Soft Buffer Partitioning for Multi-TTI Communication Devices

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing communication systems face inefficiencies in partitioning soft buffers equally among different transmission time interval (TTI) length configurations, which is neither cost-effective nor desirable for systems supporting various TTI lengths concurrently.

Innovation Solution

The soft buffer is partitioned unequally among TTI length configurations based on factors such as HARQ process numbers, maximum transport block size, and physical resource block values, ensuring each configuration corresponds to a proportional soft buffer partition size, allowing for efficient storage of soft channel bits.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If the soft buffer is equally divided among component carriers and further divided among transport blocks and HARQ processes, then the buffer allocation is simple and uniform, but it is neither cost-effective nor desirable for systems supporting various TTI lengths concurrently

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesupport for various TTI lengthsVSAvoidsoft buffer partitioning complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The soft buffer is segmented into multiple partitions, with each partition corresponding to a specific TTI length configuration. This segmentation allows the system to allocate buffer resources differently for different TTI lengths (e.g., 1ms, 0.5ms, 0.25ms configurations), enabling adaptive support for various TTI lengths while maintaining manageable complexity through structured division

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The soft buffer partitioning is made dynamic by configuring different partition sizes based on the specific TTI length configuration being used. The buffer allocation can be adjusted dynamically according to the active TTI configuration, allowing the system to optimize buffer usage for each configuration rather than using a fixed equal division scheme

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

2Productivity

If unequal partitioning of soft buffer is implemented among different TTI length configurations, then cost-effectiveness and efficiency are improved, but the complexity of buffer management increases

Engineering Contradiction:
ImproveHARQ soft combining efficiencyVSAvoidsoft buffer management complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Different partitions of the soft buffer are assigned different qualities or sizes according to the specific requirements of each TTI length configuration. Shorter TTI configurations may receive different buffer allocation than longer TTI configurations, optimizing the buffer usage for each local requirement and improving overall HARQ efficiency

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The buffer allocation parameters are changed based on the TTI length configuration. By adjusting the partition size parameter according to the active configuration, the system achieves unequal partitioning that optimizes productivity for each scenario while managing complexity through parameter-based control rather than structural complexity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentEP3288207B1Communication device and base station
Publication Date: 2020.10.07 HTC CORP
  • EP3288207B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3288207B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3288207B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A communication device configured to communicate with a network via at least one carrier is disclosed. The at least one carrier includes a plurality of transmission time interval (TTI) length configurations. The communication device includes a soft buffer for storing a downlink data transmission from the network; a storage unit configured to store a program code; and a processor electrically coupled to the storage unit. The processor is configured to access the program code to partition the soft buffer into a plurality of soft buffer partitions among the TTI length configurations according to a plurality of HARQ process numbers corresponding to the TTI length configurations.