Patent Description:
With development of the communication technologies, the 5th Generation (<NUM>) Mobile Communication Technology has emerged. At present, types of service of <NUM> at least comprise enhanced Mobile Broad Band (eMBB), massive Machine Type Communication (MMTC), Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC), and etc. The services are all data services, and have different requirements for latency and reliability. For example, URLLC services are applicable to fields that require low latency, like Internet of vehicles, and have high requirements for timeliness; meanwhile, the establishing of services needs to be performed in time, and the URLLC services are even preemptive over the previous services. The mMTC services are usually not so sensitive to latency and can send data at a relatively long time interval. A way to achieve efficient transmission of latency-sensitive services is to improve the transmission of Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ), for example, to make retransmission feedback faster and more accurate.

In Long Term Evolution (LTE), HARQ feedback is performed in a unit of Transmission Blocks (TBs), each of which feeds back an acknowledgement (ACK) or non-acknowledgement (NACK) message of <NUM>-bit. In order to improve the accuracy of retransmission, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) proposes to perform retransmission based on a Code Block Group (CBG), wherein CBGs are a smaller unit of data cells in a TB and one CBG corresponds to ACK or NACK feedback of <NUM> bit. Since retransmission is performed with a smaller granularity, a position of transmission error can be more accurately determined, so as to make the retransmission more accurate. Moreover, the retransmission efficiency becomes higher because of a smaller amount of data to be retransmitted.

<NPL> discloses a HARQ-Ack feedback method.

<CIT> discloses a hybrid retransmission method with transmitting data comprising all code blocks (CB) by adopting a transmission block (TB) retransmission way.

According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ feedback method according to claim <NUM>.

According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ feedback device according to claim <NUM>.

The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can produce the following beneficial effects:.

A HARQ feedback information based on resource units is generated according to a pre-configured HARQ feedback policy, so that an amount of the feedback information units of the HARQ feedback information is less than an amount of the resource units contained in the TB, thereby achieving the purpose of saving feedback overhead.

The feedback information of the resource units is bound to one feedback information unit on at least one feedback level according to the HARQ feedback policy, so that the amount of the feedback information units of the HARQ feedback information is less than the amount of the resource units contained in the TB, thereby providing conditions for saving feedback overhead.

By describing contents of the HARQ feedback policy, conditions are provided for generating the HARQ feedback information according to the HARQ feedback policy.

A feedback information corresponding to resource units contained in a TB is bound to the first preset amount of feedback information units respectively, and the first-level feedback information corresponding to the first feedback level is generated according to the obtained data reception state information, so that the first-level feedback information can reflect the data reception state corresponding to the resource units bound to each feedback information unit, so as to determine data to be retransmitted by the transmitting end based on this.

The second feedback level is added and the second-level feedback information corresponding to the second feedback level is generated, so that the second-level feedback information can reflect the data reception state corresponding to the resource units bound to each feedback information unit in a smaller granularity, thus the transmitting end determines data to be retransmitted based on this, so as to reduce the amount of data retransmitted by the transmitting end.

The determined first-level feedback information of the at least one feedback information unit is bound respectively to the second preset amount of feedback information units, and all or part of the first-level feedback information indicative of the data reception failure is bound respectively to the second preset amount of feedback information units, so as to provide conditions for generating the second-level feedback information.

The feedback information corresponding to the resource units contained in the TB is bound to the third preset amount of feedback information units respectively, and the HARQ feedback information is generated according to the acquired data reception state information, so that the HARQ feedback information can reflect the data reception state corresponding to the resource units bound to each feedback information unit, so as to determine data to be retransmitted by the transmitting end based on this.

The HARQ feedback policy can further comprise at least one of the first indication information and the second indication information, so that the HARQ feedback information can be returned to the transmitting end in various ways, so as to reduce the number of bits of feedback information without causing a large amount of data to be retransmitted.

When the first indication information indicates that the HARQ feedback information is returned to the transmitting end in an implicit manner, the HARQ feedback policy can further comprise: scrambling sequence and scrambled data location, which provides conditions for subsequently returning the HARQ feedback information to the transmitting end in an implicit manner.

The second-level feedback information is scrambled to the first-level feedback information in the form of a scrambling code and sent to the transmitting end, to define the manner in which the HARQ feedback information is returned to the transmitting end in an implicit manner, which is easy to be carried out.

The transmitting end comprises a base station or an UE, which indicates that the solutions provided by the present disclosure are applicable to HARQ feedback of both uplink data and downlink data.

When the transmitting end is a base station, receiving of the HARQ feedback policy transmitted from the transmitting end designates the source of the HARQ feedback policy, and also provides conditions for subsequently generating of the HARQ feedback information based on the resource units according to the HARQ feedback policy.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and cannot be construed as a limit to the disclosure.

The technical solution of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be descripted clearly and completely in connection with the accompanying drawings of the present disclosure. Obviously, the illustrated embodiments are not all of the embodiments of the present disclosure, but only a part of them. According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, all of the other embodiments obtained by one of ordinary skill in the art without any creative work fall into the protection scope of the present disclosure.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an HARQ feedback method. <FIG> is a flowchart illustrating an HARQ feedback method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated in <FIG>, the HARQ feedback method comprises the following steps.

In step S101, receiving data transmitted from a transmitting end in a unit of TB, which comprises a plurality of resource units.

The transmitting end can comprise a base station or an UE (user equipment). If the transmitting end is the base station, the method embodiment is described from the perspective of the UE, namely, the embodiment is applicable to HARQ feedback of downlink data, and if the transmitting end is the UE, the method embodiment is described from the perspective of the base station, namely, the embodiment is applicable to HARQ feedback of uplink data.

In the embodiment, the resource units can comprise, but not limited to, CBGs or code blocks (CBs) or the like. <FIG> is a schematic view illustrating a TB comprising a plurality of resource units according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated in <FIG>, one TB can comprise a plurality of CBGs <NUM>, each of which can comprise a plurality of Code Blocks (CBs) <NUM>.

Referring back to <FIG>, in step S102, HARQ feedback information based on the resource units is generated according to a pre-configured HARQ feedback policy, and is returned to the transmitting end, wherein an amount of feedback information units of the HARQ feedback information is less than an amount of the resource units contained in the TB.

In the embodiment, the HARQ feedback policy can comprise: feedback levels and an amount of feedback information units corresponding to each of the feedback levels; or feedback levels and an amount of resource units bound to one feedback information unit of each of the feedback levels; or feedback levels, an amount of feedback information units corresponding to each of the feedback levels and an amount of resource units bound to one feedback information unit of each of the feedback levels. In the embodiment, at least one feedback level can be comprised.

A sum of the amount of all of the feedback information units corresponding to all of the feedback levels is less than the amount of the resource units contained in the TB. The feedback information units can be bit, that is, the sum of the amount of all of the bits corresponding to all of the feedback levels is less than the amount of the resource units contained in the TB. The amount of the feedback levels can be one, two, three or more, and it is not particularly limited in the embodiment.

Further description will be given by taking <FIG> as an example. As illustrated in <FIG>, the resource units can be either CBGs or CBs and the feedback information units are bits. If the resource units are CBG, the sum of the amount of all of the feedback information units corresponding to all of the feedback levels is <NUM>, and the amount of the resource units contained in the TB is <NUM>, that is, the sum of the amount of all of the feedback information units corresponding to all of the feedback levels is less than the amount of the resource units contained in the TB. If the resource units are CBs, the sum of the amount of all of the feedback information units corresponding to all of the feedback levels is <NUM> and the amount of the resource units contained in the TB is <NUM>, that is, the sum of the amount of all of the feedback information units corresponding to all of the feedback levels is less than the amount of the resource units contained in the TB.

If the transmitting end in the embodiment is the base station, the UE can first receive the HARQ feedback policy sent from the base station, and configures the HARQ feedback policy.

In the embodiment, feedback information of the resource units can be bound to one feedback information unit on at least one feedback level according to the HARQ feedback policy so as to generate a HARQ feedback information. Since the sum of the amount of all of the bits corresponding to all of the feedback levels is less than the amount of the resource units contained in the TB, the number of bits of the generated HARQ feedback information is less than the amount of the resource units contained in the TB. For example, if the resource units are CBGs, the sum of the amount of all of the bits corresponding to all of the feedback levels is less than the amount of the CBGs contained in the TB and if the resource units are CBs, the sum of the amount of all of the bits corresponding to all of the feedback levels is smaller than the amount of the CBs contained in the TB.

In addition, the HARQ feedback policy can further comprise at least one of first indication information and second indication information.

The first indication information is configured to indicate that the HARQ feedback information is returned to the transmitting end in an explicit manner or in an implicit manner. If the first indication information indicates that the HARQ feedback information is returned to the transmitting end in an implicit manner, the HARQ feedback policy can further comprise: scrambling sequence and scrambled data location.

In the embodiment, the feedback levels can comprise: a first feedback level and a second feedback level. The scrambled data location is a location of first-level feedback information and the second-level feedback information can be scrambled to the first-level feedback information in a form of a scrambling code and sent to the transmitting end. Thus, after receiving the feedback information, the transmitting end can parse the first-level feedback information and the second-level feedback information at the same time.

It is to be understood that the above description is merely an example of scrambling, in practical applications, the scrambling is not be limited to the feedback level. For example, when there is only one feedback level, the HARQ feedback information can further be scrambled to other data in the form of a scrambling code and then sent to the transmitting end.

The second indication information is configured to indicate that the sum of the amount of the feedback information units used in all of the feedback levels remains constant or variable. Due to the wider bandwidth in <NUM> and more dynamic division of time-frequency resources, and as required by services, the TB may have a dynamic length, of course, there may be many CBs in one TB. For one TB, there are the following two cases: the first case, an amount of CBGs comprised in each TB is fixed, and amount of CBs comprised in each CBG are variable, in this case, a total amount of feedback information based on the CBG remains constant; the second case, amount of CBs comprised in one CBG is fixed, and amount of CBGs comprised in one TB is variable, in this case, a total amount of feedback information based on the CBG is variable. For the first case, if there is a long TB, for example, containing <NUM> CBs, then each CBG comprises <NUM> CBs given that the TB constantly contains <NUM> CBGs, which inevitably results in big data of individual CBG to be retransmitted, thereby reducing efficiency of retransmission, even though the total amount of the feedback information is constant. In the second case, the amount of CBs contained in the CBG can be reduced, and the amount of CBGs in the TB is increased to reduce a size of each CBG, so that the amount of data to be retransmitted data is reduced. However, a problem that amount of the feedback information based on CBG will be changed will rise. Namely, as for the first case and the second case, the former is suitable for a system with a short TB while the latter is suitable for a system with a long TB, and the two cases are applicable to certain types of services, and both could happen. In order to solve the problem that both cases could happen, the second indication information is introduced, which indicates that the sum of the amount of the feedback information units is constant or variable.

In the foregoing embodiment, the HARQ feedback information based on the resource units is generated according to the pre-configured HARQ feedback policy, so that the amount of the feedback information units of the HARQ feedback information is less than the amount of the resource units contained in the TB, thereby achieving the purpose of saving feedback overhead.

In the embodiment, the above-described HARQ feedback policy can comprise: a feedback level and an amount of the resource units bound to one feedback information unit of each feedback level, wherein the amount of the feedback levels is one.

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating the generation of HARQ feedback information according to an HARQ feedback policy according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated in <FIG>, a method for generating HARQ feedback information according to an HARQ feedback policy comprises the following steps.

S301, feedback information corresponding to resource units contained in a TB is bound to a third preset amount of feedback information units, respectively.

The third preset amount is equal to a rounding-up amount of a value, which is obtained through dividing the amount of the resource units contained in the TB by the amount of the resource units bound to one feedback information unit in a feedback level. It is to be understood that the third preset amount, a first preset amount and a second preset amount that are mentioned below are only configured to designate different preset amounts, namely, the third preset amount can also be referred to as the first preset amount and the first preset amount can also be referred to as the third preset amount.

In the embodiment, the resource units in the embodiment are CBGs and the feedback information units are bits and the amount of CBGs bound to one bit at the feedback level is <NUM>. Referring to <FIG>, which is a schematic view illustrating a correspondence relationship between a TB and HARQ feedback information according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, as illustrated in <FIG>, a TB comprises <NUM> CBGs and feedback information corresponding to CBG1, CBG2, CBG3 and CBG4 can be bound to the first bit while feedback information corresponding to CBG5, CBG6, CBG7 and CBG8 can be bound to the second bit.

In addition, if the TB comprises <NUM> CBGs, namely, the TB further comprises CBG9 and CBG10, feedback information corresponding to the CBG9 and CBG10 can be bound to the third bit.

Referring again to <FIG>, in step S302, acquiring data reception state information, which is configured to indicate data reception success or data reception failure corresponding to each of the resource units.

As illustrated in <FIG>, data reception state information corresponding to <NUM> CBGs in <FIG> is acquired.

Referring again to <FIG>, in step S303, HARQ feedback information is generated according to the data reception state information corresponding to the resource units bound to each feedback information unit.

As illustrated in <FIG>, each of data reception states corresponding to <NUM> CBGs bound to the first bit is data reception success, and the HARQ feedback information corresponding to the first bit is a first value which can be <NUM>, and one of data reception states corresponding to <NUM> CBG of <NUM> CBGs bound to the second bit is data reception failure (for example, the data reception state corresponding to CBG5 is data reception failure), and HARQ feedback information corresponding to the second bit is a second value which can be <NUM>, thus the HARQ feedback information is <NUM>.

In the foregoing embodiment, the feedback information corresponding to the resource units contained in the TB is bound to the third preset amount of feedback information units respectively, and the HARQ feedback information is generated according to information on the acquired data reception state, so that the HARQ feedback information can reflect the data reception state corresponding to the resource units bound to each feedback information unit, so as to determine data to be retransmitted by the transmitting end based on this.

In the embodiment, the HARQ feedback policy can comprise: feedback levels and the amount of the feedback information units corresponding to each of the feedback levels, wherein the feedback levels can comprise a first feedback level.

Referring to <FIG>, which is a flowchart illustrating another method for generating HARQ feedback information based on an HARQ feedback policy according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application, as illustrated in <FIG>, the method for generating the HARQ feedback information based on the HARQ feedback policy comprises the following steps.

In step S401, a first preset amount of feedback information units corresponding to a first feedback level is determined according to the HARQ feedback policy.

Since the HARQ feedback policy indicates that the number of bits corresponding to the first feedback level is <NUM>, it can be determined that the first preset amount is <NUM>.

In step S402, feedback information corresponding to resource units contained in a TB is bound to the first preset amount of feedback information units, respectively.

In the embodiment, referring to <FIG>, which is a second schematic view illustrating a correspondence relationship between a TB and HARQ feedback information according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated in <FIG>, the resource units are CBGs and the feedback information units are bits and the first preset amount is <NUM> and a TB contains <NUM> CBGs. Therefore, feedback information of <NUM> CBGs can be bound to <NUM> bits, namely, the feedback information of CBG1, CBG2, CBG3 and CBG4 can be bound to the first bit and the feedback information of CBG5, CBG6, CBG7 and CBG8 can be bound to the second bit.

Referring again to <FIG>, in step S403, data reception state information is acquired, which is configured to indicate data reception success or data reception failure corresponding to each of the resource units.

In step S404, first-level feedback information corresponding to the first feedback level is generated according to the acquired data reception state information, and the HARQ feedback information comprises the first-level feedback information.

As illustrated in <FIG>, a data reception state corresponding to <NUM> CBG of <NUM> CBGs bound to the first bit is data reception failure (for example, the data reception state corresponding to CBG3 is data reception failure), and HARQ feedback information corresponding to the first bit is a second value which can be <NUM> and a data reception state corresponding to <NUM> CBG of <NUM> CBGs bound to the second bit is data reception failure (for example, the data reception state corresponding to CBG5 is data reception failure), and HARQ feedback information corresponding to the second bit is a second value which can be <NUM>, thus the generated first-level feedback information is <NUM>.

In the foregoing embodiment, the feedback information corresponding to the resource units contained in the TB is bound to the first preset amount of feedback information units respectively, and the first-level feedback information corresponding to the first feedback level is generated according to the acquired data reception state information, so that the first-level feedback information can reflect the data reception state corresponding to the resource units bound to each feedback information unit, so as to determine data to be retransmitted by the transmitting end based on this.

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating another method for generating HARQ feedback information based on a resource unit according to an HARQ feedback policy according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. A second feedback level is added in the embodiment on the basis of the embodiment illustrated in <FIG>. As illustrated in <FIG>, the method can also comprise the following steps.

In step S501, first-level feedback information indicative of data reception failure is determined according to data reception state information.

Since each of the first-level feedback information corresponding to the two bits in <FIG> is <NUM>, it can be determined that the first-level feedback information indicative of the data reception failure is two bits.

In step S502, a second preset amount of feedback information units corresponding to a second feedback level is determined according to the HARQ feedback policy.

Since the HARQ feedback policy indicates that the amount of bits corresponding to the second feedback level is <NUM>, it can be determined that the second preset amount is <NUM>.

In step S503, all or part of the first-level feedback information indicative of the data reception failure is bound to the second preset amount of feedback information units, respectively.

The step S503 can comprise the following step: if the first-level feedback information indicative of the data reception failure is greater than one feedback information unit, the first-level feedback information of the at least one feedback information unit, which is indicative of the data reception failure is determined according to the HARQ feedback policy, and resource units corresponding to the determined the first-level feedback information of at least one feedback information unit are bound to the second preset amount of feedback information units.

Since the first-level feedback information indicative of the data reception failure in <FIG> is two bits, the first-level feedback information of the least one feedback information unit, which is indicative of the data reception failure, can be determined. For example, the first-level feedback information which reflects the data reception failure of one feedback information unit can be determined or the first-level feedback information which reflects the data reception failure of all of the feedback information units can also be determined.

When the first-level feedback information which reflects the data reception failure of one feedback information unit is determined, the determined first-level feedback information can be bound to the second preset amount of feedback information units respectively. In the embodiment, the determined first-level feedback information is the first-level feedback information corresponding to the first bit in <FIG>, and as illustrated in <FIG>, the feedback information of the first four CBGs in <FIG> is bound to <NUM> bits respectively.

When the first-level feedback information which reflects the data reception failure of all of the feedback information units is determined, resource units corresponding to the determined first-level feedback information can be bound to the second preset amount of feedback information units. In the embodiment, the determined first-level feedback information is the first-level feedback information corresponding to all bits in <FIG>, and as illustrated in <FIG>, the feedback information of <NUM> CBGs in <FIG> is bound to <NUM> bits respectively.

Referring again to <FIG>, in step S504, second-level feedback information corresponding to the second feedback level is generated according to data reception state information, and HARQ feedback information further comprises the second-level feedback information.

For the first four CBGs in <FIG>, except that the data reception state information corresponding to CBG3 is data reception failure, the data reception state information corresponding to the other three CBGs is data reception success, therefore the second-level feedback information generated in <FIG> is <NUM>. For <FIG>, data required to be retransmitted comprises CBG3, CBG5, CBG6, CBG7 and CBG8, <NUM> CBGs in total, and for <FIG>, all CBGs, i.e., <NUM> CBGs, need to be retransmitted, therefore the amount of data to be retransmitted can be reduced by adding the second-level feedback information.

For the CBGs in <FIG>, except that the data reception state information corresponding to CBG3 and CBG5 is data reception failure, the data reception state information corresponding to the other six CBGs is data reception success, therefore the second-level feedback information generated in <FIG> is <NUM>. For <FIG>, data required to be retransmitted comprises CBG3, CBG4, CBG5 and CBG6, four CBGs in total, and for <FIG>, all CBGs, i.e., <NUM> CBGs, need to be retransmitted, therefore the amount of data to be retransmitted can be reduced by adding the second-level feedback information.

In the above embodiment, the second feedback level is added and the second-level feedback information corresponding to the second feedback level is generated, so that the second-level feedback information can reflect the data reception state corresponding to the resource units bound to each feedback information unit with a smaller granularity, thus the transmitting end determines data to be retransmitted based on this, so as to reduce the amount of data retransmitted by the transmitting end.

Corresponding to the foregoing embodiments of the HARQ feedback method, the present disclosure further provides embodiments of an HARQ feedback device.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating an HARQ feedback device according to an exemplary embodiment. As illustrated in <FIG>, the HARQ feedback device comprises a data receiving module <NUM> and a generating return module <NUM>.

The data receiving module <NUM> is configured to receive data transmitted from a transmitting end in a unit of a transmission block (TB), which comprises a plurality of resource units.

The transmitting end can comprise a base station or a UE. If the transmitting end is a base station, the method embodiment is described from the perspective of the UE, namely, and the embodiment is applicable to HARQ feedback of downlink data, and if the transmitting end is the UE, the method embodiment is described from the perspective of the base station, and the embodiment is applicable to HARQ feedback of uplink data.

In the embodiment, the resource units can comprise, but not limited to, CBGs or code blocks (CBs) or the like. <FIG> is a schematic view illustrating a TB comprising a plurality of resource units according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated in <FIG>, one TB <NUM> can comprise a plurality of CBGs <NUM>, each of which can comprise an amount of Code Blocks (CBs) <NUM>.

The generating return module <NUM> is configured to generate HARQ feedback information based on the resource units contained in the TB corresponding to the data received by the data receiving module <NUM> according to a pre-configured HARQ feedback policy, and return the HARQ feedback information to the transmitting end, wherein the amount of feedback information units of the HARQ feedback information is less than the amount of the resource units contained in the TB.

The sum of the amount of all of the feedback information units corresponding to all of the feedback levels is less than the amount of the resource units contained in the TB. The feedback information units can be bit, namely, the sum of the amount of all of the bits corresponding to all of the feedback levels is less than the amount of the resource units contained in the TB. The amount of the feedback levels can be one, two, three or more, and it is not particularly limited in the embodiment.

Description will be given by taking <FIG> as an example. <FIG> is a first schematic view illustrating a correspondence relationship between a TB and HARQ feedback information according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application. As illustrated in <FIG>, the resource units are CBGs and the feedback information units are bits. The sum of the amount of all of the feedback information units corresponding to all of the feedback levels is <NUM> and the amount of the resource units contained in the TB is <NUM>. Namely, the sum of the amount of all of the feedback information units corresponding to all of the feedback levels is less than the amount of the resource units contained in the TB.

In the embodiment, feedback information of the resource units can be bound to one feedback information unit on at least one feedback level according to the HARQ feedback policy so as to generate the HARQ feedback information. Since the sum of the amount of all of the bits corresponding to all of the feedback levels is less than the amount of the resource units contained in the TB, the amount of bits of the generated HARQ feedback information is less than the amount of the resource units contained in the TB. For example, if the resource units are CBGs, the sum of the amount of all of the bits corresponding to all of the feedback levels is less than the amount of the CBGs contained in the TB, and if the resource units are CBs, the sum of the amount of all of the bits corresponding to all of the feedback levels is less than the amount of the CBs contained in the TB.

In addition, the HARQ feedback policy can further comprise at least one of a first indication information and a second indication information.

In the embodiment, the feedback levels comprise: a first feedback level and a second feedback level. The scrambled data location is a location of first-level feedback information and second-level feedback information can be scrambled to the first-level feedback information in the form of a scrambling code and sent to the transmitting end, thus, the transmitting end parses the first-level feedback information and the second-level feedback information at the same time after receiving the feedback information.

It is to be understood that the above description is merely an example of scrambling, and in practical applications, it may not be limited to the feedback levels. For example, if there is only one feedback level, the HARQ feedback information can also be scrambled to other data in the form of a scrambling code and then transmitted to the transmitting end.

The second indication information is configured to indicate that the sum of the amount of the feedback information units used in all of the feedback levels is constant or variable. Due to a wider bandwidth of <NUM> and more dynamic time-frequency resources, the TB may have a dynamic length as required by services, and of course, there may be many CBs in one TB. For one TB, there are the following two cases: the first case, an amount of CBGs comprised in each TB is fixed; and the second case, amount of CBs comprised in one CBG is fixed. For the first case, if the TB comprises <NUM> CBs, then each CBG comprises <NUM> CBs, which inevitably results in big data of individual CBG to be retransmitted, thereby reducing efficiency of retransmission. In order to resolve the problem, the second indication information is introduced, which indicates a sum of the amount of the feedback information units used in the feedback levels is variable, and a plurality of CBs, for example <NUM> CBs, are bound to one feedback information unit, for example one bit, according to the second indication information, thereby reducing the mount of bits of the feedback information without causing big amount of data to be retransmitted.

The device as illustrated in <FIG> is configured to implement the procedures of the method described above and illustrated in <FIG> and the description of relevant contents is the same, which will not be elaborated herein.

In the foregoing embodiment, the HARQ feedback information based on the resource units is generated according to the pre-configured HARQ feedback policy, so that the amount of the feedback information units of the HARQ feedback information is less than the amount of the resource units contained in the TB, thereby saving feedback overhead.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating another HARQ feedback device according to an exemplary embodiment. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the above embodiment illustrated in <FIG>, an HARQ feedback policy can comprise: feedback levels and an amount of feedback information units corresponding to each of the feedback levels; and the feedback levels can comprise a first feedback level. The generating return module <NUM> can comprise a first determining sub-module <NUM>, a first binding sub-module <NUM>, a first acquiring sub-module <NUM> and a first generating sub-module <NUM>.

The first determining sub-module <NUM> is configured to determine a first preset amount of feedback information units corresponding to the first feedback level according to the HARQ feedback policy.

Since the HARQ feedback policy indicates that the amount of bits corresponding to the first feedback level is <NUM>, it can be determined that the first preset amount is <NUM>.

The first binding sub-module <NUM> is configured to bind feedback information corresponding to resource units contained in a TB respectively to the first preset amount of feedback information units determined by the first determining sub-module <NUM>.

In the embodiment, <FIG> is a second schematic view illustrating a correspondence relationship between a TB and HARQ feedback information according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated in <FIG>, the resource units are CBGs and the feedback information units are bits. The first preset amount is <NUM> and <NUM> CBGs are contained in the TB, thus feedback information of <NUM> CBGs can be bound to <NUM> bits. Namely, feedback information of CBG1, CBG2, CBG3 and CBG4 can be bound to the first bit while feedback information of CBG5, CBG6, CBG7 and CBG8 can be bound to the second bit.

The first acquiring sub-module <NUM> is configured to obtain data reception state information, which is configured to indicate data reception success or data reception failure corresponding to each of the resource units.

As illustrated in <FIG>, if a data reception state corresponding to <NUM> CBG of <NUM> CBGs bound to the first bit is data reception failure (for example, the data reception state corresponding to CBG3 is data reception failure), HARQ feedback information corresponding to the first bit is a second value which can be <NUM> and a data reception state corresponding to <NUM> CBG of <NUM> CBGs bound to the second bit is data reception failure (for example, the data reception state corresponding to CBG5 is data reception failure), HARQ feedback information corresponding to the second bit is a second value which can be <NUM>, thus the generated first level feedback information is <NUM>.

The first generating sub-module <NUM> is configured to generate first-level feedback information corresponding to the first feedback level according to the data reception state information obtained by the first obtaining sub-module <NUM>, wherein HARQ feedback information comprises the first-level feedback information.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating another HARQ feedback device according to an exemplary embodiment. As illustrated in <FIG>, the feedback levels can further comprise a second feedback level. On the basis of the foregoing embodiment illustrated in <FIG>, the generating return module <NUM> can further comprise a second determining sub-module <NUM>, a third determining sub-module <NUM>, a second binding sub-module <NUM> and a second generating sub-module <NUM>.

The second determining sub-module <NUM> is configured to determine first-level feedback information which reflects data reception failure according to the data reception state information acquired by the first obtaining sub-module.

Since the first-level feedback information corresponding to each of the two bits in <FIG> is <NUM>, it can be determined that the first-level feedback information indicative of the data reception failure is two bits.

The third determining sub-module <NUM> is configured to determine a second preset amount of feedback information units corresponding to the second feedback level according to the HARQ feedback policy.

The second binding sub-module <NUM> is configured to bind all or part of the first-level feedback information indicative of the data reception failure determined by the second determining sub-module <NUM> respectively to the second preset amount of feedback information units determined by the third determining sub-module <NUM>.

If the first-level feedback information which reflects the data reception failure is greater than one feedback information unit, the first-level feedback information of the at least one feedback information unit, which reflects the data reception failure is determined according to the HARQ feedback policy, and the determined the first-level feedback information of at least one feedback information unit are bound respectively to the second preset amount of feedback information units.

Since the first-level feedback information which reflects the data reception failure in <FIG> is two bits, the first-level feedback information of the least one feedback information unit, which is indicative of the data reception failure can be determined. For example, the first-level feedback information of one feedback information unit which reflects the data reception failure, can be determined, or the first-level feedback information of all of the feedback information units which reflects the data reception failure can also be determined.

The second generating sub-module <NUM> is configured to generate second-level feedback information corresponding to the second feedback level according to the data reception state information, wherein the HARQ feedback information further comprises the second-level feedback information.

For the first four CBGs in <FIG>, except that the data reception state information corresponding to CBG3 is data reception failure, the data reception state information corresponding to each of the other three CBGs is data reception success, therefore the second-level feedback information corresponding to the first four CBGs in <FIG> is <NUM>. For <FIG>, data required to be retransmitted comprises CBG3, CBG5, CBG6, CBG7 and CBG8 and for <FIG>, all CBGs, i.e., <NUM> CBGs need to be retransmitted, therefore the amount of data to be retransmitted can be reduced by adding the second-level feedback information.

For the CBGs in <FIG>, except that the data reception state information corresponding to CBG3 and CBG5 is data reception failure, the data reception state information corresponding to the other six CBGs is data reception success, therefore the second-level feedback information corresponding to the CBGs in <FIG> is <NUM>. For <FIG>, data required to be retransmitted comprises CBG3, CBG4, CBG5 and CBG6 and for <FIG>, all CBGs, i.e., <NUM> CBGs need to be retransmitted, therefore the amount of data to be retransmitted can be reduced by adding the second-level feedback information.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating another HARQ feedback device according to an exemplary embodiment. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the above embodiment illustrated in <FIG>, the second binding sub-module <NUM> can comprise: a determining unit <NUM> and a binding unit <NUM>.

The determining unit <NUM> is configured to determine, if the first-level feedback information which reflects the data reception failure is greater than one feedback information unit, the first-level feedback information of the at least one feedback information unit, which reflects the data reception failure according to the HARQ feedback policy.

The binding unit <NUM> is configured to bind the first-level feedback information of the at least one feedback information unit determined by the determining unit <NUM> respectively to the second preset amount of feedback information units.

When the first-level feedback information of one feedback information unit which reflects the data reception failure is determined, the determined first-level feedback information can be bound to the second preset amount of feedback information units respectively. In the embodiment, the determined first-level feedback information is the first-level feedback information corresponding to the first bit in <FIG>, and as illustrated in <FIG>, the feedback information of the first four CBGs in <FIG> is bound to <NUM> bits respectively.

When the first-level feedback information of all feedback information units which reflects the data reception failure is determined, resource units corresponding to the determined first-level feedback information can be bound to the second preset amount of feedback information units. In the embodiment, the determined first-level feedback information is the first-level feedback information corresponding to all bits in <FIG>, and as illustrated in <FIG>, the feedback information of <NUM> CBGs in <FIG> is bound to <NUM> bits respectively.

In the above embodiment, the determined first-level feedback information of the at least one feedback information unit is bound respectively to the second preset amount of feedback information units, so as to provide conditions for subsequently generating the second-level feedback information, which can be implemented flexibly in various ways.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating another HARQ feedback device according to an exemplary embodiment. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the above embodiment illustrated in <FIG>, an HARQ feedback policy can comprise: a feedback level and an amount of resource units bound to one feedback information unit in each feedback level, wherein the amount of the feedback level is one. The generating return module <NUM> can comprise: a third binding sub-module <NUM>, a second acquiring sub-module <NUM> and a third generating sub-module <NUM>.

The third binding sub-module <NUM> is configured to bind feedback information corresponding to resource units contained in a TB respectively to a third preset amount of feedback information units. The third preset amount is equal to a rounding-up number of a value, which is obtained through dividing the amount of resource units contained in the TB by the amount of resource units bound to one feedback information unit in a feedback level.

In the embodiment, the resource units in the embodiment are CBGs and the feedback information units are bits and the amount of CBGs bound to one bit in the feedback level is <NUM>. <FIG> is a schematic view illustrating a correspondence relationship between a TB and HARQ feedback information according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated in <FIG>, the TB comprises <NUM> CBGs and feedback information corresponding to CBG1, CBG2, CBG3 and CBG4 can be bound to the first bit while feedback information corresponding to CBG5, CBG6, CBG7 and CBG8 can be bound to the second bit.

In addition, if the TB comprises <NUM> CBGs, namely, the TB further comprises CBG9 and CBG10, feedback information corresponding to the CBG9 and CBG10 can be bound to a third bit.

The second acquiring sub-module <NUM> is configured to acquire data reception state information, which is configured to indicate data reception success or data reception failure corresponding to each of the resource units.

The third-generation sub-module <NUM> is configured to generate HARQ feedback information according to the data reception state information acquired by the second acquiring sub-module <NUM>.

If a data reception state corresponding to <NUM> CBGs bound to the current bit is the data reception success, the HARQ feedback information corresponding to the current bit is a first value that is, for example, <NUM> and if a data reception state corresponding to <NUM> CBG of <NUM> CBGs bound to the current bit is data reception failure, HARQ feedback information corresponding to the current bit is a second value, for example <NUM>. In <FIG>, except that the data reception state information corresponding to CBG5 is data reception failure, the data reception state information corresponding to each of the other seven CBGs is data reception success, therefore the HARQ feedback information corresponding to the CBGs in <FIG> is <NUM>.

In the foregoing embodiment, the feedback information corresponding to the resource units contained in the TB is bound to the third preset amount of feedback information units respectively, and the HARQ feedback information is generated according to the acquired data reception state information, so that the HARQ feedback information can reflect the data reception state corresponding to the resource units bound to each feedback information unit, so as to determine data to be retransmitted by the transmitting end based on this.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating another HARQ feedback device according to an exemplary embodiment. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the above embodiment illustrated in <FIG>, if the transmitting end in the embodiment is a base station, the device can further comprise a policy receiving module <NUM>.

The policy receiving module <NUM> is configured to receive an HARQ feedback policy transmitted from the transmitting end before the generating return module <NUM> generates HARQ feedback information based on the resource units contained in the TB corresponding to the data received by the data receiving module according to a pre-configured HARQ feedback policy.

In the foregoing embodiment, the HARQ feedback policy transmitted from the transmitted end is received, so as to provide conditions for subsequently generating the HARQ feedback information based on the resource units according to the HARQ feedback policy.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating components applicable to an HARQ feedback device according to an exemplary embodiment. For example, a device <NUM> can be a mobile phone, a computer, a digital broadcast terminal, a messaging device, a gaming console, a tablet device, a medical device, exercise equipment, a personal digital assistant, and the like.

Referring to <FIG>, the device <NUM> can comprise one or more of the following components: a processing component <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a power component <NUM>, a multimedia component <NUM>, an audio component <NUM>, an input/output (I/O) interface <NUM>, a sensor component <NUM>, and a communication component <NUM>.

The processing component <NUM> generally controls overall operations of the device <NUM>, such as the operations associated with display, telephone calls, data communications, camera operations, and recording operations. The processing component <NUM> can comprise one or more processors <NUM> to execute instructions so as to perform all or part of the steps in the above described methods. Moreover, the processing component <NUM> can comprise one or more modules which facilitate interaction between the processing component <NUM> and other components. For instance, the processing component <NUM> can comprise a multimedia module to facilitate interaction between the multimedia component <NUM> and the processing component <NUM>.

Examples of such data comprise instructions for any applications or methods operated on the device <NUM>, contact data, phonebook data, messages, pictures, video, and etc. The memory <NUM> can be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile memory devices, or a combination thereof, such as a static random access memory (SRAM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), a read-only memory (ROM), a magnetic memory, a flash memory, a magnetic or optical disk.

The power component <NUM> can comprise a power management system, one or more power sources, and any other components associated with generation, management, and distribution of power for the device <NUM>.

The multimedia component <NUM> comprises a screen providing an output interface between the device <NUM> and the user. In some embodiments, the screen can comprise a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a touch panel (TP). If the screen comprises a touch panel, the screen can be implemented as a touch screen to receive input signals from the user. The touch panel comprises one or more touch sensors to sense touches, swipes, and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensors can not only sense a boundary of a touch or swipe action, but also sense duration and a pressure associated with the touch or swipe action. In some embodiments, the multimedia component <NUM> comprises a front camera and/or a rear camera. The front camera and/or the rear camera can receive external multimedia data while the device <NUM> is in an operation mode, such as a photographing mode or a video mode. Each of the front camera and the rear camera can be an optical lens system with fixed focus length or has focus and optical zoom capability.

The audio component <NUM> is configured to output and/or input audio signals. For example, the audio component <NUM> comprises a microphone ("MIC") configured to receive an external audio signal when the device <NUM> is in an operation mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode, and a voice recognition mode. The received audio signal can be further stored in the memory <NUM> or transmitted via the communication component <NUM>. In some embodiments, the audio component <NUM> further comprises a speaker to output audio signals.

The I/O interface <NUM> provides an interface between the processing component <NUM> and peripheral interface modules, such as a keyboard, a click wheel, a button, and the like. The buttons may comprise, but are not limited to, a home button, a volume button, a starting button, and a locking button.

The sensor component <NUM> comprises one or more sensors to provide status assessments of various aspects of the device <NUM>. For instance, the sensor component <NUM> can detect an open/closed status of the device <NUM>, relative positioning of components, e.g., the display and the keypad, of the device <NUM>. The sensor component <NUM> can further detect a change in position of the device <NUM> or a component of the device <NUM>, a presence or absence of user contact with the device <NUM>, an orientation or an acceleration/deceleration of the device <NUM>, and a change in temperature of the device <NUM>. The sensor component <NUM> can comprise a proximity sensor configured to detect the presence of nearby objects without any physical contact. The sensor component <NUM> can also comprise a light sensor, such as a CMOS or CCD image sensor, for use in imaging applications. In some embodiments, the sensor component <NUM> can further comprise an accelerometer sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a magnetic sensor, a pressure sensor, or a temperature sensor.

The communication component <NUM> is configured to facilitate communication, wired or wireless, between the device <NUM> and other devices. The device <NUM> can access a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as WiFi, <NUM>, or <NUM>, or a combination thereof. In one exemplary embodiment, the communication component <NUM> receives a broadcast signal or broadcast associated information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In one exemplary embodiment, the communication component <NUM> further comprises a near field communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communications. For example, the NFC module can be implemented based on a radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, an infrared data association (IrDA) technology, an ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, a Bluetooth (BT) technology, and other technologies.

In exemplary embodiments, the device <NUM> can be implemented with one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, or other electronic components, for performing the above described methods.

In exemplary embodiments, there is further provided a non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions, such as a memoty <NUM> comprsiing instructions, executable by the processor <NUM> in the device <NUM>, for performing the above-described methods. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium can be a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disc, an optical data storage device, and the like.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating components applicable to an HARQ feedback device according to an exemplary embodiment. A device <NUM> can be provided as a base station. Referring to <FIG>, the device <NUM> comprises a processing component <NUM>, a wireless transceiving component <NUM>, an antenna component <NUM> and a signal processing section specific to a wireless interface. The processing component <NUM> can further comprise one or more processors.

One processor of the processing component <NUM> can be configured to:.

Since the device embodiments basically correspond to the method embodiments, reference can be made to the method embodiments for relevant contents. The above-described device embodiments are exemplary only and the units described as separated parts may or may not be physically separated, and the parts illustrated as a unit may or may not be a physical unit, that is, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual requirements to achieve the objectives of the solutions in the embodiments. One of ordinary skill in the art can understand and carry out them without any creative labor.

It should also be noted that, in this text, relational terms such as first and second, etc., are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relations or orders present between the entities or operations. The terms "comprising", "containing" or any other variations thereof are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion such that processes, methods, articles, or devices that contain a series of elements comprise not only those elements but also comprise other elements that are not explicitly listed. Alternatively, elements inherent to such processes, methods, articles, or devices can also be comprised. In case of no more limitations, an element defined by phase "comprising a. " does not exclude the situation where additional identical elements are present in the processes, the methods, the articles, or the devices comprising the element.

Claim 1:
A hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ feedback method, comprising:
receiving (S101) data transmitted from a transmitting end in a unit of a transmission block, TB, which contains a plurality of code block groups, CBGs;
binding (S102) feedback information of the plurality of CBGs to at least one bit on at least one feedback level according to a HARQ feedback policy to generate HARQ feedback information, and returning the HARQ feedback information to the transmitting end, wherein the amount of bits of the HARQ feedback information is smaller than the amount of the CBGs contained in the TB, wherein the HARQ feedback policy comprises:
feedback levels, each indicating an amount of CBGs for which feedback information is bound to one bit,
wherein a sum of the amount of all of the bits corresponding to all of the feedback levels is less than the amount of the CBGs contained in the TB; characterized in that when
an amount of the feedback levels is one, binding the feedback information of the plurality of CBGs to at least one bit at least one feedback level according to the HARQ feedback policy to generate the HARQ feedback information comprises:
acquiring data reception state information, which is configured to indicate data reception success or data reception failure corresponding to each of the CBGs; and
generating the feedback information corresponding to the CGGs according to the data reception state information;
binding the feedback information corresponding to the CBGs contained in the TB to a third preset amount of bits, wherein the third preset amount is equal to a rounding-up amount of a value, which is obtained through dividing the amount of the CBGs contained in the TB by an amount of CBGs for which feedback information is bound to one bit in the feedback level.