Patent Description:
The present application claims the Paris Convention priority of European patent application number <CIT>.

Future wireless communications networks will be expected to routinely and efficiently support communications with a wider range of devices associated with a wider range of data traffic profiles and types than current systems are optimised to support. For example it is expected future wireless communications networks will be expected to efficiently support communications with devices including reduced complexity devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, high resolution video displays, virtual reality headsets and so on. Some of these different types of devices may be deployed in very large numbers, for example low complexity devices for supporting the "The Internet of Things", and may typically be associated with the transmissions of relatively small amounts of data with relatively high latency tolerance.

Other types of device, for example supporting high-definition video streaming, may be associated with transmissions of relatively large amounts of data with relatively low latency tolerance. Yet other types of device, for example used for autonomous vehicle communications, may be characterised by data that should be transmitted through a network with very low latency and very high reliability. A single device type might also be associated with different data traffic profiles / characteristics depending on the application(s) it is running. For example, different consideration may apply for efficiently supporting data exchange with a smartphone when it is running a video streaming application (high downlink data) as compared to when it is running an Internet browsing application (sporadic uplink and downlink data) or being used for voice communications by an emergency responder in an emergency scenario.

The increasing use of different types of network infrastructure equipment and communications devices associated with different traffic profiles gives rise to new challenges for efficiently handling communications in wireless telecommunications systems that need to be addressed.

The present disclosure can help address or mitigate at least some of the issues discussed above as defined in the appended claims.

The invention made is discussed in the embodiments relating to <FIG>.

It will be appreciated that operational aspects of the telecommunications (or simply, communications) networks discussed herein which are not specifically described (for example in relation to specific communication protocols and physical channels for communicating between different elements) may be implemented in accordance with any known techniques, for example according to the relevant standards and known proposed modifications and additions to the relevant standards.

The network <NUM> includes a plurality of base stations <NUM> connected to a core network <NUM>. Each base station provides a coverage area <NUM> (i.e. a cell) within which data can be communicated to and from terminal devices <NUM>. Data is transmitted from base stations <NUM> to terminal devices <NUM> within their respective coverage areas <NUM> via a radio downlink (DL). Data is transmitted from terminal devices <NUM> to the base stations <NUM> via a radio uplink (UL). The core network <NUM> routes data to and from the terminal devices <NUM> via the respective base stations <NUM> and provides functions such as authentication, mobility management, charging and so on. Terminal devices may also be referred to as mobile stations, user equipment (UE), user terminal, mobile radio, communications device, and so forth. Base stations, which are an example of network infrastructure equipment / network access node, may also be referred to as transceiver stations / nodeBs / e-nodeBs / eNBs / g-nodeBs / gNBs and so forth. In this regard different terminology is often associated with different generations of wireless telecommunications systems for elements providing broadly comparable functionality. However, certain embodiments of the disclosure may be equally implemented in different generations of wireless telecommunications systems, and for simplicity certain terminology may be used regardless of the underlying network architecture. That is to say, the use of a specific term in relation to certain example implementations is not intended to indicate these implementations are limited to a certain generation of network that may be most associated with that particular terminology.

As mentioned above, the embodiments of the present invention can find application with advanced wireless communications systems such as those referred to as <NUM> or New Radio (NR) Access Technology. The use cases that are considered for NR include:.

URLLC services require that a URLLC data packet (e.g. <NUM> bytes) is required to be transmitted from the radio protocol layer <NUM>/<NUM> Service Data Unit (SDU) ingress point to the radio protocol layer <NUM>/<NUM> SDU egress point of the radio interface with a latency that is less than <NUM> or <NUM> and with a reliability of <NUM>% to <NUM>%. eURLLC services require high reliability and low latency, and may find applications in factory automation, the transport industry, electrical power distribution and the like. On the other hand, eMBB services are characterised by high capacity with a requirement to support high data rates (e.g. up to <NUM> Gb/s) with moderate latencies and reliabilities (e.g. <NUM>% to <NUM>%).

The elements of the wireless access network shown in <FIG> may be equally applied to a <NUM> new RAT configuration, except that a change in terminology may be applied as mentioned above.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram illustrating a network architecture for a new RAT wireless mobile telecommunications network / system <NUM> based on previously proposed approaches which may also be adapted to provide functionality in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure described herein. The new RAT network <NUM> represented in <FIG> comprises a first communication cell <NUM> and a second communication cell <NUM>. Each communication cell <NUM>, <NUM>, comprises a controlling node (centralised unit, CU) <NUM>, <NUM> in communication with a core network component <NUM> over a respective wired or wireless link <NUM>, <NUM>. The respective controlling nodes <NUM>, <NUM> are also each in communication with a plurality of distributed units (radio access nodes / remote transmission and reception points (TRPs)) <NUM>, <NUM> in their respective cells. Again, these communications may be over respective wired or wireless links. The distributed units (DUs) <NUM>, <NUM> are responsible for providing the radio access interface for terminal devices connected to the network. Each distributed unit <NUM>, <NUM> has a coverage area (radio access footprint) <NUM>, <NUM> which together define the coverage of the respective communication cells <NUM>, <NUM>. Each distributed unit <NUM>, <NUM> includes transceiver circuitry 22a, 24a for transmission and reception of wireless signals and processor circuitry 22b, 24b configured to control the respective distributed units <NUM>, <NUM>.

In terms of broad top-level functionality, the core network component <NUM> of the new RAT telecommunications system represented in <FIG> may be broadly considered to correspond with the core network <NUM> represented in <FIG>, and the respective controlling nodes <NUM>, <NUM> and their associated distributed units / TRPs <NUM>, <NUM> may be broadly considered to provide functionality corresponding to base stations of <FIG>, and so these terms (as well as indeed eNodeB, eNB, gNodeB, gNB, etc.) are interchangeable. The term network infrastructure equipment / access node may be used to encompass these elements and more conventional base station type elements of wireless telecommunications systems. Depending on the application at hand the responsibility for scheduling transmissions which are scheduled on the radio interface between the respective distributed units and the terminal devices may lie with the controlling node / centralised unit and / or the distributed units / TRPs.

A terminal device <NUM> is represented in <FIG> within the coverage area of the first communication cell <NUM>. This terminal device <NUM> may thus exchange signalling with the first controlling node <NUM> in the first communication cell via one of the distributed units <NUM> associated with the first communication cell <NUM>. In some cases communications for a given terminal device are routed through only one of the distributed units, but it will be appreciated in some other implementations communications associated with a given terminal device may be routed through more than one distributed unit, for example in a soft handover scenario and other scenarios.

The particular distributed unit(s) through which a terminal device is currently connected through to the associated controlling node may be referred to as active distributed units for the terminal device. Thus the active subset of distributed units for a terminal device may comprise one or more than one distributed unit (DU/TRP). The controlling node <NUM> is responsible for determining which of the distributed units <NUM> spanning the first communication cell <NUM> is responsible for radio communications with the terminal device <NUM> at any given time (i.e. which of the distributed units are currently active distributed units for the terminal device). Typically this will be based on measurements of radio channel conditions between the terminal device <NUM> and respective ones of the distributed units <NUM>. In this regard, it will be appreciated the subset of the distributed units in a cell which are currently active for a terminal device will depend, at least in part, on the location of the terminal device within the cell (since this contributes significantly to the radio channel conditions that exist between the terminal device and respective ones of the distributed units).

In at least some implementations the involvement of the distributed units in routing communications from the terminal device to a controlling node (controlling unit) is transparent to the terminal device <NUM>. That is to say, in some cases the terminal device may not be aware of which distributed unit is responsible for routing communications between the terminal device <NUM> and the controlling node <NUM> of the communication cell <NUM> in which the terminal device is currently operating, or even if any distributed units <NUM> are connected to the controlling node <NUM> and involved in the routing of communications at all. In such cases, as far as the terminal device is concerned, it simply transmits uplink data to the controlling node <NUM> and receives downlink data from the controlling node <NUM> and the terminal device has no awareness of the involvement of the distributed units <NUM>, though may be aware of radio configurations transmitted by distributed units <NUM>. However, in other embodiments, a terminal device may be aware of which distributed unit(s) are involved in its communications. Switching and scheduling of the one or more distributed units may be done at the network controlling node based on measurements by the distributed units of the terminal device uplink signal or measurements taken by the terminal device and reported to the controlling node via one or more distributed units.

In the example of <FIG>, two communication cells <NUM>, <NUM> and one terminal device <NUM> are shown for simplicity, but it will of course be appreciated that in practice the system may comprise a larger number of communication cells (each supported by a respective controlling node and plurality of distributed units) serving a larger number of terminal devices.

It will further be appreciated that <FIG> represents merely one example of a proposed architecture for a new RAT telecommunications system in which approaches in accordance with the principles described herein may be adopted, and the functionality disclosed herein may also be applied in respect of wireless telecommunications systems having different architectures.

Thus certain embodiments of the disclosure as discussed herein may be implemented in wireless telecommunication systems / networks according to various different architectures, such as the example architectures shown in <FIG> and <FIG>.

It will thus be appreciated the specific wireless telecommunications architecture in any given implementation is not of primary significance to the principles described herein. In this regard, certain embodiments of the disclosure may be described generally in the context of communications between network infrastructure equipment / access nodes and a terminal device, wherein the specific nature of the network infrastructure equipment / access node and the terminal device will depend on the network infrastructure for the implementation at hand. For example, in some scenarios the network infrastructure equipment / access node may comprise a base station, such as an LTE-type base station <NUM> as shown in <FIG> which is adapted to provide functionality in accordance with the principles described herein, and in other examples the network infrastructure equipment may comprise a control unit / controlling node <NUM>, <NUM> and / or a TRP <NUM>, <NUM> of the kind shown in <FIG> which is adapted to provide functionality in accordance with the principles described herein.

In the mobile communications networks illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>, transmissions may be separated in time and frequency. That is, a transmission may use a set of resources defined in terms of a time period and a frequency range, and different transmissions may use other, non-overlapping resources and may accordingly be received and decoded individually. As such, in the examples described herein, the term resources is used to refer to (jointly) time and frequency resources. However, the principles described herein may apply to other transmission schemes where a resource may refer to any portion of a range of parameters that may apply to a transmission, such that the use of the same resource for the transmission of two different pieces of information (for example, an eMBB transmission and a ULLRC transmission) is either not feasible or likely to result in severe decrease in the likelihood of successful reception of one or both. Other examples of resources may therefore include orthogonal spreading codes, orthogonal spatial transmission links, and the like. A resource may be defined in terms of a combination of multiple such parameters (as in the examples described herein, wherein a resource is characterised by time and frequency), or may refer to a single dimension (e.g. by reference solely to time).

As discussed above, a mobile communications network such as the network illustrated in <FIG> may be used to carry transmissions for services with a variety of constraints, such as high data rate traffic which has some tolerance to delay and traffic which has a low tolerance to delay, which may also have a lower data rate. While the principles of the disclosure will be illustrated in the context of a mobile network where a network element (e.g. TRP, eNB, BTS,. ) transmits eMBB and URLLC data to a terminal device, it will be appreciated that the same principles apply to <NUM> networks, LTE networks (such as that illustrated in <FIG>) or any other suitable network and to any appropriate type or types of data. Likewise, the same principles and teachings can also be used for uplink transmissions from a terminal device to a network receiver (e.g. BTS, eNB, TRP, etc.) or for transmissions between peer devices.

Although the description herein relates to eMBB and URLLC (or indeed eURLLC) traffic, the disclosure is not so limited. For example, the disclosure is pertinent where the transmission data transmitted to a different device (the URLLC in embodiments) has different latency & reliability requirement to the transmission data for which the resources are initially allocated (the eMBB in embodiments) and the data transmitted to the different device uses some or all of the resources initially allocated.

A principle of eMBB data is that, in order to reduce the overhead associated with control information, the data transmission occurs over a relatively long time period (e.g. <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> or <NUM>), and as such the control channel associated with an eMBB transmission uses significantly smaller transmission resources than that of the data channel. In this manner, the relative overhead caused by the transmission of control information is reduced. On the other hand, in order to meet a low latency requirement associated with a URLLC transmission, the URLLC data resources may be relatively shorter, such as <NUM>. An example requirement currently considered for URLLC is a low latency transmission measured from the ingress of a layer <NUM> packet to its egress from the network, with a proposed target of <NUM>.

Since URLLC is intolerant to latency, it is agreed that URLLC can occupy (that is, be transmitted using) a subset of the resources that have been previously allocated for an eMBB transmission. Although a URLLC transmission may comprise a relatively smaller amount of data than an eMBB transmission, it may be necessary that, for example in order to meet a latency requirement, a URLLC transmission occupies a very high bandwidth for a short time period. The bandwidth (i.e. the extent of the transmission resources when measured in the frequency domain) used for a URLLC transmission may therefore exceed that of an eMBB transmission. In particular, the bandwidth used for a single URLLC transmission may span the frequency range used by two or more ongoing eMBB transmissions. As such, a particular problem arises when a single URLLC transmission uses resources allocated for two or more different eMBB transmissions. This is illustrated in <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates data transmissions from a base station or gNB to terminal devices. On the horizontal axis is shown a progression of time while the vertical axis shows a frequency range. The data transmissions <NUM>, <NUM> having a relatively longer time duration that are transmitted to UE1 and UE3 are examples of first and second eMBB transmissions, while the transmission <NUM> using a relatively larger frequency range over a shorter time period that is transmitted to UE2 is an example of a URLLC transmission. In the example shown in <FIG>, the URLLC transmission <NUM> uses resources which have been allocated for the first and second eMBB transmissions <NUM>, <NUM>. <FIG> also illustrates the principle that an eMBB transmission typically occurs over a long duration but over a relatively limited frequency range while a URLLC transmission may occupy a much shorter time period but may use a much wider range of frequencies in order to meet the latency requirement of the URLLC data.

One aspect of URLLC is that the URLLC transmission (for example URLLC transmission <NUM>) can pre-empt the resources previously allocated for another, lower priority, transmission such as eMBB data (for example eMBB transmissions <NUM>, <NUM>), after those resources have already been scheduled, in order to ensure that the URLLC transmission <NUM> is able to meet its latency requirements. However, it will be clear to the skilled person that the possibility of correctly decoding the affected eMBB transmissions <NUM>, <NUM> will be negatively impacted by the fact that some portion of the resources which were allocated for their transmission has in fact been used for the transmission of the URLLC data <NUM>. In order to assist receivers of the eMBB data transmissions <NUM>, <NUM>, it has been agreed in Rel-<NUM>, for downlink URLLC & eMBB operation, a downlink Pre-emption Indicator (DL PI) is used to inform the eMBB UE that some of its resources have been pre-empted by another UE's transmission. Such a DL PI was first proposed in co-pending European patent application [<NUM>], the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

An example of a DL PI <NUM> is also shown in <FIG>, where as described above eMBB transmission <NUM> is transmitted to a UE, e.g. UE1, between time τ<NUM> and τ<NUM>. At τ<NUM>, the gNB transmits URLLC transmission <NUM> to another UE, e.g. UE2, where this URLLC transmission <NUM> ends at time τ<NUM>. In other words, as described above, the URLLC transmission <NUM> for UE2 pre-empts part of the resources that are originally scheduled for UE1's eMBB transmission <NUM>. A downlink Pre-emption Indicator (DL PI) <NUM> is transmitted by the gNB at time τ<NUM> to indicate to UE1 that part of its resources have been pre-empted so that UE1 can take ameliorative steps in decoding the eMBB message <NUM>; for example, UE1 can zero out the soft bits corresponding to the pre-empted parts.

In Rel-<NUM> NR, the DL Pre-emption Indicator is transmitted using Downlink Control Information (DCI); specifically, a Group Common DCI (GC-DCI, also known as DCI Format 2_1 in 3GPP [<NUM>]), where a GC-DCI contains control information for a group of UEs. The rationale behind using a GC-DCI is that the URLLC in the downlink is expected to occupy a wide frequency bandwidth (but a narrow period of time) and so it is likely that the URLLC will pre-empt more than one eMBB UE. For example in <FIG>, as described above, URLLC transmission <NUM> transmitted to UE2 occupies frequency resource from f<NUM> to f<NUM>, which would pre-empt resources <NUM>, <NUM> originally scheduled for UE1 and UE3. Instead of transmitting multiple Pre-emption Indicators to UE1 and to UE3, it is deemed more efficient to transmit a single Pre-emption Indicator <NUM> to a group of UEs. This Pre-emption Indicator <NUM> just needs to indicate the resources occupied by the URLLC transmission <NUM>, e.g. occupying time τ<NUM> to τ<NUM> and frequency f<NUM> tof<NUM>. The UEs receiving this Pre-emption Indicator <NUM> will determine which resources <NUM> indicated by the Pre-emption Indicator <NUM> overlap with their most recent eMBB transmission <NUM>, <NUM>; for example in <FIG>, UE1 will determine that the resources between time τ<NUM> and τ<NUM> and frequency f<NUM> and f<NUM> are pre-empted, whilst UE3 will determine that the resources between time τ<NUM> and τ<NUM> and frequency f<NUM> and f<NUM> are pre-empted.

The GC-DCI carrying the Downlink Pre-emption Indicator addresses a Reference Downlink Region (RDR). The RDR was proposed in co-pending European patent application [<NUM>], the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. For example, in <FIG>, an RDR <NUM> is defined between time τ<NUM> and τ<NUM> and between frequency f<NUM> to f<NUM>. The Pre-emption Indicator <NUM> carried by the GC-DCI only indicates pre-empted resources if those pre-empted resources fall within this RDR <NUM> and an eMBB UE with a transmission <NUM>, <NUM> that falls within the RDR <NUM> will read the Pre-emption Indicator <NUM> in the corresponding GC-DCI to determine where (if any), the pre-empted resources are. The RDR occurs periodically in time, i.e. a GC-DCI is monitored periodically, and occupies a fixed frequency region. In Rel-<NUM> NR, the frequency region occupied by the RDR is equivalent to the Bandwidth Part (BWP) of the UEs configured to monitor the GC-DCI corresponding to that RDR. The BWP is a fraction of the system bandwidth configured by the network for a UE to operate in and the rationale for the use of BWPs is that a UE operating in a narrow bandwidth would consume less power than one operating over the whole (and much wider) system bandwidth.

In Rel-<NUM> NR, the number of information bits for the Downlink Pre-emption Indicator is fixed at <NUM> bits, where it can be RRC configured to indicate either a bitmap of <NUM>×<NUM> or a bitmap of <NUM>×<NUM>, which determines how the RDR is divided into resource regions. That is, the RDR can be divided into <NUM> frequency region by <NUM> time regions or <NUM> frequency regions by <NUM> time regions. This is shown in <FIG>, where an RDR is shown to occupy time τ<NUM> to τ<NUM> and frequency f<NUM> to f<NUM>. The RDR resource regions grid in <FIG> is represented by the bitmap of dimension <NUM>×<NUM> and the RDR resource regions grid in <FIG> is represented by the configured bitmap of dimension <NUM>×<NUM>. The bitmap will indicate which resource region(s) is pre-empted. The Downlink Pre-emption Indicator indicates which of these regions are pre-empted by another (URLLC) UE.

Since the bitmap grid of <NUM>×<NUM> as shown in <FIG> or <FIG>×<NUM> as shown in <FIG> is projected onto the RDR, the granularity of each region is dependent upon the size of the RDR. That is, if the RDR is large, then the granularity is coarse, and vice-versa when the RDR is small. Consider the RDR in <FIG>, which occupies the time τ<NUM> to τ<NUM> and frequency f<NUM> to f<NUM>. Two eMBB UEs, UE1 and UE3 are scheduled at time τ<NUM> and τ<NUM> respectively and during the transmissions of these two eMBB UEs, the gNB transmits a URLLC transmission to UE2 during time τ<NUM> to τ<NUM>, which pre-empted some of the resources for UE1. If the resource grid using bitmap <NUM>×<NUM> is configured, the gNB would indicate that two resource regions, i.e. the entire RDR between times τ<NUM> and τ<NUM>, is pre-empted as shown in green blocks in <FIG>. UE1 would then assume a much larger pre-empted region than necessary, and UE3 - which is not even pre-empted - would assume that a quarter of its resources are pre-empted. The coarse granularity of the Pre-emption Indicator causes ghost pre-emption; i.e. resources that are not pre-empted but are wrongly indicated to be pre-empted. This can have significant impact on the UE's decoding performance.

One of the features considered for Rel-<NUM> eURLLC is Uplink Cancellation Indicator (UL CI). Similar to the DL PI, it is used to manage URLLC PUSCH transmission pre-empting a scheduled eMBB PUSCH transmission. An example is shown in <FIG>, where UE1 with eMBB traffic receives an UL grant at time t<NUM> for a PUSCH transmission starting at time t<NUM> occupying the entire slot n+<NUM>. At time t<NUM>, UE2 with UL URLLC traffic receives an UL grant for a PUSCH transmission at time t<NUM> occupying <NUM> symbols, where this transmission uses some of the resources originally scheduled for UE1. In order to ensure the reliability of UE2's URLLC PUSCH transmission, the gNB transmits an UL CI to UE1 at time t<NUM>, indicating that its transmission has been pre-empted and that it should stop its PUSCH transmission so that it does not introduce any interference to UE2. It should be noted that unlike the downlink where the DL PI is transmitted after the pre-emption occurs, in the uplink the UL CI is transmitted before the pre-emption occurs so that the victim eMBB UE, e.g. UE1, is able to stop its PUSCH transmission.

Similar to Downlink Pre-emption Indicators (DL PIs), each UL CI has a corresponding Reference Uplink Region (RUR) as shown in an example in <FIG>. However, there are differences between RDR for DL PI and RUR for UL CI:.

Since successive RUR can overlap in time, the UL CI may indicate contradictory pre-emption. For example, in <FIG>, CI#<NUM> may indicate that there is no pre-emption between time t<NUM> and t<NUM> of RUR#<NUM> whilst CI#<NUM> may indicate that there is a pre-emption between time t<NUM> and t<NUM> of RUR#<NUM>. It was proposed in [<NUM>] and [<NUM>] that the later UL CI can indicate portions in the overlapping regions - that were not indicated as pre-empted by the previous UL CI - as being pre-empted. However, the later UL CI cannot override portions in the overlapping regions - that were indicated as pre-empted by the previous UL CI - as being NOT pre-empted. This allows the gNB to schedule a URLLC transmission in the overlapping region after an UL CI has been transmitted and still able to indicate that region as being pre-empted using a later UL CI. An example is shown in <FIG>, where CI#<NUM>, which is being monitored at time t<NUM> & t<NUM>, does not indicate any pre-emption in RUR#<NUM> (typically CI#<NUM> is not transmitted in this case). At time t<NUM>, DCI#<NUM> schedules a URLLC PUSCH for a UE at time t<NUM> & t<NUM>, which falls into RUR#<NUM> but CI#<NUM> can no longer indicate that portion as being pre-empted. Here, the gNB can use CI#<NUM> to indicate that times t<NUM> & t<NUM> are being pre-empted in RUR#<NUM>.

Similar to DL PI, the UL CI uses a 2D bitmap to divide the RUR into time-frequency portions. In DL PI, <NUM> bits are used to represent either a <NUM>×<NUM> bitmap or <NUM>×<NUM> bitmap. For the UL CI, apart from <NUM> bits, other number of bits, e.g. <NUM> bits, <NUM> bits or <NUM> bits may be used to represent different dimensions, e.g. <NUM>×<NUM> bitmap, <NUM>×<NUM> bitmap, <NUM>×<NUM> bitmap, thereby giving finer granularity for each portion. In [<NUM>] it is proposed that the dimensions of the time-frequency portions in an RUR can be dynamically changed. For example, if <NUM> bits is configured for an UL CI, and the RUR duration is <NUM> symbols, the GC-DCI carrying the UL CI can also indicate one of multiple dimensions, e.g. it can use <NUM> bits to indicate one of four dimensions {<NUM>×<NUM>, <NUM>×<NUM>, <NUM>×<NUM>, <NUM>×<NUM>} to be applied on the RUR.

Another aspect is that, for TDD operation, the RUR map overlap with DL symbols, where uplink transmission is not possible. It has been suggested in [<NUM>] that these DL symbols are excluded from the RUR thereby improving the granularity of each time portion of the RUR. The DL symbols within an RUR can be different for different UL CI. For example, as can be seen in <FIG>, CI#<NUM> associated RUR#<NUM> is between time t<NUM> and t<NUM> which does not collide with any DL symbols. CI#<NUM> associated RUR#<NUM> is between time t<NUM> and t<NUM> and collides with DL symbols between time t<NUM> & t<NUM> and between time t<NUM> & t<NUM>.

It is recognised that the time-frequency portion dimension and therefore the granularity of each of the portions can change. Embodiments of the present disclosure therefore provide methods to re-interpret the time-frequency portion granularity of an RUR based on the conditions it is in. Specifically, embodiments of the present disclosure propose that the time-frequency portion granularity of an RUR may be re-interpreted based on the condition of the RUR.

One such condition of the RUR is that two RURs overlap in time (and in frequency), and the granularity of the overlap region is therefore re-defined. When two RURs overlap in time, the time-frequency portions that are indicated as being pre-empted are combined, and the manner of this combination is dependant on the dimensions of the two RURs.

<FIG> provides a first part schematic representation, part message flow diagram of communications between a communications device or UE <NUM> and an infrastructure equipment or base station/eNodeB/gNodeB <NUM> forming part of a radio access network of a wireless communications network in accordance with embodiments of the present technique. The communications device <NUM> comprises a transceiver (or transceiver circuitry) <NUM> configured to transmit signals to the wireless communications network (specifically to the infrastructure equipment <NUM>) via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network, and/or to receive signals from the wireless communications network (specifically from the infrastructure equipment <NUM>) via the wireless access interface, and a controller (or controller circuitry) <NUM> configured to control the transceiver circuitry <NUM> to transmit or to receive the signals. As can be seen in <FIG>, the infrastructure equipment <NUM> also comprises a transceiver (or transceiver circuitry) <NUM> configured to transmit signals to the communications device <NUM> (which may be one of a plurality of communications devices) via the wireless access interface and/or to receive signals from the communications device <NUM> via the wireless access interface, and a controller (or controller circuitry) <NUM> configured to control the transceiver circuitry <NUM> to transmit or to receive the signals. Each of the controllers <NUM>, <NUM> may be, for example, a microprocessor, a CPU, or a dedicated chipset, etc..

The controller circuitry <NUM> of the communications device <NUM> is configured in combination with the transceiver circuitry <NUM> of the communications device <NUM> to determine <NUM> uplink communications resources of the wireless access interface to be used for the transmission of data by the communications device <NUM>, to receive <NUM> (for example, from the infrastructure equipment <NUM>) a plurality of uplink cancellation indicators that each indicate that at least a portion of the uplink communications resources is allocated for the transmission of signals by another communications device and is located within communications resources of one of a plurality of reference regions, each of the reference regions being associated with one of the uplink cancellation indicators, to determine <NUM> that a portion of a first of the reference regions overlaps in both of frequency and time with a portion of a second of the reference regions, the portion of the uplink communications resources located within the communications resources of the first reference region being a first portion of the uplink communications resources and the portion of the uplink communications resources located within the communications resources of the second reference region being a second portion of the uplink communications resources, and to determine <NUM>, in accordance with dimensions of the first reference region and dimensions of the second reference region, that at least a third portion of the uplink communications resources is allocated for the transmission of signals by another communications device.

Here, in at least some embodiments of the present technique, both in relation to those described by way of <FIG> above and <FIG> below, each of the uplink cancellation indicators comprises a bitmap comprising a plurality of bits each representing a sub-region (see for example <FIG>) of the communications resources of the reference region associated with the uplink cancellation indicator, wherein a value of each of the one or more bits indicates whether or not the sub-region of the communications resources of the reference region associated with that bit comprises at least the portion of the uplink communications resources, indicated by the uplink cancellation indicator, that are allocated for the transmission of signals by the other communications device.

In an arrangement of embodiments the present technique, if the time-frequency portions of the two overlapping RURs have different dimensions and if the time-frequency portions indicated as being pre-empted collides, then the actual pre-emption are the portions that overlap. In other words, the communications device is configured to determine that the dimensions of the first reference region are different to the dimensions of the second reference region, to determine that the at least the third portion of the uplink communications resources comprises parts of either of the at least the first portion of the uplink communications resources and the at least the second portion of the uplink communications resources that do not overlap with any parts of the other of the at least the first portion of the uplink communications resources and the at least the second portion of the uplink communications resources and that are located within the portion of the first reference region and the portion of the second reference region that overlap in both of frequency and time, and to determine that the at least the third portion of the uplink communications resources further comprises all parts of the at least the first portion of the uplink communications resources and the at least the second portion of the uplink communications resources that occupy the same communications resources in frequency and time as each other and that are located within the portion of the first reference region and the portion of the second reference region that overlap in both of frequency and time. That is, the granularity in the overlapping region adopts the finer granularity of each of the time/frequency domain of each RUR. This would enable the gNB to indicate a finer granularity on the resources being pre-empted thereby minimising ghost pre-emption.

Such an arrangement is better explained using an example in <FIG>, where there are two successive RURs, namely RUR#<NUM> occupying time t<NUM> to t<NUM> & frequency f<NUM> to f<NUM> and RUR#<NUM> occupying time t<NUM> to t<NUM> & frequency f<NUM> to f<NUM>. RUR#<NUM> and RUR#<NUM> overlap between time t<NUM> to t<NUM>. The time-frequency portions of RUR#<NUM> has dimension <NUM>×<NUM> and that of RUR#<NUM> has dimension <NUM>×<NUM>. RUR#<NUM> indicates portion between time t<NUM> to t<NUM> and frequency f<NUM> to f<NUM> as being pre-empted. RUR#<NUM> indicates two portions, one between time t<NUM> to t<NUM> & frequency f<NUM> to f<NUM> and another between time t<NUM> to t<NUM> & frequency f<NUM> to f<NUM>, as being pre-empted. When the indications of RUR#<NUM> & RUR#<NUM> combined, the portion between time t<NUM> to t<NUM> & frequency f<NUM> to f<NUM> has no overlap and so that entire portion is deemed to be pre-empted. However, the other portions overlap and as per this arrangement, only the overlapped region is considered pre-empted. That is, the region between time t<NUM> to t<NUM> & frequency f<NUM> to f<NUM> is being pre-empted. This arrangement recognises that the granularity of a time-frequency portion may be too coarse to indicate the actual pre-empted resources. This arrangement also recognises that changing the dimensions of the RUR would change the granularity of the time-frequency portion. By taking the overlapping region of two colliding pre-empted portions from two RURs of different dimension, it is possible to benefit from the finer granularity of the combined RURs. That is, RUR#<NUM> has finer granularity in the time domain, where a time portion is <NUM> symbol, but it has coarse granularity in the frequency domain, and so it is unable to pinpoint the actual pre-empted region. On the other hand, RUR#<NUM> has finer frequency granularity but coarse time granularity (<NUM> symbols) and so it could pinpoint a more accurately frequency resource that is pre-empted. By combining and taking the overlapping parts of these the pre-empted portions of these two RURs, the gNB can indicate a more accurate pre-empted region in time and frequency, thereby reducing ghost pre-emption, which is not feasible using either of the RURs alone.

In another arrangement of embodiments of the present technique, if the time-frequency portions of the two overlapping RURs have the same dimensions, then the portions indicated as being pre-empted are super-imposed and the granularity is not changed. In other words, the communications device is configured to determine that the dimensions of the first reference region are the same as the dimensions of the second reference region, and to determine that the at least the third portion of the uplink communications resources consists of all parts of each of the at least the first portion of the uplink communications resources and the at least the second portion of the uplink communications resources that are located within the portion of the first reference region and the portion of the second reference region that overlap in both of frequency and time.

An example of this arrangement is shown in <FIG>, where an UL CI is configured using <NUM> bits to represent a time-frequency portion with dimensions <NUM>×<NUM>. The RUR has a time duration of <NUM> symbols and ranges from frequency f<NUM> to f<NUM>. The periodicity of the UL CI is such that two successive RURs overlap by <NUM> symbols, as shown in <FIG>, where RUR#<NUM> spans time t<NUM> to t<NUM> and RUR#<NUM> spans time t<NUM> to t<NUM> overlaps between time t<NUM> and t<NUM>. RUR#<NUM> indicates that the portions between time t<NUM> and t<NUM> and frequency f<NUM> to f<NUM> are pre-empted. RUR#<NUM> indicates that two portions, i.e., one portion between time t<NUM> & t<NUM> with frequency f<NUM> to f<NUM> and another portion between time t<NUM> & t<NUM> with frequency f<NUM> & f<NUM>, are pre-empted. As per this arrangement, the pre-emption portions are the superposition of those indicated by RUR#<NUM> and RUR#<NUM>, i.e. the two portions from time t<NUM> to t<NUM> & frequency f<NUM> to f<NUM> and the portion from time t<NUM> to t<NUM> & frequency f<NUM> to f<NUM>.

A second such condition of the RUR is that there is collision between the RUR and DL symbols in a TDD system. As described above, for TDD systems, there have been previously made proposals to exclude DL symbols from the RUR. This means that the "active" RUR region would be reduced, resulting in a finer time-frequency portion granularity. Some embodiments of the present technique provide solutions and methods by which such finer time-frequency granularity could be achieved.

<FIG> provides a second part schematic representation, part message flow diagram of communications between a communications device or UE <NUM> and an infrastructure equipment or base station/eNodeB/gNodeB <NUM> forming part of a radio access network of a wireless communications network in accordance with embodiments of the present technique. The communications device <NUM> comprises a transceiver (or transceiver circuitry) <NUM> configured to transmit signals to the wireless communications network (specifically to the infrastructure equipment <NUM>) via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network, and/or to receive signals from the wireless communications network (specifically from the infrastructure equipment <NUM>) via the wireless access interface, and a controller (or controller circuitry) <NUM> configured to control the transceiver circuitry <NUM> to transmit or to receive the signals. As can be seen in <FIG>, the infrastructure equipment <NUM> also comprises a transceiver (or transceiver circuitry) <NUM> configured to transmit signals to the communications device <NUM> (which may be one of a plurality of communications devices) via the wireless access interface and/or to receive signals from the communications device <NUM> via the wireless access interface, and a controller (or controller circuitry) <NUM> configured to control the transceiver circuitry <NUM> to transmit or to receive the signals. Each of the controllers <NUM>, <NUM> may be, for example, a microprocessor, a CPU, or a dedicated chipset, etc..

The controller circuitry <NUM> of the communications device <NUM> is configured in combination with the transceiver circuitry <NUM> of the communications device <NUM> to determine <NUM> uplink communications resources of the wireless access interface to be used for the transmission of data by the communications device <NUM>, to receive <NUM> (e.g. from the infrastructure equipment <NUM>) an uplink cancellation indicator that indicates that at least a portion of the uplink communications resources is allocated for the transmission of signals by another communications device and is located within communications resources of a reference region associated with the uplink cancellation indicator, the reference region being formed of a specified number of sub-regions, to determine <NUM> that an overlapping portion of the reference region overlaps in both of frequency and time with a region of the wireless access interface that is dedicated for downlink transmissions, to determine <NUM> that one or more of the sub-regions that are at least partially located within the overlapping portion of the reference region are to be excluded from the reference region, and to repartition <NUM> at least one of the sub-regions that are not to be excluded from the reference region to form smaller sub-regions such that, after the adjustment, the number of sub-regions that are not to be excluded from the reference region is equal to the specified number of sub-regions.

An example of such operation as described above with respect to <FIG> is shown in <FIG>, where there is an RUR with dimensions <NUM>×<NUM> with duration of <NUM> symbols giving a time portion granularity of <NUM> symbols. On the left hand side of <FIG>, this RUR collides with DL symbols between time t<NUM> to t<NUM>. The time portion granularity of the RUR is <NUM> symbols but the portion between time t<NUM> to t<NUM> is redundant since it is already understood that no uplink transmission can occur there. On the right hand side of <FIG>, the DL symbols are excluded from the RUR. Since there are <NUM> time portions in the RUR, some of these portions can have a finer granularity (<NUM> symbol). That is, the time portion of the RUR is repartitioned such that the portions between time t<NUM> to t<NUM> have a time portion granularity of <NUM> symbol instead of <NUM> symbols. Using a finer granularity would reduce ghost pre-emption, which is beneficial. In other words, the communications device is configured to repartition the repartitioned sub-regions in time, such that the repartitioned sub-regions occupy a same frequency band as the sub-regions that are not repartitioned, and such that the repartitioned sub-regions occupy a smaller time period than the sub-regions that are not repartitioned.

In an arrangement of embodiments of the present technique, only DL symbols that completely collide with a time portion are excluded from the RUR. Otherwise these DL symbols are included. In other words, the one or more sub-regions that are to be excluded from the reference region are fully located within the overlapping portion of the reference region. This recognises that if a time portion is only partially occupied by DL symbols, then excluding these DL symbols would not improve the time portion granularity since a bit is still required to represent this time portion. Another way to describe this is that only whole time-frequency portions can be excluded from the RUR in order to benefit from improved granularity. For example, as shown in <FIG>, a <NUM>×<NUM> RUR with duration of <NUM> symbols occupies time t<NUM> to t<NUM> where it collides with DL symbols between time t<NUM> to t<NUM>. The DL symbol between time t<NUM> & t<NUM> partially collides with the time portion between time t<NUM> to t<NUM> and since it is known that the DL symbol cannot be used for uplink transmission, this time portion effectively has a time portion granularity of <NUM> symbol (instead of <NUM> symbol). Hence, excluding the DL symbol from the RUR does not improve the time portion granularity. Of course, the <NUM> symbol time portion granularity can be redistributed to other portions in the RUR, but this still does not improve the overall time granularity. Similarly, the time portion between time t<NUM> to t<NUM> partially collides with DL symbol between time t<NUM> & t<NUM> and therefore has a time portion granularity of <NUM> symbol. Basically, a time portion that partially collides with DL symbol would in effect have a time portion granularity that is finer and so excluding this DL symbol has no effect on the overall time portion granularity of the RUR. On the other hand, if the DL symbol fully collides with a time portion as shown in <FIG>, then excluding these DL symbols would improve the granularity of the remaining RUR.

In an arrangement of embodiments of the present technique, when DL symbols are excluded from the RUR, the re-partition of the time portion is such that the two opposite ends of the RUR have finer granularity. In other words, one or more of the repartitioned sub-regions are located at the temporal start of the reference region and the others of the repartitioned sub-regions are located at the temporal end of the reference region. An example is shown in <FIG>, where a <NUM>×<NUM> RUR with duration of <NUM> symbols occupies time t<NUM> to t<NUM>. The RUR collides with DL symbols at time t<NUM> to t<NUM> and the corresponding two time portions between t<NUM> to t<NUM> are excluded from the RUR. As per this arrangement, the time portions at both opposite ends time portion are improved, i.e. the first two time portions between time t<NUM> to t<NUM> have <NUM> symbol granularity instead of <NUM> symbols and the last two time portions between time t<NUM> to t<NUM> have <NUM> symbol granularity instead of <NUM> symbols. As per a previously described arrangement above, ghost pre-emption is reduced if overlapping RURs have different granularities/dimensions and since opposite ends of the RUR are likely to overlap with other RURs, their granularities are changed to benefit from this feature.

In an arrangement of embodiments of the present technique, when DL symbols are excluded from the RUR, the re-partition of the time portion is such that the earlier time portions of the RUR have finer granularity. In other words, all of the repartitioned sub-regions are located at the temporal start of the reference region. An example is shown in <FIG>, where the time portion colliding with DL symbols between time t<NUM> to t<NUM> is excluded from the RUR. The spare indicator is then used to improve the time granularity of the earlier portions, between time t<NUM> to t<NUM>.

In an arrangement of embodiments of the present technique, when DL symbols are excluded from the RUR, the re-partition of the time portion is such that the later time portions of the RUR have finer granularity. In other words, all of the repartitioned sub-regions are located at the temporal end of the reference region.

In another arrangement of embodiments of the present technique, the spare indications from excluding time portions that fully overlaps with DL portions are used to improve the frequency portion granularity. In other words, the communications device is configured to repartition each of the repartitioned sub-regions in frequency, such that the repartitioned sub-regions occupy a same time period as the sub-regions that are not repartitioned, and such that the repartitioned sub-regions occupy a smaller frequency band than the sub-regions that are not repartitioned. In previously described arrangements above, only the time portion granularity is improved. This arrangement recognises that the spare indication can also be used to improve the frequency portion granularity. An example is shown in <FIG>, where <NUM>×<NUM> RUR with duration of <NUM> symbols occupies time t<NUM> to t<NUM>. The RUR collides with DL symbols at time t<NUM> to t<NUM> and the corresponding two time portions between t<NUM> to t<NUM> are excluded from the RUR (right hand side in <FIG>). Here the time-frequency portions between time t<NUM> to t<NUM> and between t<NUM> to t<NUM> have finer frequency granularities. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that, although the finer frequency granularities are shown at either end portions of the RUR, they can all be at the start, or can be located anywhere within the RUR. Those skilled in the art that the same is true for the above described arrangements where the time portion granularity of the RUR is improved.

In another arrangement of embodiments of the present technique, when time portions collide with DL symbols are excluded, the spare indicators are used to improve frequency portion granularity if the time portion granularity cannot be improved further (e.g. <NUM> symbol). In other words, the communications device is configured to repartition each of the repartitioned sub-regions in frequency dependent on determining that the repartitioned sub-regions cannot be divided (or further reduced) in time. For example, if the RUR has time-frequency portion dimension <NUM>×<NUM> and a duration of <NUM> symbols, then the time portion granularity is <NUM> symbol and cannot be further reduced. It is therefore beneficial to use the extra indications to have more partition in the frequency domain. In other words, the time portion granularity is improved first followed by frequency portion.

In another arrangement of embodiments of the present technique, whether the time portion or frequency portion granularity is improved is configured the network, e.g. by RRC or indicated in the DCI. In other words, the communications device is configured to receive a control signal, the control signal providing an indication of whether the communications device is either to repartition each of the repartitioned sub-regions in time, such that the repartitioned sub-regions occupy a same frequency band as the sub-regions that are not repartitioned, and such that the repartitioned sub-regions occupy a smaller time period than the sub-regions that are not repartitioned, or to repartition each of the repartitioned sub-regions in frequency, such that the repartitioned sub-regions occupy a same time period as the sub-regions that are not repartitioned, and such that the repartitioned sub-regions occupy a smaller frequency band than the sub-regions that are not repartitioned.

The previously described arrangements of embodiments of the present technique are applicable to all types of DL symbols regardless how it is derived. In another arrangement of embodiments of the present technique, only semi-static DL symbols can be excluded from the RUR. In other words, the one or more sub-regions that are to be excluded from the reference region are located within one or more parts of the overlapping portion of the reference region that consist of semi-statically configured downlink symbols. This is because semi-static DL symbols are reliably known to the UE as the UE may misdetect or miss the detection an SFI.

It should be appreciated that the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure may be combined in any feasible way. For example, it is possible for a communications device to operate in accordance with both of the operations as described by way of <FIG> and <FIG> at the same time. Taking the example operation of <FIG> as described above, the communications device <NUM> may further be configured to determine that an overlapping portion of one of the reference regions overlaps in both of frequency and time with a region of the wireless access interface that is dedicated for downlink transmissions, the one of the reference regions being formed of a specified number of sub-regions, to determine that one or more of the sub-regions that are at least partially located within the overlapping portion of the one of the reference regions are to be excluded from the one of the reference regions, and to repartition at least some of the sub-regions that are not to be excluded from the one of the reference regions to form smaller sub-regions such that, after the adjustment, the number of sub-regions that are not to be excluded from the one of the reference regions is equal to the specified number of sub-regions. Here, those skilled in the art would appreciate that the one of the reference regions for which sub-regions are either excluded or repartitioned/divided, may be either of the first or second reference regions as described with respect to <FIG>, or may be a different reference region that is not either of the first or second reference regions. Those skilled in the art would further appreciate that repartitioning as used herein may refer to dividing a sub-region in half or by some other amount in at least one of time or frequency. Alternatively, it would be understood that repartitioning may refer to, for example, increasing the size of a sub-region from two symbols to three symbols in the time domain, but reduce its size in the frequency domain. Additionally, repartitioning could refer to effecting a change on a multiple sub-regions; for example, two sub-regions of three symbols in the time domain between frequencies f<NUM> andf<NUM> and f<NUM> and f<NUM> respectively could each be repartitioned into three sub-regions each extending between f<NUM> and f<NUM> but covering only one symbol in the time domain.

<FIG> shows a flow diagram illustrating a first process of communications between a communications device and a wireless communications network in accordance with embodiments of the present technique. The method is a method of operating the communications device, which is configured to transmit signals to or receive signals from a wireless communications network.

The method begins in step S191. The method comprises, in step S192, determining uplink communications resources of a wireless access interface of the wireless communications network to be used for the transmission of data by the communications device. The process then comprises in step S193, receiving a plurality of uplink cancellation indicators that each indicate that at least a portion of the uplink communications resources is allocated for the transmission of signals by another communications device and is located within communications resources of one of a plurality of reference regions, each of the reference regions being associated with one of the uplink cancellation indicators. In step S194, the process involves determining that a portion of a first of the reference regions overlaps in both of frequency and time with a portion of a second of the reference regions, the portion of the uplink communications resources located within the communications resources of the first reference region being a first portion of the uplink communications resources and the portion of the uplink communications resources located within the communications resources of the second reference region being a second portion of the uplink communications resources. The method then involves, in step S195, determining, in accordance with dimensions of the first reference region and dimensions of the second reference region, that at least a third portion of the uplink communications resources is allocated for the transmission of signals by another communications device. The process ends in step S196.

<FIG> shows a flow diagram illustrating a second process of communications between a communications device and a wireless communications network in accordance with embodiments of the present technique. The method is a method of operating the communications device, which is configured to transmit signals to or receive signals from a wireless communications network.

The method begins in step S201. The method comprises, in step S202, determining uplink communications resources of a wireless access interface of the wireless communications network to be used for the transmission of data by the communications device. The process then comprises in step S203, receiving an uplink cancellation indicator that indicates that at least a portion of the uplink communications resources is allocated for the transmission of signals by another communications device and is located within communications resources of a reference region associated with the uplink cancellation indicator, the reference region being formed of a specified number of sub-regions. In step S204, the process involves determining that an overlapping portion of the reference region overlaps in both of frequency and time with a region of the wireless access interface that is dedicated for downlink transmissions. The method then involves, in step S205, determining that one or more of the sub-regions that are at least partially located within the overlapping portion of the reference region are to be excluded from the reference region, before comprising, in step S206, repartitioning at least one of the sub-regions that are not to be excluded from the reference region to form smaller sub-regions such that, after the adjustment, the number of sub-regions that are not to be excluded from the reference region is equal to the specified number of sub-regions. The process ends in step S207.

Those skilled in the art would appreciate that the methods shown by <FIG> and <FIG> may be adapted in accordance with embodiments of the present technique. For example, other preliminary, intermediate, or subsequent steps as described herein may be included in the method, or the steps may be performed in any logical order.

Though embodiments of the present technique have been described largely by way of the example communications systems shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, it would be clear to those skilled in the art that they could be equally applied to other systems to those described herein. Furthermore, to the extent that the various arrangements described herein are described individually, these can be combined with any other arrangement described herein providing the two do not contradict one another.

Those skilled in the art would further appreciate that such infrastructure equipment and/or communications devices as herein defined may be further defined in accordance with the various arrangements and embodiments discussed in the preceding paragraphs. It would be further appreciated by those skilled in the art that such infrastructure equipment and communications devices as herein defined and described may form part of communications systems other than those defined by the present disclosure.

Claim 1:
A communications device (<NUM>) configured to transmit signals to or receive signals from a wireless communications network, the communications device comprising
transceiver circuitry (<NUM>) configured to transmit signals to and receive signals from the wireless communications network via a wireless access interface of the wireless communications network, and
controller circuitry (<NUM>) configured in combination with the transceiver circuitry
to determine (<NUM>) uplink communications resources of the wireless access interface to be used for the transmission of data by the communications device,
to receive (<NUM>) a plurality of uplink cancellation indicators that each indicate that at least a portion of the uplink communications resources is allocated for the transmission of signals by another communications device, the portion of the uplink communications resources being located within communications resources of one of a plurality of reference regions, each of the reference regions being associated with one of the uplink cancellation indicators,
to determine (<NUM>) that a portion of a first of the reference regions overlaps in both of frequency and time with a portion of a second of the reference regions, the portion of the uplink communications resources comprising a first portion of the uplink communications resources located within the communications resources of the first reference region and the portion of the uplink communications resources comprising a second portion of the uplink communications resources located within the communications resources of the second reference region, and
to determine (<NUM>), in accordance with dimensions of the first reference region and dimensions of the second reference region, that at least a third portion of the uplink communications resources is allocated for the transmission of signals by another communications device.