Patent Description:
For example, a fifth generation (<NUM>) wireless communications technology (which can be referred to as new radio (NR)) is envisaged to expand and support diverse usage scenarios and applications with respect to current mobile network generations. In an aspect, <NUM> communications technology can include: enhanced mobile broadband addressing human-centric use cases for access to multimedia content, services and data; ultra-reliable-low latency communications (URLLC) with certain specifications for latency and reliability; and massive machine type communications, which can allow a very large number of connected devices and transmission of a relatively low volume of non-delay-sensitive information. As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, however, further improvements in NR communications technology and beyond may be desired.

For example, in a new radio (NR), multiple downlink (DL)/uplink (UL) sub-bands may be configured for allocating acknowledgement(ACK)/negative acknowledgement (NACK) resources (e.g., ACK/NACK resources). However, the mapping between DL and UL sub-bands is not limited to one-to-one mapping and there may be cross-slot scheduling as well. Thus, improvements to efficiently allocate ACK resources in wireless communications may be desired.

3GPP discussion document <NPL> discusses where physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) should be allocated in the frequency domain and signaling for PUCCH resource allocation. 3GPP discussion document <NPL> discusses PUCCH resources for multi-bit ACK/NAK feedback. 3GPP discussion document <NPL> discusses PUCCH resource allocation for PUCCH.

Additionally, the term "component" as used herein may be one of the parts that make up a system, may be hardware, firmware, and/or software stored on a computer-readable medium, and may be divided into other components.

The present disclosure provides aspects that enable a UE to identify uplink control information (UCI) resources within a UE-specific resource set based on an indication received from a gNB, combined with implicit and/or explicit mapping, and/or based on a payload size of a UCI to be transmitted. In these cases, the UE-specific resource set may be a subset of a gNB resource pool, and may be pooled into multiple different sets of physical resources (e.g., multiple different UE-specific resource sets).

For example, in one implementation of identifying one or more UCI resources within a UE-specific resource set, a UE may receive a radio resource control (RRC) configuration that is transmitted by a gNB and that indicates the UE-specific resource set. Further, the UE may receive a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) that includes a corresponding acknowledgement (ACK) / non-acknowledgement (NACK) resource configuration. The ACK/NACK resource configuration (e.g., configuration information) may indicate to the UE which UCI resource(s) (e.g., ACK/NACK resource(s)) from the UE-specific resource set are to be used by the UE for transmitting ACK/NACKs on physical uplink control channels (PUCCHs) to the gNB. For instance, in some non-limiting cases, the ACK/NACK resource configuration includes an acknowledgement resource indicator (ARI), and the UE determines which resource(s) from the UE-specific resource set to use based on a value of the ARI. Alternatively or additionally, for instance, in some other non-limiting cases, the UE determines which resource(s) from the UE-specific resource set to use based on an implicit mapping method. In some case, the UE may determine which resource(s) from a location of a control channel element (CCE) carrying the ACK/NACK resource configuration. Alternatively or additionally, for instance, in yet other non-limiting cases, the UE determines which resource(s) from the UE-specific resource set to use based on an explicit mapping with some DCI bits other than ARI bits. For example, some invalid DCI bits may be used to indicate one of the resource in the resource set. Alternatively or additionally, for instance, in yet other non-limiting cases, the UE determines which resource(s) from the UE-specific resource set to use based on at least one of downlink(DL)/uplink (UL) sub-band mapping information, cross-slot scheduling information, or a format of the ACK/NACK resource configuration. Upon determining the UCI or ACK/NACK resource(s) to use from the UE-specific resource set, the UE may transmit ACK/NACKs to the gNB using the determined ACK/NACK resource(s).

Additionally, for example, in another implementation of identifying UCI resources within a UE-specific resource set, the UE may determine a size of a payload for a UCI to be transmitted on a PUCCH. Then, the UE may identify a selected UE-specific UCI resource set from the multiple UE-specific resource sets for transmitting the UCI on the PUCCH based, at least in part, on the size of the payload of the UCI. For example, the UE may determine the selected UE-specific UCI resource set from the multiple UE-specific resource sets based on a mapping of different payload size ranges to respective ones of the multiple UE-specific resource sets.

The present solutions may address one or more issues with pre-New Radio (NR)/<NUM> LTE technologies, which employed implicit mapping techniques for ACK/NACK configuration in a PDCCH. However, such techniques may not be fully suitable for NR/<NUM> operations. For example, an LTE eNB may be a carrier aggregated cell with one primary cell and one or more secondary cells. LTE eNBs may use implicit mapping to allocate (e.g., assign, identify, etc.) ACK/NACK resources for a primary cell and explicit selection with ACK/NACK resource indicator (ARI) to allocate ACK/NACK resources for a secondary cell. Further, for example, an ACK/NACK resource may be a time/frequency resource which may identify a frequency, shift, code division multiplexing (CDM), etc., associated with the specific ACK resource. The LTE techniques do not account for the existence of multiple DL/UL sub-bands in NR/<NUM>, however, leading to collisions across carriers.

In NR, multiple DL/UL sub-bands may be configured and the DL sub-bands and the UL sub-bands may have one-to-one mapping or a many-to-one mapping (more than one DL sub-band mapped to one UL sub-band). If multiple DL sub-bands are mapped to one UL sub-band, the techniques utilized in LTE are not suitable and, as addressed herein, the ACK resources may be assigned/allocated in a way to minimize and/or avoid resource collisions. In other words, the ACK resource is generally not assigned to multiple PUCCHs of different UEs.

The various aspects described in this disclosure provide multiple techniques for mapping ACK/NACK resources within a UE-specific resource set for use by the UE based on configuration information indicated by the PDCCH, using a combination of implicit and explicit rules, and/or based on a payload size of a UCI to be transmitted. By defining mapping schemes for use by the UE and gNB to identify one or more resources within the UE-specific resource set that may be used to transmit an ACK/NACK during a PUCCH, the present disclosure reduces the likelihood of collisions between ACK/NACK transmissions of multiple UEs. The various aspects thus provide a technical improvement in the art of telecommunications and specifically NR, by reducing the likelihood of ACK/NACK collision and the resultant failed receipt of the ACK or NACK.

Additional features of the present aspects are described in more detail below with respect to <FIG>.

It should be noted that the techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication networks such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and other systems. The terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably. IS-<NUM> Releases <NUM> and A are commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1X, 1X, etc. IS-<NUM> (TIA-<NUM>) is commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. An OFDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE <NUM> (Wi-Fi), IEEE <NUM> (WiMAX), IEEE <NUM>, Flash-OFDM™, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are new releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). The techniques described herein may be used for the systems and radio technologies mentioned above as well as other systems and radio technologies, including cellular (e.g., LTE) communications over a shared radio frequency spectrum band. The description below, however, describes an LTE/LTE-A system for purposes of example, and LTE terminology is used in much of the description below, although the techniques are applicable beyond LTE/LTE-A applications (e.g., to <NUM> networks or other next generation communication systems).

Referring to <FIG>, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure, an example wireless communication network <NUM> includes at least user equipment (UE) <NUM> with a modem <NUM> having a communications component <NUM> that manages execution of a radio resource control (RRC)/ physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) receiving component <NUM>, an ACK/NACK resource determining component <NUM>, and/or an ACK/NACK transmitting component <NUM>. The example wireless communication network <NUM> may further include an gNB or a base station <NUM> with a modem <NUM> having a communications component <NUM> that manages execution of a PDCCH transmitting component <NUM> and/or an ACK/NACK receiving component <NUM> to receive ACK/NACKs from the UE <NUM>.

According to the present disclosure, for example, the gNB <NUM> may transmit one or more PDCCHs to the UE <NUM>. The PDCCHs may include ACK/NACK resource configuration (e.g., configuration information) which may indicate to the UE <NUM> the ACK/NACK resources to be used by the UE <NUM> for transmitting ACK/NACKs on physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) to the gNB <NUM>. For each PDCCH received from the gNB <NUM>, the UE <NUM> may determine the ACK/NACK resources based at least on a payload and/or a location of the PDCCH. The payload and/or the location of the PDCCH may contain at least one of a DL/UL sub-band mapping information, cross-slot scheduling information, ACK formats, and/or ARIs. Upon determining the ACK/NACK resources, the UE <NUM> may transmit ACK/NACKs to the gNB <NUM> using the determined ACK/NACK resources.

The wireless communication network <NUM> may include one or more base stations <NUM>, one or more UEs <NUM>, and a core network <NUM>. The core network <NUM> may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, internet protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The base stations <NUM> may interface with the core network <NUM> through backhaul links <NUM> (e.g., S1, etc.). The base stations <NUM> may perform radio configuration and scheduling for communication with the UEs <NUM>, or may operate under the control of a base station controller (not shown). In various examples, the base stations <NUM> may communicate, either directly or indirectly (e.g., through core network <NUM>), with one another over backhaul links <NUM> (e.g., X1, etc.), which may be wired or wireless communication links.

The base stations <NUM> may wirelessly communicate with the UEs <NUM> via one or more base station antennas. In some examples, base stations <NUM> may be referred to as a base transceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, an access node, a radio transceiver, a NodeB, eNodeB (eNB), gNB, Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, a relay, or some other suitable terminology. The geographic coverage area <NUM> for a base station <NUM> may be divided into sectors or cells making up only a portion of the coverage area (not shown). The wireless communication network <NUM> may include base stations <NUM> of different types (e.g., macro base stations or small cell base stations, described below). Additionally, the plurality of base stations <NUM> may operate according to different ones of a plurality of communication technologies (e.g., <NUM> (New Radio or "NR"), fourth generation (<NUM>)/LTE, <NUM>, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.), and thus there may be overlapping geographic coverage areas <NUM> for different communication technologies.

In some examples, the wireless communication network <NUM> may be or include one or any combination of communication technologies, including a NR or <NUM> technology, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) or MuLTEfire technology, a Wi-Fi technology, a Bluetooth technology, or any other long or short range wireless communication technology. In LTE/LTE-A/MuLTEfire networks, the term evolved node B (gNB) may be generally used to describe the base stations <NUM>, while the term UE may be generally used to describe the UEs <NUM>. The wireless communication network <NUM> may be a heterogeneous technology network in which different types of gNBs provide coverage for various geographical regions. For example, each gNB or base station <NUM> may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a small cell, or other types of cell. The term "cell" is a 3GPP term that can be used to describe a base station, a carrier or component carrier associated with a base station, or a coverage area (e.g., sector, etc.) of a carrier or base station, depending on context.

A macro cell may generally cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by the UEs <NUM> with service subscriptions with the network provider.

A small cell may include a relative lower transmit-powered base station, as compared with a macro cell, that may operate in the same or different frequency bands (e.g., licensed, unlicensed, etc.) as macro cells. A pico cell, for example, may cover a small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by the UEs <NUM> with service subscriptions with the network provider. A femto cell may also cover a small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may provide restricted access and/or unrestricted access by the UEs <NUM> having an association with the femto cell (e.g., in the restricted access case, the UEs <NUM> in a closed subscriber group (CSG) of the base station <NUM>, which may include the UEs <NUM> for users in the home, and the like). An gNB for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro gNB. An gNB for a small cell may be referred to as a small cell gNB, a pico gNB, a femto gNB, or a home gNB. An gNB may support one or multiple (e.g., two, three, four, and the like) cells (e.g., component carriers).

The communication networks that may accommodate some of the various disclosed examples may be packet-based networks that operate according to a layered protocol stack and data in the user plane may be based on the IP. A user plane protocol stack (e.g., packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), radio link control (RLC), MAC, etc.), may perform packet segmentation and reassembly to communicate over logical channels. For example, a MAC layer may perform priority handling and multiplexing of logical channels into transport channels. The MAC layer may also use hybrid automatic repeat/request (HARQ) to provide retransmission at the MAC layer to improve link efficiency. In the control plane, the RRC protocol layer may provide establishment, configuration, and maintenance of an RRC connection between a UE <NUM> and the base stations <NUM>. The RRC protocol layer may also be used for the core network <NUM> support of radio bearers for the user plane data. At the physical (PHY) layer, the transport channels may be mapped to physical channels.

The UEs <NUM> may be dispersed throughout the wireless communication network <NUM>, and each UE <NUM> may be stationary and/or mobile. A UE <NUM> may also include or be referred to by those skilled in the art as a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology. A UE <NUM> may be a cellular phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a smart watch, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an entertainment device, a vehicular component, a customer premises equipment (CPE), or any device capable of communicating in wireless communication network <NUM>. Additionally, a UE <NUM> may be Internet of Things (IoT) and/or machine-to-machine (M2M) type of device, e.g., a low power, low data rate (relative to a wireless phone, for example) type of device, that may in some aspects communicate infrequently with wireless communication network <NUM> or other UEs <NUM>. A UE <NUM> may be able to communicate with various types of base stations <NUM> and network equipment including macro gNBs, small cell gNBs, macro gNBs, small cell gNBs, relay base stations, and the like.

A UE <NUM> may be configured to establish one or more wireless communication links <NUM> with one or more base stations <NUM>. The wireless communication links <NUM> shown in wireless communication network <NUM> may carry uplink (UL) transmissions from a UE <NUM> to a base station <NUM>, or downlink (DL) transmissions, from a base station <NUM> to a UE <NUM>. The downlink transmissions may also be called forward link transmissions while the uplink transmissions may also be called reverse link transmissions. Each wireless communication link <NUM> may include one or more carriers, where each carrier may be a signal made up of multiple sub-carriers (e.g., waveform signals of different frequencies) modulated according to the various radio technologies described above. Each modulated signal may be sent on a different sub-carrier and may carry control information (e.g., reference signals, control channels, etc.), overhead information, user data, etc. In an aspect, the wireless communication links <NUM> may transmit bidirectional communications using frequency division duplex (FDD) (e.g., using paired spectrum resources) or time division duplex (TDD) operation (e.g., using unpaired spectrum resources). Frame structures may be defined for FDD (e.g., frame structure type <NUM>) and TDD (e.g., frame structure type <NUM>). Moreover, in some aspects, the wireless communication links <NUM> may represent one or more broadcast channels.

In some aspects of the wireless communication network <NUM>, the base stations <NUM> or UEs <NUM> may include multiple antennas for employing antenna diversity schemes to improve communication quality and reliability between base stations <NUM> and UEs <NUM>. Additionally or alternatively, base stations <NUM> or UEs <NUM> may employ multiple input multiple output (MIMO) techniques that may take advantage of multi-path environments to transmit multiple spatial layers carrying the same or different coded data.

The wireless communication network <NUM> may support operation on multiple cells or carriers, a feature which may be referred to as carrier aggregation (CA) or multi-carrier operation. A carrier may also be referred to as a component carrier (CC), a layer, a channel, etc. The terms "carrier," "component carrier," "cell," and "channel" may be used interchangeably herein. A UE <NUM> may be configured with multiple downlink CCs and one or more uplink CCs for carrier aggregation. The base stations <NUM> and UEs <NUM> may use spectrum up to Y MHz (e.g., Y = <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, or <NUM>) bandwidth per carrier allocated in a carrier aggregation of up to a total of Yx MHz (x = number of component carriers) used for transmission in each direction. Allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or less carriers may be allocated for DL than for UL).

The wireless communications network <NUM> may further include base stations <NUM> operating according to Wi-Fi technology, e.g., Wi-Fi access points, in communication with UEs <NUM> operating according to Wi-Fi technology, e.g., Wi-Fi stations (STAs) via communication links in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., <NUM>). When communicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the STAs and AP may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or a listen before talk (LBT) procedure prior to communicating in order to determine whether the channel is available.

Additionally, one or more of the base stations <NUM> and/or UEs <NUM> may operate according to a NR or <NUM> technology referred to as millimeter wave (mmW or mmwave) technology. For example, mmW technology includes transmissions in mmW frequencies and/or near mmW frequencies. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of the radio frequency (RF) in the electromagnetic spectrum. For example, the super high frequency (SHF) band extends between <NUM> and <NUM>, and may also be referred to as centimeter wave. Communications using the mmW and/or near mmW radio frequency band has extremely high path loss and a short range. As such, the base stations <NUM> and/or UEs <NUM> operating according to the mmW technology may utilize beamforming in their transmissions to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range.

Referring to <FIG>, an example ACK resource allocation <NUM> for PUCCH formats 1a includes implicit mapping, and an example LTE ACK resource allocation <NUM> for PUCCH format 1b includes explicit mapping with ARI. The gNB <NUM> may be a carrier aggregated cell with one primary cell (PCell) and one or more secondary cells (Scells).

In such a carrier aggregated configuration, the gNB <NUM> may use PUCCH format <NUM> with implicit mapping to allocate (e.g., assign, identify, etc.) ACK/NACK resources for a PCell and an explicit selection with ACK/NACK resource indicator (ARI) <NUM> to allocate ACK/NACK resources for a SCell. For example, an ACK/NACK resource may be a time/frequency resource which may identify a frequency, shift, code division multiplexing (CDM), etc. associated with the specific ACK resource. An ACK/NACK resource may be referred to as an "ACK resource" in the present disclosure, however, the ACK resource may be used to transmit an ACK or a NACK.

The gNB <NUM> may transmit PDCCHs <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or <NUM> which may be associated with the PCell; and may transmit PDCCHs <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or <NUM> which may be associated with the SCell. For the PCell, gNB <NUM> may assign ACK resources using implicit mapping which may include assigning ACK resources based on indicating a starting downlink control (DL) channel element resource (CCE) of a resource pool, e.g., resource pool <NUM>. For example, PDCCHs <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or <NUM> may be assigned CCE resources <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or <NUM>, respectively, which may be indicated based on their starting CCE (e.g., a CCE number). The use of the starting CCE to identify ACK resources minimizes overhead in notifying the UE <NUM> about which ACK resources the UE <NUM> should use for transmitting an ACK for a specific PDCCH. The implicit mapping may also result in not having to explicitly indicate which ACK resource to use.

For the SCell, for cross-carrier scheduling, gNB <NUM> may use implicit mapping, as described above in the context of the PCell.

However, for non-cross carrier scheduling, gNB <NUM> may use PUCCH format <NUM> with explicit mapping based on ARI for assigning ACK resources to the SCell to avoid collisions (e.g., collisions due to assigning the same ACK resource for two PUCCHs). For example, for the SCell, the gNB <NUM> may assign ACK resources <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or <NUM> (from resource pool <NUM>) for PDCCHs <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or <NUM>, respectively. In one aspect, the gNB <NUM> may also include ARI <NUM> to be transmitted in PDCCH <NUM>. For example, the ARI <NUM> may contain two bits which may include four possibilities (e.g., <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) for identifying the ACK resources. An example value of <NUM> for the ARI <NUM> may identify the ACK resource <NUM>, an example value of <NUM> for the ARI <NUM> may identify the ACK resource <NUM>, and so on. The use of the ARI <NUM> for explicit selection of ACK resources may minimize collisions in non-cross carrier scheduling configurations.

<FIG> illustrate example sub-band dependent mappings <NUM> and <NUM> according to aspects of the present disclosure.

For example, in NR, multiple DL/UL sub-bands may be configured and the DL sub-bands and the UL sub-bands may have one-to-one mapping or a many-to-one mapping (more than one DL sub-band mapped to one UL sub-band). In one implementation, if DL/UL sub-bands are one-to-one mapped, implicit mapping, described above in reference to <FIG>, may be used. However, if more than one DL sub-bands are mapped to one UL sub-band, the ACK resources are to be assigned/allocated in a way to minimize/avoid resource collisions. In other words, the ACK resource is generally not assigned to multiple PUCCHs of different UEs.

In an aspect, more than one DL sub-bands may be mapped to one UL sub-band. In such a scenario, the sub-band dependent mapping may be performed in multiple ways. For example, all CCEs in DL sub-bands and all ACK resources in UL sub-bands may be numbered together and sub-band offsets may be sent via radio resource control (RRC) configuration or system information blocks (SIBs). The implicit mapping, described above in reference to <FIG>, may be used. In one more such implementation, CCEs in the DL sub-bands and the ACK resources in the UL sub-bands are numbered independently. In such a scenario where the CCEs and the ACK resources are numbered independently, one DL sub-band may be mapped to one UL sub-band, and each DL sub-band has an ACK resource offset. The ACK resources may be selected based on the starting CCE and the sub-band offset. The sub-band offset may be broadcasted to the UEs via system information blocks (SIBs). In another aspect, resource pools may be broadcasted via SIBs or via RRC configurations, and ARIs in the PDCCH may indicate the specific ACK resources to use.

As illustrated in <FIG>, four DL sub-bands (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>) are shown and each DL sub-band may transmit multiple PDCCHs. For example, in sub-band <NUM>, two PDCCHs, PDCCH1 <NUM> and PDCCH2 <NUM> may be transmitted. On the UE <NUM> side, two UL sub-bands <NUM> and <NUM> are shown and each UL sub-band may have multiple ACK resources. For example, UL sub-band <NUM> may have ACK resources <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or <NUM>. The lines from a DL sub-band to the UL sub-bands show the mapping of multiple PDCCHs (or PDCCH channels) per DL sub-band to multiple ACK resources in the UL sub-band. For example, PDCCH1 <NUM> and PDCCH2 <NUM> of DL sub-band <NUM> may be mapped to ACK resources <NUM> and <NUM> of UL sub-band <NUM> and PDCCH3 <NUM> and PDCCH4 <NUM> of DL sub-band <NUM> may be mapped to ACK resources <NUM> and <NUM> of UL sub-band <NUM>.

Additionally, as illustrated in <FIG>, four DL sub-bands (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>) are shown and each DL sub-band may transmit multiple PDCCHs. For example, in sub-band <NUM>, two PDCCHs, PDCCH5 <NUM> and PDCCH6 <NUM> may be transmitted. On the UE <NUM> side, two UL sub-bands <NUM> and <NUM> are shown and each UL sub-band may have multiple ACK resources. For example, UL sub-band <NUM> may have ACK resources <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or <NUM>. The lines from a DL sub-band to the UL sub-bands show the mapping of multiple PDCCHs (or PDCCH channels) per DL sub-band to multiple ACK resources in the UL sub-band. However, the mapping is based on ARI inside PDCCH payload and the mapping may be randomized. For example, PDCCH5 <NUM> and PDCCH6 <NUM> of DL sub-band <NUM> may be mapped to ACK resources <NUM> and <NUM> of UL sub-band <NUM> and PDCCH7 <NUM> and PDCCH8 <NUM> of DL sub-band <NUM> may be mapped to ACK resources <NUM> and <NUM> of UL sub-band <NUM>.

In an implementation, for example, a value of an ARI received in a PDCCH may be used jointly with implicit mapping for resource allocation within a UE-specific resource set for PUCCH transmissions. In an example, each UE-specific resource set may include a number of PUCCH resources. For example, the number of PUCCH resources in the resource set may be from <NUM> to up to <NUM>. In some cases, the PUCCH resources may be physical resources in one or more UL sub-bands mapped from more than one DL sub-band, and thus the present aspects operate to avoid collisions. For instance, the UE <NUM> may receive the configuration information from the gNB that identifies the UE-specific resource set (e.g., from <NUM> to <NUM> resources). Then, the UE <NUM> may receive the ARI in the PDCCH. In an example where the ARI has a P-bit value (for example, P may equal <NUM> or <NUM>), the UE <NUM> may implicitly map a value of the P-bit ARI to a subset of the UE-specific resources (e.g., a subset of the <NUM> to <NUM> PUCCH resources in one or more UL sub-bands) that are to be used to transmit UCI, such as an ACK/NACK. In other words, the UE <NUM> can map different values of the ARI bits to different subsets of the UE-specific resource set, and, further, the UE <NUM> may use implicit mapping to select specific resources within the subset identified by the ARI. Thus, the UE-specific resource set is semi-statically configured and ARI bits are used by the UE <NUM> to perform dynamic resource selection of a subset of the UE-specific resources.

In an aspect, if the number of ARI bits is P_ARI, and the UE <NUM> requires more than <NUM>^ b_ARI resources for the UCI transmission, then the UE <NUM> may use the above-noted implicit mapping, and may additionally receive an explicit indication of additional UE-specific resources to use. In another example, a <NUM>-bit ARI with up to <NUM> PUCCH resources per resource set may be implemented. And implicit mapping may be used when the number of resources in the resource set is more than <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrate example cross-slot scheduling configurations.

<FIG> illustrates an aggregated DL centric slot scheduling configuration <NUM> with PDCCH scheduling PDSCH transmissions, PDCCHs <NUM> and <NUM> scheduling transmission of PDSCHs <NUM> and <NUM>. In such an aggregated DL configuration, for example, two consecutive DL centric slots <NUM> and <NUM>, different mapping functions with different offsets may be used for same-slot scheduling and cross-slot scheduling. In an aspect, ACK/NACKs for PDCCHs <NUM> and <NUM> are transmitted in an uplink short burst of slot <NUM> (e.g., cross-slot) and ACK/NACK for PDCCH <NUM> is transmitted in the uplink short burst of the same slot, slot <NUM>. As illustrated in <FIG>, although PDCCH channels corresponding to <NUM> and <NUM> are transmitted in the same resource in different slots, they are mapped to different ACK resource in the same ULSB. The mapping can either be done with different slot-dependent offset combined with implicit mapping of PDCCH starting CCEs, or with explicit selection of ARI in PDCCH.

<FIG> illustrates an aggregated UL centric slot scheduling configuration <NUM> with PDCCH scheduling PDSCH transmissions, PDCCHs <NUM> and <NUM> scheduling transmission of PDSCHs <NUM> and <NUM>. In such a configuration, for example, with two consecutive aggregated DL centric slots <NUM> and <NUM> and two consecutive aggregated UL centric slots <NUM> and <NUM>, multiple PDCCHs, e.g., PDCCHs <NUM> and <NUM> may be mapped to a same ACK resource if ACK/NACKs are to be transmitted in long duration of different slots, e.g., during long slots <NUM> and <NUM>. In one implementation, a slot dependent offset may be added that is subtracted from a CCE offset. For example, ACK resource = starting CCE - CCE offset. The slot dependent offset may be communicated to the UE <NUM> via SIB or RRC configuration. In another implementation, the ARI may be used to explicitly indicate the ACK resources.

<FIG> illustrates an example of an ACK format <NUM>, which may be varied, according to aspects of the present disclosure.

In an aspect, <FIG> illustrates a <NUM> bit ACK <NUM> for PDSCHs <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or <NUM>. In the example, the ACK bits for multiple PDSCHs in different slots are transmitted together in the same PUCCH channel, referred to as the HARQ group based multi-bit ACK transmission. In an aspect, a PDSCH may have multiple code blocks (CBs) and one ACK bit may correspond to one CB group (CBG) with one or more CBs per CBG. Multiple ACK bits may be transmitted for different CBGs in one PDSCH. Therefore, the payload size of ACK channel may be different. Multiple ACK formats may be defined for different payload size ranges. The ACK resources for different payload sizes/formats may be different. For example, the ACK resources with a payload of <NUM> or <NUM> bits may have one resource pool (e.g., first resource pool), ACK resources with a payload of <NUM>-<NUM> bits may have a different resource pool (e.g., second resource pool), and ACK resources with <NUM>+ bits may have another resource pool (e.g., third resource pool).

In an aspect, different ACK formats may have different resource pools. For example, gNB <NUM> may indicate different ACK formats, payload sizes, and /or CBG sizes via downlink control information (DCI) or the UE <NUM> may use certain implicit rules to determine the ACK formats, payload sizes, and/or CBG sizes. The UE <NUM>, upon determining the ACK formats, may use the implicit mapping or use the ARI indication as described above, to select the resource index within the resource pool. In a further aspect, for HARQ group based multi-bit ACKs, implicit mapping may be used based on first or last PDCCH in the group. The HARQ group range may be signaled by setting K1 values in the PDCCH or by configuring a time span in the PDCCH. In one example in <FIG>, a K1 value configured in PDCCH as <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> may result in <NUM> ACK bits corresponding to the <NUM> PDSCH channels to be transmitted together. In an additional implementation, the ACK payload size may be dynamically configured. As a result, the number of RBs may be different and/or the number of RBs may be derived from ACK payload size.

In an aspect, for example, the UE <NUM> may select one UCI resource set from one or more (up to K=<NUM>) configured UCI resource sets based on the UCI payload size, e.g., not including a CRC. A UCI resource set i for UCI payload size may be in the range of {Ni,. , Ni+<NUM>} bits (i=<NUM>,. , K-<NUM>). In some cases, the value of N may be set for certain values of i. For instance, for i equal to <NUM> or <NUM>, N<NUM>=<NUM> and N<NUM>=<NUM>. As such, any remaining values of i may corresponding to UE-specific resource sets. For instance, continuing with the above example, for i=<NUM>,. , K-<NUM>, Ni may be configured specifically to the UE <NUM>. In an example, the value of N is in the range of {<NUM>, <NUM>} with a granularity of <NUM> bits. NK may represent a maximum UCI payload size, which may be implicitly or explicitly derived. In some example, NK may be semi-statically configured in the RRC configuration. Also, in some aspects, for a given UCI payload range, a PUCCH resource set can contain resources for short PUCCH and resources for long PUCCH.

Referring to <FIG>, for example, a method <NUM> of wireless communication including determining ACK/NACK resources at UE <NUM> according to the above-described aspects is disclosed.

For example, at <NUM>, the method <NUM> includes receiving, from an gNB, a radio resource control (RRC) configuration indicating a UE-specific resource set that is a subset of a gNB resource pool. For instance, in an aspect, the UE <NUM> and/or modem <NUM> may execute the communications component <NUM> and/or RRC/PDCCH receiving component <NUM> to receive the RRC configuration from the gNB <NUM>. The RRC configuration may contain information directing or otherwise linking the UE to a subset of the gNB resource pool. The subset of the gNB resource pool assigned to the UE may be specific to the UE, thereby avoiding collisions, and the RRC configuration may indicate to the UE which resources of the resources available in the gNB resource pool the UE should use for transmitting ACK/NACKs or other UCI information. As such, the UE-specific resource set may be a semi-statically updated by the RRC configuration.

For example, at <NUM>, the method <NUM> includes receiving, from an gNB, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) including a corresponding ACK/NACK resource configuration. In some cases, the received PDCCH may be one of one or more PDCCHs each including a corresponding ACK/NACK resource configuration. For instance, in an aspect, the UE <NUM> and/or modem <NUM> may execute the communications component <NUM> and/or RRC/PDCCH receiving component <NUM> to receive one or more PDCCHs from gNB <NUM> each including a corresponding ACK/NACK resource configuration. As described above, each PDCCH may include an ACK/NACK resource configuration which indicates to the UEs, e.g., UE <NUM>, the ACK/NACK resources from the UE-specific resource set indicated in the RRC configuration, are to be used by the UE <NUM> for transmitting ACK/NACKs or other UCI in the PUCCH. For instance, in an example, the ACK/NACK resource configuration includes an ARI having a set of bits, where different values of the sets of bits may be used to indicate different subsets of the UE-specific resources to be used.

Further, at <NUM>, the method <NUM> includes determining, at the UE, one or more ACK/NACK resources from the UE-specific resource set for an upcoming PUCCH based, at least in part, on the ACK/NACK resource configuration. For instance, in an aspect, the UE <NUM> and/or modem <NUM> may execute the communications component <NUM> and/or ACK/NACK resource determining component <NUM> to determine one or more ACK/NACK resources associated with the PDCCH. The UE <NUM> and/or ACK/NACK resource determining component <NUM> may determine the ACK/NACK resources based at least in part on the ACK/NACK configuration.

For example, in an aspect where the ACK/NACK configuration includes the ARI and the UE-specific resource set is semi-statically configured, the UE <NUM> uses a value of the ARI bits to perform dynamic resource selection of a subset of the UE-specific resources. For instance, the UE <NUM> can map different values of the ARI bits to different subsets of the UE-specific resource set. Further, as described above, the UE <NUM> may use implicit mapping to select specific resources within the subset identified by the ARI.

In an aspect, as described above, the ACK/NACK configuration that may implicitly and/or explicitly indicate which resources from the UE-specific resource set are to be used by the UE <NUM> in transmitting ACK/NACKs.

In an aspect, the UE-specific resource set may include N resources, and the ARI may be b_ARI -bits, where different values of the b_ARI bits indicate different subsets of the N resources. If the UE <NUM> requires more than <NUM>^b_ARI resources for the UCI transmission, then the UE <NUM> may use the above-noted implicit mapping, and may additionally receive an explicit indication of additional UE-specific resources to use. For example, if N=<NUM>, b_ARI bits = <NUM>, each ARI value will indicate one resource subset of the <NUM> resources. Each resource subset may contain <NUM> resources. An implicit mapping method is used to further select one of the two resources in the resource subset. In another example, a <NUM>-bit ARI with up to <NUM> PUCCH resources per resource set may be implemented. In this example, one ARI value will select one of the up to <NUM> resources. No implicit mapping is further required.

In some aspects, the implicit mapping method determining the one or more ACK/NACK resources from the UE-specific resource subset is further based on a location of a control channel element (CCE) carrying the ACK/NACK resource configuration. One example is described above with reference to <FIG>.

In some aspects the determination of the ACK/NACK resources to be used may be based at least on the DL/UL sub-band mapping function described in reference to <FIG>, cross-slot scheduling information described in reference to <FIG>, ACK formats described above in reference to <FIG>, and/or ARIs.

Optionally, at <NUM>, the method <NUM> may optionally include transmitting, from the UE, an ACK/NACK for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) on at least one of the one or more ACK/NACK resources determined based at least in part on the ACK/NACK resource configuration. In some instance, that PDSCH may be one of one or more PDSCHs associated with a respective PDCCH of one or more PDCCHs that may be received by the UE <NUM>. For instance, in an aspect, the UE <NUM> and/or modem <NUM> may execute the communications component <NUM> and/or ACK/NACK transmitting component <NUM> to transmit ACK/NACK for a PDSCH using at least one of the determined ACK/NACK resources.

The ACK/NACK resource configuration information transmitted from the gNB <NUM> and/or received at the UE <NUM> may include any combination of one or more of downlink(DL)/uplink sub-band mapping information, cross-slot scheduling information, ACK formats, or ACK/NACK resource indicators (ARIs) which are included in the resource configuration of the corresponding PDCCH.

In some cases, the sub-band mapping information is based on a mapping of a plurality of downlink sub-bands to one or more uplink sub-bands. In an aspect, the sub-band mapping information is based on an overall numbering of downlink control channel element (CCE) resources and uplink ACK resources. In an aspect, the sub-band mapping information is based on an implicit mapping of downlink control channel element (CCE) resources and sub-band dependent offsets.

In an aspect, the cross-slot scheduling information includes different mapping functions for same-slot scheduling and cross-slot scheduling configurations. In an aspect, the cross-slot scheduling information is determined by mapping of PDCCHs to a same resource when the ACK/NACK resource configuration indicates an ACK/NACK is to be transmitted in a long duration of different slots.

In an aspect, the ARI is a multi-level resource index that includes one or more sub-band indexes and one or more resource identifiers that identify at least one resource corresponding to each sub-band identified by the one or more sub-band indexes.

As such, the ARI values included in the PDCCHs may be interpreted differently at the UE <NUM>. For example, in one implementation, the ARI may be a multi-level resource index which may be a two-level resource index that include a combination of sub-band index and resources within a sub-band. In another example, the ARI may be three-level resource index which may include a sub-band index, pay load size (e.g., size of the resource pool), and/or a resource index within the resource pool. In an additional example, the ARI may be a four-level index if the short/long duration indication is included. Further, in another implementation, the ARI may be defined to index a resource within the entire UL band. In other words, the UE <NUM> may derive the sub-band based on the index. Additionally, if mirror hopping or some other hopping (e.g., offset based hopping) is enabled for the PUCCH, the hopping operation may be derived based on the resource in the sub-band as the hopping operation may be defined on a per sub-band basis. Furthermore, in another implementation, the ARI values may be configured separately for same-slot and cross-slot scheduling configurations. For example, a first set of four possible resources indexed by the ARI may be used for the same-slot scheduling while a second of four possible resources indexed by the ARI may be used for the cross-slot scheduling.

In one implementation, the ACK payload size, resource index, etc. may be dynamically changed. For example, the ACK payload may be dynamically changed to a <NUM> bit ACK, CBG based multi-bit ACK, or a HARQ group based multi-bit ACK. As a result, the number of RBs may be different based on the size of the payload, as discussed in greater detail with reference to <FIG>. In an additional example, the resource index may be dynamically changed, which may include short/long burst indication, sub-band index/offset, resource pool index, and/or index within the sub-band/resource pool.

Thus, as described above, communications component <NUM> determines ACK/NACK resources at the UE <NUM> from a UE-specific resource set and transmits ACK/NACKs or other UCI to the gNB <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, for example, a method <NUM> of wireless communication including determining ACK/NACK resources from multiple uplink control information (UCI) resource sets at UE <NUM> according to the above-described aspects is disclosed.

For example, at <NUM>, the method <NUM> includes receiving, from an gNB, a radio resource control (RRC) configuration indicating multiple UE-specific uplink control information (UCI) resource sets that are subsets of a gNB resource pool. For instance, in an aspect, the UE <NUM> and/or modem <NUM> may execute the communications component <NUM> and/or RRC/PDCCH receiving component <NUM> to receive the RRC configuration from the gNB <NUM>. The RRC configuration may contain information directing or otherwise linking the UE to multiple UCI subsets of the gNB resource pool. The UCI subsets of the gNB resource pool assigned to the UE may be specific to the UE, e.g., to avoid collisions with other UE transmissions, and may indicate payload size ranges appropriate for each of the multiple UE-specific UCI subsets.

Further, at <NUM>, the method <NUM> includes determining, at the UE, a size of a payload for a UCI to be transmitted on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). For instance, in an aspect, the UE <NUM> and/or modem <NUM> may execute the communications component <NUM> and/or ACK/NACK resource determining component <NUM> to determine the size, or number of bits, of a payload of the UCI the UE <NUM> intends to transmit with an upcoming PUCCH.

Optionally, at <NUM>, the method <NUM> may include receiving, from the gNB, a PDCCH including a corresponding ACK/NACK resource configuration. For instance, in an aspect, the UE <NUM> and/or modem <NUM> may execute the communications component <NUM> and/or RRC/PDCCH receiving component <NUM> to receive one or more PDCCHs from gNB <NUM>. Each PDCCH may include an ACK/NACK resource configuration, which indicates to the UEs, e.g., UE <NUM>, the ACK/NACK resources from the UE-specific UCI resource sets indicated in the RRC configuration, are to be used by the UE <NUM> for transmitting ACK/NACKs in the PUCCH. For example, in one aspect, the ACK/NACK resource configuration may be an ARI. In some aspects, the ACK/NACK resource configuration includes an acknowledgement resource indicator (ARI), and the UCI comprises an acknowledgement ACK or a NACK.

Further, at <NUM>, the method <NUM> includes determining, at the UE, a selected UE-specific UCI resource set from the multiple UE-specific resource sets for transmitting the UCI on the PUCCH based, at least in part, on the size of the payload of the UCI. For instance, in an aspect, the UE <NUM> and/or modem <NUM> may execute the communications component <NUM> and/or ACK/NACK resource determining component <NUM> to determine one or more ACK/NACK resources from one of the multiple UCI resource sets based, at least in part, on the determined payload size. The communications component <NUM> and/or ACK/NACK resource determining component <NUM> may identify payload ranges associated with each of the multiple UCI resource sets. For example, but not limited hereto, a first resource set may be used for payloads ranging in size from <NUM> bits to <NUM> bits, while a second resource set may be used with payloads ranging in size from <NUM>-<NUM> bits. The communications component <NUM> and/or ACK/NACK resource determining component <NUM> may identify which of the payload size ranges overlap with the determined payload size. That is, the UE <NUM> may determine whether the determined payload size falls within any of the identified payload size ranges. The UE <NUM> may select one of the multiple UCI resource sets having a payload size range within which the determined payload size is included. In a further example, but not limited hereto, a determined payload size of <NUM> bits could be transmitted with resources from either of the aforementioned resource sets, but a payload size of <NUM> bits could only be transmitted with resources from the first resource set.

In some aspects, determining the selected UE-specific UCI resource set may further include selecting one or more resources within the selected UE-specific UCI resource set based on implicit and/or explicit mapping. For example, such aspects may include receiving an acknowledgement resource indicator (ARI), and mapping to the one or more resources within the selected UE-specific UCI resource set based on a value of the ARI. As such, some aspects may include receiving an ARI and selecting one or more resources within the selected UE-specific UCI resource set based on the ARI.

In some aspects, the ARI includes a resource index, and thus determining the selected UE-specific UCI resource set may further include selecting a sub-band associated with the one or more resources based on the resource index. For example,.

In some aspects, in response to receiving the ARI, determining the selected UE-specific UCI resource set may further include selecting, based on the ARI, a first group of one or more resources within the selected UE-specific UCI resource set for same-slot scheduling or a second group of one or more resources within the selected UE-specific UCI resource set for cross-slot scheduling. In some aspects, determining the one or more ACK/NACK resources from the UE-specific resource set is based, at least in part, on cross-slot scheduling information and PDCCHs of different slots have ARIs of equal value.

Optionally, at <NUM>, the method <NUM> may include transmitting the UCI via the selected UE-specific UCI resource set on the PUCCH. For instance, in an aspect, the UE <NUM> and/or modem <NUM> may execute the communications component <NUM> and/or ACK/NACK transmitting component <NUM> to transmit the UCI, e.g., an ACK/NACK for a PDSCH, using the selected UE-specific UCI resource set on the PUCCH.

In aspects implementing optional block <NUM>, the specific ACK/NACK resources to be used within each of the multiple UCI resource sets may be determined based, at least in part, on the ACK/NACK configuration received within the PDCCH. The UE <NUM> and/or ACK/NACK resource determining component <NUM> may determine the ACK/NACK resources based at least in part on the ACK/NACK configuration. The ACK/NACK configuration may include an acknowledgement resource indicator (ARI) specifically indicating which exact resources from a selected UCI resource set (e.g., a selected subset of the multiple sets of resources within the UE-specific resource set) are to be used by the UE <NUM> in transmitting ACK/NACKs. Thus, once the UE <NUM> has selected one of the multiple UCI resource sets based on the payload size, the UE <NUM> may then use the ACK/NACK configuration to select specific ACK/NACK resources of the UCI resource set for use in transmitting the ACK/NACK within the PUCCH.

In a further additional example, payload size may be different when combined with other UCI. For example, when combined with a channel quality indicator (CQI), payload size may be different as the CQI may have different beam related information. Additionally, the ACK payload size may be different. For instance, if a UE is supposed to transmit <NUM> bits of ACK, but after combining with the CQI, the UE may be able to transmit only <NUM> ACK bits. In such scenarios, ACK bundling may be used to merge the ACK bit, or a sub-set of bits may be transmitted and the remaining ACK bits may be transmitted later. Further, the starting resource block and the number of RBs and PUCCH formats (payload size dependent) may be explicitly configured.

Referring to <FIG>, for example, a method <NUM> of wireless communication including determining ACK/NACK resources at gNB <NUM> according to the above-described aspects is disclosed.

For example, at <NUM>, the method <NUM> includes transmitting, to a UE, a radio resource control (RRC) configuration indicating a UE-specific resource set that is a subset of a gNB resource pool. For instance, in an aspect, the gNB <NUM> and/or modem <NUM> may execute the communications component <NUM> to transmit the RRC configuration to UE <NUM>. The RRC configuration may contain information directing or otherwise linking the UE to a subset of the gNB resource pool. The subset of the gNB resource pool assigned to the UE may be specific to the UE. The gNB <NUM> may select a resource set to assign to the UE using a variety of techniques. For example, in an implementation, the gNB may select a resource set by identifying available resources at random from the gNB resource pool. Alternatively, in an implementation the gNB may select resources from the next available block of resources in the gNB resource pool. In a further implementation, the gNB may select contiguous blocks of resources from the gNB resource pool. The gNB may assign the resources to the UEs such that the probability of any of the UEs being assigned to the same resource is small.

For example, there may be a total <NUM> PUCCH resources and a total of <NUM> UEs with each UE having <NUM> resources in its resource set. The gNB may randomly choose <NUM> out of <NUM> PUCCH resources for each UE (with some of the <NUM> being short PUCCH resource and the rest for long PUCCH) as the resource set to be identified in the in RRC configure. In a particular slot, if the <NUM> out of <NUM> UE need to transmit PUCCH, gNB may select one of the <NUM> resources from these UE's resource set to that the probability of any of the two UEs using the same resource is minimized.

For example, at <NUM>, the method <NUM> includes transmitting, to the UE, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) including a corresponding ACK/NACK resource configuration. In some cases, the transmitted PDCCH may be one of one or more PDCCHs each including a corresponding ACK/NACK resource configuration. For instance, in an aspect, the gNB <NUM> and/or modem <NUM> may execute the communications component <NUM> and/or PDCCH transmitting component <NUM> to transmit one or more PDCCHs from gNB <NUM> each including a corresponding ACK/NACK resource configuration. As described above, each PDCCH may include an ACK/NACK resource configuration which indicates to the UEs, e.g., UE <NUM>, the ACK/NACK resources from the UE-specific resource set indicated in the RRC configuration, are to be used by the UE <NUM> for transmitting ACK/NACKs or other UCI in the PUCCH. The ACK/NACK resource configuration may include an acknowledgement resource indicator (ARI). Further, the ARI may be a multi-level resource index that includes one or more sub-band indexes and one or more resource identifiers that identify at least one resource corresponding to each sub-band identified by the one or more sub-band indexes. Moreover, one or more of the PDCCHs may identify one or more resource elements associated with a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) to be used to send user data to the UE <NUM>.

For example, at <NUM>, the method <NUM> includes transmitting, to the UE, user data on a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). For instance, in an aspect, the gNB <NUM> and/or modem <NUM> may execute the communications component <NUM> to transmit user data from gNB <NUM> to UE <NUM> on one or more resource elements of the PDSCH as identified in control information, such as the PCCCH.

For example, at <NUM>, the method <NUM> may include receiving, from the UE, an ACK/NACK for the user data transmitted on the PDSCH on at least one ACK/NACK resource determined by the UE based at least in part on the ACK/NACK resource configuration. For instance, in an aspect, the gNB <NUM> and/or modem <NUM> may execute the communications component <NUM> and/or ACK/NACK receiving component <NUM> to receive an ACK/NACK from UE <NUM>. The gNB <NUM> may receive an ACK/NACK for user data on the PDSCH transmitted by the gNB <NUM> to confirm whether or not the UE <NUM> has properly received the signal, e.g., the user data.

Referring to <FIG>, for example, a method <NUM> of wireless communication including determining ACK/NACK resources from multiple uplink control information (UCI) resource sets at gNB <NUM> according to the above-described aspects is disclosed.

For example, at <NUM>, the method <NUM> includes transmitting, to a UE, a radio resource control (RRC) configuration indicating multiple UE-specific uplink control information (UCI) resource sets that are subsets of a gNB resource pool. For instance, in an aspect, the gNB <NUM> and/or modem <NUM> may execute the communications component <NUM> to transmit the RRC configuration from the gNB <NUM> to the UE <NUM>. The RRC configuration may contain information directing or otherwise linking the UE to multiple UCI subsets of the gNB resource pool. The UCI subsets of the gNB resource pool assigned to the UE may be specific to the UE, e.g., to avoid collisions with other UE transmissions, and may indicate payload size ranges appropriate for each of the multiple UE-specific UCI subsets. In some implementations the gNB <NUM> may select the resource sets for assignment to the UE based on random selection, selection of contiguous resource blocks, and/or selection of the next available resource blocks.

Optionally, for example, at <NUM>, the method <NUM> may include transmitting, to the UE, a PDCCH including a corresponding ACK/NACK resource configuration. For instance, in an aspect, the gNB <NUM> and/or modem <NUM> may execute the communications component <NUM> and/or PDCCH transmitting component <NUM> to transmit one or more PDCCHs from gNB <NUM> to UE <NUM>. Each PDCCH may include an ACK/NACK resource configuration, which indicates to the UEs, e.g., UE <NUM>, the ACK/NACK resources from the UE-specific UCI resource sets indicated in the RRC configuration, are to be used by the UE <NUM> for transmitting ACK/NACKs in the PUCCH. Further, in some aspects, the PDCCH includes one of a plurality of different format types, wherein each of the plurality of format types corresponds to a different subset of the multiple UE-specific resource sets.

For example, at <NUM>, the method <NUM> may include receiving a UCI in a UE-specific UCI resource set selected by the UE from the multiple UE-specific UCI resource sets based on a payload size of the UCI, on a PUCCH. For instance, in an aspect, the gNB <NUM> and/or modem <NUM> may execute the communications component <NUM> and/or ACK/NACK receiving component <NUM> to receive the UCI, e.g., an ACK/NACK for a PDSCH, using the selected UE-specific UCI resource set on the PUCCH. In some implementations, the UE-specific resource set may be selected by the UE <NUM> based on a payload size of the UCI and/or based on the transmitted ACK/NACK resource configuration.

Referring to <FIG>, one example of an implementation of a UE <NUM> may include a variety of components, some of which have already been described above, including components such as one or more processors <NUM>, memory <NUM> and transceiver <NUM> in communication via one or more buses <NUM>, which may operate in conjunction with the modem <NUM> and communications component <NUM> to determine ACK/NACK resources at UE <NUM>. Further, the one or more processors <NUM>, modem <NUM>, memory <NUM>, transceiver <NUM>, RF front end <NUM> and one or more antennas <NUM>, may be configured to support voice and/or data calls (simultaneously or non-simultaneously) in one or more radio access technologies.

In an aspect, the one or more processors <NUM> can include a modem <NUM> that uses one or more modem processors. The various functions related to communications component <NUM> may be included in modem <NUM> and/or processors <NUM> and, in an aspect, can be executed by a single processor, while in other aspects, different ones of the functions may be executed by a combination of two or more different processors. For example, in an aspect, the one or more processors <NUM> may include any one or any combination of a modem processor, or a baseband processor, or a digital signal processor, or a transmit processor, or a receiver processor, or a transceiver processor associated with the transceiver <NUM>. In other aspects, some of the features of the one or more processors <NUM> and/or modem <NUM> associated with the communications component <NUM> may be performed by the transceiver <NUM>.

Also, the memory <NUM> may be configured to store data used herein and/or local versions of applications <NUM> or communications component <NUM> and/or one or more of its subcomponents being executed by at least one processor <NUM>. The memory <NUM> can include any type of computer-readable medium usable by a computer or at least one processor <NUM>, such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), tapes, magnetic discs, optical discs, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, and any combination thereof. In an aspect, for example, the memory <NUM> may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores one or more computer-executable codes defining communications component <NUM> and/or one or more of its subcomponents, and/or data associated therewith, when the UE <NUM> is operating at least one processor <NUM> to execute the communications component <NUM> and/or one or more of its subcomponents.

The transceiver <NUM> may include at least one receiver <NUM> and at least one transmitter <NUM>. The receiver <NUM> may include hardware, firmware, and/or software code executable by a processor for receiving data, the code comprising instructions and being stored in a memory (e.g., computer-readable medium). The receiver <NUM> may be, for example, a radio frequency (RF) receiver. In an aspect, the receiver <NUM> may receive signals transmitted by at least one base station <NUM>. Additionally, the receiver <NUM> may process such received signals, and also may obtain measurements of the signals, such as, but not limited to, Ec/Io, SNR, RSRP, RSSI, etc. The transmitter <NUM> may include hardware, firmware, and/or software code executable by a processor for transmitting data, the code comprising instructions and being stored in a memory (e.g., computer-readable medium). A suitable example of the transmitter <NUM> may include, but is not limited to, a RF transmitter.

Moreover, in an aspect, the UE <NUM> may include a RF front end <NUM>, which may operate in communication with one or more antennas <NUM> and transceiver <NUM> for receiving and transmitting radio transmissions, for example, wireless communications transmitted by at least one base station <NUM> or wireless transmissions transmitted by the UE <NUM>. The RF front end <NUM> may be communicatively coupled with one or more antennas <NUM> and can include one or more low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) <NUM>, one or more switches <NUM>, one or more power amplifiers (PAs) <NUM>, and one or more filters <NUM> for transmitting and receiving RF signals.

In an aspect, the LNA <NUM> can amplify a received signal at a desired output level. In an aspect, the RF front end <NUM> may use one or more switches <NUM> to select a particular LNA <NUM> and its specified gain value based on a desired gain value for a particular application.

Further, for example, one or more PA(s) <NUM> may be used by the RF front end <NUM> to amplify a signal for an RF output at a desired output power level. In an aspect, the RF front end <NUM> may use one or more switches <NUM> to select a particular PA <NUM> and its specified gain value based on a desired gain value for a particular application.

Also, for example, one or more filters <NUM> can be used by the RF front end <NUM> to filter a received signal to obtain an input RF signal. In an aspect, the RF front end <NUM> can use one or more switches <NUM> to select a transmit or receive path using a specified filter <NUM>, LNA <NUM>, and/or PA <NUM>, based on a configuration as specified by the transceiver <NUM> and/or processor <NUM>.

As such, the transceiver <NUM> may be configured to transmit and receive wireless signals through one or more antennas <NUM> via RF front end <NUM>. In an aspect, the transceiver <NUM> may be tuned to operate at specified frequencies such that the UE <NUM> can communicate with, for example, one or more cells associated with one or more base stations <NUM>. In an aspect, for example, the modem <NUM> can configure the transceiver <NUM> to operate at a specified frequency and power level based on the configuration of the UE <NUM> and communication protocol used by the modem <NUM>.

In an aspect, the modem <NUM> can be a multiband-multimode modem, which can process digital data and communicate with the transceiver <NUM> such that the digital data is sent and received using the transceiver <NUM>. In an aspect, the modem <NUM> can be multiband and be configured to support multiple frequency bands for a specific communications protocol. In an aspect, the modem <NUM> can be multimode and be configured to support multiple operating networks and communications protocols. In an aspect, the modem <NUM> can control one or more components of the UE <NUM> (e.g., RF front end <NUM>, transceiver <NUM>) to enable transmission and/or reception of signals from the network based on a specified modem configuration. In another aspect, the modem configuration can be based on base station information associated with the UE <NUM> as provided by the network during cell selection and/or cell reselection.

Referring to <FIG>, one example of an implementation of base station <NUM> may include a variety of components, which have already been described above in detail, including components such as one or more processors <NUM> and memory <NUM> and transceiver <NUM> in communication via one or more buses <NUM>, which may operate in conjunction with modem <NUM> and communications component <NUM> to enable one or more of the functions described herein.

Claim 1:
A method of wireless communications at a user equipment, UE, comprising:
receiving (<NUM>), from a base station, a radio resource control, RRC, configuration indicating multiple UE-specific UCI resource sets that are subsets of a resource pool of the base station;
receiving (<NUM>), from the base station, a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, including a corresponding acknowledgement/non-acknowledgement, ACK/NACK, resource configuration;
selecting a UE-specific UCI resource set from the multiple UE-specific UCI resource sets for transmitting UCI on a PUCCH based, at least in part, on an uplink channel information, UCI, payload size;
determining (<NUM>), at the UE, one or more ACK/NACK resources from the selected UE-specific UCI resource set for the PUCCH, based, at least in part, on the ACK/NACK resource configuration;
receiving, from the base station, user data on a physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH; and
transmitting (<NUM>), from the UE to the base station, an ACK/NACK on the PUCCH for the PDSCH on at least one of the one or more ACK/NACK resources determined based at least in part on the ACK/NACK resource configuration.