Patent Description:
In an unlicensed band, an unlicensed spectrum is a shared spectrum. Communication equipment in different communication systems can use the unlicensed spectrum as long as the unlicensed meets regulatory requirements set by countries or regions on a spectrum. There is no need to apply for a proprietary spectrum authorization from a government.

In order to allow various communication systems that use the unlicensed spectrum for wireless communication to coexist friendly in the spectrum, some countries or regions specify regulatory requirements that must be met to use the unlicensed spectrum. For example, a communication device follows a listen before talk (LBT) or channel access procedure, that is, the communication device needs to perform a channel sensing before transmitting a signal on a channel. When an LBT outcome illustrates that the channel is idle, the communication device can perform signal transmission; otherwise, the communication device cannot perform signal transmission. In order to ensure fairness, once a communication device successfully occupies the channel, a transmission duration cannot exceed a maximum channel occupancy time (MCOT). LBT mechanism is also called a channel access procedure. In new radio (NR) Release <NUM>, there are different types of channel access procedures, e.g., type <NUM>, type 2A, type 2B and type 2C channel access procedures as described in TS <NUM>.

For operation in a shared spectrum, an acknowledgement of a configured PDSCH transmission from a user equipment (UE), e.g., semi-persistent scheduled (SPS) PDSCH, is still an open issue.

Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus and a method of wireless communication, which can solve issues in the prior art, provide a method to determine an acknowledgement of a downlink channel in an uplink transmission, provide a good communication performance and/or high reliability.

<CIT> discloses the adjustment of the contention window in the channel access procedure based on the feedback received from the UE, aiming to optimize the communication process. These methods and configurations enhance the efficiency and reliability of communication between base stations and user equipment in wireless networks.

<CIT> discloses procedures and configurations involved in the transmission and reception of control information, particularly related to Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback. The document outlines methods and setups for terminal devices (likely mobile phones or other user equipment) and base stations to exchange control information efficiently. Specifically, it discusses the timing and configuration of monitoring opportunities for receiving control signals, the generation and transmission of HARQ-ACK codebooks, and the handling of Dynamic Allocation Index (DAI) fields within control channels.

In order to illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure or related art more clearly, the following figures will be described in the embodiments are briefly introduced. It is obvious that the drawings are merely some embodiments of the present disclosure, a person having ordinary skill in this field can obtain other figures according to these figures without paying the premise.

For uplink transmissions or downlink transmissions in a shared spectrum, a user equipment (UE) or a gNB may perform a channel access procedure before transmitting one or more uplink transmissions or one or more downlink transmissions in a channel. The channel access procedure comprises sensing a channel to determine whether the channel is idle or busy. Optionally, a channel access procedure may comprise at least a type <NUM> channel access according to section <NUM>. <NUM> of TS37. <NUM>, or a type 2A channel access according to section <NUM>. <NUM> of TS37. <NUM>, or a type 2B channel access according to section <NUM>. <NUM> of TS37. <NUM>, or a type 2C channel access according to section <NUM>. <NUM> of TS37. For operation in a shared spectrum, a UE may be configured to receive a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission, while the UE needs to report an acknowledgement of the configured PDSCH transmission, e.g., semi-persistent scheduled (SPS) PDSCH is still an open issue. Some embodiments of the present disclosure solve this issue.

<FIG> illustrates that, in some embodiments, one or more user equipments (UEs) <NUM> and a base station (e.g., gNB) <NUM> for transmission adjustment in a communication network system <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure are provided. The communication network system <NUM> includes the one or more UEs <NUM> and the base station <NUM>. The one or more UEs <NUM> may include a memory <NUM>, a transceiver <NUM>, and a processor <NUM> coupled to the memory <NUM> and the transceiver <NUM>. The base station <NUM> may include a memory <NUM>, a transceiver <NUM>, and a processor <NUM> coupled to the memory <NUM> and the transceiver <NUM>. The processor <NUM> or <NUM> may be configured to implement proposed functions, procedures and/or methods described in this description. Layers of radio interface protocol may be implemented in the processor <NUM> or <NUM>. The memory <NUM> or <NUM> is operatively coupled with the processor <NUM> or <NUM> and stores a variety of information to operate the processor <NUM> or <NUM>. The transceiver <NUM> or <NUM> is operatively coupled with the processor <NUM> or <NUM>, and the transceiver <NUM> or <NUM> transmits and/or receives a radio signal.

In some embodiments, the processor <NUM> is configured, by the base station <NUM>, to receive a downlink channel in a set of symbols for a serving cell. The processor <NUM> is configured to report, to the base station <NUM>, an acknowledgement of the downlink channel in an uplink transmission. This can solve issues in the prior art, provide a method to determine an acknowledgement of a downlink channel in an uplink transmission, provide a good communication performance and/or high reliability.

In some embodiments, the processor <NUM> is configured to configure, to the UE <NUM>, to transmit a downlink channel in a set of symbols for a serving cell. The transceiver <NUM> is configured to receive, from the UE <NUM>, an acknowledgement of the downlink channel in an uplink transmission. This can solve issues in the prior art, provide a method to determine an acknowledgement of a downlink channel in an uplink transmission, provide a good communication performance and/or high reliability.

<FIG> illustrates a method <NUM> of wireless communication by a user equipment (UE) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the method <NUM> includes: a block <NUM>, being configured, by a base station, to receive a downlink channel in a set of symbols for a serving cell, and a block <NUM>, reporting, to the base station, an acknowledgement of the downlink channel in an uplink transmission. This can solve issues in the prior art, provide a method to determine an acknowledgement of a downlink channel in an uplink transmission, provide a good communication performance and/or high reliability.

<FIG> illustrates a method <NUM> of wireless communication by a base station according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the method <NUM> includes: a block <NUM>, configuring, to a user equipment (UE), to transmit a downlink channel in a set of symbols for a serving cell and a block <NUM>, receiving, from the UE, an acknowledgement of the downlink channel in an uplink transmission. This can solve issues in the prior art, provide a method to determine an acknowledgement of a downlink channel in an uplink transmission, provide a good communication performance and/or high reliability.

In some embodiments, in a new radio-based access to a unlicensed spectrum or shared spectrum (NRU), when a user equipment (UE) is configured, by a network such as a base station, for a serving cell to receive a PDSCH in a set of symbols, the UE reports an acknowledgement of the PDSCH in a PUCCH transmission. This can solve issues in the prior art, provide a method to determine an acknowledgement of a downlink channel in an uplink transmission, provide a good communication performance and/or high reliability.

In some embodiments, the downlink channel comprises a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). In some embodiments, the uplink transmission comprises a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission. In some embodiments, the downlink channel is configured in a new radio-based access to a unlicensed spectrum or shared spectrum, and/or the uplink transmission is reported in the new radio-based access to the unlicensed spectrum or shared spectrum. In some embodiments, the PDSCH comprises a semi-persistent scheduled (SPS) PDSCH. In some embodiments, the acknowledgement of the downlink channel comprises a hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information corresponding to the PDSCH. In some embodiments, the PDSCH corresponds to a HARQ process number and a transport block. In some embodiments, the set of symbols are within a channel occupancy of the serving cell.

In some embodiments, the channel occupancy of the serving cell is indicated by at least one of the followings: a downlink control information (DCI) format 2_0 or a semi-static channel occupancy. In some embodiments, an indication field in the DCI format 2_0 comprises at least one of the followings: a resource block (RB) set indicator, a slot format indicator (SFI) index, a channel occupancy duration, or a search space set group switching field. In some embodiments, the indication field in the DCI format 2_0 is used to indicate the channel occupancy of the serving cell. In some embodiments, the semi-static channel occupancy indicates the channel occupancy of the serving cell. In some embodiments, the semi-static channel occupancy is configured by a first radio resource control (RRC) parameter. In some embodiments, the HARQ-ACK information comprises an ACK or a negative-acknowledgement (NACK).

In some embodiments, the acknowledgement of the downlink channel comprises the HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the PDSCH when a first condition is met. In some embodiments, the first condition comprises at least of the followings: wherein the set of symbols are within the channel occupancy of the serving cell, the set of symbols are indicated as downlink, the UE is not configured to monitor the DCI format 2_0, the DCI format 2_0 excludes a first indication field, or the UE is configured with a second RRC parameter. In some embodiments, the first indication field comprises at least one of the followings: the RB set indicator, the SFI index, the channel occupancy duration, or the search space set group switching field. In some embodiments, the SFI index is used to indicate that the set of symbols are downlink, uplink, or flexible.

In some embodiments, the acknowledgement of the downlink channel comprises the NACK corresponding to the PDSCH when a second condition is met. In some embodiments, the second condition comprises at least one of the followings: wherein at least one symbol of the set of symbols is outside the channel occupancy of the serving cell, at least one symbol of the set of symbols is indicated as uplink or flexible, the UE is not configured to monitor the DCI format 2_0, the DCI format 2_0 excludes the first indication field, the UE is not configured to monitor the DCI format 2_0, the DCI format 2_0 excludes the first indication field, or the UE is configured by a third RRC parameter.

In some embodiments, the second RRC parameter is used to indicate that the first condition is met. In some embodiments, the third RRC parameter is used to indicate the second condition is met. In some embodiments, the PUCCH carriers the acknowledgement of the downlink channel. In some embodiments, the PUCCH carriers a HARQ-ACK codebook, and the HARQ-ACK codebook comprises the acknowledgement of the downlink channel. In some embodiments, the HARQ-ACK codebook comprises at least one of the followings: a type <NUM> HARQ-ACK codebook, a type <NUM> HARQ-ACK codebook, a type <NUM> HARQ-ACK codebook with grouping, or a type <NUM> HARQ-ACK codebook. Optionally, the HARQ-ACK codebook comprises at least one of the followings: the type <NUM> HARQ-ACK codebook according to section <NUM>. <NUM> of technical specification (TS) <NUM>, the type <NUM> HARQ-ACK codebook according to section <NUM>. <NUM> of TS38. <NUM>, the type <NUM> HARQ-ACK codebook with grouping according to section <NUM>. <NUM> of TS38. <NUM>, or the type <NUM> HARQ-ACK codebook according to section <NUM>. <NUM> of TS38.

Commercial interests for some embodiments are as follows. Solving issues in the prior art. Providing a method to determine an acknowledgement of a downlink channel in an uplink transmission. Reducing signaling overhead. Providing a good communication performance. Providing a high reliability. Some embodiments of the present disclosure are used by <NUM>-NR chipset vendors, V2X communication system development vendors, automakers including cars, trains, trucks, buses, bicycles, moto-bikes, helmets, and etc., drones (unmanned aerial vehicles), smartphone makers, communication devices for public safety use, AR/VR device maker for example gaming, conference/seminar, education purposes. Some embodiments of the present disclosure are a combination of "techniques/processes" that can be adopted in 3GPP specification to create an end product. Some embodiments of the present disclosure could be adopted in the <NUM> NR unlicensed band communications. Some embodiments of the present disclosure propose technical mechanisms.

<FIG> is a block diagram of an example system <NUM> for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Embodiments described herein may be implemented into the system using any suitably configured hardware and/or software. <FIG> illustrates the system <NUM> including a radio frequency (RF) circuitry <NUM>, a baseband circuitry <NUM>, an application circuitry <NUM>, a memory/storage <NUM>, a display <NUM>, a camera <NUM>, a sensor <NUM>, and an input/output (I/O) interface <NUM>, coupled with each other at least as illustrated. The application circuitry <NUM> may include a circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processors may include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors, such as graphics processors, application processors. The processors may be coupled with the memory/storage and configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications and/or operating systems running on the system.

Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multimode baseband circuitry.

In various embodiments, the baseband circuitry <NUM> may include circuitry to operate with signals that are not strictly considered as being in a baseband frequency. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry may include circuitry to operate with signals having an intermediate frequency, which is between a baseband frequency and a radio frequency. The RF circuitry <NUM> may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry <NUM> may include circuitry to operate with signals that are not strictly considered as being in a radio frequency. For example, in some embodiments, RF circuitry may include circuitry to operate with signals having an intermediate frequency, which is between a baseband frequency and a radio frequency.

In various embodiments, the transmitter circuitry, control circuitry, or receiver circuitry discussed above with respect to the user equipment, eNB, or gNB may be embodied in whole or in part in one or more of the RF circuitry, the baseband circuitry, and/or the application circuitry. As used herein, "circuitry" may refer to, be part of, or include an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and/or a memory (shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the electronic device circuitry may be implemented in, or functions associated with the circuitry may be implemented by, one or more software or firmware modules. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry, the application circuitry, and/or the memory/storage may be implemented together on a system on a chip (SOC). The memory/storage <NUM> may be used to load and store data and/or instructions, for example, for system. The memory/storage for one embodiment may include any combination of suitable volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM)), and/or non-volatile memory, such as flash memory.

In various embodiments, the I/O interface <NUM> may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with the system and/or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable peripheral component interaction with the system. User interfaces may include, but are not limited to a physical keyboard or keypad, a touchpad, a speaker, a microphone, etc. Peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, and a power supply interface. In various embodiments, the sensor <NUM> may include one or more sensing devices to determine environmental conditions and/or location information related to the system. In some embodiments, the sensors may include, but are not limited to, a gyro sensor, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, and a positioning unit. The positioning unit may also be part of, or interact with, the baseband circuitry and/or RF circuitry to communicate with components of a positioning network, e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) satellite.

In various embodiments, the display <NUM> may include a display, such as a liquid crystal display and a touch screen display. In various embodiments, the system <NUM> may be a mobile computing device such as, but not limited to, a laptop computing device, a tablet computing device, a netbook, an ultrabook, a smartphone, an AR/VR glasses, etc. In various embodiments, system may have more or less components, and/or different architectures. Where appropriate, methods described herein may be implemented as a computer program. The computer program may be stored on a storage medium, such as a non-transitory storage medium.

A person having ordinary skill in the art understands that each of the units, algorithm, and steps described and disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure are realized using electronic hardware or combinations of software for computers and electronic hardware. Whether the functions run in hardware or software depends on the condition of application and design requirement for a technical plan. A person having ordinary skill in the art can use different ways to realize the function for each specific application while such realizations should not go beyond the scope of the present disclosure. It is understood by a person having ordinary skill in the art that he/she can refer to the working processes of the system, device, and unit in the above-mentioned embodiment since the working processes of the above-mentioned system, device, and unit are basically the same. For easy description and simplicity, these working processes will not be detailed.

If the software function unit is realized and used and sold as a product, it can be stored in a readable storage medium in a computer. Based on this understanding, the technical plan proposed by the present disclosure can be essentially or partially realized as the form of a software product. Or, one part of the technical plan beneficial to the conventional technology can be realized as the form of a software product. The software product in the computer is stored in a storage medium, including a plurality of commands for a computational device (such as a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to run all or some of the steps disclosed by the embodiments of the present disclosure. The storage medium includes a USB disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a floppy disk, or other kinds of media capable of storing program codes.

Claim 1:
A method for wireless communication, performed by a user equipment, UE, characterized in that the method comprises:
(<NUM>) being configured, by a base station, to receive a downlink channel in a set of symbols for a serving cell; and
(<NUM>) reporting, to the base station, an acknowledgement of the downlink channel in an uplink transmission,
wherein the set of symbols are within a channel occupancy of the serving cell,
wherein the channel occupancy of the serving cell is indicated by at least one of the followings: a downlink control information, DCI, format 2_0 or a semi-static channel occupancy.