Uplink Control Information Power Allocation Prioritization

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Solution Overview

Problem

In wireless communication systems, user equipment (UE) faces power limitations when transmitting multiple physical uplink control channels (PUCCHs) in a subframe, leading to reduced reliability of power-reduced PUCCHs due to near-far effects, especially when transmitted alongside full-power PUCCHs, which affects system operation.

Innovation Solution

The UE prioritizes and drops one PUCCH when power-limited, using a prioritization rule to select which PUCCH to transmit, ensuring reliable communication by allocating power to the more critical PUCCH formats, such as those carrying HARQ-ACK, and reducing the impact of near-far effects.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Quantity of substance

If the UE transmits multiple PUCCHs simultaneously in a subframe, then the quantity of control information transmitted is increased, but the reliability of transmission is reduced due to power limitations and near-far effects

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvequantity of control information transmittedVSAvoidreliability of PUCCH transmission
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the control information into different priority levels (first priority and second priority). The UE separates PUCCH transmissions into high-priority channels (e.g., carrying HARQ-ACK) and low-priority channels, allowing independent power allocation and transmission decisions for each segment, thereby ensuring critical information is transmitted reliably even when power is limited

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies different quality standards to different PUCCH transmissions based on their priority. High-priority PUCCHs receive full power allocation and guaranteed transmission resources, while low-priority PUCCHs may have their power reduced or transmission cancelled. This local differentiation of transmission quality ensures that critical control information maintains high reliability while managing overall power constraints

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Use of energy by moving object

If the UE reduces transmission power of one PUCCH to meet maximum power limits, then the power allocation flexibility is improved, but the near-far effect increases causing harmful interference

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepower allocation flexibilityVSAvoidnear-far effect
Core Design Contradiction:
Use of energy by moving objectVSObject-generated harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the problematic interaction between simultaneous PUCCH transmissions by implementing a priority-based selection mechanism. When power limitations are detected, the UE takes out (removes) low-priority PUCCH transmissions from the simultaneous transmission set, transmitting only high-priority PUCCHs at full power. This eliminates the near-far effect caused by power-reduced transmissions coexisting with full-power transmissions

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies preliminary anti-action by preemptively preventing the near-far effect before it occurs. The UE evaluates the priority of scheduled PUCCHs in advance and cancels low-priority transmissions before they can interfere with high-priority ones. This preliminary decision prevents the harmful interference pattern from developing in the first place

Inventive Principle:
Principle #9Preliminary anti-action

Data Source

PatentEP3493606B1Uplink control information transmissions/receptions in wireless networks
Publication Date: 2024.08.07 SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD
  • EP3493606B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3493606B1 patent drawingFigure 2A~2B
  • EP3493606B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A method and apparatus provide a user equipment (UE) comprising: a transceiver configured to transmit or receive signals; and a processor coupled with the transceiver and configured to allocate power to uplink channel transmissions according to a priority order, in case that the UE operates with carrier aggregation, CA and a total transmit power for the uplink channel transmissions exceed a maximum transmission power in linear value, wherein the priority order is defined that: an uplink channel transmission with hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement, HARQ-ACK, is prioritized over a uplink channel transmission with channel state information, CSI, and an uplink channel transmission with CSI is prioritized over a uplink channel transmission without HARQ-ACK or CSI.