HARQ Process Sharing Across Component Carriers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless communication systems face challenges in efficiently managing hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes across multiple component carriers (CCs), particularly in carrier aggregation configurations with different numerologies, leading to increased complexity and potential performance compromises.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves sharing a common pool of HARQ processes across multiple CCs, allowing devices to efficiently utilize HARQ processes in a communication network. This is achieved by identifying a carrier aggregation configuration and determining a HARQ configuration that indicates a pool of shared HARQ processes, which can be allocated based on UE capability and specific weightings for different CCs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate HARQ processes are allocated to each component carrier in carrier aggregation, then reliability of individual CC communication is improved, but device complexity increases due to managing multiple independent HARQ processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges separate HARQ process pools from multiple component carriers into a single shared HARQ process pool. The gNB and UE maintain one common pool of HARQ processes that serve multiple CCs, eliminating the need to manage separate HARQ process allocations for each CC while maintaining communication reliability through the unified pool management mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The shared HARQ process pool serves multiple component carriers simultaneously, making the HARQ processes universal across different CCs. A single HARQ process can be allocated to transmit data on any of the aggregated CCs based on current communication needs, thereby reducing the total number of HARQ processes required while maintaining the reliability benefits of HARQ for each CC.
2Ease of operation
If a fixed number of HARQ processes is allocated to each component carrier, then HARQ process management is simplified, but spectral efficiency decreases due to inability to dynamically adapt to varying communication demands
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic HARQ process allocation from the shared pool based on real-time communication conditions. The gNB can flexibly allocate HARQ processes to different CCs according to current traffic demands, channel conditions, and QoS requirements, enabling the system to adapt dynamically rather than being constrained by fixed allocations, thereby improving spectral efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of HARQ process allocation from fixed to variable. The number of HARQ processes assigned to each CC can be adjusted by the gNB based on communication needs, allowing optimization of resource utilization across different CCs with varying demands, thus improving overall spectral efficiency while maintaining manageable complexity through centralized control.
3Adaptability or versatility
If component carriers with different numerologies are aggregated, then adaptability to diverse communication requirements is improved, but HARQ process management complexity increases due to numerology-specific process requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the management of HARQ processes by introducing a mapping mechanism that associates HARQ process IDs with specific CCs and their numerologies. While the physical HARQ process pool is shared and unified, the management layer segments the allocation and tracking based on numerology groups, allowing the system to handle diverse numerology requirements without maintaining completely separate HARQ process pools for each CC type.
Solution Approach 2:
The gNB acts as an intermediary that manages the mapping between HARQ process IDs and specific component carriers with different numerologies. This intermediary mapping mechanism allows the shared HARQ process pool to serve multiple CCs with different numerological characteristics without requiring each CC to have dedicated HARQ processes, thereby reducing complexity while maintaining adaptability to diverse communication requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques and apparatus for sharing hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes across component carriers (CCs) are described. An example technique involves identifying a carrier aggregation (CA) configuration in which at least a first CC of a plurality of CCs is aggregated with at least a second CC of the plurality of CCs. A HARQ configuration indicating a pool of HARQ processes shared by at least the first CC and the second CC is received from a base station (BS). Communications are performed with the BS on at least one of the first CC or the second CC, based at least in part on the HARQ configuration.