Patent Description:
Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.).

However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, further improvements in LTE and NR technologies, particularly as regards the reliability of transmissions, continue to receive attention.

<CIT> discloses a method of allocating a portion of the subframe includes an eNodeB (eNB) sending to a user-equipment device (UE) a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) activation grant signal for SPS. The method includes the eNB sending to the UE a dynamic scheduling (DS) grant signal. The DS grant includes a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) Index for configuration of the SPS. In another aspect, a method includes an eNB sending to a UE a SPS activation grant signal for SPS between the eNB and the UE. The SPS activation grant includes a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI). The RNTI includes an MCS field including a plurality of bits. At least one bit of the plurality of bits is used for SPS validation. The RNTI also includes a field bit. An MCS Index value is composed of the field bit and the remaining MCS field bits. <CIT> relates to a method performed by a wireless device for handling uplink, UL, communication from the wireless device in a wireless communication network which wireless device is configured with one or more Semi Persistent Scheduling, SPS, grants and to skip padding transmissions of SPS grant. The wireless device receives a dynamic UL grant from a radio network node indicating one or more resources for an UL transmission to the radio network node. The wireless device determines that a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request, HARQ, buffer for transmission of a previous transmission comprises data or not, which HARQ buffer is associated with a same HARQ process as the dynamic UL grant. Furthermore, the wireless device transmits the data in the HARQ buffer using one or more resources as indicated by the dynamic UL grant or as indicated by the SPS grant when determined that the HARQ buffer comprises data, and transmits new UL data using the one or more resources as indicated by the dynamic UL grant when determined that the HARQ buffer comprises no data. <CIT> discloses a wireless device receives at least one message. The at least one message comprises an uplink semi persistent scheduling (SPS) radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), and a sequence of at least one uplink SPS information element (IE). An uplink SPS IE of the sequence comprises: at least one uplink SPS configuration parameter comprising an uplink SPS interval, and an SPS configuration index for the at least one uplink SPS configuration parameter. A downlink control information (DCI) corresponding to the uplink SPS RNTI may be received. The DCI comprises a first SPS configuration index of one of the at least one uplink SPS IE. At least one transport block may be transmitted employing at least one first uplink SPS configuration parameter corresponding to the first SPS configuration index. <CIT> discloses A communication technique of fusing a 5th-generation (<NUM>) communication for supporting higher data transmission rate beyond a 4th-generation (<NUM>) system with an Internet of things (IoT) technology and a system thereof are provided. The present disclosure may be used for an intelligent service (for example, a smart home, a smart building, a smart city, a smart car or a connected car, health care, digital education, retail business, security and safety related service, or the like) based on the <NUM> communication technology and the IoT related technology. A communication method of a base station includes generating resource assignment information of an uplink burst including at least two consecutive uplink subframes of an unlicensed band; transmitting the resource assignment information to a terminal; and receiving uplink data from the terminal during the at least two consecutive uplink subframes.

In some aspects there is provided a method of wireless communication performed by a base station in accordance with claim <NUM>, a method of wireless communication, performed by a user equipment according to claim <NUM>, a user equipment according to claim <NUM> and a base station for a factory automation system in accordance with claim <NUM>. Aspects or embodiments that do not fall within the scope of the appended claims, are non-claimed embodiments and are presented only as information.

According to claim <NUM>, a method of wireless communication performed by a base station, BS for a factory automation system, comprises receiving channel state information, CSI from a user equipment, UE, wherein the CSI indicates that an amount of resources of a semi-persistent scheduling, SPS grant does not satisfy a threshold reliability associated with a first communication of a traffic window scheduled for a LTE using SPS;determining based at least in part on the received CSI from the UE that the SPS grant is not sufficient for the first communication of the traffic window scheduled for a LTE using SPS; and transmitting in response to the determination, an indicator indicating that an on-demand grant is appended to the SPS grant for the first communication of the traffic window (scheduled for the, UE using SPS,wherein the on-demand grant is in a same subframe as the SPS grant. In some aspects, an apparatus according to claim <NUM> for wireless communication includes means for transmitting an indicator indicating that an on-demand grant is appended to a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) grant for a first communication of a traffic window scheduled for the apparatus using SPS, wherein the on-demand grant is in a same subframe as the SPS grant. In some aspects, a method according to claim <NUM> for wireless communication, performed by a user equipment (UE),
include receiving, from a base station (BS), an indicator indicating that the BS has appended an on-demand grant to a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) grant for a first communication of a traffic window scheduled for the UE using SPS, wherein the on-demand grant is in a same subframe as the SPS grant.

In some aspects, an apparatus according to claim <NUM> for wireless communication may include means for receiving, from a base station (BS), an indicator indicating that the BS has appended an on-demand grant to a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) grant for a first communication of a traffic window scheduled for the apparatus using SPS, wherein the on-demand grant is in a same subframe as the SPS grant.

Aspects generally include a method, apparatus, system, computer program product, non-transitory computer-readable medium, user equipment, base station, wireless communication device, and processing system as substantially described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

In a factory automation system, coordinated multipoint (CoMP) techniques may be implemented to improve outage capacity and/or reliability of communication within the factory automation system. In some instances, reliability is improved through spatial diversity. For example, multiple transmit receive points (TRPs) (e.g., programmable logic controllers (PLCs)) may be spatially (e.g., physically) distributed throughout a factory automation system to enable a management system to communicate, via the TRPs from various locations, with one or more user equipment (UE) (e.g., sensors, actuators, and/or the like) throughout the factory automation system. As such, the spatial diversity can be scaled to combat shadowing (e.g., when one or more devices, objects, or structures are present within a communication path between the UE and one or more of the TRPs). Accordingly, through multiple TRPs, the management system may use coordinated transmissions to the UE to attempt to ensure that mission-critical traffic is received, from the one or more TRPs, by the UE.

Some aspects of the present disclosure provide efficient resource allocation for mission-critical traffic in factory automation. In some instances, the mission-critical traffic is periodic and corresponds to cyclic exchanges between UEs and TRPs. Given the periodicity of the mission-critical traffic, a first communication (e.g., an initial transmission of one or more subsequent communications) of a transmission window may be sent according to a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) established for a UE. As such, in previous techniques, for the first communication, TRPs may not use a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), as the previous techniques rely on the reliability of the SPS. A retransmission may occur if acknowledgement/non-acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) feedback from the UE indicates that the first communication was not received. In some instances, the UE may send channel state information (CSI) to the TRPs to indicate a status of the channel used for communication between the UE and the one or more TRPs.

Some aspects of the present disclosure utilize CSI (or updated CSI) that is received before a traffic window to determine whether an SPS grant associated with the SPS for the UE is sufficient to achieve a threshold reliability for a first communication of the traffic window. According to some aspects described herein, if a TRP determines that the SPS grant is not sufficient to successfully transmit the first communication (e.g., that the SPS grant does not include a number of resource blocks sufficient to carry the first communication), the TRP may send an indicator (e.g., an updated PDCCH) that indicates one or more additional resources (which may be referred to herein as an "on-demand grant") for the first communication. According to some aspects, the one or more additional resources are appended to the SPS grant. This differs from prior techniques via which the SPS grant was overridden (e.g., replaced with another SPS grant that provides sufficient resources). In other words, the aspects described herein allow the one or more additional resources to be appended to the SPS grant as opposed to overriding the SPS grant with another SPS grant. As such, if the indicator is not successfully received, the UE may still receive at least a portion of the first communication via the SPS grant.

Accordingly, through use and indication of an on-demand grant (e.g., based on a determination that an SPS grant is not sufficient to successfully transmit a communication) reliability in a factory automation system is increased relative to previous techniques. Furthermore, through the use and indication of the on-demand grant, resources (e.g., power resources, processing resources, network resources, hardware resources, and/or the like) are conserved that may otherwise be consumed due to low reliability and/or lost data associated with previous communications between TRPs and UEs in the factory automation system. For example, power resources and/or processing resources may be conserved by avoiding the powering and/or execution of code of the management system, TRPs, and/or UEs to recover the lost data (e.g., when the SPS grant is not sufficient to successfully transmit the communication). Additionally, or alternatively, network resources may be conserved by avoiding the retransmissions of data (e.g., due to failed transmissions, lost data, and/or the like). Further, through the use and indication of the on-demand grant, hardware resources may be conserved (e.g., by avoiding the replacement of damaged devices, UEs, and/or the like as a result of the low reliability and/or lost data).

Rather, these aspects are provided so that this disclosure will convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

These apparatuses and techniques will be described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, modules, components, circuits, steps, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements").

A BS is an entity that communicates with user equipment (UEs) and may also be referred to as a base station, an NR BS, a Node B, a gNB, a <NUM> node B (NB), an access point, a TRP (e.g., a PLC of a factory automation system), and/or the like. According to some aspects, the network <NUM> may be a network of a factory automation system, as described herein.

A relay station is an entity that can receive a transmission of data from an upstream station (e.g., a BS, a TRP, or a UE) and send a transmission of the data to a downstream station (e.g., a UE, a TRP, or a BS). A relay station may also be referred to as a relay BS, a relay base station, a relay, etc..

Wireless network <NUM> may be a heterogeneous network that includes BSs of different types, e.g., macro BSs, pico BSs, femto BSs, relay BSs, etc. These different types of BSs may have different transmit power levels, different coverage areas, and different impacts on interference in wireless network <NUM>.

A UE may also be referred to as an access terminal, a terminal, a mobile station, a subscriber unit, a device of a factory automation system (e.g., a work station, a sensor, an actuator, and/or the like), etc. A UE may be a cellular phone (e.g., a smart phone), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, a medical device or equipment, biometric sensors/devices, wearable devices (smart watches, smart clothing, smart glasses, smart wrist bands, smart jewelry (e.g., smart ring, smart bracelet)), an entertainment device (e.g., a music or video device, or a satellite radio), a vehicular component or sensor, smart meters/sensors, industrial manufacturing equipment, a global positioning system device, or any other suitable device that is configured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium.

MTC and eMTC UEs include, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, location tags, etc., that may communicate with a base station, another device (e.g., remote device), or some other entity.

That is, for scheduled communication, subordinate entities utilize resources (e.g., SPS grants, on-demand grants, and/or the like) allocated by the scheduling entity.

Transmit processor <NUM> may also process system information (e.g., for semi-static resource partitioning information (SRPI), etc.) and control information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, upper layer signaling, etc.) and provide overhead symbols and control symbols.

A channel processor may determine reference signal received power (RSRP), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), channel quality indicator (CQI), etc..

On the uplink, at UE <NUM>, a transmit processor <NUM> may receive and process data from a data source <NUM> and control information (e.g., for reports comprising RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, etc.) from controller/processor <NUM>. The symbols from transmit processor <NUM> may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor <NUM> if applicable, further processed by modulators 254a through 254r (e.g., for DFT-s-OFDM, CP-OFDM, etc.), and transmitted to base station <NUM>.

Controller/processor <NUM> of base station <NUM>, controller/processor <NUM> of UE <NUM>, and/or any other component(s) of <FIG> may perform one or more techniques associated with appending an on-demand grant to an SPS grant for a communication of a traffic window, as described in more detail elsewhere herein. For example, controller/processor <NUM> of base station <NUM>, controller/processor <NUM> of UE <NUM>, and/or any other component(s) of <FIG> may perform or direct operations of, for example, process <NUM> of <FIG>, process <NUM> of <FIG>, process <NUM> of <FIG>, and/or other processes as described herein. Memories <NUM> and <NUM> may store data and program codes for base station <NUM> and UE <NUM>, respectively.

The stored program codes, when executed by processor <NUM> and/or other processors and modules at base station <NUM>, may cause the base station <NUM> to perform operations described with respect to process <NUM> of <FIG> and/or other processes as described herein. The stored program codes, when executed by processor <NUM> and/or other processors and modules at UE <NUM>, may cause the UE <NUM> to perform operations described with respect to process <NUM> of <FIG>, process <NUM> of <FIG>, and/or other processes as described herein.

In some aspects, base station <NUM> includes means for determining that a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) grant is not sufficient for a first communication of a traffic window, wherein the traffic window is scheduled for a user equipment (UE) using SPS; means for appending an on-demand grant to the SPS grant for the first communication of the traffic window, wherein the on-demand grant is in a same subframe as the SPS grant; and/or the like. In some aspects, such means may include one or more components of base station <NUM> described in connection with <FIG>.

In some aspects, UE <NUM> includes means for providing channel state information (CSI) to a base station (BS) in association with a traffic window, wherein the UE is configured to receive (i.e., capable of receiving), from the BS, a first communication during the traffic window via a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) grant; means for determining, based at least in part on an indicator in a PDCCH, that an on-demand grant has been appended to the SPS grant for the first communication, wherein the on-demand grant is in a same subframe as the SPS grant; and/or the like. In some aspects, such means may include one or more components of UE <NUM> described in connection with <FIG>.

For example, the functions described with respect to the transmit processor <NUM>, the receive processor <NUM>, and/or the TX MIMO processor <NUM> may be performed by or under the control of processor <NUM>.

Each radio frame may have a predetermined duration and may be partitions into a set of Z (Z ≥ <NUM>) subframes (e.g., with indices of <NUM> through <NUM>-<NUM>). Each subframe may include a set of slots (e.g., two slots per subframe are shown in <FIG>). For example, each slot may include seven symbol periods (e.g., as shown in <FIG>), fifteen symbol periods, and/or the like. In a case where the subframe includes two slots, the subframe may include <NUM> symbol periods, where the <NUM> symbol periods in each subframe may be assigned indices of <NUM> through <NUM>-<NUM>. In some aspects, a scheduling unit for the FDD may frame-based, subframe-based, slot-based, symbol-based, and/or the like.

In some aspects, a synchronization communication (e.g., an SS block) may include a base station synchronization communication for transmission, which may be referred to as a Tx BS-SS, a Tx gNB-SS, and/or the like. In some aspects, a synchronization communication (e.g., an SS block) may include a base station synchronization communication for reception, which may be referred to as an Rx BS-SS, an Rx gNB-SS, and/or the like. In some aspects, a synchronization communication (e.g., an SS block) may include a user equipment synchronization communication for transmission, which may be referred to as a Tx UE-SS, a Tx NR-SS, and/or the like. A base station synchronization communication (e.g., for transmission by a first base station and reception by a second base station) may be configured for synchronization between base stations, and a user equipment synchronization communication (e.g., for transmission by a base station and reception by a user equipment) may be configured for synchronization between a base station and a user equipment.

In some aspects, a base station synchronization communication may include different information than a user equipment synchronization communication. For example, one or more base stations synchronization communications may exclude PBCH communications. Additionally, or alternatively, a base station synchronization communication and a user equipment synchronization communication may differ with respect to one or more of a time resource used for transmission or reception of the synchronization communication, a frequency resource used for transmission or reception of the synchronization communication, a periodicity of the synchronization communication, a waveform of the synchronization communication, a beamforming parameter used for transmission or reception of the synchronization communication, and/or the like.

Similarly, in some aspects, one or more SS blocks of the SS burst may be transmitted in consecutive radio resources (e.g., consecutive symbol periods) during one or more subframes.

The base station may transmit system information, such as system information blocks (SIBs) on a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in certain subframes. The base station may transmit control information/data on a PDCCH in C symbol periods of a subframe, where B may be configurable for each subframe. The base station may transmit traffic data and/or other data on the PDSCH in the remaining symbol periods of each subframe.

According to some aspects, an allocation of an on-demand grant may be indicated within the PDCCH and the PDSCH may include an SPS grant for a UE and the on-demand grant. As such, within a same subframe, the on-demand grant can be appended to the SPS grant.

<FIG> shows an example subframe format <NUM> with a normal cyclic prefix. Each resource block may cover a set to of subcarriers (e.g., <NUM> subcarriers) in one slot and may include a number of resource elements. In some aspects, subframe format <NUM> may be used for transmission of SS blocks that carry the PSS, the SSS, the PBCH, and/or the like, as described herein.

An interlace structure may be used for each of the downlink and uplink for FDD in certain telecommunications systems (e.g., NR). For example, Q interlaces with indices of <NUM> through Q - <NUM> may be defined, where Q may be equal to <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, or some other value. Each interlace may include subframes that are spaced apart by Q frames. In particular, interlace q may include subframes q, q + Q, q + 2Q, etc., where q ∈ {<NUM>,.

New Radio (NR) may refer to radios configured to operate according to a new air interface (e.g., other than Orthogonal Frequency Divisional Multiple Access (OFDMA)-based air interfaces) or fixed transport layer (e.g., other than Internet Protocol (IP)). In aspects, NR may utilize OFDM with a CP (herein referred to as cyclic prefix OFDM or CP-OFDM) and/or SC-FDM on the uplink, may utilize CP-OFDM on the downlink and include support for half-duplex operation using time division duplexing (TDD).

Each radio frame may include <NUM> subframes with a length of <NUM>. Consequently, each subframe may have a length of <NUM>. Each subframe may indicate a link direction (e.g., DL or UL) for data transmission and the link direction for each subframe may be dynamically switched. Each subframe may include DL/UL data as well as DL/UL control data.

In some aspects, the example subframe format <NUM> may be divided into and/or may include one or more pools of resources. For example, a first pool of resources may be designated for SPS grants and a second pool of resources (which may or may not be nonoverlapping with the first pool of resources) may be designated for on-demand grants that can be appended to one or more SPS grants.

In some aspects, the example RAN <NUM> may be included within a factory automation system or may be a network of a factory automation system.

For example, for RAN sharing, radio as a service (RaaS), and service specific ANC deployments, the TRP may be connected to more than one ANC.

In some aspects, the example distributed RAN <NUM> may be included within a factory automation system or may be a network of a factory automation system.

<FIG> is a diagram <NUM> showing an example of a DL-centric subframe or wireless communication structure. In some configurations, the control portion <NUM> may be a PDCCH, as indicated in <FIG>. In some aspects, the control portion <NUM> may include legacy PDCCH information, shortened PDCCH (sPDCCH) information), a control format indicator (CFI) value (e.g., carried on a physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH)), one or more grants (e.g., downlink grants, uplink grants, etc.), and/or the like. In some aspects, the PDCCH may indicate an on-demand grant that is to be appended to an SPS grant for a communication.

In some configurations, the DL data portion <NUM> may be a PDSCH. In some aspects, the PDSCH may include SPS resources and/or on-demand resources. Accordingly, the PDSCH may include an on-demand grant (e.g., one or more on-demand resources) that is appended to an SPS grant (e.g., one or more SPS resources) according to an allocation indicated in the PDCCH, as will be described in greater detail further below with reference to <FIG>.

The DL-centric subframe may also include an UL short burst portion <NUM>. The UL short burst portion <NUM> may sometimes be referred to as an UL burst, an UL burst portion, a common UL burst, a short burst, an UL short burst, a common UL short burst, a common UL short burst portion, and/or various other suitable terms. In some aspects, the UL short burst portion <NUM> may include one or more reference signals. Additionally, or alternatively, the UL short burst portion <NUM> may include feedback information corresponding to various other portions of the DL-centric subframe. For example, the UL short burst portion <NUM> may include feedback information corresponding to the control portion <NUM> and/or the data portion <NUM>. Non-limiting examples of information that may be included in the UL short burst portion <NUM> include an ACK signal (e.g., a PUCCH ACK, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) ACK, an immediate ACK), a NACK signal (e.g., a PUCCH NACK, a PUSCH NACK, an immediate NACK), a scheduling request (SR), a buffer status report (BSR), a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) indicator, channel state information (CSI), a channel quality indicator (CQI), a sounding reference signal (SRS), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), PUSCH data, and/or various other suitable types of information. The UL short burst portion <NUM> may include additional or alternative information, such as information pertaining to random access channel (RACH) procedures, scheduling requests, and various other suitable types of information.

<FIG> is a diagram <NUM> showing an example of an UL-centric subframe or wireless communication structure. In some aspects, the UL-centric subframe may be used in association with a device of a factory automation (e.g., a sensor, an actuator, and/or the like) providing data, measurements, and/or information associated with the factory automation system to one or more TRPs (e.g., PLCs) of the factory automation system. The UL-centric subframe may include a control portion <NUM>. The control portion <NUM> may exist in the initial or beginning portion of the UL-centric subframe. The control portion <NUM> in <FIG> may be similar to the control portion <NUM> described above with reference to <FIG>. The UL-centric subframe may also include an UL long burst portion <NUM>. The UL long burst portion <NUM> may sometimes be referred to as the payload of the UL-centric subframe. The UL portion may refer to the communication resources utilized to communicate UL data from the subordinate entity (e.g., UE) to the scheduling entity (e.g., UE or BS). In some configurations, the control portion <NUM> may be a PDCCH.

The UL-centric subframe may also include an UL short burst portion <NUM>. The UL short burst portion <NUM> in <FIG> may be similar to the UL short burst portion <NUM> described above with reference to <FIG> and may include any of the information described above in connection with <FIG>. The foregoing is merely one example of an UL-centric wireless communication structure, and alternative structures having similar features may exist without necessarily deviating from the aspects described herein.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example <NUM> of appending an on-demand grant to an SPS grant, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The example <NUM> of <FIG> includes a TRP <NUM> and a UE <NUM> (shown as a robotic arm). In some aspects, UE <NUM> may periodically or aperiodically provide CSI to TRP <NUM>. For example, the CSI may include an indication of strength of a channel between TRP <NUM> and UE <NUM>. In some aspects, the strength of the channel may be affected by a position of the robotic arm of UE <NUM>, due to an object or structure within a communication path between TRP <NUM> and UE <NUM>, and/or the like. According to some aspects described herein, TRP <NUM> may efficiently allocate additional resources for a communication between TRP <NUM> and UE <NUM> based at least in part on the CSI. As described herein, in some aspects, TRP <NUM> may append an on-demand grant, indicated by an indicator or indication within the PDCCH, to an SPS grant when the CSI indicates that additional resources may be useful for the communication.

As shown in <FIG>, and by reference number <NUM>, TRP <NUM> and UE <NUM> configure SPS for communications between TRP <NUM> and UE <NUM>. TRP <NUM> and UE <NUM> may use any suitable technique to configure SPS in accordance with some aspects of this disclosure. Therefore, according to the SPS configured between TRP <NUM> and UE <NUM>, one or more traffic windows may be scheduled for communications between TRP <NUM> and UE <NUM>. In some aspects, the traffic windows may include a plurality of communications. In some aspects, a first communication (e.g., an initial communication of one or more subsequent communications of the traffic window or a communication that occurs before any other subsequent communication during the traffic window) may include a transmission of data and subsequent communications and, e.g., if the first communication failed, may include retransmissions of the data. Additionally, or alternatively, subsequent communications to the first communication of the traffic window (or other communications of the traffic window) may include different data than the first communication (or other communications of the traffic window).

As further shown in <FIG>, and by reference number <NUM>, UE <NUM> provides the CSI to TRP <NUM>. In some aspects, the CSI may correspond to a traffic-aware framework that is based at least in part on SPS of TRP <NUM> and UE <NUM>. For example, UE <NUM> may be configured to send the CSI before (e.g., within a threshold period of time before) a scheduled traffic window for communications between TRP <NUM> and UE <NUM>. Accordingly, the CSI may provide up-to-date information identifying conditions of the channel and/or identifying a state of the channel between TRP <NUM> and UE <NUM>. Additionally, or alternatively, the CSI may be provided during scheduled traffic windows to include additional updates between communications of the traffic window.

As further shown in <FIG>, and by reference number <NUM>, TRP <NUM> determines whether an SPS grant is not sufficient for a communication during the traffic window. For example, for a first communication of a traffic window, TRP <NUM> may analyze the CSI, received from the UE <NUM>, and determine that the SPS grant is not sufficient for the first communication (e.g., due to low reliability). More specifically, TRP <NUM> determines that an amount of resources of the SPS grant does not satisfy a threshold reliability associated with the first communication. Notably, the term "SPS grant," as used herein, is defined to include SPS grants (e.g., as used for uplink and downlink communications in an LTE network), configured grants (e.g., as used for uplink communications in an NR network), and configured scheduling (e.g., as used for downlink communications in an NR network).

In some aspects, TRP <NUM> may perform an analysis (e.g., an analysis that utilizes scores, weights, and/or the like) of the CSI to determine the reliability for the communication. Additionally, or alternatively, TRP <NUM> may use one or more data structures (e.g., a table, a graph, an index, and/or the like) to determine the reliability of the communication based at least in part on the CSI. As such, TRP <NUM> may compare the reliability with the threshold reliability to determine whether the expected reliability satisfies the threshold reliability. When TRP <NUM> determines that the reliability, as indicated by the CSI, does not satisfy the threshold reliability, TRP <NUM> may determine that additional resources for the first communication may increase the reliability of the communication. For example, the TRP <NUM> may determine, based on a received CSI report, that poor channel conditions for a UE may suggest a lower modulation scheme or different modulation and coding scheme (MCS) to increase the reliability of a transmission and improve the chance that the UE will be able to decode the transmission. The lower modulation scheme for the transmission may, in turn, use more resources to carry the same amount of information, and the originally scheduled SPS resources may be insufficient to also include the additional resources used by the updated modulation scheme.

In some aspects, TRP <NUM> may determine a size of the communication in association with determining whether the SPS grant is not sufficient. In a case in which the communication is an uplink communication (e.g., a communication to be transmitted by UE <NUM>), TRP <NUM> may determine a size of the communication based at least in part on information that identifies a fixed size for uplink communications. For example, in a given application (e.g., a factory automation application), a size (e.g., a packet size) for uplink communications may be fixed. Here, TRP <NUM> may store or have access to information that identifies the fixed size for uplink communications, and may determine whether the SPS grant is not sufficient for the uplink communication based at least in part on the information that identifies the fixed size and the CSI provided by UE <NUM>.

In a case in which the communication is a downlink communication (e.g., a communication to be transmitted by TRP <NUM>), TRP <NUM> may determine a size of the communication based at least in part on information that identifies a fixed size for downlink communication (e.g., when downlink communications have a fixed packet size in the given application) or based at least in part on a size of the particular downlink communication (e.g., when packet sizes of downlink communications can vary). Here, TRP <NUM> may determine whether the SPS grant is not sufficient for the downlink communication based at least in part on the determined size of the downlink communication (e.g., the fixed size or the size of the particular communication) and the CSI provided by UE <NUM>.

As further shown in <FIG>, and by reference number <NUM>, TRP <NUM> sends a communication during the traffic window with an on-demand grant appended to the SPS grant. For example, for the first communication of the traffic window, TRP <NUM> may indicate that the on-demand grant for the communication is appended to the SPS grant using a resource of the PDCCH. As another example, TRP <NUM> may indicate that the on-demand grant for the communication is appended to the SPS grant via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, in an SPS activation message, and/or via another communication provided to UE <NUM>. The example on-demand grant may be one or more resources of the PDSCH that is appended to the SPS grant. The SPS grant may also be included within the PDSCH. Accordingly, the on-demand grant is appended to the SPS grant in that the on-demand grant is allocated within a same subframe of the SPS grant for the first communication.

According to some aspects, the on-demand grant may be appended to the SPS grant in such a way that if the PDCCH is not successfully received, UE <NUM> may still receive the information according to the SPS grant. Accordingly, even if there is an error or failure associated with receiving the PDCCH, some of the data for the communication can be received via the SPS grant, as opposed to prior techniques that may override or replace the SPS grant with an allocation of resources of the PDSCH for the communication via the PDCCH. Put another way, by not overriding the SPS grant (i.e., by appending the on-demand grant instead of overriding), in a case in which the PDCCH associated with the on-demand grant is not successfully received, at least some of the data associated with the first communication (e.g., a portion of the data that was sent using the SPS grant) can be successfully communicated, and only data associated with the on-demand grant would require re-transmission. Thus, keeping the SPS grant available for the communication maintains one or more benefits of using SPS (e.g., reliability) and ensures that at least a portion of the data of the communication is communicated. In some aspects, if the communication that utilizes the SPS grant and on-demand grant fails, a retransmission may be communicated using any suitable techniques (e.g., using ACK/NACK feedback).

Accordingly, TRP <NUM> may allocate additional resources for a communication of a traffic window using on-demand grants that can be appended to SPS grants. As such, by appending on-demand grants to scheduled SPS grants, retransmissions of data of the communication may be lessened, conserving network resources, power resources, and/or processing resources associated with sending the retransmissions.

In some aspects, when the first communication is a downlink communication, TRP <NUM> may transmit the first communication using the SPS grant (e.g., a downlink SPS grant, a configured scheduling, etc.) and the on-demand grant (e.g., a downlink on-demand grant, etc.), and UE <NUM> may receive the first communication in resources of the SPS grant and/or the on-demand grant.

In some aspects, when the first communication is an uplink communication, UE <NUM> may transmit the first communication using the SPS grant (e.g., an uplink SPS grant, a configured grant, etc.) and the on-demand grant (e.g., an uplink on-demand grant, etc.), and TRP <NUM> may receive the first communication in resources of the SPS grant and/or the on-demand grant.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example <NUM> of appending an on-demand grant to an SPS grant, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Example <NUM> of <FIG> includes an example of a communication stream between TRP <NUM> and UE <NUM>. As further shown, an example subframe <NUM> of a communication of one of the traffic windows of the communication stream is illustrated. In some aspects, the plurality of traffic windows may be scheduled according to SPS that is set up between TRP <NUM> and UE <NUM> (e.g., using any suitable technique). As shown in example <NUM>, CSI may be communicated prior to and during the traffic windows.

As shown in <FIG>, a first communication of a traffic window includes subframe <NUM> with a PDCCH, PDSCH, and UL common burst (CB) portion. In some aspects, the PDCCH, PDSCH, and UL CB portion may correspond to control portion <NUM>, DL data portion <NUM>, and UL short burst portion <NUM>, respectively, as described above with respect to <FIG>. The example PDSCH includes two pools of resources. The first pool of resources is designated for SPS resources and the second pool of resources is designated for on-demand resources. According to some aspects, TRP <NUM> may configure which resources of the PDSCH are to be designated as SPS resources and/or as on-demand resources. In some implementations, the PDSCH may include additional pools of resources (e.g., a pool of resources that may be SPS resources or on-demand resources).

In the first communication of the first traffic window of example <NUM>, the PDCCH includes an indication that an on-demand grant has been allocated for the communication. As such, the PDSCH of subframe <NUM> includes both the SPS grant and the on-demand grant (such that the on-demand grant, which may include one or more on-demand resources, is appended to the SPS grant, which may include one or more SPS resources), which can be used to communicate data to UE <NUM>. Accordingly, using subframe <NUM>, TRP <NUM> may efficiently allocate resources, in addition to an SPS grant, for a communication (e.g., based at least in part on the CSI) to ensure, or at least increase the likelihood relative to using only the SPS grant, that the data of the communication reaches UE <NUM>.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example process <NUM> performed, for example, by a BS, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Example process <NUM> is an example method of wireless communication performed by a BS where a BS (e.g., BS <NUM>, TRP <NUM>) appends an on-demand grant to an SPS grant for a communication with a UE.

As shown in <FIG>, in some aspects, process <NUM> includes determining that a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) grant is not sufficient for a first communication of a traffic window, wherein the traffic window is scheduled for a user equipment (UE) using SPS (block <NUM>). For example, BS <NUM> (e.g., using transmit processor <NUM>, TX MIMO processor <NUM>, receive processor <NUM>, controller/processor <NUM>, and/or the like) may determine that the SPS grant is insufficient for sending the first communication. In some aspects, BS <NUM> may determine the SPS grant is insufficient based at least in part on being placed in communication with UE <NUM>, based at least in part on receiving CSI, based on a traffic window for the first communication arriving, and/or the like.

As further shown in <FIG>, in some aspects, process <NUM> includes transmitting an indicator indicating that an on-demand grant is appended to a SPS grant for a first communication of a traffic window, wherein the on-demand grant is in a same subframe as the SPS grant (block <NUM>). For example, BS <NUM> (e.g., using transmit processor <NUM>, TX MIMO processor <NUM>, controller/processor <NUM>, and/or the like) transmits an indicator indicating that an on-demand grant is appended to a SPS grant for a first communication of a traffic window, wherein the on-demand grant is in a same subframe as the SPS grant. In some aspects, BS <NUM> appends the on-demand grant to the SPS grant based at least in part on determining that the SPS grant is not sufficient for sending the first communication.

In some aspects, the on-demand grant is indicated via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) resource. In some aspects, the SPS grant includes one or more resources of a pool of physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) resources designated for SPS. In some aspects, the on-demand grant includes one or more resources of a pool of physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) resources designated to be used on-demand in association with the SPS grant.

In some aspects, the subframe is coded to enable the SPS grant to be decoded regardless of whether an indicator, that the on-demand grant was appended to the SPS grant, was received by the UE. In some examples, this can be accomplished using systematic bits in the original SPS grant and additional parity check bits within the on-demand grant. The additional parity check bits within the on-demand grant can be in addition to parity check bits that are already in the original SPS grant.

In some aspects, the BS receives the first communication in resources of the SPS grant and resources of the on-demand grant. In some aspects, the BS transmits the first communication in resources of the SPS grant and resources of the on-demand grant.

In some aspects, the SPS grant is determined to not be sufficient for the first communication of the traffic window based at least in part on channel state information (CSI) received from the UE. In some aspects, the CSI indicates that an amount of resources of the SPS grant does not satisfy a threshold reliability associated with the first communication. In some aspects, the CSI is received before the traffic window. In some aspects, the CSI is received during the traffic window.

In some aspects, the BS and the UE are configured for use in a factory automation process. In some aspects, the first communication is an initial communication of one or more subsequent communications of the traffic window.

<FIG> and <FIG> are diagrams illustrating example processes <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively, performed, for example, by a UE, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Example processes <NUM> and <NUM> are example methods of wireless communication performed by a UE where a UE (e.g., UE <NUM>) uses an on-demand grant appended to an SPS grant for a communication from a BS (e.g., BS <NUM>, TRP <NUM>, and/or the like).

As shown in <FIG>, in some aspects, process <NUM> includes providing, to a base station, channel state information (CSI) associated with a traffic window (block <NUM>). For example, UE <NUM> (e.g., using antenna <NUM>, modulator <NUM>, transmit processor <NUM>, TX MIMO <NUM>, controller/processor <NUM>, and/or the like) provides, to BS <NUM>, the CSI associated with a traffic window. In some aspects, UE <NUM> may provide the CSI based at least in part on SPS, based on a configuration received from BS <NUM>, based at least in part on determining the CSI, and/or the like.

As further shown in <FIG>, in some aspects, process <NUM> includes receiving, from the BS, an indicator indicating that the BS has appended an on-demand grant to a SPS grant for a first communication associated with the traffic window (block <NUM>). For example, UE <NUM> (e.g., using antenna <NUM>, demodulator <NUM>, MIMO detector <NUM>, receive processor <NUM>, controller/processor <NUM>, and/or the like) receives, from BS <NUM>, an indicator indicating that BS <NUM> has appended an on-demand grant to a SPS grant for a first communication associated with the traffic window. In some aspects, the on-demand grant is in a same subframe as the SPS grant. In some aspects, UE <NUM> determines that the on-demand grant has been appended to the SPS grant based at least in part on providing the CSI, based at least in part on the CSI indicating that the SPS grant is not sufficient for the first communication, and/or the like.

Similarly, as shown in <FIG>, in some aspects, process <NUM> includes providing, to a base station, channel state information (CSI) associated with a traffic window (block <NUM>). For example, UE <NUM> (e.g., using antenna <NUM>, modulator <NUM>, transmit processor <NUM>, TX MIMO <NUM>, controller/processor <NUM>, and/or the like) may provide, to BS <NUM>, the CSI associated with a traffic window. In some aspects, UE <NUM> may provide the CSI based at least in part on SPS, based on a configuration received from BS <NUM>, based at least in part on determining the CSI, and/or the like.

As further shown in <FIG>, in some aspects, process <NUM> may include receiving a transmission from the BS, the transmission including an indicator indicating that the BS has appended an on-demand grant to an SPS grant for a first communication associated with the traffic window (block <NUM>). For example, UE <NUM> (e.g., using antenna <NUM>, demodulator <NUM>, MIMO detector <NUM>, receive processor <NUM>, controller/processor <NUM>, and/or the like) may receive a transmission from BS <NUM>, an indicator indicating that BS <NUM> has appended an on-demand grant to a SPS grant for a first communication associated with the traffic window. In some aspects, the on-demand grant is in a same subframe as the SPS grant. In some aspects, UE <NUM> may determine that the on-demand grant has been appended to the SPS grant based at least in part on providing the CSI, based at least in part on the CSI indicating that the SPS grant is not sufficient for the first communication, and/or the like.

Processes <NUM> and/or <NUM> may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of aspects described below and/or in connection with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.

In some aspects, the UE (e.g., UE <NUM>) transmits the CSI to the BS (e.g., BS <NUM>) to enable the BS to determine whether or not the SPS grant satisfies a threshold reliability associated with the first communication.

In some aspects, the SPS grant includes one or more resources of a pool of physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) resources designated for SPS. In some aspects, the on-demand grant includes one or more resources of a pool of physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) resources designated to be used on-demand in association with the SPS grant.

In some aspects, the UE receives the first communication in resources of the SPS grant and the on-demand grant. In some aspects, the UE transmits the first communication in resources of the SPS grant and the on-demand grant. In some aspects, responsive to a determination that the on-demand grant has been appended to the SPS grant based on the indicator, the UE may communicate (e.g., receive or transmit) the first communication in resources of the SPS grant and/or the on-demand grant.

In some aspects, the CSI is provided before the traffic window. In some aspects, the CSI is provided during the traffic window.

Although <FIG> and <FIG> show example blocks of processes <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively, in some aspects, process <NUM> and/or process <NUM> may include additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than those depicted in <FIG> and <FIG>. Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of the blocks of process <NUM> and/or process <NUM> may be performed in parallel.

Each dependent claim listed below may directly depend on only one claim, the disclosure of various aspects includes each dependent claim in combination with every other claim in the claim set.

Claim 1:
A method of wireless communication performed by a base station, BS (<NUM>) for a factory automation system, comprising:
receiving channel state information, CSI from a user equipment, UE, wherein the CSI indicates that an amount of resources of a semi-persistent scheduling, SPS grant does not satisfy a threshold reliability associated with a first communication of a traffic window scheduled for a UE using SPS;
determining (<NUM>) based at least in part on the received CSI from the UE that the SPS grant is not sufficient for the first communication of the traffic window scheduled for a UE using SPS; and
transmitting (<NUM>) in response to the determination, an indicator indicating that an on-demand grant is appended to the SPS grant for the first communication of the traffic window (<NUM>) scheduled for the, UE using SPS,
wherein the on-demand grant is in a same subframe (<NUM>) as the SPS grant.