HARQ-ACK Bundling for Uplink Control Overhead Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless communications networks face challenges in efficiently supporting a diverse range of devices with varying data traffic profiles and requirements, such as high data rate, low latency, and high reliability, particularly in 5G and new radio access technology systems.
Innovation Solution
The method involves a communications device that receives signals from a wireless communications network, determines acknowledgement bits for downlink channels, performs bundling operations based on specific characteristics, and transmits bundled bits back to the network, optimizing radio resource use and HARQ-ACK feedback for efficient data transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple separate HARQ-ACK feedback indications are transmitted for different downlink transmission occasions, then the network can accurately track individual reception status, but the uplink control channel overhead and resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate HARQ-ACK feedback indications into a single bundled feedback indication. The communications device performs bundling operations (such as logical AND or OR operations) on multiple acknowledgement bits corresponding to different downlink transmission occasions, resulting in a single bundled bit that is transmitted back to the network. This merging approach reduces uplink control channel overhead while maintaining the ability to convey reception status information.
Solution Approach 2:
The bundled HARQ-ACK feedback mechanism serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides acknowledgment for multiple downlink transmission occasions, reduces uplink control channel resource consumption, and maintains compatibility with existing network protocols. The single bundled feedback indication replaces what would otherwise require multiple separate feedback transmissions, making the system more efficient without sacrificing reliability.
2Loss of information
If acknowledgement bits for each downlink transmission occasion are transmitted separately, then the network receives detailed reception status information, but the complexity of feedback processing and resource management increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple acknowledgement bits into a single bundled bit through bundling operations. Instead of processing and managing multiple separate feedback indications, the network receives one consolidated feedback indication that encapsulates the reception status of multiple downlink transmission occasions. This reduces feedback processing complexity while preserving essential reception status information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the essential reception status information from multiple individual acknowledgement bits and consolidates it into a single bundled feedback indication. By taking out only the critical acknowledgment information and combining it, the system reduces processing complexity while maintaining the necessary level of information for reliable communication.
3Quantity of substance
If bundling operations are performed on acknowledgement bits, then uplink control channel overhead is reduced, but the precision of individual reception status tracking decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple acknowledgement bits into a single bundled feedback indication using logical operations (AND or OR). This merging reduces uplink control channel overhead by transmitting one bit instead of multiple separate bits. While individual reception status precision is reduced, the bundled feedback still provides sufficient information for the network to determine whether retransmission is needed, balancing overhead reduction with acceptable precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial bundling where not all acknowledgement bits are necessarily combined into a single bit in all scenarios. The bundling operation can be selectively applied based on network conditions and requirements, providing a balance between overhead reduction and precision maintenance. This partial action approach allows flexibility in optimizing the trade-off between overhead and precision.
Data Source
AI summary
Receiving, from a wireless network, signals on one or more downlink channels, each of the downlink channels being within one of a plurality of downlink transmission occasions, determining, for each of the downlink transmission occasions, a value of an acknowledgement bit indicating whether or not one of the signals has been successfully received on one of the downlink channels within that downlink transmission occasion, performing, based on at least one bundling characteristic, one or more of a plurality of different bundling operations on the acknowledgement bits determined for each of the downlink transmission occasions to produce one or more bundled bits, and transmitting, to the wireless communications network, an indication of the one or more bundled bits.