Patent Publication Number: US-2018041858-A1

Title: Base station assisted outer code usage

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is related to and claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/372,195, entitled “BASE STATION ASSISTED OUTER CODE USAGE,” filed on Aug. 8, 2016, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to base station assisted outer code usage. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Wireless communication devices have become smaller and more powerful in order to meet consumer needs and to improve portability and convenience. Consumers have become dependent upon wireless communication devices and have come to expect reliable service, expanded areas of coverage and increased functionality. A wireless communication system may provide communication for a number of wireless communication devices, each of which may be serviced by a base station. A base station may be a device that communicates with wireless communication devices. 
     As wireless communication devices have advanced, improvements in communication capacity, speed, flexibility and/or efficiency have been sought. However, improving communication capacity, speed, flexibility and/or efficiency may present certain problems. 
     For example, wireless communication devices may communicate with one or more devices using a communication structure. However, the communication structure used may only offer limited flexibility and/or efficiency. As illustrated by this discussion, systems and methods that improve communication flexibility and/or efficiency may be beneficial. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating one implementation of one or more evolved NodeBs (eNBs) and one or more user equipments (UEs) in which systems and methods for base station assisted outer code usage may be implemented; 
         FIG. 2  is a flow diagram illustrating a method by a UE; 
         FIG. 3  is a flow diagram illustrating a method by an eNB; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates various components that may be utilized in a UE; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates various components that may be utilized in an eNB; 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram illustrating one implementation of a UE in which systems and methods for base station assisted outer code usage may be implemented; and 
         FIG. 7  is a block diagram illustrating one implementation of an eNB in which systems and methods for base station assisted outer code usage may be implemented. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A user equipment (UE) is described. The UE includes a processor and memory in electronic communication with the processor. Instructions stored in the memory are executable to transmit or receive an enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) signal or a massive machine type communication (MMTC) signal that may have its reception overridden by an ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) transmission or have its reception at an evolved node B (eNB) interfered with by an URLLC transmission based on eNB-assisted usage of an outer code. 
     The outer code may be applied when eNB-assisted information configures the outer code. The UE may be configured with the outer code through Radio Resource Control (RRC) dedicated signaling. 
     A Downlink Control Information (DCI) format may indicate the outer code for eMBB services transmission and reception. UE capability of outer encode/decode may be tied to a UE category that specifies an outer encoder/decoder for the UE. 
     A fixed coding rate outer code may be applied based on eNB-assisted information. The UE may receive, from the eNB when a URLLC message is to be transmitted, a DCI format with one or more fields indicating a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) that are updated with a new inner coding rate. The UE may receive, from the eNB when a URLLC message is to be transmitted, a DCI format with a field indicating only an inner code coding rate. 
     A flexible coding rate outer code may be applied based on eNB-assisted information. In an implementation, a first MCS table set indicates an inner code coding rate, and a second MCS table set indicates both inner code and outer code coding rates. The eNB configures the second MCS table set to the UE through RRC dedicated signaling when there is a URLLC message to be transmitted, otherwise, the eNB configures the first MCS table set in a DCI format. In another implementation, a value of an MCS field in a DCI format indicates an outer code coding rate. 
     An evolved node B (eNB) is also described. The eNB includes a processor and memory in electronic communication with the processor. Instructions stored in the memory are executable to transmit or receive an enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) signal or a massive machine type communication (MMTC) signal that may have its reception overridden by an ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) transmission or have its reception at an evolved node B (eNB) interfered with by an URLLC transmission based on eNB-assisted usage of an outer code. 
     The 3rd Generation Partnership Project, also referred to as “3GPP,” is a collaboration agreement that aims to define globally applicable technical specifications and technical reports for third and fourth generation wireless communication systems. The 3GPP may define specifications for next generation mobile networks, systems and devices. 
     3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the name given to a project to improve the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile phone or device standard to cope with future requirements. In one aspect, UMTS has been modified to provide support and specification for the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN). 
     At least some aspects of the systems and methods disclosed herein may be described in relation to the 3GPP LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and other standards (e.g., 3GPP Releases 8, 9, 10, 11 and/or 12). However, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited in this regard. At least some aspects of the systems and methods disclosed herein may be utilized in other types of wireless communication systems. 
     A wireless communication device may be an electronic device used to communicate voice and/or data to a base station, which in turn may communicate with a network of devices (e.g., public switched telephone network (PSTN), the Internet, etc.). In describing systems and methods herein, a wireless communication device may alternatively be referred to as a mobile station, a UE, an access terminal, a subscriber station, a mobile terminal, a remote station, a user terminal, a terminal, a subscriber unit, a mobile device, etc. Examples of wireless communication devices include cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptop computers, netbooks, e-readers, wireless modems, etc. In 3GPP specifications, a wireless communication device is typically referred to as a UE. However, as the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the 3GPP standards, the terms “UE” and “wireless communication device” may be used interchangeably herein to mean the more general term “wireless communication device.” A UE may also be more generally referred to as a terminal device. 
     In 3GPP specifications, a base station is typically referred to as a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a home enhanced or evolved Node B (HeNB) or some other similar terminology. As the scope of the disclosure should not be limited to 3GPP standards, the terms “base station,” “Node B,” “eNB,” and “HeNB” may be used interchangeably herein to mean the more general term “base station.” Furthermore, the term “base station” may be used to denote an access point. An access point may be an electronic device that provides access to a network (e.g., Local Area Network (LAN), the Internet, etc.) for wireless communication devices. The term “communication device” may be used to denote both a wireless communication device and/or a base station. An eNB may also be more generally referred to as a base station device. 
     It should be noted that as used herein, a “cell” may be any communication channel that is specified by standardization or regulatory bodies to be used for International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced) and all of it or a subset of it may be adopted by 3GPP as licensed bands (e.g., frequency bands) to be used for communication between an eNB and a UE. It should also be noted that in E-UTRA and E-UTRAN overall description, as used herein, a “cell” may be defined as “combination of downlink and optionally uplink resources.” The linking between the carrier frequency of the downlink resources and the carrier frequency of the uplink resources may be indicated in the system information transmitted on the downlink resources. 
     “Configured cells” are those cells of which the UE is aware and is allowed by an eNB to transmit or receive information. “Configured cell(s)” may be serving cell(s). The UE may receive system information and perform the required measurements on all configured cells. “Configured cell(s)” for a radio connection may consist of a primary cell and/or no, one, or more secondary cell(s). “Activated cells” are those configured cells on which the UE is transmitting and receiving. That is, activated cells are those cells for which the UE monitors the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and in the case of a downlink transmission, those cells for which the UE decodes a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). “Deactivated cells” are those configured cells that the UE is not monitoring the transmission PDCCH. It should be noted that a “cell” may be described in terms of differing dimensions. For example, a “cell” may have temporal, spatial (e.g., geographical) and frequency characteristics. 
     It should be noted that the term “concurrent” and variations thereof as used herein may denote that two or more events may overlap each other in time and/or may occur near in time to each other, all within a given time interval. Additionally, “concurrent” and variations thereof may or may not mean that two or more events occur at precisely the same time. 
     Fifth generation cellular communications (also referred to as “New Radio” or “NR” by 3GPP) envisions the use of time/frequency/space resources to allow for enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) communication and ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) services, as well as massive machine type communication (MMTC) like services. In order for the services to use the time/frequency/space medium efficiently it would be useful to be able to flexibly schedule services on the medium so that the medium may be used as effectively as possible, given the conflicting needs of URLLC, eMBB, and MMTC. 
     Currently latency issues are addressed in LTE largely via scheduling and prioritization of transmissions. There are no real flexible uses of the medium outside of scheduling for MTC and delay tolerant services, although the Narrowband Internet of Things (“NBIoT”) extensions to LTE employ a specific set of time/frequency resources. Moreover, there is little standardized information passed between different eNBs today that would enable such services to efficiently coexist. The systems and methods described herein teach various means for the eMBB, MMTC, and URLLC services to efficiently use the medium beyond what has been previously disclosed. 
     Furthermore, because a code block (CB) level cyclic redundancy check (CRC) already exists in current downlink/uplink systems, the outer code does not need to know where the URLLC interference is. Once there is a CRC check error, that CB may be punctured. In this case, it is not necessary for the eMBB UE to have the assistance from the eNB. However, the outer code introduces extra complexity for both transmitter and receiver. 
     While URLLC interference does not occur very often and only occurs at a small portion of eMBB services, at the same time, the combined code (i.e., inner code+outer code) does not necessarily have better performance than the same overall coding rate single code (either pure inner code or pure outer code) without URLLC interference. This means that if outer code is always applied, most of the time the extra transmitter/receiver complexity caused by the outer code may generate worse performance. This disclosure describes systems and methods for solving this problem, with the aid of eNB-assisted information. 
     The described systems and methods teach various types of UEs employing algorithms and procedures to enable the flexible coexistence of URLLC, eMBB and/or MMTC communications for New Radio (NR). It should be understood that URLLC signals may puncture MMTC communications as well as eMBB, so what is described below in the context of eMBB may also apply to MMTC signals. In particular, an outer code, whether it is a Reed-Solomon code or a Fountain code may also be employed for MMTC signals. 
     If an outer code may be employed for a given service (e.g., URLLC, eMBB or MMTC), configuration of the service to a UE (transmit or receive) may also indicate the use of service-specific Adaptive Modulation and Coding Tables, which may enable the UE to properly interpret which coding rate and/or modulation scheme that was used for specific transmissions and/or receptions for that service. 
     Regarding the downlink (DL), in one approach, an eMBB transmission may be punctured with a signal with a flag indicating a URLLC signal. Alternatively a URLLC signal may be indicated by specific reference signals. The eMBB signal may or may not be outer coded. 
     Priority reservation resources may be provided for URLLC signals that may be shared with eMBB signals. URLLC signals may be identified by a unique preamble, midamble or postamble if not reference signals (RSs). 
     The target UE for URLLC (which may or may not be the same UE involved in eMBB) may monitor time/frequency/space resources for the URLLC signal. Upon identifying the URLLC signal via the flag (e.g., the target UE receives the signal and decodes the URLLC message), the target UE may attempt descrambling with a UE specific ID. This UE specific ID may be a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) or some new RNTI. 
     When puncturing is detected, the UE receiving eMBB may attempt to verify that a rate matched signal is present. In some circumstances, part of the codeblock may be erased. For example, the eNB may not be able to revise or delay the order of the transmission stream if REs are punctured with URLLC signals. On detection of at least part of codeblock erasure, the eMBB-receiving UE may discard this code block or the bits in the codeblock if the outer code (e.g., Fountain Code) is used. The benefit of this approach is that likelihood-ratio (LR)/belief propagation, or other decoding metrics are not corrupted by the puncturing, which can be a problem for Fountain Codes. Conversely, the eMBB-receiving UE may try to decode the code block despite the codeblock erasure. 
     Also regarding the downlink, in another approach, an eMBB transmission may be punctured without a flag indicating the presence of a URLLC signal. In this approach, resources for potential URLLC transmissions are known to the eMBB UE, but not necessarily whether a URLLC transmission has occurred. The eMBB UE receiving the eMBB transmission may attempt decoding without using URLLC prioritized resources. The eMBB usage of resources may have additional parity bits if not used for URLLC. 
     In this approach, the eMBB-receiving UE would first attempt to decode assuming URLLC is present in prioritized time/frequency resources. If the decode is successful, the UE may send the transport block to higher layers, otherwise the UE may attempt to decode assuming URLLC bits are eMBB bits. If this decode is successful, the UE may send the transport block to higher layers, otherwise the UE may indicate negative acknowledgment (NACK) to the eNB. 
     Regarding the downlink and the uplink (UL), specific areas of time/frequency resources for URLLC traffic may be reserved as well as the possibility of resources devoted to mixed uses. Signaling of where these resources are located may be performed via configuration of the UE for URLLC or configuration of eMBB. 
     Regarding the uplink, in an approach, URLLC signals on the uplink may be transmitted via a grantless access, in prioritized time/frequency/spatial resources. Power control for URLLC signals may be realized by implied measurements of the DL power (which can reduce latency resulting from measurements) or an eNB-explicit grant. 
     The eNB does not know that a UE&#39;s transmission of URLLC signaling might have punctured in space/time an eMBB signal transmitted by another UE. In one approach to this case, the UE may preemptively not transmit in URLLC prioritized resources (via configuration of the eNB based on eMBB prioritization of transmissions). In another approach to this case, the UE may transmit on time frequency resources eMBB signals agnostic to whether or not there is an URLLC transmission transpiring. Because the co-scheduling of eMBB/URLLC signals may happen infrequently enough that from the point of the eMBB-transmitting UE, the UE may not lose a significant amount of TBs. 
     In another approach, the URLLC signal may be transmitted as soon as possible via Listen Before Talk (LBT). 
     Regarding both the downlink and the uplink, TB-level interleaving (also referred to as “interleaving across code blocks”) may be applied so as to avoid eMBB performance degradation due to overriding by URLLC signaling. There may be several implementations, as follows. In a first implementation, a UE can be configured with TB-level interleaving through dedicated RRC signaling. Once the UE is configured with TB-level interleaving, the UE and the eNB assume that the TB-level interleaving is applied. Otherwise, the UE and the eNB do not assume the TB-level interleaving. 
     In a second implementation, if a certain transmission mode is used for data transmission (e.g. eMBB data), the TB-level interleaving applies to the data. Otherwise, the UE and the eNB do not assume the TB-level interleaving. 
     In a third implementation, if a certain DCI format is used to schedule data transmission (e.g. eMBB data), the TB-level interleaving applies to the data. Otherwise, the UE and the eNB do not assume the TB-level interleaving. 
     In a fourth implementation, the DCI format may have a field for indicating the TB-level interleaving. If the field value is set to “1”, the TB-level interleaving applies to the corresponding data. Otherwise, the UE and the eNB do not assume the TB-level interleaving. 
     In a fifth implementation, UE capability of TB-level interleaving may be tied to the UE category that specifies the UE&#39;s soft buffer size. TB-interleaving may be available by the UE that supports a relatively large soft buffer size. 
     Regarding both the downlink and the uplink, outer code usage may be configured to avoid eMBB performance degradation due to overriding by URLLC signaling. Outer code may be applied only when eNB-assisted information is received. In one implementation, a fixed coding rate outer code may be applied. In an alternative, if the coding rate of the outer code is not a high rate, then an inner code coding rate may be configured via a DCI format with updated modulation and coding scheme (MCS) fields or a new DCI format that includes the inner code coding rate. 
     In another implementation, a flexible coding rate outer code may be applied. In this implementation, both the inner code and the outer code may be configured with a coding rate. In one alternative, two MCS table sets may be used, where a first MCS table set is based on channel conditions and a second MCS table set is not only based on channel conditions, but also takes into account the interference from URLLC. 
     In another alternative, one MCS table set is defined that includes two MCS tables. The first MCS table is based on channel conditions and the second MCS table is not only based on channel conditions, but also takes into account the interference from URLLC. The second MCS table may indicate both the inner code and outer code coding rates. If a value of an MCS field in a DCI format is less than or equal to a maximum value (Value_max), then the first MCS table may be used. If a value of an MCS field in a DCI format is greater than Value_max, then the second MCS table may be used. 
     Various examples of the systems and methods disclosed herein are now described with reference to the Figures, where like reference numbers may indicate functionally similar elements. The systems and methods as generally described and illustrated in the Figures herein could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different implementations. Thus, the following more detailed description of several implementations, as represented in the Figures, is not intended to limit scope, as claimed, but is merely representative of the systems and methods. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating one implementation of one or more eNBs  160  and one or more UEs  102  in which systems and methods for base station assisted outer code usage may be implemented. The one or more UEs  102  communicate with one or more eNBs  160  using one or more antennas  122   a - n . For example, a UE  102  transmits electromagnetic signals to the eNB  160  and receives electromagnetic signals from the eNB  160  using the one or more antennas  122   a - n . The eNB  160  communicates with the UE  102  using one or more antennas  180   a - n.    
     The UE  102  and the eNB  160  may use one or more channels  119 ,  121  to communicate with each other. For example, a UE  102  may transmit information or data to the eNB  160  using one or more uplink channels  121 . Examples of uplink channels  121  include a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), etc. The one or more eNBs  160  may also transmit information or data to the one or more UEs  102  using one or more downlink channels  119 , for instance. Examples of downlink channels  119  include a PDCCH, a PDSCH, etc. Other kinds of channels may be used. 
     Each of the one or more UEs  102  may include one or more transceivers  118 , one or more demodulators  114 , one or more decoders  108 , one or more encoders  150 , one or more modulators  154 , a data buffer  104  and a UE operations module  124 . For example, one or more reception and/or transmission paths may be implemented in the UE  102 . For convenience, only a single transceiver  118 , decoder  108 , demodulator  114 , encoder  150  and modulator  154  are illustrated in the UE  102 , though multiple parallel elements (e.g., transceivers  118 , decoders  108 , demodulators  114 , encoders  150  and modulators  154 ) may be implemented. 
     The transceiver  118  may include one or more receivers  120  and one or more transmitters  158 . The one or more receivers  120  may receive signals from the eNB  160  using one or more antennas  122   a - n . For example, the receiver  120  may receive and downconvert signals to produce one or more received signals  116 . The one or more received signals  116  may be provided to a demodulator  114 . The one or more transmitters  158  may transmit signals to the eNB  160  using one or more antennas  122   a - n . For example, the one or more transmitters  158  may upconvert and transmit one or more modulated signals  156 . 
     The demodulator  114  may demodulate the one or more received signals  116  to produce one or more demodulated signals  112 . The one or more demodulated signals  112  may be provided to the decoder  108 . The UE  102  may use the decoder  108  to decode signals. The decoder  108  may produce decoded signals  110 , which may include a UE-decoded signal  106  (also referred to as a first UE-decoded signal  106 ). For example, the first UE-decoded signal  106  may comprise received payload data, which may be stored in a data buffer  104 . Another signal included in the decoded signals  110  (also referred to as a second UE-decoded signal  110 ) may comprise overhead data and/or control data. For example, the second UE-decoded signal  110  may provide data that may be used by the UE operations module  124  to perform one or more operations. 
     In general, the UE operations module  124  may enable the UE  102  to communicate with the one or more eNBs  160 . The UE operations module  124  may include one or more of a UE ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) coexistence module  126 . 
     The described systems and methods teach various types of UEs  102  employing algorithms and procedures to enable the flexible coexistence of ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), and massive machine type communication (MMTC) for New Radio (NR). Although most of the description below deals with URLLC coexisting with eMBB transmissions, there is also the case where URLLC might coexist with MMTC. 
     It should be noted that MMTC services may have regions that are reserved for them because they may have narrower bandwidth overall, and the traffic is more predictable with MMTC devices. Thus, it may be unlikely that MMTC services will need special mechanisms to coexist with eMBB traffic. However, there may be a need to schedule URLLC traffic contemporaneously with MMTC traffic. In the following discussion, therefore, unless otherwise specified, what applies for eMBB traffic will also be considered to apply to MMTC traffic. 
     NR may have the following properties. Autonomous/grant-free/contention based UL non-orthogonal multiple access may have the following characteristics: a transmission from a UE  102  does not need the dynamic and explicit scheduling grant from an eNB  160 ; and multiple UEs  102  can share the same time and frequency resources. 
     For autonomous/grant-free/contention based UL non-orthogonal multiple access, the following properties may be further defined. Collision of time/frequency resources from different UEs  102  may have solutions that potentially include code, sequence, or interleaver pattern. For UL synchronization (DL synchronization is assumed), in a first case, the timing offsets between UEs  102  may be within a cyclic prefix. In a second case, the timing offsets between UEs  102  can be greater than a cyclic prefix. 
     For autonomous/grant-free/contention based UL non-orthogonal multiple access, there is a requirement for power control. In a first case, there may be a perfect open-loop power control (i.e., equal average signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) between UEs  102  for potentially link level calibration). In a second case, there may be realistic open-loop power control with certain alpha and P0 values. In a third case, there may be close-loop power control. 
     NR also supports at least synchronous/scheduling-based orthogonal multiple access for downlink and/or uplink (DL/UL) transmission schemes, at least targeting for eMBB. It should be noted that as used herein “synchronous” means that timing offset between UEs  102  is within the cyclic prefix by, for example, timing alignment. 
     In addition, the key performance indicator (KPI) for reliability of URLLC may be set to 1-10 −5  (i.e., 99.999%). At least for some forms of transmission, URLLC will typically result in short bursts of data transmission in L1 (approximately 0.1 ms, for example). 
     URLLC operation may require very low user plane latency (&lt;0.5 ms) and 10 −5  block error rate (BLER). For eMBB, the target for user plane latency should be 4 ms for UL, and 4 ms for DL. 
     There may be a mix of contention based access and scheduled access for NR to accommodate different services. Because spectrum is very costly, and a goal of NR design is to use spectrum more efficiently than LTE-Advanced, it is important to have means where the services for NR coexist. 
     To contextualize how to explain such coexistence mechanisms, the discussion herein will mostly focus on the scenario of URLLC sharing the medium with eMBB. However, as stated above, this does not rule out URLLC sharing the medium with MMTC. The URLLC and eMBB medium sharing described herein may also apply to MMTC and URLLC medium sharing scenarios. 
     Several approaches for medium sharing as well as the behavior of a UE  102  and eNB  160  are described herein. It may be assumed unless stated otherwise that there exists, for a given cell configuration, a region of time/frequency resources which are at least partly shared by URLLC and eMBB services. 
     A first approach to medium sharing occurs on the downlink. In this approach an eMBB transmission may be punctured by a signal with a flag indicating a URLLC signal. It is assumed that a UE  102  may be configured to transceive (i.e., transmit and/or receive) URLLC services and may be configured to transceive eMBB services. 
     The case of an eMBB transmission that is on the downlink (i.e., from eNB  160  to UE  102 ) is considered. An eMBB transmission of this sort may be semi-persistently scheduled. It is assumed that the eMBB traffic is delay tolerant. If a URLLC transmission is required for the downlink, and other resources are not available, an eNB scheduler may pre-empt or puncture transmission of one or more subframes of the eMBB transmission with an URLLC transmission that may or may not be targeted to the same UE  102  receiving the eMBB transmission. 
     In this case (i.e., the URLLC transmission puncturing the eMBB transmission), it would be beneficial if the eMBB-receiving UE  102  could determine which frames were punctured by the URLLC signal. For example, if the eMBB-receiving UE  102  had that knowledge, then the eMBB-receiving UE  102  would know not to use the URLLC transmission for decoding eMBB messages. In this case, the URLLC transmission would not only be useless to the eMBB-receiving UE  102 , but would significantly degrade the performance of the decoding process, especially if an outer-code (e.g., Fountain Code or Raptor Code) were used. 
     There are two implementations for indicating the presence of an URLLC signal described herein. In a first implementation, the URLLC signal may be indicated via a specific sequence of bits. This would require that the downlink signal, which may be an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) signal, be demodulated at least to the data constellation level. This sequence of bits may occur in a specific field at the beginning (e.g., pre-amble) or elsewhere in the URLLC transmission (e.g., midamble or postamble). 
     In a second implementation, the URLLC signal may be indicated via URLLC-specific reference signals (RSs). This implementation would mean that the UE  102  need only detect specific reference signals, and would not have to bother with the information in the transmission itself. For example, the URLLC-specific RSs may contain one or more specific roots sequence of a Zadoff Chu Sequence and its cyclic shifts. 
     In either implementation, the specific bit sequence or specific RSs would constitute a flag to indicate to the eMBB-receiving UE  102  that it can ignore the URLLC transmission if the UE  102  is not configured to receive the URLLC transmission (or conversely that the eMBB-receiving UE  102  should attempt to demodulate and decode the URLLC transmission if the UE  102  is configured to receive URLLC services.) In either case, however, the UE  102 , upon detection of this flag, would not use the URLLC message for eMBB message decoding. 
     Alternatively, the eMBB-receiving UE  102  may, to trade off hardware complexity for performance, attempt demodulation of the received signal even though the flag is present. However, this option is not preferable to the eMBB-receiving UE  102  identifying the URLLC signal. 
     Whichever UE  102  is the target UE  102  for URLLC (i.e., the UE  102  for which the punctured signal is the target recipient, which may or may not be same UE  102  involved in eMBB), the target UE  102  monitors time/frequency/space resources for the URLLC signal. On identifying the URLLC signal via the flag (e.g., the UE  102  receives the flag signal and decodes the URLLC message), the target UE  102  may attempt unscrambling with a UE-specific ID. The UE-specific ID may be a C-RNTI or some new RNTI, which may be denoted as URLLC-RNTI. 
     A second approach to medium sharing also occurs on the downlink. In this approach, an eMBB transmission is punctured by a signal without a flag indicating the presence URLLC signal. As in the previous approach, an eNB  160  configuration may enable the transception of URLLC signals and eMBB transceptions. Therefore, a UE  102  may be configured to transceive (i.e., transmit and/or receive) URLLC services and may be configured to transceive eMBB services. 
     An eMBB-receiving UE  102  may be made aware of URLLC transmissions via configuration for eMBB if the eMBB-receiving UE  102  is not configured to transmit and/or receive URLLC messages. If it is so configured, an eMBB-receiving UE  102  may attempt to decode the received signal in its resources without explicitly identifying the URLLC signal. This may be possible if the resources used for URLLC transmission are implicitly also used for forward error correction bits that are otherwise redundantly coded. That is, time/frequency/space resources for shared by eMBB and URLLC may, when used by eMBB, always be used by eMBB to transmit parity check information that is not strictly needed for decoding if the channel provides sufficiently high SNR. 
     The eMBB-receiving UE  102  may try decoding the eMBB signal with and without the URLLC-shared resources. If the post-decoding parity check of either the eMBB signal without URLLC-shared resources or with shared URLLC resources indicates successful decoding, the eMBB signal is deemed successfully received by the UE  102 . The eMBB decoded message may be forwarded to higher layers in the UE&#39;s  102  protocol stack. If both parity checks fail, the UE  102  may indicate a negative acknowledgement to the eNB  160 . 
     A third approach to medium sharing occurs on the downlink and uplink. This approach includes reservation of specific areas of time/frequency resources for URLLC traffic as well as the possibility of resources devoted to mixed uses. Signaling of where resources for URLLC and eMBB are located may be via configuration of the UE  102  for URLLC or configuration of eMBB. The eMBB-configured UE  102  may be aware that certain resources assigned to it for an eMBB transmission may be punctured by URLLC traffic, but may not always have such puncturing done. 
     In addition, URLLC and eMBB traffic may only partially overlap, based on how the cell is configured. This approach provides benefits in that the degree of puncturing to eMBB may be scaled according to a desired quality of service or block error rate induced by URLLC puncturing of eMBB resources. In effect, the use of shared resources between eMBB and URLLC provides prioritized access to both eMBB and URLLC services. 
     This approach is also particularly attractive for MMTC time/frequency/space resources coexisting with URLLC resources as the demand for time frequency resources on both the uplink and downlink for MMTC traffic can be very well known because of the regularity of demands by MMTC UEs  102  for the channel in which to transmit messages corresponding to MMTC services. 
     A fourth approach to medium sharing occurs on the uplink. In this approach, URLLC signals on the uplink may be transmitted via grantless access, in prioritized time/frequency/spatial resources. 
     Grantless access on the uplink has been considered to enable URLLC traffic. However, with a grantless access on the uplink, a URLLC signal may interfere with the eMBB transmission. Without further means, there may be no way to decode both the URLLC signal and the eMBB signal at the eNB  160 . Furthermore, the eNB  160  may not be aware of a grantless access transmission. 
     To remedy this behavior, URLLC signals may be prioritized by transmitted power. This can be achieved through either power control for URLLC signals made implicitly by measurements of downlink power or by explicit power control based on the eNB  160  scheduling sounding reference signal transmission periodically to URLLC-configured UEs  102 . 
     Another remedy for this problem would be to prioritize URLLC transmissions based on configuration from the eNB  160 . Therefore, “very high priority” URLLC signals might use time/frequency/spatial resources that are orthogonal to eMBB signals and “not so very high priority” URLLC signals might use both shared and exclusive URLLC resources that are chosen pseudo-randomly at the time for transmission. 
     Still another remedy for this problem is for the URLLC-configured UE  102  to use a Listen Before Talk (LBT) protocol to share the medium with eMBB. 
     Combinations of the above remedies may be applied. On the other hand, because the co-scheduling of eMBB/URLLC signals may happen infrequently enough that from the point of the eMBB-transmitting UE  102 , it may not lose a significant amount of transport blocks. Based on demand for URLLC traffic or eMBB traffic, it may be acceptable to let the two uplink transmissions collide. In other words, both transmissions may be made and the cell may be configured based on traffic and offered load to accept this level of loss. 
     A fifth approach to medium sharing occurs on both the downlink and the uplink. In this approach, transport block level (TB-level) interleaving (also referred to as “interleaving across code blocks”) may be applied so as to avoid eMBB performance degradation due to overriding by URLLC signaling. 
     There are several aspects of this approach, as follows. A UE  102  may be configured with TB-level interleaving through dedicated RRC signaling. Once the UE  102  is configured with TB-level interleaving, the eMBB-capable UE  102  and the eNB  160  may assume that the TB-level interleaving is applied. Otherwise, the eMBB-capable UE  102  and the eNB  160  do not assume the TB-level interleaving. 
     If a certain transmission mode is used for data transmission (e.g., eMBB data), the TB-level interleaving may apply to the data. Otherwise, the UE  102  and the eNB  160  do not assume the TB-level interleaving. Thus, for URLLC transmissions that puncture an eMBB transmission, the eMBB transmission will have burst interference. 
     If a certain DCI format is used to schedule data transmission (e.g., eMBB data), the TB-level interleaving may apply to the data. Otherwise, the UE  102  and the eNB  160  do not assume the TB-level interleaving. 
     The DCI format may have a field for indicating the TB-level interleaving. If the field value is set to “1”, the TB-level interleaving may apply to the corresponding data. Otherwise, the UE  102  and the eNB  160  do not assume the TB-level interleaving. Alternatively, TB-level interleaving may be set via an information element upon configuration of a UE  102  to receive eMBB or other services. 
     UE  102  capability of TB-level interleaving may be tied to the UE  102  category that specifies the UE&#39;s  102  soft buffer size. For example, TB-interleaving may be available by the UE  102  that supports a relatively large soft buffer size. 
     URLLC transmissions may not be TB-interleaved when they puncture TB-interleaved eMBB transmissions. 
     A sixth approach to medium sharing involves both downlink and uplink outer code usage. At the transmitter side, an eMBB UE  102  may not know whether there will be URLLC interference, even when there is a URLLC monitoring mechanism (as described above, for example) at the receiver side. 
     Because there already exists a code block (CB) level CRC check in current downlink/uplink systems, the outer code does not need to know where the URLLC interference is. Instead, once there is a CRC check error, that CB may be punctured. In this case, it is not necessary for the eMBB UE  102  to have the assistance from eNB  160 . However, the use of the outer code introduces extra complexity for both a transmitter and receiver. 
     It should be noted that in coding theory, the concepts of inner code and outer code relate to concatenated error correction code. The inner code and outer code construct a supercoder in a concatenated error correction code system. The outer code may be the first error correction code applied in the encoder, and the inner code may be the error correction code applied after the outer code in the encoder. 
     As used herein, the outer code may be the first error correction code, or the second. The order does not matter. Therefore, the outer code may be defined as an error correction code in a concatenated error correction code system targeted at recovering lost data. Examples of the outer code may include erasure code (e.g., single parity check code), Reed-Solomon code or fountain code. Erasure coding (EC) is a method of data protection in which data is broken into fragments, expanded and encoded with redundant data pieces and stored across a set of different locations or storage media. 
     The inner code may be the main error correction code in a concatenated error correction code system. The inner code may be used for data protection against thermal noise and other kinds of fading and interference in a communication channel. Examples of the inner code include Turbo code, low-density parity-check (LDPC) code, Polar code, or other comparable codes. In the systems and methods described herein, the outer code may not always be used, but the inner code must always be used, as inner code is the main forward error correction (FEC) (i.e., channel coding) scheme. 
     It should be noted that URLLC interference may not occur very often and only occurs at a small portion of eMBB services. At the same time, the combined code (i.e., inner code+outer code) does not necessarily have better performance than the same overall coding rate single code (either pure inner code or pure outer code) without URLLC interference. This means, if outer code is always applied, then for most of time, the extra transmitter/receiver complexity caused by the outer code may result in worse performance. As such, it is not necessary to always have outer code. 
     If there is no need to have outer code, the eMBB must know it at the encoding function module of the transmitter. Such information may be obtained through the eNB  160 , with the following assumptions. In a first assumption (Assumption 1), if both URLLC and eMBB services are provided by the same eNB  160 , then the eNB  160  knows when the URLLC message is going to be sent. In a second assumption (Assumption 2), if URLLC and eMBB services are provided by different eNBs  160 , then there should be information shared among the eNBs  160  (e.g., signaling exchanged among eNBs  160 ), especially when there will be a URLLC message transmitted by some eNB  160 . 
     These assumptions (Assumption 1 and Assumption 2) are for downlink, without particular specification, in a third assumption (Assumption 3), all assumptions and methods applied in downlink can also be applied to uplink coexisting between URLLC and delay tolerant services. 
     Based on the above assumptions, one or more alternative approaches for outer code usage may be implemented, as follow. In a first approach (Approach A), the outer code is always configured without using any eNB-assisted information. 
     In a second approach (Approach B), the outer code is applied only when eNB-assisted information is received. In a first implementation of the second approach (Approach B.1), a fixed coding rate outer code may be applied. When a fixed coding rate outer code is specified, different alternatives may be implemented. A first alternative (Approach B.1.1) may be applied if the outer code is a high rate outer code. For example, a high rate outer code may occur with a single parity check block code with a coding rate n/(n+1), where n is large. 
     In this case, the overall coding rate is not significantly affected. Therefore, a UE  102  may be configured with an outer code through dedicated RRC signaling. Once the UE  102  is configured with the outer code, the eMBB-capable UE  102  and the eNB  160  may assume that the outer code is applied. Otherwise, the eMBB-capable UE  102  and the eNB  160  do not assume the outer code is applied. 
     If a certain transmission mode is used for data transmission (e.g., eMBB data), the outer code may apply to the data. Otherwise, the UE  102  and the eNB  160  do not assume the outer code is applied. Thus, for URLLC transmissions that puncture an eMBB transmission, the eMBB transmission will have burst interference. 
     If a certain DCI format is used to schedule data transmission (e.g., eMBB data), the outer code may apply to the data. Otherwise, the UE  102  and the eNB  160  do not assume the outer code is applied. 
     The DCI format may have a field for indicating the outer code. If the field value is set to “1”, the outer code may apply to the corresponding data. Otherwise, the UE  102  and the eNB  160  do not assume the outer code is applied. Alternatively, the outer code may be set via an information element upon configuration of a UE  102  to receive eMBB or other services. 
     UE  102  capability of the outer encode/decode may be tied to the UE  102  category that specifies the UE&#39;s  102  encoder/decoder. For example, outer coding may be available by the UE  102  that supports an outer encoder/decoder. 
     It should be noted that Approach B.1.1 may cover not only the high coding rate case, which does not significantly affect overall coding rate, but also any case where a decreasing overall coding rate is not the most important concern and is acceptable. For example, if assuming during eMBB transmission there is URLLC message interference, it is reasonable to decrease the overall coding rate caused by the outer code. This may be done in order to maintain performance. For example, with link adaptation in the current system, where adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) is used, when the channel condition becomes worse, it may be difficult to maintain the high coding rate targeting at some fixed performance requirement (e.g., BLER performance). In this case it is reasonable to decrease the coding rate. 
     A second alternative (Approach B.1.2) may be applied if the outer code is not a high rate outer code. As used herein, “not high rate” means that if the original coding rate of the inner code is kept, the outer code will significantly decrease the overall coding rate. If the overall coding rate should be maintained, the inner code should increase the coding rate. In this case, when the eNB  160  knows there is a URLLC message to be transmitted, Approach B.1.2 differs from B.1.1 as follows. 
     In one implementation (B.1.2.1), the eNB  160  may be triggered to configure the UE  102  with a DCI format with one or more fields indicating a modulation and coding scheme (MCS). These one or more fields are updated with a new inner coding rate (i.e., the original channel code) and/or even relevant new modulation scheme. 
     In an alternative implementation (B.1.2.2), the eNB  160  does not have to update the whole DCI format that indicates MCS. Instead, a certain DCI format that includes a field indicating inner code coding rate only, as well as other URLLC interference related parameters, such as the ones in Approach B.1.1, may be configured to the UE  102 . The advantage of this implementation, compared with updating the DCI indicating MCS, is the newly defined DCI format can be a very simple version, which may save signaling cost. If the UE  102  has been configured with MCS from some DCI, once the UE  102  is configured with an updated inner code coding rate, the UE  102  may use this updated rate. 
     It should be noted that Approach B.1.2 may be implemented in addition to (i.e., in conjunction with) Approach B.1.1, with some extra configurations from the eNB  160 . 
     In a second implementation of the second approach (Approach B.2), a flexible coding rate outer code may be applied. As used herein, a flexible outer coding rate means not only the inner code, but also outer code can be configured with a coding rate. The following alternatives can be used. 
     In a first alternative (Approach B.2.1), two MCS table sets may be defined. One MCS table is the legacy MCS table that includes the main channel coding scheme (e.g., inner code in this case). In this case, the MCS configurations by the eNB  160  are based on conditions such as channel condition. This may be referred to as the first MCS table set or first set of MCS information. 
     The other MCS table may be an MCS table including both inner code and outer code coding rates. In this case, the MCS configurations by eNB  160  are not only based on channel condition, but also take into account the interference from URLLC. This may be referred to as the second MCS table set or second set of MCS information. 
     If the eNB  160  knows there is a URLLC message to be transmitted, the eNB  160  may configure the second set of MCS information to the UE  102  through RRC dedicated signaling. Otherwise, the eNB  160  may configure the first set of MCS information in some certain DCI format. 
     In a second alternative (Approach B.2.2), only one MCS table set is defined. This alternative may be considered as combining the two MCS table sets to form one MCS table. For example, if the value from 0 to Value_max of an MCS field in some certain DCI format actually represents the first MCS table set (as explained in alternative B.2.1), then the values larger than Value_max represent the second MCS table set, considering the interference from URLLC. 
     The eNB  160  may always configure this MCS information to the UE  102 . If the eMBB UE  102  decodes the MCS field of DCI information and gets the value (e.g., Value_max+n, where n&gt;0), then the UE  102  knows the outer code should be used. The UE  102  also knows the inner and outer coding rates according to the mapping relationship defined in the MCS table. 
     If a flexible coding rate is applied, then comparing with the approaches of B.1, the following field in the DCI format does not have to be defined: “The DCI format has a field for indicating the outer code. If the field value is set to ‘1’, the outer code applies to the corresponding data. Otherwise, the UE and the eNB do not assume the outer code.” 
     The UE operations module  124  may provide information  148  to the one or more receivers  120 . For example, the UE operations module  124  may inform the receiver(s)  120  when to receive retransmissions. 
     The UE operations module  124  may provide information  138  to the demodulator  114 . For example, the UE operations module  124  may inform the demodulator  114  of a modulation pattern anticipated for transmissions from the eNB  160 . 
     The UE operations module  124  may provide information  136  to the decoder  108 . For example, the UE operations module  124  may inform the decoder  108  of an anticipated encoding for transmissions from the eNB  160 . 
     The UE operations module  124  may provide information  142  to the encoder  150 . The information  142  may include data to be encoded and/or instructions for encoding. For example, the UE operations module  124  may instruct the encoder  150  to encode transmission data  146  and/or other information  142 . The other information  142  may include PDSCH Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) information. 
     The encoder  150  may encode transmission data  146  and/or other information  142  provided by the UE operations module  124 . For example, encoding the data  146  and/or other information  142  may involve error detection and/or correction coding, mapping data to space, time and/or frequency resources for transmission, multiplexing, etc. The encoder  150  may provide encoded data  152  to the modulator  154 . 
     The UE operations module  124  may provide information  144  to the modulator  154 . For example, the UE operations module  124  may inform the modulator  154  of a modulation type (e.g., constellation mapping) to be used for transmissions to the eNB  160 . The modulator  154  may modulate the encoded data  152  to provide one or more modulated signals  156  to the one or more transmitters  158 . 
     The UE operations module  124  may provide information  140  to the one or more transmitters  158 . This information  140  may include instructions for the one or more transmitters  158 . For example, the UE operations module  124  may instruct the one or more transmitters  158  when to transmit a signal to the eNB  160 . For instance, the one or more transmitters  158  may transmit during a UL subframe. The one or more transmitters  158  may upconvert and transmit the modulated signal(s)  156  to one or more eNBs  160 . 
     The eNB  160  may include one or more transceivers  176 , one or more demodulators  172 , one or more decoders  166 , one or more encoders  109 , one or more modulators  113 , a data buffer  162  and an eNB operations module  182 . For example, one or more reception and/or transmission paths may be implemented in an eNB  160 . For convenience, only a single transceiver  176 , decoder  166 , demodulator  172 , encoder  109  and modulator  113  are illustrated in the eNB  160 , though multiple parallel elements (e.g., transceivers  176 , decoders  166 , demodulators  172 , encoders  109  and modulators  113 ) may be implemented. 
     The transceiver  176  may include one or more receivers  178  and one or more transmitters  117 . The one or more receivers  178  may receive signals from the UE  102  using one or more antennas  180   a - n . For example, the receiver  178  may receive and downconvert signals to produce one or more received signals  174 . The one or more received signals  174  may be provided to a demodulator  172 . The one or more transmitters  117  may transmit signals to the UE  102  using one or more antennas  180   a - n . For example, the one or more transmitters  117  may upconvert and transmit one or more modulated signals  115 . 
     The demodulator  172  may demodulate the one or more received signals  174  to produce one or more demodulated signals  170 . The one or more demodulated signals  170  may be provided to the decoder  166 . The eNB  160  may use the decoder  166  to decode signals. The decoder  166  may produce one or more decoded signals  164 ,  168 . For example, a first eNB-decoded signal  164  may comprise received payload data, which may be stored in a data buffer  162 . A second eNB-decoded signal  168  may comprise overhead data and/or control data. For example, the second eNB-decoded signal  168  may provide data (e.g., PDSCH HARQ-ACK information) that may be used by the eNB operations module  182  to perform one or more operations. 
     In general, the eNB operations module  182  may enable the eNB  160  to communicate with the one or more UEs  102 . The eNB operations module  182  may include one or more of an eNB URLLC coexistence module  194 . 
     The eNB URLLC coexistence module  194  may transceive URLLC messages amidst delay tolerant transceptions as described above. In an implementation, the eNB URLLC coexistence module  194  may configure a UE  102  to transceive URLLC services. For example, the eNB URLLC coexistence module  194  may send a configuration message to the UE  102  that configures URLLC services in the UE  102 . 
     The eNB URLLC coexistence module  194  may configure the UE  102  to transceive eMBB services or MMTC services. For example, the eNB URLLC coexistence module  194  may send a configuration message to the UE  102  that configures eMBB or MMTC services in the UE  102 . This configuration message may be the same as or different than the configuration message for URLLC services. 
     The eNB URLLC coexistence module  194  may transmit or receive a URLLC transmission that overrides a downlink (DL) schedule or interferes on an uplink (UL) transmission with eMBB transmission or a MMTC transmission. Additionally, the eNB URLLC coexistence module  194  may transmit or receive an eMBB signal or MMTC signal that may have its reception overridden by a URLLC transmission or have its reception at the eNB  160  interfered with by an URLLC transmission. The transmission and/or reception of eMBB signal or MMTC signal may be based on eNB-assisted outer code usage. 
     The eNB operations module  182  may provide information  188  to the demodulator  172 . For example, the eNB operations module  182  may inform the demodulator  172  of a modulation pattern anticipated for transmissions from the UE(s)  102 . 
     The eNB operations module  182  may provide information  186  to the decoder  166 . For example, the eNB operations module  182  may inform the decoder  166  of an anticipated encoding for transmissions from the UE(s)  102 . 
     The eNB operations module  182  may provide information  101  to the encoder  109 . The information  101  may include data to be encoded and/or instructions for encoding. For example, the eNB operations module  182  may instruct the encoder  109  to encode information  101 , including transmission data  105 . 
     The encoder  109  may encode transmission data  105  and/or other information included in the information  101  provided by the eNB operations module  182 . For example, encoding the data  105  and/or other information included in the information  101  may involve error detection and/or correction coding, mapping data to space, time and/or frequency resources for transmission, multiplexing, etc. The encoder  109  may provide encoded data  111  to the modulator  113 . The transmission data  105  may include network data to be relayed to the UE  102 . 
     The eNB operations module  182  may provide information  103  to the modulator  113 . This information  103  may include instructions for the modulator  113 . For example, the eNB operations module  182  may inform the modulator  113  of a modulation type (e.g., constellation mapping) to be used for transmissions to the UE(s)  102 . The modulator  113  may modulate the encoded data  111  to provide one or more modulated signals  115  to the one or more transmitters  117 . 
     The eNB operations module  182  may provide information  192  to the one or more transmitters  117 . This information  192  may include instructions for the one or more transmitters  117 . For example, the eNB operations module  182  may instruct the one or more transmitters  117  when to (or when not to) transmit a signal to the UE(s)  102 . The one or more transmitters  117  may upconvert and transmit the modulated signal(s)  115  to one or more UEs  102 . 
     It should be noted that a DL subframe may be transmitted from the eNB  160  to one or more UEs  102  and that a UL subframe may be transmitted from one or more UEs  102  to the eNB  160 . Furthermore, both the eNB  160  and the one or more UEs  102  may transmit data in a standard special subframe. 
     It should also be noted that one or more of the elements or parts thereof included in the eNB(s)  160  and UE(s)  102  may be implemented in hardware. For example, one or more of these elements or parts thereof may be implemented as a chip, circuitry or hardware components, etc. It should also be noted that one or more of the functions or methods described herein may be implemented in and/or performed using hardware. For example, one or more of the methods described herein may be implemented in and/or realized using a chipset, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a large-scale integrated circuit (LSI) or integrated circuit, etc. 
       FIG. 2  is a flow diagram illustrating a method  200  by a UE  102 . The UE  102  may communicate with one or more eNBs  160  in a wireless communication network. In one implementation, the wireless communication network may include an NR network. 
     The UE  102  may be configured  202  to transceive (i.e., transmit and/or receive) ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) services. For example, the UE  102  may receive a configuration message from an eNB  160  that configures URLLC services in the UE  102 . 
     The UE  102  may be configured  204  to transceive enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services or massive machine type communication (MMTC) services. For example, the UE  102  may receive a configuration message from an eNB  160  that configures eMBB or MMTC services in the UE  102 . This configuration message may be the same as or different than the configuration message for URLLC services. 
     The UE  102  may transmit or receive  206  an eMBB signal or MMTC signal that may have its reception overridden by a URLLC transmission or have its reception at an eNB  160  interfered with by an URLLC transmission based on eNB-assisted usage of an outer code. The outer code may be applied when eNB-assisted information configures the outer code. The UE  102  may be configured with the outer code through RRC dedicated signaling. 
     In an approach, the outer code is always configured without using eNB-assisted information to enable or disable the outer code. In this approach, once the eNB  160  configures the UE  102  with an outer code, the UE  102  may apply the outer code without additional eNB-assisted information. In other words, in this approach, the UE  102  may always apply the outer code. 
     In another approach, the outer code is applied only when the UE  102  receives eNB-assisted information. In this approach, outer code may not always be used. Only when eNB  160  configures the UE  102  to use the outer code does the UE  102  use the outer code. The eNB  160  may send eNB-assisted information to enable or disable the application of the outer code. 
     In an implementation, a DCI format may indicate the outer code for eMBB services transmission and reception. In another implementation, UE capability of outer encode/decode may be tied to a UE category that specifies an outer encoder/decoder for the UE  102 . 
     In one approach, a fixed coding rate outer code may be applied based on eNB-assisted information. When a URLLC message is to be transmitted, the UE  102  may receive a DCI format with one or more fields indicating a modulation and coding scheme (MCS). The MCS fields may be updated with a new inner coding rate. Alternatively, when a URLLC message is to be transmitted, the UE  102  may receive a DCI format with a field indicating only an inner code coding rate. 
     In another approach, a flexible coding rate outer code may be applied based on eNB-assisted information. In one implementation, a first MCS table set may indicate an inner code coding rate and a second MCS table set may indicate both inner code and outer code coding rates. The eNB  160  may configure the second MCS table set to the UE through RRC dedicated signaling when there is a URLLC message to be transmitted, otherwise, the eNB  160  configures the first MCS table set in a DCI format. In another implementation, a value of an MCS field in a DCI format may indicate an outer code coding rate. 
       FIG. 3  is a flow diagram illustrating a method  300  by an eNB  160 . The eNB  160  may communicate with one or more UEs  102  in a wireless communication network. In one implementation, the wireless communication network may include an NR network. 
     The eNB  160  may send  302  a configuration message to the UE  102  that configures URLLC services in the UE  102 . The configuration message may configure the UE  102  to transceive URLLC services. 
     The eNB  160  may send  304  a configuration message to the UE  102  that configures eMBB services or MMTC services. The configuration message may configure the UE  102  to transceive eMBB services or MMTC services. This configuration message may be the same as or different than the configuration message for URLLC services. 
     The eNB  160  may transmit or receive  306  an eMBB signal or MMTC signal that may have its reception overridden by a URLLC transmission or have its reception at an the UE  102  interfered with by an URLLC transmission based on eNB-assisted usage of an outer code. This may be accomplished as described in connection with  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 4  illustrates various components that may be utilized in a UE  402 . The UE  402  described in connection with  FIG. 4  may be implemented in accordance with the UE  102  described in connection with  FIG. 1 . The UE  402  includes a processor  403  that controls operation of the UE  402 . The processor  403  may also be referred to as a central processing unit (CPU). Memory  405 , which may include read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a combination of the two or any type of device that may store information, provides instructions  407   a  and data  409   a  to the processor  403 . A portion of the memory  405  may also include non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM). Instructions  407   b  and data  409   b  may also reside in the processor  403 . Instructions  407   b  and/or data  409   b  loaded into the processor  403  may also include instructions  407   a  and/or data  409   a  from memory  405  that were loaded for execution or processing by the processor  403 . The instructions  407   b  may be executed by the processor  403  to implement method  200  described above. 
     The UE  402  may also include a housing that contains one or more transmitters  458  and one or more receivers  420  to allow transmission and reception of data. The transmitter(s)  458  and receiver(s)  420  may be combined into one or more transceivers  418 . One or more antennas  422   a - n  are attached to the housing and electrically coupled to the transceiver  418 . 
     The various components of the UE  402  are coupled together by a bus system  411 , which may include a power bus, a control signal bus and a status signal bus, in addition to a data bus. However, for the sake of clarity, the various buses are illustrated in  FIG. 4  as the bus system  411 . The UE  402  may also include a digital signal processor (DSP)  413  for use in processing signals. The UE  402  may also include a communications interface  415  that provides user access to the functions of the UE  402 . The UE  402  illustrated in  FIG. 4  is a functional block diagram rather than a listing of specific components. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates various components that may be utilized in an eNB  560 . The eNB  560  described in connection with  FIG. 5  may be implemented in accordance with the eNB  160  described in connection with  FIG. 1 . The eNB  560  includes a processor  503  that controls operation of the eNB  560 . The processor  503  may also be referred to as a central processing unit (CPU). Memory  505 , which may include read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a combination of the two or any type of device that may store information, provides instructions  507   a  and data  509   a  to the processor  503 . A portion of the memory  505  may also include non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM). Instructions  507   b  and data  509   b  may also reside in the processor  503 . Instructions  507   b  and/or data  509   b  loaded into the processor  503  may also include instructions  507   a  and/or data  509   a  from memory  505  that were loaded for execution or processing by the processor  503 . The instructions  507   b  may be executed by the processor  503  to implement method  300  described above. 
     The eNB  560  may also include a housing that contains one or more transmitters  517  and one or more receivers  578  to allow transmission and reception of data. The transmitter(s)  517  and receiver(s)  578  may be combined into one or more transceivers  576 . One or more antennas  580   a - n  are attached to the housing and electrically coupled to the transceiver  576 . 
     The various components of the eNB  560  are coupled together by a bus system  511 , which may include a power bus, a control signal bus and a status signal bus, in addition to a data bus. However, for the sake of clarity, the various buses are illustrated in  FIG. 5  as the bus system  511 . The eNB  560  may also include a digital signal processor (DSP)  513  for use in processing signals. The eNB  560  may also include a communications interface  515  that provides user access to the functions of the eNB  560 . The eNB  560  illustrated in  FIG. 5  is a functional block diagram rather than a listing of specific components. 
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram illustrating one implementation of a UE  602  in which systems and methods for base station assisted outer code usage may be implemented. The UE  602  includes transmit means  658 , receive means  620  and control means  624 . The transmit means  658 , receive means  620  and control means  624  may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described in connection with  FIG. 1  above.  FIG. 4  above illustrates one example of a concrete apparatus structure of  FIG. 6 . Other various structures may be implemented to realize one or more of the functions of  FIG. 1 . For example, a DSP may be realized by software. 
       FIG. 7  is a block diagram illustrating one implementation of an eNB  760  in which systems and methods for base station assisted outer code usage may be implemented. The eNB  760  includes transmit means  717 , receive means  778  and control means  782 . The transmit means  717 , receive means  778  and control means  782  may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described in connection with  FIG. 1  above.  FIG. 5  above illustrates one example of a concrete apparatus structure of  FIG. 7 . Other various structures may be implemented to realize one or more of the functions of  FIG. 1 . For example, a DSP may be realized by software. 
     The term “computer-readable medium” refers to any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a processor. The term “computer-readable medium,” as used herein, may denote a computer- and/or processor-readable medium that is non-transitory and tangible. By way of example, and not limitation, a computer-readable or processor-readable medium may comprise RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer or processor. 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 reproduce data optically with lasers. 
     It should be noted that one or more of the methods described herein may be implemented in and/or performed using hardware. For example, one or more of the methods described herein may be implemented in and/or realized using a chipset, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a large-scale integrated circuit (LSI) or integrated circuit, etc. 
     Each of the methods disclosed herein comprises one or more steps or actions for achieving the described method. The method steps and/or actions may be interchanged with one another and/or combined into a single step without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions is required for proper operation of the method that is being described, the order and/or use of specific steps and/or actions may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims. 
     It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to the precise configuration and components illustrated above. Various modifications, changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation and details of the systems, methods, and apparatus described herein without departing from the scope of the claims. 
     A program running on the eNB  160  or the UE  102  according to the described systems and methods is a program (a program for causing a computer to operate) that controls a CPU and the like in such a manner as to realize the function according to the described systems and methods. Then, the information that is handled in these apparatuses is temporarily stored in a RAM while being processed. Thereafter, the information is stored in various ROMs or HDDs, and whenever necessary, is read by the CPU to be modified or written. As a recording medium on which the program is stored, among a semiconductor (for example, a ROM, a nonvolatile memory card, and the like), an optical storage medium (for example, a DVD, a MO, a MD, a CD, a BD, and the like), a magnetic storage medium (for example, a magnetic tape, a flexible disk, and the like), and the like, any one may be possible. Furthermore, in some cases, the function according to the described systems and methods described above is realized by running the loaded program, and in addition, the function according to the described systems and methods is realized in conjunction with an operating system or other application programs, based on an instruction from the program. 
     Furthermore, in a case where the programs are available on the market, the program stored on a portable recording medium can be distributed or the program can be transmitted to a server computer that connects through a network such as the Internet. In this case, a storage device in the server computer also is included. Furthermore, some or all of the eNB  160  and the UE  102  according to the systems and methods described above may be realized as an LSI that is a typical integrated circuit. Each functional block of the eNB  160  and the UE  102  may be individually built into a chip, and some or all functional blocks may be integrated into a chip. Furthermore, a technique of the integrated circuit is not limited to the LSI, and an integrated circuit for the functional block may be realized with a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. Furthermore, if with advances in a semiconductor technology, a technology of an integrated circuit that substitutes for the LSI appears, it is also possible to use an integrated circuit to which the technology applies. 
     Moreover, each functional block or various features of the base station device and the terminal device used in each of the aforementioned embodiments may be implemented or executed by a circuitry, which is typically an integrated circuit or a plurality of integrated circuits. The circuitry designed to execute the functions described in the present specification may comprise a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific or general application integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic, or a discrete hardware component, or a combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or alternatively, the processor may be a conventional processor, a controller, a microcontroller or a state machine. The general-purpose processor or each circuit described above may be configured by a digital circuit or may be configured by an analogue circuit. Further, when a technology of making into an integrated circuit superseding integrated circuits at the present time appears due to advancement of a semiconductor technology, the integrated circuit by this technology is also able to be used.