Patent Description:
The standardization organization Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is currently in the process of specifying a new Radio Interface called <NUM> New Radio (<NUM> NR) as well as a Next Generation Packet Core Network (NG-CN or NGC). In a wireless communication system (e.g., a <NUM> NR wireless communication system), a blockage may prevent, affect, and/or impact the transmission and/or exchange of indicators, messages, data and/or information. Therefore, the blockage may affect and/or impact the reliability of uplink/downlink transmissions. 3GPP standardization contribution R1-<NUM>, <CIT>, <CIT> and 3GPP standardization contribution R2-<NUM> are related prior art documens.

The example embodiments disclosed herein are directed to solving the issues relating to one or more of the problems presented in the prior art, as well as providing additional features that will become readily apparent by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompany drawings. In accordance with various embodiments, example systems, methods, devices and computer program products are disclosed herein. It is understood, however, that these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not limiting, and it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art who read the present disclosure that various modifications to the disclosed embodiments can be made while remaining within the scope of this disclosure.

At least one aspect is directed to a system, method, apparatus, or a computer-readable medium. A wireless communication device may receive a scheduling grant of an uplink channel from a wireless communication node. The wireless communication device may transmit the uplink channel to the wireless communication node. The wireless communication device may transmit a transmission block indication to the wireless communication node. The transmission block indication may be used for determining a transmission block size (TBS) of the uplink channel.

In some embodiments, the scheduling grant may comprise downlink control information (DCI) or a higher layer configuration to schedule the uplink channel. In some embodiments, the transmission block indication may indicate whether the TBS of the uplink channel is determined according to information of the scheduling grant. In some embodiments, the transmission block indication may indicate whether the TBS of the uplink channel is determined according to information of a grant associated with the scheduling grant. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may use the scheduling grant and the grant associated with the scheduling grant, to schedule repetitive transmissions of the uplink channel, or to schedule repetitive transmissions of a same data block.

In some embodiments, the scheduling grant and the grant associated with the scheduling grant, may be configured, activated or indicated with independent transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states. In some embodiments, the scheduling grant and the grant associated with the scheduling grant, may be from different control resource sets (CORESETs), or may be associated with different values of coresetPoolIndex-r16 parameter. In some embodiments, the scheduling grant and the grant associated with the scheduling grant, may indicate a same hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processing number or identifier, or a same new number indicator (NDI). In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may receive a higher layer configuration. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may transmit the transmission block indication in the uplink channel to the wireless communication node, according to the higher layer configuration. In some embodiments, the higher layer configuration may be configured on a per CORESET basis, a per search space (SS) basis or a per CORESET pool basis.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may transmit the transmission block indication to the wireless communication node indication if an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) indicator has a value of <NUM>. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may transmit the transmission block indication in the uplink channel using at least one of the procedures of uplink control information (UCI) on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The procedures of UCI on a PUSCH may comprise code block segmentation, cyclic redundancy check (CRC) attachment, channel coding, rate matching, code block concatenation, or multiplexing of coded UCI bits to the PUSCH, wherein the UCI includes at least one of hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK), channel state information (CSI) part <NUM>, or CSI part <NUM>.

In some embodiments, offset values defined for the wireless communication device to determine a number of resources for multiplexing uplink control information (UCI) in the uplink channel may be used to determine a number of resources for multiplexing the transmission block indication in the uplink channel. In some embodiments, offset values defined for the wireless communication device to determine a number of resources for multiplexing the transmission block indication information in the uplink channel may be configured via higher layer configuration or indicated by the scheduling grant. In some embodiments, one or more bits of the transmission block indication may be arranged adjacent to an uplink control information (UCI) bit sequence. In some embodiments, one or more coded bits for the transmission block indication may be arranged adjacent to coded bits for uplink control information (UCI).

In some embodiments, a frequency hop of the uplink channel, modulated resource elements (REs) for the transmission block indication may be mapped after a first symbol that carries a demodulation reference signal (DMRS). In some embodiments, a frequency hop of the uplink channel, modulated resource elements (REs) for the transmission block indication may be mapped starting from a first symbol of the uplink channel which does not carry a DMRS.

At least one aspect is directed to a system, method, apparatus, or a computer-readable medium. A wireless communication node may transmit a scheduling grant of an uplink channel to a wireless communication device. The wireless communication node may receive the uplink channel from the wireless communication device. The wireless communication node may receive a transmission block indication for determining a transmission block size (TBS) of the uplink channel from the wireless communication device.

In some embodiments, the scheduling grant may comprise downlink control information (DCI) or a higher layer configuration to schedule the uplink channel. In some embodiments, the transmission block indication may indicate whether the TBS of the uplink channel is determined according to information of the scheduling grant. In some embodiments, the transmission block indication may indicate whether the TBS of the uplink channel is determined according to information of a grant associated with the scheduling grant. In some embodiments, scheduling repetitive transmissions of the uplink channel or scheduling repetitive transmissions of a same data block may comprise using the scheduling grant and the grant associated with the scheduling grant.

In some embodiments, the scheduling grant and the grant associated with the scheduling grant, may be configured, activated or indicated with independent transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states. In some embodiments, the scheduling grant and the grant associated with the scheduling grant, may be from different control resource sets (CORESETs), or may be associated with different values of coresetPoolIndex-r16 parameter. In some embodiments, the scheduling grant and the grant associated with the scheduling grant, may indicate a same hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processing number or identifier, or a same new number indicator (NDI). In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may transmit a higher layer configuration. In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may receive the transmission block indication in the uplink channel from the wireless communication device, according to the higher layer configuration. In some embodiments, the higher layer configuration may be configured on a per CORESET basis, a per search space (SS) basis or a per CORESET pool basis.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may receive the transmission block indication from the wireless communication device if an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) indicator has a value of <NUM>. In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may receive the transmission block indication in the uplink channel using at least one of the procedures of uplink control information (UCI) on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The procedures of UCI on a PUSCH may comprise code block segmentation, cyclic redundancy check (CRC) attachment, channel coding, rate matching, code block concatenation, or multiplexing of coded UCI bits to the PUSCH, wherein the UCI includes at least one of hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK), channel state information (CSI) part <NUM>, or CSI part <NUM>.

The following acronyms are used throughout the present disclosure:.

<FIG> illustrates a block diagram of an example wireless communication system <NUM> for transmitting and receiving wireless communication signals (e.g., OFDM/OFDMA signals) in accordance with some embodiments of the present solution. The system <NUM> may include components and elements configured to support known or conventional operating features that need not be described in detail herein. In one illustrative embodiment, system <NUM> can be used to communicate (e.g., transmit and receive) data symbols in a wireless communication environment such as the wireless communication environment <NUM> of <FIG>, as described above.

In a wireless communication system, two or more scheduling grants of an uplink channel (e.g., downlink control information (DCI), higher layer configurations, and/or other information) may trigger, cause and/or prompt the transmission of two or more uplink channels (e.g., physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and/or other uplink channels). For example, two DCIs may trigger/cause/prompt the transmission of two respective PUSCHs. The two or more uplink channels may carry and/or include a corresponding/same data block and/or separate/distinct data blocks. If two or more scheduling grants cause the transmission/scheduling of a same data block, the uplink channels may carry/include the same data block using a same data block size. A wireless communication node (e.g., a ground terminal, a base station, a gNB, an eNB, a transmit-receive point (TRP), or a serving node) may receive and/or obtain the same data block to perform soft combining (or any other method that combines or integrates data from multiple transmissions to minimize/avoid incomplete information and/or error). If two or more scheduling grants cause the transmission/scheduling of separate/distinct data blocks, the uplink channels may carry/include the separate/distinct data blocks using separate/distinct data block sizes.

In some embodiments, a wireless communication device (e.g., a UE, a terminal, or a served node) may receive/obtain at least one (but less than the full amount) of two or more scheduling grants sent/transmitted by the wireless communication node. For example, a blockage (e.g., blockage by a physical entity, signal interference, and/or other sources of blockage) may cause the wireless communication device to receive one of two DCIs transmitted by the wireless communication node. In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may receive/obtain at least one (but less than the full amount) of two or more uplink channels sent/transmitted by the wireless communication device. For example, a blockage may cause the wireless communication node to receive one of two PUSCHs transmitted by the wireless communication device.

The wireless communication node and the wireless communication device may extract, obtain, determine, and/or share the size of the data block(s). The wireless communication device may send, transmit, provide and/or broadcast a transmission block indication of the uplink channel to the wireless communication node. The transmission block indication of the uplink channel may inform and/or provide information of the size of the data block(s). For example, the wireless communication device may inform the wireless communication node via the transmission block indication if the size of the data block(s) of the uplink channel (e.g., PUSCH) is determined/specified/indicated by information of the scheduling grant (e.g., the scheduling DCI). The scheduling grant may be used to schedule the uplink channel. In another example, the wireless communication device may inform the wireless communication node via the transmission block indication if the size of the data block(s) of the uplink channel (e.g., PUSCH) is determined/specified/indicated by information of (not the scheduling grant itself, but) a grant associated with the scheduling grant.

If the size of the data block(s) is determined/specified/indicated by the scheduling grant, a first uplink channel (e.g., a first PUSCH carrying a data block) may be distinct/independent from a second uplink channel (e.g., a second PUSCH carrying a separate data block). The first and/or second uplink channels may use separate/distinct data block sizes to include/carry the data block(s). If the size of the data block(s) is determined/specified/indicated by the grant associated with the scheduling grant, the first uplink channel (e.g., the first PUSCH carrying a data block) may carry and/or include the same data block(s) as the second uplink channel (e.g., the second PUSCH carrying the same data block). The grant associated with the scheduling grant may be used to schedule the second uplink channel. The first and/or second uplink channels may use corresponding/equal data block sizes to include/carry the data block(s).

Referring now to <FIG>, depicted is a representation <NUM> of an example downlink transmission that utilizes multiple transmit-receive points (MTRP) and a single scheduling grant (e.g., DCI). Certain systems can support transmissions that use a single DCI and MTRP. In single DCI-based MTRP transmission(s), the wireless communication node(s) may schedule one or more downlink channel transmissions (e.g., physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmissions and/or other downlink channel transmissions) using one scheduling grant (e.g., DCI, radio resource control (RRC) signaling, and/or other indicators). For example, a PDSCH transmission from TRPO and/or a PDSCH transmission from TRP1 may be scheduled using DCI0. Either one of the one or more transmit-receive points (TRPs) may send/transmit/broadcast the scheduling grant (e.g., DCI, RRC signaling, and/or other grants). For example, TRP1 or TRP0 may send/transmit DCI0 to a wireless communication device. In some embodiments, two or more TRPs may send/transmit via one or more layers to the wireless communication device (e.g., UE <NUM>) at a given time. For example, TRP0 and TRP1 may send/transmit via Layer <NUM> and Layer <NUM> respectively to a UE <NUM>. In the case of ideal backhaul between two or more TRPs (e.g., TRP0 and TRP1), a single scheduling grant (e.g., DCI0 or another indicator) may provide and/or indicate information to schedule a downlink channel (e.g., a PDSCH via one or more layers from two TRPs) transmission. The downlink channel transmissions from the TRPs may use at least two layers (e.g., Layer <NUM>, Layer, <NUM>, and/or other layers). The at least two layers may be spatially multiplexed in the same physical time and/or frequency resources (e.g., the at least two layers may utilize a spatial division multiplexing (SDM) scheme).

Referring now to <FIG>, depicted is a representation <NUM> of an example downlink transmission utilizing MTRP and a single scheduling grant (e.g., DCI). In some embodiments, one or more TRPs may send/transmit/broadcast one or more downlink channels (e.g., PDSCH or other downlink channels) to a wireless communication device (e.g., a UE <NUM>) using a time division multiplexing (TDM) scheme. For example TRPO and/or TRP1 may transmit/send one or more PDSCHs (e.g., PDSCH0, PDSCH1, PDSCH2, PDSCH3 and/or other PDSCHs) to a UE <NUM> using TDM. In some embodiments, one or more downlink channels may include/carry (e.g., transport, communicate, convey) the same data block and/or information. For example, PDSCH0 and PDSCH1 may include/carry the same data block and/or information. In another example, PDSCH2 and PDSCH3 may include/carry the same data block and/or information. The downlink channels (e.g., PDSCHs) that include/carry the same data block may be referred to as repetition occasions or repetitive transmissions. The scheduling grant (e.g., DCI0) may provide/specify information to schedule the downlink transmission(s) (e.g., PDSCH0, PDSCH1, PDSCH2, and/or PDSCH3) from the one or more TRPs (e.g., TRPO and/or TRP1). Either one of the one or more TRPs may generate/transmit/provide the scheduling grant (e.g., DCI, RRC signaling, and/or other indicators). For example, TRPO or TRP1 may generate/send/transmit DCIO. The wireless communication node(s) may save/reduce DCI related (e.g., transmission, processing) overhead and/or improve/increase transmission reliability for PDSCH transmissions by using a single DCI.

The carrier frequencies of frequency range <NUM> (FR2) may exceed the carrier frequencies of other frequency ranges. For example, the carrier frequencies of FR2 may exceed the carrier frequencies of frequency range <NUM> (FR1) or other frequency ranges. In some embodiments, blockage may occur in FR <NUM> (or other frequency ranges). If blockage occurs, the blockage may affect/impact/impede the transmission(s) from one or more TRPs. For example, the blockage may affect/impact/impede the PDSCH (e.g., PDSCH0, PDSCH1, PDSCH2, and/or PDSCH3) transmissions from TRPO and/or TRP1. If the blockage affects/interrupts/impacts the transmission(s) from one TRP, the wireless communication device may still receive/obtain/detect the complete transmission(s) from another TRP (e.g., a TRP that is not affected by blockage). For example, if the blockage affects the transmission(s) from TRP0, the wireless communication device may receive the complete transmission(s) from TRP1 (e.g., the transmissions are repetition occasions). Therefore, using MTRP may enhance/improve the robustness of downlink channel transmissions (e.g., PDSCH transmissions) in FR2 (or other frequency ranges).

In some embodiments, the blockage may interrupt/affect the single scheduling grant (e.g., DCI) transmission from the wireless communication node (e.g., TRP). If the scheduling grant transmission is blocked, the wireless communication device may be unable to receive/obtain/decode the downlink channel transmission. For example, if the DCIO transmission from TRPO is blocked, the UE <NUM> may be unable to receive/decode the PDSCH0 and/or PDSCH1 transmissions. The DCI (or other scheduling grant) may include/provide scheduling information of the PDSCH, such as time/frequency resource location, modulation and coding scheme (MCS), and/or other information. The wireless communication device/node may use the information provided/indicated/specified by the DCI for the downlink channel (e.g., PDSCH) transmission.

Referring now to <FIG>, depicted is a representation <NUM> of an example downlink transmission that utilizes MTRP and two or more scheduling grants (e.g. two or more DCIs). Multiple DCI-based MTRP transmissions can be used to address scheduling grant transmission blockages. In some embodiments, two or more wireless communication nodes (e.g., TRPs) may transmit/send at least one scheduling grant each. For example, TRPO and TRP1 may each send/transmit a DCI (e.g., DCIO and DCI1 respectively). The scheduling grants (e.g., DCIO and/or DCI1) may provide/specify information to schedule the downlink channel transmissions. For example, DCIO and DCI1 may provide/specify information to schedule PDSCH0 and PDSCH1 respectively. The scheduling grant(s) transmissions from the two or more TRPs may provide/specify information to schedule separate/distinct downlink channel (e.g., PDSCH) transmissions. For example, DCIO may provide/specify information to schedule PDSCH0, which may be separate/distinct from PDSCH1. One or more values of the RRC parameter coresetPoolIndex-r16 (e.g., corresponding to a CORESET pool index, or other parameters) may be used to configure/determine the scheduling grants (e.g., the DCIs). In some embodiments, one or more values of coresetPoolIndex-r16 may indicate/correspond to a particular TRP.

Using MTRP and a plurality of scheduling grants may enhance/improve the reliability of downlink channel transmissions (e.g., PDSCH transmissions) in FR2 (or other frequency ranges). However, certain systems may fail to provide similar enhancements/improvements for uplink channel (e.g., PUSCH or other uplink channels) transmissions. The transmission power of uplink channel transmissions may be less than the transmission power of downlink channel transmissions. Therefore, it may be difficult to ensure uplink coverage and/or reliability. The systems and methods presented herein include a novel approach to improve and/or increase the reliability of uplink channel transmissions via redundancy/duplication, by at least <NUM>% (e.g., <NUM>, <NUM> or other percent) for example.

In some embodiments, transmissions that utilize MTRP and a single scheduling grant (e.g., DCI) may improve the reliability of uplink data transmissions. For example, the wireless communication device(s) may transmit two or more PUSCH repetitions using TDM and a single DCI (or other scheduling grant). In FR2, the use of analog beams may achieve beamforming gain and/or compensate the large pathloss. The narrow bandwidth of the analog beams may cause the analog beams to be highly vulnerable to blockage by an entity (e.g., human bodies). If the beam bandwidth is narrow, utilizing a single DCI and MTRP may be an ineffective approach. However, the wireless communication device may send/transmit/broadcast one or more uplink channels (e.g., PUSCHs) to one or more wireless communication nodes (e.g., TRPs). For example, the wireless communication device may use one or more analog beams to transmit one or more PUSCHs via one or more beam directions. In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may send/transmit a single scheduling grant (e.g., DCI) using a single beam. If the single beam is blocked, the wireless communication device may be unable to receive/obtain the scheduling grant. As a result, the wireless communication device may be unable to transmit the intended repetitions (e.g., PUSCH repetitions).

Referring now to <FIG> depicted is a representation <NUM> of an example uplink transmission that utilizes MTRP and two or more scheduling grants (e.g. two or more DCIs). Two or more uplink channel transmissions (e.g., PUSCH transmissions) may carry/include the same data block to improve and/or increase the reliability of uplink channel transmissions via redundancy/duplication. For example, PUSCHO and PUSCH1 may carry/include the same data block to improve the reliability via redundancy/repetition.

The wireless communication node may receive/obtain the uplink channel transmissions and perform soft combining on the received transmissions. Therefore, the two or more uplink channel transmissions (e.g., PUSCHO and PUSCH1) may carry a same data block with equal/corresponding transmission block size (TBS). For example, PUSCHO and PUSCH1 may carry/include a data block with equal/corresponding TBS. The wireless communication node may receive/obtain the transmissions and perform soft combining on PUSCHO and PUSCH1. The scheduling grant (e.g., the scheduling DCI and/or higher layer configuration) may specify/provide/indicate scheduling information (e.g., the amount of time resources, the amount of frequency resources, the MCS, and/or other information). In some embodiments, the scheduling information may be used to determine the TBS. The wireless communication node may determine/identify/configure the TBS of an uplink channel transmission by using the scheduling information provided by the corresponding scheduling grant (e.g., the corresponding DCI and/or higher layer configuration). For example, the wireless communication node may determine the TBS of PUSCHO by using the scheduling information provided by DCIO. In another example, the wireless communication node may determine the TBS of PUSCH1 by using the scheduling information provided by DCI1.

Two or more scheduling grants (e.g., DCI) may include/indicate/provide distinct and/or different scheduling information. For example, DCIO may include/indicate scheduling information that is distinct from the scheduling information provided by DCI1. If the scheduling information of the scheduling grants is distinct/separate, the TBS of the uplink channel transmissions may be distinct/different. For example, DCIO and DCI1 may specify/indicate separate scheduling information. Therefore, the TBS of PUSCHO and the TBS of PUSCH1 may be distinct/different as specified by the corresponding scheduling grant (e.g., DCIO and DCI1 respectively). In order to ensure an equal/corresponding TBS between two or more uplink channel transmissions, the scheduling grant corresponding to a first uplink transmission may be used to transmit/send a second (or other) uplink transmission. For example, the wireless communication device may utilize the scheduling grant corresponding to PUSCHO (e.g., DCI0) to determine/configure the TBS of PUSCH1. In another example, the wireless communication device may utilize DCI1 to determine/configure the TBS of PUSCHO. In this example, the wireless communication device may utilize the corresponding scheduling grant of the uplink transmission (e.g., PUSCH0) to determine other types of scheduling information (e.g., frequency resource allocation, antenna port indication and/or other types of information). For example, the wireless communication device may utilize DCI1 to determine the TBS of PUSCHO and DCIO to determine the antenna port indication.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may receive/obtain at least one (but less than the full amount) of two or more scheduling grants sent/transmitted by the wireless communication node (e.g., due to blockage). The wireless communication node may configure/activate/indicate the scheduling grants using independent/separate analog beams. A single analog beam may correspond to a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, a quasi-co-location (QCL) configuration set, a spatial relation information, and/or a sounding reference signal (SRS) indicator (SRI). In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may receive/obtain at least one (but less than the full amount) of two or more uplink transmissions from the wireless communication device (e.g., due to blockage). The wireless communication node and/or the wireless communication device may be unable to predict/anticipate the blockage (e.g., the blockage occurs randomly).

In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may send/transmit at least one (but less than the full amount) of two or more scheduling grants (e.g., DCI and/or higher layer configuration) to improve flexibility and/or capability. In some embodiments, one or more uplink channel transmissions may carry/include separate data blocks with separate transmission block sizes. For example, PUSCH1 and PUSCHO may carry/include distinct data blocks with separate transmission block sizes (e.g., the PUSCH transmissions may represent/correspond to separate/distinct transmissions).

In some embodiments, one or more uplink channel transmissions may include/carry the same data block (e.g., the transmissions may have a corresponding/equal TBS). Two or more scheduling grants may be associated if they are used to schedule two or more uplink transmissions carrying/including the same data block. For example, DCIO and DCI1 may be associated if they are used to schedule two PUSCHs that carry/include the same data block. The wireless communication node may inform/indicate/specify to the wireless communication device that two or more scheduling grants (e.g., DCI and/or higher layer configuration) are associated/linked. For example, TRPO and/or TRP1 may provide information to the UE <NUM> that indicates DCIO and DCI1 are associated.

The wireless communication node may provide/specify the association information via an indicator, a scheduling grant, a message, a transmission, and/or other methods. For example, the wireless communication node may send/transmit two or more DCIs (e.g., DCIO and DCI1) that carry/include a same/associated hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processing number (or other indicator/number). Higher layer signaling (or other types of signaling) may configure and/or predetermine whether two or more HARQ processing numbers are associated. The wireless communication device may receive/obtain the two or more DCIs (or other scheduling grants) and may determine whether the corresponding HARQ numbers (or other indicators/numbers) are the same/associated. For example, UE <NUM> may receive DCIO and DCI1, each including/carrying a HARQ processing number. The UE <NUM> may determine whether the HARQ number of DCIO and the HARQ number of DCI1 are the same/associated. If the HARQ numbers are the same/associated, the wireless communication device may determine the two or more uplink transmissions (e.g., PUSCHO and PUSCH1) that are scheduled with the DCIs are repetitive transmissions. Therefore, the wireless communication device may determine that the DCIs (e.g., DCIO and DCI1) are associated. If the HARQ numbers are distinct/unequal, the wireless communication device may determine that the two or more uplink transmissions (e.g., PUSCHO and PUSCH1) are distinct/independent (e.g., the DCIs are unassociated).

In some embodiments, the scheduling grants may be associated with distinct/separate control resource sets (CORESETs) and/or coresetPoolIndex-r16 (or other higher layer signaling parameters). The coresetPoolIndex-r16 may indicate/specify/provide the index of the CORESET pool. Two or more scheduling grants associated with separate CORESETs and/or coresetPoolIndex-r16 may include/indicate/specify the same HARQ processing number (e.g., the two or more scheduling grants may be associated). For example, DCI1 and DCIO may carry/include the same HARQ processing number and each be associated with a separate CORESET. Therefore, DCI1 and DCIO may be associated/linked (e.g., the DCIs carry/include the same HARQ number). In some embodiments, a new number indicator (NDI) may provide information indicating/specifying whether two or more scheduling grants are associated. For example, two DCIs (or other scheduling grants) that carry/include/specify the same NDI may be associated.

In some embodiments, misalignment/miscommunication may occur between the wireless communication node and the wireless communication device. The embodiments discussed herein are non-limiting examples that describe alignment and/or misalignment cases.

Case <NUM>: The wireless communication node may transmit/send two or more scheduling grants to schedule two or more repetitive uplink transmissions (e.g., repetition occasions). The wireless communication device may receive/obtain the two or more scheduling grants.

Case <NUM>: The wireless communication node may transmit/send a single scheduling grant to schedule a single uplink transmission. In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may transmit/send two or more scheduling grants to schedule independent/distinct/separate uplink channel transmissions.

Case <NUM>: The wireless communication node may send/transmit two or more scheduling grants for scheduling two or more repetitive transmissions (e.g., repetition occasions). The wireless communication device may receive/obtain at least one (but less than the full amount) of the two or more scheduling grants due to blockage. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may receive/obtain one of the two or more scheduling grants.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may send/transmit a transmission block (TB) indication to the wireless communication node to determine information (e.g., TBS) of a scheduled uplink data transmission. The wireless communication device may report/indicate whether the TBS of the uplink transmission is determined by using the corresponding scheduling grant. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may report/indicate whether the TBS of the uplink transmission is determined by using a grant associated with the scheduling grant (e.g., a grant associated with the scheduling grant). For example, the UE <NUM> may report/indicate whether the TBS of PUSCHO is determined by using the scheduling information of the corresponding scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI0). In another example, the UE <NUM> may report/indicate whether the TBS of PUSCHO is determined by using the scheduling information of the grant associated with the scheduling grant (e.g., DCI1).

In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may transmit/send/report/convey/communicate a TB indication. The TB indication may report/specify/indicate whether the TBS of the uplink channel transmission is determined by using the scheduling information of the scheduling grant (e.g., DCI, higher layer configuration, or other grants). The TB indication may report/specify/indicate whether the TBS of the uplink channel transmission is determined by using the scheduling information of a grant associated with the scheduling grant. The association between the scheduling grant and the grant(s) associated with the scheduling grant may indicate that the grants can schedule repetitive transmissions of a same data block. The uplink transmissions that are scheduled using the associated grants may be repetitive transmissions (e.g., repetition occasions).

The scheduling grant and the grant associated with the scheduling grant may be from different CORESETs and/or be associated with different values of coresetPoolIndex-r16 (or CORESET pool). A beam (e.g., corresponding to a TCI state and/or spatial relation information) may be configured on a per CORESET basis. Therefore, the scheduling grant and the grant associated with the scheduling grant may be from different CORESETs (or be associated with different values of coresetPoolIndex-r16) to achieve beam diversity gain. In some embodiments, the scheduling grant and the grant associated with the scheduling grant may be from separate TRPs.

In some embodiments, the TB indication may specify whether the TBS of an uplink transmission is determined by using the scheduling grant or the grant associated with the scheduling grant. For example, the TB indication may specify/indicate that the TBS is determined by using the scheduling information of the scheduling grant. In another example, the TB indication may specify/indicate that the TBS is determined by using the scheduling information of the grant associated with the scheduling grant. If the TBS is determined by using the scheduling grant (e.g., the scheduling DCI), the uplink channel transmission may be independent/distinct from other uplink transmissions. For example, PUSCHO may be independent/distinct from PUSCH1 if the TBS of PUSCHO is determined/configured by using DCIO. In this example, the wireless communication device may schedule PUSCH1 by using the scheduling information of DCI1.

If the TBS is determined by using the grant associated with the scheduling grant (e.g., an associated DCI), the uplink channel transmission may be a repetitive transmission (e.g., repetition occasion) of another uplink channel transmission. For example, PUSCHO and PUSCH1 may be repetitive transmissions if the TBS of both PUSCHs is determined/configured by using DCI1 for instance. The wireless communication device may determine the TBS of the repetitive transmission by using a grant associated with the scheduling grant. The TBS of the repetitive transmissions may be the same. If the uplink transmissions are repetitive transmissions, the scheduling grant and the grant associated with the scheduling grant may be associated/linked. The associated grants of the repetitive transmissions may include/carry/specify a same/corresponding/associated HARQ processing number/identification (or other indicator). The associated grants may be from separate/different CORESETs and/or associated with separate/different values of coresetPoolIndex-r16. In some embodiments, the associated grants may include/carry/specify a same/corresponding/associated NDI. In some embodiments, the associated grants may include/carry/specify a same/corresponding/associated carrier indicator and/or bandwidth part indicator.

In some embodiments, the uplink channel transmission may carry, include, provide, and/or specify the TB indication. A higher layer configuration (e.g., RRC signaling, medium access control control elements (MAC CE) signaling, or other configurations/signaling) may determine/indicate whether the uplink transmission (e.g., PUSCH) includes the TB indication. The higher layer configuration may be configured per CORESET, search space (SS), and/or CORESET pool (e.g., per coresetPoolIndex-r16 and/or TRP). The wireless communication node may schedule the uplink transmission using a scheduling grant (e.g., DCI) associated with the CORESET, SS, or TRP. The uplink channel transmission may carry/include the TB indicator to report/specify/indicate whether the uplink channel transmission is a repetitive transmission. For instance, if a PUSCH is scheduled by a DCI associated with a CORESET, a SS, or a TRP that is configured with a TB indication, the PUSCH may carry/include the TB indication. The PUSCH may carry the TB indication to indicate/specify that the TBS of the PUSCH is based on the scheduling DCI or the DCI associated with the scheduling DCI. If a PUSCH is scheduled by a DCI associated with a CORESET, a SS, or a TRP that is not configured with the TB indication, the indicator may be excluded from the PUSCH. The TBS of the PUSCH may be based on the scheduling DCI, rather than on another DCI. In some embodiments, higher layer signaling may comprise RRC signaling or MACCE signaling.

The wireless communication node and/or device may utilize the TB indicator to determine/specify the TBS. Therefore, the wireless communication device may transmit/send the TB indicator only if the uplink shared channel indicator (UL-SCH) of the scheduling grant (e.g., DCI) has a value of one. The TB indication may be used to determine the data block size. Therefore, the TB indication can exist only if the UL-SCH (uplink shared channel and/or UL data) indicator in the DCI has a value of one. The UL-SCH may comprise one or more bits. If the UL-SCH has a value of one, the uplink channel transmission may include/indicate/specify the UL-SCH. If the UL-SCH has a value of zero, the uplink channel transmission may exclude the UL-SCH.

The DCI may be used to schedule an uplink channel transmission (e.g., PUSCH). In some embodiments, a RRC configuration (or RRC signal) may determine, indicate and/or specify the scheduling of semi-persistent uplink channel transmissions (e.g., semi-persistent PUSCH occasions). Therefore, the systems and methods disclosed herein may be utilized for PUSCH transmissions that are scheduled using RRC configuration. In some embodiments, the RRC configuration may replace/substitute the DCI. Independent/separate beams may configure, activate, and/or indicate the PUSCHs transmissions that are scheduled using at least two grants (e.g., DCI and/or RRC configuration).

The wireless communication node may receive/obtain the TB indication from the wireless communication device. The wireless communication node may decode the received TB indication to determine the TBS of the uplink channel. The wireless communication device may utilize the information provided by the decoded TB indication to decode the uplink channel. In some embodiments, the uplink channel may carry/include the TB indication. The wireless communication device may send/transmit the TB indication of the uplink channel with UL-SCH using at least one of the procedures of uplink control information (UCI) transmissions. The UCI may comprise at least one of HARQ acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK), channel state information (CSI) part <NUM>, and/or CSI part <NUM>. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may transmit the TB indication using at least one of code block segmentation, cyclic redundancy check (CRC) attachment, channel coding, rate matching, code block concatenation, and/or multiplexing of coded UCI bits to the PUSCH. The embodiments discussed herein are non-limiting examples that describe options or implementations for mapping the TB indication to the uplink channel (e.g., PUSCH).

In some embodiments, the modulated REs of the TB indication may be mapped/placed starting from a first symbol of the uplink channel which does not carry a DMRS. If intra-slot PUSCH hopping is enabled, in a frequency hop of the uplink channel, modulated resource elements (REs) for the transmission block indication may be mapped starting from a first symbol of the uplink channel that excludes/omits a DMRS.

<FIG> illustrates a flow diagram of a method <NUM> of enhancing the reliability of uplink transmissions. The method <NUM> may be implemented using any of the components and devices detailed herein in conjunction with <FIG>. In overview, the method <NUM> may include receiving a scheduling grant (<NUM>). The method <NUM> may include transmitting an uplink channel (<NUM>). The method <NUM> may include determining whether the UL-SCH indicator has a value of one (<NUM>). The method <NUM> may include transmitting the transmission block indication (<NUM>). The method <NUM> may include omitting a transmission block indication (<NUM>).

Referring now to operation (<NUM>), and in some embodiments, a wireless communication device (e.g., a terminal node or a UE) may receive and/or obtain a scheduling grant from a wireless communication node (e.g., a base station or a gNB). The wireless communication node may generate/send/transmit/broadcast the scheduling grant to the wireless communication device. For example, the UE <NUM> may receive/obtain one or more scheduling grants from one or more TRPs (e.g., TRPO and/or TRP1). The wireless communication node may send/transmit the scheduling grant using a downlink channel (e.g., PDCCH) and/or other types of channels. The scheduling grant may comprise downlink control information (DCI), a higher layer configuration, and/or other indicators/configurations to schedule the uplink channel. The higher layer configuration may comprise RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, and/or other types of signaling. The scheduling grant may support the transmission of the uplink/downlink channels (e.g., DL-SCH, UL-SCH, and/or other channels). The scheduling grants may include/provide resource allocation information, modulation and coding scheme(s), transmit power information, HARQ number/indicator information, precoding information, and/or other types of information.

Referring now to operation (<NUM>), and in some embodiments, the wireless communication device may transmit and/or send an uplink channel to the wireless communication node. The uplink channel may comprise a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or other types of uplink channels. The wireless communication node may receive/obtain the uplink channel from the wireless communication device. For example, a TRP may receive/obtain a PUSCH from the UE <NUM>. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may utilize the scheduling grant to configure the uplink channel transmission. For example, UE <NUM> may utilize information provided by DCIO to configure the transmission of PUSCHO. The wireless communication device may utilize the TBS information indicated/provided by the scheduling grant to configure the uplink channel transmission. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may send/transmit the uplink channel responsive to receiving the scheduling grant.

Referring now to operation (<NUM>), and in some embodiments, the wireless communication device may determine whether the UL-SCH indicator has a value of <NUM>. The scheduling grant may comprise/include/specify/carry the UL-SCH indicator and/or other indicators. Prior to transmitting the TB indication, the wireless communication device may determine whether the UL-SCH indicator (or other indicators) has a value of <NUM>. For example, the wireless communication device may receive the scheduling grant (e.g., DCI0) from the wireless communication node. Responsive to receiving the scheduling grant, the wireless communication device may determine whether the UL-SCH indicator included in the scheduling grant has a value of <NUM>. If the UL-SCH indicator has a value of <NUM> (e.g., indicating that there is data for transmission), the wireless communication device may transmit/send the UL-SCH and/or TB indication using the uplink channel (e.g., PUSCH0). In another example, if the UL-SCH indicator has a value of <NUM>, the wireless communication device may exclude/omit the UL-SCH and/or TB indication from the uplink transmission. Other values distinct from <NUM> or <NUM> may be used to indicate the inclusion or exclusion of the UL-SCH and/or TB indication from the uplink transmission. The TB indication may indicate/specify information of the TBS of the uplink channel transmission.

Referring now to operation (<NUM>), and in some embodiments, the wireless communication device may transmit/configure/generate the transmission block (TB) indication. The wireless communication device may transmit the TB indication responsive to determining that the UL-SCH indicator has a value of <NUM>. For example, the wireless communication device may determine that the UL-SCH indicator included in the scheduling grant has a value of <NUM>. Responsive to the determination, the wireless communication device may transmit the TB indication to the wireless communication node. Therefore, the wireless communication node may receive/obtain the TB indication from the wireless communication device. A value of <NUM> of the scheduling grant may indicate uplink data is available for transmission. The wireless communication device may transmit/send the TB indication and the uplink channel separately. For example, the wireless communication device may send/transmit the TB indication (e.g., via a message, transmission or signal) without using the PUSCH transmission.

Referring now to operation (<NUM>), and in some embodiments, the wireless communication device may omit/skip the transmission/configuration/generation of the TB indication. The wireless communication device may omit/bypass/skip the TB indication responsive to determining the UL-SCH indicator has a value distinct from <NUM>. For example, the wireless communication device may determine that the UL-SCH indicator included in the scheduling grant has a value of <NUM>. Responsive to the determination, the wireless communication device may omit/exclude (e.g., not incorporate) the TB indication from the uplink transmission to the wireless communication node. The wireless communication node may receive the uplink transmission without the TB indication. A value of <NUM> of the scheduling grant may indicate that uplink data is unavailable for transmission.

The TB indication may indicate/specify whether the TBS of the uplink channel is determined according to information of the scheduling grant and/or according to information of a grant associated with the scheduling grant. For example, the TB indication may indicate whether the TBS of PUSCHO is determined according to DCIO or DCI1. The information of the grants may comprise an amount of time resources, an amount of frequency resources, a modulation and coding scheme, and/or other information. The wireless communication device may use the scheduling grant and/or the grant associated with the scheduling grant to schedule repetitive transmissions of the uplink channel. The wireless communication device may use the scheduling grant and/or the grant associated with the scheduling grant to schedule repetitive transmissions of a same data block. For example, the wireless communication device may utilize either DCIO or DCI1 to schedule repetitive transmissions of a PUSCH. The association between the grants may indicate/specify that two or more uplink transmissions are repetitive transmissions (e.g., uplink transmission have the same TBS). For example, if DCI1 and DCIO are associated with each other, the association may indicate that PUSCHO and PUSCH1 are repetitive transmissions.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may receive/obtain a higher layer configuration (e.g., RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, and/or other type of signaling) to transmit the TB indication in the uplink channel. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may utilize the higher layer configuration to determine whether the TB indication is included in the uplink channel. The wireless communication node may send/transmit the higher layer configuration to the wireless communication device. Therefore, the wireless communication node may configure/indicate/specify whether the TB indication is included in the uplink channel. The wireless communication device may transmit/send the TB indication according to the higher layer configuration. For example, RRC signaling may specify the TB indication is included in the uplink channel. Therefore, the wireless communication device may transmit/send the TB indication using the uplink channel. The wireless communication node may receive/obtain the TB indication according to the higher layer configuration. For example, the wireless communication node may transmit/send the higher layer configuration to the wireless communication device specifying the exclusion of the TB indication. Therefore, the wireless communication node may receive/obtain the uplink channel transmission without the TB indication. The higher layer configuration may be configured/determined on a per CORESET basis, a per SS basis, and/or a per CORESET pool basis.

The wireless communication device may transmit/send the TB indication in the uplink channel using (e.g., adopting, adapting) at least one of the procedures of UCI on PUSCH. The procedures may comprise code block segmentation, CRC attachment, channel coding, rate matching, code block concatenation, multiplexing of coded UCI bits to the PUSCH, and/or other procedures. The UCI may include/comprise at least one of HARQ-ACK, CSI part <NUM> or CSI part <NUM>. In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may receive/obtain the TB indication in the uplink channel using at least one of the procedures of UCI on PUSCH. For example, the mechanism(s) of UCI code block segmentation, CRC attachment, channel coding, rate matching, code block concatenation, and/or multiplexing of coded UCI bits may be reused or adapted for the TB indication. In some embodiments, one or more bits of the TB indication may be arranged/placed/mapped adjacent to a UCI bit sequence. For example, the TB indication may be arranged prior to or following the UCI bit sequence. In some embodiments, the one or more coded bits of the TB indication may be arranged/placed/mapped adjacent to a UCI bit sequence. For example, the coded bits of the TB indication may be arranged prior to and/or following the UCI bit sequence. The coded bits of the TB indication may appear distinct, but can be arranged adjacent to the UCI bit sequence.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may configure/activate/indicate the scheduling grant and/or the grant associated with the scheduling grant with independent/separate/distinct TCI states. Therefore, the scheduling grant and/or the grant associated with the scheduling grant may be associated/linked to an independent TCI state. For example, a TRP may configure/activate/indicate DCIO and/or DCI1 with independent TCI states. In some embodiments, a single analog beam may correspond to a single TCI state. The scheduling grant and/or the grant associated with the scheduling grant may be from different CORESETs. For example, DCIO and DCI1 (associated with DCI0) may be from different CORESETs. The scheduling grant and/or the grant associated with the scheduling grant may be associated with different values of the coresetPoolIndex-r16 parameter. For example, two associated grants (e.g., DCIO and DCI1) may be from different CORESETs and/or be associated with different values of the coresetPoolIndex-r16 parameter (or other parameters). In some embodiments, the scheduling grant and/or the grant associated with the scheduling grant may indicate/specify/include a same HARQ processing number/identifier or other numbers/identifiers. The scheduling grant and/or the grant associated with the scheduling grant may indicate/specify/include a same NDI and/or other indicators. For example, if two DCIs are associated, the DCIs may indicate/specify a same HARQ processing number and/or NDI (or other numbers/indicators). In some embodiments, two or more scheduling grants from separate/distinct CORESETs (or associated with different values of coresetPoolIndex-r16) may indicate/specify/include a same HARQ processing number, NDI, and/or other numbers/indicators.

In some embodiments, offset values may be defined for the wireless communication device. The offset values may be used to determine a number of resources for multiplexing the TB indication in the uplink channel. The offset values may be used to determine a number of resources for multiplexing UCI and/or TB indication information in the uplink channel. The offset values may be configured/determined via higher layer configuration (e.g., RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, and/or other types of signaling). In some embodiments, the offset values may be indicated/specified by the scheduling grant (e.g., DCI). An uplink channel (e.g., PUSCH) may comprise/include two or more frequency hops. Each of the frequency hops may be scheduled via one or more frequency resources. A frequency hop of the uplink channel may comprise/include modulated resource elements (REs) for the TB indication. In some embodiments, modulated REs may be mapped/associated after a first symbol that carries a DMRS. In some embodiments, modulated REs may be mapped/associated starting from a first symbol of the uplink channel which does not carry a DMRS.

Claim 1:
A method, comprising:
receiving, by a wireless communication device from a wireless communication node, a scheduling grant of an uplink channel;
transmitting, by the wireless communication device to the wireless communication node, the uplink channel; and
transmitting, by the wireless communication device to the wireless communication node, a transmission block indication for determining a transmission block size, TBS, of the uplink channel, wherein the transmission block indication is indicative of whether the TBS of the uplink channel is determined according to information of the scheduling grant.