Patent Description:
Prior art document <NPL>, discloses several improvements to LTE and NR technologies.

It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only some typical aspects of this disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the description may admit to other equally effective aspects.

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 adaptive sub-band usage for unlicensed spectrum, 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> 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. In some aspects, memory <NUM> and/or memory <NUM> may comprise a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more instructions for wireless communication. For example, the one or more instructions, when executed by one or more processors of the base station <NUM> and/or the UE <NUM>, may perform or direct operations of, for example, process <NUM> of <FIG> and/or other processes as described herein.

In some aspects, UE <NUM> may include means for identifying a control channel resource configuration associated with an unlicensed spectrum; means for identifying the resource based at least in part on the control channel resource configuration; means for identifying the resource based at least in part on the sub-band being identified by a configured list of sub-bands; means for identifying the resource based at least in part on a mapping of resources and corresponding sub-bands and based at least in part on an indication, in the control channel resource configuration, indicating which resource is to be used; means for identifying an interlace configuration for the uplink control channel from a plurality of interlace configurations associated with a set of sub-bands; means for determining a periodicity of the resource blocks based at least in part on the number of the resource blocks and identities of the multiple sub-bands; means for dropping one or more resource blocks of the resource when an interlace configuration of the multiple sub-bands is associated with fewer resource blocks than are included in the resource; means for identifying at least one of a time resource or a frequency resource for the uplink control channel; means for identifying a sub-band, of a plurality of sub-bands, on which to transmit the uplink control channel; means for identifying multiple sub-bands, of a plurality of sub-bands, on which to transmit the uplink control channel; means for identifying the resource based at least in part on a channel occupancy time (COT) structure indicator that indicates one or more sub-bands available for the resource; means for identifying the resource based at least in part on an indication, received from a base station, of a sub-band to be used to transmit the uplink control channel; means for identifying a number of sub-bands to use for the uplink control channel; means for selectively treating the resource as the fixed resource, the adaptive resource, or the floating resource based at least in part on a listen-before-talk procedure of the UE; means for transmitting uplink control information on the identified resource; and/or the like. In some aspects, such means may include one or more components of UE <NUM> described in connection with <FIG>, such as controller/processor <NUM>, transmit processor <NUM>, TX MIMO processor <NUM>, MOD <NUM>, antenna <NUM>, DEMOD <NUM>, MIMO detector <NUM>, receive processor <NUM>, and/or the like.

Some radio access technologies (RATs), such as NR, may allow operation in the unlicensed spectrum. The NR RAT for the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-Unlicensed (NR-U or NRU). NR-U may support different bandwidths for sub-bands on which a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) may be transmitted, such as <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or the like. The PUCCH may carry various uplink control information (UCI) for a UE, such as channel state information, a scheduling request, an acknowledgment (ACK) or negative ACK (NACK), and/or the like.

The UE may transmit the PUCCH using a PUCCH resource, which may be identified from a PUCCH resource set. A PUCCH resource configuration for a PUCCH resource set may be indicated, for example, in a system information block (SIB) (e.g., SIB <NUM> and/or the like), a radio resource control (RRC) message, and/or the like. The PUCCH resource set may include information identifying a PUCCH format (e.g., a long format, a short format, and/or the like), a starting symbol of the PUCCH, a number of symbols of the PUCCH, a starting physical resource block (PRB) of the PUCCH, a number of PRBs of the PUCCH, and/or the like. A PUCCH resource indicator (PRI) in downlink control information (DCI) 1_0 or DCI 1_1 may indicate which PUCCH resource, of the PUCCH resource set, is to be used for the PUCCH. In some aspects, the PUCCH resource configuration may include an interlace index, which may indicate an interlace configuration for resource blocks to be transmitted on the identified resource.

The UE may be allocated a resource on a sub-band for transmission of the PUCCH. For example, in an unlicensed spectrum, a base station may perform a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure, and may reserve one or more sub-bands on which the LBT procedure is successful for transmission by one or more UEs associated with the base station. The base station may provide information identifying the one or more sub-bands to the one or more UEs as a channel occupancy time (COT) structure indicator (SI) (COT-SI). The COT-SI may be common to UEs covered by the base station.

The UE may prepare the PUCCH for transmission on one or more of the allocated sub-bands. However, in some cases, the bandwidth used for a PUCCH transmission or the sub-band used for a PUCCH transmission may change over time. For example, the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) that schedules a PUCCH or that is associated with a PUCCH may be on a different bandwidth or a different sub-band than the UE. As another example, the PDSCH may be associated with a different COT than the PUCCH. This may be due to unavailability of the original sub-band and/or the like. A fixed scheduling system for the PUCCH may lack the ability to adapt to changing sub-band or bandwidth availability. Thus, the UE and/or the base station may benefit from increased flexibility for configuration of the PUCCH. Furthermore, providing fixed PUCCH resource configurations that can provide for the many possible outcomes of sub-band and bandwidth availability may be prohibitively resource intensive.

Some techniques and apparatuses described herein provide flexible configuration of a PUCCH resource configuration so that a UE can adapt to changing sub-band or bandwidth availability in unlicensed spectrum. For example, some techniques and apparatuses described herein may provide signaling of whether a PUCCH resource configuration should use a fixed resource (e.g., associated with a fixed bandwidth and a fixed sub-band), a floating resource (e.g., associated with a fixed bandwidth and a sub-band that can be selected dynamically or that can be changed), or an adaptive resource (e.g., associated with a bandwidth that can change and a sub-band that can be selected dynamically or that can be changed). Furthermore, some techniques and apparatuses described herein may provide, for a PUCCH resource configuration with a fixed bandwidth and a floating sub-band (e.g., a floating resource), a method for identifying a resource for the PUCCH based at least in part on a configured list of sub-bands with a ranked order.

Some techniques and apparatuses described herein may provide for mapping of a floating or adaptive PUCCH resource configuration to a fixed resource when the floating or adaptive PUCCH resource configuration occurs outside of a COT of the UE or the base station, which may reduce a blind decoding burden at the base station.

Even further, the usage of the adaptive or floating PUCCH resource configuration may allow for mapping of a PUCCH resource to any of a plurality of sub-bands or bandwidths without having to define different PUCCH resource configurations for each sub-band or bandwidth combination, thereby conserving resources of the base station and/or the UE that would otherwise be used to provide and/or store information identifying such a mapping.

Thus, flexibility of scheduling and resource identification in the unlicensed spectrum for the PUCCH is increased, which improves efficiency of PUCCH transmission and configuration, and which reduces the amount of signaling required between the base station and the UE.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating examples <NUM> of PUCCH scheduling relative to COTs, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. As shown, <FIG> includes a Case <NUM>, a Case <NUM>, and a Case <NUM>, which are described in turn below.

In Case <NUM>, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) <NUM>, transmitted from a base station to a UE, schedules a PUCCH <NUM> within a same COT as the PDCCH <NUM>. This case may be straightforward since the base station has reserved the COT for transmissions by the UE. For example, the base station may provide a COT-SI identifying the COT, and the UE may transmit the PUCCH in the COT.

In Case <NUM>, a PDCCH <NUM>, transmitted from the base station to the UE, schedules a PUCCH <NUM> outside of the COT. In this case, the base station successfully performs an LBT procedure to reserve a second COT, and the UE transmits the PUCCH <NUM> in the second COT.

In Case <NUM>, a PDCCH <NUM> schedules a PUCCH <NUM> outside of the COT. In this case, the UE performs an LBT procedure (e.g., a Category <NUM> LBT procedure and/or the like) to reserve a UE-acquired COT, and transmits the PUCCH <NUM> in the UE-acquired COT.

In Case <NUM> and Case <NUM>, the bandwidth used for the PUCCH and/or the sub-band on which the LBT procedure is successful may be different than the bandwidth and/or the sub-band used for the PDCCH. It may be resource-intensive and/or inefficient to provide different PUCCH resource configurations for each possible bandwidth and/or sub-band on which the PUCCH can be transmitted. By providing adaptive and/or floating PUCCH resource configurations (e.g., based at least in part on which a floating and/or adaptive PUCCH resource can be identified), techniques and apparatuses described herein reduce signaling overhead and improve utilization of unlicensed spectrum.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example <NUM> of adaptive or floating PUCCH resource configuration and transmission of a PUCCH in accordance with the PUCCH resource configuration, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. As shown, example <NUM> includes a BS <NUM> and a UE <NUM>.

As shown by reference number <NUM>, the BS <NUM> may provide a PUCCH resource configuration to the UE <NUM>. The PUCCH resource configuration may include information indicating a resource configuration for a PUCCH, such as a PUCCH format, a starting symbol of the PUCCH, a number of symbols of the PUCCH, a starting PRB of the PUCCH, a number of PRBs of the PUCCH, and/or the like. In some aspects, the BS <NUM> may provide multiple PUCCH resource configurations, as described in more detail elsewhere herein.

As shown by reference number <NUM>, the PUCCH resource configuration may include an indication of whether the PUCCH resource configuration is associated with an adaptive resource, a fixed resource, or a floating resource. While the PUCCH resource configuration is shown as including the indication, in some aspects, the indication may be associated with the PUCCH resource configuration or separate from the PUCCH resource configuration. In some aspects, the indication may indicate a resource type of the PUCCH resource configuration, such as whether the PUCCH resource configuration is associated with a fixed bandwidth or an adaptive bandwidth. In some aspects, the indication may be part of a PUCCH resource indicator field and/or the like.

A fixed resource may be associated with a fixed frequency location (e.g., a fixed sub-band, a fixed number of resource blocks, a fixed interlace configuration, and/or the like) and a fixed bandwidth. A floating resource may be associated with a substantially fixed bandwidth (e.g., in terms of a number of sub-bands spanned by the corresponding PUCCH) and a variable frequency location (e.g., a variable sub-band, a variable interlace configuration, and/or the like). An adaptive resource may be associated with a variable bandwidth and/or a variable frequency location. For example, if the UE <NUM> has N sub-bands, a PUCCH resource determined in accordance with an adaptive PUCCH resource configuration may span from <NUM> to N sub-bands, whereas a PUCCH resource determined in accordance with a fixed or floating PUCCH resource configuration may span the number of sub-bands indicated by the PUCCH configuration.

In some aspects, the resource type of the PUCCH resource configuration may be signaled during radio resource control (RRC) configuration of the UE <NUM>. In some aspects, the resource type can be common to all PUCCH resource configurations, which may enable the BS <NUM> to configure each UE <NUM> with a respective fixed bandwidth and/or sub-band using fixed resource types. In some aspects, the resource type may be specific to a PUCCH resource configuration, which may enable the BS <NUM> to schedule some PUCCHs with fixed resources and some PUCCHs that can be adapted based at least in part on an outcome of an LBT procedure of the BS <NUM> and/or the UE <NUM>. In some aspects, the UE <NUM> may identify the resource type dynamically. For example, the UE <NUM> may receive DCI that indicates the resource type (e.g., as part of the PUCCH resource configuration, after the PUCCH resource configuration is received, and/or the like), may determine the resource type based at least in part on an outcome of an LBT procedure, and/or the like. The dynamic identification of the resource type may allow for reconfiguration of the resource type (e.g., based at least in part on changing channel conditions, LBT outcomes, and/or the like).

In some aspects, the UE <NUM> may be configured with multiple PUCCH resource configurations. In such a case, for a dynamically scheduled PUCCH, a PUCCH resource indicator (e.g., provided using DCI) may be used to indicate which PUCCH resource configuration is to be used. Thus, the PUCCH size (e.g., number of symbols, number of resource blocks, bandwidth, and/or the like) may be adapted for channel conditions, payload size, and/or the like.

As shown by reference number <NUM>, the UE <NUM> may identify a resource on which to transmit the PUCCH based at least in part on the PUCCH resource configuration, and, as shown by reference number <NUM>, the UE <NUM> may transmit uplink control information (UCI) on the PUCCH using the identified resource. For example, the UE <NUM> may select a sub-band on which to transmit the PUCCH, a bandwidth to be used for transmission of the PUCCH, a resource for transmission of the PUCCH, an interlace configuration to be used to transmit the PUCCH, and/or the like. In some aspects, the UE <NUM> may select a sub-band from a set of sub-bands reserved by the BS <NUM>. For example, the UE <NUM> may identify the set of sub-bands reserved by the BS <NUM>, and may select one or more sub-bands from the set of sub-bands. In some aspects, the UE <NUM> may receive information indicating which sub-band is to be selected. For example, the UE <NUM> may select a sub-band based at least in part on an indication from the BS <NUM> that the UE <NUM> is to select the sub-band.

In some aspects, the UE <NUM> may not support changing a resource from a sub-band identified by the PUCCH configuration information. In other words, the UE <NUM> may not support adaptive or floating PUCCH resources. In this case, the PUCCH may use the fixed resource configured by the PUCCH resource configuration. The BS <NUM> may handle scheduling issues that arise in this case. For example, in the case that a PUCCH is to be transmitted on a different sub-band than one configured by the PUCCH configuration information, the BS <NUM> may schedule a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with no data on the different sub-band.

In some aspects, the UE <NUM> may identify resources for a wideband PUCCH (e.g., spanning multiple LBT sub-bands), which may prevent issues with other nodes securing resources that are to be used for the wideband PUCCH before the wideband PUCCH is transmitted. In some aspects, the UE <NUM> may select two or more sub-bands from a plurality of sub-bands reserved by the BS <NUM> for the PUCCH. In a first example, the UE <NUM> may be permitted to select any sub-band combination of the plurality of sub-bands. In a second example, the UE <NUM> may be permitted to select a subset (e.g., a proper subset) of sub-band combinations of the plurality of sub-bands. In a third example, the UE <NUM> may be permitted to select a sub-band combination only of contiguous sub-bands. In some aspects, the UE <NUM> may be permitted to select a number of sub-bands, from a set of quantities of sub-bands. For example, the UE <NUM> may be permitted to be select only <NUM> or <NUM> sub-bands, only <NUM>, <NUM>, or <NUM> sub-bands, and/or the like. For further description of wideband PUCCH resource selection, refer to <FIG>, described below.

In some aspects, the UE <NUM> may not support a wideband PUCCH. For example, the PUCCH may span only one LBT sub-band. In this case, the BS <NUM> may handle scheduling issues. For example, the BS <NUM> may schedule a PUSCH with no data if the need arises to transmit a wideband PUCCH.

In some aspects, the UE <NUM> may determine an interlace configuration for a resource or a PUCCH. An interlace configuration may identify a spacing, in frequency, of resource blocks used to transmit the PUCCH. For example, the interlace configuration may ensure that minimum channel occupancy requirements are satisfied for the sub-band or sub-bands on which the PUCCH is transmitted. In some aspects, the UE <NUM> may select an interlace configuration for the PUCCH from a plurality of interlace configurations associated with a set of sub-bands reserved by the BS <NUM> (e.g., randomly, pseudo-randomly, based at least in part on the PUCCH resource configuration or another indication received from the BS <NUM>, and/or the like).

In some aspects, the UE <NUM> may determine a number of resource blocks to be used for an interlace configuration. For example, the set of sub-bands may be associated with different interlace configurations that have different quantities of resource blocks. In some aspects, the PUCCH may use a smallest number of resource blocks of the interlace configurations. For example, the UE <NUM> may not use one or more resource blocks of the selected interface configuration if the interface configuration is associated with more resource blocks than the smallest number of resource blocks, which may improve uniformity of the PUCCH. In some aspects, the PUCCH may use all resource blocks of the allocated interlace configuration, which may improve resource utilization relative to using the smallest number of RBs of the interlace configurations.

In some aspects, an interlace configuration may span a single sub-band or may span multiple sub-bands. For a more detailed description of determining an interlace configuration for the resource, such as for a wideband PUCCH, refer to <FIG>, described below. In some aspects, the UE <NUM> may determine the interlace configuration based at least in part on the PUCCH resource configuration, DCI associated with the PUCCH resource configuration, and/or the like.

In some aspects, the UE <NUM> may identify a resource for a PUCCH outside of a COT of the BS <NUM> (e.g., Case <NUM> of <FIG>). For example, the UE <NUM> may perform a Category <NUM> LBT procedure and may identify a resource outside of the COT used to configure the PUCCH. In this case, the UE <NUM> may identify a resource within a fixed bandwidth and a fixed sub-band, which may enable the BS <NUM> to blind detect the PUCCH within the fixed sub-band, thereby conserving resources of the BS <NUM>. In such a case, the UE <NUM> may be configured with a floating resource or an adaptive resource, and may selectively use the floating resource or the adaptive resource, or the fixed resource, based at least in part on whether the LBT procedure identifies a resource outside of the COT used to configured the PUCCH (e.g., may selectively treat the resource as the fixed resource, the adaptive resource, or the floating resource based at least in part on an LBT procedure of the UE).

In some aspects, the BS <NUM> may acquire another COT for the PUCCH (e.g., Case <NUM> of <FIG>). In this case, the resource for the PUCCH may be defined as a floating resource or an adaptive resource. The UE <NUM> may selectively map the floating resource or the adaptive resource to a fixed resource based at least in part on a rule. For example, if the resource for the PUCCH is outside of the COT used to configure the PUCCH, then the UE <NUM> may map the PUCCH to the fixed resource (e.g., may selectively treat the resource as the fixed resource, the adaptive resource, or the floating resource based at least in part on an LBT procedure of the UE). In some aspects, all UEs <NUM> covered by a BS <NUM> may be configured to map the PUCCH to a sub-band. For example, the UEs <NUM> may be configured with a common sub-band priority order for mapping the PUCCHs to the fixed sub-band (e.g., based at least in part on which sub-bands have been reserved by the BS <NUM> as part of the LBT operation). In some aspects, two or more UEs <NUM> may be configured with different sub-band priority orders, and may map respective PUCCHs to sub-bands based at least in part on the different sub-band priority orders (e.g., based at least in part on which sub-bands have been reserved by the BS <NUM> as part of the LBT operation).

As indicated above, <FIG> is provided as one or more examples. Other examples may differ from what is provided in connection with <FIG>.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example <NUM> of interlace configurations for a wideband PUCCH resource configuration, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. In example <NUM>, each sub-band, of Sub-band <NUM> and Sub-band <NUM>, includes <NUM> interlaced resource blocks.

In some aspects, a UE (e.g., UE <NUM>) may identify a wideband resource for a PUCCH to be transmitted by the UE based at least in part on a PUCCH resource configuration. As used herein, a set of time and/or frequency domain resources that spans two or more sub-bands may be referred to as a wideband resource. The usage of the wideband PUCCH may reduce PUCCH latency and/or improve resource utilization.

In some aspects, the UE <NUM> may use a fully interlaced PUCCH. As used herein, a PUCCH that includes a number of resource blocks proportionate to the number of sub-bands used to transmit the PUCCH may be referred to as a fully interlaced PUCCH. For an example, refer to reference number <NUM> of <FIG>. As shown by reference number <NUM>, when a PUCCH is fully interlaced across two sub-bands with four resource blocks each, the PUCCH may include eight resource blocks (shown in <FIG> with a white fill).

In some aspects, the UE <NUM> (and/or one or more other UEs <NUM>) may use a partially interlaced PUCCH. As used herein, a PUCCH that includes a number of resource blocks independent of the number of sub-bands used to transmit the PUCCH may be referred to as a partially interlaced PUCCH. For an example, refer to reference number <NUM> of <FIG>. As shown by reference number <NUM>, when a PUCCH is partially interlaced across two sub-bands with four resource blocks each, the PUCCH may include four resource blocks, and may be interleaved with resource blocks of another PUCCH. For example, the PUCCH may use every Xth resource block in the full interlace, given X sub-bands. In some aspects, when an interlace over X sub-bands includes more than N x X resource blocks (where N is the number of resource blocks in one sub-band), the UE <NUM> may drop one or more resource blocks (e.g., at an edge of the wideband PUCCH.

In some aspects, the UE <NUM> may use a partial interlace with a configurable number of resource blocks, which may allow the BS <NUM> to configure whether the UE <NUM> is to use a full interlace or a partial interlace. For example, the value Q may be the resource block periodicity within an interlace, and may be configurable. Q = <NUM> may correspond to a full interlace, Q = <NUM> may correspond to the partial interlace shown by reference number <NUM>, and so on. In this case, the total number of resource blocks may be limited to a set of N, 2N, 3N, 4N, etc. In some aspects, Q may be configured using RRC signaling, as part of the PUCCH resource configuration, provided in DCI, and/or the like.

In some aspects, when the partial interlace with the configurable number of resource blocks is used, a resource block periodicity and a resource block offset may be provided in an RRC configuration message, in DCI, and/or the like. For example, if Q = <NUM>, the resource block offset may be <NUM> or <NUM> to indicate whether the corresponding PUCCH is to use odd-indexed or even-indexed resource blocks. In the case when the number of resource blocks is less than the number of resource blocks in the interlace, the UE <NUM> may drop one or more resource blocks, or the field indicating the number of resource blocks may be removed or not used.

In some aspects, the resource block periodicity may be determined based at least in part on a number of resource blocks indicated by the PUCCH resource configuration and based at least in part on which sub-band and/or how many sub-bands are used for the PUCCH. For example, consider a <NUM> bandwidth, a subcarrier spacing of <NUM>, M = <NUM>, and N = <NUM> or <NUM>, wherein M is a number of interlaces. If a UE <NUM> is allocated Interlace <NUM> with the number of resource blocks equal to <NUM>, the UE <NUM> may identify Q = <NUM> as the resource block periodicity.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example <NUM> of sub-band selection based at least in part on a priority order of sub-bands associated with a PUCCH resource configuration, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Example <NUM> illustrates examples of sub-band selection for a plurality of Sub-bands A, B, C, and D. As shown, resource blocks associated with a UE <NUM> are shown by a dotted fill, and resource blocks associated with a UE <NUM> are shown by a top-left-to-bottom-right diagonal hatching. As further shown, the UE <NUM> and the UE <NUM> are associated with respective configured lists of sub-bands that may identify relative priorities of the plurality of sub-bands. Here, the UE <NUM> is associated with a configured list of A, B, C, D, and the UE <NUM> is associated with a configured list of B, D, C, A. The UE <NUM> and the UE <NUM> may be configured with the configured lists by the BS and/or the like.

A BS (e.g., BS <NUM>) may indicate which sub-bands are available for a PUCCH using a sub-band usage bitmap. In some aspects, the sub-band usage bitmap may be implemented as another form of indicator, such as an index value and/or the like. The sub-band usage bitmap may include one or more values indicating which sub-bands, of a plurality of sub-bands associated with a UE, are available for a floating or adaptive PUCCH. For example, in example <NUM>, a sub-band usage bitmap of [<NUM><NUM><NUM><NUM>] may indicate that all four sub-bands of example <NUM> are available, whereas a sub-band usage bitmap of [<NUM><NUM><NUM><NUM>] may indicate that Sub-Bands C and D are available. The BS <NUM> may transmit sub-band usage bitmaps in the COT-SI, a group common PDCCH, and/or the like. The interlace on all sub-bands is shown by reference number <NUM>.

As shown by reference number <NUM>, when all four sub-bands are available, the UE <NUM> may select Sub-band A and the UE <NUM> may select Sub-band B, because Sub-band A and Sub-band B are associated with a highest priority level for each of the UE <NUM> and the UE <NUM> according to the configured lists. As shown by reference number <NUM>, when Sub-bands C and D are available, the UE <NUM> may select Sub-band C and the UE <NUM> may select Sub-Band D, because Sub-band D is associated with a higher priority for the UE <NUM> than Sub-band C, and because Sub-band C is the only remaining sub-band for the UE <NUM>.

In some aspects, a UE may map a floating PUCCH to a single sub-band. For example, the UE may map a floating PUCCH to any one of the available sub-bands. As another example, the UE may map the floating PUCCH based at least in part on a priority order among the available sub-bands (described in connection with example <NUM>). As yet another example, the UE may map a PUCCH based at least in part on a table, such as a lookup table, that may indicate a sub-band to be used for each combination of available sub-bands. As still another example, the UE may map the PUCCH to a sub-band explicitly or implicitly identified by a BS (e.g., in the COT-SI, in the DL/UL grants, and/or the like).

In some aspects, a UE may select a subset of available sub-bands, and may map the PUCCH to one or more of the subset of sub-bands based at least in part on an outcome of an LBT procedure. For example, the subset may include all available sub-bands, may be based at least in part on the configured list of sub-bands (e.g., a highest-priority T sub-bands of the available sub-bands, where T is an integer), may include a subset of available sub-bands that is determined based at least in part on a lookup table or dynamic signaling, and/or the like.

In one or more of the above aspects described in connection with example <NUM>, the UE may not be permitted to transmit the PUCCH if the UE <NUM> does not detect a COT-SI that identifies the available sub-bands.

In some aspects, the UE may identify a sub-band for a floating PUCCH based at least in part on an explicit or implicit indication of which sub-band is to be identified, as described above. In some aspects, the UE may receive the indication in a COT-SI (e.g., in addition to the sub-band usage bitmap). In some aspects, the UE may receive the indication in a grant, such as a PDSCH grant. For example, a PRI field of the grant may provide the indication. In some aspects, the indication may be based at least in part on a sub-band on which the UE detected the PDCCH or based at least in part on one or more allocated PDSCH sub-bands of the UE. For example, the UE may identify a PDCCH sub-band as the sub-band for the PUCCH. In some aspects, the UE may use a default sub-band as the sub-band for the floating PUCCH (e.g., based at least in part on one of the options described above or based at least in part on a fixed or RRC configured default value). In some aspects, the BS may grant, to the UE, a PUSCH without data so that UCI associated with the PUCCH can be piggy backed on the PUSCH.

The above operations, described in connection with example <NUM>, can also be applied for the selection of multiple sub-bands (e.g., for a wideband PUCCH) or for an adaptive PUCCH. In the case when the UE selects from multiple sub-band combinations, the UE may drop one or more sub-band combinations from consideration. For example, if the UE can use sub-bands <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, and if the PUCCH is configured to span two contiguous sub-bands, the UE may drop sub-band <NUM>, since sub-band <NUM> is not contiguous to another sub-band. In this same case, if only sub-bands <NUM> and <NUM> are available, the UE may drop the PUCCH. In some aspects, the UE may identify information indicating a number of sub-bands to be used for the wideband PUCCH or the adaptive PUCCH. For example, the information may be explicitly indicated in a group common PDCCH or in a UE-specific PDCCH, may be identified implicitly based at least in part on a largest number of sub-bands indicated as available by the BS, may be identified based at least in part on an outcome of an LBT procedure at the UE when multiple sub-bands are available, and/or the like.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example <NUM> of resource identification in accordance with a table indicating a mapping between sub-band usage bitmaps and PUCCH resources, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

As shown in <FIG>, a table <NUM> may identify mappings between sub-band usage bitmaps and PUCCH resources relative to an Interlace <NUM>, shown by reference number <NUM>. The first row of the table <NUM> corresponds to the situation shown by reference number <NUM>, wherein a Sub-band A and a Sub-band B are both available for a PUCCH. In this case, the PUCCH is mapped to alternating resource blocks (RBs) of Interlace <NUM> across two sub-bands (e.g., <NUM>). The second row of the table <NUM> corresponds to the situation shown by reference number <NUM>, wherein only Sub-band A is available for a PUCCH. In this case, the PUCCH is mapped to all RBs of Interlace <NUM> in Sub-band A. The third row of the table <NUM> corresponds to the situation shown by reference number <NUM>, wherein only Sub-band B is available for a PUCCH. In this case, the PUCCH is mapped to all RBs of Interlace <NUM> in Sub-band B. The above illustrates a case where each sub-band usage bitmap corresponds to a PUCCH resource. For example, there may be <NUM> resource mappings for <NUM> sub-bands, <NUM> resource mappings for <NUM> sub-bands, and so on.

In some aspects, multiple sub-band usage bitmaps may be associated with a single resource. For example, in the above example, sub-band usage bitmaps [<NUM><NUM>] and [<NUM><NUM>] might both map to "All RBs in Interlace <NUM> within Sub-band A," which may reduce the number of resource mappings, thereby conserving configuration resources.

In some aspects, the UE may select a contiguous subset of sub-bands identified by a sub-band usage bitmap based at least in part on a UE capability. For example, a sub-band usage bitmap may indicate that a BS occupies sub-bands A, B, and D. In that case, the UE may select from the set of sub-bands [A B] or [A B D] depending on capabilities of the UE for non-contiguous transmission, maximum bandwidth, and/or the like.

In some aspects, the techniques and apparatuses described in connection with <FIG> may be applied similarly for a PUCCH containing channel state information (CSI) as for a PUCCH containing an ACK, which may simplify implementation and reduce signaling. In some aspects, a PUCCH containing a CSI may use a fixed bandwidth (e.g., a fixed resource or a floating resource), and a PUCCH containing an ACK may use a floating or adaptive resource (e.g., based at least in part on a sub-band usage bitmap), which may provide improved flexibility for the PUCCH containing the ACK and simplify detection of the PUCCH containing the CSI.

As indicated above, <FIG> is provided as one or more examples.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example process <NUM> performed, for example, by a user equipment, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Example process <NUM> is an example where a UE (e.g., UE <NUM> and/or the like) performs operations associated with adaptive sub-band usage for an uplink control channel.

As shown in <FIG>, in some aspects, process <NUM> may include identifying a control channel resource configuration associated with an unlicensed spectrum, wherein the control channel resource configuration is associated with an indication of whether a resource to be used for an uplink control channel in the unlicensed spectrum is a fixed resource, a floating resource, or an adaptive resource (block <NUM>). For example, the UE (e.g., using antenna <NUM>, DEMOD <NUM>, MIMO detector <NUM>, receive processor <NUM>, controller/processor <NUM>, and/or the like) may identify a control channel resource configuration associated with an unlicensed spectrum, as described above. In some aspects, the control channel resource configuration is associated with an indication of whether a resource to be used for an uplink control channel in the unlicensed spectrum is a fixed resource, a floating resource, or an adaptive resource.

As further shown in <FIG>, in some aspects, process <NUM> may include identifying the resource based at least in part on the control channel resource configuration (block <NUM>). For example, the UE (e.g., using antenna <NUM>, DEMOD <NUM>, MIMO detector <NUM>, receive processor <NUM>, controller/processor <NUM>, and/or the like) may identify the resource based at least in part on the control channel resource configuration, as described above.

As further shown in <FIG>, in some aspects, process <NUM> may include transmitting uplink control information on the identified resource (block <NUM>). For example, the UE (e.g., using controller/processor <NUM>, transmit processor <NUM>, TX MIMO processor <NUM>, MOD <NUM>, antenna <NUM>, and/or the like) may transmit uplink control information (e.g., on the uplink control channel) on the identified resource, as described above.

In a first aspect, identifying the resource is based at least in part on whether a sub-band in which the resource is included is a floating sub-band or a fixed sub-band.

In a second aspect, alone or in combination with the first aspect, when the sub-band is a floating sub-band, identifying the resource further comprises identifying the resource based at least in part on the sub-band being identified by a configured list of sub-bands.

In a third aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first and second aspects, when the resource is an adaptive resource, identifying the resource further comprises identifying the resource based at least in part on a mapping of resources and corresponding sub-bands and based at least in part on an indication, in the control channel resource configuration, indicating which resource is to be used.

In a fourth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through third aspects, identifying the resource further comprises identifying an interlace configuration for the uplink control channel from a plurality of interlace configurations associated with a set of sub-bands.

In a fifth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fourth aspects, the interlace configuration uses a smallest number of resource blocks of respective quantities of resource blocks associated with the plurality of interlace configurations.

In a sixth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fifth aspects, the uplink control channel uses all resource blocks of the interlace configuration.

In a seventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through sixth aspects, the uplink control channel spans a single sub-band.

In an eighth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through seventh aspects, the uplink control channel spans multiple sub-bands.

In a ninth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through eighth aspects, a number of resource blocks used for the resource is proportionate to a number of sub-bands included in the multiple sub-bands.

In a tenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through ninth aspects, a number of resource blocks used for the resource is independent of a number of sub-bands included in the multiple sub-bands.

In an eleventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through tenth aspects, the UE may receive information indicating at least one of a periodicity or an offset of the resource blocks used for the resource.

In a twelfth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through eleventh aspects, the UE may determine a periodicity of the resource blocks based at least in part on the number of the resource blocks and identities of the multiple sub-bands.

In a thirteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through twelfth aspects, the UE may receive information indicating whether a number of resource blocks used for the resource is proportionate to or independent of a number of sub-bands included in the multiple sub-bands.

In a fourteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through thirteenth aspects, the information indicating whether the number of resource blocks used for the resource is proportionate to or independent of the number of sub-bands included in the multiple sub-bands further indicates an interlace periodicity of the resource.

In a fifteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fourteenth aspects, the UE may drop one or more resource blocks of the resource when an interlace configuration of the multiple sub-bands is associated with fewer resource blocks than are included in the resource.

In a sixteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fifteenth aspects, the multiple sub-bands include any combination of sub-bands of a bandwidth part of the UE.

In a seventeenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through sixteenth aspects, the multiple sub-bands include a subset of combinations of sub-bands of a bandwidth part of the UE.

In an eighteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through seventeenth aspects, the multiple sub-bands can include any combination of contiguous sub-bands of a bandwidth part of the UE.

In a nineteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through eighteenth aspects, the multiple sub-bands are configured to include a particular number of sub-bands identified from a set of quantities of sub-bands.

In a twentieth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through nineteenth aspects, the fixed resource is associated with a fixed frequency location.

In a twenty-first aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through twentieth aspects, the floating resource is associated with a fixed bandwidth and a variable frequency location.

In a twenty-second aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through twenty-first aspects, the adaptive resource is associated with a variable bandwidth and a variable frequency location.

In a twenty-third aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through twenty-second aspects, when the uplink control channel is a dynamically scheduled uplink control channel, the control channel resource configuration includes configuration information for multiple, different resources, wherein identifying the resource is based at least in part on information indicating that the resource is to be used for the uplink control channel.

In a twenty-fourth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through twenty-third aspects, the multiple, different resources correspond to different sub-bands or different bandwidths for the uplink control channel.

In a twenty-fifth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through twenty-fourth aspects, identifying the resource further comprises identifying at least one of a time resource or a frequency resource for the uplink control channel.

In a twenty-sixth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through twenty-fifth aspects, the control channel resource configuration is common to multiple resources.

In a twenty-seventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through twenty-sixth aspects, the control channel resource configuration is specific to the resource.

In a twenty-eighth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through twenty-seventh aspects, the control channel resource configuration is determined based at least in part on at least one of: downlink control information, or an outcome of a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure.

In a twenty-ninth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through twenty-eighth aspects, identifying the resource further comprises identifying a sub-band, of a plurality of sub-bands, on which to transmit the uplink control channel.

In a thirtieth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through twenty-ninth aspects, the uplink control channel spans multiple sub-bands. In some aspects, the sub-band is a starting sub-band for the uplink control channel.

In a thirty-first aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through thirtieth aspects, the plurality of sub-bands are identified by a sub-band usage bitmap. In some aspects, the resource is identified based at least in part on a mapping between the sub-band usage bitmap and the resource.

In a thirty-second aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through thirty-first aspects, the sub-band usage bitmap is one of a plurality of sub-band usage bitmaps mapped to the resource.

In a thirty-third aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through thirty-second aspects, identifying the resource further comprises identifying multiple sub-bands, of a plurality of sub-bands, on which to transmit the uplink control channel.

In a thirty-fourth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through thirty-third aspects, the multiple sub-bands are identified based at least in part on a contiguous sub-band configuration of the UE.

In a thirty-fifth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through thirty-fourth aspects, identifying the resource further comprises: identifying the resource based at least in part on a COT structure indicator that indicates one or more sub-bands available for the resource.

In a thirty-sixth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through thirty fifth aspects, identifying the resource further comprises identifying the resource based at least in part on an indication, received from a base station, of a sub-band to be used to transmit the uplink control channel.

In a thirty-seventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through thirty-sixth aspects, the UE may identify a number of sub-bands to use for the uplink control channel.

In a thirty-eighth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through thirty-seventh aspects, when the uplink control channel is to be transmitted outside of a COT of a base station associated with the UE and the control channel resource configuration indicates that the resource is an adaptive resource or a floating resource, the resource is identified as the fixed resource.

In a thirty-ninth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through thirty-eighth aspects, the UE may selectively treat the resource as the fixed resource, the adaptive resource, or the floating resource based at least in part on a listen-before-talk procedure of the UE.

In a fortieth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through thirty-ninth aspects, the control channel resource configuration is used for uplink control information associated with channel state information and for uplink control information associated with an acknowledgment.

In a forty-first aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fortieth aspects, the control channel resource configuration is used for uplink control information associated with channel state information and for uplink control information associated with an acknowledgment.

<FIG> is a conceptual data flow diagram <NUM> illustrating a data flow between different modules/means/components in an example apparatus <NUM>. The apparatus <NUM> may be a UE (e.g., UE <NUM>). In some aspects, the apparatus <NUM> includes a reception component <NUM>, an identification/determination component <NUM>, and/or a transmission component <NUM>.

The reception component <NUM> may receive signals <NUM> from a BS <NUM> (e.g., BS <NUM> and/or the like). The signals <NUM> may include, for example, a PUCCH resource configuration, a PRI, DCI, RRC signaling, information indicating whether a number of resource blocks used for a resource is proportionate to or independent of a number of sub-bands included in multiple sub-bands, and/or the like. The reception component may provide data <NUM> to the identification/determination component <NUM>. In some aspects, the data <NUM> may identify the PUCCH resource configuration, the PRI, the DCI, the RRC signaling, the information indicating whether a number of resource blocks used for a resource is proportionate to or independent of a number of sub-bands included in multiple sub-bands, and/or the like.

The identification/determination component <NUM>, using the data <NUM>, may identify a control channel resource configuration associated with an unlicensed spectrum; identify the resource based at least in part on the control channel resource configuration; identify the resource based at least in part on the sub-band being identified by a configured list of sub-bands; identify the resource based at least in part on a mapping of resources and corresponding sub-bands and based at least in part on an indication, in the control channel resource configuration, indicating which resource is to be used; identify an interlace configuration for the uplink control channel from a plurality of interlace configurations associated with a set of sub-bands; determine a periodicity of the resource blocks based at least in part on the number of the resource blocks and identities of the multiple sub-bands; drop one or more resource blocks of the resource when an interlace configuration of the multiple sub-bands is associated with fewer resource blocks than are included in the resource; identify at least one of a time resource or a frequency resource for the uplink control channel; identify a sub-band, of a plurality of sub-bands, on which to transmit the uplink control channel; identify multiple sub-bands, of a plurality of sub-bands, on which to transmit the uplink control channel; identify the resource based at least in part on a COT structure indicator that indicates one or more sub-bands available for the resource; identify the resource based at least in part on an indication, received from a base station, of a sub-band to be used to transmit the uplink control channel; identify a number of sub-bands to use for the uplink control channel; selectively treat the resource as the fixed resource, the adaptive resource, or the floating resource based at least in part on a listen-before-talk procedure of the UE; and/or the like. The identification/determination component <NUM> may provide data <NUM> to the transmission component based at least in part on one or more of the identification/determination procedures described above. The data <NUM> may indicate a resource for UCI, an interlace configuration for the UCI, and/or the like. The transmission component <NUM> may transmit the uplink control information on the identified resource as signals <NUM>.

The apparatus <NUM> may include additional components that perform each of the blocks of the algorithm in the aforementioned process <NUM> of <FIG> and/or the like. Each block in the aforementioned process <NUM> of <FIG> and/or the like may be performed by a component and the apparatus may include one or more of those components.

<FIG> is a conceptual data flow diagram <NUM> illustrating a data flow between different modules/means/components in an example apparatus <NUM>. The apparatus <NUM> may be a base station (e.g., BS <NUM> and/or the like). In some aspects, the apparatus <NUM> includes a reception component <NUM>, a configuration component <NUM>, and/or a transmission component <NUM>.

The reception component <NUM> may receive, from the wireless communication device <NUM>, uplink control information on an identified resource as signals <NUM>. The reception component <NUM> may provide information <NUM> based at least in part on the uplink control information to the configuration component <NUM> or another component of the apparatus <NUM>.

The configuration component <NUM> may configure a control channel resource configuration associated with an unlicensed spectrum for the wireless communication device <NUM>; configure a list of sub-bands for the control channel resource; configure a mapping of resources and corresponding sub-bands; configure an interlace configuration for the uplink control channel from a plurality of interlace configurations associated with a set of sub-bands; and/or the like. The configuration component <NUM> may provide data <NUM> to the transmission component <NUM> based at least in part on one or more of the configuration procedures described above. The data <NUM> may indicate a configuration for transmitting UCI (e.g., a control channel resource configuration).

The transmission component <NUM> may transmit signals <NUM> to the wireless communication device <NUM>. The signals <NUM> may include, for example, a PUCCH resource configuration, a PRI, DCI, RRC signaling, information indicating whether a number of resource blocks used for a resource is proportionate to or independent of a number of sub-bands included in multiple sub-bands, and/or the like.

The apparatus <NUM> may include additional components that perform operations associated with the algorithm in the aforementioned process <NUM> of <FIG> and/or the like. For example, the additional components may perform operations associated with configuring a control channel resource for a UE (e.g., UE <NUM>).

Claim 1:
A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment, UE (<NUM>), comprising:
identifying (<NUM>) a physical uplink control channel, PUCCH, resource configuration associated with an unlicensed spectrum, wherein the control channel resource configuration is associated with an indication of whether a resource to be used for an uplink control channel in the unlicensed spectrum is a fixed resource associated with a fixed frequency location, a floating resource associated with a fixed bandwidth and a variable frequency location, or an adaptive resource associated with a variable bandwidth and a variable frequency location;
identifying (<NUM>) the resource based at least in part on the control channel resource configuration; and
transmitting (<NUM>) uplink control information on the identified resource.