Base stations, communication methods, and integrated circuits

Abstract

To improve or enhance coverage performance of an uplink.SOLUTION: A base station includes a transmission circuit configured to transmit first downlink control information for allocating a resource of an uplink shared channel and then transmit second downlink control information for allocating a resource of the downlink shared channel, and a reception circuit configured to control reception of the uplink shared channel based on whether or not a resource of an uplink control channel received in response to transmission of the downlink shared channel overlaps in time with the resource of the uplink shared channel, wherein the resource of the uplink control channel overlaps in time with the resource of the uplink shared channel when repetition of the uplink shared channel is applied.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a terminal, a base station, and a communication method. [Background Art]

[0002] In recent years, against the background of the expansion and diversification of wireless services, the Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to achieve dramatic development, and the application of mobile communication has expanded to various fields such as vehicles, houses, household appliances, and industrial equipment, in addition to information terminals such as smartphones. To support the diversification of services, in addition to increasing system capacity, significant improvements in the performance and functions of mobile communication systems are required to meet various requirements such as an increase in the number of connected devices and low latency. The 5th Generation mobile communication systems (5G) has characteristics such as large capacity and ultra-high speed (eMBB: enhanced Mobile Broadband), massive connection between devices (mMTC: massive Machine Type Communication), and ultra-reliable and low latency (URLLC: Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communication), and can flexibly provide wireless communication in response to a wide variety of needs.

[0003] In the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), an international standardization organization, specification work for New Radio (NR) is underway as one of the 5G wireless interfaces. [Prior Art Documents] [Non-Patent Literature]

[0004] [Non-Patent Literature 1] 3GPP TS38.104, “NR Base Station (BS) radio transmission and reception (Release 15),” December 2020. [Non-Patent Document 2] RP-202928, “New WID on NR coverage enhancements,” China Telecom, December 2020. [Non-Patent Document 3] 3GPP TS38.211, “NR Physical channels and modulation (Release 16),” December 2020. [Non-Patent Document 4] 3GPP TS38.212, “NR Multiplexing and channel coding (Release 16),” December 2020. [Non-Patent Document 5] 3GPP TS38.213, “NR Physical layer procedures for control (Release 16),” December 2020. [Non-Patent Document 6] 3GPP TS38.214, “NR Physical layer procedures for data (Release 16),” December 2020. [Non-Patent Document 7] R1-2100457, “Discussion on enhancement for PUSCH repetition type A,” vivo, January 25th - February 5th, 2021. [Overview of the Initiative]

[0005] However, there is room for improvement in the coverage performance of the uplink.

[0006] Non-limiting embodiments of this disclosure contribute to the provision of terminals, base stations, and communication methods that improve or enhance uplink coverage performance.

[0007] A terminal according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a receiving circuit that receives a second downlink control information for allocating resources for a downlink shared channel after receiving a first downlink control information for allocating resources for an uplink shared channel, and a control circuit that controls the transmission of the uplink shared channel based on whether the resources of the uplink control channel transmitted in response to the reception of the downlink shared channel overlap in time with the resources of the uplink shared channel. Controlling the transmission of the uplink shared channel includes at least one of controlling the number of bits of the signal transmitted in the resources of the uplink shared channel, setting the resources of the uplink shared channel to be unavailable, and controlling the HARQ process for the downlink shared channel.

[0008] These comprehensive or specific embodiments may be implemented as systems, devices, methods, integrated circuits, computer programs, or recording media, or as any combination of systems, devices, methods, integrated circuits, computer programs, and recording media.

[0009] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the coverage performance of the uplink can be improved or enhanced.

[0010] Further advantages and effects of one embodiment of this disclosure will be made apparent from the specification and drawings. Such advantages and / or effects are provided by several embodiments and features described in the specification and drawings, but not all of them are necessarily provided in order to obtain one or more identical features. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1] This diagram shows an example of PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel) repetition Type A (number of repetitions: 4). [Figure 2]Diagram illustrating an example of PUSCH repetition Type A enhancement (number of repetitions: 4) [Figure 3] Diagram explaining constraints on UCI (Uplink Control Information) on PUSCH in NR Rel.15 / 16 [Figure 4] Diagram illustrating an example of the relationship between PUSCH repetition Type A enhancement and retransmission in downlink transmission [Figure 5] Block diagram illustrating a configuration example focusing on a part of a base station [Figure 6] Block diagram illustrating a configuration example focusing on a part of a terminal [Figure 7] Block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a base station [Figure 8] Block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a terminal [Figure 9] Flowchart illustrating an operation example according to the first embodiment [Figure 10] Diagram illustrating an operation example according to the first embodiment [Figure 11] Flowchart illustrating an operation example according to the second embodiment [Figure 12] Diagram illustrating an operation example according to the second embodiment [Figure 13] Flowchart illustrating an operation example according to the third embodiment [Figure 14] Diagram illustrating an operation example according to the third embodiment [Figure 15] Diagram illustrating an operation example according to Modification 2 [Figure 16] Diagram illustrating an operation example according to Modification 2 [Figure 17] Diagram illustrating an example of case classification according to Modification 3 [Figure 18] Diagram illustrating an operation example according to Supplement 4 [Figure 19] Diagram illustrating an operation example according to Supplement 5 [Figure 20] Diagram illustrating an operation example according to Supplement 7 [Figure 21] Diagram of an exemplary architecture of a 3GPP NR system [Figure 22]Schematic diagram showing the functional separation between NG-RAN and 5GC. [Figure 23] Sequence diagram of the setup / reconfiguration procedure for Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection. [Figure 24] This schematic diagram illustrates usage scenarios for high-capacity, high-speed communication (eMBB: enhanced Mobile Broadband), massive machine type communications (mMTC: massive machine type communications), and highly reliable, ultra-low-latency communications (URLLC: Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communications). [Figure 25] Block diagram illustrating an exemplary 5G system architecture for a non-roaming scenario. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0012] Embodiments of this disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0013] In NR, for example, in addition to the frequency bands below 6GHz, mainly the 700MHz to 3.5GHz band, which have been used for cellular communications (for example, also called Frequency Range 1 (FR1)), millimeter-wave bands such as 28GHz or 39GHz (for example, also called FR2) that can secure a wide bandwidth may be utilized (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1). Furthermore, in FR1, for example, higher frequency bands may be used compared to the frequency bands used in Long Term Evolution (LTE) or 3G (3rd Generation mobile communication systems), such as the 3.5GHz band.

[0014] The higher the frequency band, the greater the radio wave propagation loss, and the more likely the reception quality of radio waves is to deteriorate. For this reason, when NR uses a higher frequency band compared to, for example, LTE or 3G, it is expected to ensure a communication area (or coverage) comparable to that of radio access technologies (RATs) such as LTE or 3G, in other words, to ensure appropriate communication quality. For example, in Release 17 (represented as "Rel.17"), methods for improving coverage in NR are being considered (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2).

[0015] In NR, terminals send and receive data according to resource allocations indicated by, for example, Layer 1 control signals (DCI: Downlink Control Information) on the downlink control channel (PDCCH: Physical Downlink Control Channel) from the base station (see, for example, Non-Patent Documents 3-6).

[0016] For example, the terminal feeds back a response signal (ACK / NACK: Acknowledgement / Negative Acknowledgement) indicating the success or failure of decoding for the downlink data channel (PDSCH: Physical Downlink Shared Channel) using the uplink control channel (PUCCH: Physical Uplink Control Channel) (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 5).

[0017] A terminal can also transmit downlink channel state information (CSI) to the base station in addition to ACK / NACK, for example, using PUCCH. These ACK / NACK and CSI are also called uplink control information (UCI).

[0018] When sending an ACK / NACK to a PDSCH assigned by DCI, the terminal sends a PUCCH according to the resource allocation indicated by the DCI from the base station, for example. The control information included in the DCI may include information about the PUCCH resource, such as timing information (K1 or PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indication) indicating how many slots after the slot that received the PDSCH the PUCCH should be sent. HARQ is an abbreviation for Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest.

[0019] On the uplink, for example, a terminal transmits an uplink data channel (PUSCH: Physical Uplink Shared Channel) according to a resource allocation (Grant) indicated by a DCI on the PDCCH from the base station (see, for example, Non-Patent Documents 3-6). The control information included in the DCI may include, for example, information about the time-domain resource on which to transmit the PUSCH.

[0020] For example, information regarding time-domain resources may include timing information (K2) indicating how many slots after the slot that received the PDCCH the PUSCH will be transmitted, or information regarding at least the position of the first symbol of the PUSCH within the slot, or the number of symbols to which the PUSCH will be transmitted.

[0021] In NR uplink transmission, multiple slots can be used to transmit PUSCH (also called Repetition), and NR Rel.15 / 16 specifies, for example, two PUSCH repetition schemes (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 6).

[0022] The first repetition method is a slot-based repetition, where, for example, the same time resource allocation is applied across multiple consecutive slots. Hereafter, the first repetition method will be referred to as PUSCH repetition Type A. In PUSCH repetition Type A, the base station notifies the terminal, for example, of the time resource allocation within the slot and the number of repeating slots. Here, the number of repeating slots may be a value counted based on consecutive slots, for example.

[0023] The second repetition method is a method that allows one or more PUSCHs to be transmitted repeatedly within a single slot. Hereafter, the second repetition method will be referred to as PUSCH repetition Type B. In PUSCH repetition Type B, the base station may, for example, notify the terminal of the time-domain resources and the number of repetitions for the first PUSCH transmission. For the allocation of time-domain resources for the second and subsequent PUSCH transmissions, for example, consecutive symbols and the same number of symbols as the previous PUSCH transmission may be allocated.

[0024] In PUSCH repetition Type A, the number of repetition slots notified is a value counted based on consecutive slots, so the actual number of slots to which PUSCH is sent may be less than the notified number of repetition slots.

[0025] For example, as shown in Figure 1, consider a case in Time Division Duplex (TDD) where slot #3 and repeating slot number 4 are notified as the timing for sending a PUSCH. In this case, if a downlink slot is included within consecutive repeating slots (slots #3, #4, #5, #6), a PUSCH will not be sent in that slot (for example, the PUSCH transmission will be dropped). The failure to send a PUSCH may degrade the PUSCH coverage performance in PUSCH repetition Type A.

[0026] Therefore, NR Rel.17 considers, as an extension to the functionality of PUSCH repetition Type A, that the number of repetition slots be a value counted based on the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2).

[0027] Figure 2 shows an example where slot #3 and the number of repeating slots (4) are notified as the timing for sending a PUSCH, and the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission are slots #3, #4, #7, #8, and #9. Hereafter, this repetition method will be referred to as PUSCH repetition Type A enhancement. In PUSCH repetition Type A enhancement, it is possible to send PUSCH for the number of notified repeating slots, so an improvement in PUSCH coverage performance can be expected compared to PUSCH repetition Type A.

[0028] Furthermore, in uplink transmissions from a terminal, transmission resources for PUCCH and PUSCH may overlap in time. In this case, NR Rel.15 / 16 allows the terminal to multiplex UCI and uplink data into PUSCH (see, for example, Non-Patent Documents 4 and 5). However, NR Rel.15 has a restriction that the PUCCH resource, which transmits an ACK / NACK to a PDSCH assigned by a second DCI after receiving a first DCI that assigns PUSCH, cannot be allocated to a resource that overlaps in time with the transmission of PUSCH assigned by the first DCI. For example, as shown in the upper part of Figure 3, if a first DCI assigning PUSCH to slot #3 is received in slot #0, and then a second DCI assigning PDSCH to slot #1 is received, the resources for sending ACK / NACK to PDSCH will not be allocated to resources that overlap temporally with the transmission of PUSCH (slot #3).

[0029] Therefore, NR Rel.15 / 16 does not support the UE multiplexing an ACK / NACK for a PDSCH assigned by a second DCI after receiving a first DCI that assigns a PUSCH, and then transmitting that ACK / NACK to the PUSCH assigned by the first DCI.

[0030] Therefore, the PUCCH resource for sending an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI after receiving the first DCI that assigns the PUSCH is allocated to a resource (e.g., slot #4) that does not temporally overlap with the transmission of the PUSCH assigned by the first DCI (e.g., slot #3), as shown in the lower part of Figure 3.

[0031] On the other hand, as previously mentioned, NR Rel.17 is considering the introduction of PUSCH repetition Type A enhancement. In PUSCH repetition Type A enhancement, for example, the number of repetition slots is counted based on the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission. Therefore, in cases where the number of uplink slots is limited, such as in TDD, repeated PUSCH transmissions may occupy uplink slots.

[0032] In this case, given the constraint mentioned above that "it is not permitted to allocate a PUCCH resource that sends an ACK / NACK to a PDSCH assigned by a second DCI after receiving a first DCI that assigns a PUSCH to a resource that overlaps in time with the transmission of a PUSCH assigned by the first DCI," the UE may increase downlink delay because it will not send an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH until the PUSCH repetition transmission is complete, as shown in Figure 4, for example.

[0033] Furthermore, the control information included in the DCI that assigns the PDSCH may include timing information (K1 or PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indication) such as how many slots after receiving the PDSCH the PUCCH should be transmitted, but the range of K1 values ​​that can be notified is limited. Therefore, with the constraints mentioned above, blocking of PDSCH assignment may occur due to the inability to assign PUCCH, which can reduce the frequency utilization efficiency of the downlink.

[0034] To improve frequency utilization efficiency and reduce latency in downlink transmission, it is desirable to remove the constraint mentioned above, which states that "a PUCCH resource that sends an ACK / NACK to a PDSCH assigned by a second DCI after receiving a first DCI that assigns a PUSCH cannot be allocated to a resource that temporally overlaps with the transmission of a PUSCH assigned by the first DCI."

[0035] For example, it is permissible to allocate a PUCCH resource that sends an ACK / NACK to a PDSCH assigned by a second DCI after receiving a first DCI that assigns a PUSCH to a resource that overlaps in time with the transmission of the PUSCH assigned by the first DCI.

[0036] For example, Non-Patent Document 7 mentioned above describes sending an ACK / NACK to a PDSCH allocated by a second DCI by puncturing a portion of the PUSCH resources allocated by a first DCI.

[0037] However, the coverage performance of PUSCH may degrade because some of the PUSCH resources are overloaded with sending ACK / NACKs to the PDSCH allocated by the second DCI.

[0038] In one non-limiting embodiment of this disclosure, a terminal, base station, communication method, or control method is provided that can improve the frequency utilization efficiency and reduce the delay of downlink transmission when the terminal repeats a PUSCH, and also mitigate the degradation of PUSCH coverage performance.

[0039] For example, a PUCCH resource that sends an ACK / NACK to a PDSCH assigned by a second DCI after receiving a first DCI that assigns a PUSCH may be assigned to a resource that overlaps in time with the transmission of the PUSCH assigned by the first DCI. Then, for example, the ACK / NACK transmission method, the number of ACK / NACK transmission bits, and at least one of the PUSCH repetition transmission resources are controlled depending on whether the PUCCH resource that sends an ACK / NACK to a PDSCH assigned by a second DCI after receiving a first DCI overlaps in time with the transmission of the PUSCH assigned by the first DCI.

[0040] Several embodiments will be described below.

[0041] [Overview of the communication system] Each embodiment of the present disclosure comprises, for example, at least one base station and at least one terminal.

[0042] Figure 5 is a block diagram showing a partial configuration example of a base station 100 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, and Figure 6 is a block diagram showing a partial configuration example of a terminal 200 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0043] In the base station 100 shown in Figure 5, the control unit 101 generates, for example, a first DCI that allocates resources for an uplink shared channel (e.g., PUSCH) and a second DCI that allocates resources for a downlink shared channel (e.g., PDSCH). The transmission unit 107 transmits, for example, the first DCI and the second DCI to the terminal 200.

[0044] In the terminal 200 shown in Figure 6, the receiving unit 201 receives, for example, a second DCI after receiving a first DCI from the base station 100. The control unit 205 controls the transmission of the PUSCH based on whether the resources of the uplink control channel (e.g., PUCCH) to be transmitted in response to the reception of the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI overlap in time with the resources of the PUSCH assigned by the first DCI. Controlling the transmission of the PUSCH may include at least one of the following: controlling the number of bits of the signal (e.g., ACK / NACK) transmitted in the PUSCH resources, setting the PUSCH resources to unavailable, and controlling the HARQ process for the PDSCH.

[0045] (Embodiment 1) [Base station configuration] Figure 7 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of base station 100. The example configuration of base station 100 shown in Figure 7 may be common throughout this disclosure, including other embodiments and modifications described later.

[0046] As shown in Figure 7, the base station 100 may include, for example, a control unit 101, a higher-level control signal generation unit 102, a downlink control information generation unit 103, an encoding unit 104, a modulation unit 105, a signal allocation unit 106, and a transmission unit 107. The base station 100 may also include, for example, a receiving unit 108, an extraction unit 109, a demodulation unit 110, and a decoding unit 111.

[0047] The control unit 101 determines, for example, at least one of the following: information regarding PDSCH reception to terminal 200, information regarding PUSCH transmission, and information regarding PUCCH transmission, and outputs the determined information to the higher-level control signal generation unit 102. The information regarding PDSCH reception and PUSCH transmission may include, for example, at least one of the following: information regarding the TDRA (Time Domain Resource Allocation) table and information regarding the number of repetitions. The information regarding PUCCH transmission may include, for example, at least one of the following: information regarding the PUCCH resource set and information regarding K1.

[0048] Furthermore, the control unit 101 determines, for example, the encoding and modulation scheme and radio resource allocation for the downlink signal used to transmit downlink data signals or higher-level control signals, and downlink control information. The determined information may be output to, for example, the encoding unit 104, the modulation unit 105, and the signal allocation unit 106. The encoding and modulation scheme and radio resource allocation information for the data signals or higher-level control signals may also be output to, for example, the downlink control information generation unit 103.

[0049] Furthermore, the control unit 101 may, for example, determine the PUCCH resources for the terminal 200 to transmit PUCCH and output the determined information to the higher-level control signal generation unit 102 or the downlink control information generation unit 103. The control unit 101 may also, for example, output the determined information to the extraction unit 109, the demodulation unit 110, and the decoding unit 111.

[0050] Furthermore, the control unit 101 determines, for example, the encoding and modulation scheme and wireless resource allocation for the uplink data signal transmitted by the terminal 200, and outputs the determined information to the downlink control information generation unit 103, extraction unit 109, demodulation unit 110, and decoding unit 111.

[0051] Furthermore, the control unit 101 may determine, for example, whether or not to transmit a PUSCH as a repetition, and whether the PUCCH resource for transmitting the PUCCH and the radio resource for transmitting the uplink data overlap in time. If they overlap in time, the control unit 101 may, for example, identify the ACK / NACK transmission method, the number of ACK / NACK transmission bits, and at least one of the PUSCH repetition transmission resources, as described later. The identified information may be output to, for example, the extraction unit 109, the demodulation unit 110, and the decoding unit 111.

[0052] The higher-level control signal generation unit 102 generates a higher-level control signal (e.g., a bit sequence) using control information input from the control unit 101, for example. The generated signal may be output to the encoding unit 104, for example.

[0053] The downlink control information generation unit 103 may, for example, generate a DCI (e.g., a bit string) using the control information input from the control unit 101, and output the generated DCI to the encoding unit 104. Note that the control information may also be transmitted to multiple terminals 200.

[0054] The encoding unit 104 encodes, for example, downlink data, a bit sequence obtained from the higher-level control signal generation unit 102, or DCI input from the downlink control information generation unit 103, and outputs the encoded bit sequence to the modulation unit 105.

[0055] The modulation unit 105 modulates the encoded bit sequence received from the encoding unit 104, for example, and outputs it to the signal assignment unit 106.

[0056] The signal assignment unit 106 maps, for example, the downlink data signal or control signal input as a symbol sequence from the modulation unit 105 to a radio resource instructed by the control unit 101. The signal assignment unit 106 also inputs, for example, the signal mapped to the radio resource to the transmission unit 107.

[0057] The transmitting unit 107 performs a transmission waveform generation process, such as OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing), on the signal output from the signal assignment unit 106. In the case of OFDM transmission using CP (Cyclic Prefix), the transmitting unit 107 may add CP to the signal after applying IFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier Transform).

[0058] Furthermore, the transmitting unit 107 performs radio (RF) processing, such as digital-to-analog (D / A) conversion and upconversion, on the signal output from the signal assignment unit 106, and transmits the radio signal to the terminal 200 via the antenna.

[0059] The receiving unit 108 performs RF processing, such as down-conversion and analog-to-digital (A / D) conversion, on the uplink signal transmitted from the terminal 200 and received via the antenna.

[0060] Furthermore, in the case of OFDM transmission, for example, the receiving unit 108 generates a frequency domain signal by applying an FFT to the received signal and outputs it to the extraction unit 109.

[0061] The extraction unit 109 extracts the portion of the radio resource from the received signal that has been transmitted as PUSCH or PUCCH, based on the information received from the control unit 101, and outputs the extracted PUSCH or PUCCH signal to the demodulation unit 110.

[0062] The demodulation unit 110, for example, demodulates PUSCH or PUCCH based on the information received from the control unit 101, and outputs the demodulation result to the decoding unit 111.

[0063] The decoding unit 111 uses, for example, the information received from the control unit 101 and the demodulation result obtained from the demodulation unit 110 to perform error-corrected decoding of PUSCH or PUCCH to obtain the decoded received bit sequence (e.g., UL data signal or UCI).

[0064] [Device Configuration] Next, an example configuration of the terminal 200 will be described with reference to Figure 8. As shown in Figure 8, the terminal 200 may include, for example, a receiving unit 201, an extraction unit 202, a demodulation unit 203, a decoding unit 204, and a control unit 205. Alternatively, the terminal 200 may include, for example, an encoding unit 206, a modulation unit 207, a signal allocation unit 208, and a transmission unit 209.

[0065] The receiving unit 201 receives, for example, a data signal or downlink control signal transmitted from the base station 100 via an antenna, and performs RF processing such as downconversion or A / D conversion on the wirelessly received signal to generate a baseband signal.

[0066] Furthermore, when the receiving unit 201 receives an OFDM signal, for example, it may perform FFT processing on the received signal to convert the received signal into the frequency domain.

[0067] The extraction unit 202, for example, uses information about the radio resource of the control signal input from the control unit 205 to extract the radio resource portion containing the downlink control signal from the received signal received from the receiving unit 201, and outputs the extracted signal to the demodulation unit 203. The extraction unit 202 also uses information about the radio resource of the data signal input from the control unit 205 to extract the radio resource portion containing the data signal, and outputs the extracted signal to the demodulation unit 203.

[0068] The demodulation unit 203, for example, demodulates the PDCCH or PDSCH based on the information received from the control unit 205, and outputs the demodulation result to the decoding unit 204.

[0069] Furthermore, the decoding unit 204 uses, for example, the information received from the control unit 205 and the demodulation results obtained in the demodulation unit 203 to perform error-corrected decoding of the PDCCH or PDSCH to obtain downlink received data, upper layer control information, or downlink control information. The obtained upper layer control information and downlink control information may be output to, for example, the control unit 205. The decoding unit 204 may also generate an ACK / NACK signal from, for example, the decoding result of the downlink received data.

[0070] The control unit 205 identifies (or determines) the radio resources for PDSCH reception, PUSCH transmission, and PUCCH transmission based on, for example, radio resource allocation information obtained from higher-layer control signals and downlink control information. The control unit 205 also outputs the determined information to, for example, the signal allocation unit 208, the extraction unit 202, and the demodulation unit 203.

[0071] Furthermore, the control unit 205 may determine, for example, whether the PUCCH resource for transmitting PUCCH and the radio resource for transmitting uplink data overlap in time. If they overlap in time, the control unit 205 may identify at least one of the ACK / NACK transmission method, the number of ACK / NACK transmission bits, and the PUSCH repetition transmission resource, as described later. The identified information may be output to, for example, the encoding unit 206, the modulation unit 207, and the signal allocation unit 208.

[0072] The encoding unit 206 encodes the UCI or uplink data signal based on the information input from the control unit 205, and outputs the encoded bit sequence to the modulation unit 207.

[0073] The modulation unit 207 modulates the encoded bit sequence received from the encoding unit 206 to generate a modulation symbol sequence, and outputs the modulation symbol sequence to the signal assignment unit 208.

[0074] The signal assignment unit 208 maps the signal input from the modulation unit 207 to a radio resource instructed by the control unit 205. The signal assignment unit 208 also inputs the signal, after it has been mapped to the radio resource, to the transmission unit 209.

[0075] The transmitting unit 209 performs, for example, OFDM (Optical Frequency Modulation) waveform generation on the signal input from the signal assignment unit 208. In the case of OFDM transmission using CP (Critical Packet), the transmitting unit 209 may, for example, add CP to the signal after IFFT (Intermediate Frequency Transform). When generating a single-carrier waveform, a DFT (Dynamic Fracture Transform) unit may be provided after the modulation unit 207 or before the signal assignment unit 208.

[0076] Furthermore, the transmitting unit 209 performs RF processing on the transmission signal, such as D / A conversion and upconversion, and transmits the wireless signal via the antenna.

[0077] [Example of operation of terminal 200] An example of the operation of terminal 200 having the above configuration will be described below.

[0078] Figure 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of terminal 200. As shown in Figure 9, for example, when terminal 200 receives a first DCI for assigning PUSCH from base station 100 (S101), it determines whether or not the repetition transmission of PUSCH is applied (S102).

[0079] If the repetition transmission of PUSCH is not applied (S102; No), terminal 200 does not allow the PUCCH resource, which transmits an ACK / NACK to a PDSCH assigned by a second DCI after receiving a first DCI that assigns PUSCH, to be allocated to a resource that overlaps in time with the transmission of PUSCH assigned by the first DCI (S108). For example, terminal 200 may transmit PUCCH on a resource that does not overlap in time with the transmission of PUSCH, in an operation equivalent to the operation supported in NR Rel. 15 / 16.

[0080] If the repetition transmission of PUSCH is applied (S102; Yes), terminal 200 allows, for example, the PUCCH resource that sends an ACK / NACK to a PDSCH assigned by a second DCI after receiving a first DCI that assigns PUSCH to a resource that overlaps in time with the transmission of PUSCH assigned by the first DCI (S103).

[0081] When terminal 200 receives a second DCI that assigns a PDSCH (S104), it determines, for example, whether the PUCCH assigned by the second DCI and the PUSCH transmission resource assigned by the first DCI overlap in time (S105).

[0082] If the resources for PUCCH and PUSCH overlap in time (S105; Yes), terminal 200 may, for example, puncture a portion of the PUSCH resources allocated by the first DCI and send an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH allocated by the second DCI using the punctured resources (S106). In other words, terminal 200 may use (or reallocate) a portion of the resources allocated for PUSCH by the first DCI as resources for PUCCH and send an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH allocated by the second DCI. Note that the puncture may be performed, for example, by avoiding resources to which a reference signal (e.g., demodulation reference signal (DMRS)) is mapped in PUSCH.

[0083] Here, the number of ACK / NACK bits that can be punctured and sent (to the PDSCH allocated by the second DCI) by a portion of the PUSCH resources allocated by the first DCI may be limited to, for example, a threshold (e.g., X bits).

[0084] If the number of ACK / NACK bits to be sent to the PDSCH allocated by the second DCI exceeds X bits, terminal 200 may apply ACK / NACK bundling (e.g., compression of ACK / NACK bits) to reduce the actual number of ACK / NACK bits sent to X (bits) or less. For example, terminal 200 may puncture a portion of the PUSCH resources allocated by the first DCI according to the number of ACK / NACK bits reduced to X bits or less and send the ACK / NACK. Here, X is a positive integer value greater than 0.

[0085] The value of X may be determined, for example, based on the required coverage performance of PUSCH. Alternatively, the value of X may be determined by a predetermined value in the standard (e.g., X=2 bits), a value statically set by RRC signaling, a value set by notification in MAC-CE (Medium Access Control - Control Element), a value dynamically notified by DCI, or an implicitly determined value, or any combination thereof. A non-exclusive example of how the value of X may be implicitly determined is that it may be determined based on the number of PUSCH repetitions, or based on other information or parameters set in terminal 200.

[0086] If the transmission resources for the PUCCH assigned by the second DCI and the PUSCH assigned by the first DCI do not overlap in time (S105; No), terminal 200 may, for example, send an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI using the PUCCH assigned by the second DCI (S107).

[0087] Figure 10 shows an example of operation according to Embodiment 1. As illustrated in Figure 10, the first DCI in slot #0 assigns slot #3 and a PUSCH repetition Type A enhancement with 4 repeating slots as the timing for transmitting PUSCH. Terminal 200 repeatedly transmits PUSCH in slots #3, #4, #7, and #8. In this disclosure, "slot" is an example of a time resource unit, and other units may be used.

[0088] Furthermore, a PDSCH is allocated in slot #1 by the second DCI, and a PUCCH resource to send ACK / NACK to the PDSCH is allocated in slot #3. In this case, in slot #3, where the transmission resources for PUCCH and PUSCH overlap in time, the ACK / NACK to the PDSCH allocated by the second DCI is transmitted by puncturing a portion of the PUSCH resource. Here, the number of ACK / NACK bits transmitted is less than or equal to X bits.

[0089] As described above, according to Embodiment 1, when terminal 200 repeats a PUSCH, it is permitted to allocate the PUCCH resource for sending an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI after receiving the first DCI that assigns the PUSCH to a resource that overlaps in time with the transmission of the PUSCH assigned by the first DCI. Therefore, it is possible to improve the frequency utilization efficiency and reduce the delay of downlink transmission.

[0090] Furthermore, by appropriately setting the value of X to limit the number of ACK / NACK bits for the PDSCH allocated by the second DCI, which transmits a portion of the PUSCH resources allocated by the first DCI by puncturing them, to X bits or less, the degradation of PUSCH coverage performance can be mitigated.

[0091] (Embodiment 2) Next, Embodiment 2 will be described with reference to Figures 11 and 12. The configuration of the base station 100 and terminal 200 in Embodiment 2 may be the same as that of Embodiment 1.

[0092] Figure 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of terminal 200 according to Embodiment 2. In Figure 11, the processes S101 to S105, S107 and S108, excluding S106a, may be the same as the processes illustrated in Figure 9 of Embodiment 1.

[0093] In Embodiment 2, similar to Embodiment 1, when a repetition transmission of PUSCH is applied to terminal 200, the PUCCH resource that transmits an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI after receiving the first DCI that assigns PUSCH is allowed to be assigned to a resource that overlaps in time with the transmission of PUSCH assigned by the first DCI.

[0094] Furthermore, in Embodiment 2, in slots where the transmission resources for PUCCH and PUSCH overlap in time, the ACK / NACK for the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI is treated as a higher priority transmission than the PUSCH assigned by the first DCI. For example, a slot where the transmission resources for PUCCH and PUSCH overlap in time may be set as an unavailable slot for PUSCH transmission.

[0095] In this case, terminal 200 may send an ACK / NACK using the PUCCH resource allocated by the second DCI, and postpone the repeated transmission of PUSCH allocated by the first DCI, for example, in a later time (postponed) (S106a).

[0096] Figure 12 shows an example of operation according to Embodiment 2. The first DCI in slot #0 assigns slot #3 and a PUSCH repetition Type A enhancement with 4 repeating slots as the timing for sending PUSCH. In addition, the second DCI in slot #1 assigns PDSCH, and the PUCCH resource that sends ACK / NACK to PDSCH is assigned to slot #3.

[0097] In this case, in slot #3, where the transmission resources for PUCCH and PUSCH overlap in time, ACK / NACK is treated as a higher priority transmission than PUSCH, and slot #3 is set as an unavailable slot for PUSCH transmission. Therefore, in slot #3, terminal 200 transmits ACK / NACK, which has a higher priority than PUSCH, using the PUCCH resource.

[0098] On the other hand, in PUSCH repetition Type A enhancement, the number of repetition slots is counted based on the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission. Therefore, terminal 200 repeatedly transmits PUSCH in slots #4, #7, #8, and #9, which are uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission.

[0099] As described above, according to Embodiment 2, when terminal 200 repeats a PUSCH, it is permitted to allocate the PUCCH resource for sending an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI after receiving the first DCI that assigns the PUSCH to a resource that overlaps in time with the transmission of the PUSCH assigned by the first DCI. Therefore, it is possible to improve the frequency utilization efficiency and reduce the delay of downlink transmission.

[0100] Furthermore, in Embodiment 2, slots where the transmission resources for PUCCH and PUSCH overlap in time are set as unavailable slots for PUSCH transmission, so that terminal 200 can perform PUSCH repetition transmission in a later slot (postpone). Therefore, terminal 200 can send PUSCH for the number of notified repetition slots without being affected by PUSCH resource congestion due to ACK / NACK, thus avoiding or suppressing degradation of PUSCH coverage performance.

[0101] (Embodiment 3) Next, Embodiment 3 will be described with reference to Figures 13 and 14. The configuration of the base station 100 and terminal 200 in Embodiment 3 may be the same as that of Embodiment 1.

[0102] Figure 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of terminal 200 according to Embodiment 3. In Figure 13, the processes S101 to S105, S107 and S108, excluding S106b, may be the same as the processes illustrated in Figure 9 of Embodiment 1.

[0103] In Embodiment 3, similar to Embodiments 1 and 2, when a repetition transmission of PUSCH is applied to the terminal 200, the PUCCH resource that transmits an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI after receiving the first DCI that assigns PUSCH is allowed to be assigned to a resource that overlaps in time with the transmission of PUSCH assigned by the first DCI.

[0104] Furthermore, in Embodiment 3, if the PUCCH resource that sends an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI overlaps in time with the transmission of a PUSCH assigned by the first DCI, the HARQ process of the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI may be disabled (S106b).

[0105] In other words, if a PUCCH resource that sends an ACK / NACK to a PDSCH assigned by the second DCI overlaps in time with the transmission of a PUSCH assigned by the first DCI, terminal 200 will not send an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI.

[0106] Figure 14 shows an example of operation according to Embodiment 4. The first DCI in slot #0 assigns slot #3 and a PUSCH repetition Type A enhancement with 4 repeating slots as the timing for transmitting PUSCH. Terminal 200 repeatedly transmits PUSCH in slots #3, #4, #7, and #8.

[0107] Additionally, a PDSCH is allocated in slot #1 by the second DCI, and a PUCCH resource to send ACK / NACK to the PDSCH is allocated to slot #3. In this case, the HARQ process for the PDSCH allocated in slot #1 by the second DCI is disabled, and terminal 200 does not send ACK / NACK in slot #3.

[0108] As described above, according to Embodiment 3, similar to Embodiments 1 and 2, when terminal 200 performs a repeat transmission of PUSCH, it is permitted to allocate the PUCCH resource for sending an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI after receiving the first DCI that assigns the PUSCH to a resource that temporally overlaps with the transmission of the PUSCH assigned by the first DCI. Therefore, it is possible to improve the frequency utilization efficiency and reduce the delay of downlink transmission.

[0109] Furthermore, according to Embodiment 3, if the PUCCH resource that sends ACK / NACK to the PDSCH allocated by the second DCI overlaps in time with the transmission of PUSCH allocated by the first DCI, the HARQ process of the PDSCH allocated by the second DCI is disabled. Therefore, terminal 200 can send PUSCH for the number of notified repeat slots without being affected by the PUSCH resource being punctured by ACK / NACK. As a result, degradation of PUSCH coverage performance can be avoided or suppressed.

[0110] Furthermore, from the perspective of the base station 100, for example, it is possible to assign (or schedule) a PDSCH without waiting for the reception of HARQ-ACK feedback from the terminal 200, thus improving the flexibility of scheduling.

[0111] Disabling the HARQ process can lead to a degradation in the retransmission efficiency of downlink transmissions. However, this degradation in retransmission efficiency can be mitigated by applying a process that appropriately sets the reliability of the PDSCH, such as increasing the confidence of the initial transmission (for example, by adjusting the Modulation and Coding Scheme, MCS, or allocated resource amount) when the HARQ process is disabled.

[0112] (Variation 1) In this modified example, when a repeat transmission of PUSCH is applied to terminal 200, it is permitted to allocate the PUCCH resource, which sends an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI after receiving the first DCI that assigns PUSCH, to a resource that overlaps in time with the transmission of PUSCH assigned by the first DCI.

[0113] Furthermore, in this modified example, if the PUCCH resource that sends an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI overlaps in time with the transmission of a PUSCH assigned by the first DCI, ACK skipping may be applied to the HARQ process of the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI.

[0114] When ACK skipping is applied to the HARQ process, terminal 200 does not send an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH if the decryption result to the PDSCH is an ACK. Since the probability of the decryption result to the PDSCH being an ACK tends to be higher than the probability of it being a NACK, skipping the ACK transmission can reduce overhead, for example, that of the PUCCH, and also reduce the processing load on terminal 200.

[0115] This modified example can be understood as being equivalent to applying Embodiment 3 when the decoding result for the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI is ACK. On the other hand, when the decoding result for the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI is NACK, either Embodiment 1 or Embodiment 2 may be applied.

[0116] According to this modified version, if the decryption result of the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI is NACK, a PUSCH resource puncture or a PUSCH transmission postpone is applied, thereby mitigating the impact on PUSCH repetition.

[0117] (Modification 2) In embodiments 1, 2, and 3 described above, when a repetition transmission of PUSCH is applied to terminal 200, it is permitted to allocate the PUCCH resource that transmits an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI after receiving the first DCI that assigns PUSCH to a resource that overlaps in time with the transmission of PUSCH assigned by the first DCI.

[0118] Here, the slot in which the transmission resources of PUCCH and PUSCH overlap in time can be any slot in the PUSCH repetition allocated by the first DCI. For example, the slot in which the transmission resources of PUCCH and PUSCH overlap in time can be the first slot of the PUSCH repetition, as illustrated in Figures 10, 12, and 14, or it can be a different slot from the first slot.

[0119] Furthermore, depending on which slot in the PUSCH repetition the PUCCH resource that sends ACK / NACK to the PDSCH assigned by the first DCI overlaps with (or clashes with) may be used, the applicable embodiment from Embodiments 1, 2, and 3 may be different.

[0120] As a non-limiting example, if a PUCCH resource sending an ACK / NACK collides with the first slot (Rep#0) of a PUSCH repetition, as shown in Figure 15, Embodiment 1 may be applied. If it collides with a slot different from the first slot of a PUSCH repetition (for example, Rep#1), as shown in Figure 16, Embodiment 2 may be applied.

[0121] Furthermore, as a non-limiting example, if the PUCCH resource sending ACK / NACK collides with the first slot of the PUSCH repetition, Embodiment 3 may be applied, and if the PUCCH resource sending ACK / NACK collides with a slot different from the first slot of the PUSCH repetition, Embodiment 2 may be applied.

[0122] According to this modified version, for example, based on the time required for terminal operations (or processes) such as puncture, postpone, or HARQ disable, an appropriate operation or process according to the terminal's capabilities can be applied to terminal 200.

[0123] (Variation 3) NR Rel.16 allows prioritization of uplink transmissions such as PUSCH or ACK / NACK. For example, NR Rel.16 has two priority levels; uplink transmissions with priority index 0 are low priority, and uplink transmissions with priority index 1 are high priority.

[0124] In this modified example, the applicable embodiment from Embodiments 1, 2, and 3 may differ depending on the priority of ACK / NACK, the priority of PUSCH, or both.

[0125] Figure 17 shows an example of how to differentiate between cases based on the priority of ACK / NACK and the priority of PUSCH. For example, Embodiment 1 may be applied in Case 1 or Case 4 (ACK / NACK and PUSCH have the same priority), Embodiment 3 in Case 2 (PUSCH has a higher priority than ACK / NACK), and Embodiment 2 in Case 3 (ACK / NACK has a higher priority than PUSCH).

[0126] The combinations of embodiments applicable to each Case are not limited to those described above. For example, Embodiment 2 or 3 may be applied to Case 1 or Case 4.

[0127] According to this modified version, if ACK / NACK has high priority, Embodiment 2 can be applied to prioritize the transmission of ACK / NACK while postponing PUSCH to compensate for PUSCH coverage. Furthermore, if PUSCH has high priority, Embodiment 3 can be applied to transmit PUSCH using resources allocated by DCI to compensate for coverage and delay. In this way, appropriate uplink transmission can be achieved based on the priority of ACK / NACK or PUSCH.

[0128] (Other variations) In this disclosure, when a repetition transmission of PUSCH is applied to terminal 200, the PUCCH resource that transmits an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI after receiving the first DCI that assigns PUSCH is allowed to be assigned to a resource that overlaps in time with the transmission of PUSCH assigned by the first DCI, thereby applying any of the embodiments and modifications described above.

[0129] Here, for example, the above-described embodiment or modification may be applied when the number of PUSCH repetitions is greater than a threshold. Also, the embodiment to be applied may differ depending on the number of PUSCH repetitions.

[0130] Furthermore, the applicable embodiment or modification may differ depending on the number of ACK / NACK bits. Also, for example, the applicable embodiment or modification may differ depending on whether the number of ACK / NACK bits is less than or equal to a threshold (e.g., X bits as described above), or whether the number of ACK / NACK bits can be compressed to less than or equal to the threshold.

[0131] The number of bits in the ACK / NACK may be, for example, the number of bits in the ACK / NACK for the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI, or it may be the sum of the bits in the ACK / NACK for the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI and the ACK / NACK for the PDSCH assigned by the DCI before receiving the first DCI.

[0132] In the former example, since we don't need to consider the number of ACK / NACK bits assigned to the PDSCH by the DCI received before the second DCI, we can mitigate potential constraints on the allocation of ACK / NACK to the PUCCH resource. In other words, we can improve the degree of freedom in allocating ACK / NACK to the PUCCH resource.

[0133] The latter example is useful in cases where ACK / NACKs for PDSCHs allocated by multiple DCIs are multiplexed into the UCI and transmitted in PUCCH. For example, it can reduce PUSCH resource puncture, thus avoiding or mitigating a decrease in PUSCH coverage performance.

[0134] Furthermore, in Embodiment 1, the number of ACK / NACK bits may be the number of bits before ACK / NACK bundling, or the number of bits after ACK / NACK bundling.

[0135] The following provides supplementary information to this disclosure, including each of the embodiments and variations described above.

[0136] (Supplement 1) In PUSCH repetition Type A enhancement, the number of repetition slots is counted based on the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission, and any of the following methods may be applied to determine which uplink slots are available for PUSCH transmission.

[0137] <Method 1> The determination of the uplink slot available for PUSCH transmission may depend on RRC signaling. For example, RRC signaling may include TDD uplink / downlink slot format notifications (e.g., semi-static slot format indicator (SFI)).

[0138] <Method 2> The determination of an uplink slot available for PUSCH transmission may depend, for example, on notifications from RRC signaling and DCI assigning PUSCH repetitions. For example, RRC signaling may include notifications of the TDD uplink / downlink slot format (e.g., semi-static SFI). DCI assigning PUSCH repetitions may directly (or explicitly) notify of an unavailable slot for PUSCH transmission, or it may instruct whether to invalidate or enable an invalid uplink slot / symbol notified by RRC signaling.

[0139] <Method 3> The determination of an uplink slot available for PUSCH transmission may depend, for example, on notifications via RRC signaling, DCI assigning PUSCH repetitions, and dynamic SFIs. For example, RRC signaling may include TDD uplink / downlink slot format notifications (e.g., semi-static SFIs). DCI assigning PUSCH repetitions may directly (or explicitly) notify of an unavailable slot for PUSCH transmission, or it may instruct whether to invalidate or enable an invalid uplink slot / symbol notified by RRC signaling. Dynamic SFIs may include, for example, TDD uplink / downlink slot format notifications (dynamic SFIs) notified by a Group-common PDCCH.

[0140] The relationship between the method for determining the uplink slot available for PUSCH transmission and the embodiment is as follows, for example.

[0141] Embodiment 1 may be applied to any of Methods 1, 2, and 3. Embodiment 2 is preferably applied in conjunction with Method 3, for example, because a second DCI after receiving a first DCI assigning a PUSCH can be processed as a notification similar to the Dynamic SFI of Method 3. However, Embodiment 2 may be applied to other methods. Embodiment 3 may be applied to any of Methods 1, 2, and 3.

[0142] (Supplement 2) In the embodiments and modifications described above, PUSCH repetition was explained using its application to PUSCH repetition Type A enhancement as an example. However, the PUSCH repetition method is not limited to PUSCH repetition Type A enhancement. For example, the embodiments and modifications described above may be applied to PUSCH repetition Type B.

[0143] Furthermore, the above-described embodiments or modifications may be applied only to specific PUSCH repetitions (e.g., PUSCH repetition Type A enhancement). Also, the applicable embodiments or modifications may vary depending on the PUSCH repetition method.

[0144] (Supplement 3) In the embodiments and modifications described above, examples of application to slot-unit PUCCH transmission were explained, but the transmission unit of PUCCH is not limited to slots. For example, the transmission unit of PUCCH may be a sub-slot unit, as introduced in NR Rel. 16. In sub-slot-unit PUCCH transmission, the number of symbols included in a sub-slot is less than that of a slot. For example, if the number of symbols included in a slot is 14 (or 12), the number of symbols included in a sub-slot may be 2 or 7 (or 6).

[0145] Furthermore, the application of the embodiment or modification may be controlled (e.g., enabled or disabled) depending on whether the unit of PUCCH transmission is a slot or a sub-slot. Also, the embodiment or modification applied may differ depending on whether the unit of PUCCH transmission is a slot or a sub-slot.

[0146] (Supplement 4) The embodiments or modifications described above describe an example where there is only one second DCI after receiving the first DCI that assigns PUSCH. Here, as shown in Figure 18, for example, terminal 200 may receive multiple DCIs that assign PUSCH to resources that overlap in time with the transmission of PUSCH assigned by the first DCI. In this case, for example, the embodiments or modifications described above may be applied by replacing (or reinterpreting) the last DCI received by terminal 200 among the multiple DCIs with the second DCI.

[0147] (Supplement 5) In the embodiments or modifications described above, the transmission of PUCCH, which sends ACK / NACK, was explained using a single slot as an example, but PUCCH may be transmitted using multiple slots. For example, Repetition may also be applied to PUCCH.

[0148] In this case, for example, in Embodiment 1, some slots in the PUCCH repetition may conflict with PUSCH. In a slot where a PUCCH resource and a PUSCH resource conflict (for example, slot #8 shown in Figure 19), the terminal 200 may, as in Embodiment 1, puncture a portion of the PUSCH resource and send an ACK / NACK. On the other hand, in a slot where a PUCCH resource and a PUSCH resource do not conflict (for example, slot #9 shown in Figure 19), the terminal 200 may send an ACK / NACK using PUCCH.

[0149] The number of ACK / NACK bits transmitted may be the same, for example, between PUCCH repetition slots, or it may be different between PUCCH repetition slots. An unrestricted example of the former is to apply the X-bit limit of Embodiment 1 (or apply ACK / NACK bundling) regardless of whether a PUCCH resource and a PUSCH resource have a collision. An unrestricted example of the latter is to apply the X-bit limit (or apply ACK / NACK bundling) in the same way as in Embodiment 1 when a PUCCH resource and a PUSCH resource have a collision, and not apply the X-bit limit (or do not apply ACK / NACK bundling) in slots where a PUCCH resource and a PUSCH resource do not have a collision.

[0150] (Supplement 6) In the embodiments or modifications described above, the transmission of ACK / NACK was used as an example, but this disclosure is not limited to ACK / NACK and may be applied to other UCIs. For example, NR Rel.17 considers triggering the transmission of an Aperiodic CSI PUCCH by a DCI that assigns a downlink PDSCH. The UCI transmitted using the PUCCH assigned by the second DCI may be replaced from ACK / NACK to an Aperiodic CSI.

[0151] (Supplement 7) In this disclosure, when a repetition transmission of PUSCH is applied to terminal 200, the PUCCH resource that transmits an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI after receiving the first DCI that assigns PUSCH is allowed to be assigned to a resource that overlaps in time with the transmission of PUSCH assigned by the first DCI.

[0152] On the other hand, if repetition transmission of PUSCH is applied to terminal 200, as in NR Rel.15 / 16, it may not be permitted to allocate the PUCCH resource that sends an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH assigned by the second DCI after receiving the first DCI that assigns PUSCH to a resource that temporally overlaps with the transmission of PUSCH assigned by the first DCI. Also, as previously stated, depending on the conditions, the embodiments or modifications described above may not be applied.

[0153] In this case, terminal 200, for example, sends an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH in the uplink slot after the PUSCH repetition transmission is complete. The control information included in the DCI that assigns the PDSCH may include timing information (K1 or PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indication) indicating how many slots after the slot that received the PDSCH the PUCCH should be sent.

[0154] Here, since the information regarding timing that can be notified (or instructed) to terminal 200 by the control information (e.g., the range of timing) is limited, if PUSCH repetition is applied to terminal 200, it is considered to expand the range of timing that can be notified.

[0155] For example, if a PUSCH repetition transmission is applied to terminal 200, and it is not permitted to assign a PUCCH resource that sends an ACK / NACK to a PDSCH assigned in a second DCI after receiving a first DCI that assigns a PUSCH to a resource that temporally overlaps with the transmission of a PUSCH assigned in the first DCI, then the determination (e.g., calculation) of K1 does not need to include a slot for sending a PUSCH repetition.

[0156] For example, as shown in Figure 20, if slot #3 and a PUSCH repetition Type A enhancement with 4 repeating slots are assigned as the timing for sending a PUSCH by the first DCI in slot #0, terminal 200 will repeatedly send PUSCH in slots #3, #4, #7, and #8. Figure 20 also shows an example where a PDSCH is assigned by the second DCI in slot #1, and a PUCCH resource that sends an ACK / NACK to the PDSCH is assigned to slot #9.

[0157] In this case, with a K1 determination method based on slot units, the timing of slot #9, where terminal 200 transmits PUCCH, can be specified by K1=8. However, if the slot transmitting PUSCH repetition is not used in the K1 determination, the timing of slot #9 can be specified by K1=4. Therefore, the range of PUCCU transmission timings that can be specified by K1 can be expanded, for example, reducing the occurrence of PDSCH allocation blocking and avoiding or suppressing a potential decrease in downlink frequency utilization efficiency.

[0158] Furthermore, the method for determining K1 described above may be applied depending on the PUSCH repetition method, whether the unit of PUSCH transmission is a slot or a sub-slot, or depending on the priority of ACK / NACK. In addition, the method for determining K1 described above may be applied in combination with the embodiments or modifications described above.

[0159] (Supplement 8) Information indicating whether the terminal 200 supports the functions, operations, or processes described in each of the embodiments, modifications, and supplements described above may be transmitted (or notified) from the terminal 200 to the base station 100 as, for example, capability information or capability parameters of the terminal 200.

[0160] The capability information may include an information element (IE) that individually indicates whether the terminal 200 supports at least one of the functions, operations, or processes described in each of the embodiments, modifications, and supplements described above. Alternatively, the capability information may include an information element that indicates whether the terminal 200 supports any two or more combinations of the functions, operations, or processes described in each of the embodiments, modifications, and supplements described above.

[0161] The base station 100 may, for example, determine (or decide or assume) which functions, operations, or processes the source terminal 200 supports (or does not support) based on capability information received from the terminal 200. The base station 100 may perform operations, processes, or controls in accordance with the determination result based on the capability information. For example, the base station 100 may control the allocation (in other words, scheduling) of at least one downlink resource such as PDCCH or PDSCH, and an uplink resource such as PUCCH or PUSCH, based on capability information received from the terminal 200.

[0162] Furthermore, the fact that terminal 200 does not support some of the functions, operations, or processes described in each embodiment, each modification, and each supplement described above may be interpreted as the terminal 200 having restrictions on such some functions, operations, or processes. For example, information or requests regarding such restrictions may be notified to base station 100.

[0163] Information regarding the capabilities or limitations of terminal 200 may be defined, for example, in a standard, or it may be implicitly communicated to base station 100 in association with information known at base station 100 or information transmitted to base station 100.

[0164] The embodiments, modifications, and supplementary information relating to one non-limiting embodiment of this disclosure have been described above.

[0165] In this disclosure, ACK / NACK may be referred to as, for example, HARQ-ACK or HARQ-Feedback information. Repetition may also be referred to as, for example, slot aggregation, slot bundling, TTI aggregation, or TTI bundling.

[0166] This disclosure may be applied, for example, to terminal-to-terminal communications such as Sidelink communications.

[0167] Furthermore, in this disclosure, the downlink control channel, downlink data channel, uplink control channel, and uplink data channel are not limited to PDCCH, PDSCH, PUCCH, and PUSCH, respectively, but may be control channels with other names.

[0168] Furthermore, while this disclosure assumes RRC signaling for the upper layer signaling, it may be replaced with Medium Access Control (MAC) signaling and DCI notifications, which are physical layer signaling.

[0169] (Control signal) In this disclosure, the downlink control signal (information) related to this disclosure may be a signal (information) transmitted by the PDCCH of the physical layer, or a signal (information) transmitted by the MAC CE (Control Element) or RRC of the upper layer. Furthermore, the downlink control signal may be a predefined signal (information).

[0170] The uplink control signal (information) related to this disclosure may be a signal (information) transmitted by PUCCH at the physical layer, or a signal (information) transmitted by MAC CE or RRC at the upper layer. The uplink control signal may also be a predefined signal (information). Furthermore, the uplink control signal may be replaced with UCI (uplink control information), 1st stage SCI (sidelink control information), or 2nd stage SCI.

[0171] (base station) In this disclosure, a base station may be a TRP (Transmission Reception Point), cluster head, access point, RRH (Remote Radio Head), eNodeB (eNB), gNodeB (gNB), BS (Base Station), BTS (Base Transceiver Station), master unit, gateway, etc. In sidelink communication, a base station may be replaced by a terminal. A base station may also be a relay device that relays communication between a higher-level node and a terminal. Furthermore, a base station may also be a roadside unit.

[0172] (Uphill rink / Downhill rink / Side rink) This disclosure may be applied to uplink, downlink, or sidelink. For example, this disclosure may be applied to uplink PUSCH, PUCCH, PRACH, downlink PDSCH, PDCCH, PBCH, and sidelink PSSCH (Physical Sidelink Shared Channel), PSCCH (Physical Sidelink Control Channel), and PSBCH (Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel).

[0173] Note that PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH are examples of downlink control channels, downlink data channels, uplink data channels, and uplink control channels. PSCCH and PSSCH are examples of sidelink control channels and sidelink data channels. PBCH and PSBCH are examples of broadcast channels, and PRACH is an example of a random access channel.

[0174] (Data channel / Control channel) This disclosure may be applied to either data channels or control channels. For example, the channels in this disclosure may be replaced with PDSCH, PUSCH, PSSCH for data channels and PDCCH, PUCCH, PBCH, PSCCH, PSBCH for control channels.

[0175] (reference signal) In this disclosure, the reference signal is a signal known to both the base station and the terminal, and may also be called an RS (Reference Signal) or pilot signal. The reference signal may be any of the following: DMRS, CSI-RS (Channel State Information - Reference Signal), TRS (Tracking Reference Signal), PTRS (Phase Tracking Reference Signal), CRS (Cell-specific Reference Signal), or SRS (Sounding Reference Signal).

[0176] (Time interval) In this disclosure, the unit of time resource is not limited to one or a combination of slots and symbols, but may also be other time resource units such as frames, superframes, subframes, slots, time slots, subslots, minislots, symbols, OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) symbols, SC-FDMA (Single Carrier - Frequency Division Multiple Access) symbols, etc. Furthermore, the number of symbols contained in one slot is not limited to the number of symbols exemplified in the embodiments described above, but may be other numbers of symbols.

[0177] (Frequency band) This disclosure may apply to either the licensed band or the unlicensed band.

[0178] (communication) This disclosure may be applied to any of the following: communication between a base station and a terminal (Uu-link communication), communication between terminals (Sidelink communication), or V2X (Vehicle to Everything) communication. For example, the channels in this disclosure may be replaced with PSCCH, PSSCH, PSFCH (Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel), PSBCH, PDCCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, or PBCH.

[0179] Furthermore, this disclosure may be applied to either terrestrial networks or non-terrestrial networks (NTN) using satellites or high-altitude pseudo-satellites (HAPS). It may also be applied to terrestrial networks with large cell sizes, ultra-wideband transmission networks, and other networks where transmission delay is large relative to symbol length or slot length.

[0180] (Antenna port) An antenna port refers to a logical antenna (antenna group) composed of one or more physical antennas. That is, an antenna port does not necessarily refer to a single physical antenna; it can refer to an array antenna or other structure composed of multiple antennas. For example, the number of physical antennas an antenna port consists of is not specified; it is defined as the smallest unit from which a terminal can transmit a reference signal. Furthermore, an antenna port may also be defined as the smallest unit from which the weighting of a precoding vector is multiplied.

[0181] <5G NR System Architecture and Protocol Stack> 3GPP is continuing work on the next release of fifth-generation mobile phone technology (also simply called "5G"), which includes the development of new radio access technologies (NR) operating in the frequency range up to 100 GHz. The initial version of the 5G standard was completed at the end of 2017, which will enable the prototyping and commercial deployment of devices (e.g., smartphones) that comply with the 5G NR standard.

[0182] For example, the system architecture as a whole assumes an NG-RAN (Next Generation - Radio Access Network) with gNBs. The gNBs provide the UE-side termination for the user plane (SDAP / PDCP / RLC / MAC / PHY) and control plane (RRC) protocols of the NG radio access. The gNBs are connected to each other by Xn interfaces. Furthermore, the gNBs are connected to the NGC (Next Generation Core) by Next Generation (NG) interfaces, more specifically to the AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) (e.g., a specific core entity performing AMF) by NG-C interfaces, and to the UPF (User Plane Function) (e.g., a specific core entity performing UPF) by NG-U interfaces. The NG-RAN architecture is shown in Figure 21 (see, for example, 3GPP TS 38.300 v15.6.0, section 4).

[0183] The NR user plane protocol stack (see, for example, 3GPP TS 38.300, section 4.4.1) includes the PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol (see section 6.4 of TS 38.300)) sublayer, RLC (Radio Link Control (see section 6.3 of TS 38.300)) sublayer, and MAC (Medium Access Control (see section 6.2 of TS 38.300)) sublayer, which are terminated on the network side in gNB. Additionally, a new Access Stratum (AS) sublayer (SDAP: Service Data Adaptation Protocol) is introduced on top of PDCP (see, for example, 3GPP TS 38.300, section 6.5). Furthermore, a control plane protocol stack is defined for NR (see, for example, TS 38.300, section 4.4.2). An overview of Layer 2 functionality is described in section 6 of TS 38.300. The functions of the PDCP sublayer, RLC sublayer, and MAC sublayer are listed in sections 6.4, 6.3, and 6.2 of TS 38.300, respectively. The functions of the RRC layer are listed in section 7 of TS 38.300.

[0184] For example, the Medium-Access-Control layer handles scheduling and scheduling-related functions, including the multiplexing of logical channels and the handling of various neural networks.

[0185] For example, the Physical Layer (PHY) is responsible for coding, PHY HARQ processing, modulation, multi-antenna processing, and mapping signals to appropriate physical time-frequency resources. The Physical Layer also handles the mapping of transport channels to physical channels. The Physical Layer provides services to the MAC layer in the form of transport channels. A physical channel corresponds to a set of time-frequency resources used for transmitting a particular transport channel, and each transport channel is mapped to a corresponding physical channel. For example, physical channels include uplink physical channels such as PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel), PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel), and PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel), and downlink physical channels such as PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), and PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel).

[0186] NR use cases / deployment scenarios may include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine type communications (mMTC), each with diverse requirements in terms of data rate, latency, and coverage. For example, eMBB is expected to support peak data rates (20 Gbps on the downlink and 10 Gbps on the uplink) and effective (user-experienced) data rates approximately three times that of IMT-Advanced. URLLC, on the other hand, imposes more stringent requirements for ultra-low latency (0.5 ms for both UL and DL for user plane latency) and high reliability (1-10⁻⁵ within 1 ms). Finally, mMTC preferably has a high connectivity density (1,000,000 devices / km² in urban environments). 2 ), wide coverage in harsh environments, and extremely long-lasting batteries (15 years) for low-cost devices may be required.

[0187] Therefore, an OFDM neurology suitable for one use case (e.g., subcarrier spacing, OFDM symbol length, cyclic prefix (CP) length, number of symbols per scheduling interval) may not be effective for other use cases. For example, low-latency services may preferably require a shorter symbol length (and thus a larger subcarrier spacing) and / or fewer symbols per scheduling interval (also known as TTI) than mMTC services. Furthermore, deployment scenarios with large channel delay spreads may preferably require a longer CP length than scenarios with short delay spreads. The subcarrier spacing may be optimized on a case-by-case basis to maintain similar CP overhead. There may be one or more subcarrier spacing values ​​supported by NR. Accordingly, subcarrier spacings of 15kHz, 30kHz, 60kHz, etc. are currently being considered. The symbol length Tu and subcarrier spacing Δf are directly related by the equation Δf = 1 / Tu. Similar to LTE systems, the term "resource element" can be used to mean the smallest resource unit consisting of one subcarrier for the length of one OFDM / SC-FDMA symbol.

[0188] In the new 5G-NR wireless system, resource grids for subcarriers and OFDM symbols are defined for each neurology and each carrier, for both the uplink and downlink. Each element of the resource grid is called a resource element and is identified based on the frequency index in the frequency domain and the symbol position in the time domain (see 3GPP TS 38.211 v15.6.0).

[0189] <Functional separation between NG-RAN and 5GC in 5G NR> Figure 22 shows the functional separation between NG-RAN and 5GC. The logical nodes of NG-RAN are gNB or ng-eNB. 5GC has logical nodes AMF, UPF, and SMF.

[0190] For example, gNB and ng-eNB host the following main functions: - Radio resource management functions such as radio bearer control, radio admission control, connection mobility control, and dynamic allocation (scheduling) of resources to UEs on both uplink and downlink; - Compression, encryption, and integrity protection of the IP header of the data; - Selection of the AMF when the UE attaches if routing to the AMF cannot be determined from the information provided by the UE; - Routing of user plane data toward UPF; - Routing of control plane information to AMF; - Setting up and disconnecting connections; - Scheduling and sending paging messages; - Scheduling and transmission of system notification information (originating from AMF or Operation, Admission, Maintenance functions (OAM)); - Setting up measurements and measurement reporting for mobility and scheduling; - Transport-level packet marking on the uplink; - Session management; - Support for network slicing; - Management of QoS flows and mapping to data radio bearers; - Support for UEs in the RRC_INACTIVE state; - NAS message delivery function; - Sharing of wireless access network; - Dual connectivity; - Close cooperation between NR and E-UTRA.

[0191] The Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) hosts the following main functions: - A function to terminate Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling; - Security of NAS signaling; - Security control of Access Stratum (AS); - Core Network (CN) node-to-node signaling for mobility between 3GPP access networks; - Reachability of the UE in idle mode (including control and execution of paging retransmissions); - Management of registration areas; - Support for intra-system and inter-system mobility; - Access authentication; - Access authorization including roaming permission checks; - Mobility management and control (enrollment and policies); - Support for network slicing; - Selection of Session Management Function (SMF).

[0192] Furthermore, the User Plane Function (UPF) hosts the following main functions: - Anchor points for intra-RAT mobility / inter-RAT mobility (where applicable); - External PDU (Protocol Data Unit) session points for interconnection with data networks; - Routing and forwarding of packets; - Packet inspection and enforcement of policy rules in the user plane. - Reporting traffic usage; - Uplink classifier to support routing of traffic flow to data networks; - Branching Point for supporting multi-homed PDU sessions; - QoS processing for the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement); - Uplink traffic verification (mapping to SDF QoS flows); - Downlink packet buffering and trigger function for downlink data notification.

[0193] Finally, the Session Management Function (SMF) hosts the following main functions: - Session management; - Allocation and management of IP addresses for UEs; - Selection and control of UPF; - Configuration function for traffic steering in the User Plane Function (UPF) to route traffic to an appropriate destination; - Policy enforcement and QoS for the control plane; - Downlink data notification.

[0194] <Procedure for RRC connection setup and reconfiguration> Figure 23 shows some interactions in the NAS part between the UE, gNB, and AMF (a 5GC entity) when the UE transitions from RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED (see TS 38.300 v15.6.0).

[0195] RRC is a higher-layer signaling protocol used for configuring UEs and gNBs. During this transition, the AMF prepares UE context data (including, for example, PDU session context, security key, UE Radio Capability, UE Security Capabilities, etc.) and sends it to the gNB along with an Initial Context Setup Request. The gNB then activates AS security together with the UE. This is done by the gNB sending a SecurityModeCommand message to the UE, to which the UE responds with a SecurityModeComplete message. Subsequently, the gNB sends an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE, and upon receiving an RRCReconfigurationComplete from the UE, the gNB reconfigures itself to set up the Signaling Radio Bearer 2 (SRB2) and Data Radio Bearer (DRB). For signaling-only connections, the RRCReconfiguration step is omitted because SRB2 and DRB are not set up. Finally, gNB notifies AMF that the setup procedure is complete with an Initial Context Setup Response.

[0196] Accordingly, this disclosure provides a 5th Generation Core (5GC) entity (e.g., AMF, SMF, etc.) comprising a control circuit that establishes a Next Generation (NG) connection with a gNodeB during operation, and a transmission unit that sends an initial context setup message to the gNodeB via the NG connection during operation so that a signaling radio bearer between the gNodeB and the user equipment (UE) is set up. Specifically, the gNodeB transmits Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, including an Information Element (IE), to the UE via the signaling radio bearer. The UE then transmits on the uplink or receives on the downlink based on the resource allocation setting.

[0197] <IMT Usage Scenarios from 2020 Onward> Figure 24 shows some use cases for 5G NR. The 3rd generation partnership project for new radio (3GPP NR) is considering three use cases envisioned by IMT-2020 to support a wide variety of services and applications. The first phase of specification development for enhanced mobile-broadband (eMBB) has been completed. Current and future work will include expanding eMBB support, as well as standardization for ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) and massive machine-type communications (mMTC). Figure 24 shows some examples of conceptual use scenarios for IMT beyond 2020 (see, for example, ITU-R M.2083 Figure 2).

[0198] URLLC use cases have stringent performance requirements, such as throughput, latency, and availability. URLLC use cases are envisioned as one of the key technologies to enable future applications such as wireless control of industrial production or manufacturing processes, telemedicine surgery, automation of power transmission and distribution in smart grids, and traffic safety. The ultra-high reliability of URLLC is supported by identifying technologies that meet the requirements set by TR 38.913. In NR URLLC in Release 15, a key requirement is that the target user plane latency is 0.5 ms for UL (uplink) and 0.5 ms for DL ​​(downlink). The general URLLC requirement for a single packet transmission is a block error rate (BLER) of 1E-5 for a 32-byte packet size when the user plane latency is 1 ms.

[0199] From a physical layer perspective, reliability can be improved in many ways. Current room for reliability improvement includes defining a separate CQI table for URLLC, a more compact DCI format, and PDCCH iterations. However, this room for improvement may expand towards achieving ultra-high reliability as NR becomes more stable and developed (in terms of critical requirements for NR URLLC). Specific use cases for NR URLLC in Release 15 include augmented reality / virtual reality (AR / VR), e-health, e-safety, and mission-critical applications.

[0200] Furthermore, the technical enhancements targeted by NR URLLC aim to improve latency and reliability. Technical enhancements for latency improvement include configurable neurology, non-slot-based scheduling with flexible mapping, grant-free (configured grant) uplink, slot-level iteration on data channels, and preemption on downlink. Preemption means that a transmission for which a resource has already been allocated is stopped, and that allocated resource is used for other transmissions with lower latency / higher priority requirements that are requested later. Thus, transmissions that were already permitted are replaced by later transmissions. Preemption is applicable regardless of the specific service type. For example, a transmission of service type A (URLLC) may be replaced by a transmission of service type B (eMBB, etc.). Technical enhancements for reliability improvement include a dedicated CQI / MCS table for the 1E-5 target BLER.

[0201] A key characteristic of mMTC (massive machine type communication) use cases is the extremely large number of connected devices that typically transmit relatively small amounts of data that are less susceptible to latency. These devices require low cost and very long battery life. From a noise reduction (NR) perspective, utilizing a very narrow bandwidth is one solution that saves power from the user interface (UE) and extends battery life.

[0202] As mentioned above, the scope of reliability improvements in NR is expected to broaden. High reliability or very high reliability is a critical requirement in all cases, for example, for URLLC and mMTC. Several mechanisms can improve reliability from both a radio and network perspective. Generally, there are two to three key areas that can help improve reliability. These areas include compact control channel information, data channel / control channel repetition, and diversity in the frequency, time, and / or spatial domains. These areas are generally applicable to reliability improvements regardless of the specific communication scenario.

[0203] Regarding NR URLLC, further use cases with more stringent requirements are envisioned, such as factory automation, transportation, and power distribution. These stringent requirements include high reliability (up to 10⁻⁶ levels), high availability, packet size up to 256 bytes, and time synchronization down to a few microseconds (depending on the use case, the value can be 1 microsecond or a few microseconds depending on the frequency range and short latency of approximately 0.5 ms to 1 ms (e.g., 0.5 ms latency in the target user plane)).

[0204] Furthermore, for NR URLLC, several technical enhancements may be possible from the perspective of the physical layer. These technical enhancements include enhancement of PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) for compact DCI, repetition of PDCCH, and increased PDCCH monitoring. In addition, enhancement of UCI (Uplink Control Information) relates to enhancement of enhanced HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) and CSI feedback. Furthermore, enhancement of PUSCH related to mini-slot level hopping, and enhancement of retransmission / repetition may be possible. The term "mini-slot" refers to a Transmission Time Interval (TTI) comprising fewer symbols than a slot (a slot comprises 14 symbols).

[0205] <QoS Control> The 5G QoS (Quality of Service) model is based on QoS flows, and supports both QoS flows for which a guaranteed flow bit rate is required (GBR: Guaranteed Bit Rate QoS flows) and QoS flows for which a guaranteed flow bit rate is not required (non-GBR QoS flows). Therefore, at the NAS level, a QoS flow is the finest granularity of QoS classification within a PDU session. A QoS flow is identified within a PDU session by a QoS Flow ID (QFI: QoS Flow ID) carried in an encapsulation header via the NG-U interface.

[0206] For each UE, the 5GC establishes one or more PDU sessions. For each UE, the NG-RAN establishes at least one Data Radio Bearers (DRB) in accordance with the PDU session, as shown above, for example, referring to Figure 23. Additional DRBs for the QoS flow of that PDU session can be configured later (when this is done is up to the NG-RAN). The NG-RAN maps packets belonging to various PDU sessions to various DRBs. NAS-level packet filters in the UE and 5GC associate UL and DL packets with QoS flows, while AS-level mapping rules in the UE and NG-RAN associate UL and DL QoS flows with DRBs.

[0207] Figure 25 shows the non-roaming reference architecture for 5G NR (see TS 23.501 v16.1.0, section 4.23). An Application Function (AF) (for example, an external application server hosting 5G services, as illustrated in Figure 24) interacts with the 3GPP core network to provide services. This may involve accessing the Network Exposure Function (NEF) to support applications that affect traffic routing, or interacting with the policy framework for policy control (e.g., QoS control) (see Policy Control Function (PCF)). Based on operator deployment, Application Functions considered trusted by the operator can interact directly with the relevant Network Functions. Application Functions not authorized by the operator to directly access the Network Functions interact with the relevant Network Functions using an external exposure framework via the NEF.

[0208] Figure 25 further illustrates the functional units of the 5G architecture, namely the Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), Network Repository Function (NRF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), and Data Network (DN, e.g., operator services, internet access, or third-party services). All or part of the core network functions and application services may be deployed and operate in a cloud computing environment.

[0209] Accordingly, the Disclosure provides an application server (e.g., AF in a 5G architecture) comprising: a transmitter that, in operation, transmits a request to at least one of the 5GC functions (e.g., NEF, AMF, SMF, PCF, UPF, etc.) that includes QoS requirements for at least one of the URLLC service, eMMB service, and mMTC service, in order to establish a PDU session including a radio bearer between the gNodeB and UE in accordance with QoS requirements; and a control circuit that, in operation, performs the service using the established PDU session.

[0210] The term "...part" used in this disclosure may be replaced with other terms such as "...circuitry," "...device," "...unit," or "...module."

[0211] This disclosure can be implemented in software, hardware, or software in conjunction with hardware. Each functional block used in the description of the above embodiments may be implemented in part or in whole as an integrated circuit (LSI), and each process described in the above embodiments may be controlled in part or in whole by a single LSI or a combination of LSIs. An LSI may consist of individual chips, or it may consist of a single chip that includes some or all of the functional blocks. An LSI may have data inputs and outputs. Depending on the degree of integration, LSIs may be referred to as ICs, system LSIs, super LSIs, or ultra LSIs.

[0212] The method of integration is not limited to LSIs; it may also be implemented using dedicated circuits, general-purpose processors, or dedicated processors. Furthermore, FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) that can be programmed after LSI manufacturing, or reconfigurable processors that allow for the reconfiguration of the connections and settings of circuit cells within the LSI, may also be used. This disclosure may be implemented as digital or analog processing.

[0213] Furthermore, if advancements in semiconductor technology or other derived technologies lead to the emergence of integrated circuit technologies that replace LSIs, then naturally, it would be possible to use those technologies to integrate functional blocks. The application of biotechnology, for example, is a possibility.

[0214] This disclosure is applicable to all types of devices, systems, and equipment having communication capabilities (collectively referred to as communication equipment). Communication equipment may include a radio transceiver and a processing / control circuit. A radio transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter, or both as functions. A radio transceiver (transmitter, receiver) may include an RF (Radio Frequency) module and one or more antennas. The RF module may include an amplifier, an RF modulator / demodulator, or similar. Non-exclusive examples of communication devices include telephones (mobile phones, smartphones, etc.), tablets, personal computers (PCs) (laptops, desktops, notebooks, etc.), cameras (digital still / video cameras, etc.), digital players (digital audio / video players, etc.), wearable devices (wearable cameras, smartwatches, tracking devices, etc.), game consoles, digital book readers, telehealth / telemedicine devices, vehicles or mobile transport with communication capabilities (cars, airplanes, ships, etc.), and combinations of the above-mentioned devices.

[0215] Communication devices are not limited to portable or movable devices, but also include all kinds of non-portable or fixed devices, devices, and systems, such as smart home devices (appliances, lighting equipment, smart meters or measuring instruments, control panels, etc.), vending machines, and any other "things" that may exist on an IoT (Internet of Things) network.

[0216] Communication includes data communication via cellular systems, wireless LAN systems, and communication satellite systems, as well as data communication using combinations of these.

[0217] Furthermore, the communication device also includes devices such as controllers and sensors that are connected to or linked to a communication device that performs the communication functions described in this disclosure. For example, this includes controllers and sensors that generate control signals and data signals used by the communication device that performs the communication functions of the communication device.

[0218] Furthermore, communication equipment includes infrastructure facilities such as base stations, access points, and any other devices, devices, and systems that communicate with or control the aforementioned non-limited types of equipment.

[0219] A terminal according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a receiving circuit that receives a second downlink control information for allocating resources for a downlink shared channel after receiving a first downlink control information for allocating resources for an uplink shared channel, and a control circuit that controls the transmission of the uplink shared channel based on whether or not the resources of the uplink control channel transmitted in response to the reception of the downlink shared channel overlap in time with the resources of the uplink shared channel, wherein controlling the transmission of the uplink shared channel includes at least one of controlling the number of bits of the signal transmitted in the resources of the uplink shared channel, setting the resources of the uplink shared channel to be unavailable, and controlling the HARQ process for the downlink shared channel.

[0220] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, if the resources of the uplink control channel and the uplink sharing channel overlap in time, the control circuit may pack a portion of the resources of the uplink sharing channel to limit the number of bits to a threshold or less.

[0221] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the signal may be an ACK / NACK signal for reception of the downlink shared channel, and the control circuit may compress the number of bits of the ACK / NACK signal to less than or equal to the threshold by ACK / NACK bundling if the number of bits of the ACK / NACK signal exceeds the threshold.

[0222] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit may prioritize the transmission of the signal using the uplink control channel over the transmission of the uplink sharing channel, and may set resources that overlap in time with the uplink control channel and the uplink sharing channel as resources that cannot be used for transmission on the uplink sharing channel.

[0223] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit may disable the HARQ process for the downlink sharing channel if the resources of the uplink control channel and the resources of the uplink sharing channel overlap in time.

[0224] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit may apply ACK skipping to the HARQ process for the downlink sharing channel if the resources of the uplink control channel and the resources of the uplink sharing channel overlap in time.

[0225] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, when the control circuit transmits a NACK signal in the ACK skipping, it may puncture a portion of the resources of the uplink shared channel to transmit a signal with the number of bits limited to below a threshold, or it may prioritize the transmission of the NACK signal using the uplink control channel and set resources that overlap in time with the uplink control channel and the uplink shared channel as resources that cannot be used for transmission on the uplink shared channel.

[0226] A base station according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a transmitting circuit that transmits a second downlink control information for allocating resources to a downlink shared channel after transmitting a first downlink control information for allocating resources to an uplink shared channel, and a control circuit that controls the reception of the uplink shared channel based on capability information received from a terminal. The capability information indicates whether the terminal controls the transmission of the uplink shared channel based on whether the resources of the uplink control channel transmitted in response to the reception of the downlink shared channel overlap in time with the resources of the uplink shared channel. The terminal's control of the transmission of the uplink shared channel includes at least one of controlling the number of bits of the signal transmitted in the resources of the uplink shared channel, setting the resources of the uplink shared channel to be unavailable, and controlling the HARQ process for the downlink shared channel.

[0227] In a communication method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal receives first downlink control information for allocating resources for an uplink shared channel, then receives second downlink control information for allocating resources for a downlink shared channel, and controls the transmission of the uplink shared channel based on whether the resources of the uplink control channel transmitted in response to the reception of the downlink shared channel overlap in time with the resources of the uplink shared channel. Controlling the transmission of the uplink shared channel includes at least one of controlling the number of bits of the signal transmitted in the resources of the uplink shared channel, setting the resources of the uplink shared channel to be unavailable, and controlling the HARQ process for the downlink shared channel.

[0228] In a communication method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the base station transmits first downlink control information for allocating resources for an uplink shared channel, then transmits second downlink control information for allocating resources for a downlink shared channel, and controls the reception of the uplink shared channel based on capability information received from the terminal. The capability information indicates whether the terminal controls the transmission of the uplink shared channel based on whether the resources of the uplink control channel transmitted in response to the reception of the downlink shared channel overlap in time with the resources of the uplink shared channel. The terminal's control of the transmission of the uplink shared channel includes at least one of controlling the number of bits of the signal transmitted in the resources of the uplink shared channel, setting the resources of the uplink shared channel to unavailable, and controlling the HARQ process for the downlink shared channel.

[0229] All disclosures in the specification, drawings, and abstract contained in the Japanese application 2021-041316, filed on March 15, 2021, are incorporated herein by reference. [Industrial applicability]

[0230] One embodiment of this disclosure is useful for wireless communication systems. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0231] 100 base stations 101,205 Control Unit 102 Higher-level control signal generation unit 103 Downlink control information generation unit 104,206 Encoding section 105,207 Modulation section 106,208 Signal assignment section 107,209 Transmitter 108,201 Receiving Unit 109,202 Extraction part 110,203 Demodulation section 111,204 Decoding section 200 terminals

Claims

1. A transmitting circuit that transmits first downlink control information for allocating resources on the uplink shared channel, and then transmits second downlink control information for allocating resources on the downlink shared channel, The system comprises a receiving circuit that controls the reception of the uplink shared channel based on whether the resources of the uplink control channel, which are received in response to the transmission of the downlink shared channel, overlap in time with the resources of the uplink shared channel. When the repetition of the uplink sharing channel is applied, the resources of the uplink control channel overlap in time with the resources of the uplink sharing channel. Base station.

2. The receiving circuit controls the number of bits of the signal to be received in the resources of the uplink shared channel based on whether or not the resources of the uplink control channel overlap in time with the resources of the uplink shared channel. The base station according to claim 1.

3. When the repetition of the uplink sharing channel is not applied, the resources of the uplink control channel do not overlap in time with the resources of the uplink sharing channel. The base station according to claim 1.

4. In the first and second slots within the plurality of slots relating to the repetition of the uplink shared channel, the control of receiving the uplink shared channel is different. The base station according to claim 1.

5. In the repetition of the aforementioned uplink sharing channel, In the first situation, control is performed on receiving the uplink shared channel, and in the second situation, which is different from the first situation, control is not performed on receiving the uplink shared channel. The base station according to claim 1.

6. Controlling the reception of the uplink shared channel includes controlling whether or not the response signal is placed on the uplink control channel. The base station according to claim 1.

7. The base station is, After transmitting the first downlink control information which allocates resources for the uplink shared channel, the second downlink control information which allocates resources for the downlink shared channel is transmitted. Based on whether the resources of the uplink shared channel overlap temporally with the resources of the uplink control channel received in response to the transmission of the downlink shared channel, the reception of the uplink shared channel is controlled. When the repetition of the uplink sharing channel is applied, the resources of the uplink control channel overlap in time with the resources of the uplink sharing channel. Communication method.

8. The number of bits of the signal received in the uplink shared channel's resources is controlled based on whether or not the resources of the uplink control channel overlap in time with the resources of the uplink shared channel. The communication method according to claim 7.

9. When the repetition of the uplink sharing channel is not applied, the resources of the uplink control channel do not overlap in time with the resources of the uplink sharing channel. The communication method according to claim 8.

10. In the first and second slots within the plurality of slots for repeated transmission of the uplink shared channel, the control of receiving the uplink shared channel is different. The communication method according to claim 8.

11. In the repetition of the aforementioned uplink sharing channel, In the first situation, control is performed on receiving the uplink shared channel, and in the second situation, which is different from the first situation, control is not performed on receiving the uplink shared channel. The communication method according to claim 8.

12. Controlling the reception of the uplink shared channel includes controlling whether or not the response signal is placed on the uplink control channel. The communication method according to claim 8.

13. An integrated circuit installed in a terminal, The process involves sending a first downlink control information that allocates resources for the uplink shared channel, followed by sending a second downlink control information that allocates resources for the downlink shared channel, The process controls the reception of the uplink shared channel based on whether the resources of the uplink control channel, which are received in response to the transmission of the downlink shared channel, overlap temporally with the resources of the uplink shared channel, and controls the reception of the uplink shared channel. When the repetition of the uplink sharing channel is applied, the resources of the uplink control channel overlap in time with the resources of the uplink sharing channel. Integrated circuit.

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