Network Coding Feedback Staggering to Prevent UE ACK Collisions

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing wireless communication systems, particularly 5G NR, face challenges in optimizing resource utilization and reliability for network coding, especially in scenarios requiring feedback from multiple user equipments (UEs), often leading to inefficiencies and suboptimal performance.

Innovation Solution

Implementing feedback staggering across multiple time periods for network coding packets, allowing UEs to provide feedback at different times, thereby optimizing resource use and improving system capacity and reliability by combining packets for transmission.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If feedback is continuously sent from receiving devices to transmitting devices in real-time wireless communication, then communication reliability is improved, but feedback messages collide and are lost due to shared medium access

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvefeedback reliabilityVSAvoidfeedback message loss
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The feedback mechanism is segmented into two distinct phases: uplink feedback messages are sent during uplink slots, and downlink feedback messages are sent during downlink slots. This temporal segmentation prevents feedback message collisions by ensuring that transmitting and receiving devices do not simultaneously send feedback on the shared medium, thereby maintaining feedback reliability while preventing message loss.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system employs periodic action by alternating between uplink and downlink feedback transmission in a structured time-division manner. Feedback is transmitted in periodic intervals according to predefined uplink and downlink slot assignments, which organizes the shared medium access and prevents collisions while ensuring continuous feedback reliability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #19Periodic action

2Reliability

If network coding is used to improve communication efficiency and reliability, then data transmission robustness is enhanced, but feedback management complexity increases due to linear combination acknowledgments

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecommunication reliabilityVSAvoidfeedback management complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements a structured feedback mechanism where receiving devices send acknowledgments for received linear combinations to transmitting devices. This feedback enables the transmitting devices to track which linear combinations have been successfully received and which need to be retransmitted or replaced, managing the complexity of network coding through systematic feedback loops that maintain communication reliability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The feedback management system dynamically adjusts the transmission strategy based on received acknowledgments. When feedback indicates successful reception of linear combinations, the system dynamically updates the set of transmitted combinations, replacing acknowledged combinations with new ones. This dynamic adaptation manages feedback complexity while maintaining communication reliability through flexible, condition-based decision making.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP4416882B1Feedback staggering or muting for network coding
Publication Date: 2026.05.13 QUALCOMM INC
  • EP4416882B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4416882B1 patent drawingFigure 2A~2D
  • EP4416882B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

An encoding device transmits an indication for a plurality of user equipments (UEs) to provide feedback for a network coding packet across multiple time periods. The encoding device transmits the network coding packet; and receives the feedback from the plurality of UEs across the multiple time periods. A UE receives an indication to provide feedback for a network coding packet that is staggered in a different time period than a baseline time period. The UE receives the network coding packet and transmits the feedback in one time period among multiple time periods associated with the network coding packet.