Symbol based uplink retransmissions

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed that relate to an efficient retransmission scheme for a telecommunications network In one embodiment, a method performed by a User Equipment (UE) comprises transmitting, to a network node, an uplink transmission associated to a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) process, the uplink transmission comprising a set of Code Block Bundles (CBBs). The method further comprises receiving an uplink grant for a retransmission for the HARQ process, the uplink grant comprising an indication of whether HARQ feedback (HARQ-FB) information is present. The method further comprises, if the HARQ-FB information is present, transmitting an uplink transmission comprising a retransmission of a subset of the set of CBBs indicated by the HARQ-FB information in accordance with the uplink grant and otherwise, if the HARQ-FB information is not present, performing another retransmission action(s).

Description

[0001] SYMBOL BASED UPLINK RETRANSMISSIONS

[0002] RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0003] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 755,734, filed February 7, 2025, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0004] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0005] The present disclosure relates to a mobile communications network and, more specifically, uplink retransmissions in a mobile network.

[0006] BACKGROUND

[0007] The 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) 5thGeneration (5G) user-plane architecture and protocols are described with help of Figure 1. A User Equipment (UE) is connected over the air via the Uu protocol with the Radio Access Network (RAN) gNodeB (gNB). The gNB may be separated into Distributed Unit (DU) and Centralized Unit (CU), connected via Fl interface. The gNB is connected to the Core Network (CN) including the User-Plane Function (UPF). Typically, Internet Protocol (IP) data is transported via UE-gNB-UPF. The RAN protocol stack between UE and gNB includes the Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) protocol, for handling mapping of Quality of Service (QoS) flows as established by the UPF to Data Radio Bearers (DRBs) as established by the gNB. The Protocol Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) is among others responsible for encryption / integrity protection and handover forwarding and retransmission. For handovers between gNBs the Xn interface is employed. The Radio Link Control (RLC) is among others responsible for segmentation of higher layer PDCP / IP data to fitting the Transport Blocks (TBs) available for the lower layer over the air transmission. Also, retransmissions are based on Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) in acknowledged mode of RLC. The Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol supports scheduling of transmissions over the air and entails the Hybrid Automated Repeat Request (HARQ) protocol. The Physical layer (PHY) handles e.g. modulation and coding and the actual physical transmission.

[0008] In 3GPP radio access networks, e.g. 5G New Radio (NR), the HARQ protocol facilitates retransmissions of data in case of transmission errors over the air. A HARQ entity maintains multiple HARQ processes for data transmission.

[0009] In regard to 5G HARQ, for downlink HARQ, the gNB provides downlink assignments in the Downlink Control Information (DCI), which is carried on the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). The downlink (DL) data is transmitted on the Physical Downlink SharedChannel (PDSCH). The UE responds with HARQ feedback (HARQ-FB), either a positive acknowledgement (ACK) to confirm successful reception of the data, or if decoding failed, the UE sends a negative acknowledgement (NACK) to request a retransmission from the gNB. HARQ-FB is provided as part of the Uplink (UL) Control Information (UCI), which is carried on the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or alternatively mapped to the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH).

[0010] For uplink HARQ, the gNB can grant UL data transmission on a HARQ process via Dynamic Grants (DGs) contained in the DCI or semi-statically via Configured Grants (CGs) using Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages. Data is transmitted on the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). Typically, different Modulation and Coding Schemes (MCS) are applied to PDCCH and PUSCH resulting in different error rates.

[0011] After the initial transmission based on DG or CG, HARQ retransmission(s) of a HARQ process is triggered upon request by gNB based on DCI on PDCCH. The HARQ process may alternatively be overridden by new data, either by dynamic grants with toggled New Data Indicator (NDI), or if a CG resource is used, after expiry of the ConfiguredGrantTimer, which disallows reuse of a HARQ process while running.

[0012] Due to inaccurate MCS selection, the HARQ protocol may result in residual errors. After a certain number of retransmissions the gNB may decide to give up on / suspend a HARQ process, i.e. it would no longer grant UL retransmissions for that HARQ process, leading to data loss on HARQ. Furthermore, the UE may erroneously detect a false grant on PDCCH, even though the gNB didn’t send it, leading to undiscoverable HARQ process transmission for which data loss occurs as well.

[0013] For NR with access to shared spectrum (NR-U), the UE also starts the so-called CG-RetransmissionTimer for each UL transmission using the CG. The timer is stopped when the UE receives a HARQ-ACK in the Downlink Feedback Indicator (DFI) carried on PDCCH. If the timer expires, the UE uses the next CG opportunity for a HARQ retransmission.

[0014] Due to DL / UL scheduling dependencies, PUCCH complexity in general, data loss caused by HARQ NACK-to-ACK errors or inefficiencies caused by ACK-to-NACK errors, for 6thGeneration (6G), it is proposed to move UCI including the HARQ-FB from Layer 1 (LI), i.e. PUCCH or UCI on PUSCH, to Layer 2 (L2), i.e. UCI is conveyed in the PUSCH payload, comprising Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) and HARQ retransmissions, making HARQ-FB and thus DL HARQ reliable.

[0015] Furthermore, to counteract against potential DCI misdetection of DL assignments, the network may use a so-called RTX-TimerNW for each HARQ process. The timer is stopped whenHARQ-FB is received from the UE. At expiry, the network assumes NACK and triggers LI retransmission (same MCS and allowing soft combining).

[0016] In 5G, the RLC protocol, which resides on top of the HARQ protocol, in acknowledged mode (AM), is able to detect and correct HARQ residual errors. Therefore, RLC maintains its own state of which data packets are already successfully received using sequence numbers. This is based on RLC status reporting from the receiver. Counters and timers are employed to poll, trigger and if needed retransmit RLC status reports and retransmit RLC data until reception success is ensured. RLC status reports are considered data in the HARQ protocol, meaning they undergo HARQ retransmissions in case of unsuccessful reception. The drawback of RLC retransmissions is increased latency.

[0017] In regard to HARQ-RLC interaction, after several DL transmission failures of the same HARQ process, the NW may suspend the HARQ process and instead, perform RLC retransmission, which allows for resegmentation and thus, retransmission with a more robust MCS on HARQ, and any soft bits already received by the UE will be discarded for that HARQ process.

[0018] Another trigger for L2 retransmission is the use of a NW internal Local-NACK-Timer-NW, which gives the HARQ process a certain time window to convey the DL data, so the timer is stopped when a HARQ-ACK is received from the UE. At expiry, a local NACK is triggered, implying a retransmission on L2 (RLC retransmission).

[0019] In downlink, the MAC CE is used to convey control information which are CRC protected and subject to HARQ retransmissions. Examples for such downlink control information is activation / deactivation commands for carrier aggregation. Uplink control information comprises e.g. configured grant confirmation, recommended bit rate query, beam failure reports (BFR), Timing Advance Reports (TAR), Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) failure reports and Channel State Information (CSI) reports.

[0020] For 6G, symbol based (re)transmissions were proposed to enable enhanced processing and more efficient use of DL / UL radio resources. In contrast to 5G Code Block Groups (CBGs), which are not symbol aligned, Code Block Bundles (CBBs) are preferably symbol aligned, i.e. they are preferably generated to fit in one or more Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol(s). When CBG retransmissions are performed in 5G, no new data can be transmitted in the same Transmission Time Interval (TTI).

[0021] There are different options to map CBBs to HARQ processes. In option 1, a HARQ process may carry multiple CBBs as depicted in Figure 2A. In option 2, a HARQ process carries exactly one CBB as depicted in Figure 2B.There are also different options for how to map Transport Blocks (TBs) to CBBs. In Figure 2A and Figure 2B one TB maps to multiple CBBs. It is also possible to build multiple TBs where each TB maps to a subset of the CBBs, in a special case one TB maps to exactly one CBB. See the examples of Figures 3A and 3B.

[0022] SUMMARY

[0023] Systems and methods are disclosed that relate to an efficient retransmission scheme for a telecommunications network. In one embodiment, a method performed by a User Equipment (UE) comprises transmitting, to a network node, an uplink transmission associated to a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) process, the uplink transmission comprising a set of Code Block Bundles (CBBs), the set of CBBs consisting of two or more CBBs. The method further comprises receiving an uplink grant for a retransmission for the HARQ process, the uplink grant comprising an indication of whether HARQ feedback (HARQ-FB) information is present. The method further comprises, if the HARQ-FB information is present, transmitting, to the network node, an uplink transmission comprising a retransmission of a subset of the set of CBBs indicated by the HARQ-FB information to be retransmitted, in accordance with the uplink grant and otherwise, if the HARQ-FB information is not present, performing one or more other retransmission actions. In this manner, only failed subsets of a transmission may be retransmitted.

[0024] In one embodiment, the CBBs are symbol-aligned CBBs.

[0025] In one embodiment, the indication comprised in the uplink grant indicates that the HARQ-FB information is present, and the method further comprises receiving, from the network node, the HARQ-FB information that indicates the subset of the set of CBBs that are to be retransmitted. In one embodiment, the uplink transmission comprises the retransmission and optionally, further comprises new data. In one embodiment, the method further comprises determining whether the HARQ-FB information is present. In one embodiment, the method further comprises determining whether the UE has successfully received the HARQ-FB information, wherein transmitting, to the network node, the uplink transmission comprising the retransmission of the indicated subset of the set of CBBs is responsive to determining that the HARQ-FB information is present and determining that the UE has successfully received the HARQ-FB information. In one embodiment, the method further comprises, responsive to determining that the UE has not successfully received the HARQ-FB information, determining what, if anything, to transmit on the resources granted by the uplink grant. In one embodiment, determining what, if anything, to transmit on the resources granted by the uplink grant comprises determining that the uplink grant is to be ignored. In another embodiment, determining what, if anything, to transmit on theresources granted by the uplink grant comprises determining that the resources granted by the uplink grant are sufficient to retransmit all of the set of CBBs and, in response thereto, retransmitting all of the set of CBBs. In one embodiment, the method further comprises transmitting, to the network node, an indication that the HARQ-FB information was not received by the UE. In another embodiment, determining what, if anything, to transmit on the resources granted by the uplink grant comprises determining that the resources granted by the uplink grant are not sufficient to retransmit all of the set of CBBs and, in response thereto, retransmitting a first N of the set of CBBs or a last N of the set of CBBs, where N is an integer number of CBBs that will fit into the resources granted by the uplink grant. In another embodiment, determining what, if anything, to transmit on the resources granted by the uplink grant comprises determining that the resources granted by the uplink grant are not sufficient to retransmit all of the set of CBBs and, in response thereto, retransmitting a selected subset of the set of CBBs. In one embodiment, the method further comprises transmitting, to the network node, an indication that the HARQ-FB information was not received by the UE.

[0026] In one embodiment, performing the one or more other actions if the indication comprised in the uplink grant indicates that the HARQ-FB information is not present comprises retransmitting all of the set of CBBs on the resources granted by the uplink grant.

[0027] In one embodiment, the HARQ-FB information and the uplink grant are included in a single message or separately signaled.

[0028] In one embodiment, the HARQ-FB information comprises a bitstring comprising, for each CBB in the set of CBBs, one or more corresponding bits that indicate whether that CBB is to be retransmitted. In one embodiment, the bitstring has a fixed or dynamic length.

[0029] In one embodiment, HARQ-FB information is received in a physical layer control signal or in a higher layer control signal.

[0030] In one embodiment, the HARQ-FB information comprises a tag or indicator, and the UE applies the HARQ-FB information if the tag or indicator matches an expected state of the HARQ process on which the uplink transmission is transmitted.

[0031] In one embodiment, the method further comprises receiving, from the network node, a request for a local negative acknowledgement, NACK, at the UE, and only the subset of the CBBs indicated in the message are evaluated when determining whether a layer 2 (L2) retransmission is needed or not in response to the request for local NACK.

[0032] Corresponding embodiments of a UE are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a UE comprises a communication interface comprising a transmitter and a receiver. The UE further comprises processing circuitry associated with the communication interface. The processingcircuitry is configured to cause the UE to transmit, to a network node, an uplink transmission associated to a HARQ process, the uplink transmission comprising a set of CBBs, the set of CBBs consisting of two or more CBBs. The processing circuitry is further configured to cause the UE to receive an uplink grant for a retransmission for the HARQ process, the uplink grant comprising an indication that indicates whether HARQ-FB information is present. The processing circuitry is further configured to cause the UE to, if the HARQ-FB information is present, transmit, to the network node, an uplink transmission comprising a retransmission of a subset of the set of CBBs indicated by the HARQ-FB information to be retransmitted, in accordance with the uplink grant and, otherwise, if the HARQ-FB information is not present, perform one or more other retransmission actions.

[0033] Embodiments of a method performed by a network node are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a method performed by a network node comprises receiving, from a UE, an uplink transmission for a HARQ process, the uplink transmission comprising a set of CBBs consisting of two or more CBBs, wherein the network node is unable to successfully decode a subset of the set of CBBs. The method further comprises transmitting, to the UE, an uplink grant for a retransmission for the HARQ process, the uplink grant comprising an indication of whether HARQ-FB information is present, wherein the HARQ-FB information indicates a subset of the set of CBBs to be retransmitted.

[0034] In one embodiment, the CBBs are symbol-aligned CBBs.

[0035] In one embodiment, the HARQ-FB information is present, and the method further comprises transmitting, to the UE, the HARQ-FB information that indicates the subset of the set of CBBs that are to be retransmitted. In one embodiment, the method further comprises receiving, from the UE, an uplink transmission comprising a retransmission of the indicated subset of the set of CBBs, in accordance with the uplink grant. In one embodiment, the uplink transmission comprising the retransmission further comprises new data.

[0036] In one embodiment, the method further comprises receiving, from the UE, an indication that the HARQ-FB information was not received by the UE.

[0037] In one embodiment, the HARQ-FB information and the uplink grant are included in a single message or separately signaled to the UE.

[0038] In one embodiment, the HARQ-FB information comprises a bitstring comprising, for each CBB in the set of CBBs, one or more corresponding bits that indicate whether that CBB is to be retransmitted. In one embodiment, the bitstring has a fixed or dynamic length.

[0039] In one embodiment, the HARQ-FB information is transmitted in a physical layer control signal or a higher layer control signal.In one embodiment, the HARQ-FB information comprises a tag or indicator that matches an expected state of the HARQ process associated to the uplink transmission.

[0040] In one embodiment, the method further comprises transmitting, to the UE, a request for a local negative acknowledgment (NACK) at the UE. In one embodiment, only the subset of the CBBs indicated in the HARQ-FB information are to be evaluated when determining whether a L2 retransmission by the UE is needed or not in response to the request for local NACK.

[0041] Corresponding embodiments of a network node are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a network node comprises processing circuitry configured to cause the network node to receive, from a UE, an uplink transmission for a HARQ process, the uplink transmission comprising a set of CBBs consisting of two or more CBBs, wherein the network node is unable to successfully decode a subset of the set of CBBs. The processing circuitry is further configured to cause the network node to transmit, to the UE, an uplink grant for a retransmission for the HARQ process, the uplink grant comprising of whether HARQ-FB information is present, wherein the HARQ-FB information indicates the subset of the set of CBBs to be retransmitted.

[0042] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the disclosure, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

[0044] Figure 1 illustrates the 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) 5thGeneration (5G) userplane architecture and protocols.

[0045] Figures 2A and 2B illustrate different options for how to map Transport Blocks (TBs) to Codebook Blocks (CBBs).

[0046] Figures 3A and 3B illustrate further options for how to map TBs to CBBs.

[0047] Figure 4 illustrates a procedure for legacy 5G Code Block Group (CBG) based retransmission.

[0048] Figure 5 illustrates the operation of a network node and a User Equipment (UE) for CBB based uplink retransmission in which the network indicates a subset of a set of transmitted CBBs to be retransmitted, in accordance with at least some of the embodiments described herein.

[0049] Figure 6 illustrates the operation of a network node and a UE in accordance with an embodiment in which detailed feedback from the network is absent in the uplink grant for the retransmission, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0050] Figure 7 is a flow chart that illustrates the operation of a UE in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.Figure 8 shows an example of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments.

[0051] Figure 9 is another example of a communication system according to some embodiments. Figure 10 shows an exemplary embodiment of a wireless device, which may be configured to operate in communication system of Figure 8 or in communication system of Figure 9.

[0052] Figure 11 shows a network node in accordance with some embodiments.

[0053] Figure 12 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized.

[0054] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0055] The embodiments set forth below represent information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and illustrate the best mode of practicing the embodiments. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the disclosure and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure.

[0056] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art. Additional information may also be found in the document(s) provided in the Appendix.

[0057] Research on 6thGeneration (6G) as the next generation of mobile communication system is ongoing. The present disclosure relates to potential technical components of 6G which are described utilizing existing definitions and descriptions according to 5thGeneration (5G) specifications; however, embodiments of the solution(s) described herein are not limited to 5G or 6G and can be used in any similar mobile communications system. Further, while 5G terminology is used herein, it is to be understood that the 5G terminology encompasses the corresponding 6G feature, signal, parameter, etc., which has yet to be specified and may be given a different name than in 5G.

[0058] As used herein, a Code Block Bundle (CBB) is a set of code blocks that is separately encoded, e.g., each CBB may or may not contain its own transport block and may or may not be symbol aligned. When CBBs are symbol-aligned, they are also referred to herein more specifically as symbol-aligned CBBs. The code blocks within a CBB do not need to be symbol aligned; however, in preferred embodiments, the CBBs are symbol-aligned to enable simpler processing.In one option, a CBB contains one transport block. In another option, a CBB contains part of a transport block. Thus, a transport block may contain one or more than one CBB.

[0059] There currently exist certain challenge(s). With symbol aligned CBBs, decoding-results would be available on a CBB level in the receiver. However, since Downlink Control Informations (DCIs) are used to trigger retransmissions, the New Data Indicator (NDI) would only indicate if all or nothing is to be retransmitted. Code Block Group (CBG) based retransmission signaling was introduced in 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR), where the DCI is complemented with a configurable number of bits to indicate parts of a transmission to retransmit as shown in Figure 4. Specifically, in Figure 4, a User Equipment (UE) transmits Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) including CBGs 1, 2, 3, and 4. The network (NW) (e.g., Radio Access Network (RAN) node such as, e.g., the next-generation Node B (gNB)) transmits DCI (i.e., an uplink grant) to the UE that indicates retransmission (RTX) of CBGs 2 and 3. The UE then retransmits CBGs 2 and 3 on a PUSH. This enables flexible retransmissions but costs much in overhead since the CBG-bits need to be included in the DCI independent of whether they are needed or not, and since there is typically strong correlation between CBGs decoding, success is the often same for all CBGs.

[0060] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. In present disclosure, Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) operation is described assuming a HARQ process with multiple codewords, one codeword per CBB and one HARQ process potentially spanning multiple CBBs, see example in Figure 2A. However, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto and be may applied to symbol-aligned CBBs and non-symbol-aligned CBBs (see, e.g., Figures 2B, 3A, 3B). Note that the solution(s) described herein are equally applicable if one HARQ process maps to one CBB with existent signaling to address multiple HARQ processes, e.g. a HARQ codebook for a subset of HARQ processes.

[0061] In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a separate message is used to modify a HARQ process and is sent only when needed. This message, referred to as a supplementary detailed HARQ-FB message, does not grant resources for retransmission but only indicates which CBB subset of the HARQ process that should be affected by a scheduling grant. The HARQ-FB message is then complemented with an uplink resource to transmit some or all the data in the CBB subset of the HARQ process without retransmitting the data that is not included in that CBB subset. The scheduling grant can be provided at any time before the occurrence of the granted uplink resource, i.e. it can be transmitted before or after the detailed HARQ-FB message, or in the same transmission occasion.The detailed HARQ-FB message can be in the same message as the scheduling grant, in a separate LI message (DCI) or a data message (e.g. a MAC Control Element, or an RRC control message).

[0062] Embodiments of the present disclosure include a two-stage granting process for retransmissions, where one stage, the detailed HARQ-FB message provisioning, is optional and only used if only a subset of a HARQ transmission needs to be retransmitted.

[0063] In an optional step, a detailed HARQ-FB message is sent to indicate a subset of the original transmission, and in another step a message is used to provide resources for the retransmission, where the network may dynamically decide to use the optional step or not, e.g. dependent on decoding outcome, and may include a corresponding indication to inform about the presence / absence of the detailed HARQ-FB message.

[0064] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). With embodiments of the present disclosure, only failed subsets of a transmission may be optionally retransmitted. When all CBBs or none of the CBBs of the original transmission are retransmitted, there is no increase in overhead.

[0065] The teachings of certain embodiments may improve, e.g., the data rate, latency, and / or power consumption.

[0066] Figure 5 illustrate the operation of a NW node 500 and a UE 502, in accordance with at least some of the embodiments described herein. As illustrated, the UE 502 transmits an uplink transmission (i.e., a PUSCH in this example) that includes a set of CBBs (or codewords) (action 504). The set of CBBs (or codewords) consists of two or more CBBs (or codewords). For the remainder of this discussion, a set of CBBs is considered, but the embodiments may be generalized to a set of codewords. In the illustrated embodiment, the NW node 500 transmits, to the UE 502, a detailed HARQ-FB message that indicates (explicitly or implicitly) which subset of the transmitted CBBs (or alternatively which subset of the transmitted codewords) to retransmit (on PUSCH in the illustrated example) (action 506). In the illustrated example, four CBBs are transmitted by the UE 502 in action 504, namely, CCBs 1, 2, 3, and 4, and the detailed HARQ-FB message indicates that CBBs 2 and 3 are to be retransmitted. The NW node 500 also transmits, to the UE 502, an uplink grant for the retransmission (RTX) (action 508).

[0067] The UE 502 then transmits an uplink transmission (i.e., a PUSCH) to the NW node 500 using the UL grant (action 510). As discussed below, in one option, responsive to receiving the detailed HARQ-FB message, the UE 502 includes the indicated CBBs (i.e., CBBs 2 and 3 in the illustrated example) in the uplink transmission. In other words, the uplink transmission of action 510 is a retransmission of the CBBs indicated by the detailed HARQ-FB message. In anotheroption, if the UL grant has sufficient resources, the uplink transmission includes the retransmission of the CBBs indicated by the detailed HARQ-FB message and new data. As yet another option, if a Local NACK (L-NACK) is triggered (see details below), the uplink transmission of action 510 includes only new data. Otherwise, if the UE 502 receives an indication that the detailed HARQ-FB message is present but the UE 502 does not successfully receive the detailed HARQ-FB message, the UE 502 may perform various actions as described below, one of which is ignoring the UL grant as illustrated in the example of Figure 5.

[0068] The detailed HARQ-FB message of action 506 could include an explicit pointer to a HARQ process or be implicitly associated with a HARQ process based on a UL grant (see block 508), i.e. a received DCI scheduling the resources for the retransmission within a fixed time-relation.

[0069] In some embodiments, the detailed HARQ-FB message contains a bitstring with one bit per CBB, or per group of CBBs, where one bit value indicates ACK and the other bit value indicating NACK. In one embodiment, this bitstring has a fixed length where only the first or last bits are used, up to the number of relevant CBBs. In another embodiment, the bitstring has a dynamic length where the size or length of the bitstring is either indicated in the detailed HARQ-FB message or implicitly derived from the number of relevant CBBs in the associated HARQ process. Positively acknowledged CBBs are herein referred to as ACKed CBBs, and the negatively acknowledged CBBs are referred to as NACKed CBBs. Other possible formats for the detailed HARQ-FB message may be used, e.g. indicating only ACKed CBBs implying that the remaining CBBs are non-ACKed or NACKed, and vice versa.

[0070] In some embodiments, the HARQ-FB message is transmitted by the NW node 500, and thus received by the UE 502, in an additional physical layer control signal, e.g. a DCI, or on Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) in a higher layer control signal, i.e. sent as an in-band data-message, e.g. as a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE).

[0071] In some embodiments, the DCI scheduling the retransmission, i.e. the UL grant of action 508, contains an indication that the detailed HARQ-FB message is provided (before or after the grant, or even in the same Transmission Time Interval (TTI) as the UL grant). For example, the retransmission may have a reserved state or relative state indicating a retransmission but with a HARQ-FB update. This indication can for example be used to indicate size or location of the HARQ-FB message, e.g. whether the HARQ-FB message is provided on Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) or Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

[0072] The indication that the detailed HARQ-FB message is provided (i.e., present) could also be used to determine a behavior if the HARQ-FB message is not received. In some embodiments, the retransmission is skipped all together if the UL grant indicates presence of the HARQ-FB message,but the HARQ-FB message is not successfully decoded, or not decoded within a given time. In other embodiments, a special indication is sent on the allocated PUSCH resource (in action 510) to indicate that the UL grant was received whereas the HARQ-FB message was not. In other embodiments, the same or extended indication in PUSCH (in action 510) can indicate that given UL grant will be used for new data typically using a different HARQ process, instead of skipping the grant.

[0073] In some embodiments, the HARQ-FB message explicitly ACKs a subset of the codewords or CBBs in the HARQ process. In some embodiments, the UE 502 may later receive a retransmission grant (e.g., in action 508) for the HARQ process where only the non-ACKed data is retransmitted, potentially together with additional new data (see “Option 2” in Figure 5). This has the benefit that soft combining can be applied for retransmitted data while efficiently using the UL resources.

[0074] As illustrated in Figure 6, in one embodiment, the UL grant (see action 508’ of Figure 6) indicates absence of the HARQ-FB message, upon which the UE performs a retransmission of the original PUSCH with all CBBs (action 510’).

[0075] In some embodiments, if sufficient UL resources are granted in action 508 of Figure 5, the UE 502 retransmits (in the PUSCH of action 510 of Figure 5) all CBBs when the UL grant indicates presence of the detailed HARQ-FB, but the UE 502 fails to decode the detailed HARQ-FB. If there are not sufficient PUSCH resources granted to retransmit all CBBs, the UE 502 transmits only the first CBBs that fit into the PUSCH transmission. This would lead to the need for blind detection / blind decoding on the receiver side (in the NW node 500). Alternatively, if the HARQ-FB message is not successfully received, the UE 502 ignores the UL grant and refrains from retransmission.

[0076] As an alternative to blind decoding in the network, the UE may alternatively add control information in the PUSCH as illustrated in Figure 7, e.g. whether the HARQ-FB message was received, and if not, it may indicate what it includes in the modified PUSCH transmission, e.g. which CBBs are retransmitted.

[0077] To avoid issues with the detailed HARQ-FB message being transmitted as data on PDSCH and delivered late, i.e. after occurrence of the granted resources e.g. due to HARQ retransmissions of the detailed HARQ-FB message, the detailed HARQ-FB message could also contain a tag, e.g. a New Data Indicator (NDI) state, or a counter. The UE 502 would then only apply detailed HARQ-FB message if the tag or counter matches the expected state in the HARQ process. In some other embodiments, there may instead be a rule that the detailed HARQ-FB message is only applied if received in a first HARQ attempt, but not if received in a HARQ retransmission.Figure 7 is a flow chart that illustrates the operation of a UE (e.g., the UE 502) to process an UL grant (e.g., the UL grant of action 508 of Figure 6 or the UL grant of action 508’ of Figure 6 or other UL grant received) received by the UE, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the UE receives a UL grant for a retransmission (TRX) for a HARQ process (action 700). The UE determines whether a detailed HARQ-FB message is present, e.g., based on a corresponding indication included in the received UL grant (action 702). If so (action 702, yes), the UE determines whether it has successfully received (e.g., decoded) the detailed HARQ-FB message (action 704). If so (action 704, yes), the UE retransmits the NACKed CBBs as indicated by the received detailed HARQ-FB message and optionally (if sufficient UL resources are granted in the received UL grant) includes new data in this uplink transmission (e.g., PUSCH) (action 706).

[0078] Returning to action 704, if the UE did not successfully receive the detailed HARQ-FB message, the UE determines whether it is to ignore the received UL grant (action 708). For example, the UE may be configured such, under this scenario, the UE is to ignore the UL grant or it may be otherwise defined (e.g., in 3GPP specifications) that the UE is to ignore the UL grant in this scenario. If the UE determines that it is to ignore the received UL grant (action 708, yes), the procedure ends (action 710).

[0079] Otherwise, if the UE determines that it is not to ignore the received UL grant (action 708, no), the UE determines whether all CBBs (from the original transmission) fit into the granted resource (action 712). If so (action 712, yes), the UE retransmits all of the CBBs in the PUSCH transmission on the granted resources and optionally includes in the PUSCH an indication that the detailed HARQ-FB message was not received (action 714). Conversely, if all CBBs will not fit in the granted resource (action 712, no), the UE either: retransmits the first CBBs that fit in the granted resource (“Opt 1”) or retransmits a selected subset of the CBBs and sends (e.g., in the PUSCH) an indication of the selected subset of the CBBs included in the retransmission. Optionally, the UE includes in the PUSCH an indication that the detailed HARQ-FB message was not received.

[0080] Returning to step 702, if a detailed HARQ-FB message is not present (action 702, no), the UE retransmits all of the CBBs 718 (action 718).

[0081] Local NACK

[0082] In other embodiments, the UE may receive a scheduling DCI requesting local NACK for the data remaining in the HARQ process, i.e. data that has not been positively acknowledged. In this case, only the non-ACKed (or NACKed) CBBs are evaluated when determining whether L2 retransmission is needed or not. In some embodiments, a DCI indicating new data transmission for the HARQ process (UL grant with toggled NDI) may act as a trigger for “local NACK” whena subset of the data has been ACKed. I.e. if the UE is informed that some but not all data was correctly received and then ordered to clear the process to build a new set of transport blocks, the UE performs a check to determine whether any of the non-ACKed data needs to be retransmitted.

[0083] In general, if the detailed HARQ-FB message is missed, L2 retransmission of already received data will just lead to unnecessary retransmission, but there would be no ambiguity or data loss.

[0084] In a different embodiment, the HARQ-FB message may indicate a set of CBBs to retransmit on L2, referred to as local NACK. For example, instead of a HARQ / CBB codebook indicating only ACK / NACK, the codebook contains 2 -bit information per CBB, indicating ACK, NACK, or local NACK. This adds slightly more overhead to the HARQ-FB message, as compared to having a bitstring indicating only ACK / NACK in the HARQ-FB message and indicating in the UL grant that the NACKed CBBs are to be locally NACKed for (later) L2 retransmission.

[0085] For CBBs to be locally NACKed in accordance with the indication in the HARQ-FB message, the data may then be cleared from the HARQ process and retransmitted in a different transport block at some time. In some embodiments, the UE clears the HARQ process so that any UL grant received for the HARQ process is assumed to be new data, independent of NDI bits.

[0086] A NACK triggering a Local NACK may be realized by a transmitter-internal indication from HARQ to Radio Link Control (RLC) to inform RLC about the data loss. If subset-feedback is used for the CBBs, it should only apply for the subset of CBBs in the HARQ process. In one embodiment, this indication is only triggered when the RTX grant and detailed HARQ-FB message are received, and for the non-ACKed subset data only. In another embodiment, the Local NACK is only triggered when the detailed HARQ-FB message is received and is expected afterwards according to the scheduling message. In this case, if the detailed HARQ-FB is not received after a certain time (timer expired, started after scheduling message reception), Local NACK is triggered for all data in the HARQ process.

[0087] Figure 8 shows an example of a communication system 800 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0088] In the example, the communication system 800 includes a telecommunications network 802 that includes an access network 804, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 806, which includes one or more core network nodes 808. The access network 804 includes one or more access network nodes or base stations of various types, access network nodes 810A and 810B are depicted (which may be collectively referred to as network nodes 810), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points (APs). Some embodiments of the access network 804 may include more than one access networktechnology. The network nodes 810 of access network 804 facilitate direct or indirect connection of wireless devices, also referred to as user equipments (UEs), such as by connecting UEs 812A, 812B, 812C, and 812D (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 812) to the core network 806 over one or more wireless connections.

[0089] Moreover, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunications network 802 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a network node in the telecommunications network 802 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other network nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any network node in the telecommunications network 802, including one or more access network nodes 810 and / or core network nodes 808.

[0090] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (O-RU), an open distributed unit (O-DU), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O-CU-CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). An ORAN network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an Al, Fl, Wl, El, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN network node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies.

[0091] The network nodes 810 facilitate direct or indirect connection of one or more UEs 812 to the core network 806 over one or more wireless connections. Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 800 may include any number of wired orwireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 800 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0092] The UEs 812 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 810 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 808, 810 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly (e.g., via other devices of telecommunications network 802) with the UEs 812 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunications network 802 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunications network 802. More specifically, UEs 812 may send messages, data, and / or other signals to network nodes 808, 810 or other elements of the telecommunications network 802 by transmitting such signals to the relevant device directly without the signals passing through any intervening devices or by transmitting such signals to the relevant device indirectly through an intervening device (or multiple intervening devices) that then transmit the signal to the relevant device. Similarly, network nodes 808, 810 may send messages, data, and other signals to UEs 8122, other network nodes 808, 810, and other devices in telecommunications network 802 directly or indirectly. As one specific example, a core network node 108 may transmit a particular message to a UE 812 by transmitting the message to an access network node 810 that will then transmit the message to the intended UE 812. Similarly, a core network node 108 may receive a particular message from a UE 812 by receiving the message from an access network node 810 that itself received the message from the UE 812.

[0093] In the depicted example, the core network 806 connects elements of the access network 804 (e.g., one or more of the network nodes 810) to one or more host computing systems, such as host 816. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 806 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 808) of various types, one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 808. Network nodes 808 are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, access network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 808. Example core network nodes provide functions of one or more of aMobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0094] The host 816 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 804 and / or the telecommunications network 802. The host 816 may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 816 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0095] As a whole, the communication system 800 of Figure 8 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system 800 may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (Wi-Fi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (Wi-Max), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, Li-Fi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox. Moreover, the communication system 800 may be configured to support multiple different standards, protocols, or other rule sets, with individual components supporting all of the relevant rule sets or with different components or sub-systems within the communication system 800 supporting different standards, protocols, or rule sets.

[0096] As one example, in certain embodiments, access network 804 may contain some access network nodes 810 that support 3 GPP radio access technologies (RAT), such as LTE or NR, while other access network nodes 810 support (or the same access network nodes 810 additionally support) non-3GPP RATs, such as Wi-Fi or a proprietary RAT. As another example, telecommunications network 802 may support multiple generations of related communication standards (e.g., 4G and 5G 3GPP communication standards) and, as a result, may include an accessnetwork 104 and / or a core network 106 that supports multiple different standard generations or may include multiple access networks 104 and / or multiple core networks 106 with individual networks 104, 106 supporting different standard generations.

[0097] Telecommunications network 802 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunications network 802. For example, the telecommunications network 802 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0098] In some examples, one or more of the UEs 812 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 804 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 804. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi -RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0099] In the example, the hub 814 communicates with the access network 804 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 812C and / or 812D) and network nodes (e.g., network node 810B). In some examples, the hub 814 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 814 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 806 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 814 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 810, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 814.

[0100] As another example, the hub 814 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 814 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 814 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 814 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 814 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.The hub 814 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 810B. The hub 814 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 814 and UEs (e.g., UE 812C and / or 812D), and between the hub 814 and the core network 806. In other examples, the hub 814 is connected to the core network 806 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 814 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 804 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 810 while still connected via the hub 814 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 814 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node 810B. In other embodiments, the hub 814 may be a nondedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 810B, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0101] Figure 9 is another example of a communication system 900 according to some embodiments. As used herein, the communication system 900 includes multiple access points (APs) 910 (with four exemplary APs 910A, 910B, 910C, and 910D being depicted) and multiple wireless devices, referred to in the context of communication system 900 as stations (STAs) 912 (referred to individually as STA 912A, STA 912B, STA 912C, STA 912D, and STA 912E). STA 912A is served by AP 910A in a first basic service set (BSS) 920A. STA 910B and STA 910C are served by AP 910B in a second BSS, BSS 920B. STA 912D is served by AP 910C in a third BSS, BSS 920C. STA 912E is served by AP 910D in a fourth BSS, BSS 920D. Stations 912 may be non-AP STAs and correspond to various kinds of wireless devices, for example, user terminals, such as mobile or stationary computing devices like smartphones, laptop computers, desktop computers, tablet computers, gaming devices, head-mounted displays (HMDs) for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), or the like. Further, stations 912 could, for example, correspond to other kinds of equipment like smart home devices, printers, multimedia devices, data storage devices, or the like.

[0102] Each of STAs 912 may connect through a radio link to one of APs 910. For example, depending on location or channel conditions experienced by a given STA 912, the STA may select an appropriate AP and BSS for establishing the radio link. The radio link may be based on one or more orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) carriers from a frequency spectrum that is shared on the basis of a contention-based mechanism, e.g., an unlicensed or license exempt band like 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band, the 5 GHz band, the 6 GHz band, or the 60 GHz band.Each AP 910 may provide data connectivity to STAs 912 connected to a particular AP 910. As illustrated, APs 910 may be connected to a data network 930. In this way, APs 910 may also provide data connectivity between STAs 912 and other entities, e.g., to one or more servers, service providers, data sources, data sinks, user terminals, or the like. Accordingly, the radio link established between a given STA 912 and its serving AP 910 may be used for providing various kinds of services to STA 912, e.g., a voice service, a multimedia service, or other data service. Such services may be based on applications that are executed on STA 912 and / or on a device linked to STA 912. By way of example, Figure 9 illustrates an application service platform 932 provided in data network 930. The application(s) executed on STA 912 and / or on one or more other devices linked to STA 912 may use the radio link for data communication with one or more other STA 912 and / or the application service platform 932, thereby enabling utilization of the corresponding service(s) at STA 912.

[0103] Figure 10 shows a wireless device 1000, which may be configured to operate in communication system 800 of Figure 8 or in communication system 900 of Figure 9. The wireless device 1000 may be alternatively referred to as a UE 1000, like a UE 812 within the context of communication system 800, or as a station (STA) 1000 or as a non-access-point station (non-AP STA) 1000, like a STA 912 within the context of the communication system 900, in accordance with respective embodiments. As used herein, a wireless device refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other wireless devices. Examples of a wireless device include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, and wireless terminal. Other examples include any type of UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0104] A wireless device 1000 may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3 GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, wireless device 1000 may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, wireless device 1000may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, wireless device 1000 may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0105] In particular embodiments, wireless device 1000 includes processing circuitry 1002 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1004 to an input / output interface 1006, a power source 1008, a memory 1010, a communication interface 1012, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain embodiments of wireless device 1000 may include all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 10. The level of integration between the components may vary from one embodiment of wireless device 1000 to another. In general, in a particular embodiment of wireless device 1000, processing circuitry 1002, input / output interface 1006, power source 1008, memory 1010, and communication interface 1012 may, in whole or in part, represent or include physical components common to or shared by one or more of the other elements of wireless device 1000. Further, certain embodiments of wireless devices 1000 may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0106] The processing circuitry 1002 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 1010. The processing circuitry 1002 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 1002 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0107] In the example, the input / output interface 1006 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into wireless device 1000. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor maybe, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0108] In some embodiments, the power source 1008 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used to supply power to circuitry or to charge an associated battery. The power source 1008 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 1008 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of wireless device 1000 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power source 1008 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to make accessible power suitable for the respective components of the wireless device 1000 to which power is supplied.

[0109] The memory 1010 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 1010 includes one or more programs 1014, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 1016. The memory 1010 may store, for use by wireless device 1000, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0110] The memory 1010 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory 1010 may allow wireless device 1000 to access instructions, programs, and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, suchas one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 1010, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0111] The processing circuitry 1002 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network via or using the communication interface 1012. The communication interface 1012 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 1022. The communication interface 1012 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another wireless device or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 1018 and / or a receiver 1020 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 1018 and receiver 1020 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 1022) and may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0112] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 1012 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication (e.g., according to an IEEE 802.11 family standard), LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0113] In particular embodiments, wireless device 1000 may provide an output of data captured via a sensor, through its communication interface 1012, via a wireless connection to a network node, and / or in any appropriate manner. Data captured by sensors of a wireless device 1000 can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another wireless device 1000. In particular embodiments, such output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).As another example, wireless device 1000 comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, wireless device 1000 may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0114] Wireless device 1000, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. In particular embodiments, wireless device 1000 represents an loT device that comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the example embodiment of wireless device 1000 shown in Figure 10.

[0115] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, wireless device 1000 may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another wireless device and / or a network node. Wireless device 1000 may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, wireless device 1000 may implement the 3 GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, wireless device 1000 may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0116] In practice, any number of wireless devices 1000 may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first wireless device 1000 might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second wireless device 1000 that is a remote controller operating the drone. When a user makes changes from theremote controller, the first wireless device 1000 may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g., by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second wireless device 1000 can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, wireless device 1000 might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0117] Figure 11 shows a network node 1100 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunications network. In accordance with respective embodiments, network node 1100 may be configured to operate in communication system 800 of Figure 8, like network nodes 808 or 810, or in communication system 900 of Figure 9, like an AP 910 or a station 912. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)), 0-RAN nodes or components of an 0-RAN node (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0118] Network nodes 1100 may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. Network node 1100 may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. Network nodes 1100 may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0119] Other examples of network nodes 1100 include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0120] In particular embodiments, network node 1100 includes a processing circuitry 1102, a memory 1104, a communication interface 1106, and a power source 1108. In general, in a particular embodiment of network node 1100, processing circuitry 1102, memory 1104,communication interface 1106, and power source 1108 may, in whole or in part, represent or include physical components common to or shared by one or more of the other elements of network node 1100.

[0121] The network node 1100 may be composed of multiple distinct network entities (e.g., a NodeB entity and an RNC entity, or a BTS entity and a BSC entity, etc.), which may each have or utilize their own respective physical components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 1100 comprises multiple such entities (e.g., BTS and BSC), one or more of the separate entities may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 1100 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memories 1104 or portions of memory 1104 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 1110 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 1100 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1100, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, Wi-Fi (e.g., according to an IEEE 802.11 family standard), Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 1100.

[0122] The processing circuitry 1102 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other components, such as the memory 1104, to provide network node 1100 functionality.

[0123] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1102 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1102 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1112 and baseband processing circuitry 1114. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 1112 and the baseband processing circuitry 1114 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1112 and baseband processing circuitry 1114 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0124] The memory 1104 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mountedmemory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 1102. The memory 1104 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 1102 and utilized by the network node 1100. The memory 1104 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 1102 and / or any data received via the communication interface 1106. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1102 and memory 1104 is integrated.

[0125] The communication interface 1106 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data with UEs, other network nodes, and / or any other network equipment. In the illustrated embodiment, communication interface 1106 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 1116 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. In particular embodiments, network node 1000 may be capable of wireless communication and communication interface 1106 may also include radio front-end circuitry 1118 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, an antenna 1110. Particular embodiments of radio front-end circuitry 1118 include filter(s) 1120 and amplifier(s) 1122. The radio front-end circuitry 1118 may be connected to an antenna 1110 and processing circuitry 1102. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1110 and processing circuitry 1102. The radio front-end circuitry 1118 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 1118 may convert the digital data into a radio signal(s) having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1120 and / or amplifiers 1122. The radio signal(s) may then be transmitted via the antenna 1110. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 1110 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 1118. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 1102. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0126] In certain alternative embodiments, network node 1100 may be capable of wireless communication but does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 1118, instead, the processing circuitry 1102 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 1110. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 1112 is part of the communication interface 1106. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 1106includes one or more ports or terminals 1116, the radio front-end circuitry 1118, and the RF transceiver circuitry 1112, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 1106 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 1114, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0127] The antenna 1110 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 1110 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 1118 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 1110 is separate from the network node 1100 and connectable to the network node 1100 through one or more interfaces or ports.

[0128] The antenna 1110, communication interface 1106, and / or the processing circuitry 1102 may be configured to perform some or all of the receiving operations and / or obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node 1100. Any information, data, and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node, and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 1110, the communication interface 1106, and / or the processing circuitry 1102 may be configured to perform some or all of the transmitting or sending operations described herein as being performed by the network node 1100. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node, and / or any other network equipment.

[0129] The power source 1108 provides power to the various components of network node 1100 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 1108 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 1100 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 1100 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 1108. As a further example, the power source 1108 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0130] Embodiments of the network node 1100 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 11 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 1100 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 1100 and to allow output ofinformation from the network node 1100. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 1100.

[0131] Figure 12 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1200 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1200 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as an access network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which a virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment 1200 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface.

[0132] Applications 1202 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment 1100 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0133] Hardware 1204 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1206 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VM 1208A and VM 1208B (which may be collectively referred to as VMs 1208), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1206 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to one or more of the VMs 1208.

[0134] The VMs 1208 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by virtualization layer 1206. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1202 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1208, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in somecontexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0135] In the context of NFV, each of the VMs 1208 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 1208, and that part of hardware 1204 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more of the VMs 1208 on top of the hardware 1204 and corresponds to an application 1202.

[0136] Hardware 1204 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1204 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1204 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g., such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 1210, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1202. In some embodiments, hardware 1204 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 1212 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0137] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) 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 withinmultiple 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.

[0138] 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.

[0139] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the embodiments of the present disclosure. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein.

[0140] Some exemplary embodiments are as follows:

[0141] Group A Embodiments

[0142] Embodiment 1: A method performed by a User Equipment, UE, (502), the method comprising: transmitting (504), to a network node (500), an uplink transmission (e.g., PUSCH) comprising a set of Code Block Bundles, CBBs, (or codewords), the set of CBBs (or codewords) consisting of two or more CBBs (or codewords); receiving (506), from the network node (500), a message (i.e., a detailed HARQfeedback message) comprising information that indicates (explicitly or implicitly) a subset of the set of CBBs (or codewords) that are to be transmitted (e.g., that were not successfully decoded at the receiver, e.g., at the network node); receiving (508) an uplink grant for a retransmission of the indicated subset of CBBs (or codewords); and transmitting(510), to the network node (500), an uplink transmission comprising a retransmission of the indicated subset of CBBs (or codewords) (and optionally new data).

[0143] Embodiment 2: The method of embodiment 1, further comprising processing (702-718) the uplink grant.

[0144] Embodiment 3: The method of embodiment 1, further comprising processing (702-718) the uplink grant in order to determine what, if anything, should be transmitted on resources granted by the received uplink grant.

[0145] Embodiment 4: The method of embodiment 2 or 3, wherein processing (702-718) the uplink grant comprises: determining (702) whether the message (i.e., the detailed HARQ feedback message) is present (e.g., based on an associated indication provided in or with the uplink grant); responsive to determining (702, yes) that the message is present, determining (704) whether the UE has successfully received the message; wherein transmitting (510), to the network node (500), the uplink transmission comprising the retransmission of the indicated subset of CBBs (or codewords) is responsive to determining (702, yes) that the message is present and determining (704, yes) that the UE has successfully received the message.

[0146] Embodiment 5: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 4, further comprising any one or more of the following: transmitting (504) a second uplink transmission (e.g., a second PUSCH) comprising a second set of CBBs (or codewords); receiving (508; 508’; 700) a second uplink grant that provides uplink resources for a retransmission of at least some of the second set of CBBs; determining (702) whether a detailed HARQ feedback message associated to the second uplink transmission is present (e.g., based on an associated indication provided in or with the second uplink grant); responsive to determining that a detailed HARQ feedback message associated to the second uplink transmission is not present (702, no), retransmitting (718) all of the set of CBBs on the resources granted by the second uplink grant.

[0147] Embodiment 6: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 4, further comprising any one or more of the following: transmitting (504) a second uplink transmission (e.g., a second PUSCH) comprising a second set of CBBs (or codewords); receiving (508; 508’; 700) a second uplink grant that provides uplink resources for a retransmission of at least some of the second set of CBBs; determining (704) whether the UE has successfully received a detailed HARQ feedback message associated to the second uplink transmission; and responsive to determining that the UE has not successfully received a detailed HARQ feedback message associated to the second uplink transmission, determining (708-716) what, if anything, to transmit on the resources granted by the second uplink grant.Embodiment 7: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 4, further comprising any one or more of the following: transmitting (504) a second uplink transmission (e.g., a second PUSCH) comprising a second set of CBBs (or codewords); receiving (508; 508’; 700) a second uplink grant that provides uplink resources for a retransmission of at least some of the second set of CBBs; determining (702) whether a detailed HARQ feedback message associated to the second uplink transmission is present (e.g., based on an associated indication provided in or with the second uplink grant); if a detailed HARQ feedback message associated to the second uplink transmission is not present (702, no), retransmitting (718) all of the set of CBBs on the resources granted by the second uplink grant; and if a detailed HARQ feedback message associated to the second uplink transmission is present (702, yes): determining (704) whether the UE has successfully received the detailed HARQ feedback message associated to the second uplink transmission; if the UE has successfully received the detailed HARQ feedback message associated to the second uplink transmission, transmitting (706) an uplink transmission comprising a subset of the second set CBBs indicated in the detailed HARQ feedback message associated to the second uplink transmission; and if the UE has not successfully received the detailed HARQ feedback message associated to the second uplink transmission, determining (708-716) what, if anything, to transmit on the resources granted by the second uplink grant.

[0148] Embodiment 8: The method of embodiment 6 or 7, wherein determining (708-716) what, if anything, to transmit on the resources granted by the second uplink grant comprises: determining (708, yes) that the second uplink grant is to be ignored.

[0149] Embodiment 9: The method of embodiment 6 or 7, determining (708-716) what, if anything, to transmit on the resources granted by the second uplink grant comprises: determining (712, yes) that the resources granted by the second uplink grant are sufficient to retransmit all of the second set of CBBs; and in response thereto, retransmitting (714) all of the second set of CBBs.

[0150] Embodiment 10: The method of embodiment 9, further comprising transmitting (714), to the network node (500), (e.g., together with the retransmission of all of the second set of CBBs, e.g., in the same PUSCH) an indication that the detailed HARQ feedback message associated to the second uplink transmission was not received by the UE (502).

[0151] Embodiment 11: The method of embodiment 6 or 7, determining (708-716) what, if anything, to transmit on the resources granted by the second uplink grant comprises: determining (712, no) that the resources granted by the second uplink grant are not sufficient to retransmit all of the second set of CBBs; and in response thereto, retransmitting (716) a first N of the second set of CBBs, where N is an integer number of CBBs that will fit into the resources granted by the second uplink grant.Embodiment 12: The method of embodiment 6 or 7, determining (708-716) what, if anything, to transmit on the resources granted by the second uplink grant comprises: determining (712, no) that the resources granted by the second uplink grant are not sufficient to retransmit all of the second set of CBBs; and in response thereto, retransmitting (716) a select subset of the second set of CBBs.

[0152] Embodiment 13: The method of embodiment 11 or 12, further comprising transmitting (716), to the network node (500), (e.g., together with the retransmission of the first N or select subset of the second set of CBBs, e.g., in the same PUSCH) an indication that the detailed HARQ feedback message associated to the second uplink transmission was not received by the UE (502).

[0153] Embodiment 14: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 13, wherein the detailed HARQ feedback message and the uplink granted are included in a single message or separately signaled.

[0154] Embodiment 15: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 14, wherein the detailed HARQ feedback message comprises a bitstring comprising, for each CBB in the set of CBBs, a corresponding bit(s) that indicate whether that CBB is to be retransmitted.

[0155] Embodiment 16: The method of embodiment 15, wherein the bitstring has a fixed or dynamic length.

[0156] Embodiment 17: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 16, wherein detailed HARQ feedback message is received in a physical layer control signal (e.g., DCI) or on PDSCH in a higher layer control signal.

[0157] Embodiment 18: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 17, wherein the detailed HARQ feedback message comprises a tag or indicator and the UE applies the detailed HARQ feedback message if tag or indicator matches an expected state of a HARQ process on which the uplink transmission is transmitted.

[0158] Embodiment 19: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 18, further comprising receiving, from the network node, a request for a local NACK at the UE, and only the subset of the CBBs indicated in the detailed HARQ feedback message are evaluated when determining whether a L2 retransmission is needed or not in response to the request for local NACK.

[0159] Embodiment 20: The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host via the transmission to the network node.

[0160] Group B Embodiments

[0161] Embodiment 21: A method performed by a network node (500), the method comprising: receiving (504), from a User Equipment, UE, (502), an uplink transmission (e.g., PUSCH)comprising a set of Code Block Bundles, CBBs, (or codewords), the set of CBBs (or codewords) consisting of two or more CBBs (or codewords), wherein the network node (500) is unable to successfully decode a subset of the set of CBBs (or codewords); transmitting (506), to the UE (502), a message (i.e., a detailed HARQfeedback message) comprising information that indicates (explicitly or implicitly) the subset of the set of CBBs (or codewords); and transmitting (508), to the UE (502), an uplink grant for a retransmission of the indicated subset of CBBs (or codewords).

[0162] Embodiment 22: The method of embodiment 21, further comprising receiving (510), from the UE, an uplink transmission comprising a retransmission of the indicated subset of CBBs (or codewords) (and optionally new data).

[0163] Embodiment 23: The method of embodiment 21, further comprising receiving, from the UE (502), (e.g., together with the retransmission of all of the second set of CBBs, e.g., in the same PUSCH) an indication that the detailed HARQ feedback message was not received by the UE (502).

[0164] Embodiment 24: The method of any of embodiments 21 to 23, wherein the detailed HARQ feedback message and the uplink grant are included in a single message or separately signaled to the UE (502).

[0165] Embodiment 25: The method of any of embodiments 21 to 24, wherein the detailed HARQ feedback message comprises a bitstring comprising, for each CBB in the set of CBBs, a corresponding bit(s) that indicate whether that CBB is to be retransmitted.

[0166] Embodiment 26: The method of embodiment 25, wherein the bitstring has a fixed or dynamic length.

[0167] Embodiment 27: The method of any of embodiments 21 to 26, wherein detailed HARQ feedback message is transmitted in a physical layer control signal (e.g., DCI) or on PDSCH in a higher layer control signal.

[0168] Embodiment 28: The method of any of embodiments 21 to 27, wherein the detailed HARQ feedback message comprises a tag or indicator that matches an expected state of a HARQ process associated to the uplink transmission.

[0169] Embodiment 29: The method of any of embodiments 21 to 28, further comprising transmitting, to the UE, a request for a local NACK at the UE.

[0170] Embodiment 30: The method of embodiment 29, wherein only the subset of the CBBs indicated in the detailed HARQ feedback message are to be evaluated when determining whether a L2 retransmission by the UE is needed or not in response to the request for local NACK.

[0171] Embodiment 31: The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host or a user equipment.Group C Embodiments

[0172] Embodiment 32: A wireless device comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group A embodiments; and a power source configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

[0173] Embodiment 33: A network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments; a power source circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

[0174] Embodiment 34: A wireless device comprising: one or more antennas; communication interface connected to the one or more antennas and to processing circuitry; the processing circuitry being configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group A embodiments; an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry; an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and a power source connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method performed by a User Equipment, UE, (502), the method comprising:transmitting (504), to a network node (500), an uplink transmission associated to a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request, HARQ, process, the uplink transmission comprising a set of Code Block Bundles, CBBs, the set of CBBs consisting of two or more CBBs;receiving (508; 508’; 700) an uplink grant for a retransmission for the HARQ process, the uplink grant comprising an indication of whether HARQ feedback, HARQ-FB, information is present;if the HARQ-FB information is present, transmitting (510; 706), to the network node (500), an uplink transmission comprising a retransmission of a subset of the set of CBBs indicated by the HARQ-FB information to be retransmitted, in accordance with the uplink grant; and otherwise, if the HARQ-FB information is not present, performing one or more other retransmission actions (510’; 718).

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the CBBs are symbol-aligned CBBs.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the indication comprised in the uplink grant indicates that the HARQ-FB information is present, and the method further comprises receiving (506), from the network node (500), the HARQ-FB information that indicates the subset of the set of CBBs that are to be retransmitted.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the uplink transmission comprises the retransmission and optionally, further comprises new data.

5. The method of claim 3 or 4, further comprising determining (702) whether the HARQ-FB information is present.

6. The method of any of claims 3 to 5, further comprising:determining (704) whether the UE has successfully received the HARQ-FB information; wherein transmitting (510), to the network node (500), the uplink transmission comprising the retransmission of the indicated subset of the set of CBBs is responsive to determining (702) that the HARQ-FB information is present and determining (704) that the UE has successfully received the HARQ-FB information.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:responsive to determining that the UE has not successfully received the HARQ-FB information, determining (708-716) what, if anything, to transmit on the resources granted by the uplink grant.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining (708-716) what, if anything, to transmit on the resources granted by the uplink grant comprises:determining (708) that the uplink grant is to be ignored.

9. The method of claim 7, determining (708-716) what, if anything, to transmit on the resources granted by the uplink grant comprises:determining (712) that the resources granted by the uplink grant are sufficient to retransmit all of the set of CBBs; andin response thereto, retransmitting (714) all of the set of CBBs.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising transmitting (714), to the network node (500), an indication that the HARQ-FB information was not received by the UE (502).

11. The method of claim 7, determining (708-716) what, if anything, to transmit on the resources granted by the uplink grant comprises:determining (712) that the resources granted by the uplink grant are not sufficient to retransmit all of the set of CBBs; andin response thereto, retransmitting (716) a first N of the set of CBBs or a last N of the set of CBBs, where N is an integer number of CBBs that will fit into the resources granted by the uplink grant.

12. The method of claim 7, determining (708-716) what, if anything, to transmit on the resources granted by the uplink grant comprises:determining (712) that the resources granted by the uplink grant are not sufficient to retransmit all of the set of CBBs; andin response thereto, retransmitting (716) a selected subset of the set of CBBs.

13. The method of claim 11 or 12, further comprising transmitting (716), to the network node (500), an indication that the HARQ-FB information was not received by the UE (502).

14. The method of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein performing the one or more other actions if the indication comprised in the uplink grant indicates that the HARQ-FB information is not present comprises retransmitting (718) all of the set of CBBs on the resources granted by the uplink grant.

15. The method of any of claims 1 to 14, wherein the HARQ-FB information and the uplink grant are included in a single message or separately signaled.

16. The method of any of claims 1 to 15, wherein the HARQ-FB information comprises a bitstring comprising, for each CBB in the set of CBBs, one or more corresponding bits that indicate whether that CBB is to be retransmitted.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the bitstring has a fixed or dynamic length.

18. The method of any of claims 1 to 17, wherein HARQ-FB information is received in a physical layer control signal or in a higher layer control signal.

19. The method of any of claims 1 to 18, wherein the HARQ-FB information comprises a tag or indicator, and the UE applies the HARQ-FB information if the tag or indicator matches an expected state of the HARQ process on which the uplink transmission is transmitted.

20. The method of any of claims 1 to 19, further comprising receiving, from the network node, a request for a local negative acknowledgement, NACK, at the UE, and only the subset of the CBBs indicated in the message are evaluated when determining whether a layer 2, L2, retransmission is needed or not in response to the request for local NACK.

21. A User Equipment, UE, (502; 1000), comprising:a communication interface (1012) comprising a transmitter (1018) and a receiver (1020); andprocessing circuitry (1002) associated with the communication interface (1012), the processing circuitry (1002) configured to cause the UE (502; 1000) to:transmit (504), to a network node (500), an uplink transmission associated to a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request, HARQ, process, the uplink transmission comprising a set of Code Block Bundles, CBBs, the set of CBBs consisting of two or more CBBs;receive (508; 508’; 700) anuplinkgrant for a retransmission for theHARQ process, the uplink grant comprising an indication of whether HARQ feedback, HARQ-FB, information is present;if the HARQ-FB information is present, transmit (510; 706), to the network node (500), an uplink transmission comprising a retransmission of a subset of the set of CBBs indicated by the HARQ-FB information to be retransmitted, in accordance with the uplink grant; andotherwise, if the HARQ-FB information is not present, perform (510’; 718) one or more other retransmission actions.

22. The UE of claim 21, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the UE to perform the method of any of claims 2 to 20.

23. A method performed by a network node (500), the method comprising:receiving (504), from a User Equipment, UE, (502), an uplink transmission for a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request, HARQ, process, the uplink transmission comprising a set of Code Block Bundles, CBBs, the set of CBBs consisting of two or more CBBs, wherein the network node (500) is unable to successfully decode a subset of the set of CBBs; andtransmitting (508), to the UE (502), an uplink grant for a retransmission for the HARQ process, the uplink grant comprising an indication of whether HARQ feedback, HARQ-FB, information is present, wherein the HARQ-FB information indicates the subset of the set of CBBs to be retransmitted using the uplink grant.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the CBBs are symbol-aligned CBBs.

25. The method of claim 23 or 24, wherein the HARQ-FB information is present, and the method further comprises transmitting (506), to the UE (502), the HARQ-FB information that indicates the subset of the set of CBBs that are to be retransmitted.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising receiving (510), from the UE, an uplink transmission comprising a retransmission of the indicated subset of the set of CBBs, in accordance with the uplink grant.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the uplink transmission comprising the retransmissionfurther comprises new data.

28. The method of claim 25, further comprising receiving, from the UE (502), an indication that the HARQ-FB information was not received by the UE (502).

29. The method of any of claims 23 to 28, wherein the HARQ-FB information and the uplink grant are included in a single message or separately signaled to the UE (502).

30. The method of any of claims 23 to 29, wherein the HARQ-FB information comprises a bitstring comprising, for each CBB in the set of CBBs, one or more corresponding bits that indicate whether that CBB is to be retransmitted.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the bitstring has a fixed or dynamic length.

32. The method of any of claims 23 to 31, wherein the HARQ-FB information is transmitted in a physical layer control signal or a higher layer control signal.

33. The method of any of claims 23 to 32, wherein the HARQ-FB information comprises a tag or indicator that matches an expected state of the HARQ process associated to the uplink transmission.

34. The method of any of claims 23 to 33, further comprising transmitting, to the UE, a request for a local negative acknowledgment, NACK, at the UE.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein only the subset of the CBBs indicated in the HARQ-FB information are to be evaluated when determining whether a layer 2, L2, retransmission by the UE is needed or not in response to the request for local NACK.

36. A network node (500; 1100), comprising processing circuitry (1102) configured to cause the network node (500; 1100) to:receive (504), from a User Equipment, UE, (502), an uplink transmission for a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request, HARQ, process, the uplink transmission comprising a set of Code Block Bundles, CBBs, the set of CBBs consisting of two or more CBBs, wherein the network node (500) is unable to successfully decode a subset of the set of CBBs; andtransmit (508), to the UE (502), an uplink grant for a retransmission for the HARQ process, the uplink grant comprising an indication that indicates whether HARQ feedback, HARQ-FB, information is present, wherein the HARQ-FB information indicates the subset of the set of CBBs to be retransmitted.

37. The network node of claim 36, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the network node to perform the method of any of claims 24 to 35.

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