Patent Description:
Mobile communication has evolved significantly from early voice systems to today's highly sophisticated integrated communication platform. The next generation wireless communication system, <NUM>, or new radio (NR) will provide access to information and sharing of data anywhere, anytime by various users and applications. NR is expected to be a unified network/system that targets to meet vastly different and sometimes contradictory performance dimensions and services. Such diverse multi-dimensional requirements are driven by different services and applications. In general, NR will evolve based on 3GPP LTE-Advanced with additional potential new Radio Access Technologies (RATs) to enrich people's lives with better, simple and seamless wireless connectivity. NR will enable ubiquitous connected by wireless and deliver fast, rich contents and services.

Uplink control information (UCI) is used for providing the scheduler and the hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) protocol with information about the condition at UE. Typically it requires more robust performance than data channel.

<NPL>, relates to multiplexing of uplink control information on PUSCH resources. In particular, the document proposes a distributed mapping pattern with front-loaded reference signals and time domain multiplexing in frequency clusters for UCI multiplexed with UL data in PUSCH.

The figures are not to scale. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like parts.

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the various aspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examples that depart from these specific details. In certain instances, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and processes are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary detail. For the purposes of the present document, the phrase "A or B" means (A), (B), or (A and B).

For NR, uplink control information (UCI) may include scheduling request (SR), hybrid automatic repeat request - acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback, channel state information (CSI) report, e.g., channel quality indicator (CQI), pre-coding matrix indicator (PMI), CSI resource indicator (CRI) and rank indicator (RI) and/or beam related information (e.g., L1-RSRP (layer <NUM>- reference signal received power)).

As agreed in NR, UCI on physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) is supported in addition to simultaneous physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and PUSCH transmission. In the case when the UCI payload size is large, it may be carried in PUSCH to improve the link budget.

Further, with regard to encoding of CSI parameters for PUSCH-based reporting, for Type I CSI feedback, a CSI report is composed of up to <NUM> parts wherein the first CSI part includes RI/CRI, CQI for the first codeword (CW) and the second CSI part includes PMI and CQI for the second CW when RI > <NUM>. For Type II CSI feedback, a CSI report is composed of up to <NUM> or <NUM> parts.

Note that the payload size for the first CSI part may be predetermined, with potential zero padding which may depend on configuration. The payload size for second CSI part may be variable, which may be derived based on the content of the first CSI part.

It was agreed in NR that at least for periodic CSI report configured by RRC and aperiodic CSI report triggered by UL grant, the UL data is rate-matched around the UCI. In this case, if the design principle in LTE is applied to the multiplexing of CSI on PUSCH, the resource allocated to the PUSCH may be calculated according to the resource for the CSI report and total available allocated resource. Given that the resource allocated to the transmission of second CSI part depends on the content of the first CSI part as mentioned above, if the first CSI part is miss detected, gNB (Base Station in NR) may not be able to determine correctly the resource allocated to the transmission of the second CSI part and thus UL data such as uplink (UL) shared channel (UL-SCH), which would lead to decoding failure of the PUSCH. To address this issue, certain mechanism may be defined such that even if gNB misses detecting the first CSI part, gNB may still be able to decode the PUSCH successfully.

<FIG> illustrates the multiplexing scheme for UCI on PUSCH in LTE. Note that in order to resolve ambiguity issue between eNB and UE due to miss detection of physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carrying DL assignment, hybrid automatic repeat request - acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback is punctured into the encoded data bits. In this case, regardless of the presence of HARQ-ACK feedback, eNB may still be able to decode the uplink transmission from non-punctured data symbols. Further, encoded HARQ-ACK symbols are placed on single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols adjacent to Demodulation - Reference Signal (DM-RS) position, which may deliver better channel estimation quality and decoding performance. For other uplink control information (UCI) types, rank indicator (RI) is located on the symbols next to HARQ-ACK symbols by employing a similar mapping scheme, while channel quality indicator (CQI) and precoding matrix indicator (PMI) are mapped sequentially to all SC-FDMA symbols in a time first manner using same modulation scheme as data transmission.

Turning now to the embodiments, embodiments disclosed herein may be directed to resource mapping schemes, which is used by user equipment (UE) such as such as UE <NUM> or <NUM>, for uplink signal on PUSCH.

Embodiments of resource mapping schemes for uplink signal on PUSCH may include the following:.

<FIG> illustrates frequency first mapping applied to the transmission of the CSI report, in accordance with the invention. <FIG> illustrates time first mapping applied to the transmission of the CSI report, in accordance with some embodiments.

The same resource mapping manner, either time first mapping shown in <FIG> or frequency first mapping shown in <FIG>, may be applied to the transmission of the first CSI part and the second CSI part. According to the invention, frequency first mapping is applied.

In either mapping manner, the first CSI part may be mapped to the resource(s) which are not allocated to the HARQ-ACK feedback, then the second CSI part may be mapped to the resource(s) which are not allocated to the HARQ-ACK feedback and the first CSI part.

The amount of the resource allocated to the first CSI part may be determined in accordance with a configured parameter and the modulation order applied to the transmission of the first CSI part.

In an embodiment, the same modulation order may be applied to the transmission of the first and second CSI part, which may be same as that applied to the transmission of UL data in the same layer. Alternatively, to ensure more robust performance for the first CSI part, Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) may be applied to the transmission of the first CSI part, while same modulation order is applied to the transmission of second CSI part and UL data in the same layer.

Note that, the resource mapping manner of the first CSI part and the second CSI part may be same as or different than that of the UL data on PUSCH (UL-SCH). In an embodiment, the frequency first mapping manner may be applied to the PUSCH transmission with cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) waveform. In this embodiment, the frequency first resource mapping manner may also be applied to the transmission of the first CSI part and second CSI part.

In another embodiment, if time first mapping manner is applied to the PUSCH transmission with discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) waveform, the time first resource mapping manner may also be applied to the transmission of the first CSI part and second CSI part.

In the embodiments shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, HARQ-ACK is either puncturing or rate-matching around the CSI report, depending on the payload size. Further, the first CSI part, the second CSI part, and the UL data may be mapped subsequently, in either time first or frequency first manner.

Note that, although for frequency first mapping as shown in <FIG>, the mapping starts from the first subcarrier of the allocated resource, the mapping may also start from the last subcarrier of the allocated resource. Similarly, although for time first mapping as shown in <FIG>, the mapping may start from the first symbol of the allocated resource, the mapping may also start from the last symbol of the allocated resource.

In embodiments, whether to employ time or frequency first mapping may be configured by higher layers via NR minimum system information (MSI), NR remaining minimum system information (RMSI), NR other system information (OSI) or radio resource control (RRC) signaling, or dynamically indicated in the DCI, or a combination thereof. The DCI may be indicated by the network node (e.g., gNB) in communication with the UE. Here, the terminology "higher layers signalling" which is widely used in 3GPP/RAN1 indicates radio resource control (RRC) signalling.

<FIG> illustrates hybrid resource mapping scheme with frequency first mapping manner for the transmission of CSI report on PUSCH, in accordance with some embodiments. <FIG> illustrates hybrid resource mapping scheme with time first mapping manner for the transmission of CSI report on PUSCH, in accordance with some embodiments. <FIG> illustrates hybrid resource mapping scheme where the allocated second resource region starts from the first symbol after the additional DM-RS symbol, in accordance with some embodiments.

As shown in <FIG>, in embodiments, a hybrid resource mapping may be employed for the transmission of the first and second CSI part on PUSCH, which may help in exploiting the benefit of both time and frequency diversity. Further, this may help to provide efficient processing of the decoding of CSI report.

According to the invention, one or more resource regions are allocated to the transmission of the first and second CSI part. In the case when a plurality of resource regions are allocated, the first CSI part may be mapped firstly in each allocated resource region, then the second CSI part. Further, same mapping manner, either time or frequency first mapping, may be applied to the transmission of the first and second CSI part in one or more allocated resource regions. According to the invention, frequency first mapping is applied. In addition, whether to allocate additional resource region(s) for the first and second CSI part and/or the HARQ-ACK feedback are configured by higher layers.

In one or more allocated resource regions, the starting position for the transmission of the first and second CSI part in time domain (in term of symbol) and frequency domain (in term of subcarrier or physical resource block (PRB)), may be predefined in the specification or configured by higher layers via MSI, RMSI, OSI, or RRC signaling. Alternatively, in one or more allocated resource regions, the starting position for the transmission of the first and second CSI part may be determined in accordance with the allocated resource for PUSCH.

In an embodiment, as shown in <FIG> or <FIG>, two resource regions may be allocated to the transmission of the first and second CSI part, where the first resource region may start from the first symbol after the first Demodulation reference signal (DM-RS), while the second resource region may start from the middle of the allocated PUSCH duration in time domain and/or the middle of subcarrier or PRB of the allocated PUSCH resource in frequency domain. Both time and frequency diversity may be exploited for the transmission of the CSI report on PUSCH.

In another embodiment, as shown in <FIG>, the second resource region may start from the first symbol after the additional DM-RS symbol. In this embodiment, better channel estimation performance may be expected for the transmission of CSI report on the second resource region.

<FIG> illustrates resource mapping scheme for UL data during PUSCH transmission, in accordance with some embodiments.

UL data, also referred as uplink shared channel (UL-SCH), is one of the key components that the resource may be allocated for besides the first and second parts of CSI report illustrated above and HARQ-ACK feedback to be illustrated later.

As mentioned above, in LTE the previous approach to allocate resource for the PUSCH transmission depends on the resource for the CSI report and the total available allocated resource, such that the resource allocated for the transmission of the second CSI part is calculated according to the content of the first CSI part. However, if the first CSI part is miss detected, a network node (e.g. gNB) may not be able to determine correctly the resource allocated for the transmission of the second CSI part and thus UL data, which might lead to decoding failure of the PUSCH. Therefore, embodiments are to find other approaches to allocate resource for UL data by determining the starting position for the UL data transmission in advance without gaining any information regarding the second CSI part.

In an embodiment, the starting position of the UL data transmission on PUSCH when UCI is multiplexed on PUSCH, in term of symbol index in time domain and subcarrier or physical resource block (PRB) index in frequency domain, can be predefined in the specification or configured by higher layers via MSI, RMSI, OSI or RRC signaling or dynamically indicated in the DCI or a combination thereof. Alternatively, the starting position of UL data transmission on PUSCH can be determined in accordance with the maximum payload size or offset parameter for the first and second CSI part. In the case when allocated resources for CSI report are not fully occupied, the UL data is wrapped around in form of resource and transmitted in the remaining resource within the allocated resources for the CSI report.

As shown in <FIG>, one example of the configured starting symbol of UL data on PUSCH in term of frequency first mapping scheme. In this example, assuming the starting symbol of UL data is predefined to be symbol #<NUM>. Furthermore, symbol #<NUM> with residual resource and its subsequent symbol #<NUM> are not occupied for the CSI report transmission. In order to use up the resource for all of the remaining symbol including symbol #<NUM> and #<NUM>, the resource allocated for UL data is configured to start from symbol #<NUM> to #<NUM> and then all the way to #<NUM>, and at the end of the symbol to be wrapped around from #<NUM> to # <NUM> and #<NUM>.

In one alternative, in the case of frequency first mapping for PUSCH, the staring symbol of UL data on PUSCH can be configured by higher layers or determined in accordance with the maximum payload size of the CSI report. In another alternative, in the case of time first mapping for PUSCH, the starting subcarrier or PRB of UL data on PUSCH can be configured by higher layer or determined in accordance with the maximum payload size of the CSI report.

In another embodiment, the resource allocated for the UL data transmission is mapped subsequently to the resource allocated for the first CSI part and the second CSI part. The mapping order for each resource region is the same as the embodiment described in <FIG>, i.e. the HARQ-ACK, the first CSI part, the second CSI part and the UL data.

As shown in <FIG>, another example of UL data resource mapping where the resource allocated for the UL data transmission is mapped subsequently to the resource allocated for the first CSI part and followed by the resources allocated for the second CSI part. That is to say, the mapping order for each resource region is the HARQ-ACK, the first CSI part, the UL data and the second CSI part.

In an embodiment, as illustrated in <FIG>, UL data is mapped after the first CSI part and the second part is mapped after the UL data. Given that the payload size of the first CSI part can be predetermined according to the CSI configuration, and the resource allocated for the first CSI part can be further determined in accordance with configured offset parameter, thus the starting position of UL data can be determined accordingly, which results in avoiding misalignment between the network node and the UE for decoding the UL data.

<FIG> illustrates mapping scheme of frequency hopping for PUSCH transmission, in accordance with some embodiments. This scheme may be used as a variation of hybrid resource mapping scheme as illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>. The UCI information bits, e.g. HARQ-ACK and/or CSI report etc., may be divided into substantially equal parts and transmitted in each frequency hop in which the mechanism employs frequency first mapping for the transmission of PUSCH.

In an embodiment, same mechanism can be employed for UCI on PUSCH. In particular, UCI including HARQ-ACK feedback, and/or the first and/or second CSI part can be divided into two parts, where each part is transmitted in each frequency hop. This can be equally split into N/<NUM> for the each part, where N is the even number of bits or allocated resources in terms of resource elements (REs) for the UCI, or can be split into floor(N/<NUM>) or ceil(N/<NUM>) for the first part, and ceil(N/<NUM>) or floor(N/<NUM>) for the second part where N is the odd number. The aforementioned resource mapping can be employed in each frequency hop. For instance, for each frequency hop, UL data is mapped after the first CSI part, and the second part is mapped after the UL data.

<FIG> illustrates joint coding of the HARQ-ACK feedback and the first CSI part, in accordance with some embodiments.

Regarding the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback on PUSCH, in NR, for slot-based scheduling, PUSCH is rate-matched if the HARQ-ACK feedback is more than <NUM> bits, and PUSCH is punctured, if the HARQ-ACK feedback is less than or equal to <NUM> bits.

In embodiments, as shown in <FIG>, in the case when payload size of the HARQ-ACK feedback is larger than <NUM> bits, a joint coding may be applied to the HARQ-ACK feedback and the first CSI part. In order to ensure more robust performance for HARQ-ACK, which may be critical to the system operation, additional encoding procedure may be applied to the HARQ-ACK prior to joint coding with the first CSI part.

Based on the coding scheme shown in <FIG>, the aforementioned resource mapping scheme for the first CSI part may be straightforwardly applied to the resource mapping for the joint encoded HARQ-ACK feedback with more than <NUM> bits and first CSI part.

<FIG> illustrates resource mapping scheme for the HARQ-ACK feedback, in accordance with some embodiments.

In embodiments, separate coding and resource mapping procedures may be applied to the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback and the first CSI part. In an embodiment, same resource mapping manner, either time first or frequency first mapping manner may be applied to the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback with more than <NUM> bits, the first CSI part and the second CSI part. Further, the HARQ-ACK feedback, the first CSI part, the second CSI part and the UL data may be mapped in the order of the HARQ-ACK feedback, the first CSI part, the second CSI part and the UL data, or in the order of the HARQ-ACK feedback, the first CSI part, the UL data or the second CSI part. The HARQ-ACK feedback may be mapped in the allocated resource, which is determined in accordance with a configured offset value.

In the embodiment as shown in <FIG>, frequency first mapping is applied to the HARQ-ACK with more than <NUM> bits, the first CSI part, and the second CSI part.

In embodiments, depending on the timeline of HARQ-ACK feedback, the starting symbol for the transmission of HARQ-ACK may be K symbols after the first symbol of the DM-RS. The value K may be configured by higher layers via MSI, RMSI, OSI or RRC signalling, or dynamically indicated in the DCI, or a combination thereof. Alternatively, the starting symbol for the transmission of HARQ-ACK may be determined in accordance with the HARQ-ACK delay as indicated in the DCI. The DCI may be indicated by the network node (e.g., gNB) in communication with the UE.

In the case of late DL assignment after UL grant, HARQ-ACK feedback may puncture the UL data. In this case, starting symbol for HARQ-ACK feedback puncturing is determined in accordance with the HARQ-ACK delay as indicated in the DCI for scheduling PDSCH. Depending on the HARQ-ACK delay, HARQ-ACK feedback may not be transmitted right after the DM-RS.

Note that, the above described resource mapping scheme may be straightforwardly applied to the mini-slot or non-slot based scheduling. Further, for Type II CSI report, the above described resource mapping scheme may be straightforwardly applied to the case when a CSI report is composed of three CSI parts.

<FIG> illustrates resource mapping scheme when Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PT-RS) is used, in accordance with some embodiments.

In embodiments, if the PT-RS is used for DFT-s-OFDM waveform, the UCI including the HARQ-ACK and the CSI may be mapped around the PT-RS as shown in <FIG>, where the priority order of the UCI is the HARQ-ACK, the first CSI part and the second CSI part. The UCI with highest priority may be mapped to the resource which is most closed to the PT-RS.

Note that, the above embodiments of resource mapping schemes as shown in <FIG> and description related to <FIG> are only examples, person skilled in the art can made any variation(s) and combination(s) thereof after reading and understanding the concepts in the embodiments.

<FIG> illustrates flow chart showing an example method for operating an example UE, in accordance with the invention. In an embodiment, the flow chart in <FIG> may be implemented in the UE <NUM> or <NUM> in <FIG>.

The method <NUM> begins with step <NUM>, in which the processor or processing circuit of UE, such as UE <NUM> or <NUM>, generates a uplink (UL) signal to be transmitted on physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) by using a resource mapping scheme, wherein at least a part of the resource mapping scheme is predefined, configured by higher layer signalling, or indicated in downlink control information (DCI).

In an embodiment, the processor or processing circuit of UE, such as UE <NUM> or <NUM>, may use the resource mapping scheme as shown in <FIG> and the above description related to <FIG>.

Then, the method <NUM> proceeds to step <NUM>, in which the transceiver interface of UE, such as UE <NUM> or <NUM>, transmits the generated UL signal.

The above steps are only examples, and in further embodiments the UE, such as UE <NUM> or <NUM> may perform any actions described in connection to <FIG>, to generate and transmit the UL signal including the HARQ-ACK feedback, the first CSI part, the second CSI part, and/or UL data on physical uplink shared channel in new radio.

<FIG> illustrates flow chart showing an example method for operating an example network node, in accordance with some examples not covered by the claims. In an embodiment, the flow chart in <FIG> may be implemented in the RAN nodes <NUM> and <NUM> in <FIG> or any other network node.

The method <NUM> may begin with step <NUM>, in which the processor or processing circuit of the RAN node, such as the RAN nodes <NUM> and <NUM>, may encode information, such as downlink control information (DCI), wherein the DCI indicates a resource mapping scheme. The resource mapping scheme may be used by the UE such as such as UE <NUM> or <NUM>, to generate an uplink (UL) signal to be transmitted on physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

Then, the method <NUM> may proceed to step <NUM>, in which the transceiver interface of the RAN node, such as the RAN nodes <NUM> and <NUM>, may transmit the encoded information such as DCI to the UE such as such as UE <NUM> or <NUM>.

In an embodiment, the processor or processing circuit of UE, such as UE <NUM> or <NUM>, may use the resource mapping scheme as shown in <FIG> and the above description related to <FIG>, in response of receiving the information such as DCI from the RAN node, such as the RAN nodes <NUM> and <NUM>.

The above steps are only examples, and the RAN node, such as the RAN nodes <NUM> and <NUM> or any other network node may perform any actions described in connection to <FIG>, to facilitate to generate and transmit the UL signal including the HARQ-ACK feedback, the first CSI part, the second CSI part, and/or UL data on physical uplink shared channel in new radio.

Note that, the above procedure in method <NUM> and <NUM> also may be implemented as computer readable instruction/medium, such as the instructions <NUM> in <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates architecture of a system <NUM> of a network, in accordance with some embodiments. The system <NUM> is shown to include a user equipment (UE) <NUM> and a UE <NUM>. The UEs <NUM> and <NUM> are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks), but may also comprise any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as Personal Data Assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handsets, or any computing device including a wireless communications interface.

In some embodiments, any of the UEs <NUM> and <NUM> can comprise an Internet of Things (IoT) UE, which can comprise a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. An IoT UE can utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communications (MTC) for exchanging data with an MTC server or device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), Proximity-Based Service (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks. The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange of data. An IoT network describes interconnecting IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure), with short-lived connections. The IoT UEs may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the IoT network.

The UEs <NUM> and <NUM> may be configured to connect, e.g., communicatively couple, with a radio access network (RAN) <NUM> - the RAN <NUM> may be, for example, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a NextGen RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. The UEs <NUM> and <NUM> utilize connections <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively, each of which comprises a physical communications interface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example, the connections <NUM> and <NUM> are illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols, such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular (POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth generation (<NUM>) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like.

These access nodes (ANs) can be referred to as base stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next Generation NodeBs (gNBs), RAN nodes, and so forth, and can comprise ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providing coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell).

Some embodiments may use concepts for resource allocation for control channel information that are an extension of the above-described concepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one or more enhanced the control channel elements (ECCEs). Similar to above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as an enhanced resource element groups (EREGs). An ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs in some situations.

The RAN <NUM> is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network (CN) <NUM> -via an S1 interface <NUM>. In embodiments, the CN <NUM> may be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC) network, or some other type of CN. In this embodiment the S1 interface <NUM> is split into two parts: the S1-U interface <NUM>, which carries traffic data between the RAN nodes <NUM> and <NUM> and the serving gateway (S-GW) <NUM>, and the S1-mobility management entity (MME) interface <NUM>, which is a signaling interface between the RAN nodes <NUM> and <NUM> and MMEs <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates example components of a device <NUM>, in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the device <NUM> may include application circuitry <NUM>, baseband circuitry <NUM>, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry <NUM>, front-end module (FEM) circuitry <NUM>, one or more antennas <NUM>, and power management circuitry (PMC) <NUM> coupled together at least as shown. The components of the illustrated device <NUM> may be included in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device <NUM> may include less elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize application circuitry <NUM>, and instead include a processor/controller to process IP data received from an EPC). In some embodiments, the device <NUM> may include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, or input/output (I/O) interface. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., said circuitries may be separately included in more than one device for Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementations).

The baseband circuitry <NUM> may include one or more baseband processors or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry <NUM> and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry <NUM>. Baseband processing circuity <NUM> may interface with the application circuitry <NUM> for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry <NUM>. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry <NUM> may include a third generation (<NUM>) baseband processor 1604A, a fourth generation (<NUM>) baseband processor 1604B, a fifth generation (<NUM>) baseband processor 1604C, or other baseband processor(s) 1604D for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation (<NUM>), sixth generation (<NUM>), etc.). The baseband circuitry <NUM> (e.g., one or more of baseband processors 1604A-D) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry <NUM>. In other embodiments, some or all of the functionality of baseband processors 1604A-D may be included in modules stored in the memory <NUM> and executed via a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 1604E. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry <NUM> may include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry <NUM> may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry <NUM> may include one or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 1604F. The audio DSP(s) 1604F may be include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry <NUM> and the application circuitry <NUM> may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry <NUM> may include mixer circuitry 1606A, amplifier circuitry 1606B and filter circuitry 1606C. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuitry <NUM> may include filter circuitry 1606C and mixer circuitry 1606A. RF circuitry <NUM> may also include synthesizer circuitry 1606D for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1606A of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1606A of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry <NUM> based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 1606D. The amplifier circuitry 1606B may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 1606C may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the baseband circuitry <NUM> for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 1606A of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1606A of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 1606D to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry <NUM>. The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry <NUM> and may be filtered by filter circuitry 1606C.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1606A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1606A of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1606A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1606A of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1606A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1606A may be arranged for direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1606A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1606A of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1606D may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+<NUM> synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 1606D may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

The synthesizer circuitry 1606D may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1606A of the RF circuitry <NUM> based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1606D may be a fractional N/N+<NUM> synthesizer.

Synthesizer circuitry 1606D of the RF circuitry <NUM> may include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+<NUM> (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 1606D may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry <NUM> may include an IQ/polar converter.

In various embodiments, the amplification through the transmitting or receiving signal paths may be done solely in the RF circuitry <NUM>, solely in the FEM <NUM>, or in both the RF circuitry <NUM> and the FEM <NUM>.

<FIG> shows the PMC <NUM> coupled only with the baseband circuitry <NUM>. However, in other embodiments, the PMC <NUM> may be additionally or alternatively coupled with, and perform similar power management operations for, other components such as, but not limited to, application circuitry <NUM>, RF circuitry <NUM>, or FEM <NUM>.

If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the device <NUM> may transition off to an RRC_Idle state, where it disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device <NUM> goes into a very low power state and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device <NUM> may not receive data in this state, in order to receive data, it must transition back to RRC_Connected state.

<FIG> illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry, in accordance with some embodiments. As discussed above, the baseband circuitry <NUM> of <FIG> may comprise processors 1604A-1604E and a memory <NUM> utilized by said processors. Each of the processors 1604A-1604E may include a memory interface, 1704A-1704E, respectively, to send/receive data to/from the memory <NUM>.

The baseband circuitry <NUM> may further include one or more interfaces to communicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, such as a memory interface <NUM> (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from memory external to the baseband circuitry <NUM>), an application circuitry interface <NUM> (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from the application circuitry <NUM> of <FIG>), an RF circuitry interface <NUM> (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from RF circuitry <NUM> of <FIG>), a wireless hardware connectivity interface <NUM> (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components), and a power management interface <NUM> (e.g., an interface to send/receive power or control signals to/from the PMC <NUM>).

<FIG> is an illustration of a control plane protocol stack, in accordance with some embodiments. In this embodiment, a control plane <NUM> is shown as a communications protocol stack between the UE <NUM> (or alternatively, the UE <NUM>), the RAN node <NUM> (or alternatively, the RAN node <NUM>), and the MME <NUM>.

The PHY layer <NUM> may transmit or receive information used by the MAC layer <NUM> over one or more air interfaces. The PHY layer <NUM> may further perform link adaptation or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC), power control, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization and handover purposes), and other measurements used by higher layers, such as the RRC layer <NUM>. The PHY layer <NUM> may still further perform error detection on the transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding/decoding of the transport channels, modulation/demodulation of physical channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, and Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna processing.

The MAC layer <NUM> may perform mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC service data units (SDUs) from one or more logical channels onto transport blocks (TB) to be delivered to PHY via transport channels, de-multiplexing MAC SDUs to one or more logical channels from transport blocks (TB) delivered from the PHY via transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), and logical channel prioritization.

The RLC layer <NUM> may operate in a plurality of modes of operation, including: Transparent Mode (TM), Unacknowledged Mode (UM), and Acknowledged Mode (AM). The RLC layer <NUM> may execute transfer of upper layer protocol data units (PDUs), error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ) for AM data transfers, and concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transfers. The RLC layer <NUM> may also execute re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs for AM data transfers, reorder RLC data PDUs for UM and AM data transfers, detect duplicate data for UM and AM data transfers, discard RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transfers, detect protocol errors for AM data transfers, and perform RLC re-establishment.

The PDCP layer <NUM> may execute header compression and decompression of IP data, maintain PDCP Sequence Numbers (SNs), perform in-sequence delivery of upper layer PDUs at re-establishment of lower layers, eliminate duplicates of lower layer SDUs at re-establishment of lower layers for radio bearers mapped on RLC AM, cipher and decipher control plane data, perform integrity protection and integrity verification of control plane data, control timer-based discard of data, and perform security operations (e.g., ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification, etc.).

The main services and functions of the RRC layer <NUM> may include broadcast of system information (e.g., included in Master Information Blocks (MIBs) or System Information Blocks (SIBs) related to the non-access stratum (NAS)), broadcast of system information related to the access stratum (AS), paging, establishment, maintenance and release of an RRC connection between the UE and E-UTRAN (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), establishment, configuration, maintenance and release of point to point Radio Bearers, security functions including key management, inter radio access technology (RAT) mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting. Said MIBs and SIBs may comprise one or more information elements (IEs), which may each comprise individual data fields or data structures.

The UE <NUM> and the RAN node <NUM> may utilize a Uu interface (e.g., an LTE-Uu interface) to exchange control plane data via a protocol stack comprising the PHY layer <NUM>, the MAC layer <NUM>, the RLC layer <NUM>, the PDCP layer <NUM>, and the RRC layer <NUM>.

The non-access stratum (NAS) protocols <NUM> form the highest stratum of the control plane between the UE <NUM> and the MME <NUM>. The NAS protocols <NUM> support the mobility of the UE <NUM> and the session management procedures to establish and maintain IP connectivity between the UE <NUM> and the P-GW <NUM>.

The S1 Application Protocol (S1-AP) layer <NUM> may support the functions of the S1 interface and comprise Elementary Procedures (EPs). An EP is a unit of interaction between the RAN node <NUM> and the CN <NUM>. The S1-AP layer services may comprise two groups: UE-associated services and non UE-associated services. These services perform functions including, but not limited to: E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (E-RAB) management, UE capability indication, mobility, NAS signaling transport, RAN Information Management (RIM), and configuration transfer.

The Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) layer (alternatively referred to as the SCTP/IP layer) <NUM> may ensure reliable delivery of signaling messages between the RAN node <NUM> and the MME <NUM> based, in part, on the IP protocol, supported by the IP layer <NUM>. The L2 layer <NUM> and the L1 layer <NUM> may refer to communication links (e.g., wired or wireless) used by the RAN node and the MME to exchange information.

The RAN node <NUM> and the MME <NUM> may utilize an S1-MME interface to exchange control plane data via a protocol stack comprising the L1 layer <NUM>, the L2 layer <NUM>, the IP layer <NUM>, the SCTP layer <NUM>, and the S1-AP layer <NUM>.

<FIG> is an illustration of a user plane protocol stack, in accordance with some embodiments. In this embodiment, a user plane <NUM> is shown as a communications protocol stack between the UE <NUM> (or alternatively, the UE <NUM>), the RAN node <NUM> (or alternatively, the RAN node <NUM>), the S-GW <NUM>, and the P-GW <NUM>. The user plane <NUM> may utilize at least some of the same protocol layers as the control plane <NUM>. For example, the UE <NUM> and the RAN node <NUM> may utilize a Uu interface (e.g., an LTE-Uu interface) to exchange user plane data via a protocol stack comprising the PHY layer <NUM>, the MAC layer <NUM>, the RLC layer <NUM>, the PDCP layer <NUM>.

The General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol for the user plane (GTP-U) layer <NUM> may be used for carrying user data within the GPRS core network and between the radio access network and the core network. The user data transported can be packets in any of IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats, for example. The UDP and IP security (UDP/IP) layer <NUM> may provide checksums for data integrity, port numbers for addressing different functions at the source and destination, and encryption and authentication on the selected data flows. The RAN node <NUM> and the S-GW <NUM> may utilize an S1-U interface to exchange user plane data via a protocol stack comprising the L1 layer <NUM>, the L2 layer <NUM>, the UDP/IP layer <NUM>, and the GTP-U layer <NUM>. The S-GW <NUM> and the P-GW <NUM> may utilize an S5/S8a interface to exchange user plane data via a protocol stack comprising the L1 layer <NUM>, the L2 layer <NUM>, the UDP/IP layer <NUM>, and the GTP-U layer <NUM>. As discussed above with respect to <FIG>, NAS protocols support the mobility of the UE <NUM> and the session management procedures to establish and maintain IP connectivity between the UE <NUM> and the P-GW <NUM>.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, which are able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Specifically, <FIG> shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources <NUM> including one or more processors (or processor cores) <NUM>, one or more memory/storage devices <NUM>, and one or more communication resources <NUM>, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus <NUM>. For embodiments where node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor <NUM> may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources <NUM>.

Claim 1:
An apparatus (<NUM>) for a user equipment, UE (<NUM>), comprising:
a processor (<NUM>), configured to generate (<NUM>) uplink, UL, signal data for a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, by using a resource mapping scheme,
wherein the UL signal data includes UL control information, UCI, wherein the UCI includes a hybrid automatic repeat request - acknowledge, HARQ-ACK, feedback and/or a channel state information, CSI, report, and the CSI report includes a first CSI part and a second CSI part; and
a radio frequency, RF, interface (<NUM>), configured to receive the generated UL signal data from the processor (<NUM>) and to transmit (<NUM>) the generated UL signal to a network node (<NUM>),
wherein at least a part of the resource mapping scheme is predefined, configured by higher layer signalling, or indicated in downlink control information, DCI,
wherein one or more resource regions are allocated to the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback, the first CSI part, and/or the second CSI part according to a configuration by higher layer signalling,
for each resource region, the processor is configured to apply a frequency first resource mapping manner to the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback, the first CSI part and the second CSI part,
the processor (<NUM>) is configured to apply separate encoding and resource mapping procedures to the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback, the first CSI part, and the second CSI part; and
the payload size of the HARQ-ACK feedback is larger than <NUM> bits.