Medium access control element indicating

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to apparatuses, methods, and computer readable storage medium for resource allocation In a method, a first apparatus determines whether a medium access control, MAC, element a part thereof is to be included in a physical uplink shared channel transmission. The first apparatus generates an indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission based on the determination. The first apparatus transmits, to a second apparatus, the indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

Description

MEDIUM ACCESS CONTROL ELEMENT INDICATINGCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority to, and the benefit of, Finland Application No. 20245237, filed February 26, 2024, the contents of which are hereby included by reference in their entirety.FIELDS

[0002] Various example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to an apparatus, a method and a computer readable storage medium for indicating a Medium Access Control (MAC) element.BACKGROUND

[0003] Channel State Information Reference Signals (CSI-RSs) are specifically configured for a user equipment (UE) in Radio Resource Control (RRC). However, the CSI-RS reference signals may be shared among many UEs, that is, more than one UE may be configured to receive the same resource element (RE). In general, in order to save downlink (DL) resources, a gNodeB (gNB) may try to use cell-specific or group-specific CSI-RS resources. The worst case of DL overhead is with UE specific CSI-RS where the DL overhead increases linearly with the number of UEs in the cell. Further, regarding a time domain within a slot, a CSI-RS resource in the time domain may start at any Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM) symbol of a slot and it spans 1, 2, or 4 OFDM symbols depending on the number of ports configured. The UE measurement reporting of CSI may be also operated with a periodic, semi -persistent, or aperiodic manner, which is so-called report types in NR report configuration; or even event-based CSI (or beam) reporting. However, there are certain limitations. Thus, it is worth studying on reporting the CSI.SUMMARY

[0004] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to: determine whether a medium access control, MAC, element or a part thereof is ito be included in a physical uplink shared channel transmission; generate an indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission based on the determination; and transmit, to a second apparatus, the indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0005] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to: receive, from a first apparatus, an indication indicating whether a medium access control, MAC, element or a part thereof is to be included in a physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0006] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: determining whether a medium access control, MAC, element or a part thereof is to be included in a physical uplink shared channel transmission; generating an indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission based on the determination; and transmitting, to a second apparatus, the indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0007] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: receiving, from a first apparatus, an indication indicating whether a medium access control, MAC, element or a part thereof is to be included in a physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0008] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises means for determining whether a medium access control, MAC, element or a part thereof is to be included in a physical uplink shared channel transmission; means for generating an indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission based on the determination; and means for transmitting, to a second apparatus, the indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0009] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a first apparatus, an indication indicating whether a medium access control, MAC, element or a part thereof is to beincluded in a physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0010] In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the third aspect or the fourth aspect.

[0011] It is to be understood that the Summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

[0013] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

[0014] FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling flow of MAC element indicating according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0015] FIG. 3 A and 3B illustrates an example principle of Channel State Information (CSI) mapping on the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) and the related indication if CSI / Uplink Control Information (UCI) is mapped on PUSCH;

[0016] FIG. 4 shows an example MAC element indicating process according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0017] FIG. 5 shows an example MAC element indicating process according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0018] FIG. 6 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0019] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure.Embodiments described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

[0021] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0022] References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

[0023] It shall be understood that although the terms “first,” “second,”..., etc. in front of noun(s) and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another and they do not limit the order of the noun(s). For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0024] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[0025] As used herein, unless stated explicitly, performing a step “in response to A” does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after “A” occurs and one or more intervening steps may be included.

[0026] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “has”, “having”, “includes” and / or “including”, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components etc., butdo not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0027] As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry) and(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable):(i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) with software / firmware and(ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and(c) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

[0028] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0029] As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as sixth generation (6G), New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G), the second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G), the sixth generation (6G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in variouscommunication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

[0030] As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), for example, a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), a 6G NB, an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite, an aircraft network device, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. In some example embodiments, radio access network (RAN) split architecture comprises a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) at an IAB donor node. An IAB node comprises a Mobile Terminal (IAB-MT) part that behaves like a UE toward the parent node, and a DU part of an IAB node behaves like a base station toward the next-hop IAB node.

[0031] The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), a Subscriber Station (SS), a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS), or an Access Terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks,and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Termination (MT) part of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms “terminal device”, “communication device”, “terminal”, “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

[0032] As used herein, the term “resource,” “transmission resource,” “resource block,” “physical resource block” (PRB), “uplink resource,” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing a communication, for example, a communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a resource in time domain, a resource in frequency domain, a resource in space domain, a resource in code domain, or any other combination of the time, frequency, space and / or code domain resource enabling a communication, and the like. In the following, unless explicitly stated, a resource in both frequency domain and time domain will be used as an example of a transmission resource for describing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that example embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains. As used herein, the term “medium access control (MAC) element” used herein may refer to a structure that may carry control information. As used herein the term “physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission” may refer to a transmission on PUSCH.

[0033] The CSI-RS has many functions in new radio (NR), including e.g., CSI-RS for DL CSI acquisition, CSI-RS for beam management (BM) (based on Layer 1-Referece Signal Receive Power (Ll-RSRP)), CSI-RS for tracking (TRS), and UL CSI acquisition in reciprocity -based UL precoding. In some applications (e.g., CSI-RS for BM), the CSI- RSs are spatially beamformed into different directions.

[0034] In general, a UE may be configured with up to 48 report configurations (CSI- ReportConfig) per component carrier (CC) and 4 per bandwidth part (BWP). One CSI resource config within 1 report configuration may be configured with up to 16 resource sets (aperiodic CSI) and 1 resource set (otherwise).

[0035] In each CSI resource set up to 64 Non-Zero Power CSI-RS (NZP CSI-RS) resources and 1 NZP-CSI-RS resource up to 32 antenna ports. For CSI acquisition, the UE is configured further with a codebook type. Given the measured channel across a CSI- RS resource, the UE may choose a preferred codeword from the specified codebook, i.e., a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), along with a channel quality indicator (CQI), a rank indicator (RI). The UE may further be configured to measure several CSI-RS resources (e.g., up to 8) within a resource set and report the favourite resource, a CSI-RS resourceindicator (CRI), along with the PMI, the CQI and the RI which correspond to the selected resource.

[0036] As mentioned above, there are certain limitations, based on which the UE periodic report may operate only based on the configured periodic CSI-RS resource set, the UE semi-persistent report may operate based on both configured periodic and semi- persistent CSI-RS resource set, and finally the UE aperiodic report may operate based on all periodic, semi-persistent, and aperiodic CSI-RS resource set. In other words, the periodic CSI-RS resources may be used to generate any report type. The semi-persistent CSI-RS resources may be used to generate semi -persistent and aperiodic CSI reports, and the aperiodic CSI-RS may only be utilized only to generate the aperiodic report.

[0037] Regarding a frequency -granularity, the CSI report setting also defines which part of the bandwidth the CSI may correspond to, and in addition, what granularity in frequency the CSI may have. To accomplish this, the bandwidth of a BWP is divided into a number of sub-bands for CSI reporting. Further, all CSI-RS resources within one set are configured with the same density and the same number of antenna port (also represented as nrofPorts), except for the NZP CSI-RS resources used for an interference measurement.

[0038] For a semi-persistent and aperiodic CSI-RS, the actual triggering of CSI-RS transmission is per CSI-RS resource set via MAC CE or downlink control information (DCI). In addition, a resource set may be used as part of UE report configurations describing what to be measured. Correspondingly, which the measurement reporting is to be performed by the UE. Specifically, if a CSI-RS resource set is configured as “aperiodic” by RRC, the CSI-RS resource set configuration includes a slot offset, aperiodicTriggeringOffset which defines the time interval between the triggering DCI and the CSI-RS transmission.

[0039] Aperiodic-Channel State Information (A-CSI) reporting up to 16 different reporting settings may be triggered with a single DCI (e.g. for multiple component carriers), while semi -persistant CSI (SP-CSI) reporting may trigger only one report setting with a single DCI. In order to trigger several SP-CSI reports (each in different slots), multiple DCIs are needed. Furthermore, the periodic CSI (P-CSI) is configured with a PUCCH resource for transmission, but if the PUCCH is overlapping in time with a PUSCH, the periodic CSI may be transmitted on the PUSCH and the PUCCH is dropped. The SP- CSI may be transmitted on the PUCCH, when triggered by the MAC CE, or on the PUSCH when triggered by DCI. The A-CSI is transmitted on the PUSCH.

[0040] Regarding CSI report content, for Type I and Type II CSI feedback on thePUSCH, a CSI report includes of two parts including Part 1 and Part 2. The Part 1 has a fixed payload size and is used to identify the number of information bits in the Part 2. The Part 1 may be transmitted in its entirety before the Part 2. For Type I CSI feedback, the Part 1 contains an RI (if reported), a CRI (if reported), a CQI for the first codeword. The Part 2 contains PMI (if reported), a layer indicator (LI, if reported), and contains the CQI for the second codeword when RI (if reported) is larger than 4. For Type II CSI feedback, the Part 1 contains the RI (if reported), the CQI, and an indication of the number of nonzero wideband amplitude coefficients per layer for the Type II CSI (referred to sub-clause 5.2.2 of 38.214). The fields of the Part 1 including the RI (if reported), the CQI, and the indication of the number of non-zero wideband amplitude coefficients for each layer are separately encoded. The Part 2 contains the PMI of the Type II CSI. The Part 1 and Part 2 are separately encoded.

[0041] It is to be noted that the precoder matrices VF in the Type-I and release- 15 (Rel- 15) Type-II codebooks may be described as being decomposed into two matrix factors which are each matrix factor such that W(ii, i2) = WiCi WzC ), where I / Pj is a precoder matrix targeting the long-term channel which is selected on a wide-band basis, while VF2targets the short-term / frequency-selective properties of the channel and may be reported on a per-subband basis.

[0042] The objectives for release-19 (Rel-19) MIMO work item approved are as below. An enhancement is specified to facilitate UE-initiated / event-driven beam management for reducing overhead and / or latency, assuming the unified Transmission Configuration indicator (TCI) while leveraging (as much as possible) legacy CSI measurement and reporting configuration frameworks, targeting frequency range 2 (FR2) and transmission reception point (TRP) with intra- cell beam management and inter-cell beam management. UL signaling content(s) (and procedure(s) as required) for UE-initiated / event-driven beam reporting may facilitate fast beam switching. A UL signaling medium / container considering the UE-initiated / event-driven nature of the UL transmission, may be designed primarily for the purpose of beam reporting.

[0043] Further, CSI may be specified to support for up to 128 CSLRS ports, targeting frequency range 1 (FR1). Type-I codebook refinement may support up to a total of 128 CSLRS ports across all resources, assuming legacy CSI-RS resources (with up to 32 CSL RS ports per resource), based on extension of legacy codebooks. Type-II codebook refinement may support up to a total of 128 CSLRS ports across all resources, assuming legacy CSLRS resources (with up to 32 CSI-RS ports per resource), based on extensionof legacy codebooks, without modifying any codebook parameter other than introducing additional values for the number of ports codebook parameter(s). Extension of CRI(s)- based CSI reporting (CQI / PMI / RI calculated per CRI for >1 CRIs) for hybrid beamforming supporting up to a total of 128 CSI-RS ports across all resources, with up to 32 CSI-RS ports per resource, without a new codebook design.

[0044] In addition, a UE reporting enhancement may be specified for Coherent Joint Transmission (CJT) deployments under a non-ideal synchronization and backhaul, targeting FR1 for both Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD). Inter-TRP time misalignment and frequency / phase offset measurement and reporting may be specified, assuming the legacy CSI-RS design, with stand-alone aperiodic reporting on the PUSCH. Under the above Rel-19 objectives, and more generally for future releases (for example, for 5G or 6G), some CSI content / reporting may be pushed to MAC layer in form of MAC element(s) (such as MAC CE(s)).

[0045] In some mechanisms, when Uplink Control Information (UCI) is scheduled or piggy -backed on Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), the UCI and Uplink Shared Channel (UL-SCH) data are separately encoded. The gNB may then somewhat control the reliability of the UCI through the separate encoding and the number of resources that are used for UCI on the PUSCH (e.g., through the BetaOffset factor). If some UCI / Channel State Information (CSI) is generated on Medium Access Control (MAC) layer in a form of MAC control element (MAC CE) which may be mapped into a transport block (TB) / Medium Access Control Protocol Data Unit (MAC PDU) of the UL-SCH, reliability of the UCI may be reduced or lost compared to the approach of separately encoding UCI and UL-SCH as e.g., the CSI MAC element (such as CSI MAC CE) may then be mapped into a TB with Logical Channel (LCH) data, i.e., no separate encoding of CSI and LCH data.

[0046] Therefore, for a CSI MAC element(s), and for cases where the CSI MAC element(s) is jointly encoded with LCH data or separately encoded from LCH data, the gNB may not be aware of whether such CSI MAC element(s) is mapped into the UL-SCH TB / onto the PUSCH or not due at least to the following reasons.

[0047] One of the reasons is logical channel prioritization performed at MAC, which depends on how the priority of the CSI MAC element(s) is defined. A CSI MAC CE may not be mapped into a TB due to such prioritization as the capacity of the PUSCH is limited. The other reason is related to the CSI nature, when it is event-driven or event-based CSI reporting (to be specified for NR in Rel-19). The gNB may not be aware of whether a CSIreport is triggered by the UE or not, and thus the gNB may not be aware of whether a CSI MAC element is included in the TB / transmitted on the PUSCH or not.

[0048] It is to be noted that the gNB would not know whether a CSI MAC CE(s) is contained in the TB before decoding the PUSCH for the case of joint encoding of CSI and UL-SCH data on the PUSCH or is mapped or multiplexed on the PUSCH, affecting the rate-matching of the UL-SCH data on the PUSCH and the UL-SCH decoding procedure overall in the case of separate encoding of CSI and UL-SCH data. Further, it is to be noted that CSI content may be important in some cases, in order not to impact the system performance.

[0049] In addition, in the case of event-based CSI report, the first potential PUSCH for transmission of CSI report may be scheduled for UL-SCH TB retransmission, which prevents CSI multiplexing into the TB / PUSCH and may cause undesirable delay in CSI transmission.

[0050] Example embodiments propose an MAC element indicating solution. In this solution, a first apparatus, which may be a terminal device, determines whether an MAC element or a part thereof is to be included in a physical uplink shared channel transmission. The first apparatus generates an indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission based on the determination. Then, the first apparatus transmits, to a second apparatus, which may be a network device, the indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission. In this way, the proposed solution enables also shorter latency for (CSI) MAC element delivery.

[0051] Example embodiments will be discussed in detailed below with reference to the accompanying figures.

[0052] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. In the communication environment 100, there may be a first apparatus 110 and a second apparatus 120.

[0053] In the following, for the purpose of illustration, some example embodiments are described with the first apparatus 110 operating as a terminal device (for example, a UE) and the second apparatus 120 operating as a network device (for example, a gNB). However, in some example embodiments, operations described in connection with a terminal device may be implemented at a network device or other device, and operations described in connection with a network device may be implemented at a terminal deviceor other device.

[0054] It is to be understood that the number and types of apparatuses are shown in FIG. 1 for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitation. For example, the communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices and / or any types of apparatuses. In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may operate as a terminal device, and the second apparatus may operate as a network device.

[0055] In the embodiments where the first apparatus 110 operates as a terminal device, and the second apparatus 120 may operate as a network device, a link from the first apparatus 110 to the second apparatus 120 may be referred to as an uplink (UL), and a link from the second apparatus 120 to the first apparatus 110 may be referred to as a downlink (DL). In UL, the second apparatus 120 is a RX device (or a receiver) and the first apparatus 110 is a TX device (or a transmitter). In DL, the second apparatus 120 is a transmitting (TX) device (or a transmitter) and the first apparatus 110 is a receiving (RX) device (or a receiver).

[0056] Communications in the communication environment 100 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol(s), comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols of the first generation (1G), the second generation (2G), the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), the fifth generation (5G), the sixth generation (6G), and the like, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and / or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

[0057] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a reporting solution. An indication which indicates whether a MAC element or a part of the MAC elements may be applied in a PUSCH transmission.

[0058] Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which illustrates a signaling flow 200 of MAC element indicating according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Forthe purposes of discussion, the signaling flow 200 will be discussed with reference to FIG. 1. The signaling flow 200 involves the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120. In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may serve as a terminal device (for example, a UE) and the second apparatus 120 may serve as a network device (for example, a gNB). It is noted that the apparatuses and the number of apparatuses shown in FIG. 2 are only examples not limitations.

[0059] As shown in FIG. 2, the second apparatus 120 may determine (210) a configuration of an indication indicating whether an MAC element or a part thereof is to be included in a PUSCH transmission. In some example embodiments, the MAC element may be a CSI MAC CE, and / or an UCI MAC CE. For example, the second apparatus 120 may determine for which PUSCH occasion(s) the second apparatus 120 would like to receive an indication indicated by the first apparatus 110 if the first apparatus 110 multiplexes / maps / includes UCI / CSI in a PUSCH transmission.

[0060] In some example embodiments, the configuration of the indication indicates whether to transmit the indication on the physical uplink shared channel. For example, the gNB may configure / indicate, through RRC, MAC CE, and / or DCI, the UE whether or not to send the indication with a PUSCH transmission. Alternatively, or in addition, the configuration of the indication indicates whether to transmit the indication on a physical uplink control channel.

[0061] Alternatively, or in addition, the configuration of the indication indicates restriction information regarding which physical uplink shared channel the indication is allowed to be transmitted on. For example, the UE may be configured with restrictions on which PUSCH(s), or with restrictions on PUSCH(s) corresponding to which configuration(s) (such as configured-grant PUSCH configuration(s)), the indication may be carried.

[0062] Alternatively, or in addition, the configuration of the indication indicates a set of physical uplink shared channel occasions for or on which the indication needs to be provided. For example, the UE may be configured to provide the indication in some PUSCH occasions (that may carry CSI, such as PUSCHs associated with periodic, semi- persistent or aperiodic CSI reports). In some examples, the configuration of the indication may indicate the PUSCH occasion(s) associated with different carriers / BWPs / CSI reporting configurations / CSI report type.

[0063] Alternatively, or in addition, the configuration of the indication indicates which MAC element or which part of the MAC element the indication needs to be provided for.For example, the gNB may configure / indicate, through RRC, MAC CE, and / or DCI, the UE which MAC element(s) (or part of MAC elements) the UE should consider the indication for. Alternatively, or in addition, the configuration of the indication indicates which type or types of MAC element the indication needs to be provided for.

[0064] Alternatively, or in addition, the configuration of the indication indicates a triggering condition for transmitting the indication. For example, the triggering condition may indicate if one or more events occurs, the indication may be transmitted. By way of example, for event-based CSI (or beam) reporting, the UE may be configured to provide the indication only if the one or more events indicated in the triggering condition occurs and if the corresponding CSI MAC element is allowed to be mapped on the PUSCH. Alternatively, for CSI (or beam) reporting triggered by the UE, the UE may be configured to provide the indication only if the one or more events indicated in the triggering condition occurs and if the corresponding CSI MAC element is allowed to be mapped on the PUSCH.

[0065] Alternatively, or in addition, the configuration of the indication indicates whether to separately or jointly encode the indication and the UCI. For example, the indication may be separately encoded or jointly encoded with other UCI(s) such as hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)- acknowledgement (ACK) and / or scheduling request (SR). The UE may be configured / indicated by the gNB whether to separately or jointly encode the indication and other UCI such as HARQ-ACK.

[0066] Alternatively, or in addition, the configuration of the indication indicates the resource offset dedicated to the indication. For example, if the indication and the UCI are separately encoded, a dedicated Beta offset may be configured for the indication for determining the amount or number of resources the indication may consume from the PUSCH. Alternatively, if the indication and the UCI are jointly encoded with other UCI such as HARQ-ACK, a Beta offset for the other UCI such as HARQ-ACK may be used.

[0067] In some example embodiments, the configuration of the indication indicates that the indication is transmitted per one of (or is associated with one of): cell, component carrier, cell group, bandwidth, bandwidth part, transmission reception point, control resource set pool scheduling the physical uplink shared channel with the MAC element, channel state information reporting configuration, channel state information trigger, channel state information report sub-configuration, channel state information reference signal resource configuration, physical uplink shared channel configuration, configured grant physical uplink shared channel configuration, or channel state information reporttype. For example, the indication may be configured / indicated per one or more of: per cell / CC (component carrier), per cell group, per bandwidth or bandwidth part, per TRP (transmission-reception point) or per CORESET pool scheduling the PUSCH with the MAC element, per CSI reporting configuration (or CSI reporting setting), per CSI trigger, per CSI report sub -configuration, per CSI-RS resource configuration, per PUSCH configuration, per CG-PUSCH configurations, per CSI report type such as SP-CSI reporting or periodic CSI reporting or aperiodic CSI reporting or event-based (or UE triggered) CSI reporting.

[0068] The first apparatus 110 may obtain the configuration of the indication. In some example embodiments, the configuration of the indication may be preconfigured or predefined. In some other example embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may transmit (220), to the first apparatus 110, the configuration of the indication. In other words, the first apparatus 110 may receive, from the second apparatus 120, the configuration of the indication. In some example embodiments, the transmission of the configuration of the indication may be carried through RRC, MAC and / or downlink control information (DCI).

[0069] The first apparatus 110 determines (230) whether an MAC element or a part thereof is to be included in a PUSCH transmission. For example, the UE determines if UCI / CSI is mapped / multiplexed / included in the PUSCH transmission.

[0070] The first apparatus 110 generates (240) an indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission based on the determination. For example, the UE may generate a related indication based on the determination of whether the MAC element or a part thereof is to be included in the PUSCH transmission for the applicable PUSCH occasion(s) given by the information received from the gNB. For example, the indication may include one bit. In this case, if the MAC element or the part of the MAC element is included / mapped in the PUSCH transmission, the indication may include one bit setting to “1.” Alternatively, if the MAC element or the part of the MAC element is not included / mapped in the PUSCH transmission, the indication may include one bit setting to “0.” In some other example embodiments, the indication may include more than one bit. For example, If the indication occupies 2 bits, then ‘ 11 ’ may represent the MAC element being mapped, ‘00’ may represent the MAC element not being mapped but pending (that is, remains in UE memory and may be mapped in another PUSCH transmission occurring later), ‘ 10’ may represent the MAC element being mapped partially (non-mapped part may remain pending), and ‘01’ may the MAC element being represent not pending (i.e., not there) which means notmapped.

[0071] In some example embodiments, the indication may be used for a plurality of MAC elements at a time. For example, the indication may have a bit for all of the plurality of MAC elements. In this case, if at least one MAC element or the part of the at least one MAC element is included / mapped in the PUSCH transmission, the indication may include one bit setting to “1.” Alternatively, if none of the plurality of MAC elements is not included / mapped in the PUSCH transmission, the indication may include one bit setting to “0.” In some other example embodiments, the indication may have an individual bit for each of the plurality of MAC elements (i.e., a bitmap for the plurality of MAC elements). In other words, there can be multiple) MAC elements mapped on PUSCH, and the first apparatus 110 may generate a separate indication for each MAC element. For example, if the indication is used 3 MAC elements and include a bitmap set to “100”, it means that the first MAC element is included in the PUSCH transmission, and the other two MAC elements are not included in the PUSCH transmission.

[0072] The first apparatus 110 transmits (250), to the second apparatus 120, the indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission. Correspondingly, the second apparatus 120 receives, from the first apparatus 110, an indication indicating whether an MAC element or a part thereof is to be included in a physical uplink shared channel transmission. For example, the indication indicating whether the MAC element or a part thereof is to be mapped or included into a transport block (carried on a PUSCH) or multiplexed on the PUSCH.

[0073] An example principle of CSI mapping on the PUSCH and the related indication if CSI / UCI is mapped on PUSCH is shown in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B. As shown in FIG. 3A, a CSI MAC element 310 may be included in a PUSCH transmission 320 (for example, MAC PDU), and the first apparatus may generate the indication 330 indicating that the CSI MAC element 310 and may transmit the indication 330 together with the TB on PUSCH 340. As another example, as shown in FIG. 3B, the CSI MAC element 310 may not be included in the PUSCH transmission 320 (for example, MAC PDU), and the first apparatus may generate the indication 350 indicating that the CSI MAC element 310 is not contained in the PUSCH transmission 320 and may transmit the indication 350 together with the TB on PUSCH 360.

[0074] In some example embodiments, the indication is included in or multiplexed with the PUSCH transmission. For example, the UE provides indication whether at least oneMAC element, specifically CSI MAC element (such as CSI MAC CE), or part(s) of at least one MAC element, is contained in a UL-SCH TB / multiplexed or mapped on the PUSCH.

[0075] In some example embodiments, the indication is transmitted from the first apparatus 110 to the second apparatus 120 in form of uplink control information on a physical uplink shared channel. For example, the indication may be carried in form of UCI piggy -backed on PUSCH. The indication may be separately encoded from the TB / UL-SCH data, where a mapping of the indication on PUSCH may be similar to a mapping of UCI on PUSCH (such as configured grant (CG)-UCI (CG-UCI) or unused transmission opportunity (UTO)-UCI). Alternatively, the indication may be transmitted in form of uplink control information on a physical uplink control channel.

[0076] In some example embodiments, if the indication is transmitted on the physical uplink shared channel, the indication is separately encoded from data on the physical uplink shared channel. In some example embodiments, if the indication is transmitted on the physical uplink shared channel, the indication is encoded separately from any other uplink control information, or the indication is jointly encoded with at least one other uplink control information.

[0077] In some example embodiments, if the indication is encoded separately, the first apparatus 110 determines a set of resources for the indication from the physical uplink shared channel based on a resource offset dedicated to the indication. For example, in case of the indication and the UCI are separately encoded, a dedicated Beta offset may be configured for the indication, and thus the first apparatus 110 may determine the amount or number of resources the indication may consume from the PUSCH.

[0078] In some example embodiments, if the indication is jointly encoded, the first apparatus 110 determines a set of resources for the indication from the physical uplink shared channel based on an uplink control information resource offset. For example, in case of the indication and the UCI are jointly encoded with other UCI such as HARQ- ACK, a Beta offset for the other UCI such as HARQ-ACK may be used.

[0079] In some example embodiments, if a transmission carrying the indication on the physical uplink shared channel is dropped, the first apparatus 110 may transmit the indication on the physical uplink control channel. In an example, the indication may be carried through UCI on PUCCH (including UCI multiplexed on PUCCH), and the indication may be multiplexed into a PUCCH if the PUSCH that carries the indication is dropped e.g., due to the overlap with the PUCCH.

[0080] In some example embodiments, the indication may be carried on a PUSCH different from the PUSCH where the CSI MAC element(s) is or can be mapped (even if on a same cell / component carrier). For instance, in case of two or more PUSCHs that are overlapping in time, a dedicated PUSCH, which may be determined based on configuration, rule (such as PUSCH with lower or higher frequency allocation (position), and / or indication (e.g., via DCI), may carry the indication; and that PUSCH may be different from the PUSCH where the CSI MAC element(s) is or can be mapped. In this case, the indication may also be indicative of which PUSCH e.g., carries the CSI MAC element(s).

[0081] In some example embodiments, if the indication is transmitted on the physical uplink control channel, the indication further indicates a timeline relation between the indication and the MAC element included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission. In an example, the indication may be configured to be carried on PUCCH resources, such as using a scheduling request (SR) like resources which may be shared resources or dedicated resources. In this case, a configured / preconfigured rule (e.g., a timeline relation) may be used and / or information may be added to the UCI, which may be indicative of which PUSCH(s) the indication corresponds to. For example, the rule may be a configured timing offset, e.g. to the kth(e.g., k is an integer) slot after the slot containing the PUCCH, or a time window starting at the kthslot after the slot containing the PUCCH and having a duration of n slots (e.g., n is an integer). The MAC element may be transmitted on the first PUSCH transmitted by the UE within the time window.

[0082] In some example embodiments, the indication further indicates that only one or more MAC elements are at least partially included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission. For example, the indication may be for one or more MAC elements at a time and may include one or more bits.

[0083] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may transmit a scheduling indication for a retransmission of a transport block to the first apparatus 110. Then, the first apparatus 110 receive a scheduling indication for a retransmission of a transport block from the second apparatus 120. The first apparatus 110 may transmit the MAC element in the physical uplink shared channel transmission in accordance with the scheduling indication. Then, the second apparatus 120 may receive from the first apparatus 110, the MAC element instead of the transport block in the scheduled physical uplink shared channel retransmission. The first apparatus 110 may maintain the transport block in the first apparatus 110. In some examples, the indication may also indicate thatonly MAC elements, or MAC elements of configured / preconfigured type(s), such as CSI reports, are contained on the PUSCH transmission scheduled for the retransmission of a transport block. In case that the gNB had scheduled for a TB retransmission, the MAC elements are transmitted instead of the PUSCH TB to be retransmitted in the PUSCH transmission. The UE maintains the original TB in its memory, which is available for a retransmission in a later time.

[0084] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may transmit, to the first apparatus 110, a MAC element retransmission indication within a MAC element retransmission time window. Correspondingly, the first apparatus 110 may save the MAC element in the first apparatus 110 and may perform a retransmission of the MAC element based on a reception of a MAC element retransmission indication within a MAC element retransmission time window. Then, the second apparatus 120 may receive, from the first apparatus 110, a retransmission of the MAC element. In some examples, the retransmission of the MAC elements may be triggered with UL grant containing retransmission indication and (aperiodic) CSI trigger within a configured / preconfigured MAC element retransmission time window.

[0085] In some example embodiments, the indication further indicates a number or a size of at least one MAC element mapped to the physical uplink shared channel transmission. Alternatively, or in addition, the indication further indicates whether a MAC element is at least partially pending to be mapped to a further physical uplink shared channel transmission. Alternatively, or in addition, the indication further indicates the indication further indicates whether a MAC element is present at the MAC. For example, the indication may also indicate the number and / or size of the CSI-MAC elements mapped to the MAC PDU, for example by using certain codepoints (such as, at least one bit corresponding to a CSI report setting) associated with configured CSI reporting settings and / or maximum report size configurations. These codepoints may be defined by network configuration or indication.

[0086] In some example embodiments, if the indication is configured to be carried on one component carrier (CC), the indication includes information on at least one of whether the MAC element is mapped to a physical uplink shared channel on the CC, or whether the MAC element is mapped to a physical uplink shared channel on another CC. For example, for a carrier aggregation (CA) case, and if the indication is configured to be carried on one CC, the indication may provide information on whether the MAC element is mapped to a TB / PUSCH on the one CC, and / or whether the MAC element is mappedto a TB / PUSCH on another CC.

[0087] It is to be noted that the embodiments herein may be further applicable if the MAC element is mapped jointly with logic channel (LCH) data (and thus separately encoded on the PUSCH) or even if the MAC element is separately encoded / mapped from the LCH data / TB on the PUSCH.

[0088] The first apparatus 110 may transmit (260) the PUSCH transmission to the second apparatus 120. For example, if the indication indicates that the MAC element is included in the PUSCH transmission, the PUSCH transmission (260) may include the MAC element. In some example embodiments, the transmission of the indication (250) may be included in the PUSCH transmission (260) by the first apparatus 110 to the second apparatus 120.

[0089] The second apparatus 120 may determine (270) whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission based on the indication. For example, the gNB may receive a PUSCH transmission (260) from the UE. For the PUSCH transmission of determined PUSCH occasion(s), the gNB may determine if the MAC element or a part of the MAC element is multiplexed / mapped / included in the PUSCH transmission based on the indication. As mentioned above, the transmission of the indication (250) may be included in the PUSCH transmission (260). In this case, the second apparatus 120 may determine (270) whether the MAC element or the part thereof is included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission based on the included indication only after receiving the PUSCH transmission (260) from the first apparatus.

[0090] According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, providing whether the PUSCH contains a certain MAC element, such as CSI MAC element or not, to the second apparatus 120 device is advantageous when MAC elements also contain information such as CSI which is delay sensitive information or time critical information.

[0091] Further, the proposed solution allows a proactive scheduling from the second apparatus 120 if needed to request CSI MAC element, because the MAC element is not mapped into the TB / onto the PUSCH or the MAC element is mapped into the TB but the TB is not correctly decoded.

[0092] In addition, the proposed solution enables also shorter latency for (CSI) MAC element delivery when the PUSCH is scheduled for retransmission of an earlier TB, and the indication may be used to indicate the second apparatus 120 that the first apparatus 110 has MAC element transmission pending, and the second apparatus 120 may schedulea further PUSCH for that. Furthermore, the first apparatus 110 may indicate that MAC elements have replaced the TB to be retransmitted in the PUSCH. (and the TB remains waiting for further PUSCH scheduling). Based on such indication, the second apparatus decodes the PUSCH separately and does not combine the PUSCH with an earlier PUSCH containing the TB to be retransmitted.

[0093] Some example flowcharts of MAC element indication will be described below with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. In FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, a UE is taken as an example of the first apparatus 110 and a gNB is taken as an example of the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1.

[0094] FIG. 4 shows an example MAC element indicating process 400 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The process 400 may be performed by the second apparatus 120 (that is, the gNB in this example).

[0095] In some example embodiments, at 410, the second apparatus 120 determines a configuration of the indication. In some example embodiments, the configuration of the indication indicates at least one of whether to transmit the indication on the physical uplink shared channel, whether to transmit the indication on a physical uplink control channel, restriction information regarding which physical uplink shared channel occasions the indication is allowed to be transmitted on, a set of physical uplink shared channel occasions for or on which the indication needs to be provided, which MAC element or which part of the MAC element the indication needs to be provided for, which type or types of MAC element the indication needs to be provided for, a triggering condition for transmitting the indication, whether to separately or jointly encode the indication and the at least one other uplink control information, or the resource offset dedicated to the indication.

[0096] In some example embodiments, configuration of the indication indicates that the indication is transmitted per one of cell, component carrier, cell group, bandwidth, bandwidth part, transmission reception point, control resource set pool scheduling the physical uplink shared channel with the MAC element, channel state information reporting configuration, channel state information trigger, channel state information report sub -configuration, channel state information reference signal resource configuration, physical uplink shared channel configuration, configured grant physical uplink shared channel configuration, or channel state information report type.

[0097] In some example embodiments, at 420, the second apparatus 120 transmits the configuration of the indication to the first apparatus 110.

[0098] At 430, the second apparatus 120 receives, from the first apparatus 110, an indication indicating whether a medium access control, MAC, element or a part thereof is to be included in a physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0099] In some example embodiments, at block 440, the second apparatus 120 may receive the physical uplink shared channel transmission from the first apparatus 110. In some example embodiments, the indication may be received in the physical uplink shared channel transmission. In other words, the reception (430) of the indication and the reception (440) of the physical uplink shared channel transmission may be the same reception. In some other example embodiments, the reception (430) of the indication may take place before the reception (440) of the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0100] In some example embodiments, the MAC element is at least one of a channel state information MAC control element, MAC CE, or an uplink control information MAC CE.

[0101] In some example embodiments, the received indication is comprised in or multiplexed with the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0102] In some example embodiments, the indication is received in form of uplink control information on a physical uplink shared channel, or wherein the indication is received in form of uplink control information on a physical uplink control channel.

[0103] In some example embodiments, under a condition that the indication is received on the physical uplink shared channel, the indication is separately encoded from data on the physical uplink shared channel.

[0104] In some example embodiments, under a condition that the indication is transmitted on the physical uplink shared channel, the indication is encoded separately from any other uplink control information, or the indication is jointly encoded with at least one other uplink control information.

[0105] In some example embodiments, under a condition that the indication is transmitted on the physical uplink control channel, the indication further indicates a timeline relation between the indication and the MAC element included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0106] In some example embodiments, the indication further indicates that only one or more MAC elements are at least partially included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0107] In some example embodiments, the method 400 further includes: transmitting a scheduling indication for a retransmission of a transport block to the first apparatus; andreceiving, from the first apparatus the MAC element instead of the transport block in the scheduled physical uplink shared channel re-transmission.

[0108] In some example embodiments, the method 400 further includes: transmitting, to the first apparatus, a retransmission indication within a retransmission time window; and receiving, from the first apparatus, a retransmission of the MAC element.

[0109] In some example embodiments, the indication further indicates at least one of a number or a size of at least one MAC element mapped to the physical uplink shared channel transmission; whether a MAC element is at least partially pending to be mapped to a further physical uplink shared channel transmission; or whether a MAC element is present at the MAC.

[0110] In some example embodiments, the method 400 further includes: transmitting, to the first apparatus, a configuration of the indication.

[0111] FIG. 5 shows an example MAC element indicating process 500 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The process 500 may be performed by the first apparatus 110 (that is, the UE in this example).

[0112] In some example embodiments, at 510, the first apparatus 110 receives a configuration of the indication from the second apparatus 120. In some example embodiments, the configuration of the indication indicates at least one of: whether to transmit the indication on the physical uplink shared channel, whether to transmit the indication on a physical uplink control channel, restriction information regarding which physical uplink shared channel occasions the indication is allowed to be transmitted on, a set of physical uplink shared channel occasions for or on which the indication needs to be provided, which MAC element or which part of the MAC element the indication needs to be provided for, which type or types of MAC element the indication needs to be provided for, a triggering condition for transmitting the indication, whether to separately or jointly encode the indication and the at least one other uplink control information, or the resource offset dedicated to the indication.

[0113] In some example embodiments, configuration of the indication indicates that the indication is transmitted per one of: cell, component carrier, cell group, bandwidth, bandwidth part, transmission reception point, control resource set pool scheduling the physical uplink shared channel with the MAC element, channel state information reporting configuration, channel state information trigger, channel state information report sub -configuration, channel state information reference signal resource configuration, physical uplink shared channel configuration, configured grant physicaluplink shared channel configuration, or channel state information report type.

[0114] At 520, the first apparatus 110 determines determine whether a medium access control, MAC, element or a part thereof is to be included in a physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0115] At 530, the first apparatus 110 generates an indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission based on the determination.

[0116] At 540, the first apparatus 110 transmit, to the second apparatus 120, the indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0117] In some example embodiments, at block 550, the first apparatus 110 transmits to the second apparatus 120, the physical uplink shared channel transmission. In some example embodiments, the indication may be transmitted in the physical uplink shared channel transmission. In other words, the transmission (540) of the indication and the transmission (550) of the physical uplink shared channel transmission may be the same transmission. In some other example embodiments, the transmission (540) of the indication may take place before the transmission (550) of the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0118] In some example embodiments, the MAC element is at least one of a channel state information MAC control element, MAC CE, or an uplink control information MAC CE.

[0119] In some example embodiments, the transmitted indication is comprised in or multiplexed with the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0120] In some example embodiments, the indication is transmitted in form of uplink control information on a physical uplink shared channel, or wherein the indication is transmitted in form of uplink control information on a physical uplink control channel.

[0121] In some example embodiments, under a condition that the indication is transmitted on the physical uplink shared channel, the indication is separately encoded from data on the physical uplink shared channel.

[0122] In some example embodiments, under a condition that the indication is transmitted on the physical uplink shared channel, the indication is encoded separately from any other uplink control information, or the indication is jointly encoded with at least one other uplink control information.

[0123] In some example embodiments, the method 500 further includes in response tothat the indication is encoded separately, determining a set of resources for the indication from the physical uplink shared channel based on a resource offset dedicated to the indication.

[0124] In some example embodiments, the method 500 further includes in response to that the indication is jointly encoded, determine a set of resources for the indication from the physical uplink shared channel based on an uplink control information resource offset.

[0125] In some example embodiments, the method 500 further includes based on a determination that a transmission carrying the indication on the physical uplink shared channel is dropped, transmitting the indication on the physical uplink control channel.

[0126] In some example embodiments, under a condition that the indication is transmitted on the physical uplink control channel, the indication further indicates a timeline relation between the indication and the MAC element included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0127] In some example embodiments, the indication further indicates that only one or more MAC elements are at least partially included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0128] In some example embodiments, the method 500 further includes receiving a scheduling indication for a retransmission of a transport block from the second apparatus; transmitting the MAC element instead of the transport block in the scheduled physical uplink shared channel re-transmission; and maintaining the transport block in the first apparatus.

[0129] In some example embodiments, the method 500 further includes saving the MAC element in the first apparatus; and performing a retransmission of the MAC element based on a reception of a retransmission indication within a retransmission time window.

[0130] In some example embodiments, the indication further indicates at least one of a number or a size of at least one MAC element mapped to the physical uplink shared channel transmission; whether a MAC element is at least partially pending to be mapped to a further physical uplink shared channel transmission; or whether a MAC element is present at the MAC.

[0131] In some example embodiments, the method 500 further includes obtaining a configuration of the indication.

[0132] In some example embodiments, under a condition that the indication is configured to be carried on one component carrier, the indication includes information on at least one of whether the MAC element is mapped to a physical uplink shared channelon the CC, or whether the MAC element is mapped to a physical uplink shared channel on another CC.

[0133] It is to be noted that example implementations in FIG.4 and FIG.5 are not only applicable to the CSI, but also applicable to other UCI types (such as HARQ-ACK and / or SR).

[0134] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing the method 200 or 500 (for example, the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 200 or 500. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The apparatus may be implemented as or included in the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

[0135] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for determining whether a medium access control, MAC, element a part thereof is to be included in a physical uplink shared channel transmission; means for generating an indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission based on the determination; and means for transmitting, to a second apparatus, the indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0136] In some example embodiments, the MAC element is at least one of a channel state information MAC control element, MAC CE, or an uplink control information MAC CE.

[0137] In some example embodiments, the transmitted indication is comprised in or multiplexed with the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0138] In some example embodiments, the indication is transmitted in form of uplink control information on a physical uplink shared channel, or the indication is transmitted in form of uplink control information on a physical uplink control channel.

[0139] In some example embodiments, under a condition that the indication is transmitted on the physical uplink shared channel, the indication is separately encoded from data on the physical uplink shared channel.

[0140] In some example embodiments, under a condition that the indication is transmitted on the physical uplink shared channel, the indication is encoded separately from any other uplink control information, or the indication is jointly encoded with at least one other uplink control information.

[0141] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for, in response to that the indication is encoded separately, determining a set of resources for the indication from the physical uplink shared channel based on a resource offset dedicated to the indication.

[0142] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for, in response to that the indication is jointly encoded, determining a set of resources for the indication from the physical uplink shared channel based on an uplink control information resource offset.

[0143] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for, based on a determination that a transmission carrying the indication on the physical uplink shared channel is dropped, transmitting the indication on the physical uplink control channel.

[0144] In some example embodiments, under a condition that the indication is transmitted on the physical uplink control channel, the indication further indicates a timeline relation between the indication and the MAC element included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0145] In some example embodiments, the indication further indicates that only one or more MAC elements are at least partially included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0146] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for receiving a scheduling indication for a retransmission of a transport block from the second apparatus; means for transmitting the MAC element instead of the transport block in the scheduled physical uplink shared channel re-transmission ; and means for maintaining the transport block in the first apparatus.

[0147] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for saving the MAC element in the first apparatus; and means for performing a retransmission of the MAC element based on a reception of a retransmission indication within a retransmission time window.

[0148] In some example embodiments, the indication further indicates at least one of a number or a size of at least one MAC element mapped to the physical uplink shared channel transmission; whether a MAC element is at least partially pending to be mapped to a further physical uplink shared channel transmission; or whether a MAC element is present at the MAC.

[0149] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means forobtaining a configuration of the indication.

[0150] In some example embodiments, the configuration of the indication indicates at least one of whether to transmit the indication on the physical uplink shared channel, whether to transmit the indication on a physical uplink control channel, restriction information regarding which physical uplink shared channel occasions the indication is allowed to be transmitted on, a set of physical uplink shared channel occasions for or on which the indication needs to be provided, which MAC element or which part of the MAC element the indication needs to be provided for, which type or types of MAC element the indication needs to be provided for, a triggering condition for transmitting the indication, whether to separately or jointly encode the indication and the uplink control information, or the resource offset dedicated to the indication.

[0151] In some example embodiments, the configuration of the indication indicates that the indication is transmitted per one of cell, component carrier, cell group, bandwidth, bandwidth part, transmission reception point, control resource set pool scheduling the physical uplink shared channel with the MAC element, channel state information reporting configuration, channel state information trigger, channel state information report sub -configuration, channel state information reference signal resource configuration, physical uplink shared channel configuration, configured grant physical uplink shared channel configuration, or channel state information report type.

[0152] In some example embodiments, under a condition that the indication is configured to be carried on one component carrier, the indication includes information on at least one of whether the MAC element is mapped to a physical uplink shared channel on the CC, or whether the MAC element is mapped to a physical uplink shared channel on another CC.

[0153] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is a terminal device, and the second apparatus is a network device.

[0154] In some example embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing the method 200 or 400 (for example, the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 200 or 400. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The apparatus may be implemented as or included in the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1.

[0155] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a first apparatus, an indication indicating whether a medium access control,MAC, element or a part thereof is to be included in a physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0156] In some example embodiments, the MAC element is at least one of: a channel state information MAC control element, MAC CE, or an uplink control information MAC CE.

[0157] In some example embodiments, the received indication is comprised in or multiplexed with the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0158] In some example embodiments, the indication is received in form of uplink control information on a physical uplink shared channel, or the indication is received in form of uplink control information on a physical uplink control channel.

[0159] In some example embodiments, under a condition that the indication is received on the physical uplink shared channel, the indication is separately encoded from data on the physical uplink shared channel.

[0160] In some example embodiments, under a condition that the indication is transmitted on the physical uplink shared channel, the indication is encoded separately with from any other uplink control information, or the indication is jointly encoded with at least one other uplink control information.

[0161] In some example embodiments, under a condition that the indication is transmitted on the physical uplink control channel, the indication further indicates a timeline relation between the indication and the MAC element included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0162] In some example embodiments, the indication further indicates that only one or more MAC elements are at least partially included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

[0163] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for transmitting a scheduling indication for a retransmission of a transport block to the first apparatus; and means for receiving, from the first apparatus the MAC element instead of the transport block in the scheduled physical uplink shared channel re-transmission.

[0164] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, a retransmission indication within a retransmission time window; and means for receiving, from the first apparatus, a retransmission of the MAC element.

[0165] In some example embodiments, the indication further indicates at least one of a number or a size of at least one MAC element mapped to the physical uplink sharedchannel transmission; whether a MAC element is at least partially pending to be mapped to a further physical uplink shared channel transmission; or whether a MAC element is present at the MAC.

[0166] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, a configuration of the indication.

[0167] In some example embodiments, the configuration of the indication indicates at least one of whether to transmit the indication on the physical uplink shared channel, whether to transmit the indication on a physical uplink control channel, restriction information regarding which physical uplink shared channel the indication is allowed to be transmitted on, a set of physical uplink shared channel occasions for or on which the indication needs to be provided, which MAC element or which part of the MAC element the indication needs to be provided for, which type or types of MAC element the indication needs to be provided for, a triggering condition for transmitting the indication, whether to separately or jointly encode the indication and the uplink control information, or the resource offset dedicated to the indication.

[0168] In some example embodiments, the configuration of the indication indicates that the indication is transmitted per one of cell, component carrier, cell group, bandwidth, bandwidth part, transmission reception point, control resource set pool scheduling the physical uplink shared channel with the MAC element, channel state information reporting configuration, channel state information trigger, channel state information report sub -configuration, channel state information reference signal resource configuration, physical uplink shared channel configuration, configured grant physical uplink shared channel configuration, or channel state information report type.

[0169] In some example embodiments, under a condition that the indication is configured to be carried on one component carrier, the indication includes information on at least one of whether the MAC element is mapped to a physical uplink shared channel on the CC, or whether the MAC element is mapped to a physical uplink shared channel on another CC.

[0170] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is a terminal device, and the second apparatus is a network device.

[0171] FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of a device 600 that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 600 may be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the first apparatus 110 or the second apparatus 120 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 600 includes one ormore processors 610, one or more memories 620 coupled to the processor 610, and one or more communication modules 640 coupled to the processor 610.

[0172] The communication module 640 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 640 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, the communication module 640 may include at least one antenna.

[0173] The processor 610 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 600 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

[0174] The memory 620 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 624, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disk (DVD), an optical disk, a laser disk, and other magnetic storage and / or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random access memory (RAM) 622 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

[0175] A computer program 630 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 610. The instructions of the program 630 may include instructions for performing operations / acts of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 630 may be stored in the memory, e.g., the ROM 624. The processor 610 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 630 into the RAM 622.

[0176] The example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 630 so that the device 600 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 6. The example embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0177] In some example embodiments, the program 630 may be tangibly contained in acomputer readable medium which may be included in the device 600 (such as in the memory 620) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 600. The device 600 may load the program 630 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 622 for execution. In some example embodiments, the computer readable medium may include any types of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0178] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, and other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. Although various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0179] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non- transitory computer readable medium. The computer program product includes computerexecutable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target physical or virtual processor, to carry out any of the methods as described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0180] Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program code,when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

[0181] In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

[0182] The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0183] Further, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, although several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless explicitly stated, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless explicitly stated, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in a plurality of embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

[0184] Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific featuresor acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A first apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus to: determine whether a medium access control, MAC, element or a part thereof is to be included in a physical uplink shared channel transmission; generate an indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission based on the determination; and transmit, to a second apparatus, the indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

2. The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein the MAC element is at least one of: a channel state information MAC control element, MAC CE, or an uplink control information MAC CE.

3. The first apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the transmitted indication is comprised in or multiplexed with the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

4. The first apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the indication is transmitted in form of uplink control information on a physical uplink shared channel, or wherein the indication is transmitted in form of uplink control information on a physical uplink control channel.

5. The first apparatus of claim 4, wherein under a condition that the indication is transmitted on the physical uplink shared channel, the indication is separately encoded from data on the physical uplink shared channel; or6. The first apparatus of claim 4, wherein under a condition that the indication is transmitted on the physical uplink shared channel, the indication is encoded separately from any other uplink control information, or the indication is jointly encoded with at least one other uplink control information.

7. The first apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: in response to that the indication is encoded separately , determine a set of resources for the indication from the physical uplink shared channel based on a resource offset dedicated to the indication; and / or in response to that the indication is jointly encoded, determine a set of resources for the indication from the physical uplink shared channel based on an uplink control information resource offset.

8. The first apparatus of claim 4, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: based on a determination that a transmission carrying the indication on the physical uplink shared channel is dropped, transmit the indication on the physical uplink control channel.

9. The first apparatus of claim 4, wherein under a condition that the indication is transmitted on the physical uplink control channel, the indication further indicates a timeline relation between the indication and the MAC element included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

10. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-9, wherein the indication further indicates that only one or more MAC elements are at least partially included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

11. The first apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: receive a scheduling indication for a retransmission of a transport block from the second apparatus; transmit the MAC element instead of the transport block in the scheduled physical uplink shared channel re-transmission; and maintain the transport block in the first apparatus.

12. The first apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: save the MAC element in the first apparatus; and perform a retransmission of the MAC element based on a reception of a retransmission indication within a retransmission time window.

13. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-12, wherein the indication further indicates at least one of a number or a size of at least one MAC element mapped to the physical uplink shared channel transmission; whether a MAC element is at least partially pending to be mapped to a further physical uplink shared channel transmission; or whether a MAC element is present at the MAC.

14. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-13, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: obtain a configuration of the indication; wherein the configuration of the indication indicates at least one of whether to transmit the indication on the physical uplink shared channel, whether to transmit the indication on a physical uplink control channel, restriction information regarding which physical uplink shared channel occasions the indication is allowed to be transmitted on, a set of physical uplink shared channel occasions for or on which the indication needs to be provided, which MAC element or which part of the MAC element the indication needs to be provided for, which type or types of MAC element the indication needs to be provided for, a triggering condition for transmitting the indication, whether to separately or jointly encode the indication and the at least one other uplink control information, or the resource offset dedicated to the indication; and / or wherein the configuration of the indication indicates that the indication is transmitted per one of cell, component carrier, cell group, bandwidth, bandwidth part, transmission reception point, control resource set pool scheduling the physical uplink shared channel with the MAC element, channel state information reporting configuration, channel state information trigger, channel state information report sub -configuration, channel state information reference signal resource configuration, physical uplink shared channel configuration, configured grant physical uplink shared channel configuration, or channel state information report type.

15. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-14, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: obtain a configuration of the indication.

16. The first apparatus of claim 15, wherein the configuration of the indication indicates at least one of whether to transmit the indication on the physical uplink shared channel, whether to transmit the indication on a physical uplink control channel, restriction information regarding which physical uplink shared channel occasions the indication is allowed to be transmitted on, a set of physical uplink shared channel occasions for or on which the indication needs to be provided, which MAC element or which part of the MAC element the indication needs to be provided for, which type or types of MAC element the indication needs to be provided for, a triggering condition for transmitting the indication, whether to separately or jointly encode the indication and the at least one other uplink control information, or the resource offset dedicated to the indication.

17. The first apparatus of claim 15 or 16, wherein the configuration of the indication indicates that the indication is transmitted per one of cell, component carrier, cell group, bandwidth, bandwidth part, transmission reception point, control resource set pool scheduling the physical uplink shared channel with the MAC element, channel state information reporting configuration, channel state information trigger, channel state information report subconfiguration, channel state information reference signal resource configuration, physical uplink shared channel configuration, configured grant physical uplink shared channel configuration, or channel state information report type.

18. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-17, wherein under a condition that the indication is configured to be carried on one component carrier, the indication includes information on at least one of whether the MAC element is mapped to a physical uplink shared channel on the CC, or whether the MAC element is mapped to a physical uplink shared channel on another CC.

19. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-18, wherein the first apparatus is a terminal device, and the second apparatus is a network device.

20. A second apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus to: receive, from a first apparatus, an indication indicating whether a medium access control, MAC, element or a part thereof is to be included in a physical uplink shared channel transmission.

21. The second apparatus of claim 20, wherein the MAC element is at least one of: a channel state information MAC control element, MAC CE, or an uplink control information MAC CE.

22. The second apparatus of claim 20 or 21, wherein the received indication is comprised in or multiplexed with the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

23. The second apparatus of claim 20 or 21, wherein the indication is received in form of uplink control information on a physical uplink shared channel, or wherein the indication is received in form of uplink control information on a physical uplink control channel.

24. The second apparatus of claim 23, wherein under a condition that the indication is received on the physical uplink shared channel, the indication is separately encoded from data on the physical uplink shared channel.

25. The second apparatus of claim 23, wherein under a condition that the indication is transmitted on the physical uplink shared channel, the indication is encoded separately from any other uplink control information, or the indication is jointly encoded with at least one other uplink control information.

26. The second apparatus of claim 23, wherein under a condition that the indication is transmitted on the physical uplink control channel, the indication further indicates a timeline relation between the indication and the MAC element included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

27. The second apparatus of any of claims 20-26, wherein the indication further indicates that only one or more MAC elements are at least partially included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

28. The second apparatus of claim 27, wherein the second apparatus is caused to: transmit a scheduling indication for a retransmission of a transport block to the first apparatus; and receive, from the first apparatus the MAC element instead of the transport block in the scheduled physical uplink shared channel re-transmission.

29. The second apparatus of claim 28, wherein the second apparatus is caused to: transmit, to the first apparatus, a retransmission indication within a retransmission time window; and receive, from the first apparatus, a retransmission of the MAC element.

30. The second apparatus of any of claims 20-29, wherein the indication further indicates at least one of: a number or a size of at least one MAC element mapped to the physical uplink shared channel transmission; whether a MAC element is at least partially pending to be mapped to a further physical uplink shared channel transmission; or whether a MAC element is present at the MAC.

31. The second apparatus of any of claims 20-30, wherein the second apparatus is caused to: transmit, to the first apparatus, a configuration of the indication.

32. The second apparatus of claim 31, wherein the configuration of the indication indicates at least one of: whether to transmit the indication on the physical uplink shared channel, whether to transmit the indication on a physical uplink control channel, restriction information regarding which physical uplink shared channel occasions the indication is allowed to be transmitted on,a set of physical uplink shared channel occasions for or on which the indication needs to be provided, which MAC element or which part of the MAC element the indication needs to be provided for, which type or types of MAC element the indication needs to be provided for, a triggering condition for transmitting the indication, whether to separately or jointly encode the indication and the at least one other uplink control information, or the resource offset dedicated to the indication.

33. The second apparatus of claim 31 or 32, wherein the configuration of the indication indicates that the indication is transmitted per one of: cell, component carrier, cell group, bandwidth, bandwidth part, transmission reception point, control resource set pool scheduling the physical uplink shared channel with the MAC element, channel state information reporting configuration, channel state information trigger, channel state information report subconfiguration, channel state information reference signal resource configuration, physical uplink shared channel configuration, configured grant physical uplink shared channel configuration, or channel state information report type.

34. The second apparatus of any of claims 20-33, wherein under a condition that the indication is configured to be carried on one component carrier, the indication includes information on at least one of: whether the MAC element is mapped to a physical uplink shared channel on the CC, or whether the MAC element is mapped to a physical uplink shared channel on another CC.

35. The second apparatus of any of claims 20-34, wherein the first apparatus is a terminal device, and the second apparatus is a network device.

36. A method comprising: determining whether a medium access control, MAC, element or a part thereof is to be included in a physical uplink shared channel transmission; generating an indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission based on the determination; andtransmitting, to a second apparatus, the indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

37. A method comprising: receiving, from a first apparatus, an indication indicating whether a medium access control, MAC, element or a part thereof is to be included in a physical uplink shared channel transmission.

38. A first apparatus comprising: means for determining whether a medium access control, MAC, element or a part thereof is to be included in a physical uplink shared channel transmission; means for generating an indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission based on the determination; and means for transmitting, to a second apparatus, the indication indicating at least whether the MAC element or the part thereof is to be included in the physical uplink shared channel transmission.

39. A second apparatus comprising: means for receiving, from a first apparatus, an indication indicating whether a medium access control, MAC, element or a part thereof is to be included in a physical uplink shared channel transmission.

40. A computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus at least to perform the method of claim 36 or 37.

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