Receiving device, transmitting device and methods performed in a communication network

Abstract

Embodiments herein relate to, for example, a method performed by a receiving device (110) for handling communication in a communication network. The receiving device (110) receives from a transmitting device (120), a request for transmission feedback, the request indicating a number of transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested, and / or a time range associated with transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested. The receiving device (110) further transmits a feedback message to the transmitting device, wherein the feedback message comprises transmission feedback for one or more transmissions, and wherein the feedback message conveys one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or conveys a number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

Description

[0001] RECEIVING DEVICE, TRANSMITTING DEVICE AND METHODS PERFORMED IN A COMMUNICATION NETWORK

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Embodiments herein relate to a receiving device, a transmitting device, and methods performed therein regarding communication. Furthermore, a computer program product and a computer-readable storage medium are also provided herein. Especially, embodiments herein relate to handling or enabling communication, such as handling feedback messages, in a communication network.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] In a typical communication network, user equipments (UE), also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (STA) and / or wireless devices, communicate via a Radio Access Network (RAN) to one or more core networks (CN). The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into service areas or cell areas, with each service area or cell area being served by a radio network node such as an access node e.g. a Wi-Fi access point or a radio base station (RBS), which in some radio access technologies (RAT) may also be called, for example, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB) and a gNodeB (gNB). The service area or cell area is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by a radio network node. The radio network node operates on radio frequencies to communicate over an air interface with the UEs within range of the access node. The radio network node communicates over a downlink (DL) to the UE, and the UE communicates over an uplink (UL) to the access node.

[0006] A Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation telecommunication network, which evolved from the second generation (2G) Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) is essentially a RAN using wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) and / or High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) for communication with user equipments. In a forum known as the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), telecommunications suppliers propose and agree upon standards for present and future generation networks and UTRAN specifically, and investigate enhanced data rate and radio capacity. In some RANs, e.g., as in UMTS, several radio network nodes may be connected, e.g., by landlines or microwave, to a controller node, such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), which supervises and coordinates various activities of the plural radio network nodes connected thereto. The RNCs are typically connected to one or more CNs.

[0007] Specifications for the Evolved Packet System (EPS) have been completed within the 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) and this work continues in the coming 3GPP releases, such as fifth generation (5G) and sixth generation (6G) networks. The EPS comprises the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), also known as the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) radio access network, and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), also known as System Architecture Evolution (SAE) core network. E- UTRAN / LTE is a 3GPP radio access technology wherein the radio network nodes are directly connected to the EPC core network. As such, the RAN of an EPS has an essentially non-hierarchical architecture comprising radio network nodes connected directly to one or more CNs.

[0008] With the emerging 5G technologies also known as new radio (NR), the use of very many transmit- and receive-antenna elements may utilize beamforming, such as transmitside and receive-side beamforming. Transmit-side beamforming means that the transmitter can amplify the transmitted signals in a selected direction or directions, while suppressing the transmitted signals in other directions. Similarly, on the receive-side, a receiver can amplify signals from a selected direction or directions, while suppressing unwanted signals from other directions.

[0009] Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) protocols are used to enhance efficiency of physical channels by quickly providing retransmissions if decoding fails at the receiver. HARQ has been used for both uplink and downlink in 3GPP for both LTE and NR to provide high spectral efficiency and low latency.

[0010] For downlink data transmissions the UE provides feedback in the uplink to indicate to the scheduler if a retransmission is needed or not. This information is typically provided on a physical control channel to provide low latency and high reliability for the feedback. Feedback that is missed could lead to unnecessary retransmissions and reduced spectral efficiency, but feedback that is misinterpreted may result in data not being retransmitted and recovery needed to be performed at higher layers at a significantly higher cost in latency.

[0011] To avoid misinterpretation of the feedback a downlink assignment index (DAI) has been introduced to aid in the detection of missed assignments. This enables the UE to add non-acknowledgements (NACK) for any transmission it can detect that it has missed. The DAI needs to be signaled in each downlink assignment as well as any uplink assignment that may contain Uplink Control Information (UCI) and, to keep the overhead as low as possible, few bits should be used for DAI, with a trade-off that the UE should with low probability miss the number of consecutive downlink control information (DCI) that maximally can be represented by bits used for the DAI.

[0012] SUMMARY

[0013] As part of developing embodiments herein, one or more problems were first identified.

[0014] When the number of DAI bits are low it cannot be guaranteed that wrap-around errors do not happen and the reference between feedback bits and downlink transmissions may be misaligned between the UE and the network. This would result in that feedback for a transmission where the UE has missed the DCI, and hence not decoded the data scheduled by the missed DCI, will instead be represented by an older transmission that may have been successful. Thus, leading to an erroneous interpretation at the network side. In NR / LTE this is not an issue since the feedback timing is indicated in the downlink DCI and the size of the UCI is based on the number of feedbacks provided. But this leads to a complexity in the receiver in understanding how much resources are used for UCI.

[0015] An object of embodiments herein is, thus, to provide a mechanism that improves the performance of a communication network in a more efficient way.

[0016] According to an aspect, the object is achieved by providing a method performed by a receiving device, such as a UE, for handling communication in a communications network. The receiving device receives from a transmitting device, a request for transmission feedback, the request indicating a number of transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested, and / or a time range associated with transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested. The receiving device further transmits a feedback message to the transmitting device, wherein the feedback message comprises transmission feedback for one or more transmissions, and wherein the feedback message conveys one or more of: a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or conveys a number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

[0017] According to another aspect, the object is achieved by providing a method performed by a transmitting device, such as a network node, for handling communication in a communications network. The transmitting device transmits to a receiving device, a request for transmission feedback, the request indicating a number of transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested and / or a time range associated with transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested. The transmitting device further receives a feedback message from the receiving device, wherein the feedback message comprises transmission feedback for one or more transmissions, and wherein the feedback message conveys one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or conveys a number of transmissions associated with the requested time range. The transmitting device processes the feedback message based on the one or more of: a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol conveyed in the feedback message, and / or based on said number of transmissions conveyed in the feedback message.

[0018] It is furthermore provided herein a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods herein, as performed by the receiving device and the transmitting device, respectively. It is additionally provided herein a computer- readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods herein, as performed by the receiving device and the transmitting device, respectively.

[0019] According to a further aspect, the object is achieved by providing a receiving device, such as a UE, for handling communication in a communications network. The receiving device is configured to receive from a transmitting device, a request for transmission feedback, the request indicating a number of transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested, and / or a time range associated with transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested. The receiving device is configured to transmit a feedback message to the transmitting device, wherein the feedback message comprises transmission feedback for one or more transmissions, and wherein the feedback message conveys one or more of: a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or conveys a number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

[0020] According to yet another aspect, the object is achieved by providing a transmitting device, such as a radio network node, for handling communication in a wireless communications network. The transmitting device is configured to transmit to a receiving device, a request for transmission feedback, the request indicating a number of transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested and / or a time range associated with transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested. The transmitting device is further configured to receive a feedback message from the receiving device, wherein the feedback message comprises transmission feedback for one or more transmissions, and wherein the feedback message conveys one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or conveys a number of transmissions associated with the requested time range. The transmitting device is also configured to process the feedback message based on the one or more of: a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol conveyed in the feedback message, and / or based on said number of transmissions conveyed in the feedback message.

[0021] Embodiments herein propose that the receiving device receives a request to provide feedback, for example, HARQ feedback, and the receiving device may build or generate a HARQ feedback message based on detected DAIs of DCIs. The receiving device may then encode and protect the HARQ feedback message based on the where and when the DCIs, upon which the feedback message is based, were received, and / or based on, or associated with, the number of DCIs received over a requested time range or interval, thereby enabling the transmitting device to detect that a DAI wrap-around error has occurred.

[0022] According to embodiments herein a DAI wrap-around error would result in a less severe case where data would not need to be unnecessarily retransmitted and / or a risk of false detection of positive feedback is reduced. Thus, embodiments herein are handling communication in a signalling efficient manner resulting in an improved performance of the communication network.

[0023] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Embodiments will now be described in more detail in relation to the enclosed drawings, in which:

[0025] Fig. 1 is a schematic overview depicting a wireless communication network according to embodiments herein;

[0026] Fig. 2 is a schematic overview depicting a combined signalling scheme and flowchart according to embodiments herein;

[0027] Fig. 3 is a flowchart depicting a method in a receiving device according to embodiments herein;

[0028] Fig. 4 is a flowchart depicting a method in a transmitting device according to embodiments herein; Fig. 5 is an overview of examples for detecting DAI errors, including DAI value wrapped around errors;

[0029] Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart depicting a method according to some embodiments herein;

[0030] Fig. 7 is a block diagram depicting a receiving device according to embodiments herein; and

[0031] Fig. 8 is a block diagram depicting a transmitting device according to embodiments herein;

[0032] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] Embodiments herein are described within the context of 3GPP NR radio technology. It is understood that the problems and solutions described herein are equally applicable to wireless access networks and UEs implementing other access technologies and standards. NR is used as an example technology where embodiments are suitable, and using NR in the description therefore is particularly useful for understanding the problem and solutions solving the problem. In particular, embodiments are applicable also to 6G, 3GPP LTE, or 3GPP LTE and NR integration, also denoted as non-standalone NR.

[0034] Embodiments herein relate to wireless communication networks in general. Fig. 1 is a schematic overview depicting a communication network 1. The communication network 1 comprises one or more access networks (AN) and one or more CNs. The communication network 1 may use one or a number of different technologies, such as WiFi, LTE, LTE-Advanced, 6G, NR, WCDMA, Global System for Mobile communications / enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (GSM / EDGE), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), just to mention a few possible implementations. Embodiments herein relate to recent technology trends that are of particular interest in a 5G context, however, embodiments are also applicable in further development of the existing wireless communication systems such as e.g. 6G, WCDMA and LTE.

[0035] In the communication network 1 , wireless devices e.g. a UE 10, such as a mobile station, a non-access point (non-AP) STA, a STA, a user equipment and / or a wireless terminal, communicate via one or more Access Networks (AN), e.g. RAN, to one or more CN. It should be understood by the skilled in the art that “UE” is a non-limiting term which means any terminal, wireless communication terminal, user equipment, Machine Type Communication (MTC) device, internet of things (loT) capable device, Device to Device (D2D) terminal, or node e.g. smart phone, laptop, mobile phone, sensor, relay, mobile tablets or even a small base station capable of communicating using radio communication with a radio network node within an area served by a radio network node.

[0036] The communication network 1 comprises a radio network node 12 providing radio coverage over a geographical area, a first service area 11, of a radio access technology (RAT), such as NR, LTE, Wi-Fi, WiMAX or similar. The radio network node 12 may be a transmission and reception point e.g. a radio network node such as a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP ST A), an access node, an access controller, a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a NodeB, an evolved Node B (eNB, eNode B), a gNodeB (gNB), a base transceiver station, a radio remote unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point or any other network unit or node capable of communicating with a UE within the area served by the radio network node 12 depending e.g. on the radio access technology and terminology used. The radio network node 12 may alternatively or additionally be a controller node or a packet processing node such as a radio controller node or similar. It should be noted that a service area may be denoted as cell, beam, beam group, or similar, to define an area of radio coverage. The radio network node 12 may be referred to as a serving network node wherein the first service area may be referred to as a serving cell or primary cell, and the serving network node communicates with the UEs in form of DL transmissions to the UEs and UL transmissions from the UEs.

[0037] Embodiments herein relate to a receiving device 110, which may be the UE 10 but may also be another UE or the radio network node 12 depending on requested feedback. Embodiments herein further relate to a transmitting device 120, which may be the radio network node 12 but may also be the UE 10 or another UE depending on requested feedback. However, for simplicity, in the described examples herein the UE 10 is an example of the receiving device 110 and the radio network node 12 is an example of the transmitting device 120.

[0038] The receiving device 110, upon receiving a request for transmission feedback from the transmitting device 120, transmits to the transmitting device 120 a feedback message, wherein the feedback message comprises feedback for one or more transmissions. According to embodiments herein the feedback message conveys one or more of: a time, such as a start time and / or an end time, a frequency, such as an upper and / or lower bound of a frequency allocation, a slot, and a symbol, such as a start symbol and / or an end symbol, pertaining to at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or conveys a number of transmissions associated with the requested time range. The transmission feedback may comprise an indication indicating when and / or where at least one transmission was received, and / or indicating, or being associated with, a number of transmissions scheduled in, received in or transmitted in the requested time range or interval. The indication may comprise a real value, an index value, a coding, a mapping, a function, a CRC value. For example, the feedback message may be encoded or with a CRC attachment based on when and / or where at least one transmission was received, and / or based on a number of transmissions received over the requested time range or interval. For example, a time and / or a frequency resource where the oldest DCI indicated in the report was received can be used to transform the encoding of the feedback message. In a different example, DCIs up to a given time interval, as indicated in the request, for example, from when a first DAI was sent until a present time, are included in the feedback message and the coding or CRC attachment may be based on the number of included DCIs in the feedback message.

[0039] Fig. 2 shows a combined signalling scheme and flowchart according to embodiments herein.

[0040] Action 201. The transmitting device 120, such as the radio network node 12, schedules data transmissions to the receiving device 110 in a number of DCIs that are transmitted to the receiving device 110, which may for example be the UE 10. Each DCI may comprise an identifying indication such as a DAI value. The DAI is an identifier or counter that is used by the transmitting device 120 and the receiving device 110 for keeping track of DCIs, identified by their respective DAI values, and the corresponding transmissions, scheduled by the DCIs, for which feedback may be requested by the transmitting device 120.

[0041] Action 202. The transmitting device 120 transmits a request for transmission feedback to the receiving device 110. For example, the transmitting device 120 may request feedback for transmissions scheduled in a number of DCIs by providing a reference to a number of DAI values to report feedback for, or request feedback for transmissions scheduled, transmitted and / or received in a time interval such as a time interval between a first time to and a second time t1 . The transmission feedback may for example be HARQ feedback.

[0042] Action 203. The receiving device 110 may generate a feedback message such as a HARQ feedback message indicating received DCIs, e.g. by indicating one or more DAI values. The feedback message may comprise an indication of decoding results for the data scheduled by the received DCIs. The receiving device 110 may derive a bit sequence for the feedback message based on the request and received DCIs containing DAI values.

[0043] Action 204. The receiving device 110 then transmits the feedback message to the transmitting device 120. The feedback message conveys one or more of: a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to at least one of the data transmissions scheduled by the DCIs and / or conveys a number of data transmissions associated with the requested time range, e.g. in terms of a number of data transmissions scheduled, transmitted and / or received within the requested time range, as seen by the receiving device 110. Thus, the feedback message may comprise an indication indicating when and / or where at least one transmission was received, and / or indicating, or being associated with, a number of transmissions scheduled in, received in or transmitted in the requested time range or interval. The feedback message may comprise one or more values, e.g. number of wrap-arounds or a time reference, a CRC, be scrambled, coded and / or mapped to certain resources, indicating when and / or where at least one transmission was received, and / or indicating a number of transmissions scheduled in, received in or transmitted in the requested time range or interval.

[0044] Action 205. The transmitting device 120 may then, based on the one or more of: the time, the frequency, the slot and the symbol conveyed in the feedback message, and / or based on said number of data transmissions conveyed in the feedback message, process the feedback message. As an example, the transmitting device 120 may process the feedback message based on the one or more values, the CRC, the scrambling, coding and / or mapping to certain resources, to determine whether to use the feedback message or to ignore the feedback message. The transmitting device 120 may attempt decoding the feedback message using one or more hypotheses.

[0045] The method actions performed by the receiving device 110 for handling communication in the communications network 1 according to embodiments herein will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 3. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below. Dashed boxes indicate optional features.

[0046] Action 300. The receiving device 110 may receive a number of DCIs scheduling data transmissions for the receiving device 110 may further receive one or more downlink data transmissions scheduled by the DCIs. Action 301 . The receiving device 110 receives from the transmitting device 120, a request for transmission feedback, wherein the request indicates a number of transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested, and / or a time range associated with transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested. The request for transmission feedback may be included in a DCI, and the DCI may indicate a number of DAI values to report feedback for and / or the time range to report feedback for. Each DAI value may correspond to a respective transmission out of the number of transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested. The time range to report feedback for may be the time range associated with transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested.

[0047] The request may indicate the number of DAI values to report feedback for and / or the time range to report feedback for. The request may comprise a start, and / or an end, DAI value and / or a number of consecutive DAI values and / or DAI values represented by a bitset or bit-sequence or by other means. In some embodiments the number of bits to encode in the feedback, e.g. the HARQ feedback, is included in the DCI implicitly or explicitly. In some embodiments the number of bits is dependent on the number of requested DAIs or DAI values to provide feedback for.

[0048] Action 302. The receiving device 110 further transmits the feedback message to the transmitting device, wherein the feedback message comprises transmission feedback for one or more transmissions, and wherein the feedback message conveys one or more of a time such as a start time and / or an end time, a frequency such as an upper and / or lower bound of a frequency allocation, a slot and a symbol such as a start symbol and / or an end symbol, pertaining to at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or conveys a number of transmissions associated with the requested time range. The transmission feedback comprised in the feedback message may comprise coded feedback and / or a CRC value, wherein a coding of the coded feedback or the CRC value differs depending on the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or depending on said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range. The feedback message may be channel coded or mapped to one or more physical resources based on the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or based on said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range. The feedback message may be scrambled with a bit-sequence derived from the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or derived from said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range. The one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions may be associated with a starting time or an ending time and / or a frequency allocation of the at least one transmission and / or of a control message scheduling the at least one transmission. The at least one transmission may be an earliest transmission of the one or more transmissions. For example, the receiving device 110 may transmit the feedback message to the transmitting device 120, wherein the feedback message may comprise feedback for one or more transmissions, and wherein the feedback message may further comprise an indication indicating when and / or where at least one transmission was received, and / or indicating, or being associated with, a number of transmissions scheduled in, received in or transmitted in the requested time range. Associated with the number of transmissions scheduled in, received in or transmitted in the requested time range means for example, that the indication may be a function of the number of received DCIs and the number of DCIs detected by the receiving device 110 as missed. For example, the receiving device 110 may signal floor or ceil of the expression #DCIs I 2A#DAI-bits, or something similar. The feedback message may comprise coded feedback and / or a CRC value, wherein the coding or the CRC value differs dependent on when and / or where a DCI, or a data transmission scheduled by the DCI, that is represented in the feedback message is received, and / or the number of transmissions scheduled in, received in or transmitted in the requested time range. The feedback message may be channel coded or mapped to one or more physical resources based on when and / or where a DCI, or a data transmission scheduled by the DCI, that is represented in the feedback message is received, and / or the number of transmissions scheduled in, received in or transmitted in the requested time range. The feedback message may be scrambled with a bit-sequence derived from a time value related to an oldest or earliest DCI represented in the feedback message.

[0049] The method actions performed by the transmitting device 120 for handling communication in the communications network 1 according to embodiments herein will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 4. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below. Dashed boxes indicate optional features.

[0050] Action 400. The transmitting device 120 may transmit a number of DCIs scheduling data transmissions for the receiving device 110. The transmitting device 120 may further transmit the data transmissions scheduled by the DCIs to the receiving device 110.

[0051] Action 401. The transmitting device 120 transmits to the receiving device 110, a request for transmission feedback, wherein the request indicates a number of transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested and / or a time range associated with transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested. The request for transmission feedback may be included in a DCI, and the DCI may indicate a number of DAI values to report feedback for and / or the time range to report feedback for. Each DAI value may correspond to a respective transmission out of the number of transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested. The time range to report feedback for may be the time range associated with transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested.

[0052] Action 402. The transmitting device 120 receives a feedback message from the receiving device 110, wherein the feedback message comprises transmission feedback for one or more transmissions, and wherein the feedback message conveys one or more of a time such as a start time and / or an end time, a frequency such as an upper and / or lower bound of a frequency allocation, a slot and a symbol such as a start symbol and / or an end symbol, pertaining to at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or conveys a number of transmissions associated with the requested time range. The transmission feedback comprised in the feedback message may comprise coded feedback and / or a CRC value, wherein a coding of the coded feedback or the CRC value differs depending on the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or depending on said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range. The feedback message may be channel coded or mapped to one or more physical resources based on the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or based on said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range. The feedback message may be scrambled with a bit-sequence derived from the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or derived from said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range. The one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions may be associated with a starting time or an ending time and / or a frequency allocation of the at least one transmission and / or of a control message scheduling the at least one transmission. The at least one transmission to which the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertains may be an earliest transmission of the one or more transmissions.

[0053] Thus, the feedback message may comprise feedback for one or more transmissions, and the feedback message may further comprise an indication indicating when and / or where at least one transmission was received, and / or indicating, or be associated with, a number of transmissions scheduled in, received in or transmitted in the requested time range. The feedback message may comprise coded feedback and / or an added CRC value, wherein the coding or the CRC value differs dependent on when and / or where a DCI, or a data transmission scheduled by the DCI, that is represented in the feedback message is received, and / or the number of transmissions scheduled in, received in or transmitted in the requested time range. The feedback message may be channel coded or mapped to one or more physical resources based on when and / or where a DCI, or a data transmission scheduled by the DCI, that is represented in the feedback message is received, and / or the number of transmissions received over the requested time range. The feedback message may be scrambled with a bit-sequence derived from a time value related to an oldest or earliest DCI represented in the feedback message.

[0054] Action 403. The transmitting device 120 may obtain the one or more of: a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions, and / or the number of transmissions associated with the requested time range from the feedback message. The one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or the number of transmissions associated with the requested time range may be obtained by applying one or more hypotheses and attempt decoding for each hypothesis; or by performing a single decoding and applying one or more CRC-hypotheses to derive the one or more of the time, the frequency, the slot and the symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or the number of transmissions associated with the requested time range. At least one hypothesis of the one or more hypotheses may assume that at least one transmission out of the transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested has been missed, for example, missed by the receiving device 110. The transmitting device may perform a blind detection process, where the transmitting device 120 tries to decode with the assumption that at least one of the DCIs that impact the transmission has been missed. Action 404. The transmitting device 120 processes the feedback message based on the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol conveyed in the feedback message, and / or based on said number of transmissions conveyed in the feedback message. The transmitting device 120 processing the feedback message may include the transmitting device 120 dropping the feedback message when the at least one hypothesis assuming that at least one transmission out of the transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested has been missed results in successful decoding of the feedback message. The transmitting device 120 processing the feedback message may include dropping the feedback message when the indicated when and / or where the at least one transmission was received, and / or the indicated number of transmissions scheduled in, received in or transmitted in the requested time range in the feedback message differs from an expected number of transmissions and / or expected when and / or where the at least one transmission was received.

[0055] According to embodiments herein feedback may be requested for a number of transmissions. For example, HARQ feedback may be requested in a DCI by providing a reference to a number of DAI values to report HARQ feedback for. The request could be in the form of a start, and / or an end, DAI value and / or a number of consecutive DAI values and / or DAI values represented by a bit set or bit-sequence or by other means. The number of bits to encode in the HARQ feedback may be included in the DCI implicitly or explicitly. For example, the number of bits may be dependent on the number of requested DAIs or DAI values to provide feedback for.

[0056] The request may comprise a DCI scheduling HARQ feedback, such as a grant for uplink control information, UCI-DCI, where the UCI-DCI comprises a size indication of the size of the HARQ feedback, in number of bits to encode, and / or a request indication of the number of downlink assignments, DL-DCIs, to include in this HARQ feedback instance. The request indication of number of DL-DCIs to include may be expressed as a number of DAI-values, and a starting point to count from.

[0057] It should be noted that typically it is not the actual DL-DCIs that are included in the HARQ feedback report from the receiving device 110 but the decoding result for the data scheduled by the DL-DCI, but herein this is still expressed as the DL-DCI being included in the report to simplify terminology.

[0058] The receiving device 110 derives the bit sequence of the HARQ feedback based on the request and received DCIs containing DAI values. Additional bits for detection of errors in the decoded results, typically using parity checks, such as using CRC, may be added. The bit sequence may then be passed through a channel encoder and finally mapped to radio resources in time and frequency.

[0059] According to embodiments herein the indication indicating when and / or where at least one transmission was received may comprise that one or multiple steps in the process after the computation of the HARQ codebook is modified based on, for example, the time and / or frequency occasion where at least one of the DCIs the feedback is for was received. For example, the coding or the CRC may differ dependent on where a DCI that is represented in the report is received, for example, in time and / or frequency. As an example, the coding or the CRC may be based on a search space (SS) where the oldest or earliest DCI that is included in the feedback was received.

[0060] The CRC may be scrambled with a value derived from the time when the oldest received included DCI in the codebook was received, age may be counted in time or in number of search spaces where search spaces also may be counted in time, frequency and / or spatial domains. This solution has the benefit that the receiver of the feedback message, i.e., the transmitting device 120, only needs to perform a single decoding, and then only apply a few, for example two, CRC-hypotheses to derive what has been transmitted.

[0061] The feedback message may be encoded without CRC, and then the feedback message may be channel coded or mapped to physical resources based on the age of the oldest received DL-DCI included in the UCI, i.e. in the feedback message. Also, here the age may be counted in time or in number of search spaces. The encoded bits may be scrambled with a bit-sequence derived from the age of the oldest DL-DCI included in the UCI. The receiver of the feedback message, such as the transmitting device 120, may here apply different hypotheses before decoding and attempt decoding for each hypothesis, which may be more suitable from a complexity point of view when the number of hypotheses is low.

[0062] According to some embodiments the request may be for feedback indicating, or being associated with, a number of transmissions received over a requested time range. In this embodiment the number of DAIs to include in the feedback message is not given by the UCI-DCI, the UCI-DCI may instead specify a range of potential locations for transmissions to include, e.g. by providing a range in time and / or frequency (carriers) to provide feedback for. The number of bits to include in the feedback message may be given by the UCI-DCI, potentially dependent on the size of the range. The physical resource available for the feedback message may be given and the number of bits may be dependent on the number of detected DL-DCIs.

[0063] According to embodiments herein the indication indicating the number of transmissions received over the requested time range may comprise that one or multiple steps in the process after the computation of the HARQ codebook is modified based on, for example the number of included DCIs, instead of the age of one of them, including or excluding not decoded DCIs, i.e., missed DCIs, that the UE has derived based on DAI sequence of values. The number of times the DAI value has wrapped around may be used as an input to the CRC or encoding of the feedback message.

[0064] Fig. 5 shows a schematic overview depicting three examples illustrating how detection of DAI errors, including DAI-wrapped around errors, is possible. In the examples, there are three component carriers (CC), each having a respective search space (SS) where a DCI scheduling a data transmission may have occurred in time slots N, N-1 , N-2, N-3 (first examples) or in time slots N, N-1 , N-2, N-3, N-4 (second example) or in time slots N, N-1 , N-2, N-3, N-4, N-5 (third example). In the examples, the receiving device 110 has received a request for transmission feedback for a number of transmissions, e.g. the five transmissions received up to time slot N, and with a start value for DAI being 0. The receiving device 110 starts from time slot N and CC where the DCI having DAI=0 was received and checks, e.g. as in these examples, backwards in time and in CC\SS, for each of the time slots, the respective SS of the CC to see if a DCI scheduling a data transmission was received. In the examples, a DCI that is found to have been received by the receiving device 110 is indicated by “ACK” and a DCI that is found NOT to have been received, i.e. that has been missed, by the receiving device 110 is indicated by “NACK”. The receiving device 110 expects the DAI values of the DCIs to be in sequence going backwards, i.e. the DCI preceding the DCI in time slot N having DAI=0 is expected to have DAI=3, preceded by a DCI with DAI=2, which is preceded by a DCI with DA , which is preceded by a DCI with DAI=0.

[0065] Now looking at the first example in Figure 5, it can be seen that the receiving device 110 has not received the DCI in time slot N-1 , so the first DCI found when going backwards from CC\SS 3 in time slot N is the DCI with DAI=2 in time slot N-2. This enables the receiving device to detect that the DCI with DAI=3, that should have been received in-between the DCI with DAI=2 in time slot N-2 and the DCI with DAI=0 in time slot N, has been missed. The receiving device 110 reports feedback for all five transmissions for which feedback was requested by the transmitting device 120, reporting NACK for the transmission corresponding to the missed DCI. The feedback message, such as an UCI, is scrambled with a value K, where K is derived as the number of search spaces (SS), counted from the highest SS in the reference SS occasion, which is time slot N in this example, backwards until including the SS of the last ACKed DCI for which feedback is included in the feedback message. In this case K=12, since the last included ACKed DCI is the DCI with DAI=0 in SS\CC 1 in time slot N-3, which is SS number 12. The transmitting device 120 will then, when trying the hypothesis that the feedback message has been scrambled with K=12 get a correct decoding result.

[0066] In the second example in Figure 5, the receiving device 110 has, in addition to the missed DCI with DAI=3, also missed the earliest DCI, which corresponds to the first of the five transmissions that feedback is requested for, having DAI=0. Instead the receiving device 110 finds, as a fifth DCI, the one received in time slot N-4 with DAI=3. This enables the receiving device 110 to detect that the DCI with DAI=0, that should have been received in-between the DCI with DAI=3 in time slot N-4 and the DCI with DAI=1 in time slot N-3, has been missed. The receiving device 110 reports feedback for all five transmissions for which feedback was requested by the transmitting device 120, reporting NACK for the transmission corresponding to the two missed DCIs. Again, the feedback message, such as an UCI, is scrambled with a value K, where K is derived as the number of search spaces (SS), counted from the highest SS in the reference SS occasion, which is time slot N in this example, backwards until including the SS of the last included ACKed DCI. In this case K=11 , since the last included ACKed DCI is the DCI with DAI=1 in SS\CC 2 in time slot N-3, which is SS number 11 . The transmitting device 120 will then, if trying the hypothesis that the feedback message has been scrambled with K=12 NOT get a correct decoding result. However, if the transmitting device 120 then tries the hypothesis that the feedback message has been scrambled with K=11 , the decoding result will be correct and feedback is received for all five transmissions for which feedback was requested. Note that the scrambling with the value K serves to enable the transmitting device 120 to detect that the feedback is erroneous also when the receiving device 110 has not been able to detect a missed DCI. This may for example be the case if the DAI value of the DCI in time slot N-4 is 0 instead of 3 (which is a possible choice of the transmitting device120). The feedback message, such as an UCI, transmitted by the receiving device 110 will then be scrambled with a value K=13, which is the SS number of the last included ACKed DCI, i.e. the DCI in SS\CC 3 in time slot N-4. The transmitting device 120 will then NOT, if trying any of the hypothesis that would be expected to be correct in view of the transmissions for which feedback was requested, such as the hypotheses K=12 and K=11 , get a correct decoding result. The transmitting device 120 may then discard the feedback message and schedule re-transmissions.

[0067] Finally, the third example in Figure 5 shows a situation where four consecutive DCIs have been missed, such that, instead of reporting feedback for the five transmissions scheduled by the DCIs in time slots N-3 to N, the receiving device 110 will, in addition to reporting feedback for the transmission scheduled by the DCI with DAI=0 in time slot N, report feedback for the transmissions scheduled by the DCIs with DAI=3, 2 and 1 in time slot N-4 and the DCI with DAI=0 in time slot N-5. The receiving device 110 cannot detect the wrap-around error that occurs when consecutive DCIs having DAI values that span the whole DAI sequence are missed. The feedback message, such as an UCI, transmitted by the receiving device 110 will in this example be scrambled with a value K=16, which is the SS number of the last included ACKed DCI, i.e. the DCI in SS\CC 3 in time slot N-5. The transmitting device 120 will then NOT, if trying any of the hypothesis that would be expected to be correct in view of the transmissions for which feedback was requested, such as the hypotheses K=12 and K=11 , get a correct decoding result. The transmitting device 120 may then discard the feedback message and schedule re-transmissions.

[0068] Fig. 6 shows a schematic overview depicting a flowchart according to an example of embodiments herein, wherein one DAI bit is used and with two consecutive PDCCH errors. The oldest search-space is included and used to scramble CRC to indicate when oldest transmission, for which the feedback message includes feedback, was received.

[0069] Action 601. The transmitting device 120, being exemplified as a base station, transmits a first DL-DCI transmission, a, with DAI value 0, a second DL-DCI transmission, b, with DAI value 1 , a third DL-DCI transmission, c, with DAI value 0, and a fourth DL-DCI transmission, d, with DAI value 1. The receiving device 110, being exemplified as a UE, decodes the first DL-DCI transmission and the fourth DL-DCI transmission, but misses the second DL-DCI transmission and the third DL-DCI transmission.

[0070] Action 602. The transmitting device 120 may then transmit a request for feedback to the receiving device 110, wherein the request comprises a UL scheduling message such as an UCI-DCI. The request indicates number of DAI values requested #DAI=2, and requested start value for the DAI, in this example DA .

[0071] Action 603. The receiving device 110 then transmits the feedback message such as an UCI for the first DL-DCI transmission and the fourth DL-DCI transmission, a and d. The feedback message is CRC processed with a CRC value that is scrambled with a SS for the first DL-DCI transmission, a.

[0072] Action 604. The transmitting device 120 may, however, while expecting that the oldest transmission for which the feedback message includes feedback is the third DL- DCI transmission, c, use the SS for the third DL-DCI transmission to descramble CRC, and therefore detects an error and may drop the feedback message and schedule retransmission.

[0073] Fig. 7 is a block diagram depicting the receiving device 110 for handling communication in the communications network according to embodiments herein.

[0074] The receiving device 110 may comprise processing circuitry 701 , e.g., one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

[0075] The receiving device 110 and / or the processing circuitry 701 is configured to receive from the transmitting device 120, the request for transmission feedback. The request indicates the number of transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested, and / or the time range associated with transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested.

[0076] The receiving device 110 and / or the processing circuitry 701 is configured to transmit the feedback message to the transmitting device 120, wherein the feedback message comprises transmission feedback for one or more transmissions, and wherein the feedback message conveys one or more of: the time such as a start time and / or an end time, the frequency such as an upper and / or lower bound of a frequency allocation, the slot and the symbol such as a start symbol and / or an end symbol, pertaining to at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or conveys the number of transmissions associated with the requested time range. The transmission feedback comprised in the feedback message may comprise coded feedback and / or a CRC value, wherein the coding of the coded feedback or the CRC value may differ depending on the one or more of: the time, the frequency, the slot and the symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or depending on said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

[0077] The receiving device 110 and / or the processing circuitry 701 may be configured to channel code or map the feedback message to one or more physical resources based on the one or more of: the time, the frequency, the slot and the symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or based on said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range. The receiving device 110 and / or the processing circuitry 701 may be configured to scramble the feedback message with the bit-sequence derived from the one or more of: the time, the frequency, the slot and the symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or derived from said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

[0078] The request for transmission feedback may be included in the DCI, and the DCI may indicate the number of DAI values to report feedback for and / or the time range to report feedback for. Each DAI value may correspond to a respective transmission out of the number of transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested. The time range to report feedback for may be the time range associated with transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested.

[0079] The one or more of: the time, the frequency, the slot and the symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions may be associated with the starting time or the ending time and / or the frequency allocation of the at least one transmission or of the control message scheduling the at least one transmission.

[0080] The at least one transmission may be the earliest transmission of the one or more transmissions.

[0081] The receiving device 110 may comprise a memory 705. The memory 705 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as data packets, indications, messages, DAI values, information, events and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. Furthermore, the receiving device 110 may comprise a communication interface 706 such as comprising a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver and / or one or more antennas.

[0082] The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the receiving device 110 are respectively implemented by means of e.g. a computer program product 707 or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e., software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the receiving device 110. The computer program product 707 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 708, e.g., a disc, a universal serial bus (USB) stick or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 708, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the receiving device 110. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose the receiving device 110 for handling communication in the communications network, wherein receiving device 110 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said receiving device 110 is operative to perform any of the methods herein.

[0083] Fig. 8 is a block diagram depicting the transmitting device 120 for handling communication in the communications network according to embodiments herein.

[0084] The transmitting device 120 may comprise processing circuitry 801 , e.g., one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

[0085] The transmitting device 120 and / or the processing circuitry 801 is configured to transmit to the receiving device 110, the request for transmission feedback. The request indicates the number of transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested, and / or the time range associated with transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested.

[0086] The transmitting device 120 and / or the processing circuitry 801 is configured to receive the feedback message from the receiving device 110, wherein the feedback message comprises transmission feedback for one or more transmissions, and wherein the feedback message conveys one or more of: the time such as a start time and / or an end time, the frequency such as an upper and / or lower bound of a frequency allocation, the slot and the symbol such as a start symbol and / or an end symbol, pertaining to at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or conveys the number of transmissions associated with the requested time range. The transmission feedback comprised in the feedback message may comprise coded feedback and / or a CRC value, wherein the coding of the coded feedback or the CRC value may differ depending on the one or more of: the time, the frequency, the slot and the symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or depending on said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

[0087] The transmitting device 120 and / or the processing circuitry 801 is configured to process the feedback message based on the one or more of the time, the frequency, the slot and the symbol conveyed in the feedback message, and / or based on said number of transmissions conveyed in the feedback message

[0088] The transmitting device 120 and / or the processing circuitry 801 may be configured to obtain the one or more of the time, the frequency, the slot and the symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or the number of transmissions associated with the requested time range from the feedback message. The transmitting device 120 and / or the processing circuitry 801 may be configured to obtain the one or more of the time, the frequency, the slot and the symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or the number of transmissions associated with the requested time range by applying the one or more hypotheses and attempt decoding for each hypothesis; or by performing the single decoding and applying one or more CRC-hypotheses to derive the one or more of the time, the frequency, the slot and the symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or the number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

[0089] The at least one hypothesis of the one or more hypotheses may assume that at least one transmission, out of the transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested, has been missed.

[0090] The transmitting device 120 and / or the processing circuitry 801 may be configured to process the feedback message in that the transmitting device 120 is configured to drop the feedback message when the at least one hypothesis assuming that at least one transmission out of the transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested has been missed results in successful decoding of the feedback message.

[0091] The feedback message may be channel coded or mapped to one or more physical resources based on the one or more of the time, the frequency, the slot and the symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions, and / or based on said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

[0092] The feedback message may be scrambled with the bit-sequence derived from the one or more of: the time, the frequency, the slot and the symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions, and / or derived from said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

[0093] The request for transmission feedback may be included in the DCI, and the DCI may indicate the number of DAI values to report feedback for and / or the time range to report feedback for. Each DAI value may correspond to a respective transmission out of the number of transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested. The time range to report feedback for may be the time range associated with transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested.

[0094] The one or more of: the time, the frequency, the slot and the symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions may be associated with the starting time or the ending time and / or the frequency allocation of the at least one transmission or of the control message scheduling the at least one transmission. The at least one transmission to which the one or more of: the time, the frequency, the slot and the symbol pertains may be the earliest transmission of the one or more transmissions.

[0095] The transmitting device 120 may comprise a memory 805. The memory 805 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as data packets, indications, messages, DAI values, information, events and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. Furthermore, the transmitting device 120 may comprise a communication interface 806 such as comprising a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver and / or one or more antennas.

[0096] The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the transmitting device 120 are respectively implemented by means of e.g. a computer program product 807 or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e., software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the transmitting device 120. The computer program product 807 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 808, e.g., a disc, a universal serial bus (USB) stick or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 808, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the transmitting device 120. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose the transmitting device 120 for handling communication in the communications network, wherein transmitting device 120 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said transmitting device 120 is operative to perform any of the methods herein.

[0097] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0098] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0099] In some embodiments a more general term “network node” is used and it can correspond to any type of radio network node or any network node, which communicates with a wireless device and / or with another network node. Examples of network nodes are NodeB, Master eNB, Secondary eNB, a network node belonging to Master cell group (MCG) or Secondary Cell Group (SCG), base station (BS), multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, eNodeB, network controller, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), relay, donor node controlling relay, base transceiver station (BTS), access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, Remote Radio Unit (RRU), Remote Radio Head (RRH), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node e.g. Mobility Switching Centre (MSC), Mobile Management Entity (MME) etc., Operation and Maintenance (O&M), Operation Support System (OSS), SelfOrganizing Network (SON), positioning node e.g. Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centre (E-SMLC), Minimizing Drive Test (MDT), etc.

[0100] In some embodiments, the non-limiting term wireless device or user equipment (UE) is used and it refers to any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and / or with another UE in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UE are target device, device-to-device (D2D) UE, proximity capable UE (aka ProSe UE), machine type UE or UE capable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, PDA, PAD, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles etc.

[0101] The embodiments are described for 5G. However, the embodiments are applicable to any RAT or multi-RAT systems, where the UE receives and / or transmit signals (e.g. data) e.g. LTE, LTE FDD / TDD, WCDMA / HSPA, GSM / GERAN, Wi Fi, WLAN, CDMA2000 etc.

[0102] As will be readily understood by those familiar with communications design, functions means or modules may be implemented using digital logic and / or one or more microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other digital hardware. In some embodiments, several or all of the various functions may be implemented together, such as in a single application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or in two or more separate devices with appropriate hardware and / or software interfaces between them. Several of the functions may be implemented on a processor shared with other functional components of a wireless device or network node, for example.

[0103] Alternatively, several of the functional elements of the processing means discussed may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware, while others are provided with hardware for executing software, in association with the appropriate software or firmware. Thus, the term “processor” or “controller” as used herein does not exclusively refer to hardware capable of executing software and may implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, read-only memory (ROM) for storing software, random-access memory for storing software and / or program or application data, and non-volatile memory. Other hardware, conventional and / or custom, may also be included. Designers of communications devices will appreciate the cost, performance, and maintenance trade-offs inherent in these design choices.

[0104] It will be appreciated that the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings represent non-limiting examples of the methods and apparatus taught herein. As such, the apparatus and techniques taught herein are not limited by the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Instead, the embodiments herein are limited only by the following claims and their legal equivalents.

Claims

CLAIMS1 . A method performed by a receiving device (110) for handling communication in a communications network, the method comprising:- receiving (301) from a transmitting device (120), a request for transmission feedback, the request indicating a number of transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested, and / or a time range associated with transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested; and- transmitting (302) a feedback message to the transmitting device, wherein the feedback message comprises transmission feedback for one or more transmissions, and wherein the feedback message conveys one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or conveys a number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the transmission feedback comprised in the feedback message comprises coded feedback and / or a cyclic redundancy check, CRC, value, wherein a coding of the coded feedback or the CRC value differs depending on the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or depending on said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the feedback message is channel coded or mapped to one or more physical resources based on the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or based on said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the feedback message is scrambled with a bit-sequence derived from the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or derived from said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the request for transmission feedback is included in a downlink control information, DCI, andwherein the DCI indicates a number of downlink assignment index, DAI, values to report feedback for and / or the time range to report feedback for.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions is associated with a starting time or an ending time and / or a frequency allocation of the at least one transmission or of a control message scheduling the at least one transmission.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein the at least one transmission is an earliest transmission of the one or more transmissions.

8. A method performed by a transmitting device (120) for handling communication in a communications network, the method comprising:- transmitting (401) to a receiving device (110), a request for transmission feedback, the request indicating a number of transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested and / or a time range associated with transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested;- receiving (402) a feedback message from the receiving device, wherein the feedback message comprises transmission feedback for one or more transmissions, and wherein the feedback message conveys one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or conveys a number of transmissions associated with the requested time range; and- processing (404) the feedback message based on the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol conveyed in the feedback message, and / or based on said number of transmissions conveyed in the feedback message.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising:- obtaining (403), from the feedback message, the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or the number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission ofthe one or more transmissions and / or the number of transmissions associated with the requested time range is / are obtained by applying one or more hypotheses and attempt decoding for each hypothesis; or by performing a single decoding and applying one or more cyclic redundancy check, CRC, - hypotheses to derive the one or more of the time, the frequency, the slot and the symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or the number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein at least one hypothesis of the one or more hypotheses assumes that at least one transmission out of the transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested has been missed.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein processing the feedback message comprises dropping the feedback message when the at least one hypothesis assuming that at least one transmission out of the transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested has been missed results in successful decoding of the feedback message.

13. The method according to any one of claims 8-12, wherein the transmission feedback comprised in the feedback message comprises coded feedback and / or a cyclic redundancy check, CRC, value, wherein a coding of the coded feedback or the CRC value differs depending on the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or depending on said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

14. The method according to any one of claims 8-13, wherein the feedback message is channel coded or mapped to one or more physical resources based on the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or based on said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

15. The method according to any one of claims 8-14, wherein the feedback message is scrambled with a bit-sequence derived from the one or more of atime, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or derived from said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

16. The method according to any one of claims 8-15, wherein the request for transmission feedback is included in a downlink control information, DCI, and wherein the DCI indicates a number of downlink assignment index, DAI, values to report feedback for and / or the time range to report feedback for.

17. The method according to any one of claims 8-16, wherein the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions is associated with a starting time or an ending time and / or a frequency allocation of the at least one transmission or of a control message scheduling the at least one transmission.

18. The method according to any one of claims 8-17, wherein the at least one transmission to which the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertains is an earliest transmission of the one or more transmissions.

19. A receiving device (110) for handling communication in a communications network, wherein the receiving device (110) is configured to: receive from a transmitting device (120), a request for transmission feedback, the request indicating a number of transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested, and / or a time range associated with transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested; and transmit a feedback message to the transmitting device (120), wherein the feedback message comprises transmission feedback for one or more transmissions, and wherein the feedback message conveys one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or conveys a number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

20. The receiving device (110) according to claim 19, wherein the transmission feedback comprised in the feedback message comprises coded feedback and / or a cyclic redundancy check, CRC, value, wherein a coding of the coded feedback or the CRC value differs depending on the one or more of a time, afrequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or depending on said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.21 . The receiving device (110) according to claim 19 or 20, wherein the receiving device (110) is configured to channel code or map the feedback message to one or more physical resources based on the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or based on said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

22. The receiving device (110) according to any one of claims 19-21 , wherein the receiving device (110) is configured to scramble the feedback message with a bit-sequence derived from the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or derived from said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

23. The receiving device (110) according to any one of claims 19-22, wherein the request for transmission feedback is included in a downlink control information, DCI, and wherein the DCI indicates a number of downlink assignment index, DAI, values to report feedback for and / or the time range to report feedback for.

24. The receiving device (110) according to any one of claims 19-23, wherein the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions is associated with a starting time or an ending time and / or a frequency allocation of the at least one transmission or of a control message scheduling the at least one transmission.

25. The receiving device (110) according to any one of claims 19-24, wherein the at least one transmission is an earliest transmission of the one or more transmissions.

26. A transmitting device (120) for handling communication in a communications network, wherein the transmitting device is configured to:transmit to a receiving device (110), a request for transmission feedback, the request indicating a number of transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested and / or a time range associated with transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested; receive a feedback message from the receiving device, wherein the feedback message comprises transmission feedback for one or more transmissions, and wherein the feedback message conveys one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or conveys a number of transmissions associated with the requested time range; and process the feedback message based on the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol conveyed in the feedback message, and / or based on said number of transmissions conveyed in the feedback message.

27. The transmitting device (120) according to claim 26, wherein the transmitting device (120) is further configured to: obtain, from the feedback message, the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or the number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

28. The transmitting device (120) according to claim 27, wherein the transmitting device (120) is configured to obtain the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or the number of transmissions associated with the requested time range by applying one or more hypotheses and attempt decoding for each hypothesis; or by performing a single decoding and applying one or more cyclic redundancy check, CRC, -hypotheses to derive the one or more of the time, the frequency, the slot and the symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or the number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

29. The transmitting device (120) according to claim 28, wherein at least one hypothesis of the one or more hypotheses assumes that at least onetransmission out of the transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested has been missed.

30. The transmitting device (120) according to claim 29, wherein the transmitting device (120) being configured to process the feedback message comprises the transmitting device (120) being configured to drop the feedback message when the at least one hypothesis assuming that at least one transmission out of the transmissions for which transmission feedback is requested has been missed results in successful decoding of the feedback message.31 . The transmitting device (120) according to any one of claims 26-30, wherein the transmission feedback comprised in the feedback message comprises coded feedback and / or a cyclic redundancy check, CRC, value, wherein a coding of the coded feedback or the CRC value differs depending on the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions and / or depending on said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

32. The transmitting device (120) according to any one of claims 26-31 , wherein the feedback message is channel coded or mapped to one or more physical resources based on the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions, and / or based on said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

33. The transmitting device (120) according to any one of claims 26-32, wherein the feedback message is scrambled with a bit-sequence derived from the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions, and / or derived from said number of transmissions associated with the requested time range.

34. The transmitting device (120) according to any one of claims 26-33, wherein the request for transmission feedback is included in a downlink control information, DCI, and wherein the DCI indicates a number of downlink assignment index, DAI, values to report feedback for and / or the time range to report feedback for.

35. The transmitting device (120) according to any one of the claims 26-34, wherein the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertaining to the at least one transmission of the one or more transmissions is associated with a starting time or an ending time and / or a frequency allocation of the at least one transmission or of a control message scheduling the at least one transmission.

36. The transmitting device (120) according to any one of claims 26-35, wherein the at least one transmission to which the one or more of a time, a frequency, a slot and a symbol pertains is an earliest transmission of the one or more transmissions.

37. A computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the claims 1-18, as performed by the receiving device and the transmitting device, respectively.

38. A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the claims 1-18, as performed by the receiving device and the transmitting device, respectively.

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