HARQ Acknowledgement Feedback Enhancement for NR-U Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wireless communication systems face challenges in efficiently managing acknowledgement feedback in hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes, particularly in new radio unlicensed (NR-U) networks, which can lead to increased latency and signaling overhead due to contention for shared resources.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves a method where a user equipment (UE) receives a downlink control message from a serving base station that includes an additional set ID identifying extra sets of downlink transmissions mapping to additional sets of acknowledgement resources. The UE then encodes the acknowledgement status for both the current and additional set IDs into an acknowledgement feedback message sent to the base station.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate acknowledgement feedback messages are transmitted for each set of downlink transmissions, then reliability of HARQ feedback is improved, but latency and signaling overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple acknowledgement feedback messages into a single unified message. The UE receives multiple downlink transmissions identified by different set IDs and transmits a single acknowledgement feedback message that contains acknowledgement information for all sets, thereby reducing latency and signaling overhead while maintaining reliable feedback delivery
2Reliability
If separate acknowledgement feedback messages are transmitted for each set of downlink transmissions, then reliability of HARQ feedback is improved, but signaling overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate feedback transmissions into one consolidated feedback message. The single acknowledgement feedback message contains acknowledgement information for multiple downlink transmission sets, significantly reducing the number of uplink transmissions required and lowering signaling overhead between UE and base station
3Measurement precision
If multiple sets of downlink transmissions are acknowledged separately, then measurement precision of individual transmission status is improved, but productivity of feedback process deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses set IDs to segment and identify different groups of downlink transmissions within a single feedback message. Each set ID uniquely identifies a specific set of downlink transmissions, allowing the base station to precisely determine which transmissions are being acknowledged while processing all acknowledgements in one unified message, thus maintaining measurement precision while improving productivity
Data Source
AI summary
Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) feedback enhancements are disclosed for new radio (NR) unlicensed (NR-U). In the downlink control channel, two sets of identifiers (IDs) may be explicitly or implicitly signaled. The two IDs identify a current set ID and an additional set ID. Where the two IDs match, then the ACK feedback transmitted in the current ACK message will reflect the current transmissions. Otherwise, where the two IDs are different, the additional set ID identifies any previous or different ACK information that should be transmitted for prior transmissions.