Flexible NR Grant Scheduling for Multi-Packet Subframes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Legacy wireless communication networks, such as LTE, impose scheduling restrictions on multiple transmissions to the same user equipment (UE) within the same subframe, limiting flexibility and failing to meet the stringent data speed and latency requirements of next-generation networks like 5G NR.
Innovation Solution
Implement flexible scheduling mechanisms by modifying properties of grants, such as time-frequency resource allocation, MIMO layers, waveform, and transmit-diversity schemes, and indicating specific processing for packets, using multiple control channels to enable dynamic adjustments in wireless communication networks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If legacy LTE scheduling restrictions are applied to limit multiple unicast transmissions to the same UE within the same subframe, then system complexity is reduced and control channel decoding is simplified, but scheduling flexibility and data transmission efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the scheduling control into multiple independent DCI messages, each handling specific transmission parameters. Instead of one complex DCI managing all transmissions, multiple simplified DCI messages are used, where each DCI can be independently decoded by the UE, reducing decoding complexity while enabling flexible scheduling of multiple packets
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a new dimension to scheduling by allowing multiple DCI messages with different RNTI scrambling in the same subframe. This dimensional expansion from single-DCI to multi-DCI architecture enables the system to schedule multiple unicast transmissions simultaneously without increasing the complexity of individual DCI decoding operations
2Productivity
If multiple packets are transmitted to the same UE on different time-frequency resources within the same subframe, then data transmission speed and efficiency are improved, but scheduling restrictions and control complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal DCI structure that can handle multiple transmission types (unicast, broadcast, groupcast) through different RNTI scrambling modes. This multi-functional DCI design allows the same control channel mechanism to support diverse transmission scenarios without requiring separate specialized control channels for each packet, thus improving data transmission speed while controlling complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes key parameters of the DCI structure, particularly the RNTI scrambling parameter, to enable multiple packets to be scheduled in the same subframe. By varying the RNTI parameter across different DCI messages, the system can distinguish between multiple transmissions and manage them independently, achieving high data transmission speed without proportionally increasing control complexity
3Ease of operation
If only one PDCCH/DCI is scrambled with a UE-specific RNTI per subframe, then UE decoding complexity is reduced, but scheduling flexibility for multiple packets deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces RNTI as an intermediary parameter that mediates between the UE-specific identity and the multiple DCI messages. Each DCI is scrambled with a potentially different RNTI (UE-specific or group-specific), allowing the UE to efficiently filter and decode only relevant DCI messages while enabling the base station to schedule multiple packets. This intermediary mechanism maintains ease of UE decoding while enhancing packet scheduling capability
Data Source
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AI summary
Aspects of the present disclosure provide a mechanism for flexible scheduling of grants for downlink or uplink transmissions. In some examples, a grant may be scheduled using multiple control signals, where subsequent control signals may modify one or more properties of the grant. For example, the grant may be modified to add a packet to the grant for transmission on a different set of time-frequency resources or a different set of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers, modify a time-frequency resource allocation of the grant, modify the waveform utilized for the grant, modify the transmit-diversity scheme utilized for the grant, or indicate specific processing for the packet.