data over the initial transmission may be meaningless and unnecessary. For example, when dealing with ultra-reliable low-latency communication systems (URLLCs), some higher-priority traffic may be transmitted in the initial transmission. To address this issue, RAN2#113e currently sets up logical channel (LCH)-based prioritization, so that initial and retransmissions can be prioritized based on the priority of the multiplexed LCH(s), or the LCH(s) that should be multiplexed. However, this solution does not apply to cases involving UCI-dedicated TBs. As mentioned above, UCI-dedicated TBs cannot contain user data. Therefore, LCH-based prioritization may not be assigned to UCI-dedicated TBs. Thus, LCH-based prioritization has not yet been able to be used to address the issue of retransmission(s) of UCI-dedicated TBs in HARQ process selection.

[0027] Based on the above discussion, it is desirable to design an improved mechanism for selecting the HARQ process.

[0028] According to some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure, an improved solution for selecting a HARQ process in a CG is provided. In this solution, the device determines whether or not user data is present in the TB in order for the TB to be retransmitted through the HARQ process. Based at least that determination, the device lowers the priority of selecting a HARQ process for one or more transmissions in the CG. This solution makes it possible to avoid or lower the priority of unnecessary retransmissions of TBs that have no user data at all. Thus, retransmissions of user traffic, and / or other HARQ processes for initial transmissions, are likely to be sent as soon as possible.

[0029] Exemplary embodiments of this disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0030] Figure 1 shows an exemplary communication environment 100 in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. In the communication environment 100, a plurality of communication devices, including device 110 and device 120, can communicate with each other.

[0031] In the example in Figure 1, device 110 is shown as a terminal device, and device 120 is shown as a network device that provides services to the terminal device. The serving area of ​​device 120 is sometimes referred to as cell 102.

[0032] It should be understood that the number of devices and their connections shown in Figure 1 are illustrative only and do not imply any limitation. Environment 100 may include any preferred number of devices suitable for an embodiment of the present disclosure. It should be understood that one or more additional devices may be located within cell 102, and one or more additional cells may be deployed within environment 100, although these are not shown. It should be noted that device 120 is shown as a network device, but may be a device other than a network device. For example, device 120 may be another terminal device communicating with device 110 via sidelink. Device 110 is shown as a terminal device, but may be a device other than a terminal device.

[0033] In some exemplary embodiments, when device 110 is a terminal device and device 120 is a network device, the link from device 120 to device 110 is called a downlink (DL), and the link from device 110 to device 120 is called an uplink (UL). In a DL, device 120 is a transmitting (TX) device (or transmitter), and device 110 is a receiving (RX) device (or receiver). In a UL, device 110 is a TX device (or transmitter), and device 120 is an RX device (or receiver).

[0034] Communication in communication environment 100 may be carried out in accordance with any suitable communication protocol(s), including but not limited to, cellular communication protocols such as first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), and fifth-generation (5G), wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and similar protocols, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed. Furthermore, this communication may utilize any suitable wireless communication technology, including but not limited to, code division multiplexing access (CDMA), frequency division multiplexing access (FDMA), time division multiplexing access (TDMA), frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), multiple input multiple output (MIMO), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM), and / or any other technologies currently known or to be developed.

[0035] During operation, device 110 can send user data and / or control information to device 120 using allocated and / or configured resources. The control information may include UCI. In some exemplary embodiments, the control information may include HARQ feedback information such as HARQ acknowledgments (HARQ-ACKs), channel status information (CSIs), scheduling requests (SRs), and configured grant uplink control information (CG-UCIs).

[0036] Next, referring to Figure 2, this shows a flowchart of an exemplary method 200 performed on device 110 according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purposes of discussion, method 200 will be described in terms of device 110 with respect to Figure 1. In some exemplary embodiments, device 110 may be a terminal device.

[0037] In block 210, device 110 determines whether user data is present in the TB to be retransmitted through the HARQ process.

[0038] According to exemplary embodiments of this disclosure, in any HARQ process, device 110 determines whether a TB to be retransmitted through the HARQ process contains user data. In some exemplary embodiments, device 110 may further determine whether a TB is generated to be multiplexed with control information or to contain only control information. TBs that do not contain user data are sometimes referred to as UCI-only TBs, which are generated to be multiplexed with control information or to contain control information only. In some exemplary embodiments, the media access control (MAC) of device 110 may perform HARQ process selection and, as a result, determine whether the TB does not contain user data, and whether the TB is generated at the physical (PHY) layer of device 110 to be multiplexed with control information or to contain control information only.

[0039] TBs that do not contain user data may be generated for various reasons and may be transmitted at least once through the HARQ process. In some exemplary embodiments, such TBs may be generated in response to an overlap between resources for control information (e.g., UCI) and a CG prior to the currently processed CG. Resources for control information may include resources for PUCCH. According to some specifications, if CG-PUSCH overlaps with PUCCH, device 110 is specified to multiplex the UCI from PUCCH in CG-PUSCH. The overlap may be a complete or partial overlap between one or more CGs and resources for control information. In this case, device 110 may generate and transmit a TB if there was no user data available for the previous CG. For example, the MAC layer of device 110 may generate a MAC protocol data unit (PDU) for CG-PUSCH and transmit that MAC PDU to the PHY layer. Note that a MAC PDU may be equivalent to a TB. The PHY layer of device 110 can either multiplex control information from PUCCH into the TB, or include it within the TB. For example, UCI and MAC PDU are encoded separately. In such cases, due to the overlap between CG-PUSCH and PUCCH, the TB is generated solely for the purpose of multiplexing control information.

[0040] In some exemplary embodiments, as an alternative or additional condition, a UCI-only TB may be generated when LCH-based prioritization is not set and a single PHY priority exists for UL transmissions. As an additional or alternative, a UCI-only TB may be generated when no PUSCH repetitions are applied and there are no Dynamic Grant (DG) PUSCHs overlapping with one or more CG-PUSCHs. As an additional or alternative, if there is a non-periodic CSI requested to be transmitted via a PUSCH that overlaps with a CG-PUSCH, device 110 may generate and transmit a TB that does not contain user data to be multiplexed with control information for transmission in the CG (e.g., a UCI-only TB), or a TB that does not contain user data including this control information (e.g., a UCI-only TB). As an additional or alternative, if there is a periodic or semi-periodic CSI to be transmitted via a PUCCH that overlaps with a CG-PUSCH, device 110 may generate and transmit a TB that does not contain user data to be multiplexed with control information for transmission in the CG (e.g., a UCI-only TB), or a TB that does not contain user data including this control information (e.g., a UCI-only TB). As an addition or alternative, device 110 may determine whether a TB for CG should be generated and transmitted based on the presence / value of RRC parameters such as cg-UCI-multiplexing or cg-retransmissionTimer. In some exemplary embodiments, device 110 may determine not to generate a TB when there is no data if there is HARQ-ACK information and / or CSI overlapping with a CG-PUSCH transmission and cg-UCI-Multiplexing or cg-retransmissionTimer is not set.

[0041] If a TB without user data is generated and transmitted in a previous CG through the HARQ process, the retransmission of this TB may be carefully determined by device 110. Therefore, when processing the current CG, device 110 may check whether user data is present in the TB.

[0042] In some embodiments, device 110 may check whether the TB contains one or more segments that store user data in order to determine whether user data does not exist in the TB. If user data is not found in the TB, for example, if the TB does not contain MAC control elements (CEs), common control channel (CCCH) SDUs, dedicated control channel (DCCH) services data units (SDUs) for any logical channel (LCH), device 110 can determine that user data does not exist in the TB.

[0043] Alternatively, device 110 may determine that no user data is present in the TB by determining why the TB was generated and buffered for the HARQ process. In some exemplary embodiments, device 110 may determine whether the TB is multiplexed with control information or generated solely to contain control information and consequently does not contain user data. For example, device 110 may check whether the TB does not contain MAC CEs, except for the Padding Buffer Status Report (BSR). In some examples, device 110 may determine whether the TB is multiplexed with control information such as Hybrid Auto-Retransmission Request Process Acknowledgments (HARQ-ACKs), Channel Status Information (CSIs), Scheduling Requests (SRs), and / or Setting Grant Uplink Control Information (CG-UCIs), or generated solely to contain control information.

[0044] In some exemplary embodiments, device 110 may determine whether a TB is generated in response to an overlap between a resource for control information (e.g., a PUCCH resource) and a CG prior to that CG. As described above, a UCI-specific TB may be generated in response to an overlap between CS-PUSCH and PUCCH in the time domain. Therefore, by checking the TB generation history, device 110 may be able to determine whether a TB was generated in response to an overlap between a resource for control information (e.g., a PUCCH resource) and a previous CG, and thus whether user data is included in the TB.

[0045] In some exemplary embodiments, device 110 may determine whether a CG is available for one or more TB transmissions. In some exemplary embodiments, a CG may be set to an unlicensed band. For example, a CG may be set to 5G NR-U. In some exemplary embodiments, device 110 may be set to one or more CGs, each CG may be associated with one or more resources used by device 110. Device 110 can determine whether a CG is available based on its settings. A CG may include resources for transmission, such as resources for CG-PUSCH. If a CG is determined to be available, device 110 may decide to perform one or more transmissions in the CG, provided that there are one or more pending HARQ processes with one or more TBs to be transmitted. Device 110 may determine which HARQ processes can be selected and can transmit the TBs associated with the selected HARQ processes in the current CG.

[0046] When performing a transmission on the computer graphics (CG), in some cases, the HARQ process associated with a TB that will be retransmitted may have a higher priority than other HARQ processes associated with the initial transmission. In some exemplary embodiments, device 110 may determine whether there are already TBs stored in any of the HARQ processes for retransmission before determining whether user data is present in the TB. Device 110 can first check if there are any TBs to be retransmitted. If there are no TBs stored in any of the HARQ processes for retransmission, device 110 can select an HARQ process for the initial transmission. If there are TBs stored in an HARQ process for retransmission, device 110 can determine whether user data is present in that TB.

[0047] Referring further to Figure 2, in block 220, device 110 lowers the priority of selecting the HARQ process associated with this TB for one or more transmissions in the CG, at least in part, based on a determination of whether or not user data is present in the TB. In some exemplary embodiments, if it is determined that the TB does not contain user data (e.g., the TB is a UCI-only TB), lowering the priority of selecting the corresponding HARQ process may allow other HARQ processes with TBs containing useful user data or other meaningful information that would be retransmitted in the current CG.

[0048] In some exemplary embodiments, in addition to determining whether a TB to be retransmitted through the HARQ process contains no user data, device 110 may further determine whether the TB is permitted to be transmitted in the CG, or whether the HARQ process is permitted to be used in the CG, based on one or more characteristics of the TB and / or settings related to the CG. In some examples, device 110 may determine whether a TB is permitted to be transmitted in the CG based on the size of the TB. Device 110 may determine that a TB is permitted to be transmitted in this CG if the CG has sufficient resources to carry the TB. In some examples, device 110 may determine whether a TB is permitted to be transmitted in the CG based on whether the HARQ process for the TB is permitted to be used in the CG according to the settings. It will be understood that permission for a TB in the CG may also be determined based on other characteristics of the TB. In some other examples, the CG currently being processed may be configured for a particular type of transmission, and therefore the current TB is not permitted to be transmitted in this CG.

[0049] In some exemplary embodiments, in addition to the absence of user data within the TB, the HARQ process associated with this TB may not be selected for transmission if the TB or HARQ process is not permitted to be transmitted via CG. In some exemplary embodiments, if device 110 determines that the TB is permitted to be transmitted via CG, device 110 can continue to determine whether the TB does not contain user data. If, instead, device 110 determines that the TB is prohibited from being transmitted via CG, device 110 can re-select a different HARQ process for transmission rather than continuing to process the HARQ process for this TB.

[0050] In some exemplary embodiments, device 110 may lower the priority of the selection of a TB without user data by assigning a lower priority to the selection of a HARQ process for that TB than one or more other HARQ processes for retransmission and / or a lower priority to one or more HARQ processes for initial transmission. In one example, if a TB is generated solely for control information multiplexing, the corresponding HARQ process may be assigned the lowest priority among all HARQ processes that have a TB to be transmitted and / or retransmitted. Thus, device 110 can prevent unnecessary retransmission of UCI-only TBs if other pending HARQ processes with TBs containing user data or other HARQ processes for initial transmission still exist.

[0051] In some exemplary embodiments, device 110 may lower the priority of selecting a HARQ process based on LCH-based prioritization. As described above, according to conventional solutions, it may not be possible to set an LCH-based priority for a UCI-only TB due to a lack of user data. In some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure, device 110 may directly assign the lowest priority to a TB (e.g., a UCI-only TB). For example, if LCH-based prioritization is set, TBs containing user data are assigned their respective priorities based on their respective LCHs. On the other hand, device 110 can directly assign the lowest priority to a TB without user data. In some examples, device 110 may assign the lowest priority to a TB after it has been determined that the TB is a UCI-only TB that does not contain user data. Alternatively, device 110 may assign the lowest priority to a TB that does not contain user data when the TB is generated.

[0052] In some exemplary embodiments, device 110 may perform further HARQ process selection based on a deprioritization of the selection of HARQ processes. Device 110 can select a HARQ process to perform a transmission in CG from a plurality of HARQ processes, including a lower-priority HARQ process, or from a plurality of HARQ processes excluding a lower-priority HARQ process. In addition to HARQ processes with TBs without user data, device 110 may have one or more other HARQ processes with TBs for retransmission and / or initial transmission. Device 110 can select a HARQ process for transmission in CG that is currently available.

[0053] In the exemplary embodiment, device 110 may select a HARQ process based on the priority of each HARQ process. Since a HARQ process with TB without user data has a lower priority, this HARQ process may have a smaller chance of being selected compared to one or more other HARQ processes for retransmission and / or one or more HARQ processes for initial transmission.

[0054] Alternatively, HARQ processes that involve TB without user data may be excluded from the selectable HARQ processes. That is, device 110 may exclude HARQ processes that involve TB without user data from selection for transmission in the current CG by lowering the selection priority of such HARQ processes. Therefore, when device 110 makes a selection of HARQ processes for the current CG, it may exclude such HARQ processes from consideration. Device 110 can select an HARQ process from other HARQ processes for retransmission and / or initial transmission in the CG.

[0055] In some exemplary embodiments, a HARQ process may have the opportunity to be selected for transmission in the current CG or a subsequent CG if it is given a lower priority but there are no other HARQ processes with available data, or if the current CG is configured with sufficient resources for transmission.

[0056] Lowering or excluding HARQ processes can reduce the probability of retransmitting TBs without user data, thereby increasing the probability of early transmission by the HARQ process for the initial transmission or by the HARQ process whose stored TB contains user data. In general, retransmitting TBs without user data can often be pointless. For example, since a TB is either multiplexed with control information for transmission or generated solely to contain such control information, by the time autonomous retransmission occurs, the multiplexed control information may already be outdated. For example, the HARQ-ACK in the control information may no longer be needed because the packet delay budget (PDB) will be exhausted anyway. Another example is the CSI in the control information, which may be outdated due to the mobility of device 110. Yet another example is the SR in the control information, which may no longer be needed because the associated Buffer State Report (BSR) has already been sent. In such cases, prioritizing the retransmission of that TB over the initial transmission may be a waste of time and resources. The priority reduction mechanism proposed herein can avoid such problems and thereby enable the timely transmission of user data and / or other useful control information in computer graphics.

[0057] In some embodiments, if it is determined that a TB to be retransmitted contains user data, device 110 may select the corresponding HARQ process to perform the transmission of the TB in the CG. In this case, if it is determined that the TB is not a UCI-specific TB, the priority of selecting the corresponding HARQ process may not be lowered, especially if the retransmission of the TB is to be performed in this HARQ process. Therefore, the corresponding HARQ process may continue to have a higher priority than the initial transmission, and device 110 can retransmit the TB by selecting this corresponding HARQ process when processing the CG.

[0058] In some exemplary embodiments, if device 110 determines that a TB does not contain user data, or if the priority of selecting the corresponding HARQ process is lowered, device 110 may flush the TB from the buffer associated with the HARQ process. As described above, if a TB does not contain user data, for example, if the TB is determined to be a UCI-only TB, the selection of the HARQ process is given a lower priority. In this case, flushing the TB from the buffer associated with the HARQ process can improve the efficiency of buffer utilization. In some exemplary embodiments, a TB without user data may be flushed after the initial transmission and / or before the selection of the HARQ process for the next CG. In some exemplary embodiments, a TB without user data may be flushed during the selection of the HARQ process for the next CG.

[0059] In some exemplary embodiments, in addition to flushing the TB, device 110 may further stop at least one timer for the HARQ process. In exemplary embodiments, the at least one timer may include a CG timer. The CG timer may be started when the TB was previously sent in the HARQ process. More specifically, the CG timer may be started when the TB was first sent. When the CG timer is running, it prevents the corresponding HARQ process from being reused to send other TBs. By flushing the TB from the buffer and stopping the CG timer, device 110 can free the corresponding HARQ process from sending other TBs.

[0060] In another exemplary embodiment, device 110 may stop the CG Retransmission (CGRT) timer for the HARQ process. The CGRT timer is started when a TB is transmitted, and if device 110 does not receive downlink feedback information (DFI) for the transmission of the TB before the CGRT timer expires, the TB may be retransmitted. In this exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, if it is determined that the TB does not contain user data, device 110 may flush the TB directly from the buffer and stop the CGRT timer. Thus, device 110 may no longer need to determine whether a DFI has been received before the CGRT timer expires. Furthermore, device 110 may no longer need to perform further retransmission of the TB even if a DFI has not been received before the CGRT expires. The HARQ process is freed up and may be used to transmit other TBs. Thus, the utilization efficiency of the HARQ process may be improved.

[0061] Alternatively, device 110 may determine whether the CGRT timer for a HARQ process of a TB that does not contain user data has expired. When the CGRT timer expires, device 110 can flush the TB from the buffer associated with the HARQ process. In some cases, even if it is determined that the TB does not contain user data and the priority of selecting the HARQ process is lowered, device 110 may still be able to select the HARQ process and, if that HARQ process is pending, transmit the TB in a subsequent CG. In this exemplary embodiment, by flushing the TB from the buffer when the CGRT timer expires, device 110 may not need to select its HARQ process to transmit the TB in a subsequent CG.

[0062] In some exemplary embodiments, a second apparatus (e.g., device 110) capable of performing any of the methods 200 may include means for performing each operation of the methods 200. These means can be implemented in any preferred form. For example, these means may be implemented in a circuit and / or software module. The apparatus may be implemented as device 110 or may be included in device 110.

[0063] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus includes means for determining whether user data is present in a TB to be retransmitted through the HARQ process, and means for lowering the priority of selecting the HARQ process for one or more transmissions in the CG, at least in part, based on the determination.

[0064] In some exemplary embodiments, the absence of user data in a transport block is determined by at least one of the following: the TB is multiplexed with control information or generated solely to contain control information; and the TB is generated in response to overlap between resources for control information and a CG prior to the CG.

[0065] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus further includes means for flushing TB from a buffer associated with a HARQ process in response to a determination that the selection of a HARQ process can be de-prioritized, and means for stopping at least one timer for a HARQ process in response to a determination that the priority of a HARQ process can be de-prioritized. In some exemplary embodiments, the at least one timer comprises at least one of a CG timer and a CG retransmission timer that was started in a previous transmission of TB in the HARQ process.

[0066] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for determining whether a CG retransmission timer for a HARQ process has expired in response to a determination that the selection of a HARQ process can be given lower priority, wherein a set grant retransmission timer is started with a previous transmission of TB in the HARQ process; and means for flushing TB from a buffer associated with the HARQ process in response to a determination that the set grant retransmission timer has expired.

[0067] In some exemplary embodiments, the device further includes means for determining whether the TB is permitted to transmit in the CG. In some exemplary embodiments, means for determining whether user data does not exist in the TB include means for determining whether user data does not exist in the TB in response to the determination that the TB is permitted to transmit in the CG.

[0068] In some exemplary embodiments, the device further includes means for selecting a hybrid automatic retransmission request process that performs retransmission of a transport block in a configuration grant if at least a portion of the user data is contained in the transport block.

[0069] In some exemplary embodiments, the setting grant is set to the unlicensed bandwidth.

[0070] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus includes a terminal device.

[0071] In some exemplary embodiments, the control information comprises at least one of the following: Hybrid Automatic Retransmission Request Process-Acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK), Channel Status Information (CSI), Scheduling Request (SR), and Configured Grant Uplink Control Information (CG-UCI).

[0072] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other operations in some exemplary embodiments of Method 200 or Device 110. In some exemplary embodiments, these means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory containing computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code, together with the at least one processor, cause the execution of the apparatus.

[0073] Figure 3 shows a simplified block diagram of a device 300 suitable for carrying out exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Device 300 may be provided to carry out, for example, a communication device such as device 110 or device 120 shown in Figure 1. As shown, device 300 includes one or more processors 310, one or more memories 320 coupled to the processors 310, and one or more communication modules 340 coupled to the processors 310.

[0074] The communication module 340 is for bidirectional communication. The communication module 340 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interfaces necessary for communication with other network elements. In some exemplary embodiments, the communication module 340 may include at least one antenna.

[0075] The processor 310 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may include, in non-limiting examples, one or more of the following: a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. The device 300 may have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips that are temporally slaved to a clock that synchronizes the main processor.

[0076] Memory 320 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 324, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disks, compact discs (CDs), digital video discs (DVDs), optical discs, laser discs, and other magnetic and / or optical storage devices. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random-access memory (RAM) 322 and other volatile memories that do not persist while the power is off.

[0077] The computer program 330 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 310. The program 330 may be stored in memory, for example, ROM 324. The processor 310 may perform any preferred operations and processes by loading the program 330 into RAM 322.

[0078] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by program 330 so that device 300 can perform any of the processes of the present disclosure described with reference to Figure 2. Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0079] In some exemplary embodiments, program 330 may be tangibly contained in a computer-readable medium (such as memory 320) that may be contained in device 300, or in other storage device accessible by device 300. Device 300 may load program 330 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 322 for execution. The computer-readable medium may include any type of tangible non-volatile storage device, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, or DVD. Figure 4 shows an example of computer-readable medium 400, which may be in the form of a CD, DVD, or other optical storage disc. Program 330 is stored in the computer-readable medium.

[0080] In general, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware, special-purpose circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some embodiments may be implemented in hardware, while others may be implemented in firmware or software that can be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Various embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described using block diagrams, flowcharts, or some other graphical descriptions, but it should be understood that any blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented, in non-limiting examples, in hardware, software, firmware, special-purpose circuits or logic, general-purpose hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or any combination thereof.

[0081] This disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored in a non-temporary computer-readable storage medium. This computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, for example, contained within a program module, which are executed on a device on a target physical or virtual processor to perform the methods described above with reference to Figure 2. Typically, a program module includes routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, or data structures that perform a specific task or implement a specific abstract data type. The functionality of program modules can be combined or divided among program modules as desired in various embodiments. The machine-executable instructions of a program module can be executed within a local device or within a distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules can reside on both local and remote storage media.

[0082] Program code for performing the methods of this disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. This program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device, and as a result, when the program code is executed by the processor or controller, it will perform the functions / operations defined in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams. The program code may run entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as a standalone software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0083] In the context of this disclosure, computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus, or processor to perform the various processes and operations described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer-readable media, and the like.

[0084] Computer-readable media may be computer-readable signal media or computer-readable storage media. Computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, apparatus, or devices, or any preferred combination thereof. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media include electrical connections having one or more wires, portable computer diskettes, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fibers, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any preferred combination thereof.

[0085] Furthermore, although the operations are shown in a specific order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in a specific order shown, or sequentially, or that all illustrated operations be performed in order to obtain the desired results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, although details of several specific embodiments are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of this disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to a particular embodiment. Certain features described in the context of a separate embodiment may also be implemented in combination within a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented separately in multiple embodiments or in any preferred subcombination.

[0086] While this disclosure is described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological actions, it should be understood that the disclosure as defined in the attached claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or actions described herein. Rather, the specific features and actions described herein are disclosed as exemplary forms for carrying out the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method performed by a terminal device, Through the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, it is determined that user data is not present in the transport block for retransmission, In response to the determination that the user data does not exist in the transport block, the priority of selecting the hybrid automatic retransmission request process for the retransmission is lowered in the configuration grant, Includes, The aforementioned method, In response to the determination that the selection of the hybrid automatic retransmission request process can be given a lower priority, it is determined whether the configured grant retransmission timer for the hybrid automatic retransmission request process has expired, wherein the configured grant retransmission timer was started in the previous transmission of the transport block in the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, or In response to the determination that the aforementioned set grant retransmission timer has expired, the transport block is flushed from the buffer associated with the hybrid automatic retransmission request process. Methods that further include this.

2. A communication method performed by a terminal device, Through the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, it is determined that user data is not present in the transport block for retransmission, In response to the determination that the user data does not exist in the transport block, the priority of selecting the hybrid automatic retransmission request process for the retransmission is lowered in the configuration grant, Includes, The absence of the user data within the transport block is as follows: The transport block is generated solely to contain control information, and The transport block is generated in response to the overlap between the resources for the control information and the setting grants prior to the setting grant. Determined by at least one of the following: The aforementioned method, In response to the determination that the selection of the hybrid automatic retransmission request process can be given a lower priority, it is determined whether the configured grant retransmission timer for the hybrid automatic retransmission request process has expired, wherein the configured grant retransmission timer was started in the previous transmission of the transport block in the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, or In response to the determination that the aforementioned set grant retransmission timer has expired, the transport block is flushed from the buffer associated with the hybrid automatic retransmission request process. Methods that further include this.

3. A communication method performed by a terminal device, Through the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, it is determined that user data is not present in the transport block for retransmission, In response to the determination that the user data does not exist in the transport block, the priority of selecting the hybrid automatic retransmission request process for the retransmission is lowered in the configuration grant, Includes, The method, in response to a determination that the selection of the hybrid automatic retransmission request process can be given a lower priority, Flushing the transport block from the buffer associated with the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, Stopping at least one timer for the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, wherein the at least one timer includes at least one of a setting grant timer and a setting grant retransmission timer that was started in a previous transmission of the transport block in the hybrid automatic retransmission request process. It further includes, The aforementioned method, In response to the determination that the selection of the hybrid automatic retransmission request process can be given a lower priority, it is determined whether the configured grant retransmission timer for the hybrid automatic retransmission request process has expired, wherein the configured grant retransmission timer was started in the previous transmission of the transport block in the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, or In response to the determination that the aforementioned set grant retransmission timer has expired, the transport block is flushed from the buffer associated with the hybrid automatic retransmission request process. Methods that further include this.

4. A communication method performed by a terminal device, Through the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, it is determined that user data is not present in the transport block for retransmission, In response to the determination that the user data does not exist in the transport block, the priority of selecting the hybrid automatic retransmission request process for the retransmission is lowered in the configuration grant, Includes, The absence of the user data within the transport block is as follows: The transport block is generated solely to contain control information, and The transport block is generated in response to the overlap between the resources for the control information and the setting grants prior to the setting grant. Determined by at least one of the following: The method, in response to a determination that the selection of the hybrid automatic retransmission request process can be given a lower priority, Flushing the transport block from the buffer associated with the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, Stopping at least one timer for the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, wherein the at least one timer includes at least one of a setting grant timer and a setting grant retransmission timer that was started in a previous transmission of the transport block in the hybrid automatic retransmission request process. It further includes, The aforementioned method, In response to the determination that the selection of the hybrid automatic retransmission request process can be given a lower priority, it is determined whether the configured grant retransmission timer for the hybrid automatic retransmission request process has expired, wherein the configured grant retransmission timer was started in the previous transmission of the transport block in the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, or In response to the determination that the aforementioned set grant retransmission timer has expired, the transport block is flushed from the buffer associated with the hybrid automatic retransmission request process. Methods that further include this.

5. The method further includes determining whether the transport block is permitted to be transmitted in the setting grant, The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein determining whether the user data is not present in the transport block includes determining whether the user data is not present in the transport block in response to a determination that the transport block is permitted to be transmitted in the setting grant.

6. In response to the determination that the user data is contained within the transport block, the hybrid automatic retransmission request process is selected in the setting grant to perform retransmission of the transport block. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising:

7. The selection of the aforementioned hybrid automatic retransmission request process is: Assigning the aforementioned hybrid automatic retransmission request process to a lower priority than one or more other hybrid automatic retransmission request processes for retransmission, and / or one or more hybrid automatic retransmission request processes for the initial transmission of a transport block containing user data, or The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the priority can be lowered by assigning the hybrid automatic retransmission request process to the lowest priority.

8. Select a hybrid automatic retransmission request process from among the hybrid automatic retransmission request processes for retransmission and / or initial transmission, based on the priority of the hybrid automatic retransmission request processes. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising:

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the setting grant is set to the unlicensed bandwidth.

10. The method according to claim 2 or 4, wherein the control information includes at least one of the following: hybrid automatic retransmission request process-acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK), channel status information (CSI), scheduling request (SR), and setting grant uplink control information (CG-UCI).

11. A computer-readable storage medium comprising program instructions for causing a device to perform at least one of the methods described in claims 1 to 10.

12. It is a device At least one processor, At least one memory containing computer program code, Equipped with, The at least one memory and the computer program code, together with the at least one processor, are provided to the device. Through the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, it is determined that user data is not present in the transport block for retransmission, In response to the determination that the user data does not exist in the transport block, the priority of selecting the hybrid automatic retransmission request process for the retransmission is lowered in the configuration grant, Have them do it, The at least one memory and the computer program code, together with the at least one processor, are further provided to the device. In response to the determination that the selection of the hybrid automatic retransmission request process can be given a lower priority, it is determined whether the configured grant retransmission timer for the hybrid automatic retransmission request process has expired, wherein the configured grant retransmission timer was started in the previous transmission of the transport block in the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, or In response to the determination that the aforementioned set grant retransmission timer has expired, the transport block is flushed from the buffer associated with the hybrid automatic retransmission request process. A device that performs this action.

13. It is a device At least one processor, At least one memory containing computer program code, Equipped with, The at least one memory and the computer program code, together with the at least one processor, are provided to the device. Through the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, it is determined that user data is not present in the transport block for retransmission, In response to the determination that the user data does not exist in the transport block, the priority of selecting the hybrid automatic retransmission request process for the retransmission is lowered in the configuration grant, Have them do it, The absence of the user data within the transport block is as follows: The transport block is generated solely to contain control information, and The transport block is generated in response to the overlap between the resources for the control information and the setting grants prior to the setting grant. Determined by at least one of the following: The at least one memory and the computer program code, together with the at least one processor, are further provided to the device. In response to the determination that the selection of the hybrid automatic retransmission request process can be given a lower priority, it is determined whether the configured grant retransmission timer for the hybrid automatic retransmission request process has expired, wherein the configured grant retransmission timer was started in the previous transmission of the transport block in the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, or In response to the determination that the aforementioned set grant retransmission timer has expired, the transport block is flushed from the buffer associated with the hybrid automatic retransmission request process. A device that performs this action.

14. It is a device At least one processor, At least one memory containing computer program code, Equipped with, The at least one memory and the computer program code, together with the at least one processor, are provided to the device. Through the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, it is determined that user data is not present in the transport block for retransmission, In response to the determination that the user data does not exist in the transport block, the priority of selecting the hybrid automatic retransmission request process for the retransmission is lowered in the configuration grant, Have them do it, The at least one memory and the computer program code, together with the at least one processor, are further provided to the device. In response to the determination that the selection of the aforementioned hybrid automatic retransmission request process can be given a lower priority, Flushing the transport block from the buffer associated with the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, and / or Stopping at least one timer for the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, wherein the at least one timer includes at least one of a setting grant timer and a setting grant retransmission timer that was started in a previous transmission of the transport block in the hybrid automatic retransmission request process. Have them do it, The at least one memory and the computer program code, together with the at least one processor, are further provided to the device. In response to the determination that the selection of the hybrid automatic retransmission request process can be given a lower priority, it is determined whether the configured grant retransmission timer for the hybrid automatic retransmission request process has expired, wherein the configured grant retransmission timer was started in the previous transmission of the transport block in the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, or In response to the determination that the aforementioned set grant retransmission timer has expired, the transport block is flushed from the buffer associated with the hybrid automatic retransmission request process. A device that performs this action.

15. It is a device At least one processor, At least one memory containing computer program code, Equipped with, The at least one memory and the computer program code, together with the at least one processor, are provided to the device. Through the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, it is determined that user data is not present in the transport block for retransmission, In response to the determination that the user data does not exist in the transport block, the priority of selecting the hybrid automatic retransmission request process for the retransmission is lowered in the configuration grant, Have them do it, The absence of the user data within the transport block is as follows: The transport block is generated solely to contain control information, and The transport block is generated in response to the overlap between the resources for the control information and the setting grants prior to the setting grant. Determined by at least one of the following: The at least one memory and the computer program code, together with the at least one processor, are further provided to the device. In response to the determination that the selection of the aforementioned hybrid automatic retransmission request process can be given a lower priority, Flushing the transport block from the buffer associated with the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, and / or Stopping at least one timer for the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, wherein the at least one timer includes at least one of a setting grant timer and a setting grant retransmission timer that was started in a previous transmission of the transport block in the hybrid automatic retransmission request process. Have them do it, The at least one memory and the computer program code, together with the at least one processor, are further provided to the device. In response to the determination that the selection of the hybrid automatic retransmission request process can be given a lower priority, it is determined whether the configured grant retransmission timer for the hybrid automatic retransmission request process has expired, wherein the configured grant retransmission timer was started in the previous transmission of the transport block in the hybrid automatic retransmission request process, or In response to the determination that the aforementioned set grant retransmission timer has expired, the transport block is flushed from the buffer associated with the hybrid automatic retransmission request process. A device that performs this action.

16. The at least one memory and the computer program code, together with the at least one processor, are further provided to the device. Determining whether the transport block is permitted to be transmitted in the setting grant, In response to the determination that the transport block is permitted to be transmitted in the setting grant, it is determined whether the user data does not exist in the transport block, A device according to any one of claims 12 to 15, which causes the following to occur.

17. The device according to any one of claims 12 to 16, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code, together with the at least one processor, cause the device to further select the hybrid automatic retransmission request process to perform retransmission of the transport block in the setting grant in response to a determination that the user data is contained within the transport block.

18. The selection of the aforementioned hybrid automatic retransmission request process is: Assigning the aforementioned hybrid automatic retransmission request process to a lower priority than one or more other hybrid automatic retransmission request processes for retransmission, and / or one or more hybrid automatic retransmission request processes for the initial transmission of a transport block containing user data, or Assign the aforementioned hybrid automatic retransmission request process to the lowest priority. The device according to any one of claims 12 to 17, which can have its priority lowered by...

19. The device according to any one of claims 12 to 18, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code, together with the at least one processor, cause the device to further select a hybrid automatic retransmission request process from among hybrid automatic retransmission request processes for retransmission and / or initial transmission, based on the priority of the hybrid automatic retransmission request processes.

20. The device according to any one of claims 12 to 19, wherein the setting grant is set to an unlicensed bandwidth.

21. The device is the device according to any one of claims 12 to 20, including a terminal device.

22. The device according to claim 13 or 15, wherein the control information includes at least one of the following: hybrid automatic retransmission request process-acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK), channel status information (CSI), scheduling request (SR), and setting grant uplink control information (CG-UCI).

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