阅读说明：本技术 用于新无线电免许可操作中的混合自动接收请求过程的时变码块组粒度 (Time-varying code block group granularity for hybrid automatic receive request procedures in new radio license exempt operation ) 是由 A·肯达马拉伊坎南 J·孙 张晓霞 于 2019-10-02 设计创作，主要内容包括：公开了新无线电(NR)免许可操作(NR-U)上的混合自动重传请求(HARQ)配置。可以通过用信号向用户设备(UE)通知用于HARQ反馈的可用码块组(CBG)粒度集合来定义时变CBG粒度。UE监测控制信令,该控制信令可以用于选择用于当前时隙的CBG粒度。然后,UE可以根据与所选择的CBG粒度相对应的格式来执行HARQ反馈。额外方面公开了在考虑不同CBG粒度的情况下更新NR-U操作中的竞争窗口大小(CWS)。基站可以计算有效HARQ反馈值,该有效HARQ反馈值考虑与在时隙集合中的可配置参考时隙处的传输相对应的不同CBG粒度。基站将根据有效HARQ反馈的失败率与传输失败率门限的关系来更新CWS。(Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) configurations on New Radio (NR) grant-less operation (NR-U) are disclosed. The time-varying Code Block Group (CBG) granularity may be defined by signaling a set of available CBG granularities for HARQ feedback to a User Equipment (UE). The UE monitors control signaling that may be used to select the CBG granularity for the current slot. The UE may then perform HARQ feedback according to a format corresponding to the selected CBG granularity. Additional aspects disclose updating a Contention Window Size (CWS) in NR-U operations taking into account different CBG granularities. The base station may calculate an effective HARQ feedback value that takes into account different CBG granularities corresponding to transmissions at configurable reference slots in the set of slots. The base station updates the CWS according to the relation between the failure rate of the effective HARQ feedback and the transmission failure rate threshold.)

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

receiving, by a User Equipment (UE), a semi-static configuration signal, wherein the semi-static configuration signal configures a plurality of available Code Block Group (CBG) granularities for acknowledgement feedback;

monitoring, by the UE, control signaling from a serving base station, wherein the control signaling is associated with a slot type of a current slot of a current transmission opportunity (TxOP);

selecting, by the UE, a current CBG granularity for the current slot of the current TxOP from the plurality of available CBG granularities in response to detecting the control signaling, wherein the selecting is based on the control signaling; and

performing, by the UE, acknowledgement feedback for the current time slot according to an acknowledgement format corresponding to the current CBG granularity.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said control signaling comprises a slot identification signal identifying said slot type for each slot of said current TxOP.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the slot identification signal comprises one of:

a field in each slot of the TxOP that identifies a corresponding slot of the TxOP as one of: a boundary slot or a non-boundary slot, wherein at least one CBG granularity is associated with the boundary slot and at least one other CBG granularity is associated with the non-boundary slot; or

A downlink control indicator field identifying the current CBG granularity.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

selecting, by the UE, a fallback CBG granularity of the plurality of available CBG granularities in response to failing to detect the slot identification signal, wherein the acknowledgement feedback is performed according to a fallback acknowledgement format corresponding to the fallback CBG granularity for the current slot.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the semi-static configuration signal comprises an acknowledgement configuration message, wherein the acknowledgement configuration message associates each of a plurality of acknowledgement process identifiers with a corresponding CBG granularity.

6. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

transmitting, by a base station, a semi-static configuration signal to one or more served User Equipments (UEs), wherein the semi-static configuration signal configures a plurality of available Code Block Group (CBG) granularities for acknowledgement feedback;

transmitting, by the base station, control signaling to the one or more served UEs, wherein the control signaling is associated with a slot type of a current slot of a current transmission opportunity (TxOP); and

detecting, by the base station, acknowledgement feedback from the one or more served UEs, wherein the acknowledgement feedback is detected in an acknowledgement format corresponding to a current CBG granularity.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said control signaling comprises a slot identification signal identifying said slot type for each slot of said current TxOP.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the slot identification signal comprises one of:

a field in each slot of the TxOP that identifies a corresponding slot of the TxOP as one of: a boundary slot or a non-boundary slot, wherein at least one CBG granularity is associated with the boundary slot and at least one other CBG granularity is associated with the non-boundary slot; or

A downlink control indicator field identifying the current CBG granularity.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the detecting comprises:

blindly detecting the acknowledgement format of the acknowledgement feedback, wherein the acknowledgement format corresponds to the current CBG granularity.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the semi-static configuration signal comprises an acknowledgement configuration message, wherein the acknowledgement configuration message associates each of a plurality of acknowledgement process identifiers with a corresponding CBG granularity.

11. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

calculating, by a base station, a set of valid acknowledgement values based on one or more received acknowledgement values corresponding to data transmissions in a reference slot of a current transmission opportunity (TxOP);

determining, by the base station, a transmission failure rate for the set of valid acknowledgement values; and

updating, by the base station, a contention window size in response to a relative association between the transmission failure rate and a transmission failure threshold rate.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the valid set of acknowledgement values includes the one or more acknowledgement values weighted in one of:

weighting equally for each of the one or more acknowledgement values;

weighting according to a number of Code Block Groups (CBGs) that constitute each of the one or more acknowledgement values; or

Weighting according to the number of Code Blocks (CB) of each Code Block Group (CBG) constituting the one or more acknowledgement values.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the reference time slot comprises one of:

a first time slot of the current TxOP;

a predetermined number of slots at the beginning of the current TxOP; or

A transmission slot of the current TxOP corresponding to a first acknowledgement value received by the base station.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the updating the contention window size is performed once for one of:

the reference time slot; or

The set of valid acknowledgement values.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the updating the contention window size comprises:

increasing the contention window size in response to the transmission failure rate exceeding the transmission failure threshold rate; and

reducing the contention window size in response to the transmission failure rate satisfying the transmission failure threshold rate.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the first and second light sources are selected from the group consisting of,

wherein the data transmission spans a plurality of Listen Before Talk (LBT) subbands,

wherein the received one or more acknowledgement values correspond to a subset of LBT subbands less than the plurality of LBT subbands, and

wherein the determining and the updating are based on the valid set of acknowledgement values, which is based on the received one or more acknowledgement values.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the first and second light sources are selected from the group consisting of,

wherein the data transmission spans a plurality of Listen Before Talk (LBT) subbands,

wherein the received one or more acknowledgement values correspond to a subset of LBT subbands less than the plurality of LBT subbands, and

wherein the determining and the updating are delayed until the received one or more acknowledgement values comprise acknowledgement values for the plurality of LBT subbands.

18. An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor,

wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

receiving, by a User Equipment (UE), a semi-static configuration signal, wherein the semi-static configuration signal configures a plurality of available Code Block Group (CBG) granularities for acknowledgement feedback;

monitoring, by the UE, control signaling from a serving base station, wherein the control signaling is associated with a slot type of a current slot of a current transmission opportunity (TxOP);

selecting, by the UE in response to detection of the control signaling, a current CBG granularity for the current slot of the current TxOP from the plurality of available CBG granularities, wherein the configuration of the at least one processor to select is performed based on the control signaling; and

performing, by the UE, the acknowledgement feedback for the current time slot according to an acknowledgement format corresponding to the current CBG granularity.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said control signaling comprises a slot identification signal identifying said slot type for each slot of said current TxOP.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the slot identification signal comprises one of:

a field in each slot of the TxOP that identifies a corresponding slot of the TxOP as one of: a boundary slot or a non-boundary slot, wherein at least one CBG granularity is associated with the boundary slot and at least one other CBG granularity is associated with the non-boundary slot; or

A downlink control indicator field identifying the current CBG granularity.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising a configuration of the at least one processor to: selecting, by the UE, a fallback CBG granularity of the plurality of available CBG granularities in response to failing to detect the slot identification signal, wherein the acknowledgement feedback is performed according to a fallback acknowledgement format corresponding to the fallback CBG granularity for the current slot.

22. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the semi-static configuration signal comprises an acknowledgement configuration message, wherein the acknowledgement configuration message associates each of a plurality of acknowledgement process identifiers with a corresponding CBG granularity.

Technical Field

Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to time varying Code Block Group (CBG) granularity for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes in New Radio (NR) unlicensed (NR-U) operation.

Background

Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These wireless networks may be multiple-access networks capable of supporting multiple users by sharing the available network resources. Such networks, which are typically multiple-access networks, support communication for multiple users by sharing the available network resources. An example of such a network is the Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). The UTRAN is a Radio Access Network (RAN) defined as part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a third generation (3G) mobile telephony technology supported by the third generation partnership project (3 GPP). Examples of multiple-access network formats include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) networks, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA (ofdma) networks, and single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks.

A wireless communication network may include multiple base stations or node bs that may support communication for multiple User Equipments (UEs). A UE may communicate with a base station via the downlink and uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the base stations to the UEs, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the UEs to the base stations.

A base station may transmit data and control information to a UE on the downlink and/or may receive data and control information from a UE on the uplink. On the downlink, transmissions from a base station may encounter interference due to transmissions from neighbor base stations or transmissions from other wireless Radio Frequency (RF) transmitters. On the uplink, transmissions from a UE may encounter uplink transmissions from other UEs communicating with neighbor base stations or interference from other wireless RF transmitters. This interference may degrade performance on both the downlink and uplink.

As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to grow, the likelihood of interference and congested networks increases as more UEs access long-range wireless communication networks and more short-range wireless systems are deployed in the community. Research and development continue to advance wireless technology not only to meet the ever-increasing demand for mobile broadband access, but also to improve and enhance the user experience with mobile communications.

Disclosure of Invention

In one aspect of the disclosure, a method of wireless communication includes: receiving, by a User Equipment (UE), a semi-static configuration signal, wherein the semi-static configuration signal configures a plurality of available Code Block Group (CBG) granularities for acknowledgement feedback; monitoring, by the UE, control signaling from a serving base station, wherein the control signaling is associated with a slot type of a current slot of a current transmission opportunity (TxOP); selecting, by the UE, a current CBG granularity for the current slot of the current TxOP from the plurality of available CBG granularities in response to detection of the control signaling, wherein the selecting is based on the control signaling; and performing, by the UE, the acknowledgement feedback for the current time slot according to an acknowledgement format corresponding to the current CBG granularity.

In additional aspects of the disclosure, a method of wireless communication comprises: transmitting, by a base station, a semi-static configuration signal to one or more served UEs, wherein the semi-static configuration signal configures a plurality of available CBG granularities for acknowledgement feedback; transmitting, by the base station, control signaling to the one or more served UEs, wherein the control signaling is associated with a slot type of a current slot of a current TxOP; and detecting, by the base station, acknowledgement feedback from the one or more served UEs, wherein the acknowledgement feedback is detected in an acknowledgement format corresponding to a current CBG granularity.

In additional aspects of the disclosure, a method of wireless communication comprises: calculating, by the base station, a set of valid acknowledgement values based on the received one or more acknowledgement values corresponding to the data transmission in the reference slot of the current TxOP; determining, by the base station, a transmission failure rate for the set of valid acknowledgement values; and updating, by the base station, a contention window size in response to a relative association between the transmission failure rate and a transmission failure threshold rate.

In additional aspects of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication comprises: means for receiving, by a UE, a semi-static configuration signal, wherein the semi-static configuration signal configures a plurality of available CBG granularities for acknowledgement feedback; means for monitoring, by the UE, control signaling from a serving base station, wherein the control signaling is associated with a slot type of a current slot of a current TxOP; means for selecting, by the UE, a current CBG granularity for the current slot of the current TxOP from the plurality of available CBG granularities in response to detection of the control signaling, wherein the means for selecting is performed based on the control signaling; and means for performing, by the UE, the acknowledgement feedback for the current time slot according to an acknowledgement format corresponding to the current CBG granularity.

In additional aspects of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication comprises: means for transmitting, by a base station, a semi-static configuration signal to one or more served UEs, wherein the semi-static configuration signal configures a plurality of available CBG granularities for acknowledgement feedback; means for transmitting, by the base station, control signaling to the one or more served UEs, wherein the control signaling is associated with a slot type of a current slot of a current TxOP; and means for detecting, by the base station, acknowledgement feedback from the one or more served UEs, wherein the acknowledgement feedback is detected in an acknowledgement format corresponding to a current CBG granularity.

In additional aspects of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication comprises: means for calculating, by a base station, a set of valid acknowledgement values based on one or more received acknowledgement values corresponding to data transmissions in a reference slot of a current TxOP; means for determining, by the base station, a transmission failure rate for the valid set of acknowledgement values; and means for updating, by the base station, a contention window size in response to a relative association between the transmission failure rate and a transmission failure threshold rate.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon. The program code further includes: code for receiving, by a UE, a semi-static configuration signal, wherein the semi-static configuration signal configures a plurality of available CBG granularities for acknowledgement feedback; code for monitoring, by the UE, control signaling from a serving base station, wherein the control signaling is associated with a slot type of a current slot of a current TxOP; code for selecting, by the UE, a current CBG granularity for the current slot of the current TxOP from the plurality of available CBG granularities in response to detection of the control signaling, wherein the code for selecting is performed based on the control signaling; and code for performing, by the UE, the acknowledgement feedback for the current time slot according to an acknowledgement format corresponding to the current CBG granularity.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon. The program code further includes: code for transmitting, by a base station, a semi-static configuration signal to one or more served UEs, wherein the semi-static configuration signal configures a plurality of available CBG granularities for acknowledgement feedback; code for transmitting, by the base station, control signaling to the one or more served UEs, wherein the control signaling is associated with a slot type of a current slot of a current TxOP; and code for detecting, by the base station, acknowledgement feedback from the one or more served UEs, wherein the acknowledgement feedback is detected in an acknowledgement format corresponding to a current CBG granularity.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon. The program code further includes: code for calculating, by the base station, a set of valid acknowledgement values based on the received one or more acknowledgement values corresponding to the data transmission in the reference slot of the current TxOP; code for determining, by the base station, a transmission failure rate for the set of valid acknowledgement values; and code for updating, by the base station, a contention window size in response to a relative association between the transmission failure rate and a transmission failure threshold rate.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to: receiving, by a UE, a semi-static configuration signal, wherein the semi-static configuration signal configures a plurality of available CBG granularities for acknowledgement feedback; monitoring, by the UE, control signaling from a serving base station, wherein the control signaling is associated with a slot type of a current slot of a current TxOP; selecting, by the UE in response to detection of the control signaling, a current CBG granularity for the current slot of the current TxOP from the plurality of available CBG granularities, wherein the configuring for selection is performed based on the control signaling; and performing, by the UE, the acknowledgement feedback for the current time slot according to an acknowledgement format corresponding to the current CBG granularity.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to: transmitting, by a base station, a semi-static configuration signal to one or more served UEs, wherein the semi-static configuration signal configures a plurality of available CBG granularities for acknowledgement feedback; transmitting, by the base station, control signaling to the one or more served UEs, wherein the control signaling is associated with a slot type of a current slot of a current TxOP; and detecting, by the base station, acknowledgement feedback from the one or more served UEs, wherein the acknowledgement feedback is detected in an acknowledgement format corresponding to a current CBG granularity.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to: calculating, by the base station, a set of valid acknowledgement values based on the received one or more acknowledgement values corresponding to the data transmission in the reference slot of the current TxOP; determining, by the base station, a transmission failure rate for the set of valid acknowledgement values; and updating, by the base station, a contention window size in response to a relative association between the transmission failure rate and a transmission failure threshold rate.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of examples according to the present disclosure in order that the detailed description that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages will be described hereinafter. The conception and specific examples disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. The nature of the concepts disclosed herein (both as to organization and method of operation), together with associated advantages, will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. Each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the claims.

Drawings

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present disclosure may be realized by reference to the following drawings. In the drawings, similar components or features may have the same reference numerals. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a second label that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing details of a wireless communication system.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a design of a base station and a UE configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless communication system including a base station using directional radio beams.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a base station and a UE communicating over an NR-U network.

Fig. 5A and 5B are block diagrams illustrating example blocks executed to implement aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an NR-U network including communications between a base station and a UE, each configured according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks executed to implement an aspect of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8A-8C are block diagrams illustrating NR-U communications between a base station and a UE configured according to aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram illustrating communications in an NR-U network between a base station and a UE configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example UE configured in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example base station configured in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Rather, the detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the inventive subject matter. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that these specific details are not required in every case and that, in some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to provide a clear presentation.

The present disclosure relates generally to providing or participating in authorized shared access between two or more wireless communication systems (also referred to as wireless communication networks). In various embodiments, the techniques and apparatus may be used for wireless communication networks, as well as other communication networks, such as: a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) network, a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) network, an Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) network, a single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) network, an LTE network, a GSM network, a 5 th generation (5G) or a New Radio (NR) network. As described herein, the terms "network" and "system" may be used interchangeably.

An OFDMA network may implement radio technologies such as evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, flash-OFDM, etc. UTRA, E-UTRA, and Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). In particular, Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a release of UMTS that uses E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS and LTE are described in documents provided from an organization entitled "third generation partnership project" (3GPP), and cdma2000 is described in documents from an organization entitled "third generation partnership project 2" (3GPP 2). These various radio technologies and standards are known or under development. For example, the third generation partnership project (3GPP) is a collaboration between groups of telecommunications associations that is targeted at defining globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phone specifications. The 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP project that targets the improvement of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile phone standard. The 3GPP may define specifications for next generation mobile networks, mobile systems, and mobile devices. The present disclosure relates to the evolution of wireless technologies from LTE, 4G, 5G, NR and beyond with shared access to the wireless spectrum between networks using some new and different radio access technologies or radio air interfaces.

In particular, 5G networks contemplate diverse deployments, diverse frequency spectrums, and diverse services and devices that may be implemented using a unified air interface based on OFDM. To achieve these goals, in addition to developing new radio technologies for 5G NR networks, further enhancements to LTE and LTE-a are considered. The 5G NR will be able to scale to (1) directions with ultra-high density (e.g., -1M nodes/km)²) Large-scale internet of things (IoT) with ultra-low complexity (e.g., -10 s bits/second), ultra-low energy (e.g., -10 + years of battery life) provides coverage, and provides deep coverage with the ability to reach challenging sites; (2) including mission critical controls with strong security for protecting sensitive personal, financial, or confidential information, ultra-high reliability (e.g., -99.9999% reliability), ultra-low latency (e.g., -1 ms), and users with a wide range of mobility or lack thereof; and (3) with enhanced mobile broadband, which includes very high capacity (e.g., -10 Tbps/km)²) Extreme data rates (e.g., multiple Gbps rates, 100+ Mbps user experience rates), and depth perception with advanced discovery and optimization.

The 5G NR may be implemented using an optimized OFDM-based waveform with a scalable digital scheme (numerology) and Transmission Time Interval (TTI); have a common, flexible framework to efficiently multiplex services and features using a dynamic, low-latency Time Division Duplex (TDD)/Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) design; and advanced wireless technologies such as massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), robust millimeter wave (mm wave) transmission, advanced channel coding, and device-centric mobility. The scalability of the digital scheme in 5G NR (with scaling of the subcarrier spacing) can efficiently address operating diverse services across diverse spectrum and diverse deployments. For example, in various outdoor and macro coverage deployments of implementations less than 3GHz FDD/TDD, subcarrier spacing may occur at 15kHz, e.g., over a bandwidth of 1, 5, 10, 20MHz, etc. For other various outdoor and small cell coverage deployments of TDD greater than 3GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur at 30kHz over an 80/100MHz bandwidth. For various other indoor broadband implementations, TDD is used on the unlicensed portion of the 5GHz band, and the subcarrier spacing may occur at 60kHz over a 160MHz bandwidth. Finally, for various deployments transmitting with millimeter wave components at 28GHz TDD, the subcarrier spacing may occur at 120kHz over a 500MHz bandwidth.

The scalable digital scheme of 5G NR facilitates scalable TTIs for different latency and quality of service (QoS) requirements. For example, shorter TTIs may be used for low latency and high reliability, while longer TTIs may be used for higher spectral efficiency. Efficient multiplexing of long and short TTIs allows transmission to start on symbol boundaries. The 5G NR also contemplates self-contained integrated subframe designs where uplink/downlink scheduling information, data, and acknowledgements are in the same subframe. Self-contained integrated subframes support communication in unlicensed or contention-based shared spectrum, adaptive uplink/downlink (which can be flexibly configured on a per-cell basis to dynamically switch between uplink and downlink to meet current traffic demands).

Various other aspects and features of the disclosure are further described below. It should be apparent that the teachings herein may be embodied in a wide variety of forms and that any specific structure, function, or both being disclosed herein is merely representative and not limiting. Based on the teachings herein one skilled in the art should appreciate that an aspect disclosed herein may be implemented independently of any other aspects and that two or more of these aspects may be combined in various ways. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects set forth herein. Further, such an apparatus may be implemented, or such a method may be practiced, using other structure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to or other than one or more of the aspects set forth herein. For example, the methods may be implemented as part of a system, apparatus, device, and/or as instructions stored on a computer-readable medium for execution on a processor or computer. Furthermore, an aspect may comprise at least one element of a claim.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a 5G network 100 including various base stations and UEs configured in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The 5G network 100 includes a plurality of base stations 105 and other network entities. A base station may be a station that communicates with UEs and may also be referred to as an evolved node b (enb), a next generation enb (gnb), an access point, and so on. Each base station 105 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term "cell" can refer to the particular geographic coverage area of a base station and/or a base station subsystem serving that coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

A base station may provide communication coverage for a macro cell or a small cell (e.g., a pico cell or a femto cell) and/or other types of cells. A macro cell typically covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions with the network provider. Small cells (e.g., pico cells) will typically cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions with the network provider. A small cell (e.g., a femto cell) will also typically cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a residence), and may provide restricted access by UEs having an association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs for users in the residence, etc.) in addition to unrestricted access. The base station used for the macro cell may be referred to as a macro base station. The base station for the small cell may be referred to as a small cell base station, a pico base station, a femto base station, or a home base station. In the example shown in fig. 1, base stations 105D and 105e are conventional macro base stations, while base stations 105a-105c are macro base stations implemented with one of 3-dimensional (3D), full-dimensional (FD), or massive MIMO. The base stations 105a-105c take advantage of their higher dimensional MIMO capabilities to take advantage of 3D beamforming in both elevation and azimuth beamforming to increase coverage and capacity. The base station 105f is a small cell base station, which may be a home base station or a portable access point. A base station may support one or more (e.g., two, three, four, etc.) cells.

The 5G network 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the base stations may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the base stations may have different frame timings, and transmissions from different base stations may not be aligned in time.

UEs 115 are dispersed throughout wireless network 100, and each UE may be stationary or mobile. A UE may also be referred to as a terminal, mobile station, subscriber unit, station, etc. A UE may be a cellular telephone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a cordless telephone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, and so forth. In one aspect, the UE may be a device that includes a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC). In another aspect, the UE may be a device that does not include a UICC. In some aspects, a UE that does not include a UICC may also be referred to as an internet of things (IoE) or internet of things (IoT) device. The UEs 115a-115d are examples of mobile smartphone type devices that access the 5G network 100. The UE may also be a machine specifically configured for connected communications, including Machine Type Communications (MTC), enhanced MTC (emtc), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), etc. UEs 115e-115k are examples of various machines configured for communication that access the 5G network 100. The UE may be capable of communicating with any type of base station (whether macro, small cell, etc.). In fig. 1, lightning (e.g., a communication link) indicates wireless transmissions between a UE and a serving base station (which is a base station designated to serve the UE on the downlink and/or uplink), or desired transmissions between base stations and backhaul transmissions between base stations.

In operation at the 5G network 100, the base stations 105a-105c serve the UEs 115a and 115b using 3D beamforming and a coordinated spatial technique (e.g., coordinated multipoint (CoMP) or multiple connectivity). The macro base station 105d performs backhaul communications with the base stations 105a-105c and the small cell base station 105 f. The macro base station 105d also sends multicast services that the UEs 115c and 115d subscribe to and receive. Such multicast services may include mobile television or streaming video, or may include other services for providing community information, such as weather emergencies or alerts (e.g., Amber alerts or gray alerts).

The 5G network 100 also supports mission critical communications utilizing ultra-reliable and redundant links for mission critical devices (e.g., UE 115e, which is a drone). The redundant communication links with the UE 115e include data from the macro base stations 105d and 105e and the small cell base station 105 f. Other machine type devices (e.g., UE 115f (thermometer), UE 115G (smart meter), and UE 115h (wearable device)) may communicate directly with base stations (e.g., small cell base station 105f and macro base station 105e) through the 5G network 100 or in a multi-hop configuration by communicating with another user device that relays its information to the network (e.g., UE 115f transmits temperature measurement information to smart meter (UE 115G) which is then reported to the network through small cell base station 105 f). The 5G network 100 may also provide additional network efficiency through dynamic, low latency TDD/FDD communications (e.g., in a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) mesh network between UEs 115i-115k in communication with the macro base station 105 e).

Fig. 2 shows a block diagram of a design of base station 105 and UE 115 (which may be one of the base stations and one of the UEs in fig. 1). At the base station 105, a transmit processor 220 may receive data from a data source 212 and control information from a controller/processor 240. The control information may be for PBCH, PCFICH, PHICH, PDCCH, EPDCCH, MPDCCH, etc. The data may be for PDSCH, etc. Transmit processor 220 may process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. Transmit processor 220 may also generate reference symbols, e.g., for PSS, SSS, and cell-specific reference signals. A Transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, the control symbols, and/or the reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide output symbol streams to Modulators (MODs) 232a through 232 t. Each modulator 232 may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 232 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. Downlink signals from modulators 232a through 232t may be transmitted via antennas 234a through 234t, respectively.

At the UE 115, the antennas 252a through 252r may receive downlink signals from the base station 105 and may provide received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 254a through 254r, respectively. Each demodulator 254 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 254 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from all demodulators 254a through 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols (if applicable), and provide detected symbols. A receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for the UE 115 to a data sink 260, and provide decoded control information to a controller/processor 280.

On the uplink, at UE 115, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 (e.g., for the PUSCH) and control information from a controller/processor 280 (e.g., for the PUCCH). Transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for a reference signal. The symbols from transmit processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 if applicable, further processed by modulators 254a through 254r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to base station 105. At the base station 105, the uplink signals from the UE 115 may be received by the antennas 234, processed by the demodulators 232, detected by a MIMO detector 236 (if applicable), and further processed by a receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by the UE 115. Processor 238 may provide the decoded data to a data sink 239 and the decoded control information to controller/processor 240.

Controllers/processors 240 and 280 may direct the operation at base station 105 and UE 115, respectively. The controller/processor 240 and/or other processors and modules at the base station 105 may perform or direct the performance of various processes for the techniques described herein. Controller/processor 280 and/or other processors and modules at UE 115 may also perform or direct the execution of the functional blocks illustrated in fig. 5A, 5B, and 7 and/or other processes for the techniques described herein. Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for base station 105 and UE 115, respectively. A scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink.

Wireless communication systems operated by different network operating entities (e.g., network operators) may share spectrum. In some instances, a network operating entity may be configured to use the entire designated shared spectrum for at least a period of time before: another network operating entity uses the entire designated shared spectrum for a different time period. Thus, to allow network operating entities to use the entire designated shared spectrum, and to mitigate interfering communications between different network operating entities, certain resources (e.g., time) may be divided and allocated to different network operating entities for certain types of communications.

For example, a network operating entity may be allocated certain time resources that are reserved for exclusive communication by the network operating entity using the entire shared spectrum. Other time resources may also be allocated to the network operating entity in which the entity is given priority over other network operating entities to communicate using the shared spectrum. These time resources that are prioritized for use by the network operating entity may be used by other network operating entities on an opportunistic basis if the prioritized network operating entities do not use these resources. Additional time resources may be allocated for use by any network operator on an opportunistic basis.

Access to the shared spectrum and arbitration of time resources among different network operating entities may be centrally controlled by separate entities, autonomously determined by a predefined arbitration scheme, or dynamically determined based on interactions between wireless nodes of the network operator.

In some cases, the UEs 115 and base stations 105 of the 5G network 100 (in fig. 1) may operate in a shared radio frequency spectrum band (which may include licensed or unlicensed (e.g., contention-based) spectrum). In an unlicensed frequency portion of the shared radio frequency spectrum band, a UE 115 or base station 105 may conventionally perform a medium sensing procedure to contend for access to the spectrum. For example, the UE 115 or the base station 105 may perform a Listen Before Talk (LBT) procedure (e.g., Clear Channel Assessment (CCA)) prior to communication in order to determine whether a shared channel is available. The CCA may include an energy detection process to determine whether there are any other active transmissions. For example, the device may infer that a change in the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) of the power meter indicates that the channel is occupied. In particular, a signal power concentrated in a certain bandwidth and exceeding a predetermined noise floor may be indicative of another wireless transmitter. The CCA may also include detection of a specific sequence indicating use of the channel. For example, another device may transmit a particular preamble before transmitting the data sequence. In some cases, the LBT procedure may include the wireless node adjusting its own backoff window based on the amount of energy detected on the channel and/or acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) feedback for packets it sends as proxies for collisions.

Using the media sensing process to contend for access to the unlicensed shared spectrum may result in communication inefficiencies. This may be particularly apparent when multiple network operating entities (e.g., network operators) attempt to access the shared resources. In the 5G network 100, the base stations 105 and UEs 115 may be operated by the same or different network operating entities. In some examples, individual base stations 105 or UEs 115 may be operated by more than one network operating entity. In other examples, each base station 105 and UE 115 may be operated by a single network operating entity. Requiring each base station 105 and UE 115 of different network operating entities to contend for shared resources may result in increased signaling overhead and communication latency.

Fig. 3 shows an example of a timing diagram 300 for coordinated resource partitioning. Timing diagram 300 includes a superframe 305, which may represent a fixed duration (e.g., 20 ms). The superframe 305 may be repeated for a given communication session and may be used by a wireless system (e.g., the 5G network 100 described with reference to fig. 1). The superframe 305 may be divided into intervals, such as an acquisition interval (a-INT)310 and an arbitration interval 315. As described in more detail below, the a-INT 310 and the arbitration interval 315 may be subdivided into sub-intervals that are designated for certain resource types and assigned to different network operating entities to facilitate coordinated communications between the different network operating entities. For example, the arbitration interval 315 may be divided into a plurality of sub-intervals 320. Furthermore, the superframe 305 may also be divided into a plurality of subframes 325 having a fixed duration (e.g., 1 ms). Although the timing diagram 300 shows three different network operating entities (e.g., operator a, operator B, operator C), the number of network operating entities using the superframe 305 for coordinated communication may be more or less than the number shown in the timing diagram 300.

The a-INT 310 may be a dedicated interval of the superframe 305 that is reserved for exclusive communication by a network operating entity. In some examples, each network operating entity may be allocated certain resources within the A-INT 310 for exclusive communication. For example, resource 330-a may be reserved for exclusive communication by operator a (e.g., by base station 105a), resource 330-B may be reserved for exclusive communication by operator B (e.g., by base station 105B), and resource 330-C may be reserved for exclusive communication by operator C (e.g., by base station 105C). Since resource 330-a is reserved for exclusive communication by operator a, neither operator B nor operator C can communicate during resource 330-a, even if operator a chooses not to communicate during those resources. That is, access to the exclusive resources is limited to the specified network operator. Similar restrictions apply to resources 330-B for operator B and resources 330-C for operator C. The operator a's wireless nodes (e.g., UE 115 or base station 105) may transmit any desired information, e.g., control information or data, during their exclusive resources 330-a.

When communicating on exclusive resources, the network operating entity does not need to perform any medium sensing procedure (e.g., Listen Before Talk (LBT) or Clear Channel Assessment (CCA)) because the network operating entity knows that the resources are reserved. Because only designated network operating entities may communicate on exclusive resources, there may be a reduced likelihood of interference with communications (e.g., no hidden node problems) as compared to relying solely on media sensing techniques. In some examples, the a-INT 310 is used to transmit control information, such as synchronization signals (e.g., SYNC signals), system information (e.g., System Information Blocks (SIBs)), paging information (e.g., Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) messages), or random access information (e.g., Random Access Channel (RACH) signals). In some examples, all wireless nodes associated with a network operating entity may transmit simultaneously during their exclusive resources.

In some examples, resources may be classified as preferred for certain network operating entities. A resource assigned with a priority for a certain network operation entity may be referred to as a guaranteed interval (G-INT) for the network operation entity. The interval of resources used by the network operation entity during the G-INT may be referred to as a prioritized sub-interval. For example, resource 335-a may be preferred for use by operator A, and thus may be referred to as a G-INT (e.g., G-INT-OpA) for operator A. Similarly, resources 335-B may be prioritized for operator B (e.g., G-INT-OpB), resources 335-C (e.g., G-INT-OpC) may be prioritized for operator C, resources 335-d may be prioritized for operator A, resources 335-e may be prioritized for operator B, and resources 335-f may be prioritized for operator C.

The individual G-INT resources shown in fig. 3 appear interleaved to illustrate their association with their respective network operating entities, but these resources may all be on the same frequency bandwidth. Thus, the G-INT resource may appear as a continuous line within the superframe 305 if viewed along a time-frequency grid. This division of data may be an example of Time Division Multiplexing (TDM). Further, when resources occur in the same sub-interval (e.g., resource 340-a and resource 335-b), these resources represent the same time resources for superframe 305 (e.g., these resources occupy the same sub-interval 320), but these resources are individually designated to illustrate that the same time resources may be classified differently for different operators.

When resources are allocated with a priority (e.g., G-INT) for a certain network operating entity, that network operating entity may use those resources for communication without waiting for or performing any medium sensing procedures (e.g., LBT or CCA). For example, operator a's wireless node may freely transmit any data or control information during resource 335-a without interference from operator B or operator C's wireless node.

In addition, the network operating entity may signal to another operator that it intends to use a particular G-INT. For example, referring to resource 335-a, operator A may signal operator B and operator C that it intends to use resource 335-a. This signaling may be referred to as an activity indication. Further, since operator a has priority for resource 335-a, operator a may be considered a higher priority operator than both operator B and operator C. However, as discussed above, operator a does not need to send signaling to other network operating entities to ensure interference-free transmission during resource 335-a, since resource 335-a is preferentially allocated to operator a.

Similarly, the network operating entity may signal to another operator that it does not intend to use a particular G-INT. This signaling may also be referred to as an activity indication. For example, referring to resource 335-B, operator B may signal to operator A and operator C that it does not intend to use resource 335-B for communication, even if the resource is preferentially allocated to operator B. Referring to resource 335-B, operator B may be considered a higher priority network operating entity than operator a and operator C. In such a case, operator a and operator C may attempt to use the resources of sub-interval 320 on an opportunistic basis. Thus, from the perspective of operator A, the sub-interval 320 containing the resource 335-b may be considered an opportunistic interval (O-INT) (e.g., O-INT-OpA) for operator A. For illustrative purposes, resource 340-a may represent an O-INT for operator A. Furthermore, from the perspective of operator C, the same sub-interval 320 may represent the O-INT for operator C with the corresponding resource 340-b. Resources 340-a, 335-b, and 340-b all represent the same time resource (e.g., a particular subinterval 320), but are individually identified to indicate that the same resource may be considered a G-INT for certain network operating entities, as well as an O-INT for other network operating entities.

To utilize resources on an opportunistic basis, operator a and operator C may perform a medium sensing procedure to check for communication on a particular channel before transmitting data. For example, if operator B decides not to use resource 335-B (e.g., G-INT-OpB), operator a may use those same resources (e.g., represented by resource 340-a) by first checking the channel for interference (e.g., LBT) and then transmitting data if the channel is determined to be idle. Similarly, if operator C wants to access resources on an opportunistic basis during sub-interval 320 (e.g., using O-INT represented by resource 340-B) in response to an indication that operator B will not use its G-INT (e.g., resource 335-B), operator C may perform the media sensing procedure and access the resources if available. In some cases, two operators (e.g., operator a and operator C) may attempt to access the same resources, in which case the operators may employ a contention-based procedure to avoid interfering with communications. The operators may also have sub-priorities assigned to them that are designed to determine which operator can gain access to the resource (if more than one operator attempts access at the same time). For example, operator A may be prioritized over operator C during sub-interval 320 when operator B is not using resource 335-B (e.g., G-INT-OpB). Note that in another sub-interval (not shown), operator C may take precedence over operator a when operator B is not using its G-INT.

In some examples, while the network operating entity may not intend to use the particular G-INT assigned thereto, an activity indication conveying an intent to not use the resource may not be sent. In such a case, for a particular subinterval 320, a lower priority operating entity may be configured to monitor the channel to determine whether a higher priority operating entity is using the resource. If a lower priority operational entity determines through LBT or similar methods that a higher priority operational entity will not use its G-INT resources, the lower priority operational entity may attempt to access the resources on an opportunistic basis, as described above.

In some examples, a reservation signal (e.g., Request To Send (RTS)/Clear To Send (CTS)) may precede access to G-INT or O-INT and a Contention Window (CW) may be randomly selected between once and the total number of operating entities.

In some examples, the operating entity may employ or may be compatible with coordinated multipoint (CoMP) communication. For example, the operating entity may employ CoMP and dynamic Time Division Duplexing (TDD) in G-INT and opportunistic CoMP in O-INT as needed.

In the example shown in fig. 3, each sub-interval 320 includes a G-INT for one of the operators A, B or C. However, in some cases, one or more of sub-intervals 320 may include resources (e.g., unallocated resources) that are reserved for neither exclusive use nor preferential use. Such unallocated resources may be considered an O-INT for any network operating entity and may be accessed on an opportunistic basis, as described above.

In some examples, each subframe 325 may contain 14 symbols (e.g., 250 μ β for a 60kHz tone spacing). These subframes 325 may be independent, self-contained intervals c (ITC), or the subframes 325 may be part of long ITC. The ITC may be a self-contained transmission that begins with a downlink transmission and ends with an uplink transmission. In some embodiments, the ITC may contain one or more subframes 325 that operate continuously while the medium is occupied. In some cases, assuming a 250 μ s transmission opportunity, there may be a maximum of eight network operators in the a-INT 310 (e.g., having a duration of 2 ms).

Although three operators are shown in fig. 3, it should be understood that more or fewer network operating entities may be configured to operate in a coordinated manner as described above. In some cases, the location of the G-INT, O-INT or A-INT within the superframe 305 is autonomously determined for each operator based on the number of active network operating entities in the system. For example, if there is only one network operating entity, each subinterval 320 may be occupied by a G-INT for that single network operating entity, or subintervals 320 may alternate between G-INT and O-INT for that network operating entity to allow entry by other network operating entities. If there are two network operating entities, the subintervals 320 may alternate between G-INT for a first network operating entity and G-INT for a second network operating entity. If there are three network operating entities, the G-INT and O-INT for each network operating entity may be designed as shown in FIG. 3. If there are four network operation entities, the first four sub-intervals 320 may include consecutive G-INTs for the four network operation entities, and the remaining two sub-intervals 320 may contain O-INTs. Similarly, if there are five network operation entities, the first five sub-intervals 320 may contain consecutive G-INTs for the five network operation entities, while the remaining sub-intervals 320 may contain O-INTs. If there are six network operating entities, all six subintervals 320 may include a continuous G-INT for each network operating entity. It should be understood that these examples are for illustrative purposes only, and that other autonomously determined interval allocations may be used.

It should be understood that the coordination framework described with reference to FIG. 3 is for illustration purposes only. For example, the duration of the superframe 305 may be greater than or less than 20 ms. Further, the number, duration, and location of the sub-intervals 320 and sub-frames 325 may be different than the illustrated configuration. Further, the type of resource designation (e.g., exclusive, prioritized, unassigned) may be different or include more or fewer sub-designations.

Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback in Transport Block (TB) level granularity supporting access technologies such as LTE, licensed-assisted access (LAA), enhanced LAA (elaa), multefire (mf), etc., where each Acknowledgement (ACK) or Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) corresponds to each Code Block (CB) transmission included in the TB.

In LTE, the HARQ feedback timeline is fixed at four slots. MF networks allow for variability of the HARQ timeline, but are primarily limited by the 4ms constraint and are not as configurable as NR and NR-U networks operate. The NR-U operation allows for a variable HARQ timeline configured by the serving base station. The configurability of CBG granularity and the variability of the HARQ timeline introduce new challenges in NR-U operation.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a base station 105 and a UE 115 communicating over the NR-U network 40. CBG-based feedback is useful for partial transmission slots. For example, the base station 105 performs an LBT procedure to access a shared communication spectrum for downlink transmissions to the UE 115. The base station 105 performs an LBT procedure in the initial time slot 400 and detects success at 401. When the base station 105 passes LBT at 401, the base station 105 accesses the shared spectrum at any symbol and may need to puncture or rate match to the initial time slot 400. The CBG-based feedback allows the UE 115 to report CBGs that pass decoding even with partial slot transmission of the initial slot 400. Without CBG-based feedback, if any of the CBGs within the initial slot 400 are not decoded, the UE 115 will feed back a NACK for the entire initial slot 400 regardless of whether the UE 115 failed to decode the transmitted CBG or whether the base station 105 has not transmitted a CBG because it has not passed LBT.

Similarly, the ending slot 402 of TxOP 41 may be considered a partial slot because UE 115 may not have enough processing time to process the later CBG of ending slot 402. The processing deadline 403 represents the last position in the ending slot 402 where the UE 115 will have enough time to decode and process the CBG to include the HARQ feedback at 404. CBG-based feedback allows the UE 115 to process an earlier CBG ending the slot 402 and send feedback based on the decoding result at 404, while a CBG with insufficient turnaround time may be reported as a NACK. Thus, the degree of utility of CBG granularity may depend on the type of slot (e.g., a boundary slot, an initial or end partial slot, or a non-boundary slot).

Fig. 5A and 5B illustrate example blocks executed to implement an aspect of the present disclosure. Example blocks will also be described with respect to UE 115 as shown in fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a UE 115 configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure. The UE 115 includes the structure, hardware, and components as shown for the UE 115 of fig. 2. For example, the UE 115 includes a controller/processor 280 that operates to execute logic units or computer instructions stored in memory 282, as well as to control components of the UE 115 that provide the features and functionality of the UE 115. UE 115 sends and receives signals via wireless radios 1000a-r and antennas 252a-r under the control of controller/processor 280. The wireless radios 1000a-r include various components and hardware as shown in fig. 2 for the UE 115, including modulators/demodulators 254a-r, a MIMO detector 256, a receive processor 258, a transmit processor 264, and a TX MIMO processor 266.

Example blocks will also be described with respect to the base station 105 as shown in fig. 11. Fig. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a base station 105 configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure. The base station 105 includes the structure, hardware, and components as shown for the base station 105 of fig. 2. For example, the base station 105 includes a controller/processor 240 that operates to execute logic units or computer instructions stored in memory 242, as well as to control the components of the base station 105 that provide the features and functionality of the base station 105. The base station 105, under the control of the controller/processor 240, transmits and receives signals via the wireless radios 1100a-t and antennas 234 a-t. The wireless radio units 1100a-t include various components and hardware as shown in fig. 2 for the base station 105, including modulators/demodulators 232a-t, a MIMO detector 236, a receive processor 238, a transmit processor 220, and a TX MIMO processor 230.

At block 504, the base station transmits a semi-static configuration signal to the one or more served UEs, wherein the semi-static configuration signal configures a plurality of available CBG granularities for acknowledgement feedback. For example, a base station (such as base station 105) may determine the set of available CBG granularities by executing available CBG granularity logic 1101 in memory 242 under the control of controller/processor 240. The execution environment of the available CBG granularity logic unit 1101 allows the base station 105 to determine the set of granularity and send them in semi-static configuration signals via the wireless radio units 1100a-t and antennas 234 a-t. The semi-static configuration signal may comprise, for example, an RRC configuration signal. The semi-static configuration signal may also include a HARQ process assignment 1102. The execution environment of HARQ process assignment 1102 pre-assigns HARQ processes to a particular CBG granularity. The execution environment for HARQ process assignment 1102 includes generating a semi-static signal identifying the HARQ process ID for a particular CBG granularity.

At block 500, the UE receives a semi-static configuration signal, wherein the semi-static configuration signal configures a plurality of available CBG granularities for acknowledgement feedback. A UE (such as UE 115) may receive semi-static configuration signals via antennas 252a-r and wireless radios 1000a-r and store in memory 282 at available CBG granularity 1001. The semi-static configuration signals may be stored by UE 115 in memory 282 at available CBG granularity 1001 when received as a set of available CBG granularities, and may be stored in memory 282 at HARQ process assignment 1002 when received as a pre-assignment of HARQ process IDs for a particular CBG granularity.

At block 505, the base station transmits control signaling to one or more served UEs, wherein the control signaling is associated with a slot type of a current slot of a current TxOP. To identify the selection of a particular CBG granularity, the base station 105 executes the slot type signaling logic 1103 in the memory 242 under the control of the controller/processor 240. The execution environment of the slot type signaling logic unit 1103 provides that the base station 105 sends a signal identifying the slot type of each slot in the current TxOP. For example, the signal may include a GC-PDCCH, a dedicated slot type field, one or more bits used in DCI, and the like.

At block 501, the UE monitors control signaling from a serving base station, wherein the control signaling is associated with a slot type of a current slot of a current TxOP. The UE 115 monitors slot type signaling via the antennas 252a-r and the wireless radios 1000 a-r. To select a particular CBG granularity for acknowledgement feedback for the current slot, the UE 115 will receive additional signaling for use in selecting from the available CBG granularities 1001.

At block 502, the UE selects a current CBG granularity for a current slot of a current TxOP from a plurality of available CBG granularities, wherein the selection is based on control signaling. When UE 115 receives slot type signaling via antennas 252a-r and wireless radios 1000a-r, UE 115, under control of controller/processor 280, executes CBG selection logic 1103 stored in memory 282. The execution environment of the CBG selection logic 1103 allows the UE 115 to select a CBG granularity from the available CBG granularities 1001 using the slot type. In the case where the slot type indicates a boundary slot (such as an initial slot or an end slot), the selected CBG granularity may be applied to the CBG-based granularity for acknowledgement feedback. Otherwise, where a non-boundary slot is identified, the selected CBG granularity may have another CBG-based granularity or a TB-based granularity. For purposes of this disclosure, a boundary slot refers to either an initial slot or an end slot of a TxOP. A non-boundary slot refers to a slot within a TxOP that is neither an initial slot nor an end slot.

At block 503, the UE performs acknowledgement feedback for the current time slot according to an acknowledgement format corresponding to the current CBG granularity. UE 115 performs HARQ process 1004 in memory 282 under the control of controller/processor 280. The execution environment of HARQ process 1004 provides acknowledgement feedback to the serving base station for received or not received transmissions. The UE 115 will send acknowledgement information (e.g., ACK or NACK) via the wireless radios 1000a-r and antennas 252 a-r.

At block 506, the base station detects acknowledgement feedback from one or more served UEs, wherein the acknowledgement feedback is detected in an acknowledgement format corresponding to the current CBG granularity. Once the slot type signal is transmitted, the base station 105 executes a feedback detection logic unit 1104 in memory 242. The execution environment of the feedback detection logic unit 1104 allows the base station 105 to monitor any HARQ feedback via the antennas 234a-t and the wireless radios 1100 a-t. When HARQ feedback is detected, the base station 105 executes HARQ feedback logic 1105 under the control of the controller/processor 240. The execution environment of the HARQ feedback logic unit 1105 allows the base station 105 to use HARQ feedback for various purposes, e.g., for adjusting communication parameters, transmit power, etc., in addition to potentially adjusting contention window size in an NR-U network.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an NR-U network 600 including communications between base stations 105 and UEs 115, each base station 105 and UE 115 configured according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure, a time-varying CBG granularity may be introduced, where different HARQ processes or different slots may have different numbers of CBGs for HARQ ACK/NACK feedback, rather than using a fixed CBG size for all HARQ processes within a given duration. The base station 105 sends a semi-static configuration message 600 to the UE 115, the semi-static configuration message 600 indicating a plurality of available CBG granularities for HARQ feedback in the TxOP 601. For example, the semi-static configuration message 600 may comprise an RRC configuration message. UE 115 monitors control signaling from base station 105 indicating the start (slot 602), end (slot 608), and/or slot type of the slot of TxOP 601. The base station 105 transmits control signaling 603, 605, 607, and 609 at each of the time slots 602, 604, 606, and 608 of the TxOP 601, respectively. For example, the control signaling 603, 605, 607, and 609 may include a group common PDCCH (GC-PDCCH) indicating a frame structure of the TxOP 601. Based on the slot type indicated in the signaling, the UE 115 selects a CBG granularity from one of a plurality of configured values. Thus, in the case where the boundary slot is indicated in the slot type indicator of control signaling 603, 605, 607, and 609, the UE 115 may select the CBG granularity for the partial slot.

According to various alternative aspects, control signaling 603, 605, 607, and 609 may include a field identifying a slot type (e.g., boundary slot and non-boundary slot) in each of slots 602, 604, 606, and 608 of TxOP 601. In one example implementation, the first CBG granularity is associated with a boundary slot. Thus, where this field identifies the current slot as a boundary slot, the UE 115 selects the first CBG granularity to format the HARQ ACK/NACK feedback. In the case where this field identifies the current slot as a non-boundary slot, the UE 115 selects a second CBG granularity. Control signaling 603, 605, 607, and 609 may also be implemented using a Downlink Control Information (DCI) message that indicates which of a plurality of available CBG granularities UE 115 may select to format HARQ feedback.

It should be noted that the slot type may be broadcast by the base station 105, and the designation of the first and second CBG granularities may be configured to be UE-specific.

According to additional aspects of the disclosure, in the event that the UE 115 fails to detect or decode the control signaling 603, the UE 115 may be configured to select a fallback CBG granularity from a plurality of available CBG granularities. On the base station side, when there are multiple hypotheses, the base station 105 may perform blind detection of HARQ feedback from the UE 115 to determine CBG granularity.

The blocks of fig. 6 may also illustrate additional aspects of the present disclosure. Semi-static configuration message 600 may alternatively include a pre-assigned set of HARQ process IDs corresponding to CBG granularity. For purposes of the additional aspects described, multiple HARQ processes (e.g., 4, 6, 8, etc.) may be configured for the UE 115. The base station 105 may pre-assign HARQ processes to a particular CBG granularity. For example, the base station 105 pre-assigns a first set of HARQ process Identifiers (IDs) to a first CBG granularity applicable to a boundary slot, and a second set of HARQ process IDs to a second CBG granularity applicable to a non-boundary slot. The semi-static configuration message 600 includes pre-assignments of different HARQ process IDs for corresponding CBG granularities. The grants (e.g., control signaling 603, 605, 607, and 609) sent by the base station 105 may still be based on the maximum number of CBGs that the UE 115 monitors for downlink control. However, when the UE 115 reads the authorized HARQ process ID, it will select the corresponding CBG granularity identified in the pre-assignment of the semi-static configuration message 600.

In LAA, eLAA and MF networks, in case of autonomous uplink, the base station or UE will compete for access to the shared communication medium. The length of time for which the transmitting node monitors the medium is determined by the Contention Window Size (CWS). The CWS represents the maximum range within which to select a random number of contention slots and may be updated based on the transmission failure rate observed in the HARQ ACK/NACK feedback from the UE. The rules for CWS adjustment in LAA, eLAA and MF networks are typically based on LTE-specific concepts and therefore may not be applicable for clarification when transitioning to NR or NR-U network operation.

In particular, as described above, the variable CBG granularity may not be compatible with LAA, eLAA, or MF network CWS adjustment rules that operate according to transport block level HARQ ACK/NACK feedback. In the case of CBG level HARQ ACK/NACK feedback introduced in NR and NR-U network operation, a modification may be implemented to process the CBG level ACK/NACK message set to trigger updating the CWS. HARQ-ACK feedback may even have greater granularity in the frequency domain, where the transmission spans multiple listen-before-talk (LBT) subbands (e.g., an NR-U network may include concepts of LBT operation based on 20MHz subbands). In addition, the HARQ timeline between transmissions in NR-U and ACK/NACK provides greater flexibility and may not be a constant value, depending on the configuration. This also affects how the CWS can be updated.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks executed to implement an aspect of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 11, example blocks will also be described with respect to the base station 105.

At block 700, the base station calculates a set of valid acknowledgement values based on one or more received acknowledgement values corresponding to data transmissions in a reference slot of a current TxOP. When the base station 105 receives HARQ feedback from a served UE via antennas 234a-t and wireless radio units 1100a-t, the base station 105, under control of controller/processor 240, executes an active feedback value logic unit 1106 in memory 242. The execution environment of the effective feedback value logic 1106 provides for the base station 105 to calculate an effective HARQ feedback value that takes into account the variability of CBG granularity on the current TxOP.

At block 701, the base station determines a transmission failure rate for a set of valid acknowledgement values. When the base station 105 calculates the effective HARQ feedback value, it executes CWS update logic unit 1107 under the control of controller/processor 240. The execution environment of the CWS update logic 1107 provides the functionality for the base station 105 to determine the failure rate of the valid HARQ feedback values and compare this rate to the threshold transmission failure rate. In the event that the current failure rate of valid HARQ feedback values exceeds a threshold rate, a determination is made to update the CWS for the next contention window.

At block 702, the base station updates the contention window size in response to a relative association between the transmission failure rate and the transmission failure threshold rate. When a determination is made in block 701 to update the CWS, the base station 105, under control of the controller/processor 240, will update the CWS within the execution environment of the CWS update logic unit 1107. As the failure rate continues to exceed the threshold, the CWS may gradually increase to a maximum size over time. Conversely, the base station 105 may determine to decrease or at least maintain the current CWS in the event that the current failure rate satisfies the threshold rate. If the current failure rate continues to meet the threshold failure rate, the base station 105 may continue to reduce the CWS to a minimum size.

Fig. 8A-8C are block diagrams illustrating NR-U communications between a base station 105 and a UE 115 configured according to aspects of the present disclosure. In the context of the existing CWS update procedure (such as in LAA networks) and the variable CBG granularity described above, the CWS for each priority class is increased if at least 80% of the HARQ feedback values corresponding to transmissions in the reference slot are determined to be NACKs. The HARQ ACK/NACK feedback may be formatted based on different granularity (e.g., TB-based or CBG-based). If one of the transmissions (e.g., P, DSCH) is acknowledged at a different CBG granularity (including TB-based granularity HARQ as one possibility) on the reference slot, there may be multiple solutions for CWS adjustment for use in aspects of the present disclosure. The base station 105 may calculate an effective HARQ ACK/NACK value that takes into account the varying CBG granularity supported by the NR-U and supports modified HARQ ACK/NACK feedback.

In a first example aspect, HARQ-ACK feedback may be equally weighted regardless of CBG granularity. In this implementation, each ACK-NACK count is the same regardless of whether it represents TB-based HARQ feedback or CBG level HARQ feedback. For example, at fig. 8A, base station 105 transmits to UE 115 at slot 0 of TxOP 80. HARQ ACK-NACK feedback from the UE 115 for this transmission at slot 0 is expected at slot 4. Due to the CBG granularity, there are ACK-NACKs at slot 4 of TxOP 80 for TB-based HARQ feedback and for CBG-based HARQ feedback. In such an aspect, all ACK-NACK counts are the same.

In a second alternative aspect, all HARQ ACK-NACK feedbacks may be weighted taking into account the number of CBGs. Using the example scenario above with one TB-based HARQ feedback and one CBG-based HARQ feedback, for each TB defined and configured for transmission at slot 4, there are multiple CBGs including the TB. Thus, the effective HARQ ACK/NACK value may accommodate the one-to-one number of CBGs for CBG-based HARQ feedback and the number of CBGs included within TB-based HARQ feedback. Considering an example configuration where each TB includes four CBGs, the effective HARQ ACK/NACK includes four CBG-based HARQ ACK-NACK values from the TB-based feedback and another CBG-based feedback.

In a third alternative aspect, the HARQ-ACK feedback may also be weighted taking into account the number of CBs per CBG. Here, referring to fig. 8B, different users (such as UEs 115a and 115B) may have different numbers of CBs assigned per CBG. Thus, different levels of CBG-based HARQ feedback may accommodate various users 115a and 115b having different numbers of CBs assigned to CBG granularity. In one example implementation, UE 115a is configured with three CBs per CBG, while UE 115b is configured with two CBs per CBG. During HARQ ACK/NACK feedback at slot 5 of TxOP 81, the valid HARQ ACK/NACK values include an ACK/NACK from UE 115a (which covers three CBs of the transmission from base station 105) and an ACK/NACK from UE 115b (which covers two CBs of the transmission from base station 105).

In existing network operations, e.g., in the case of LAA networks, the CWS update rule defines the reference slot as the starting slot of the most recent TxOP the sending base station made on the carrier for which at least some HARQ ACK/NACK feedback is expected to be available. In NR-U operation, the reference slot may also be defined as the first slot of the most recent TxOP, basically employing the CWS update rule of the LAA network. However, in NR-U operation, the HARQ timeline is configurable and therefore also variable. For example, a UE scheduled on the second slot of a TxOP may send its HARQ feedback earlier than another UE scheduled on the first slot of the same TxOP.

Fig. 8A illustrates an example aspect of NR-U operation, where the first slot (slot 0) is defined as the reference slot for which any available HARQ-ACKs may be used to determine CWS updates. For example, the base station 105 transmits a reference slot during slot 0. The base station 105 may then expect to receive HARQ ACK/NACK feedback from the UE 115 at slot 4. When the base station 105 receives such HARQ feedback, the base station 105 calculates valid HARQ ACK/NACK values and determines whether the actual transmission failure rate identified in the valid HARQ ACK/NACK values meets or exceeds a transmission failure threshold. When the threshold is exceeded, the base station 105 will gradually increase the CWS with the maximum window size as the upper limit, and if the threshold is met, the base station 105 may similarly gradually decrease the CWS with the minimum window size as the lower limit.

Fig. 8B illustrates a second example aspect of NR-U operation, where the reference slot is defined as any one of the first K slots for which any HARQ ACK/NACK feedback is available for CWS update. Thus, in the operation of the second example aspect described, the base station 105 may use the first available HARQ ACK/NACK feedback received at slot 5 to calculate a valid HARQ ACK/NACK value for evaluating updates to the CWS in response to any transmission over slots 0-2. For example, the base station 105 transmits downlink data to the UE 115a at time slot 0 and transmits downlink data to the UE 115b at time slot 2. The HARQ ACK/NACK feedback received at slot 5 represents the HARQ feedback sent by the UE 115 b. The base station 105 uses the HARQ feedback to calculate a valid HARQ ACK/NACK value for evaluating the CWS update.

Fig. 8C illustrates a third example aspect of NR-U operation, where the base station 105 may select the reference slot based on the transmission slot of the HARQ feedback that first becomes available (even if it is not the first slot). For example, the base station 105 transmits a control signal to the UE 115 at slot 0 and transmits a downlink data signal to the UE 115 at slot 2. The base station 105 receives HARQ ACK/NACK feedback from the UE 115 for the transmission in slot 2 in slot 4. The base station 105 may then determine that slot 2 is the reference slot and calculate an effective HARQ ACK/NACK value based on the feedback received from the UE 115 at slot 4. Even if a control transmission from the base station 105 is sent in the first slot (slot 0) of the TxOP 82, its HARQ feedback is not scheduled or ready for transmission until slot 5 (whether due to processing or performing a successful LBT procedure).

In NR-U network operation, the HARQ feedback timeline may be very different for multiple transmissions on a given reference slot. For example, HARQ ACK/NACK feedback for two different PDSCH transmissions on the same reference slot may become available at different times. Referring back to fig. 8B, in another example aspect, the base station 105 may transmit downlink signals to the UEs 115a and 115B at time slot 1. Based on the ability to schedule and gain access to the shared communication medium, UE 115b can send HARQ feedback at slot 5, while UE 115a can send HARQ feedback at slot 6. The current rules for CWS update provide that the base station 105 should adjust the value of CWS for each priority class only once based on a given reference slot. According to additional aspects of the present disclosure, an alternative rule may provide that the base station 105 adjusts the value of the CWS for each priority class only once based on a given HARQ ACK/NACK feedback. According to the implemented aspects, the base station 105 may choose to follow existing rules connected to the identified reference signal or follow new rules connected to HARQ feedback. When choosing to use the current rule, the base station 105 may wait to receive all HARQ feedback associated with multiple transmissions on slot 1 on slots 5 and 6 to determine a CWS update. When choosing to use the new rule, the base station 105 may continue to determine whether to update the CWS based only on the HARQ ACK/NACK feedback on slot 5.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram illustrating communications in an NR-U network between a base station 105 and a UE 115 configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure. Within NR-U operation, although the channel bandwidth may be up to 100MHz, to accommodate potentially interfering WiFi and other entities competing for access to the shared communication channel, LBT procedures may be provided in a lower bandwidth sub-band of a full channel bandwidth or a larger bandwidth portion (BWP) for communication. For example, communication may be provided over a20 MHz LBT sub-band independently protected by its own LBT procedure. When the PDSCH transmission is contained within a single LBT subband, then HARQ ACK/NACK feedback may be used to update the CWS within that subband.

However, as shown in fig. 9, the downlink data transmission (e.g., PDSCH) in slot 0 of TxOP 90 spans multiple subbands, frequency one (f1) and frequency two (f 2). According to the illustrated example scenario, based on a downlink transmission from the base station 105 to the UE 115 in slot 0, the UE 115 sends CBG HARQ feedback for f1 at slot 2 on f1, while the UE 115 sends CBG HARQ feedback for f2 after slot 4 on f 2. Thus, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, where a transmission, as here, spans multiple LBT subbands (f1 and f2) and the particular CBG HARQ feedback received at slot 2 corresponds only to CBs spanning f1, then the CWS may be updated in one of two alternative ways. In a first alternative aspect, the CWS may be updated using a partial subset of CBG HARQ feedback available to base stations 105 at slot 2 on f1, and discarding other subsets to be received at slot 4 on f 2. In a second alternative aspect, the base station 105 may delay the CWS update until all CBGs corresponding to the reference time slot (time slot 0) are available at time slot 4 on f 2.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The functional blocks and modules in fig. 5A, 5B and 7 may include the following: processors, electronics devices, hardware devices, electronics components, logic circuits, memories, software codes, firmware codes, etc., or any combination thereof.

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure. Skilled artisans will also readily recognize that the order or combination of components, methods, or interactions described herein is merely an example, and that the components, methods, or interactions of the various aspects of the present disclosure may be combined or performed in a manner different than those illustrated and described herein.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the disclosure herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Computer-readable storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of instructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, a connection may be properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or DSL are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes Compact Disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs usually reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

As used herein (including in the claims), the term "and/or" when used in a list having two or more items means that any one of the listed items can be employed alone or any combination of two or more of the listed items can be employed. For example, if a composition is described as containing component A, B and/or C, the composition may contain: only A; only B; only C; a combination of A and B; a combination of A and C; a combination of B and C; or a combination of A, B and C. Further, as used herein (including in the claims), an "or" as used in a list of items ending with at least one of "… … indicates a list of disjunctions, such that, for example, a list of" A, B or at least one of C "means a or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., a and B and C) or any combination of any of these items.

The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.